Defiance!

Not exactly the story of Jewish brothers hiding out in the bush fending off Nazi invasions....

I ride my bike everywhere. Yes, everywhere, to the shops, to work, uni, friends place, the toilet, the kitchen, letterbox. No one says thank you. I don’t get a little letter from council, thanked for not contributing to all kinds of enviro-socio-cultural pollution and decay. I don't even get my own little lane on most streets. No. none of that. Instead, lowered Hondas with epic sound systems sideswipe me. Irate delivery drivers abuse me. Bored trophy wives ignore me; their adorable little kids open doors on me. If I had a dollar for every time I nearly died riding to university, I would buy a bike for that lovely chap who tried to knock me down then blame it on me and watch him navigate not quite peak hour traffic on an 80km/hr road.

I don’t ride because I love it. I don't ride because I can’t afford alternative means of transport. I don’t ride for the environment. I don’t ride because it’s faster than public transport. For the sheer joy of near death experience, the absolute bliss only found in pushing your body, or the intimate relationship that grows between body, mind and machine. I don’t ride cos I love the elements, especially spring showers and colossal crosswinds. I don’t ride so I can scream at accident-prone senile death mongers.

I ride for all these reasons.

I ride because I can.

I will ride until killed, injured or bike destroyed.
Because every push of the pedals is a way of saying “fuck you”.



Love, Max



Eat: Carman's classical fruit muesli bars

Read: Kingdom Of Fear, Hunter S. Thompson

Listen: (I made you a playlist for when your out on the bike. But not too loud.)
1: Pretty Much. This City Sunrise
2 Revolver . Rage Against The Machine
3 Perhaps Vampire Is A Bit Strong But.... Arctic Monkeys
4 Honeybucket. The Melvins
5 Regular John. Queens Of The Stone Age
6 Get Back. The Beatles
7 Watermelon Man. Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters
8 3 Little Birds. Bob Marley
9 Vampire Blues.. Neil Young
10 Bicycle. Queen