April 29, 2016

Last Ever Bike Smut in London!

 Miss Poppy Cox is the original Spokeslut 


 
in her own words
"
On the term, "Spokeslut" and how it was meant to shame me for my slutty nature. (I’m just some bimbo that is so brainwashed by the patriarchy that I cannot see how fucked up the image I created is.)
I thought I would write my own personal slut manifesto. A declaration of how I want to live my life. I thought it might provide some inspiration or at least clarification for the rest of you out there. So here it is:

I will have as much or as little sex as I want, with whomever I am mutually attracted to, regardless of race, adult age or gender identity. This will fluctuate throughout my life and I will not feel bad for having more sex or less sex than is usual for myself, or whatever amount society wants to deem is correct. In my sexual interactions, I will always strive to be honest, open, and fulfill my desires as well as my partners, regardless of if they last for many years or just a few minutes. I will not lie or feel shame about my desire to have sex with many people. I will express my sexuality in whatever way I feel fit for me at that point in time, whether it be femme, butch  or any of the rainbow of other shades. I accept that this is influenced by many things, including the patriarchy we live in, but not solely. I will use my voice and my actions to disrupt pre and misconceptions of that sexuality.  I will not fall into the duality of madonna or whore. I am a whole person with many facets. As a sexual being, many of those facets have to do with my sexuality, but it is not the only way I will be valued. 
"




HEED THE WORDS OF A SELF PROPELLED BIKE SEXUAL WOMAN

TONIGHT

Miss Poppy Cox hosts our last ever screening of Bike Smut in London.
@ Old St from 9pm (18s only)

April 25, 2016

Carbon Life vs Silicon Valley. The Last Ever Bike Smut in SF

Time to Back that Bay up! We got a hard drive in our bike shorts and we know where to put it

This Cinco de Mayo (5/5) will be the last ever presentation of Bike Smut in San Francisco!
Our last ever show in LA is just two days later!

photo of our fab tourista in Delores Park

SF is where an extraordinary number of cultural bicycle phenomenon has its origin. Specifically there are two major events that overlap their idealism of decentralized organization and helped Bike Smut grow and disseminate across the planet.


#1 Critical Mass
The world's largest, most common and least centrally organized group ride. It was originally called "Commute Clot" but it seems the original organizers were again ahead of the times realizing that alliteration has its downsides, an awareness we hope to never need negotiate. For those who are uninitiated it has helped connect bicycle enthusiasts around the world. The ride had a substantial effect on cities, not just because cycling is cool but because making space for humans transforms how a city feels.



two posters from the influential Mona Caron

In fact Critical Mass was so important, so formative that we made a feature-length documentary about its effect and why it no longer exists in Portland, the most active city for bicycle culture. Aftermass is a fascinating exploration of a community taking back the streets in the face of brutal, militaristic actions and illegal spying via the Portland Police Bureau. Thankfully Critical Mass still happens in San Francisco on the last Friday of the month: Friday, April 29th!

#2 Bike Summer
Local bike groups worked together to create and inspire their respective communities (roadies, commuters, wonks and whathaveyou) to host rides, workshops, potlucks and really anything that could involve traveling from point A to B on a bike. This took some organizing but the results were immediate. A new community would be born with awareness of itself. Before there was only awkward glances while waiting at traffic lights but now there was the impetus to engage and celebrate and support. Each year a month of events in a North American city helped galvanize the locals and each year the locals would look around after a month of delirious bike-fun people would realize Bike Summer was about to end and ask the question, "We don't have to stop doing this do we?"

From SF to Vancouver BC, to Chicago, to Portland, to New York City, to (almost) Seattle, to Los Angeles and on! We are unsure if Bike Summer still exists but we recently spoke to people in New South Wales, Australia about them hosting something similar in the future (making

But even if BikeSummer never officially happens again it has already inspired many reoccuring events around the world including Chicago's Bike Winter which has been doing it since the end of the 20th century, the short lived MiniBikeSummer, which has since morphed into the month long mindfuck of bike events that is Pedalpalooza, (last year there was 300 events in 24 days) and one of our personal favorites: MiniBikeWinter, where all good ideas go to die:



This event which was cofounded by revphil and has been organized by Zoobomb every dead president's weekend for 12 years; because you don't need dead presidents for free fun... but you should consider health care.

These events were seminal to the founding of Bike Smut. Not only did they help install our film festival with excellent values (creating space for others to share challenging ideas... seems more radical than ever) but more crucially Critical Mass and Bike Summer helped form a bikesexual culture around the world that contributed to Bike Smut. The ideals of the xerocracy, egalitarianism, and DIY all made it easier for artists to feel comfortable by being supported in their respective social groups. These principles help challenge the status quo norms and are essential to building healthy communities to replace the patriarchal dependence, shame and discouragement that comes when we don't take control of our mobility or sexuality.

Bike Smut as a touring film festival is ending with this, our final program.

Lets help these ideas flourish for the next generation






April 12, 2016

The Passing of our Naked Defender



Regular readers will note that this blog refers to itself in the plural, "we" rather than "I". This is because Bike Smut has been propelled by the faceless mass of legs and genitals that rarely get the limelight. By using plural pronouns we have tried to keep that awareness that Bike Smut is more than one person's ideas. Nevemind that of the (oooh!) 1009 posts that have been made over the past decade all but about 9 of them were written by one person. That one person is Reverend Phil, the founder and curator of Bike Smut. For the remainder of this post I am stepping out of my normal role into something more personal, and as such, will use the singular.

While contemplating the future of Bike Smut's final tour. I learned some sad news regarding the passing of a good friend.


In 2006 I was arrested after being hit by a drunk driver during Portland's World Naked Bike Ride. The following story of my arrest and subsequent triumph in the legal system is due to the creative and diligent effort of my recently deceased lawyer, Stu Sugarman.




During most naked bike rides there comes a point where everyone looks around and wonders, “Will it actually happen?” No one wants to be the first person to get naked but you don’t really want to be the last either. In that moment it helps to have someone boldly announce “Now is the time! Take your clothes off and ride your bikes!” I was loud and I’ve never much cared for society’s rules regarding the obscenity of the naked body.  Clothes can be a great thing and provide many functions. Fashion, comfort, warmth, and protection all have their place. But the function of supporting patriarchal norms that make feeling shame about not living up to the impossible standards we see in the mass media? No, that is not a function I care for. So with my loud voice and marginal appreciation of pants I was invited to be the ride leader.

It was a beautiful night. Full of joyous screams of laughter and delight. The simple act of being naked returns us to a sort of child-like innocence as our assumed roles in adult life are shed as quickly as skivvies. When a community embraces these ideals we can see the result reflected in those around us as we are left with only our skin, bare for all without shame. As hundreds of cyclists rode together the city streets seemed to come alive. The sidewalks teemed with cheering onlookers overcome with the irreverence of naked bodies taking back the streets. The ride toured around downtown and while heading south on 3rd we turned right onto Burnside. Its a busy street and a handful of cars were already lining up. For the most part its better to keep cars with cars and bikes with bikes; you can imagine the danger of having distracted drivers among naked bikers.

I rode up to cork the intersection and expressed my condolences to the delayed drivers whom were all completely satisfied to sit and watch the parade. All but one driver, Amanda Truscot who through the haze of various intoxicants proceed to honk her horn, flash her lights, rev her engine, lurch her SUV then proceeded to knock me down pinning my bike under her car. It was a bad enough scene but with the addition of off-duty Portland Police Officer,  Chad Stensgaard as the passenger it became absurd. I was soon cuffed and stuffed and had a variety of misdemeanors filed against me all for keeping vulnerable road users safe!

I was pretty upset, but thankfully my friend Catherine told me she knew a good lawyer who did some probono work for many activists. Many of his cases were for defending animal rights and other more nature-oriented environmental actions; but I had got a good story so maybe he would be willing to help me out. I didn’t expect I would gain a good friend.

Initially things were touch and go between us. I had been warned that like many of the people he defended, Stu Sugarman could be difficult. At one point, and with great bluster, he told me I was wrong about a detail of our case. I proved his mistake which he acknowledged and we refocused on our case. It was a small thing but in that moment we both accepted how easy it is to be wrong and that both of us were more concerned with bigger issues.

The court case rolled on for a year with several delays. Finally we had become so confident that we were going to make the DA look like an idiot we had a model dress up like Lady Justice astride a bicycle complete with white robes, scales and a U-Lock instead of a sword. The image looked great and we printed up a thousand “Naked Justice” posters. The day before our trial Stu went to the DA and presented him with one saying that he expected tomorrow to be “a lot of fun.”
“Are there are lot of these?” the DA asked woefully.
Stu gleefully replied, “Oh yeah, they are all over town! See ya tomorrow!”


The DA dismissed all charges shortly afterward. I was relieved that it was over but sad to not have the case go to trial. Stu and I became good friends and our mutual love of nature encouraged us to explore Oregon’s fabulous environment including surfing the Oregon Coast.



The next year the Portland World Naked Bike Ride doubled in size. The year after it doubled and the following year it doubled. It carried on doubling each year until our recent ride of approximately 12 thousand naked bikers.  Stu had become a mainstay of our naked legal observers support team. He and other lawyers were eager to keep a keen watch out so that no other cyclists would fall the same fate as me. Stu saw it as our civic duty to protest our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, the dominance of cars in our cities, and the shame associated with our bodies. He had been an avid cyclists in his younger days, touring across the Southeast region of the United States and he was a consummate defender of nature.






Thank you, Stu, for lending your voice to protect our freedom to assemble. Tho it should not have to be posthumously you are hereto be remembered as one of Bike Smut's most vaulted supporters, as a Hero de Bike Smut.


photo credit to Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org