Life Cycles, goddammit!

heck, crankpunk has had some ridiculous ideas over the years and is lucky to not be in jail for having tried to bring some of them to fruition, but there were two that seemed great at the time and also still do, even years after having first germinated in the moist, fertile and abundant manure that lives in my cranium.

#1

to re-trace the tire treads of the erstwhile Che Ernesto Guevara. you know, that guy from the Swatch watch, yeah, him.

Mr ‘yeah i can start a revolution by mySELF baby’ went on a grand tour of South America at 23, got politicised by the harsh conditions he encountered in various places, and then went to Cuba to smoke cigars – or something like that. anyway, having read the book, i had this idea – i’ll go and revisit all the places in the book and write about it!

genius right?

then a week later I went into a bookstore and what the flip do i see on the shelf before me? no, next to the half-eaten banana… yes, that’s right, some little *unprintable* had beaten me to it! i was not impressed. of course, there is just about zero chance i’d have actually gotten my arse to South America without ending up taking part in some mad, drug-fueled adventure….

like the Tour of Columbia.

boom boom!

#2

to film the journey, from birth to delivery and on to deliverance (that being its first ride), and, though it would take years to film, the eventual ‘shedding’ or even death, of a bike. or bikes even. any old bikes. an MTB, a roadie, a kids bike, a track bike, just to film the very first pieces of carbon or steel or whatever being made, then to see all the parts going on, then to see the guy or woman or kid who got on it and brought it to life.

great idea huh?

and guess what? i go on Vimeo today and see this wonderful thing: Life Cycles, by Stance Films…

and i have to don my crankhat to these fellas, looks amazing! they not only include the life cycle of a bike but also of the trails the bike gets ridden 0n.

there are, quite obviously, those who think and then there are those that think and then go do. these guys are the latter, and ain;t we lucky that that’s so?

brilliant. i’m downloading now, full review to follow!