Here is an article on green commuting on China Daily web. Ines was interviewed and she stated her smart ideas on cycling. Please click here to read the full article.

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Ines was interviewed by Global Time when smog and haze continued to shround Beijing. She still rode through smog to promote green transportation. Please click here to read the full article.

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After last week’s “Airpocalypse” in which Chengdu saw the citywide API (Air Pollution Index) sitting above 400 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m), people’s attention is drawn to the fact that air quality here is not so hot.

Naturally, during bad air quality days as the only authorized retailer of Respro in town we got a lot of inquiries about our masks. Then the API dips back down to it’s normal winter range of 200 – 250 μg/m. At this point, something even stranger happens: people quit asking about our masks.

According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), low air quality areas that have an average 70 μg/m or more causes an estimated 3.7 million premature deaths annually. For 2015 Chengdu’s average was in excess of this figure at 99 μg/m according to government monitors. Even a reduction from the W.H.O. recommended limit of 70μg/m to 20μg/m would result in a 15% decrease in premature deaths.

Low air quality’s affects are nefarious. Due to the nature of the particulate floating around on bad air days, your body is susceptible in surprising ways. Contrary to common belief, the cardiovascular system is most compromised by low air quality resulting in the largest proportion of premature deaths. Poor air quality is also linked with chronic respiratory conditions including asthma, athlete’s asthma and pneumonia.

More frightening yet are the effects of sunshine on air quality. UV radiation has the unique ability to excite bad air, breaking up organic and inorganic PM10 and PM2.5 compounds resulting in the release of additional free radicals. These can exacerbate the issue of bad air quality despite the fact that a little blue sky makes the air seem cleaner.

As intimidating as air pollution may be, you can be proactive in working around it. There are plenty of methods that can work to improve the air quality in your immediate sphere and actively improve your quality of life.

• Use air filters in your home and work spaces. The idea here is simple. Clean up the spaces you most often spend your time. The average person sleeps generally 8 hours a night. This is a large amount of time that can be spent breathing clean air. On the market are a number of air filters with prices ranging from a few hundred RMB to tens of thousands of RMB.

 

• Heed API warnings. There are smartphone apps that regularly give updates on your area’s air quality. There are web sites that also do the same thing. If the air is nasty out, limit your time exercising in such environments and relax in a space where you know the air is clean.

 

• If you’ve got to leave your sphere of clean air. Use a mask. We stand by Respro products as we’ve worked directly with the company to insure all our masks come with their highest rated filter.

Any more there are dozens of masks on the market that serve a number of uses. Respro is designed to fit comfortably, even during active exercise. Not to mention they’re lab-tested and surpassed requirements for N99 (American), P3 (European) and PM0.3 standards. Few other masks on the market can boast being tested as rigorously and oftentimes cheap alternatives will make bold claims only to the detriment of the user. It’s no fun having to wear a mask to live out your life, but if you’ve got to do it you might as well wear the right one.

We firmly believe that like the rainy weather, you can get around the bad air and live your life despite it. It takes a little extra preparation and precaution, but this is far more valuable than falling victim to circumstance. So please, in consideration of your health and well-being, don’t let the past few days’ “good” air fool you. Take the right steps to prevent the adverse effects of air pollution today.

Natooke is working on building professional nice bikes for customers in a reasonable price. Here is a nice video about how we customize.
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While everyone’s packing it in for the holidays, we’re just getting going.  Chengdu’s not a bad place to be during December.

December is looking to be an action-packed one for our friends and the community.  Look over our events calendar to know what we’ll be up to.

Rides, bike-in movies, alleycats, Friday Night Rides, holidays, collaborations, flea markets.  There’s a little bit of everything for everyone.  

For more information, please check out our events page.

You may have noticed we recently hosted the Books & Bikes alleycat. You may also have noticed that on 12/12 we’re hosting another Poker Alleycat.

So what is an alleycat? Alleycats have their origin in bike messenger races. But you don’t have to be a super fast messenger to race. Watch the video to see from a racer’s perspective.

Alleycat video

How it works is pretty straightforward. Moments before the race, all of the riders are provided a map or a list of checkpoints. They’re then responsible for creating their own route and visiting each checkpoint.

This makes the competition more fair. It’s not just about the fastest person, but sometimes the smartest. In the case with our upcoming Poker Alleycat, luck will also play an important role.

If you’ve never tried one we highly recommend it. Alleycats are an awesome way to meet new friends and explore the city. Fun is the objective.

So you think you’ve got an ace up you sleeve. Maybe it’s luck. Maybe it’s skill. Most likely its a bittersweet mix of both. Now’s the chance to try your hand. We’ve collaborated with a selection of small businesses to bring together a ride unlike anything else.

The rules are basic. Finish with a full poker hand. There are nine stops. Each has on offer a random pull from the deck. Is luck on your side?

· Start from Natooke at 15:00.

· Visit each of the nine checkpoints to collect a card.

· Finish at McElroy’s Irish Pub before 19:00.

· Play your best hand from the cards you’re dealt.

· Winner takes top prize.

Best hand takes home the prize. Simple as that. Don’t worry there’s also prizes for the other nine next best hands plus prizes for fastest male and female finishers.

This event is free to attend. Register on 12/12 between 13:00 and 14:30 at Natooke.

Want to bet you’ll have the best hand? Buy in with 50 RMB. The participant with the best hand in the buy-in takes home the whole pot.

Against all odds though, you’ll likely wrap up the night with a big grin on your face.

Big thanks to all our sponsors: Redbeard Burgers, Let’s Vape, Pizza Corner, Scandinavia Cafe, Flow Skateboards, Qinggui Tattoo Studio, Moji, Famous House, Let’s Grind Fresh Roasted Coffee and McElroy’s Irish Pub.

This Friday be sure to be there.  This is the first alleycat Chengdu has seen since June of 2014.

The starting location is from 16 Linjiang Middle Road.  Registration begins at 6:00 p.m.  Race starts at 7:00 p.m. sharp.  Do not be late!

Expect six checkpoints in total.  A map and race instructions will be provided in advance of the race start. The entry fee is at least one book.  More is encouraged! To attend you also must have a camera phone or camera.  Make sure your device is charged before the start! The total race distance is roughly 30 kilometers.  Riders will be responsible for their own route.  This means the average rider will need at most 2 hours to complete the race. Helmets and lights advised.

Big thanks to our supporters, Second Hand Second Story and The Bookworm.  For the occasion, The Bookworm has vowed to donate 25 books.  Additionally, they will be offering up specials to each of the riders. Beyond that, The Bookworm will also be surprising 5 lucky riders with a couple of extra special goodies.

What’s with all the mystery surrounding this race?  Well, the mystery makes for all the fun.  You’ll just have to see for yourself.

Ines Brunn was featured on the cover of the Qingdaowanbao Newspaper on the 11th September 2015. Because Natooke attended the Qingdao German Fair and Ines was performing everyday. There were 200 German booths selling more than 4000 products from the fatherland to over 150,000 visitors.

Please see the following interesting pictures taken from the Qingdao Fair.

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On Sunday November 1st was an event to celebrate the 40 year diplomatic relations between Europe and China. The Delegation of the European Union to China, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the World Health Organization jointly organized a biking and walking event to promote a healthier lifestyle.

For this Europe-China relations event Ines was invited to perform her bike tricks. Everyone really enjoyed watching the fantastic show.

The first idea was to have a 40km bike ride for the 40 years of EU-China relations. But even for officials and diplomates it is hard to get approvals for rides. Even the 6km ride around the Olympic forest had to be canceled in the short term. So they could only ride around the block of the European Commision. But it was still nice with the security escort on that beautiful day. The weather was just too nice, so the head of the World Health Organization, two of his staff and Ines cycled on the cool WHO Flying Banana bikes we had made for them last year.