Bicycle Quotes

Bicycle Quotes

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of mankind" - H.G. Wells

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.� Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man.� And (unlike subsequent inventions for man's convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became.� Here, for once, was a product of man's brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others.� Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle. - Elizabeth West, Hovel "The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community." - Ann Strong, quoted in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1895 "As a social revolutionizer, the bicycle has never had an equal. It has put the human race on wheels, and thus changed completely many of the most ordinary processes and methods of social life. It is the great leveler, for not till all Americans got on bicycles was the great American principle that every man is just as good as any other man fully realized. All are on equal terms, all are happier than ever before." - New York Evening Post, June 2, 1896 "The negative attitude of cars is expressed in their very name, *automobiles*, which exalts the vehicle at the expense of the person transported by it. They are symbols of machismo, aggressivity and empty consumption. They've been perfected over the years, but they haven't evolved. They demand to be envied, feared, and lusted after. Most car designers waste space that should be devoted to passengers. Metal competes with flesh, and an object that should be our servant becomes our master. All that distance from humanity, all that self-importance..." - Phillipe Starck, 1996 (100 years later) "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!" - Henri Desgrange, L'Equipe article of 1902 "...these glimpses of physicality made me think that one-day being in a car in a great city like Paris will be slightly vulgar. I was delighted to see so many classy bikes around, beautifully engineered and finished with road tyres, panniers and mudguards and not the clich� mountain bike nor the road racers (though all are welcome, compared to cars, in my vision). We saw such stylishly dressed people on good utility bicycles taking their space on the city roads." - Simon Baddeley, reporting on car free day in Paris, September 22, 2000 "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." - Ernest Hemingway, By-Line "I'll tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood." - Susan B. Anthony 1896 "Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity." - Lord Charles Beresford (1846-1919), British Admiral and Member of Parliament From HERE ...and another When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. - H.G. Wells Get a bicycle.You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets. ~Christopher Morley

There is not much time before I fall asleep. I rode over 50km today on the road bike. It was nice to take it out for a change. After doing Tamaki Drive to St Heliers and back I realised that the reason I like riding fixed so much in town is passing traffic, and weaving to the front of lights etc.
So, I took off up Orakei Road (which was a mistake seeing it's SO steep) and went urban.

Here's the route.

Anyway. Saw some cool bikes in Ponsonby afterwards.
Reissue OM Flyer BMX
and an IRO Mark V!

I thought I was the only IRO in NZ :-)
WIll totally have to find out who this one belongs to! It was clearly one straight from IRO with everything from Stock IRO cranks to hubs and the Brooks saddle.

Im going to bed.
There was really no point in being here was there.
ALex.

Poetry in Pastry

This post inspired by a love of pies, and Andrew's Piecycle.

The University is an odd place. I sit here under fluorescent lights (although I should be grateful I get phone reception, as next year the Masters offices are located so far underground that your phone is not connected to the outside world) and emerge for short periods of time to get some lunch, or go to the bathroom. OK, quite a lot of the time I emerge just to ride my bike around.

But that is not the point. Now that it is no longer regular semester time it means that there are no longer my favorite custard pies in stock.

However, yesterday morning, the fine morning that it was I discovered a new item on display in the HSB cafe; an odd sight given that the plates are generally unchanged each day, the same stuff day in day out.

Now on this morning I noticed a small muffin-like parcel, wrapped in gladwrap. I was draw to this unfamiliar item and as I picked it up I realised that It was still warm. This means that it has been recently baked.

Well that sealed the deal, and as I waited for the register lady to sell me my pastry parcel I smelt the sweet warm smell of fresh baking leaking from the plastic parcel in my hands. It was still steaming.

Back at my computer I hastily unwrapped it and upon first bite discovered a most friggen awesome yum warm apple pie. Topped with cinnamon, the apple contents was just the right temperature, still hot from the oven. And the pastry...oh the pastry...it was warm, yes, but also sweet.

Anyway. I was in love.
I went back an hour later, alas, they were all gone.

So this morning I raced in as soon as I could possibly wake. There were my beloved pies waiting for me. Although I was slightly later than the last morning, they were still warm.

It turns out the cafe lady has been making them upon some engineering students' request given the absence of the regular apple and custard pies. I pleaded with her to continue making them into the new semester.

It would give me a little more reason to get to work early in the morning.

Alex

Journey

Hello all,

So I managed to escape. It's not what they generally teach you to do. But it is the best means I can find of just making it all go away. It was good. I light up inside every time I get the opportunity to tell someone about it.

While I took my proper camera with me, I mainly take photos on my mobile, so here is photographic highlights of the journey in 120 images. I even managed to keep the self portraits to a minimum for you:
Part One
Part Two

My journey really began on Thursday. I realised that I have been sitting in this same chair (yes, I am in it again now) for as long as I can remember. Although I am sure I took a break this year, to the snow, to somewhere, I actually cannot remember. It felt as though I had not escaped since last summer. Of course, (and as Coralee will quickly learn if she hasn't already) de Freitas' don't put anything off. Yeah, she knows this!. Without thinking of eminent wedding planning and my worldly responsibilities I hastily booked my train ticket to Wellington, departing the following morning. Trains are a great mode of transport. Not only are they quite efficient and will probably have to (well, hopefully) become far more central in our lifestyles in NZ, but you get to see the country like you have never before. And although the ticket price is comparable to flying, you don't have to pack up your bike into a box for the trip.

After leaving home (twice) forgetting various pieces of equipment I raced to the train station to be on my 7am train. Breakfast consisted of a Charlies Refresher drink, which is yum by the way, and a Nashi Pear, what I would like to think of as the most thirst quenching of all the fruits.

The train was not at all empty as I had imagined. In my mind I had an entire carriage to myself to sprawl across with my bike. Instead, it turns out it is set up exactly like an airplane with numbered seating (not any more spacious than a plane) and my bike had to get packed away with all the commoners' luggage. Now this thought frightened me, that my bike would be out of my sight. I waited and watched them load it on personally, to make sure she was tucked in just right.

Well, the train hadn't got as far as Hamilton and we hear there has been a derailment and we will be hoarded onto buses to National Park. Not only did this mean that I would miss out on half of my soul-searching train journey, but it meant that once again, my bike had to be manhandled and crammed under a smelly (and super retro) bus.

This time my bus left before I could observe my bike being safely loaded. So I made a quick prayer to the bike gods and forgot about it as much as possible. Buses suck, compared to trains. But I still got to see parts of the road (that I have driven a hundred times before) in a new light. I saw rolling pastures and riverbanks and factories that I have never been given time to appreciate as I zoom by in a car.

the wait at National Park was horrible, it took hours, but finally we were off. the train, having just come from Wellington, was facing the wrong way which meant all the seats were facing to Auckland, while the train was travelling to wellington - all the passengers were forced to face backwards. Not being one to appreciate this backwards way of viewing life, I headed for the outdoor deck, which it turns out is a little caged space no bigger than a bathroom.

Anyway, as the train finally departed, the deck proved its radness. The train rockets along at almost 100km/hr and it is more like a roller coaster ride. It was loud though. I am sure I lost just a little of my hearing. We passed over gorges and rivers and through pastures, wetlands, coastlines and forests. It was everything I wanted the ride to be. Me, my iPod and some time to myself. I stood on the deck for all of 6 hours until we arrived in WEllington slightly behind schedule as night set in.

Mom was there for a work trip, so after a race on my bike down the (deserted) mainstreets of town I headed to Massey where there was some student art on show. As much as this was cool, I came to ride.

I soon found out where all the people hang out in the Cuba Precinct and had some food and coffee (and chocolate!) with mom and just had a good night. While mom was reluctant to share here hotel with me at first!...we crashed there and had another morning of coffee, meeting colleagues and just chilling in town.

Mom made me visit Te Papa, but again, while this was ok, I just wanted to explore. Once I saw her off in the afternoon, the journey really was allowed to begin.

I love to ride my bike in the city. I actually cannot think of anything that is more therapeutic for me at the moment. I forget about whatever, and focus on the road ahead, planning lines through cars and wondering when the light will turn yellow, and whether I will be able to slip through the gap.

Lately I have been attracted to the concept of riding my same bike, but in different cities. Something about this feels to me similar to the ship that traveled from port to port in search of whatever it pleased. I came close to getting my bike to Los Angeles earlier this year, and can't wait to (hopefully) (please coralee) take it to NYC and Toronto and Vancouver next year for Becka's wedding. In your own city, you become familiar with your surroundings. You know the cracks in the pavement to avoid, the steep hills, the timings of the traffic lights. You can forget to look up and be thankful for your surroundings. The city is a beautiful place. Millions of people's lives collide, deliberately and otherwise. You never know what will happen, and if you do, well you can just find somewhere new. There are always places that you haven't been before. And if there isn't, well then there are surely places that are changing daily. I love the port for this reason. While the park can stay the same, the pigeons, the fountain - the port is different all the time. Even more so, the port is always alive!

Where was I, yeah, So new city fun. I explored til late. There was a hardcore show going on, Antagonist, from Auckland, even some friends of mine were down for it. Only, call me silly, but I'm too scared to turn up to a show of 15year old punk kids alone. Cam didn't txt, so while I was outside the show, and could hear the music, had the $7 cover charge in my pocket ready, I never went in. Instead I booked in to the backpackers and cruised around some more.

I'm not sure if it's because wellington is more compact, or what, but all the nightlife seems to happen in a small area. I rode around into the early hours, in much the same way as I love to do in auckland, watching drunk people try and hook up, seeing people trade drugs and just enjoying the freedom of flying by them on my bike.

I found the skatepark that night too. Managed to truly waste my bike, using the sweet bowl ramps and whoop-de-do rollers and stuff. I wish someone had been there to take a photo of the trackbike in the skate bowl. I tried unsuccessfully to do so myself.

So I crept in to my backpackers dorm and crashed for the night.
After checkout I was ready for another day of riding.
I've been writing for a while now eh, I dont expect many people to really still be with me.
Today I went further afield. Rode some amazing tunnels. Mashed some crazy hills. Went far from town and back and around the coast and just pedalled until I couldn;t anymore.

Back in town I sure deserved lunch. Plum cafe on Cuba Mall made such a nice breakfast with mom the day before I got one again. Yum. Veggie Plumster. Get one. seriously.

So I could have stayed another night, but my legs could barely move. I felt as though I had seen the wellington I wanted to. The alleys, the old buildings, and the choice hills to bomb. I picked up my rental car relocation, complained to them about charging me ridiculous insurance and set off for home.
I hate driving.
More so, I hate driving at night,
To top it off I was driving alone, and in the rain. It was boring. But after sitting on my butt for 7 hours around abouts I made It home

Only, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't ready to be back.

Wellington was all I wanted it to be. Although it's probably not the grown up thing to do, I hope I continue to run in the face of the things that weigh me down.

For those three days I managed to forget about $1500 phone bills and $19,000 weddings. I was able to ride, and marvel at how red the organic capsicums were, and how intricate asparagus flowers are. I had breakfast on the wharf early in the morning. my heart shivered when I breathed in a realised that the water was not moving at all.

My train journey took me past a massive wind farm.
It reminded me of driving across California with Tilly

I thought of Japan, where you could be in a train across the country and never really leave the densely populated urban areas. How different is that to my journey where I barely saw anything but green. I am reminded of how differently we live. And how much I need to live differently in order to stay alive. To retain this feeling.

I think to myself how often in conversation we can say things that are worthless. Things that do nothing but fill space. Discourage. Offend. Or do nothing good at all. I aim to only speak positive, uplifting words of encouragement. Thoughtful words that force people to question what we think of as normal, right. There is not enough time available here to waste on...

It's ironic how beautiful the gorse plants are. In full bloom. Brightest yellow. Yet they are prickly and considered a pest.

I'm beginning to feel ready to get back and finally finish this thing..and start something new.

I really don't know how to narrate a good story.
Believe me. In my mind everything is a certain way.
The challenge is to be able to get this stuff out in a way that you might see, even for a moment, how i see.

For years now this has been on my mind. Probably the minds of many artists and novelists etc too.

I felt rested. For a moment. And now that I am back, while it doesn't feel much different, I know that I had a great time. And my desire to do it again has not been subdued, rather, it has only intensified. Time for a trip to the big apple?

thanks for being there for me.
I'm learning what it means to be human. And what's more, for the most part at least, it is pretty choice.

XO

$$$

Right now I feel the money crushing me more than ever before.
I got home and figured I had better open that big A4 envelope from Vodafone, It's been sitting for days.
a $1100 phone bill between us.
and we just paid $400.
and we have a friggen wedding coming up for like $19000
and i don't even open the IRD envelopes anymore but you know they are $30,000 or more.
plus coralee's loan of about the same.

I actually feel paralyzed. This kind if worry is not good for anyone. Let alone a young student not even out of school.
How does this even happen.

I'm taking a short holiday. (yes, for another $200). but I need to.
I will come back in three days, having ridden in some streets that are new to me. and hopefully with less of a weight on my shoulders.

In brighter news. Charlie's Berry Refresher cheered me up. And wedding invites are folded.
I have been worried about money before.
But never as much as I am right now.
I am really scared. I really hope that noone jokes about buying houses, or even implies it in the next long while. Do they even know what they are saying at all.

I actually feel as though this debt will kill us. Maybe slowly. But people are dying in this world everyday with this feeling.
I really hope that I don't have to live my entire life this way.
Thinking of alternatives.
Moving to an island?
run away and forget about it?
stay here for 10 more years!?!?
frick

I hope you sleep well, because I can't.

..and that's why I came:

I also came by to show you some things that fascinate me.

Well if you didn't already know, I have a new tattoo that is slowly nearing completion. It is of a woodcutting by Frans Masereel. Here is the image I based it on:








Anyway. I know it is called Der Kub (the Kiss) and I know it was published? in 1925. But I dont know in what it was published.


I had been meaning to order the graphic novel by Masereel called the City. It contains 100 woodcuttings just as awesome as this one, and I thought 'The Kiss' was in there. But apparently not.









You have to check it out though. As I was looking on Amazon, I found that you can access it online.

Have a look at The City here. I can't explain it. But his work is pretty amazing to me. It just really is something that I can relate to. I feel like I can see the city that Masereel sees. Or saw. or something.
There is enough cool stuff in there for me to tattoo my whole body in his work! (don't worry mom, I wont!)

In other artistic news, It will come as no surprise to many of you that I have an obsession with decrepit buildings and rooftop gardens among other urban things.
Well these two photographers take photos of abandoned schools, mental asylums, and hospitals.

Kinda creepy...but super cool. It would be rad to be a photographer. All the cool locations that you could go...as an excuse to photograph them. I love visiting similar places in my city. But all I leave with is the memories (or a grainy mobile phone pic)

New England Ruins (Rob Dobi)

and

Jeremy Harris (click on Personal for the Hospitals)

bye for real.
alex

It's been quite some time

So it has been quite some time since our last foray into the world of blogging. Publicly presenting ourselves on the web for all (or a very few according to my site statistics) to see. Consciously presenting ourselves should I say - remembering back to when I blogged about work being lame when I was at work!. Haha, that was silly. However I don't anticipate I will have that problem again. Like tattoos, I'm fully prepared to take anything as a consequence of what I write down here. I won't offend anyone (deliberately). And I won't say anything that you really wouldn't hear me saying (or complaining) in real life. Hmm. Real life....perhaps I mean material life. As opposed to digital life. That's kinda related to my dissertation. My dissertation that I am slowly but surely finishing up for the year. A mere fifty pages of text that have held me sleepless and contributed to the poor condition of my skin all year.

In a way, though, I am looking forward to beginning my Masters thesis. The Masters will hopefully become a continuation of my writing this year on the intersection of material and digital spaces, but perhaps with more focus. A more specific aim. Something worthwhile to contribute to academia. Or just to contribute to someones general thinking on the topic would be great. I love it how even ideas that are totally implausible or incorrect can still help you enhance or develop a better understanding of something for yourself. Anytime someone thinks critically about something, I think, is a good thing.

Yeah, so I do need a break, but I'm also looking forward to reading more in preparation for the Masters if that makes sense.

Forms Forms Forms! Spent the last few days buried in forms. Now that I mention it. It was only weeks ago that I was completing CV's and cover letters and scholarship forms!...now it was Governmental forms. Now I don't know if you share my experiences, but the forms from the government are the most confusing of all. Particularly the Canadian Government!

Anyway. My passport needs renewal which requires me to get all sorts of forms, photos and stuff signed and documented by legal people and police officers and people who have known me for over two years but are also a doctor, dentist...or all of the above!!!??!

And more forms....wedding license. But no, not the wedding license itself, the form which you fill out and pay $120 so that they can send you another form which you fill out which then means you are married!

I am putting that all behind me though. The most important thing is that I am here now, and you are too. I will be off to my parent's place now for dinner. Coralee is off with her mum looking at flowers. I can't believe we spend so much time, money and energy (and we are by no means the only ones doing so) on a wedding which lasts less than a day! It certainly is a weighted ratio.
Nevertheless, I am SO looking forward to everything that is about to happen. I am looking forward to being married to the girl who makes me the most happy in the entire world. Happier than I have ever been before. I am excited about the first day after the wedding actually, and every day after that. I can't wait to get our life started....together!.
I'm sorry, but the engagement is a bit of a limbo period. In Christian circles at least. Don't get me wrong. My mind works in very unusual ways that have often landed me in serious disagreements, but whats up with the engagement.
Asides from time to prepare trivial things like venues and flowers it is really just a dead space. We have already made a commitment to one another. Well, that's how I see it anyways.
The marriage is a public and legal way of showing this commitment, but why the space inbetween.
Sure, it probably allows some time to grow, think, develop etc, but surely that is best done before you say "will you...", or "yes".
haha.
Anyways.
I'm here typing because I have spent an entire day running across town to bureaus and departments and have not even OPENED my dissertation document.

Nice to hear from you.
I will be back (more frequently) soon.

XO