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Veloevo tumblr (image courtesy of veloevo.tumblr.com)Helmet cam cyclist launches Tumblr of London cyclists
A helmet cam cyclist has started an online gallery of London commuters, in an attempt to find the “archetype of London’s inner city road user”.
Evo, aka Veloevo, told road.cc he deliberately avoided photographing anyone wearing hi-vis because it’s “too damned ugly”.
Instead he has captured what he describes as “no-viz” or “lo-viz” commuters of London, similar to those on the continent who wouldn’t call themselves “cyclists”, but just happen to use a bike for transport.
Evo told road.cc he was photographing bikes on his mobile phone for about two years, when he decided to dust off his camera and turn it toward the people riding the bikes.
He said: “I was surprised by the amount of people out there who look like they've just jumped on their bicycles. I definitely was after pictures of actual London commuters with that kind of carefree air often associated with bicycling on the continent. Sure London has a few protected lanes but on a whole it’s no Copenhagen by a long shot. Nor need it be."
He adds although he doesn’t care what people wear while cycling, he wasn’t interested in bright, specialist cycling gear because, he says “‘hi-viz' is so damn ugly”.
“I purposely ignored anyone in full 'hi-viz’ regalia”, he said “as I dusted off my DSLR and went looking for the archetype of London's inner city road user who were harder to see due to the fact they wore ‘no-viz' or perhaps just some ‘low-viz’.”
A few people who have spotted themselves on his Tumblr blog have given positive feedback, with one exception.
“I’ve only had one London courier get upset with me on the street itself but hey I was in his ‘work-space’,” he said.
The project remains undefined, he says.
“Still not sure if I’m shining a light on the mythical underrepresented rider or conjuring up my own version of what #Londonise looks like with a cheap filter slapped on top.”
You can view the gallery on veloevo.tumblr.com or via his twitter account @Veloevol
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
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23 comments
I'm impressed by the woman with four legs.
Shoreditch is the last place to get an example of the archetypal London cyclist
Hi-viz ugly, meggins not?
Not sure what filter he was using on his instagram for these photographs but it's a terrible one.
He better come on down to Regent's Park one evening to doscover Broadway Market is not where it's at
How do you create an archetypel (or however you spell it) view if you are excluding a group based on their appearance?
Also, is he getting people to sign over their image rights, he better not be profiting from my beauty!
Aero wheels, tri bars, spd-sl's and riding in flats. Just your average bike choice for the aggressive urban cyclist
When I see someone riding a bike set up like this in flats, I can't help but half wonder whether they own it legitimately.
If I used a bike for dual purposes I'd use pedals that have flats on one side and clipless on the other.
If you were really going aero/tri bars, I doubt you'd go for dual pedals on a competitive ride
I used to like Evo's old picture of bikes, I've got a slight habit of checking out bikes in the street if there's something unique or odd about them. I haven't been following these, but that may be because of that tumblr interface...
Trek guy once cut me up at Elephant and Castle, I quite politely let him know that I was still on his inside and he offered to fight me.
There is a book deal in this.
Just name it Cycle Chic London v2 and you are done
Yep, thought exactly the same thing! And way more attractive women doing their bike thing in Copenhagen too.
I've sometimes thought about doing this around where I live as so many of the people I see cycling are not the typical Lycra Lout or MAMIL so often tripped out by objectors to cycle schemes as the reason why they shouldn't be built as they only help a certain type of people. If it shows the variety of people on bicycles it can only help.
I noticed the picture coming up in my twitter timeline and I've RT'd the ones I've seen. IMO they're really good, I thought he was re-posting from some professional source. I hope he continues.
Is Trek guy wearing flats with clip-in pedals?
Jason Statham has let himself go.
Probably has 8mm hex Looks. Good luck changing those out when you want to use your bike for a casual ride to the shops.
Trek guy looks totally caned, he probably hasn't even noticed.
Actually, I think Karl Pilkington is looking pretty good since apparently taking up cycling.
As for this "project", it seems a tad Nathan Barley to me, but then I'm not a Londoner, nor a self-facilitating media node.
It's gonna be totally fucking Mexico.
What always strikes me in London is how different folk dress to the rest of the UK. It's not a 'London' thing but a 'folk from outside UK living in London' thing. The archtypal Londoner on a bike in these photos is very similar as other European cities I've been to. Probably because it's the same demographic. The archtypal person from Lampeter or Sleaford might be a more interesting project.
"Karl Pilkington" seems to be riding a Workcycles Fr8. This comes from outside the UK; I wonder if some Dutch bloke brought it with him?
http://www.workcycles.com/home-products/professional-transport-bikes/wor...