I've mentioned more than a couple of times about my bike-activist friends and their crazy-chopper bike contraptions.
Well, last weekend I attended a bike wedding for good friends of mine, Rusl and Jane. The invitees were what could only be described in this community of bike-freaks as an A-list of the who's who of Vancouver's cycling fraternity. As somewhat of an outsider in town, I felt honoured and touched to be have been invited to such an event, and now feel truly welcomed into this circle of amazing people.
Rusl and Jane are an awesome couple, two 20-something cool eccentrics, totally suited to each other, and even more totally committed to community awareness raising bike activism, and this wedding was just a culmination of all of this. It was fantastic. I've never been to an event quite like it.
Along with the regular cycling community there was of course a large contingent of the wedding couples' families, elderly grandparents, aunts and uncles, many of whom i'd guess hadn't seen a bike since their teenage days.
They couldn't possible be expected to ride in the procession themselves, and so in the weeks leading up to the big day several chariots were built for them to be towed along in! There were also plenty of people without bikes at all, so it had been pre-arranged that anyone who happened to have a spare bike or two (or three) would bring them along. In the end, the number of bikes outnumbered the people, despite being 150-odd folk at the wedding.
The day started at Trout Lake Park (right by my house - how convenient!) for a gathering of all the guests, and a blessing of the bikes by the officiating bishop. Rusl and Jane had especially built their own wedding love bike for the day (and their life ahead together) - a contraption of two recumbant bikes welded together, a love seat bench, dual steering, and painted bright pink!! (see the photo link to my slideshow below for a better understanding of this!)
Once all the riders had gathered and passengers seated in their various chariots, we all rode off around the lake in a procession of some 150 people, with tall bikes and choppers in amongst the 'regular' road/mountain & single-speed bikes, whooping, hollering and cheering all the way. I was employed as one of four riders used to tow a chariot for one of the 50-somethings, Kathy, in the party. It then took off into the streets for the 5-kilometre journey down to Burrard View Park, overlooking the Burrard inlet for the actual ceremony. The weather was perfect, it was just the beginning of the summer spell that I wrote about in my last entry, bright blue skies and mid-twenties temperatures.
Jane looked stunning in a body hugging little red dress, and Rusl was resplendant in a 70's style blue top-hat-and-tails suit and bow tie. We all sat down on the grass in a circle formation with a path left thru the middle for the couple to walk down the 'aisle', with a couple of violinists playing the wedding march. It was beautiful.
After some milling about chatting, wedding pics and other formalities, the party then jumped back on the bikes to head back to Trout Lake Park where the reception was being held in the Community Centre. The ride back was a little more difficult as two of the chariot pullers had bailed out, so it was left to me and Lee on our own to pull Kathy along. It was actually slightly more of an uphill journey on the way back too which didn't help.
At one point the only disaster of the ride occurred, and I happened to be the 'victim'. I got distracted, stopped pedalling for just a moment and the chariot caught up to us, bumping against my rear tyre, knocking me off balance. I came of my bike (landing on my feet), but the chariot rode over my back rim, buckling the hell out of it. Some minor on-the-spot adjustments, and we were on the road again. I suppose if yer gonna wreck yer bike, you may as well do it surrounded by a large posse of bike fiends! The rest of the ride was taken at a much slower pace!
Back at the Community Centre, I was promised that as it was a wedding accident, my rim would be fixed or replaced for free. This is one of the things I love about this group of people - the philosophy that the community looks after their own. My previously soured mood was restored.
The reception was something to behold as well - 150 guests from all different walks of life. People had come from everywhere too - all over British Columbia and Alberta, some as far away as San Francisco! The food was a buffet styled mix of catered and 'potluck' - basically, the guests were invited, if they wished, to contribute a dish of their own making. This is such a great idea - it made the choices at the buffet seemingly endless - everything from Salmon to Chinese to Indian and Mexican, soups, and salads galore -a gastronomic delight. Some of the guests were also boutique winemakers and microbrewers, so homemade wine and beer was in plentiful supply.
Then, to top things off, among Jane and Rusl's contacts in the activist community are several members of a latino-salsa-funk band. So, we had a 17 piece band full of brass instruments, bongo drums and the like entertaining us. This was truly an awersome party.
This was a wedding so different and amazing in so many different and amazing ways, i can honestly say I've never had a day quite like it before. What a wonderful day!
Check out this link to see what all the fuss is about!
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=freetoeknee&P=A0E5&AID=2631072&Show=Y
Cheers,
Tony
