Cyclorama Blog

I have completed my first event of the LGRAB Summer Games!

I was particularly excited about this particular event from Dottie & Trish: “Leave a nice note on a bike, or say hi to a cyclist at a red light.” I say hi to cyclists and strangers in general quite often, so was more interested in the leaving-a-note plan. An opportunity to interact in a more creative way, and to give them a pleasant and/or thought-provoking surprise. To re-sensitize people to their social and physical environment, by introducing something they didn’t expect.

In my usual manner, I left this to the last minute (in LGRAB Summer Games terms): yesterday afternoon. To make up for it, I had a whole *three* notelets to attach to bicycles of my choice. Yesterday was the York Carnival. It was also very wet, until about 2pm, so I didn’t head out to plant my messages until mid-afternoon, having wrapped them in plastic wallets so they didn’t get soggy.

I chose bikes I felt had character. I suppose they make you feel that the owner might also, and therefore might be more likely to appreciate messages from strangers hanging from their handlebars. First up, on Parliament street bike racks, a cute little white bike with a broken bell, looked a bit girly. I liked the look of it, and adorned it with message #1 on red paper.

Next we meandered over to the Minster, found a bike locked to a railing there. A Raleigh Transit 1979, according to my colleague Mick. I liked it, though it was probably that old bag on the back that particularly won me over. So it got message #2, a treatise on Behavioural Cut-Ups from the folk of  CrimethInc., with a jumbled version of the children’s book Whatever Next! on the back.

Bike number three was a red Saracen locked against a sign for one of our more amusingly named streets, ‘Whip-ma-whop-ma gate’. It got the how-to guide for painting by bicycle. Found it in a CrimethInc. book but it also reminded me of this - that we’ve come across recently. Fun idea, I like it better when its DIY 

Then we wandered down past number 1 ½ whip-ma-whop-ma gate, and home. An enjoyable little expedition: thanks LGRAB girls for the inspiration! I was glad of the excuse. Practiced my unicycling afterwards, incompetently.

More on LGRAB Summer Games shenanigans to come.

Linky: LGRAB Summer Games Flickr pool

If you’re wondering, read about behavioural cut-ups here (my garbled version).