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Comment
Four wheels bad ... two wheels good
Jeff Cloves
Phil Reardon (PN obit July/August) was a gem of a bloke "very much in the William Morris News
From Nowhere tradition" as Howard Clark put it and his wonderfully inventive tract on re-cycling cycles is still my
constant companion.
Here in Stroud, the founders of Bicycology shyly admit to having never heard of Phil or his great work but
they are clearly his philosophical descendants. By osmosis, or otherwise, their excellent guide has been compiled with the
same wit and flair that Phil showed all those years ago.
Love your bike
Unfortunately, you can now pay as much as #3000 for a bike designed to sit alongside your Porsche car and your Harley
Davidson motorbike, in a garage the size of a house.
The technical complexities of such bikes demand a degree in engineering to understand and maintain, and are a far cry
from Phil's espousal of the sensible, simple and intimate. His insistence that "bikes really don't need a lot of
maintenance, but minor problems do have a way of turning into major ones if not attended to - a well-put-together, well
tended bike is a real friend", is echoed by the Bicycologists.
The founders of Bicycology, James and Imogen, are peace activists and anti-globalisation campaigners from Stroud and
had an excellent stall at our recent free fringe festival. They, like Phil, are champions of re-cycling but their Guide to
Bicycology (Imogen did the excellent drawings) is also a statement of their wider beliefs. What makes it particularly
endearing is its plain speech and its wit. Thus: "The following definition (taken from Pedals' Fictionary) should give the
reader some insight into the field we shall be exploring. However, as will be noted, there is some disagreement and debate
concerning whether Bicycology is an Art or a Science, or indeed whether it is either. It is worth pointing out that most
Bicycologists have tired of this debate, preferring to get on their bikes and ride."
Spanners in the wheels
I am a member of the Stroud Valleys Cycle Campaign and our newsletter, Uphill, has this quotation on its masthead: "Every
time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the human race". It's from HG Wells - author of The War of the
Worlds amongst other books.
The trouble is, that as our own capitalist wars of the world rage, fewer and fewer people are riding bikes. India and
China have turned against bikes and increasingly worship the car - the Indian government is proposing banning inner-city
cycle rickshaws in Mumbai - and at home, outside London at least, bicycle journeys are stagnating when not falling.
Cycles of change
Years ago, my friend Mike Bartholomew had a wonderful idea for a Bicycle Aldermaston - why trudge when you can ride a bike
was his idea - and it would have had a symbolic impact too. Cycling was intimately involved with the birth of the feminist
movement (see HG Wells's wonderful novel Wheels of Chance) and socialism (the Clarion Cycling Club).
Despite BSA making folding bikes for paratroopers in WW2 I've always thought of bikes as essentially pacific. War is
motorised, but I started my own cycling life in a sidecar attached to my mum and dad's tandem. Now, here I am writing for
PN. I rest my case.
"Bikes are sensible, simple,intimate, often beautiful machines. And they're fun! ... whilst they
may not be the complete answer to the car, they are certainly more practical, a heck of a lot cheaper and more conducive
to health."
From The pedal-power pocket book and kerb-side companion by Phil Reardon (5p. Published by Peace News August 1973).
"If your bike is not in good working order this leads to uncomfortable and dangerous riding, which in turn can lead to
depression and earth destroying disorders, also known as unenjoyable cycling and car driving".
From The Bicycology Guide to Bicycology (#1. Published by www.bicycology.org.uk 2006).
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