TheWashCycle

Sunday Video: The real video from that song from the Metro video

This comes via Dr. Gridlock. The ad produced by WMATA to promote the opening of the Silver Line used a song entitled "Escapee" by an Austrailan band named "Architecture in Helisinki." The real video for the song is a bit enigmatic to me, but it does feature a kid on a bike (and someone stealing a bike, or something?) Anyway enjoy.

Architecture in Helsinki - Escapee from Architecture in Helsinki on Vimeo.

Join the DC Tune-Ups Bicycle Choir

The DC Tune-Ups Bicycle Choir is seeking singers and musicians for our May 2013 performance at Bike to Work day! The Tune-Ups is a light-hearted singing group that performs songs related to bike commuting each year at the downtown bike-to-work day event in May.  The Tune-Ups have sung such favorites as "I'm  a Commuter", and "Bike Commuter dreamin".  This year's performance will be on May 18th at Freedom Plaza. 

 

There will probably be about 4 or 5 rehearsals during the months of March/April/early May.  Anyone interested should contact Heidi Goldberg at go.heidi at gmail. You don't have to be a great singer to be part of the fun!  Feel free to tell your friends and colleagues who might be interested.

Sunday Video: Taylor Swift Bikes around Paris

Big Red Bicycle Christmas

I want a Chrismas Ornament like this one. 

bicycle by Nora and One Left

I can't say that I'm much of a music fan - that's really Mrs. Washcycle's forte. I mean I like music, but I haven't bought a CD in like 10 years - and I've never bought an mp3. I don't own an ipod and never have. I do listen to XM Radio's "The Verge" like it's my job. Love's me some Canadian rock. The point of all this is that you should take this music review with a grain of salt. 

I got a CD for the album "bicycle" by local band Nora and One Left last week and I made Mrs. Washcycle listen to it with me repeatedly and we both gave it the thumbs up. Oddly she said the same thing I was thinking: this sounds like a band we would have seen in Austin. It's that music that straddles the rock/folk genre that I used to hear so often there. Not quite Eliza Gilkinson or Lucinda Williams but enough to make me think of them. "So Far Away" reminds me of Concrete Blond. And there are a couple of song, like "The World is a Wonderful Place," that have the same happy acoustics and comfortable lyrics of Poi Dog Pondering. They mostly sound a lot like the act that used to open for Soul Hat at the Black Cat on Thursdays in the early 90's [I wish I could think of their name. Not Two Hoots and a Holler, obviously]. Which is to say they sound like a lot of bands I like, so naturally I enjoyed the CD. I caught myself singing "Big Red Bicycle Christmas" several times this week.

If you're looking to support a local band who names albums after your favorite mode of transportation - with several songs on that theme, it's hard to think of a better one than Nora and One Left.

Monday Morning Ride - Mercury

Happy Labor Day

• On my run yesterday, I noticed that the center span of the ART bridge over the railroad tracks on the west side of the Anacostia has been placed. Looks like they removed the old catenary structure that was in the way. Also the bridge from Yards Park to Diamond Teague is really coming along.
• Two cyclists fired guns at a car in Northeast.
• On Thursday night, Mark Roepcke was hit and badly injured by a hit-and-run driver in Charles County. He was found hours later, unconscious, by the side of the road. Police are looking for tips.
• What to do about junk bikes? One New York artist has turned one into a bicycle shaped planter. Another option is to give them to bikes for the world.
• I'm a shameless fan of Queen (I made a point of going to the house Freddy Mercury was born in when I was in Zanzibar) and today would have been his 65th birthday. This is relevant since he sang the best bicycle song since "Bicycle Made for Two". Google is celebrating the day with its second longest "doodle" ever. You should be able to spot references to the song in the video below.

The Bike Song

Some weekend joyriding for you, courtesy of Mark Ronson, The Business Intl, Kyle Falconer and Spank Rock.

Nuthin but a hero

This video is shot mostly in DC and has a lot of biking in it, including biking on Penn Avenue when the bike lanes were going in.

Did anyone spot David Byrne?

FABB mentioned that David Byrne reviewed Jeff Mapes' "Pedaling Revolution" in the NY Times last month.

That said, the revolution isn’t here just yet. Hedge fund managers and General Motors executives aren’t riding to work (though don’t laugh, they will), and this book is not likely to reach beyond the already converted, which includes me, other cycling advocates, and people in the city-planning and transportation universe. But the book is useful — for those of us who occasionally find ourselves on the defensive, Mapes provides names, dates, facts and figures.

David Byrne was at Wolf Trap recently and as he often travels with a bike it's not unbelievable that a Washcycle reader spotted him out on the W&OD? Did anyone see him.