Scraper Bikes!

One of the Bicycle Film Festival shorts was about the scraper bike movement in Oakland, CA. It started off with a video for the scraper bike song, which pretty much has been stuck in our heads for the last few days. Have a watch and listen...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIsWq5xOSE]

(Karen wants a Bits O' Honey bike real bad.)

Weekend Recap

Wow! What a wonderful weekend for cycling in Detroit. The Bicycle Film Festival was well-attended and fantastic, we had a blast dancing at the Park Bar at the after-party on Friday, the Alley Cat was good times and we spent all day Sunday biking and beaching Belle Isle.

It might have been cloudy, but it was still lovely.

BFF Alley Cat!

Saturday, July 18, 3:30, Hart Plaza. Be there or be L7! Read more about Bike Film Festival Detroit here.

Bicycle Film Festival July 17 & 18

Wheelhouse is a proud sponsor of the first-ever Bicycle Film Festival appearance in Detroit. It takes place Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Marlene Boll Theatre at 1401 Broadway. There are two programs a night, with screenings at 7 and 9 p.m. Each program is $8 -- and The Hub and Wheelhouse are providing free bike parking!

After the movies, there will be a party each night -- Friday at the Park Bar and Saturday at Cass Cafe. Tickets and program information are available here.

For the first time in its nine-year history, the Bicycle Film Festival will stop in Detroit for two days of films, parties, and fun all centered around bike culture. On July 17th and 18th, the BFF will show 40 shorts and two feature films at the Marlene Boll Theatre, located at 1401 Broadway in Downtown Detroit.

The Bicycle Film Festival is a cultural phenomenon like no other. Originating in New York City, The Bicycle Film Festival is the earliest voice of one of the most powerful and culturally relevant movements of the past decade -- the urban bike movement. The BFF brings many communities together -- both culturally (fashion, music and art) and between different genres within the cycling community (track bikes, BMX and road cycling).

“We are extremely excited to bring the Bicycle Film Festival to Detroit in 2009,” says BFF founding director Brendt Barbur. “With its rich history of being a motorist's town, we’re glad we could give the cyclists a voice here as well.”

Now in its ninth year, the festival has grown to 39 cities worldwide including international partners Sydney, London, Paris and Tokyo. The Bicycle Film Festival, presented by 42BELOW Vodka, will be in 27 North American cities this year and is greatly expanding to include new cities with events in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and New Orleans.

The Detroit leg of the Bicycle Film Festival will screen films on Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Marlene Boll Theatre, located at 1401 Broadway in Downtown Detroit. Program highlights include the feature-length documentary Where Are You Go directed by Benny Zenga and Brian Vernor, and shorts such as Wolfpack Hustle: All City Team Race 2, which follows renegade Los Angeles night-time street racers; Keirin, a beautifully shot portrait of Japanese track racers directed by the director of Les Ninja du Japan; and Made In Queens, about native Trinidadians that rig huge stereos onto BMX bikes and then treat New Yorkers to impromptu street parties.

Other shorts cover a similarly diverse range of cycling topics, from alley-cat races to candle-lit downhill biking, from BMX tricksters to bike polo, from frame-building to track-racing – something for every taste and disposition. The films are divided into four programs – two on each day. The screenings begin on July 17 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and on July 18 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $8 for each program and are available at the door and online at bicyclefilmfestival.com. On-site bicycle parking will be provided for free by local bike shop sponsors, Wheelhouse Detroit and The Hub of Detroit.

Following both screenings, there will be after-parties held at nearby venues. On July 17, DJ collective Haute to Death will be spinning at the Park Bar (2040 Park Ave., Downtown). On July 18, The Cass Cafe (4620 Cass., Midtown) will host Petal Shop, Steven and the Reelers and The Rev. Robert-David Jones. Both after-parties are free at the door.

“There’s been a marked increase in bike culture in Detroit in the last few years,” says Detroit BFF organizer Carrie Yager. “It makes sense to showcase films that cyclists will enjoy in tandem with a showcase of great Detroit venues and music – after all, they are certainly inter-connected.” Yager estimates that several hundred attendees will come out for Detroit BFF – a coup for a first-year festival.

About the BFF:

In 2001, Brendt Barbur, Founder and Director, was compelled to start the Bicycle Film Festival after getting hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. Instead of being deterred by this experience, it inspired him to create a festival that celebrates the bicycle through music, art, and film. The 9th annual Bicycle Film Festival North American Tour is presented by 42BELOW Vodka. Local sponsors include TheDetroiter.com, Y-Arts, The Hub of Detroit, The Park Bar, Cass Cafe and Wheelhouse Detroit. For more information, please visit www.bicyclefilmfestival.com.