Damn right it does! For those of us who attended Cycle Style Auckland this week on a crisp Thursday evening that was plainly evident.
Here in Auckland’s Viaduct Basin was as diverse a bunch of citizens as you would ever come across, but united by the common bond of the bicycle. The room was full of bikes and they glittered and shone in the spotlight, clamouring for attention, but it was the people that stole the show. High-heels, sequined gowns and dinner-suits. Sneakers, t-shirts and cut-off jeans and everything in between, and I’m talking about the crowd not the models scorching up and down the runway.
Canine Cycle Chic on the Catwalk.
Elder statesmen, rug-rats, matriarchs, fixie hipsters, suburban mums and dads (my category), politicians, urban socialites, Tour de France racers, tree-huggers, BMX bandits, mountainbikers and road warriors. It was a delicious mix from all walks of life and that diversity really added something to the night.
I’ve watched bicycle culture exploding in cities all over the world in the last few years and wondered if we could ever make it happen here. Portland’s Pedalpalooza and Zoo Bomb, London’s Naked Bike Ride, New York’s Summer Streets, various Bicycle Film Festivals. There is bikey stuff happening everywhere and I have been green with envy. Thursday night’s experience confirmed to me that we are further down the track than I expected, the enthusiasm in that room was palpable.
My stab at Cycle Chic, a cardboard stencil and some old spray paint.
The bike fashion on display was wonderful too. New Zealand cycle style has traditionally been viewed as the uniforms of various sporting cliques. You have the Lycra® Cowboys that descend upon the city at dawn like swarms of neon cockroaches, clogging the city streets and frustrating bike and car commuters alike. What some of these people are thinking is puzzling as many of those physiques are not suitable for shrink-wrapping. It’s like a malfunctioning sausage machine has attempted to squeeze a sumo wrestler into a circus chimp’s clown costume – not a pretty site at any hour of the day and down right nauseating on an empty stomach.
The mountainbike crowd make a better fist of it, still plenty of Lycra® on show but many of the new styles look just like street-clothes, especially from some of the New Zealand brands. You could walk down the street in it and not feel out of place.
But you don’t need special clothes to ride a bike, you’re picking up a bottle of milk or riding to work, not ascending Mont Ventoux.
The crowd lapped it up.
I got a real sense of excitement from the crowd and a hunger for bicycle culture in our city that you don’t come across in your day to day routine. If the organizers were worried about getting the numbers required they worried in vain because the event sold out and this bodes well for a repeat next year. The inaugural Cycle Style Auckland was a great success and it can only get bigger and better as word spreads and cycle culture continues to boom next summer. Lets have more events like this!
Thanks for your review, Antoine, you're a treasure!
I had real pleasure in being part of the catering team. We were helped by my son Tommo and his gorgeous young friends who did the wine and food service, I've never seen canapes disappear so fast!
I am still glowing from the sight of those lines of bikes being pushed in the door to the valet cycle parking – is this Auckland?. Yes, yes, yes!
Thanks Antoine, it was an absolutely fabulous night and certainly worth all the effort … of which there was bucket loads!! We were so busy on the night that it was only when we saw the official photos (watch this space … coming soon!) that we realised we actually had a queue of people at the door waiting to get in! It was truly heart warming! Given the turnout, and the fact that this was in the middle of winter, it was very evident that a lot of people really want to ride their bikes and I'll hazard a guess that they also really want a city that really acknowledges, and provides for, the bicycle as an ordinary everyday transport option.
@Barb C: We were eating to stay warm ;^)
@Unity: It would have been nice to meet the rest of the CIA bloggers (as we were gathered in one place) but there was a lot to do and a lot of people to get around. Thanks for all the hard work put in by you and your fellow frockers.
"Thursday night’s experience confirmed to me that we are further down the track than I expected, the enthusiasm in that room was palpable".
Spot on!
Antoine, can I put an order in for one of your stenciled tees please?
@Mark: I still have the stencil and would gladly do you one but I literally used some old spray-paint I found in the garage so I suspect it's not colourfast (haven't washed mine yet).
I don't think you can get aerosol "fabric" paint but I suppose I could dab it on with a brush if you don't mind the ghetto look- I have some blue, green and red?
ibikenz@gmail.com
Oh, and re the photos of the event – anyone will put them up somewhere at some point? Also, have Jenny or Pippa done any follow-ups with the media? Has the event been written up or featured anywhere? Would be a shame not to have some post-publicity.
Great event… lets be a little more generous towards our lycra wearing two wheeled friends. We are too small in total to drive a wedge between ourselves.
@Julian: Thanks for commenting. Yeah, I probably could have left the last two sentences off the Lycra®-Cowboy paragraph – not really relevant :^)
I'm a big road-racing fan but over here on the Shore I encounter many rude, unfriendly and arrogant road cyclists that really do give cycling a bad name.
Hi. This is Nicolas, (an Aucklander writing from Berlin). Just found your blog and I am very glad to learn about the Cycle Style Auckland. Great news and great blog btw!
Like Mark, I was also wondering about how I could go about ordering a T-shirt. Have you managed to find wash-proof paints?
Ciao
@ Nicolas: Great to hear from you. I was contacted out-of-the-blue by an old friend who spotted my name on the internet and is also living in Berlin. He's a "non-cyclist" that cycles regularly since he has moved there!
As to the shirts, my spray-painted one almost completely disappeared on the first wash and I just don't have the time or the money to produce anything here at home. Maybe Cycling in Auckland could do a t-shirt this summer if there is some demand? We probably have some friends with the required expertise in the network somewhere?
If you drop me an email at: ibikenz [@] gmail.com I could send you a PDF and you might be able to get something printed up there at a copy-shop or something?
- Antoine
@Nicholas, It's great to hear a friendly voice from so far away. Things are buzzing here in Auckland in terms of sustainable transport issues and cycling. 'From little things, big things grow'. I hope you have the tee shirt business sorted. I would like to organise to get some printed and promoted but I need someone to take this on for Cycle Action. We are all flat out on other pressing jobs at the moment.