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Rock The Bike

Human Power, the writing’s on the wall

And today coming back from the beach I passed Mona Caron’s new mural in progress in Noe Valley and saw this cool little detail:

In it, a gym currently at the corner of 24th and Church is replaced by a Pedal Power center, which people pedaling away on energy-harnessing bikes. On the roof of the Pedal Power center, a band jams away, using the power from below. Caron painted her favorite musicians into the mural. You can clearly make out stiltwalkers from La Malamana, and the distinct figure of the singer Rupa .

Every time I street perform with the Choprical Fish, someone asks me: “What if we could have a whole gym generating energy?” Well, at least in the post-apocalyptic eutopia of Mona Caron’s new mural, we can.

Jay Broemmel stuns art bike world with the Dragon Bike

Jay Broemmel's Dragon Bike

Jay’s only been riding the new dragon bike for a few days now, and I had the pleasure of cruising with him last night as we dropped off some homemade apple pie (a la mode, of course) from our pot luck dinner to a friend who was tending bar at the Lone Palm on the other side of the Mission.

The Dragon bike is one of three art bikes that will be on display at the Dec. 14th Bike Culture Night at The Rev.

What I love about Jay’s art bikes is the degree to which he throws the rules out the window and follows his own direction.

The red paint job on the new dragon is still pristine and glossy. The Sweetskinz tires still have the little furry rubber hairs everywhere.

Jay is the second frame builder / customizer to my knowledge who has modified a frame for the Down Low Glow.

Down Low Glow neon tube installed in Dragon Bike frame.

The Dragon Bike also has a couple of very trick mechanical features. The eyes (which are blue LED headlights) move left and right when the handlebars move (click the You Tube video to see). And the jaw bites when you squeeze the left brake.

Jay was also careful to follow Chinese tradition — the Dragon holds a pearl in its left claw.

 

 

Jay Broemmel standing next to Dragon Bike

 

See more close up images and video on the Dragon Bike.

I’ve been quietly amassing inspiring, amazing, and hilarious street culture and street art videos for three years

I’ve been posting these to You Tube for the last few years. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. Three women sat at the top of the escalator. A roller blader took a hundred foot lead in, then cleared the women and took the escalator backwards.

2. I immediately went for my camera when I saw this woman. I had my friend Emily stand just outside the frame of this video so I could grab the action incognito.

3. I first met Austin at the Crissy Field pullup bar last year. He’s dope. What more can I say.

4. BMX pro Pete Brandt practicing at Embarcadero and Market in SF.

5. Bike Culture from San Francisco. Inventor Max Chen twists, chops, and distorts bikes to make a big visual impact. This pet squirrel is one of his simplest mods, but one of my favorites as well. (more)

6. Live Billboard Project. Dancers under the direction of Jo Kreiter transform a brick facade into a stage with beautiful acrobatics and great lighting and music.

Jo Kreiter Strikes Again 10000 Views on Flickr

I was booking it on my Xtracycle to catch the last transbay shuttle when I saw people looking up, pointing at a skyscraper. I turned quickly to see this — dancers performing beautiful flowing choreographed routine on the side of a building. Check out the rest of the photos in this Flickr photoset to see more of Kreiter’s amazing work. Also check out this video!

Also, today we passed 10000 views on our Flickr photostream. We use Flickr like a photo blog, to show you the world through our eyes. Life in the Rock the Bike workshop, what we see on our way to work, Custom projects, and of course shots from last night’s cruiser ride. Thanks everyone, for checking out Rock The Bike’s photos on Flickr.

Fossil Fool vs Kool Herc

I rigged my favorite speakers to my new Soul Cycle Chopper, to prototype the sound of my new custom cabinet. To power the speakers, I used a small digital amplifier similar to the ones in our Soul Cycle Head Unit.

Above: Fossil Fool’s new ride — the Soul Cycle Chopper.

 

This shot reminded me of the classic image of New York’s first hip hop DJ, Kool Herc.

Kool Herc, pioneer hiphop DJ

Kool Herc, pioneering hiphop DJ’s classic convertible

Kool Herc was the first to introduce the spoken word (rap) to dance parties, and the first DJ to play just the breaks, or sweet moments of a song, instead of the whole songs.