The book ‘Weave of the Ride’ will be available soon.
I started writing a blog as part of Ride Earth, a period of travelling mostly by bike that lasted from June 2007 until August 2010. I wrote mainly about my travels from the road, but I also developed other interests which also emerged because of my travelling. Most notably philosophical and critical ideas about the world and structures within it from a personal point of view.
At first this was a combination of earlier pre-travel philosophical writings and musings that I had kept, which then were developed through the experiences of travel. With the development of internet speeds, Youtube, Ted talks, Wikipedia and the blogging community I reacted and responded to what other people were saying. Whilst travelling there was a thread of questioning and searching for answers that formed a conversation between myself and my travel partners and other people I met.
This all culminated in a decision to continue the blog. It outgrew its ability to still be under the name of Ride Earth, so I started Slow Quest to indicate that my searching and questioning wasn’t yet over. In September 2010 I started a Design Masters at Goldsmiths which has a lot of philosophical and critical theory in it, which has allowed me to further explore, investigate and expand my own ideas. Through the course I have also discovered the benefits of physical making and how it, as a practice, is one of patience, reflection, consideration of materials, community, effort and being ‘in the zone’. There is a great deal of overlap with sport and outdoor activities. My previous travel experiences have blended with my design and philosophical studies.
I am at a junction with this blog. I know that I have a small following of people who read it, I also think that the overlap of my philosophical and sport/travel influences are not to everyone’s tastes. So it would be interesting to get feedback from any readers who value what I put out there.
Learning through adventure and exploration tends to reap rewards in terms of experience and unknown assistance but it surprises me how these ways of being sometimes mean I am framed by others in a certain way. I would say that anyone can benefit from being a little more adventurous and I think this starts with the following:
- Breaking the social relations and habits (and leisure past time) of consumption – e.g. shopping as a hobby and talking with others about it expecting reassurance for actions
- Reducing the amount of owned objects which do not serve any everyday purpose
- Getting into the outdoors and making proper journeys
- Cycling as a way to move about and see the world differently, breaking the connection with technological speed and reducing the cost of mobility
- Understanding some of the underlying functions of how capitalist society and (psychology behind it) works and therefore developing a critical approach to it
- Being aware of the gap between what society considers morally correct and what is ethically true Read more…
In order to be understood as a world of sense – of ‘absent sense’ or exscribed sense – the world must also be understood in accordance with thecosmicopening of space this is coming toward us: this constellation of constellations, this mass or mosaic comprising myriads of celestial bodies, their galaxies, and whirling systems, deflagrations and conflagrations that propagate themselves with the sluggishness of lightning, the almost immobile speed of movements that doe not so much traverse space as open it and space it out with their motives and motions, a universe in expansion and/imposion, a network of attractors and negative masses, a spatial texture of spaces that are fleeing, curved back, invaginated, or exogastrulated, fractal catastrophes, signals with neither message nor destination, a universe of which the unity is nothing but unicity [unicite] open, distended, distanced, diffracted, slowed down, differed and deferred within itself.
Jean Luc Nancy – The Sense of the World.”
I do not at all believe in what I call automatic democracy. I believe in reflection, not reflex.
Paul Virilio.
The irrestibility of ordering and the restraint of the saving power draw past each other like the paths of two stars in the course of the heavens. But precisely this, their passing by, is the hidden side of their nearness. When we look into the ambiguous essence of technology, we behold the constellation, the stellar course of the mystery.
Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology.”
The Magura Louise disk brakes perform very well. I was dubious about taking hydraulic brakes on a cycle tour, because I was worried if something went wrong, it would be very difficult to find spares. I would need to take spare oil, and the service kit with me, which would be a lot of extra bulk.
However, I took the chance. Our sponsor showed unfailing confidence in the brakes. Rightly so as they haven’t been serviced during the journey. Only the pads have needed replacing a few times. The performance is exceptional, stopping the bike with confidence, loaded with 30kg of luggage, in all conditions wet and dry. You can imagine the performance with an unloaded bike. The rotors look good. We had pink ones to begin with – very stylish. The hoses are durable. The only problem would be if a hose had been kinked or severed somehow, but this never happened.
The levers are aluminium, other than the bite adjustment knob which is nylon and the only weak point which has worn from curious people fiddling and general wear and tear although they still work. The levers are well-sized and feel comfortable. The oil reservoirs are encased in forged aluminium with the name ‘Magura Louise’ imprinted.
The only negative I would say is that some air has got into one of the hoses and caused the bite to feel spongy. This has only happened in recent use, and is understandable, with a service due.
The Kona Caldera frame is fast with that aluminum ping that keeps your legs spinning at warp speed. It is more chunky than the Explosif and is a little more confidence inspiring on boulder strewn tracks. The square top tube and beefy gusseting add extra strength. It climbs really well, descends like it’s on rails and the blood red colour is a definite head turner.
I used the Caldera for the Mongolia trip in 2010. It performed well and was surprisingly comfortable off-road over long distances. A couple of things I would point out with regards to using the frame for touring are the frame comes with a replaceable rear gear hanger made from milder aluminium alloy. Compared to the chunky horizontal sliding dropouts on the Explosif, the Caldera’s gear hanger isn’t quite as durable. I would definitely recommend taking a spare rear gear hanger. It is possible to bend the hanger back into shape but because it is aluminium you wouldn’t want to do it much as it will weaken. Read more…
What is travel if not a geographical way to break up routines of movement and be opened up to unfamiliar environments, people, places, objects and networks?
Anyone who feels like they want to experience the world more directly ‘as it really is’ as opposed to just a ‘world’ within a world; the private flat, the office ‘world’, the bar, the coffee shop, the infrastructure of a holiday resort created for leisure, a package adventure holiday, the business world, will need to create a ‘vehicle’ and support structure for themselve; a mental and physical support structure that allows them to exist outside of existing and preceding structure, perhaps albeit temporarily. Changing your world will feel strange and take effort. Read more…
These may come in useful. I recently found them in my notes.
Where is? – Sad Aris
What is the time? – Romeli saatia
How much? – Ramdeni
What’s happening? – rack tebba
What? – ra
Do you know? – itzy
Do you have? – gakvs
I live here – ak vtshovrob / tovrob / tschvrob
I want a coffee – Kahveminda
What do you want? – Ragginda
How are you? Rogo rack cat
I want a telephone card - Lei-lei minda
I would like to buy a ticket – billeti minda
Why? Rato
