Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Movie made about dangerous cyclists

From the NY Times:

There is something cinematic about riding a bicycle through New York traffic with its speed, lights and danger. For the rider, street scenes can open up in flashes between stopped cars, creating a kind of stuttered approximation of film. No wonder, then, that many riders, like Luke Stiles and Chris Thormann, have tried to capture these scenes with a camera.

From the backs of scooters and the tops of skateboards, Mr. Stiles, 36, a software developer and former racer, and Mr. Thormann, 25, a bicycle messenger and alleycat rider, have been shooting “Empire,” an as-yet-unfinished film about everything that is “fun, scary and exciting” about bicycling in the city without brakes. “It’s in the sub-sub-subgenre that is fixed-gear action sports videos,” Mr. Stiles explained. A profile in the latest issue of Cog magazine chronicles the project, which Mr. Stiles and Mr. Thormann hope to complete by this spring.


Here's a taste:

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

these n.y.c. bike fools need to visit the N.Y.U. Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation .the many young paraplegics in wheelchairs,former motorcyclists, can give them some wisdom.

it is very sad,and could have been prevented by not riding cycles in the city traffic.

my young neighbor finally sold his motorcycle,after i constantly left news articles of dead cyclists in his mailbox.

JO said...

I'm sure you were the reason he sold his motorcycle.

Anonymous said...

these idiots wonder why so many are dead? These people can't even follow the laws of the road. When one of them is killed, they make it seem like the drivers are at fault but when in reality, they have committed suicide..... They should give tickets to the people, not only will it bring revenue to the city but it may also save a life!

Anonymous said...

True story:

A man I knew worked as a late-night cab dispatcher with some very rough characters.

It got around his office that he was thinking of buying a motorcycle.

One night, one of the largest and roughest men in the place walked up to my friend and asked him, "Do you like your teeth?"

My terrified friend replied, "Of course I like my teeth."

The other guy reached into his mouth, took out a pair of false teeth, laid it on my friend's desk for him to see.

Then, replacing the teeth, he told him, "If you like your teeth, don't buy a motorcycle. I lost every tooth in my head in a motorcycle accident."

Anonymous said...

Many activities are inherently dangerous.I've ridden bicycles and mototrcycles as long as i can remember.It is much worse today for both.Distracted driving is the biggest problem.I put asshole bikers and bicyclists next.

Anonymous said...

These are fixed gear messenger and 20 somethings that ride the same trendy fixed gear bikes that ride like idiots and have no brakes at all unlike road bikes that have two brakes. There are countless movies\documentaries about this. Fixed gear bikes with one gear can not stop motion unless they force their legs backwards which still does not really stop for fixed bikes which is why they run lights. Their meant for Velo competition race tracks.

If youd like to read a well written funny blog which pokes at these fools look at Bike Snob NYC. There has been dumb reckless messengers in NYC for many years. Careful riders with brakes stopping at lights get hit by speeding drivers running lights all too often.

And yes its good to be very selective about the streets you bike on. I and many other bike commuters do not ride like that but still put up with the most atrocious drivers on the face of the planet that run lights every block consistently which is real fun for pedestrians which we all are half the time.
Fixed gear trendy riders are not every bike rider in this city.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Kevin Bacon already in a movie like this?

Jeff said...

When you are riding without brakes, you do more than risk your safety, you risk the safety of others with whom you share the road.

georgetheatheist said...

[Yawn.]

Anonymous said...

uhm if you keep leaving news articles of dead people in my mailbox I would put a bag of crap in front of your door and set it on fire.

isn't this Julia Stiles little brother?

Anonymous said...

There's plenty of Irish NYPD hot heads like Patrick Pogan to body slam these guys into the ground.

Anonymous said...

you critics can rant, but my young neighbor is alive today.
the flower shrine on the lamp post at 46ave./Francis Lewis Blvd. is replenished often,even though the young motorcyclist was killed a year ago.

after seeing this site,my neighbor thanked me.