Above: Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper, extols the bike lifestyle as ultra-long distance rider Paul McKensie pedal powers the Choprical Fish music bike.
Two bike-based music acts, Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper, and the Ginger Ninja’s, are on tour with the Clif Bar 2-Mile Challenge.
On the 2-Mile Challenge tour, a specially customized schoolbus rolls into public locations — a college campus, a farmer’s market, or the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica — and rolls out the red carpet. Spectators walk on to the bus and see video screens of bike culture around the world, including footage shot at the San Francisco Cruiser Ride, and footage of bicycle use in East Africa, provided by Worldbike.org. As spectators move through the bus, they can punch in their address at a computer to see cool locations (cafes, bike shops, etc.) located within 2 miles of their home. They then make a personal pledge to ride, and learn about different bicycle options that will work for them — folding bikes, Sport Utility Bicycles, etc.
Outside the bus, the musicians extoll the bike lifestyle with clever lyrics and catchy tunes. The Ginger Ninjas, led by frontman Kipchoge Spencer, have been performing in Northern California for the past 8 years, and are about to launch a major bicycle-based tour to Mexico. The Bike Rapper, Fossil Fool, (yours truly) has recently taken his street-performing styles to the next level, hosting impromptu human-powered dance parties in his hometown of San Francisco.
The musicians engage directly with the audience, and pull them into the interactive 2-Mile Challenge bus.