In 2006, I wrote extensively about the Ditty Bops' Bicycle Tour, which happened to include stops in St. Louis, Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City, Mo., but there's two bands that are taking the concept of bicycle concert tours a step further.
On Oct. 18, the bands The Ginger Ninjas and Shake Your Peace! launched the Pleasant Revolution Bicycle Music Tour. They are riding more than 5,000 miles and playing more than 90 pedal-powered shows from the foothills of the Sierras in North San Juan, California, to the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. There will be no sag-wagons, and no buses hauling their gear: Everything -- including the 800 Watt human-powered public address system -- is being hauled entirely on bicycle!
According to the Ginger Ninjas' blog, the bands are supposed to be in Mazatlan, Mexico, today, and they're slated to be in Mexico City on Jan. 22-28. The tour is slated to end Feb. 11 in Palenque, Mexico.
"Our way of life threatens our way of life," said Ginger Ninjas frontman Kipchoge Spencer, described in the band's press release as a San Francisco Bay Area bike culture hero and co-originator of the Xtracycle Sport Utility Bicycle. "As people resonate with that point and start to contemplate giving up their cars and forsaking a lot of other conveniences they're accustomed to, on the surface it could seem like they're sacrificing and losing a lot. But the Pleasant Revolution is about realizing that by losing this stuff, we gain a life that's way more rich, humane, and happy. Anybody who stops driving and starts biking feels that. Biking doesn't feel like losing a car, it feels like you're getting your life back! The message of the Pleasant Revolution isn't: 'sacrifice til it hurts,' it's more, 'Drop the excess, and have the time of your life.'"
In the press release, the bands contend the tour will join other 2007 Bicycle Music Movement landmarks in what could be called "the year of the bicycle-based musician" a year that witnessed a 600-mile, 25-show Shake Your Peace! Bicycle Tour of Utah in April and May 2007 (the first significant bicycle music tour to be accomplished without a sag wagon, and using a pedal powered PA system).
During the Ditty Bops Bicycle Tour, Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald did indeed ride their bikes from city to city -- I had the pleasure of riding with them between St. Louis and Edwardsville, Ill. -- but a support van carried their equipment and other members of their entourage.
The Ginger Ninjas and Shake Your Peace! also cited the success of the San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival on Aug. 11, a 100 percent bike-powered and bike-hauled event that the musicians say heralded the arrival of the Bicycle Music Movement to the world. The bands said the event drew 10 bands, five public venues, a 400 Watt pedal-powered PA system and outrageous cruiser rides taking over the city's streets between each festival stop.
Above, I've the video of the Ginger Ninjas for their song "Dick Cheney (Needs More Love)." I hope to post some more songs soon. Enjoy!
Roger 1 comments links to this post 10:18 AM
Find out about the latest cycling news here!
Bicycle racing feeds
» Tour Of Missouri Financial Problems - KOMU-TV
03/12/08 04:28 from Tour of Missouri - Google News
» Toyota United's âChepeâ Garcia wins Mexican TT championship
03/11/08 20:52 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Texas' Superdrome announces its schedule
03/11/08 20:47 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Seamus McGrath Signs with Fuji
03/11/08 20:30 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Paris-Nice Stage 2 - A Graham Watson Gallery
03/11/08 19:49 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Floyd Landis faces final court of appeal in New York to regain lost Tour de France title (AP)
03/11/08 19:02 from Yahoo! Sports - Cycling News
» Health Netâs Murphy grabs lead in Taiwan
03/11/08 18:51 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» See how stage 2 of Paris-Nice unfolded.
03/11/08 17:23 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» MSR favorites flock to Tirenno-Adriatico
03/11/08 16:56 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» CAS to take up Di Luca's appeal
03/11/08 16:43 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Steegman takes another at P-N
03/11/08 16:25 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Steegmans wins back-to-back
03/11/08 15:44 from Yahoo! Sport - Cycling
» Quick Step's Steegmans gets a chance to shine
03/11/08 14:31 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Hushovd using P-N as springboard to Milan-San Remo
03/11/08 14:25 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Tubular tape and nagging foot questions
03/11/08 11:11 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Cyclists are remembered by friends and teammates.
03/11/08 01:32 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» High Road's Michael Rogers has Epstein Barr
03/10/08 22:14 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Riders association calls for meeting with UCI boss (Reuters)
03/10/08 20:37 from Yahoo! Sports - Cycling News
» Paris-Nice Stage 1: A Graham Watson gallery
03/10/08 20:14 from The Journal of Competitive Cycling -
» Riders association wants McQuaid meeting
03/10/08 18:46 from Yahoo! Sport - Cycling
» Other Deaths - Denver Post
03/12/08 08:48 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Founder of Trek Bicycle, Richard Burke, dies at 73 - International Herald Tribune
03/11/08 22:37 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Irreverent 'Sacred Cows' amuses but breaks little new ground - Prince George Citizen
03/11/08 20:57 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Founder of Trek Bicycles, Richard Burke, dies at 73 - Journal Times
03/11/08 17:22 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Huntsman Institute to undergo expansion - The Daily Utah Chronicle
03/11/08 05:38 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» FINDING THE âCANâ IN CANCER - The Coloradoan
03/10/08 17:57 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Armstrong focused on cancer fight - Salt Lake Tribune
03/09/08 09:41 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Armageddon in elite-level cycling - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
03/09/08 05:08 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Hall of Fame after-party at Pangaea - Austin 360 (subscription)
03/09/08 05:08 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» District judge given public service award - Leader Times
03/08/08 18:57 from Lance Armstrong - Google News
» Donate your tax refund to bicycle advocacy
03/11/08 22:16 from BicycleNews-MoBikeFed
» Bike Month and Bike/Walk to School Day Resolutions introduced in Missouri General Assembly
03/11/08 21:50 from BicycleNews-MoBikeFed
» Alternative energy? Newton needs pedal power
03/11/08 17:50 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» We're all bicycle advocates
03/11/08 17:47 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» AAA Chicago Supports City of Chicago Bicycle Ordinance
03/11/08 17:45 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» Great Energy, Wrong Targets
03/10/08 22:38 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» Naked bicycle riders scuffle with police in Eugene
03/10/08 18:52 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» Bicyclists take up pedaling art
03/07/08 22:03 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» Americans learn bikes cut costs and improve fitness
03/07/08 19:47 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» Move ecologically
03/07/08 19:45 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» City committee targets bicyclists, motorists
03/07/08 19:43 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» St. Louis Hit & Runs: Big Break in one case
03/07/08 05:26 from BicycleNews-MoBikeFed
» National Bike Summit 2008: Congressional visits
03/07/08 04:52 from BicycleNews-MoBikeFed
» Funding means improved trips to school for Chicagoland students
03/07/08 00:03 from Chicagoland Bicycle Federation Press Releases
» It's war on our roads and cars should not be the winners
03/06/08 18:55 from C.I.C.L.E. ::
» More cyclist deaths in the Bay Area
03/11/08 18:49 from Cyclelicious
» Haro Beasely 650B first ride
03/11/08 16:50 from Cyclelicious
» Listen to Fritz (and David and Donna) on The Spokesmen
03/11/08 16:12 from Cyclelicious
» Cupertino bicycle fatality updates
03/11/08 01:35 from Cyclelicious
» Weight weenie
03/10/08 21:38 from Cyclelicious
» The Cycling Cat: Reporting the Wild Side of Bicycling 4
03/10/08 17:29 from The Cycling Dude
» The candidates on transportation and jobs
03/10/08 15:17 from Cyclelicious
» Score another one for Old Man Winter.
03/10/08 04:50 from The Adventures of Crazy Biker Chick
» County sheriff hits group ride, 2 killed
03/09/08 22:32 from Cyclelicious
» Bicycle bag inventory
03/09/08 21:06 from Cyclelicious
» The Cycling Cat: Reporting the Wild Side of Bicycling 3
03/09/08 16:11 from The Cycling Dude
» Car free and happy in Silicon Valley
03/09/08 14:45 from Cyclelicious
» Bicycling is fun
03/09/08 05:14 from Cyclelicious
» The Cycling Cat: Reporting the Wild Side of Bicycling 2
03/08/08 16:00 from The Cycling Dude
» Immigrant laborers on bicycles
03/07/08 20:40 from Cyclelicious
» Take me back to the start
03/11/08 06:33 from Up in Alaska
» Picture of my oops.
03/10/08 16:52 from Bike riding donut guy
» Like the title says...........
03/10/08 09:24 from Bike riding donut guy
» Very cool story
03/09/08 10:45 from Bike riding donut guy
» Aftermath
03/09/08 08:35 from Up in Alaska
» This dude.........
03/08/08 10:48 from Bike riding donut guy
» I'm not.......
03/08/08 09:59 from Bike riding donut guy
» I'm not making fun........
03/08/08 09:52 from Bike riding donut guy
» Day seven: Ghost trail to McGrath
03/07/08 23:51 from Up in Alaska
» She's stopping isn't she?
03/07/08 10:04 from Bike riding donut guy
» Day six: Farewell Burn to Nikolai
03/06/08 21:49 from Up in Alaska
» I suck at HTML...
03/06/08 09:47 from Bike riding donut guy
» Day five: Rohn to Farewell Burn
03/05/08 22:35 from Up in Alaska
» Any more????
03/05/08 10:02 from Bike riding donut guy
» Day four: Rohn
03/05/08 08:02 from Up in Alaska
Cycling blogs
Other blogs of note
Archives