Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
Photo of the ticket, and the bike in question, courtesy of Leanne Eisen.
When photographic artist Leanne Eisen left the Scotiabank Theatre on Monday following a screening of Ponyo, she was surprised to find this piece of blue paper wrapped around the handlebars of her vintage bicycle. At first, she only saw the words, "Your bicycle has been ticketed because…"
Instead of an official citation issued for some sort of parking infraction, however, what she found on the ticket were charming compliments from an anonymous flâneur, who declared the chassis "badass" and "unique."
And it is! Eisen's ride is a classic Dutch Batavus city bike inherited from her grandmother, which she says constantly attracts attention from complete strangers who shout out comments as she rides past. "It's not just the appearance of the bike that pleases me so much," she told us, "it's just a really comfortable ride. I can sit with my back straight and take in my surroundings."
Eisen is so protective of the bicycle that she employs two U-locks through the frame, an O-lock on the rear wheel, and a cable lock through the front, with her boyfriend's decrepit beater often also secured with a heavy-duty chain to one side. "I know it's overkill," she says, "but I can't afford to buy a new one, and it's all I have left from my Oma."
The mysterious ticket was particularly delightful to Eisen because cycling is a very serious part of her life, and it's featured prominently in her artistic work. She also tells us that this is not the first time she's discovered odd little anonymous messages.
Leaving notes on other people's property can sometimes be an act of passive-aggression, and with frequent animus (sometimes deserved) aimed at cyclists in Toronto, it's nice to see someone issuing some unsolicited esteem for the simple velocipede. "I love this kind of positive public outreach," Eisen declares. "It's lovely."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
anyone from Holland would laugh at this article given how bog-ordinary this bike is over there... first thing you see walking out of Amsterdam's Centraal station is thousands of these bikes leaning against every leanable surface. Anyway they're sturdy and practical which makes them perfect for the urbanaut. Kudos to Curbside for bringing them over here. These bikes are the Lomo camera of the bicycling world. Instant hipster cred.
I thought this was a nice gesture. Passive aggressive notes are kind of lame...but nice ones brighten up anyone's day.
What a fantastic story behind her own bicycle. After visiting relatives in Holland, my mother promptly purchased a new bike and now treks thousands of km each year. Your bicycle becomes a part of you, no matter whether you're on the coolest fixie, roughest beater, comfortable commuter or MTB or road bike. Anonymous note-leaver... keep it up!
Leanne also mentioned to me that her grandmother was very particular about what kind of bicycle she rode, so much so that she went out of her way to have this one shipped from the Netherlands.
Reminds me of this:
http://m.assetbar.com/achewood/uua7gxndn
I lived in the Netherlands (only outsiders call it Holland) for many years and rode one of these bikes. They are great when there are no hills but usually pretty heavy which is good with all the wind there. I have seen Dutch carrying all their kids on these with a seat on the handlebars, one in the middle and one on the back. Heck, I remember moving a coffee table on one during a rainstorm that I had just purchased at the Kringloop (like Goodwill but better).
And these bicycles are called omafiets, which literally translates to grandmother's bicycle.
Hi Gezelig, I had no idea that this kind of bike was called an omafiets, but it's fantastic. My bike's nickname is "Granny", so now it works on two levels :) My oma crocheted a seat cozy for this bike - maybe I'll crack it out in celebration of this new discovery.
Leanne
I am seriously considering ticketing appealing humans like this.
Haha, that would be amazing! How would it work? Would you just affix the ticket to them while they were walking down the street?
That bike is extremely sexy
I had kind of the same thing happen to me in February or March this year here in Montreal. I ride a Kickbike, a very fast kick scooter/bike designed in Finland. When I came out of a party on a Friday or Saturday night, I saw my bike had what looked like a ticket attached to it. When I ramoved the green piece of paper, it read "Your bike is cool. I want to be your friend". No name or contact info, though. Gave me a big smile.
I got an excited phone call this morning,
Have you seen I Bike TO today? Your tickets are on the web!
This was the last of the RevC tickets given out; RevD is hitting the printers today. I'm glad you liked it, Eisen! My friend's little brother wanted to try ticketing, so he picked his favorite bike in that lineup and filled it out.
I'm not sure how "Nice" works as Future Action Requested, you'd have to ask him :)
The idea behind this: I try to tell people when I like their bikes, but I had a huge problem whenever I'd see a great bicycle parked without an owner nearby. The solution was obvious.
Happy Friday everyone!
Awwww. Hands, touching hands, reeeeaching out...
Keep up the good work ticketer! I can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve.