The Cycling the Seven Seas installation sat on the lookout rooftop of the Harbour Arm Gallery, Margate.

Four green painted bikes, point towards the horizon facing the four cardinal points of the compass. The installation echoes Margate’s maritime history, facing outward to the world, in celebration of cycling across the globe.

.

Cycling the Seven Seas by Chris Paradox

One man and his bike cycled the seven seas
Eleven thousand miles per year, the slowness of his speed
Five continents long, sixty countries wide and punctures untold
Across glacier, desert, mountain, forest he rode to break the mould.
Leaving port in Yorkshire towards Istanbul, he set his two wheeled boat
bobbing on the cresting waves of Europe past sheep and cow and goat
Consulting star chart and turning right at the Bosphorous, Cairo drew him on
And from there into deepest Africa to hear her silent primal song

From sunset in Sudan to sunrise in South Africa, on and on our rider rode
Rift valley, Jungle and Savannah succumbed to his adventure mode
Until from a Cape of Hope to one of Horn, a southern ocean was crossed
And deposited in Patagonia his soul became blissfully lost
Right up the spine of the Americas cycled our intrepid traveller
Across Andes, Amazon and a rather large canal in Panama
Through the lands of Inca and Maya and ancient Astec Empire
Taking on the force of Gravity with nothing but two skinny tyres

After many moons sunny California gave way to Canada and Tundra
And then the brutally beautiful frozen squalls of Alaska and Siberia
But this captain of his soul, survived the cold and arrive in ancient China
And surveyed the lush lowland rice paddies beneath the roof of the Himalaya
Crossing the immensity of Russia’s Steppe would transport him to the middle east
Where good Samaritans would invite him in and insist he sit and eat and feast
So, with a belly full of spices and riding the third of his cycling devices
The lighthouse of Europe guided him home to claim his inner prizes
The glorious self knowing of a solo circumnavigator
And the inextinguishable freedom of a two wheeled super cycler

.

Chris Paradox ran spoken word / poetry workshops at Cycle Recycle in Margate & the Queen Charlotte in Ramsgate

Here are a few of the poems, by attendees, inspired by Cycling the Seven Seas

Andes to the Amazon – Sadie
An amazing dream come true
The Andes to the Amazon on two wheels with you
The short cut that seemed too long to be
The views that seemed too beautiful to see
Up, down, pause, push, moving slowly, losing chains
That path is where we met again, to put another link in our chain.

A Fair Weather Cyclist – Ray
I don’t care much for the commute or the shopper
Give me the heavy, no gears Chinese factory bike any day
And let me cycle through paddy fields
or follow the majestic Mekong River
And should my squeaky iron horse fail me along the way, I don’t care
because I know, just around the corner bike mechanics wait just there

Mekong Surprise – Karen
Bamboo fringed pathway on the Mekong
Strange temples & statues all along
The cool breeze of moving tames the stifling heat
But creaking wheels, no gears & agonising seat.
Flat tyre inevitability, but
Roadside bike shop to the rescue
Brake tied to frame with a strip of bamboo
Now peddling through jungle alongside of you
Onto the beech, sands stretching for miles
A sparkling bluest sea & the biggest of smiles.

Cycling with no puncture repair kit in Denmark – Marc
When I was 15, I was no fool
But no one wanted me at school
They didn’t want me, as it happened, at home
And so, I had license to roam.
Some friends from Denmark offered a base
And so with my bike, to Copenhagen I did race
I must admit I used the train
For cycling round Denmark was more than enough pain
Nobody worried I was unheard of for weeks, except by letter
A mobile phone might have been better
But clutching my youth hostel card
Cycling in Denmark was not hard.
They had lovely cycling paths
The hills were, compared with Britain, just laughs
The culture of the youth hostel varied land to land
with standards in Denmark that were very grand
The custodians were all too keen to speak
English, to a junior ‘freak’
I circumnavigated the entire archipelago
Of islands with names that do not rhyme
The apex was the island of Romo
Approached on a 10km causeway against a prevailing wind.
I got drunk with a lot of Germans
Ottos, Helmust and Hermans
We swore undying love
And I pushed back off to Copenhagen with a shove
I did not have one hairy moment in a 1000km trip
Nor one puncture, luckily, as I had no kit
And no knowledge of how to fix it

.

All images © Ray Gibson / Karen Poley / Maria Tribe / KP Projects CIC

.

The tiniest installation in the series sat on top of the mantel piece in the Queen Charlotte pub in Ramsgate, no doubt in ear shot of a few tall tales.

The Tall Stories on Two Wheels virtual installation featured an audio of interviews of people talking about fabulous jobs, incredible adventures & other tall stories on two wheels.

.

.

.

All images © Ray Gibson / Karen Poley / KP Projects CIC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

The Stop Thief! installation was locked to the  bike rack of Tri the Bike Shop, Windmill St, Gravesend.

An estimated half a million bikes were stolen last year (2011) – including 30 from Tri the Bike Shop just a few weeks before we were there – that’s about one a minute.  80% of cyclists have had at least one bike stolen, and 10% four or more.  

Stop Thief! featured an audio track of interviews highlighting the humour, resignation and impact on cyclists of this two wheeled, crime wave.

.

.

.

All images © Ray Gibson / Karen Poley / KP Projects CIC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

.

The Seven Ages of Bike was sited on the rooftop of Gravesham Civic Centre.
The seven green painted bikes reference the way that bikes grow alongside their owners and, with the virtual installation, parodies Shakespeare’s famous ‘Seven Ages of Man‘ speech.

.

.

The Seven Ages of Bike

Like Jesus, first bikes are born at Christmas, sometimes white
But always bright and shiny bold
A dream come true in a bow of ribboned gold
Tall tales of Santa Claus are told
As tiny trike holds
Our furiously pedalling little soul

Now iddy biddy baby bikes come of age and stabilisers leave the stage
Replaced by the hunched back running daddy phase
With independence the goal
Wobbling like a new born foal
Daddy lets go and gravity takes its toll
But fearless hearts try try again
And now look out little soul is on a roll

And before you know it, it’s flips and kicks and tricks
And yeah you fall and take some licks
But you don’t care cos your new BMX is SICK!

Then after years of knees that bleed
You discover a teenage need for speed
You’re a racer
A slim slick slippery trailblazer
See you later, Alligator

But as earth orbits the Sun
Now you’ve given birth to one
And you sprout a bike rack behind your bum
and a basket for the daily shopping run

Into the sunset you rode like the wind
As you leave behind youth’s fountain
You arrive atop a mountain
And wheels get fat and rugged with stubble
And now you start to look for trouble
For hills n dales n rocks n rubble

And as you pedal through middle age sedately
And gratefully reach the stately age of 80
You ride on three wheels once again
but this time, somewhat more gracefully

Chris Paradox

.

.

The instal with kp & technicians Martin & Simon, & Dan from Positive Lifts

.

Images © Ray Gibson / Karen Poley / KP Projects CIC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Seven Deadly Road Sins installation sits on the boundary fence between Cyclopark, a community cycling park, and the A2, with three lanes in each direction.

Seven bikes appear to leap from the fence, but the virtual installation is far from sitting there, examining the deadly sins of both cyclists and motorists.

.

The Seven Deadly Road Sins

Stationed at number one is Impatience
Coz let’s face it, thats its statistical status
Crazy cyclists one way, wrong way, weaving and racing
Running red lights and sending driver raging

Straight in at number two is Self Absorption
A deadly narcissism negating driver caution
Blindly opening doors and forcing cyclist into death jaws
Leaning on horns and driving so close coronaries are caused

Three is the magic number of astonishing Myopia
“I’m so sorry, I just didn’t see her”
Short sighted road planners causing cyclists to live in fear
Of giant drains and bike lanes that simply disappear
Just before the kind of gyratory designed to end your cycling career

Stewing at number four is good old fashioned Hate
A bitter and twisted anti-cyclist state
Ugly spittle filled invective on the A138
Or a brand new bike vandalised and left to its fate

Tying its shoelaces together at number five is rank Stupidity
Of course examples of this approach infinity
With frightening cyclist, motorist and pedestrian consistency
But top of the pops is that idiotic idiosyncrasy
Of riding a bike at night with no lights totally obliviously

Hanging around aimlessly at number six is Neglect
You’ve got a racer, mountain bike, hybrid, the full set
But they never leave the shed cos you prefer to drive instead
Politically incorrect you leave your Ridgeback on the station bike rack for weeks on end,
poor little reject

Last but not least Intolerance is the seventh deadly sin
Look at him, cutting in, think they own the road, can’t let em win
But the line between road users is wafer thin
So if we can’t make room for each other…. the outlook’s grim

Chris Paradox

.

Images © Karen Poley / Ray Gibson / KP Projects CIC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

A Kent-wide installation project commissioned by Kent County Council and local partners in response to the Paralympic Road Cycling Races which took place at Brands Hatch in September 2012.

The reCyculture team worked with local people in three creative residencies across Kent, to paint bikes & collect stories, create poems & stop animation films, to create online, virtual installations alongside the physical installations around the county.

The installations: Search the Location map & click on the poster images below:

.

Commissioning partner

Location Partners

Gravesend

Sevenoaks

Tunbridge Wells

Whitstable

Margate – Harbour Arm Gallery, Marine Studios & Thanet Cycle Recycle

Ramsgate – Queen Charlotte

Folkestone – Creative Quarter Folkestone & Folkestone Frings

A HUGE thanks to all

The reCyculture team created an epic installation on the roof of the World’s End pub – Night Bikes – as part of SHINE On London Road. The installation was commissioned by Brighton & Hove City Council and Portas Pilot regeneration scheme as alternative Xmas lights and was in place December 2013 to January 2014, surviving the festive season’s storms and 90mph gale force winds.

Five bikes leapt off the top of of a stunning, if slightly neglected building. It was a scary climb, but the view over the city was astounding…

…especially at night.

.

We collected 5 bikes from sheds & gardens across the city & beyond…

…& painted them in the old Circus Street Market.

First white

Then green

.

Technicians Martin & Simon worked with Gabriel of Samesky on the instal

.

The bikes had put a spotlight on the World Famous pub & its tired paintwork. They wanted to keep the bikes they painted the building a couple of weeks later.

.

Hot on the heels of the success of Green Horses in Wandsworth Arts Festival, Wandsworth Council and Mayor of London Presents commissioned reCyculture to create an installation for the roof of Putney Leisure Centre, along the route of the London Olympic Cycling Road Race…

… overlooking the route.

.

We worked with technicians Martin & Simon again, & also Dan from Positive Lifts

.

All images © Ray Gibson / Karen Poley / KP Projects CIC 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

In 2011, watching the performance parking bikes being installed above Roehampton Library, a local resident came up laughing that the installations reminded him of a saying in his country, Romania, ‘Green Horses on the Wall.’ When you see green horses on the wall, you’re dreaming of incredible or impossible ideas, as in ‘a pipe dream’ or ‘when pigs might fly.’

In 2012, reCyculture returned to Roehampton, and Wandsworth Arts Festival, to embrace the wonderful notion of Green Horses on the Wall and impossible dreams, with more impossible and improbable recycled bike installations around the estate.

.

……………………………………..

This time, we painted in a tent in the garden; mostly in the rain!

Our fabulous technicians, Simon & Martin, installed again

We recreated the jumping blue bike as one of the neighbours told us it had made her smile every morning, in 2011, when she opened the curtains.

.

Performance poet Chris Paradox was commissioned to create a spoken word piece about ridiculous ideas and what crazy dreams mean for the local community.

Here he is at the festival launch, very excited about the poster, where he read Green Horses on the Wall.

.

.

All images © Ray Gibson / KP Projects CIC 2026 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

.

.

In 2011, Wandsworth Arts Festival approached Creative Producer, Karen Poley, to run a project on the Alton Estate in Roehampton. A number of bikes were painted and installed around the estate as part of a Bicycle Ballet workshop and performance project, during the festival.

Starting with painting. With Maria Tribe & Ray Gibson outside Alton Hall Community Centre, meeting lots of locals. So many bike enthusiasts, plus trick cyclists & seriously pimped rides.

Tireless technicians Martin & Simon

As the bike below was installed on the side of one of blocks of flats, a woman in a block across leaned out of her window & asked “What are you doing?” “Parking my bike!’came the answer!”

Watching the bikes being installed above Roehampton Library, a local resident came up laughing that the installations reminded him of a saying in his country, Romania, ‘Green Horses on the Wall.’ When you see green horses on the wall, you’re dreaming of incredible or impossible ideas, as in ‘a pipe dream’ or ‘when pigs might fly.’

‘Green Horses on the Wall’ became the name for the project’s next iteration in 2012.

We also placed bikes around the dance of cycling workshop/performance space

& when the bikes were all taken down, young people appeared from nowhere asking if they could have them. On instruction of how to carefully dispose of them, the bikes all headed off into the estate for another chapter…

Images © Ray Gibson / KP Projects CIC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

.

.