There are a lot of events that could qualify as “The Best Bike Event of the Year”. The Alice B. Toeclips awards ceremony, the Bike Craft Fair, S.S. Pussycat, Multnomah County Bike Fair, Pedalpalooza, anything featuring the Sprockettes.
But ranking way high on the list was last Friday’s Filmed by Bike Opening Night Throwdown. I wish I could convey the spirit of the event, but there really aren’t words to describe the kinetic mayhem that was Filmed by Bike. Just know that it rocked. Hard.
There were messenger movies, a movie featuring unicycles, and a couple of bike love stories. Natalie was lucky enough to be nominated to the esteemed jury, and was also in one of the films (a safety video/horror comedy). But I think our favorite was this fantastic movie out of Canada which is seriously worth the price of the DVD.
There has been a lot of discussion about the term “One Less Car”, but lately we have been living it. Last week, we gave up the rig and are living car free.
This may not seem like much to some of those hardcore commuters out there, but it is kind of a big deal to us: I work the day job in Beaverton, Natalie works in town; we are running a business, training for a marathon, and trying to carve out some down time for ourselves every once and a while. Sometimes, when it is all said and done, it seems like 9:00 PM has rolled around and we are just getting ready to make some dinner.
A change this big took some planning, but not as much as you might think. I got to gear up a little bit with some new go-to knickers and a Showers Pass Club Jacket (which is just fantastic by the way), and I have become pretty good friends with the Max.
But the big changes really have to do with the way that I think: I don’t have to ask myself if I should drive because it is pouring outside. And I know that if I am late for work, that there is only so much time I can make up by hauling ass. Its my hope that this helps slow things down a bit. And while I still haven’t achieved that Zen-like relationship to time, something makes me think that not driving might help
