After five great years, Natooke needed to celebrate, and what better way to celebrate than with a party. The night started with M.C. Chizi hyping up the crowd and Founder/Owner Ines Burnn giving a short introduction of the shop and how it has grown and changed over the years.
Bikes and beers stood in for cake and candles for this birthday blowout which was shaping up to be a good time.
After the introductions, the games began. The first, and probably the most popular was the JSUPK sprints where two competitors race one another on rollers. The front wheel is removed and the fork is bolted down, the rear wheel is set down on a set of rollers that allow free movement of the wheel. Natooke however wanted to spice things up a bit. It was simple, chug the beer as fast as you can, then pedal as fast as your legs would allow, and maybe more importantly, do your best not to throw up.
With the sprints done there was more entertainment, dancing, rapping, juggling, a raffle, and a pretty convincing beat box demonstration.
After that was another popular game, the trackstand competition. The rider comes to a complete halt and balances upright without putting their foot on the ground. The last one “standing” wins, however once again in an attempt to spice things up the rules for this game were tweaked as well. The person track standing would have a set amount of time, during this time they would attempt to stay on two wheels, as well as reach down to pick up 100 kuai notes that were strewn on the beer soaked floor beneath them.
To wrap things up, Ines showed her skill and bike control during an artistic cycling demonstration. It was the perfect way to end the night and begin a new year with Natooke.
This is the second year that the vintage ride has taken place in Beijing, with many more people becoming interested in vintage cycling it’s now growing to other centers in China. The idea of a vintage ride is riding vintage style bikes and wearing vintage style clothing.
It was great to see both Eastern and Western styles; from English tweed to Mao era pieces.
Unfortunately at the last minute the ride itself had to be cancelled, for safety reasons as a meeting was occurring with government officials. Next time we hope that not only we can meet but also ride together. But despite this last minute cancellation we still had a fantastic fashion show with a catwalk where riders could walk down the catwalk in their vintage outfit with their vintage bikes. Judges chose the nicest vintage bikes and styles from those that participated and some great prizes were given out to the winners.
JUE is a music and art festival with various kinds of events in different locations across Beijing spread over a period of 3 weeks.
This year Natooke will be again organizing all the “Bike to JUE” rides to encourage people to cycle to the JUE events. And also like last year Natooke will provide bike vallet parking at the venues to keep your bike safe while you enjoy the JUE event.
The main difference this year is that all the “Bike to JUE” rides will be more fun as we have speakers and cool music to have a relaxed feeling while leisurely cycling to the events.
Bike to JUE registration (optional): info@natooke.com or 13501088728 (English/Chinese/German)
2014/02/21-2014/03/24
Have you imagined designing a unique bike frame decal? Have you imagined to own it for free? If you are passionate about bicycles, you can’t miss this fantastic chance to show off your creativity. To celebrate Natooke’s 5 year anniversary, we now start the exciting bike frame painting design competition.
The winner will receive the new frame they designed. We also have other prizes awaiting.
Register and publish your design with: yanrui@natooke.com
2013/12/08 Sunday 2:00 p.m.
Worker’s Gymnasium West Gate
This Sunday we will have a very special Bike Polo match! Our coach Tom Myers is going to come back to the US and this is our last chance to be coached by him… We are honored to have had Tom as our coach for such a long time. His experience and his passion for this sport have always helped us. We can only thank him for having always supported, helped and cheered us up. Don’t miss the chance to say goodbye to Tom!
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2013/12/05 Friday 8:00 p.m
Natooke shop
December 6th is St. Nicholas Day. Still remember the Santa costume ride last year? Many people enjoyed themselves at that night.This year BigDirty will organize more fantastic Santa Clause costume ride next Friday. Armed with a red suit with white fur trim, Santa hat, white Santa beard (or something related), we will ride along the streets of Beijing! You don’t have to ride that fast, as long as you join us and have fun. Meet at 8pm at Natooke, bring your own Santa costume (Santa things can be bought at Dianmen Tianyi market: Second floor, booth number 23. Hats are 5rmb and the full outfit is 30rmb) and a bike. Do not miss this wonderful experience! Let’s make Beijing more colorful for a night!
2013/10/27 Sunday 2:00 p.m.
Location: Worker’s Gymnasium West Gate
Come with us and enjoy Bike Polo!
2013/10/26 Saturday 2:00 p.m.
Location: Worker’s Gymnasium West Gate
Special Polo: competition preparation
Next Saturday we will meet to enjoy a special bike polo match!
2013/10/23 Wednesday
Advertising Agency Ogilvy
Ines will do an inspiring speech at China’s toppest advertising agency…
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2013/10/20 Sunday 2:00 p.m.
Location: Worker’s Gymnasium West Gate
Like every Sunday even the next we get together to play bike polo! Do not miss!!
