Aprés la Quarantaine

Score more credibility for scientists for introducing almost overnight a vaccine against a fatal global virus, because a few individuals, lone pharma insiders and maverick university researchers in Europe and US, against advice and without support, foresaw some rogue nation (China or Russia) would attack rest of world with another influenza variant after several others became pandemics. American small business and workforce, not billionaires who don't pay taxes, fund Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which keep scary samples on hand to draw from despite recent Cult 45's budget cuts, a situation analogous to world trade after the towers collapsed; commerce endured despite efforts to disrupt. Enemies can be domestic and foreign incited by lying leaders. Pandemic mismanagement spawned an ongoing trend of mass shootings, sixty-thousand slain in US over last 5 years. Exactly when will house arrest turn Mar-a-Lago into Mar-a-Gaol? High time to interminably incarcerate perps of highest crime.

Waiting for COVID to disappear is not a sensible strategy. As a child you’ve already been vaccinated against DPaT, MMR, PCV, Polio, and probably HepA&B, Hib, RV, and Varicella; grown up, HPV, quadrivalent influenza, Td and Zoster (shingles). Why wouldn’t you likewise protect yourself against COVID, which has lingered for a year and a half? ADA supports your refusal on rare medical or religious grounds, but lawmakers have already been inoculated, so don’t care if you contract and die. Once vaccinated, you’ll be safer pedaling by bike than pushing a motorized cage, sitting indoors watching media, or walking alongside traffic.

Polarized people will debate anything, from best bikes, to government systems, to mobility methods, to what to eat or wear, to where to live, when to return to “normalcy” (if any such thing will ever exist), whether to get vaccinated at all, yes, rightly so, since these represent core needs, personal risks, and shared experiences. Science isn’t always right; mistrust has been instilled by climate denialists, clumsy consultants, and countless zombie apocalypse cautions. Many arguments aren’t worth joining, but some are if you want to leave languish and find flourish. Maybe a life awaits after a year in this quarantine holding pattern.

With new evidence of turning the COVID corner stateside, everyone ought to have a resolution once it subsides to get out and look around. Other existential threats demand attention, though worst offenders will deflect criticism with irrational personal attacks. Beijing's air isn’t fit to breathe. Soon global warming dismissal, which only preserves profits for a few, will start to displace millions and kill tens of thousands. Resultant flooding of flat land and severe heat and winds will become major deterrents to bicycling, plus increase diseases, such as cholera and malaria. Doing nothing could be much worse than predicted by actual experts, who only look forward into own field, for examples, economics or weather.

It’s not human nature to believe cranks or quacks, except when mainstream customs or medicines only offers a death sentence. Pretty powerful, the placebo effect did alleviate all sorts of illnesses for millennia. Who's to say acupuncture, herbal remedies, or osteopathic "hair of the dog" doesn’t work in some cases. Many FDA approved medicines are grossly misused and wrongly prescribed, a major factor in death and illnesses lately, 70,000 in 2019, about 70% opioid related, some undoubtedly due to pandemic snake oil, in fact, suddenly exceeding motor vehicle accidents, hitherto #3 among ways to die. Despite reservations, science still deserves more trust than shamanism. Nazis sought an occult edge. Necons, their predecessors, make deals with demons to deliver despair and ruin in exchange for immunity and power.

Same applies to news. For decades Labann discounted most media opinions; they got it wrong so often you’d be foolish to trust whatever they say. Real reporters narrate events, not offer advice. Fox News or Newsmax commentators are not trained journalists, some not even college graduates. They are merely biased buskers, meme mouthers, regurgitaters of sound bites, and shills for ultra-conservative power mongers, whose darwinian predation and malthusian logic put personal aggrandizement above community betterment. Delete upon arrival and don’t ever read aggressive and relentless conservative email propaganda. Barely have time to read imaginative and informative copy. Lengths to which they go to dominate opinions proves their manipulative intentions.

But public policy does affect lives, so knowing what’s at stake is important, which is why you might pay closer attention to bona fide journalists. Public ought to be outraged they aren’t getting vital information from official sources that might define live or lose decisions. Conversely, death dealing alcohol, fossil fuels, motor vehicles, opioids, tobacco, and weapons are minimally regulated and widely available, while dangerous and illegal drugs are barely interdicted. Sex trafficking, slavery, and smuggling remain billion dollar enterprises with daily casualties.

Is America in trouble? Because of regressive Republican administrations since Nixon, citizens owe $100 TRILLION, individually $290,000, not counting local, municipal and state debts that double figure. Pandemic not only bled and displaced millions of workers, it exacerbated what everyone has to repay. US GDP, world’s highest for a single nation, hovers around $21 trillion, but IRS collects less than $5 trillion/year. To get debt free at that rate without other obligations would take 20 years, but debt maintenance (interest and principle) alone eats most of revenue while underground economy siphons community’s cash into offshore accounts.

At any point in near future America could go bankrupt with nearly unimaginable consequences including homelessness, hunger, joblessness, poverty and want; seizures of businesses, farms and properties; suspension of entitlements, social security, welfare; total domestic and international dystopia. Congress just goes on printing money rushing along collapse, while a select few profit. Wealth disparity has never been worse in world history; it’s to the point that money can no longer buy power and loses its value. What could save the American Dream is for citizens to recall anyone in office who thinks they can steal revenue, then tax billionaires out of existence. Since wealth is a finite resource, every billionaire means 55,000 families stay below the poverty line. More people worldwide die from poverty than any other reason, one every 3 seconds.

With so many dire issues, why shouldn’t films reflect bicycling? As Bruce Bennett’s Cycling and Cinema (Goldsmiths Press, 2019, 299 pp.) explains, they arrived together over a century ago and ever since have been intertwined. Bennett explores, “The cinematic history of the bicycle... brings a variety of fascinating, unfamiliar or largely forgotten films into focus alongside some more well-known titles. Cyclists introduced nineteenth-century viewers to three-dimensional cinematic space... the first [commercial] film, La Sortie de L’Usine Lumiére à Lyon, is a cycling film.” It does depict three bicyclists wriggling their way through a throng of exiting studio workers.

Your Show of Shows (Dec. 23, 1950) did a skit with Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar as an Italian couple who steal La Bicycletta from a reunited childhood friend, then try to return for a reward. Caesar was a master of dialect, but only fluent in English and Yiddish; though dialogue was pigeon Italian, audience got gist through his vaudevillian face and hand gestures.

60 Cycles (Jean-Claude Labrecque, dir., 1965) documents 11th penultimate pro-am Tour du St. Laurent (run from 1954-65) between-Montreal-and Quebec on a 12 day, 1500 km course that exceeded distance of grand tours Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España and rivaled Tour de France. Low budget long shots of curving countryside and open road covered by 60 riders from 13 countries through Gaspé Peninsula were nevertheless thrilling. This National Film Boards of Canada short allegedly inspired camera work of George Lucas, later famous for Star Wars.

A Day Out (Stephen Frears, dir., 1972) is a film treatment of Alan Bennett’s play about Halifax Cycling Club’s ride to the ruins of Fountains Abbey during summer of 1911, which spins an idyllic vision of Edwardian England.

Based upon year of their release, one might confuse experimental 7 minute Bicycle (Chuck Hudina, dir., 1975), Venezuelan 25 minute La Bicicleta (Oscar Molinari, dir., 1975), and made for British television Wilbur and the Bicycle (Neville Green, dir., 1975). Someone should have told Hudina you never look down while riding. Molinari tracks a high wheeler rider, who disrespects a funeral cortege by riding though, and then gets chased by a murderous foot posse, who can’t keep up but still shoot him in the back from a distance. A teen steals his boneshaker, so its ability to enthrall and impact village continues. Couldn’t find Green’s series, but suspect it has to do with Wright Brothers, who first achieved human flight based on their background in bike building.

Five virgin chicks from Cherry Hill High (Alex E. Goitein, dir., 1977) compete to have the most original sexual encounter during a 2-week chaperoned bike tour. Bare legs and double entendres compete with lame acting and lousy production values.


Le Tour de France The Official History 1903 - 2005 (Sean Kelly, dir., 2005) contends that French were the first to race bikes and Tour de France is the greatest physical challenge in sports as well as sport’s most attended spectator event. Might question whether you’ll gain more from 2 hours of bad color and blurry b/w clips and chaotic throngs surrounding struggling cyclists, or 3 hours actually riding on your own.

Joe Kid on a Stingray (John Swarr & Mark Eaton,dirs., 2005) chronicles 30 year evolution of BMX races and stunts through archival footage and contemporary interviews. Bicyclists still regard BMX as an aberration, but they remain ghetto currency and popular transportation despite obvious limitation.

Gulong [Filipino word for Tires], aka The Bicycle (Sockie Fernandez, dir., 2007) depicts Apao (Steven Fermo) and best buddy Momoy (Jopet Concordia), their desires to spend vacation at an uncle’s fishpond, too far away to walk, and desperate attempts to raise funds to buy and old bicycle from a cantankerous woman.

Bicycle Dreams (Stephen Auerbach, dir., 2009) documents disastrous challenge to Race Across America in less than 10 days, as previously mentioned and not to be confused with family film Bicycle Dreams (Raju Gurung, dir., 2014), where two boys come of age in Kathmandu, Nepal. Their dream is an electric blue, 18 gear mountain bike they can’t afford, but a possibility arises in a poster that offers a reward for finding a lost dog. Adventure, obstacles and treachery teach them that enjoying friendship is more important than possessing an object.

Peloton star biopic A Ride With George Hincapie (Anthony Haney-Jardine, dir., 2009) follows Big George over 35 years having pedaled 667,000 miles from Queens, New York during 1980’s, training in NYC’s Central Park, to Paris Roubaix in 2009. Ultimate domestique who started more Tours de France than anyone, Hincapie now hosts an annual Gran Fondo (Big Ride) based on Italian model among US cities enjoyed by recreational and semi-pro cyclists, next in Greenville, SC, on October, 23rd, 2021.

Seattle siblings masseuse Abby (Rosemarie Dewitt) and dentist Paul (Josh Pals) live together in the house they inherited, along with Paul’s daughter and dental assistant Jenny (Ellen Page). Abby’s boyfriend Jesse (Scoot McNairy) grew from bike messenger to local bike shop owner. Entire cast of Touchy Feely. (Lynn Shelton, dir., 2013) live in frustrated funks. Abby can’t seem to move from baffled ennui into her boyfriend’s bungalow. Paul’s emotionless demeanor cost him dental clients. Jenny delivers a loving calzone to bike shop and longs for Jesse’s unrequited touch.

The Dirty Sniff (Dean Dickinson, dir., 2016) highlights more death-defying debauched Bone Deth BMX mayhem and semi-nude nonsense in Portland, Oregon. After all the property damage they portray you can understand why signs sometimes ban bikes. Featured rider Sean Burns later broke his spine in yet another big stunt.

Danny MacAskill quaffs Red Bull and takes a Wee Day Out (Stu Thompson, dir., 2016) on his Santa Cruz MTB amidst countryside near Edinburgh, Scotland in this 6 minute action short.

Historical docudrama My Italian Secret (Oren Jacoby, dir., 2014), narrated by Isabella Rossellini, reveals how during WWII bicycling star Gino Bartali, Catholic priests, doctor Giovanni Borromeo, and other compassionate Italians risked their lives to save refugees and strangers, particularly Jews desperately fleeing extermination by Nazis. Bartali (voiced by Robert Loggia) used training trips to hide secret efforts from family and fascists. Some subjects of Mussolini would never complacently agree to totalitarian rule, just as majority of Americans aren’t Trumpkins whom they oppose vehemently.

Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones) finally tells self absorbed beau Patrick (Matthew Lewis), “I hate cycling; you know I do,” and won’t be tagging along on his Viking Triathlon trip in lieu of a romantic vacation, because he puts Me Before You (Thea Sharrock, dir., 2016). Meanwhile, she’s falling for her wealthy boss Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a paraplegiac confined to a wheel chair. She visits cycling infested Paris upon his dying wish.

Bicyclist David (Aaron Paul) accepts girlfriend Claire’s (Annabelle Wallis) invitation to Come and Find Me (Zack Whedon, dir., 2016), then she abruptly disappears. Using photographs she left behind, he crosses LA on his beater ten-speed into serious trouble.

Icarus (Bryan Fogel, dir., 2017) began as a quest to expose doping in sports, but turned into a geopolitical thriller involving Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, supposedly a pillar of Russia’s anti-doping initiative but really its facilitator, an Olympic scandal, and uniform cheating to win at any cost. Seems the only thing banned under Putin is truth itself.

Sports melodrama The Little Queen, aka La Petite Reine, (Alexis Durand-Brault, dir., 2014) portrays Quebecois cyclist Julie Arseneau (Laurence Leboeuf), who gets caught hematocrit doping on the eve of World championship under her abusive coach Patrice Robitaille. It was based on the true story of cyclist Geneviève Jeanson, whose career as a professional cyclist was derailed by a 10 year ban, reduced from lifetime by testifying against coach.

Prepubescent protagonist Stevie (Sunny Suljic) of Mid90s (Jonah Hill, dir., 2018) rides his stingray away from abusive brother Ian (Lucas Hedges) and negligent mother (Katherine Waterston) down to local skateboard shop and into all sorts of adult temptations: alcohol, drugs, sex. Doesn’t end well, of course, but could be worse. Does demonstrate what inevitably comes from providing Los Angeleno teens barely adequate sustenance but insufficient motivation during jobless recovery of Reagan-Bush recession. With no domestic policy, consecutive GOP administrations of Bush and Trump caused the Great Recession, and pandemic mismanagement nation’s largest job loss in history. With plenty of time for bicycling, more people than ever now roam aimlessly looking for trouble.

Brad Pitt narrates PBS series e2 Transport (Tad Fettig, dir., 2020). Episode 2 Paris: Velo Liberte explores cultural and economic outcomes of renting bicycles in the City of Light.

CoroNation (Ai Weiwei, dir., 2020, in Mandarin) documents lockdown of Wuhan, China in January of 2020, after 2 months had passed with government misinformation about human-to-human spread. Camera people filmed at check points, hospital wards, and places state built extra rooms to house victims. Mourners burn offerings for their dead family members, then bike or walk off into the night in grief. Cyclists on Flying Pigeons can be spotted throughout on otherwise deserted streets. Not taken into account, China’s tanking economy might lead to further squabbles over Taiwan and world war.

Wendy’s Bag Alert commercial spot tastelessly shows an Asian woman stealing a bicycle to race compulsively for discount fast food. Why has there been no public outcry over racism or theft?

Escapades on the "D" train

“We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it, and Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it... In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key chain. And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the "D" train... The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place. And Madonna, she still has not showed... We see this empty cage now corrode... while my conscience explodes. The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain. And these Visions of Johanna are now all that remain.“ Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, from album Blonde on Blonde, 1966 vs. "Bicycle (oil on canvas)", Bob Dylan, 2012

Orange Bullet D Sixth Avenue Express once served stricken World Trade Centers en route between Bronx and Brooklyn's Coney Island. Escapades make one think of overreachers and terrorists. Why did Oppenheimer call A-bomb research The Manhattan Project? Because most sites involved were secretly located there, splitting atoms with millions of residents none the wiser. In classic obsessive compulsion he quoted Hindu scripture, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Film of same name (Marshall Brickman, dir., 1989) has smart cyclist Paul Stephens (Christopher Collet) steal plutonium from industrial tycoon John Mathewson (John Lithgow) to expose his company as a covert danger to surrounding community, whereupon he makes his own thermonuclear weapon that inadvertently almost takes out much of The Big Apple. All concerned join as a team to defuse it, while innocents unknowingly dodge instant death. After Sartre, being stranded by existential threats, biological to technological, has become the new “normalcy”.

Earth Day (April 22nd) and Mother’s Day (May 9th) evoke Earth-goddess Gaia offerings, Fugian Granny Mazu pilgrimages, Greek Cybele cult sacrifices, Laetare Sunday when Roman Catholics celebrate Mother Church, mother goddess Rhea rites, ode to a barefoot and biased madonna, Roman Hilaria festival, Semite Asherah adherence, Sun Goddess Amaterasu rituals, Taino Atabey admiration, Taoist Doumu adoration, and worship of queens of heaven Anat, Astarte, Inanna, Hera, Isis, Juno, Mary and Nut. All are tied to blossoming springtime, natural rejuvenation, and respect for life. But you get the feeling that however humans, even Shinto mountain ascetics, venerate them, these goddesses and saints don’t necessarily reciprocate, in fact, would rather wipe species off planet after multiple manmade threats of atmospheric pollution, fossil fumes, industrial toxins, nuclear weapons, ocean garbage, and prophesies of a hard rain delivered by Bob’s nasal twang when poetry used to matter.

B&C is 180° opposed to any anti-intellect, cancel culture, dumb down descent into global ignorance. Labann daily observes, reads, views or writes. Recent research indicates that sitting too close to computer screens and watching too many media streams can cause seizures or worse. Yet scholarly books encourage more of same; at least B&C preaches a balance between pedaling and viewing. Holidays might even inspire a ride if weather doesn't decide otherwise.

Culture on Two Wheels: The Bicycle in Literature and Film, literary criticism compiled by Jeremy Withers and Daniel P. Shea (University of Nebraska Press, 2016, 376 pp.), includes Nanci J. Adler’s insightful essay The Existential Cyclist: Bicycles and Personal Responsibility in Simone de Beauvoir’s Blood of Others, among dozens directly related to bicycling culture. Elsewhere, Adler explains how bicycles evolved into antifascist armament:
“Existential, absurdist and postmodern philosophers and writers of the era... questioned pre-war cultural values and the meaning of existence. Bicycles continue to appear in novels as transformative vehicles, but they no longer play the straightforward role as vehicles of liberation from the constraints of cultural mores, gender restrictions or social hierarchies. Bicycles often continue to be symbols of freedom, happiness and love, but they lose their irrefutable power to transform characters in permanently positive ways... Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Blood of Others, Luigi Bartolini’s Bicycle Thieves, Samuel Beckett’s Molloy and L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between, reflect bicycles as beloved articles, useful vehicles, and potentially positive transformative machines, yet they are unable to overcome the disquieting times; bicyclists are no longer destined for eternal happiness... [for Beauvoir] the bicycle is used to differentiate the hardships of the French from the relative affluence of the Nazis... The bicycle machine, in previous decades a symbol of modernity and personal freedom, takes on a more solemn role as a machine of the French Resistance.” Nanci J. Adler, The Bicycle in Western Literature: Transformations on Two Wheels, 2012

“The bicycle was still there, brand new, with its pale-blue frame and its plated handlebars which sparkled against the dull stone of the wall. It was so lissome, so slender, that even when not in use it seemed to cut through the air. Hélène had never seen such an elegant bicycle. ‘’I’ll repaint it dark green, it’ll be even more beautiful,’ she thought.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Blood of Others, 1945, which explores themes of freedom and responsibility, as B&C continues to.

You know Nazis by what they do: Berate, boss, command, demand, denigrate, force, grab, hate, lie, and lots of people die or suffer. The opposite is whoever calmly encourages, leaves be, merely suggests, offers help, shares wealth, and tolerates differences. Everyone has opinions which guide personal code. Nazis will kill if you don’t meekly submit to their sick will. Nazis are divisive, greedy and stupid, because intelligent people know that they do better when everyone does well. Nazis scream continually, irrelevantly of current situation, and unintelligibly. People who tell you facts and truths never change their story and seldom repeat themselves. Let-live losers sort through details to suggest stuff worthy of your time above ground.

Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, dir., 2000) poignantly captures a person’s grief over loss and longing to be reunited. After father abandons daughter during their bicycling outing, she spends entire life revisiting spot on a Dutch dike, where throughout each character rides on a bike. Deservedly won BAFTA award and Oscar for best animated short.

Police sergeant John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) races his Bronco past a Big Apple bicyclist running errands to site of World Trade Center (Oliver Stone, dir., 2006) disaster, where he'll wind up trapped under rubble with fellow officer Will Jimeno (Michael Peña) for trying to evacuate towers and save lives 20 years ago this September. Bottom line: This jihadist suicide salvo against an international commodity exchange was sheer ignorance that targeted democratic freedoms, more muslims and people of color from 87 different nations than America, and system of commerce that feeds world. It purported to use technology to strike against technology, but turned out a vicious attack upon humanity itself. And never forget, Bush and conservatives tried to exploit this holocaust by describing it as a "test of our will" to continue pursuing illegal wars for sake of greedy swells, while it's never been clear who was really responsible. With no help from GOP, decent citizens, firemen, and police answered the call to duty.

An Irish fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell) trawls up a foreign woman (Alicja Bachleda-Curuś) in his net. Astonished she’s not drowned, he asks her name, Ondine (Neil Jordan, dir., 2009). Syracuse, whom townsfolk call Circus, is a divorced recovering alcoholic who has visiting privileges but not custody of his daughter Annie (Alison Barry), whose kidneys are failing. After dialysis in her wheelchair she stalks dad and stumbles onto fact he’s hiding this mysterious beauty. Annie imagines Ondine is a selkie, a mythical chimera seal turned human. Mean kids on bikes take her wheelchair and taunt her for being different, but she’s wise beyond her tender age, because love conquers all.

In post-apocalyptic Montana, bounty hunter Gage (Gina Carano) hunts criminals who refuse to give up fossil fuel vehicles, considered the worst of offenses, and infiltrates Jackson’s (Ryan Robbins) belcher crew for both offered reward and personal vengeance. Jackson captures pilgrims to mine silver, a crucial commodity for ubiquitous masks that filter otherwise unbreathable toxic smog on a Scorched Earth (Peter Howitt, dir., 2014). Bicyclists escort pilgrims, but also get scorched. Those who ride horses fare better; how ponies breath isn’t explained.

Television sitcom Mom (Season 2, Episode 22) Fun Girl Stuff and Eternal Salvation (James Widdoes, dir., 2014) has mom Bonnie Plunkett (Allison Janney) by bicycle chasing daughter Christy (Anna Faris) from flop to flop after she moves out to avoid their toxic interaction that threatens both their relapses into substance abuse.

Fathers and Daughters (Gabriele Muccino, dir., 2015) has novelist Jake Davis (Russel Crowe) tell his daughter Katie (Kylie Rogers as child, Amanda Seyfried as adult), “Daddy sold a book today... That means you can have any toy on the planet.” She replies, “I want a bike! Pink with a basket and bells and streamers dangling from the handlebars...” So he buys her one and teaches her to ride in the park. Later they ride together on her birthday. Rest of film documents Katie’s traumas over tear jerker childhood: car crash, custody battle, fatal seizure, parents’ untimely deaths, separation anxiety, shadow of fame, and trust issues.

Microbe & Gasoline (Michel Gondry, dir., 2015) are nicknames bullies call school chums Daniel the artist (Ange Dargent) and Théo the grease monkey (Theophile Baquet), respectively. Theo rides around school on a bicycle tricked out with a sound system of his own design. Daniel’s caring but depressive mom Marie-Thérèse (Audrey Tautou, Amelie, The Da Vinci Code) and Theo’s dying and needy mom (Janna Bittnerova) give their adolescents cause to try crossing France in an inventive vehicle that can, with the flip of a lever, appear as a tiny house. Being underage, they can neither get driver licenses or register a motor vehicle, so stop when police happen by and transform to stationary. Theo regrets his mother’s death during his jaunt and returns to attend funeral.

Midsomer Murders, Breaking the Chain (Season 18, Episode 3, 2016), has DCI Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) investigating homicide of pro cyclist Greg Eddon (Jack Staddon), who just won local leg and was leading tour. Plot thickens when it's disclosed that 5 years earlier Judith Oliver was accidentally run over by a motor vehicle while leading tourists along a side road supposedly blocked off for bike racing. Then rival Aiden McCordell is struck on the head with a chain whip, and his lungs were pumped with a high-pressure air compressor, rupturing them. Police finally act to save dad McCordell thereby ending the killing spree.

The Philadelphia Bicycle Vignette Story (Bryan Oliver Green, dir., 2017) is a socially scathing surreal series of short skits on title city around 2009. Marcus Borton plays the cyclist. Charlie Day and Rob “Mac” McElhenney of sitcom It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Season 13, Episode 5) keep up their unfunny putdowns of pedaling on a pair of stolen BMXs. Again, bullies are kids on bikes.

Adam Sandler is back to biking in latest film Hubie Halloween (Steven Brill, dir., 2020), where his character, town idiot Hubie DuBois, tries to save citizens of Salem from real skullduggery hidden behind holiday festivities.

SciFi thriller Songbird (Adam Mason, dir., 2021) set in near future speculates billions will die from highly contagious airborne variant COVID-23. Protagonist is a bicycle messenger, who is immune, so able to roam freely except through check points. Haven’t seen, but suspect poor ratings and weak returns are more due to people’s frustration with pandemic and suspicion over situational exploitation and theater attendance. Sure, it’s no Twelve Monkeys, in which Terry Gilliam totally predicted this predicament 25 years ago, but willing to give it 90 minutes after seeing hundreds of low budget turkeys that may have been worse.

Starz original series Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham (Episode 106, 2021) have title pair touring native Scotland by air, land and sea, partly by bicycles, to which one grumbles, “I cannot believe that this was your idea of a good time.” 

Suspect Tramontane

Looking for redemption from a cycling obsession and stumbling through a universe two-wheeled, you never know what will be revealed, sometimes resembling a suspicious blast of northerly wind from Alps that brings disease and excises convenience. Reserve right to refuse any mention, though exclusion has never been Labann's intention.

Called out, woke, then canceled: Practically describes how society dealt with Labann specifically. How do distaff cousins, mistreated mothers, and significant others organize during a pandemic to counter crooked officials, misogynists, nazis, patriarchs, and whoever else wants to overturn hard won civic rights? Make no mistake, what’s at stake are common sense, licensed licentiousness, power lust, privileged status, treasury rape, wealth dominance, and world influence. So no big deal, and not cancel culture, to skip extraneous references, so songs that actually capture culture can inspire independence, as do the following two baker’s dozens.

Eek a Mouse, aka Ripton Joseph Hylton, Peeni Walli [Jamaican reggae], Peeni Walli EP, Gorgon Records, 1983
“Riding on my bicycle got knocked down by a motorcycle in front of a motor vehicle. Luckily, I was Jah Jah disciple. I lay on the ground. I was so injured... did not know what to do... Yeah, man! When the bike really hit me I see stars and peeni walli [fireflies]. Beddameng [akin to Valetudinarian]! Pain all over me, me tink [sic] me get shocked by electricity... Crowd gather around like it was a funeral, ‘ey! Some say it accidental.”

Robert Palmer, Pride, Pride, Island Records, 1983
Addressing a body building obsessed girlfriend, “Roller skates and vitamins and diet plans, academic discipline will ruin your hands. We used to ride tandem and have lots of fun, but bicycles for exercise are made for one.” Perhaps the late pop artist, often surrounded by supermodels, might have lived into his sixties with own spin regimen.

Josh Rouse, Sweetie, Country Mouse City House, Bedroom Classics, 2007
“Life in circles and we dream of some place to go. [Chorus] We’ll sleep on roof tops. We’ll ride on bicycles. Baby, we'll get married. Don’t you want to, Sweetie?”

Jonathan Mann, Song #121: To: Sarah and Mike From: Meredith and Adam re: Sorry about your bikes, Song a Day: Year One, self, 2009

Jonathan Mann, Song #203: Bike Love, Song a Day: Year One, self, 2009

Jonathan Mann, Song 249: Bicycle Blvd., Song a Day: Year One, self, 2009

Jonathan Mann, Song #280: Hey Mr. Bike Thief, Song a Day: Year One, self, 2009

J Prozac, A Boy and His Bike, Here Is My Heart, self, 2013

Julian Bach, Ride [South African], Man on The Bicycle, self, 2013
“We’ll ride into the source of the night... into forever where nobody has ever gone.”

Julian Bach, Man on The Bicycle [South African], Man on The Bicycle, self, 2013
“Man on the bicycle now rides a luxury car miles away from his bicycle... Come back to your roots.... Get your bike into gear.”

Kids On Bikes, A Boy Needs A Bike, Transference EP, self, 2014

Me for Queen (Mary Erskine), Bike With No Name, Iron Horse, self, 2014

Me for Queen (Mary Erskine), Freewheel, Iron Horse, self, 2014

Me for Queen (Mary Erskine), Traffic Light Crush, Iron Horse, self, 2014

Me for Queen (Mary Erskine), Wheelie, Iron Horse, self, 2014

Me for Queen (Mary Erskine), White Bike, Iron Horse, self, 2014
The Guardian said, “Iron Horse: an album [crowdfunded] inspired by cycling in the city will give 5% of all sales to RoadPeace, a UK charity for road crash victims, and 20% of anything over its target.”

Owen Pallett, Soldier’s Rock [Seattle indie], In Conflict, Domino, 2014
Interesting dissonant use of lead violin. “Out on a bicycle a reflection left behind, behind. The desires of your daughters they will never be defined, defined. Wild pedal wild energized by the stolen vodka and triple-sec. Wheels spurting up the flecks of mud on your blue jeans and your turtleneck. I'm out on a bicycle feeling God is on my side. My mother didn't believe in discipline or the unconscious mind... Somewhere between the road and the ever-darkening sky, ooh, the greediness of our hearts will not be satisfied.”

Alexander & Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, fea. Dan Moriyama (piano), A Woman Wearing Bloomers on a Wheel, single/video, Andagio, 2015

“There’s nothing quite as splendid as a bloomer; for riding bicycles they’re perfectly ideal.” And while they’re at it, organizing with suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst to force men to let them cast ballots. After 150 years of women citizens exercising their born right to vote, begun in State of Wyoming, and 100th anniversary of the ratification of Nineteenth Amendment, none of all those specious objections against manifested. In fact, quite the opposite, enfranchised women actively and successfully fought fascism during WWII. These days, either gender is just as apt to vote foolishly or wisely. State of Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp has again disenfranchised blacks and women with vicious new Jim Crow laws based upon the Big Lie, despite Trump’s actively and illegally trying to distort results there, and due to Rudy Giuiani’s false claims of a stolen election. As the minority party, GOP knows it has to resort to electoral redistricting, exclusionary ballots, low turnout, and restrictive measures to creep into office and only represent privileged creeps including themselves. Such an outrage should never be tolerated, and those who try ought to be recalled or voted out.

Hip-Hope Buster, À bicyclette [French], single, self, 2015
Hip hop homage to old Yves Montand song.

Slabs, Brian Pulva [space jazz], Ballena Solitaria, self, 2015
“That man, the man with a beard, in a skirt, on a bicycle... Lumbering internal combustion. Wildering images distinct from, lumbering internal combustion. Slabs form in tarmac. Smog is scattered. And in the dust all our friends will rot.”

Jackal & the Wind, Finding Home, Finding Home, CD Baby, 2017
Concludes with, “A bicycle with nowhere to go. I’m on my bicycle, and I can’t find home.”

David Haerle, Glendale, Garden Of Edendale, Edendale Records, 2018
“Well, I had, had a love, and she lived there way up high above Kenneth Road, and I rode, yeah, my bicycle there, and she showed me how it felt to feel like a man, a man in love with a girl and with the whole wide world. In Glendale it all began.”

Geotic, Swiss Bicycle [electronica instr.], Traversa, self, 2018

Ghost Suns, Cards on a Bicycle [English synth], single, Fierce Panda Records, 2018
“Something like a new machine ready to be turned on... It’s been a long time since I’ve been down on this road... Cards on a bicycle marking time and space, keep moving forward, never looking back.”

Hawksley Workman, Italy [Canadian], Median Age Wasteland, Isadora Records, 2019
“Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle days. Riding through the hayfields, riding through the haze, just giving into summer, giving yourself away. We never came here looking to dispel any notions, looking to mop up any oceans. but just to see the sun upon your face.”

Kamuflauge, Bicycle [reggae], single/video, 2186113 Records DK, 2020

Abide Vicereine

“Odd Jobs has ridden on... the little girl from in back of the clothesline cast a shadow like a crow. It’s beak spoke open. ‘Why doesn’t old Odd Jobs come around anymore?’ He used to ride his form-a-heap bike, and his basket was a whole candy store. He used t’make Xs from door to door. All the women and the young girls around here ask why old Jobs don’t come anymore, why old Jobs don’t come on home. And the gate without its paint on danced and creaked and moaned. Here he comes peddlin’ up on his form-a-heap bike, a bag of skin and bones. Spokes were scraping two rust fenders. Oh.”
Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) & His Magic Band, Odd Jobs [1976], Grow Fins - Rarities 1965 - 1982, Revenant, 1999

Had an elderly pal Joe, since passed, who was keen on political debates for what they really mean, legislative tactics that affect lives unseen. Having stormed Iwo Jima for liberty and life, Joe would be offended at strife with which America has become rife. A dyed-in-the-wool Democrat due to their one time staunch support of labor, would be hard to imagine degree of his rage vis-à-vis GOP’s gun proliferation, oil profits, power lust, self service, and standing shoulder to shoulder with a sociopathic loser. After introducing so many tax cuts for wealthiest few, none in Congress cast a single vote for latest relief law, even one without a minimum wage hike. They’ve made it clear who they like: Billionaires, businessmen, and corporations they fear, never those in need and suffering from want. Repeats historic mistake, “Let them eat cake!”

Ideologues mustn't assume a party stays the same; members and platforms change, and policies get strange. Both major parties say whatever might sway votes their way, and sell influence to the highest bidder, so tacitly pass along trickle up swindles to enrich every supporter. Token pittances aren’t going to make eligible individuals solvent, but will pay any advancement and wend through economy, unlike bank bailouts and tax cuts that wind up in some offshore balance statement. Lots of bills make billionaires, who seldom seem to pay own loans, rather lash costs on backs of worker drones.

Ghost bike for a 6-year-old mowed down during a family outing on a bike path by a motorist.

Examples set indirectly cause fatal consequences. GOP’s disrespect for laws and stance on guns goad domestic terrorists. Self proclaimed patriots and white supremacist separatists indiscriminately kill those to whom they have access simply because they are heavily armed and mentally defective. How many bystanders and children have died in US gun massacres? According to official figures cited by Congressman Desaulnier, more than soldiers in Vietnam War, over sixty thousand in last 5 years alone! They'll massacre innocents, then crucify dissidents.

Recently, six women were murdered in what appears to be a hate crime against Asians, in part from frustration over coronavirus. News media exaggerates an incident as trending, but this regrettable splinter only reinforces a global constant of targeting unarmed, vulnerable and weak, sometimes by those in positions of authority. So many Americans own ammo and guns, no army would stand a chance of ground conquest. Only biological and nuclear weapons would work, which creates a dilemma over what would be left to seize. America’s strength had been its diverse people and their work ethic. Power is only worth possessing as long as you don’t use it indiscriminately.

Furthermore, news denounces sudden mistreatment of women. Would be laughable if not so shortsightedly pathetic. For millennia, patriarchs backed by popes put women down, reckoned them third class chattel, sometimes sold them as slaves. Consequently, femininity focused on charms to manipulate machismo morons. Longing to attract right mate, Americans, more women than men, now spend $50 billion each year on cosmetics and $2 trillion on fashion apparel. Toss in crowding, ego, hormones, peer pressures, and stereotypical behaviors, what should you expect? Mixed messages sent, so begins series of events that result in Thelma and Louise tragedies everyone resents.

One cannot be the voice of abandoned, disappointed, disenfranchised, disillusioned, or dismissed and not anger those so delusional to believe themselves in control. Human reality has both concrete external and emotional internal elements. A great deal of life’s experience depends upon how they interact. Both demand expert handling, but rank amateurs stand in, so make for a comic or melodramatic mess. Only those with intact shreds of self esteem can expect success. Every woman wants to be treated at least like a vicereine, if not queen. Lust is the vice through which she's supposed to reign and you abide. After years of neglect of her lowly subject, who’s left to deliver respect?

Biggest myth of all is that you receive commensurate with what you contribute. Doesn’t take into account grifters, malingerers, taxmen and thieves, who laugh up their sleeves at what your hard work achieves. Doesn’t matter, because you’re stuck with whatever defective programming you were born, dealt or nurtured into. Behooves a person to test self and skills against many challenges to find a role in which one can prevail, and foresee a fall back once equipment begins to fail. Even so simple a formula can never be assured in an unreliable world with rugs pulled out from beneath your feet, savings reduced by inflation, and threats strewn upon your sweet cheat.

Pandemic and recession proof industries meet basic needs. Certain manufacture, farms, mines, pharma, ranches, state services, and supermarkets haven’t laid anyone off. Home deliveries have expanded due to personal distancing. But minimum pay hasn’t risen in decades and wealth disparity is worse than ever. You’re neither entitled nor owed anything for sure. If wages matched growth in productivity, minimum would be $24/hour, though $15/hour would preserve jobs and raise 32 million families from poverty. If neocons won’t permit, unions might see to it.

Enormity and extent of problems crush individuals; only through consensus and teamwork does anything important get accomplished. Yet you’re surrounded by gross incompetence and oppositional defiance that says, “Makes no sense, so let’s do it.” Nation will never truly appreciate how close it came to totalitarian rule. Whatever you think works won’t once universe ceases bestowing and commences reclaiming. Gravity’s a bitch, but there it is, always dragging or slowing you down.

Captains like to impart groans of hate and indignant insights, since they're so easy to relate. Art forms that resonate draw audiences, but efforts to produce soon become drudgeries that no longer elate. Bicycling humbles one, instills doubts, reveals fatal flaws that cannot be resolved, such as inevitable mortality, needs to pursue what’s unpopular and unprofitable among dopes, and support systems built on slippery slopes. Closest you’ll ever be to literally free is out bicycling apart on lonely back roads or where sky meets the sea.

Warren Buffet’s life hacks say be positive, don’t overthink, do play and sleep more, and exercise outside today. Bicycling will forever fill that bill unless you're suicidal. TOMORROWS might be the heaviest 3 syllable word in English language, heavier, say, than manifestos (often go unread), braggadocio (rolls off tongue), or simply future (some unspecified date). Tomorrows has bulky, wavy, wide letters that occupy space, and oppresses procrastinators with its imminence and inevitability. Waking up to a new tomorrow with hope treats every cell in body to universe's pure energy. 

Both book and reader were sprinkled throughout with easter eggs that revealed facts too personal outside context. Writers write to be read, a one-way dialogue. Offered an option to comment, which is why so many debatable perspectives were presented. One can only assume too few readers or too much truth limited. Either way, B&C in totality was never worth the effort, so intend to end. Thus concludes suffering while resurrection awaits.

Ides Marchpane?

(Kim) Chung Ha, Bicycle [Korean], Querencia, Genie Music, 2021 

Messages might not be timely, and time plays tricks on memory. Labann scratches his head on why Richard Ballantine (1940-2013), American scion of Bantam Books publishing family, author of Richard’s Bicycle Book (aka “the bike-shed bible” from a half century ago, 1972) followed by 7 other cycling-centric titles (millions sold), and founder of Bicycle Magazine, has been forgotten. From early recognition of 1970’s bike boom, exposés of automotive greed, practical advice on buying and owning not just bikes but in general human powered vehicles, and protests against Vietnam War, wouldn’t be surprised his works were actively suppressed. Could explain why he mostly resided in London, where he kick started mountain biking by importing England’s first 20 units of Ritchey Montares. Ironically, when you google his name, you find dead twenty-year-old Marine PFC Richard Ballantine on Vietnam Veterans Wall of Faces, but not so much about this eccentric but influential cycling advocate, who gradually grew to understand how bicyclists are reluctant warriors against a vicious paradigm fueled by blood and petroleum.

For the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, ecology aware San Jose State College students bought a brand new Ford Maverick, disrespected it in a mock parade, then buried it on campus. After Ralph Nader, people began to see cars as counterproductive to human survival. Still under attack 5 decades later, environment received a chance for justice after post-election policy reversals. Had to expect that fighting for planet’s sake would be controversial. They say the first casualty of war is truth, though soldiers whose lives are on the line don’t buy it.

While Biden promises a new round of bicycling infrastructure projects, he also intends to create a million new stateside automaker jobs. Reliance on obsolete, unsustainable mono-industry makes little sense in long run, whereas grants and rewards for positive innovations and practical inventions do. Yet elite pols heavily invested in EPVs, solar and wind rile neocon wonks. Cars and computers are no longer such necessities; climate, energy, food, housing, potable water, and vaccines remain biggest challenges to survival, especially if your policies do nothing to mitigate motor vehicles, which remain world’s biggest threat to all when you take wars for oil and wastes collectively into account.

Texas shut down in February with widespread suffering after decades of oil production caused climate change that affected jet stream and drew a polar vortex to freeze them, while regulators neglected to foresee and plan a suitable contingency. Texas is the only US state that privatized its electric grid, shuffling contract to insiders, all of whom have been fired or chosen to resign. So typical: Suck millions in obligatory taxes, then stick payers with consequences, so you can abscond to relax in tropical luxury. Global warming poses yet another threat, howling, punishing winds; never before saw so many rogue gales that menace bicyclists more than most. Regular people are forced to hunker down and read by candlelight, or computer screens, if lucky enough to still have service. In aftermath of catastrophe and contagion, some bake sourdough bread, sculpt marchpane whimsies for guests who weren’t invited, or solve crossword puzzles while sensing a García’s Márquez’s moment of love, plague, solitude, and yearning.

Busy online in advance of Earth Day 2021, collected 5 dozen previously unlisted bicycling songs from all over the globe, posted below (in order by year of release), many thanks to Alex Chang, who has been continually updating a Youtube channel that has reached 200+ videos from widespread sources and years, including Finland and Russia. Also updated definitive spreadsheet linked on Wikipedia, which, while impossible to ever be comprehensive, does contain more vetted non-covers than any other list on planet, about 2,150.

Cal Stewart, Uncle Josh on a bicycle [spoken word], single, Berliner, 1899

Cal Stewart, Uncle Josh Weathersby on a bicycle [spoken word], single, Victor, 1901
Comedy from over a century ago viciously attacked cycling for its impracticality. For decades dozens of different but similar versions were recorded. Joke’s on Josh, because bicycling got better and safer, and four times as many go by bike as by car.

Orquesta Tropical, Mi Amor En Bicicleta [one-step dance instrumental,”My Love on a bicycle”], single, Victor, 1924

Earl Rouse & Brothers, Pedal Your Blues Away [c&w, 1936], John’s Old Time Radio Show, East River Records, 2015
Apparently R Crumb with Cheap Suit Serenader’s weren’t song’s originators, as this recent rerelease points out.

Six Hits and a Miss with Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, Two on a Bike, single, b-side of Bye Bye Blackbird, Capitol Records, 1943
Composed by Gene de Paul with lyrics by Don Raye, was included in soundtrack of Hi’Ya Chum (Harold Young, dir., 1943).

Silvana Pampanini, Ma dove vai bellezza in bicicletta [Italian], Beauties on a Bicycle [soundtrack], EDIC, 1951
From 70 years ago, this farce about chorus girls on a mixed modal road trip stars Pampanini, who sings title song, “But where are you going, beauty, by bicycle? Do not be in a hurry, stay a little on my heart. Leave the bike, give me your kisses...”

Freddie Sandy, The Bicycle Song, single, [unknown label and date]
Cover of Max Miller’s Let’s Have a Ride on Your Bicycle (1953) rife with sexual harassment and innuendo, probably comes from early 1960’s. “I said, my dear, if there’s nobody near, I’d like a ride on your bike... After the ride I began to perspire. It wasn’t the ride; I’d been pumping her tyre.”

Brita & Eikka, Polkupyörä [Finnish, juvenile, “Bicycle”], Brita ja Eikka laulavat lapsille, Scandia, 1960
Sung to Freddy Quinn tune Oh, My Darling Clementine, “We borrowed a bicycle... I pedal, you control, as a dance journey goes, to Grandma when we cycle the skyscraper is not visible... After a bike ride to grandma, I put the bike behind the barn next to the wall to sleep...”

The Rolling Stones, Something Happened to Me Yesterday, Between the Buttons, Decca, 1967
At end of trippy album closing tune, Mick Jagger says, ”So if you're out tonight, don't forget, if you're on your bike, wear white. Evening, all.” Album was one of their top sellers.

Jean Saint-Paul, Vas-Y Eddy [Belgian, “C’mon Eddy (Merckx)”], single 7", Phillips Records, 1967
Notable for being the first recorded song about Merckx, it’s partisan praise for nation’s biggest bicycling champion and most famous citizen.

Singing Guitars, aka Поющие гитары, Песенка велосипедистов [Russian rock, “Cyclist’s Song”], single/video, Мелодия [“Melody” label], 1969
“It was difficult for a man ten thousand years ago. He walked to the pharmacy, to work, to the zoo. He didn't know the bike, blindly believed in miracles. Because I have not tasted all the virtues of the wheel... Sit down and just press the pedal. And now in this world everyone is romping somewhere. Adults and children are riding to work, to the zoo. They go to the bathhouse and the pharmacy. They’re going to my mother-in-law for lunch.”

Wachauer Buam, Ja mir san mit'm Radl da [Austrian beer hall polka], “Yeah, we are here by bike”], single, Philips, 1971
“... two cavaliers, they’re going to the country party. You expect a Porsche, chrome-painted and super fine. But suddenly the boys hear it screaming from afar: ‘Yes, I'm there with my bike; yes, I'm there with my bike!’”

Peter Hinnen, Mir sind mit em Velo [Swiss-German, “I’m on my bike”], single, self 1973

Christoph Busse, Fahrradsong, Sesam, Öffne Dich! (Mit Liedern Aus Der Sesamstraße)[‘Open Sesame! (With Songs from Sesame Street)”], Fontana, 1976
Ripoff of Neil Young’s tune After the Gold Rush (1970) with own lyrics, supposedly aimed at juvenile listeners.

Marcos Valle, Bicicleta [Brazilian funk], single, Som Livre, 1984

Sahnie (Hans Runge), Fahrrad fahr’n [German], Erste Sahne, EMI, 1989 “I have an old bike, just like I need it. It's beautiful and environmentally friendly too! I'm riding a bike, my old rattling bike. I'll get new rims made of light metal and chrome.” An aside, Runge is also a bespoke state-of-the-arts super-fast car brand, whereas Rudge was a British bikemaker, like Humber, swallowed by Raleigh.

Jason Wang, Bike, Wang Shixian Sings Old Chinese Songs 4, Sinuo Beite/Sony, 1990

Rick Reed & The Ethereal Bastards, Dr. Hoffman's Million Year Bike Ride [eam], single/video, self, 1990 

Bottlecap, The Bicycle Song, single, Tummy Button Cassingles, 1994

cLOUDDEAD, Bike 2, cLOUDDEAD, Mush/Bigda, 2001

cLOUDDEAD, Physics of a Bicycle, The Peel Session, self, 2001

cLOUDDEAD, Physics of a Unicycle, Ten, self, 2003
Used to think these four, including Bike 1 previously listed, were all the same under a different name. Once posted to Youtube, got to actually hear, and they are not, though that hardly matters given unintelligible content.

Eason Chan, 單車 [Chinese, “Bicycle’], Shall We Dance? Shall We Talk?, Emperor Entertainment Group/EEG Music, 2001

Juice Leskinen, Einarin polkupyörä [Finnish, “Einar’s Bicycle”], Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int, Love Records, 2003 rerelease bonus track
Lyrics describe finding a rusty bike under a barn, and riding it to a bar for beer and fallen angels.

Egotrippi, Polkupyörälaulu [Finnish, “Bicycle Song”], Matkustaja [“Passenger”], Zen Garden, 2003
“On your bike from the top of the hill, if you pedal really hard and don’t use the brakes, you can get into town in half an hour... Temptations in every direction. The wheels spin at a steady pace. I guess the bills go unpaid. How can it be possible... that all his money can be wasted... down to the last penny together in a record store. You can waste all your money down to the last penny with a good conscience.”

Bergelheim, Ich fahr Fahrrad [German indie, “I Ride a Bicycle”], Neuer Deutscher Pop - Aufnahmezustand 5 [compilation], XYX Music, 2006
“Only ride a bicycle and do what makes you happy.”

Holy Crow, The Bicycle Song, single/video, self, 2008

The Wonder Years, An Elegy For Baby Blue [indie punk], Won't Be Pathetic Forever EP, Hopeless Records, 2008
Anguish about bike being stolen: “It's like the world stopped revolving in the absence of you...Nothing about you but your wheel's been anything but true. Come on, man. You've been a good friend. I had that dream where we found you again... We didn't stand a chance. It broke my heart to watch them ride you down Mifflin. Sometimes, at night, I swear I hear you screaming, ‘No! No! Don't let me go...’ Dylan was right because it's all over now, Baby Blue... We're never (never) getting caught again. So, if you see them, tell them, 'Man, I just want my bike back.'"

Rock & Rollinger, Fahrrad [German, explicit], Rollst Du noch oder Rockst Du schon? ["Are you still rolling or are you already rocking?"], SM Noise Rec., 2009

Egotronic, Fahrradlied [German punk, “Bike Song”], Was Soll’s, self, 2010

Honey Trappists, Bicycle Ride Through the Nation’s Capitol (Lokin Out), Rough Jazz: Volume One, self, 2010

Vocokesh, Dr. Hofmann's Bicycle Ride [instrumental psychedelia], Dr. Hofmann's Bicycle Ride, Phonosphera Records, 2010

The Aquabats, Poppin' A Wheelie!, Hi-Five Soup!, Fearless, 2011
“I love love love love love love poppin' a wheelie! On my bike! When you see me outside with my wind-swept hair riding by with my wheel in the air, You’ll never see me happier... That’s when I pull those handlebars and get 'em in the air... And I'm the king of the world as I'm balancing.”

Dynamo Team, feat. Lulu, Roll the Dynamo [Slovak disco in English], Slavia, Lark Records, 2011
“After all day at school I am down. I need to get out, so I leave the town. I take my bike and roll the dynamo. I worked all day, now I should stop. It’s time to relax, at least I hope.”

Nico Touches the Walls, バイシクル [Japanese, “Bicycle”], Humania, Ki/oon Records/Sony, 2011

Ryan Hardy, Bicycle, Heavy Mandolin, self, 2011

Charity Kahn & the JAMband, Bike [juvenile], Family Values, self, 2012

Choi Jung In & Kang Gary aka 정인&개리, (자전거 [Korean, “Bicycle’], single, Sony-ATV, 2014
“We bike in the breeze. I keep smiling... Don’t stop, keep riding toward the sunset.”

Craig Richey, Girl on a Bicycle [instrumental], Girl on a Bicycle [soundtrack], Lakeshore Records, 2014

Charlie Burg, feat. Daniel James, Phillip's Bicycle, One, Violet, self, 2015
“On my bicycle I go too fast. The little shops that I ride past, he people's faces, they make me laugh. I approach the curve and stop to see a hill of true adversity. I think to myself, can anybody see me? I can't believe I'm better than I ever was... I am taken to a forest path where I trample autumn leaves and grass... my shoes are worn, my helmet's loose. I packed a sandwich and some juice. The wind and I have made a little truce”.

Bike, Enigma Do Dente Falso [Brazilian psychedelia, “False Teeth Puzzle”], 1943, 30th Cent. Rec., 2015
No discernible bike lyrics on this trippy album devoted to Dr. Albert Hoffman’s invention of LSD.

Schlappn, Altes Fahrrad [German, “Old Bike”], Back from Klappse, self, 2015

Dota Kehr, Rennrad, Keine Gefahr ["No Danger"], Believe Music, 2016

Vavan aka Владимир Селиванов (Vladimir Selivanov), Велосипед aka Velosiped [Russian, “Bicycle’], Zhenshchiny. Svoboda, Sony Music Entertainment (SME), 2016
“We'll leave here on a bicycle. We'll go wherever we want from here. Palm trees, the sea and the people.We will be welcomed and they'll notice that we're awesome.”

Celo & Abdi, Shimano XTR [German, explicit gangsta hip-hop], Diaspora, Azziackz, 2017
“G's on the street packaging tool, digital scales, cash, and my bike, get on the pedals, Bianchi Methanol [brand model]. Down the mountain, pack and seal, roll on carbon. Keep your balance with your phone to your ear. My driving style, sometimes fast, sometimes nice and slow.”

Chris Komus, Bicycle Rides with Dr Hoffman [eam], Sickly Fingers, Shanti Planti, 2017

Jason Bartsch, Son of Anarchy, 4478 Bochum, recordjet, 2017
I'll get my bike out of the garage, steering wheel up, nice retro look. My bikes are from Schwalbe. I'm a gangster in my hood... Whenever I cruise I am super ecological. I don't need an exhaust. I have legs and I am fashionable in time... I'm doing the tour through the village of Jan-Ullrich-Style... Cars stink. I'm more of the bicycle type.”

Stereophonics, fea. Kelly Jones, Boy On A Bike, Scream Above the Sounds, Parlophone Records Limited, 2017 “What am I running from? I used to be so fearless... I’d fly around the world. Suppose I’ve seen a lot of things, and maybe they left their mark. I know when you can't see what you're afraid of It's like being afraid of the dark... I used to feel so free when I was that boy on a bike riding down that silent snowy street in the valley that made me feel alive... But what's around the corner for me now? I gotta ride the whole street and take a turn.”

Auro, Schöne Mänsch Ufem Velo [German], single, self, 2018
Beautiful cyclists protesting too much war over last decade endure rubber pellets and water canons.

Rie Takahashi, Jitensha [Japanese], Hoshino Kizuna, Pony Canyon, 2018
“Go to see the sea by bicycle, aiming at the sun in the dawn sky. Chatting on undecorated days continues. Ride a bicycle and aim at the sun.”

Chevy & Park Bird, If I Could Ride a Bike, If I Could Ride a Bike, Sneaker Kids, 2019
“If I could ride a bike, I’d zoom around the world with you sitting there behind me. I’ll take you to places past several faces just livin' life so carefree... Oh, when you call me I'm drifting on clouds, like I'm dreaming. But in the morning, I’ll wake up and see that you're stuck here with me.”

D.A.B. feat. Spikey Spike, Op De Fiets [Dutch hip-hop], Het Begin Van Iets Groters [“The Beginning Of Something Bigger”], Walboomers Music, 2019

Jitterin’ Jinn, Jitensha [j-pop, “Bicycle”], single/video, Nippon-Columbia, 2019

Dominic Miller, Bicycle [jazz instrumental], Absinthe, ECM Records GmBH/Deutsche Grammaphon, 2019

Richard Eaton, The Bicycle Song [jazz instrumental], Songs of the Parkade, 1048381 Records DK, 2019

Team Dresch, Take on Me, Captain My Captain, self, 2019
“Wish I was riding bikes with you; I've sat down in the middle of this mess I've made of letters and clothes. Wish i was anywhere with you.”

Underwood, Vélocipède [eam], Vélocipède EP, Tanzgemeinschaft, 2019

Kinjal Dave, Cycle [Gujarati/Mumbai], Cycle, Zee Music, 2020

Myung-Jun Kim, Bicycle, Night walking alone, Five Senses Entertainment, 2020

Nick Goodman, I Want to Be Your Bicycle Seat, Heaven Sent Or..., self, 2020
“Honey, this Christmas I don’t want to fill with food... this year your love is all I need and to be the seat on your ten speed... I promise to be discrete.”