Bike Culture
Short overview of bike culture and why the bike is important to make us feel comfortable living in cities
Sport In China
Whenever an event such as the Olympics comes around it has, for many years, been a competition between the US and China to see who can grab the top spot on the medal table, other nations don’t even get a look in. But sport in the East has a different role to play in society than Western nations. Sport has long been considered a hobby by those in the West and as such the chance to compete is always there, it can sometimes mean that a potential champion is lost due to any number of external factors holding them back. In China, it is different, sport has been seldom seen as a hobby, but rather the source of creating National pride through the glory that selected individuals could obtain. There is perhaps no better illustration of this than during the London 2012 Olympics which showed Tom Daley’s delight in achieving a bronze medal while Bo Qiu’s anguish at receiving “just” a silver.
However as China has continued to develop economically, raising the disposable income of parents there has been a growth of sport for fun, rather than always needing to be serious. In 2008 Beijing’s first bike race occurred, it was a small affair with few participants and by no stretch of the imagination a long distance, but it set the wheels in motion (pardon the pun) for the bicycle scene to develop. Now within Beijing there is a bicycle group known as Big Dirty which started out as a few expats who wanted to cycle more seriously than the bureaucratic system of China would allow officially, often because if there is just one accident then the authorities will stop it. In order to reduce the chances of any accidents occurring in official races the distance, surface and elevation all have to be manageable by even the most inept cyclist.
Big Dirty has now grown in size and reputation and on its way has collected a, now majority, contingent of Chinese nationals as members. Recently, Big Dirty organized a road race from Tientjin to Beijing, a ride of over 130 km far out shadowing those that are organized officially, which tend to be no more than 15 km on the flat. The bike is having a resurgence here in China after the backlash it received after being a sign of poverty, prompting quotes such as “I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on bicycle”, with it now being seen as the accessory of choice in certain circles. With clubs such as Big Dirty being affiliated with Natooke it is the aim to help continue the trend of improving the image of bikes within China and to promote the idea of competitive sport that can be undertaken as a hobby rather than a career, as well as a fun and green way of getting around.
