Natooke Chengdu,用单车的速度,做一个城市梦
 Achieve a Slower Pace of Urban Life by Cycling

采访时间:2013年5月29日 Interview Date: May 29, 2013

Larry Adamson,中文名安博远,来自美国纽约州。从事生物学和免疫学研究,参加过12次马拉松跑,喜欢长距离远骑。希望更多的人感受自行车的乐趣,慢下脚步感受朝夕相处的城市。

Larry Adamson, whose Chinese name is An Boyuan, comes from the U.S. state of New York. He devotes much of his time to biology and immunology. He has taken part in 12 marathons, and he advocates cycling because he hopes that more people will take it up as a way getting from here to there and to better appreciate the city they live in.

Jacob Klink,中文名林高高。来自美国阿尔伯克基,玩自行车十年有余,无论是普通路上骑行,颠簸,爬山,无论死飞,单速还是变速,他都能游刃有余,自行车马球打得风生水起。

Jacob Klink, whose Chinese name is Lin Gaogao, is from the city of Albuquerque, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He has been cycling for over 10 years, and he is skilled on all types of terrain. Jacob is an expert at riding fixed-gear, single-speed, and variable-speed bikes as well. His talent does not end there, as he also excels at bike polo.

http://www.natooke.com/about/natooke-chengdu/

作为“自行车王国”,当下的中国显然是不称职的。大街上的汽车你挤我蹭,此起彼伏的喇叭声显然是难以唤醒还在酣畅沉浸的汽车梦。然而,在成都老巷依旧的小天南街附近,有两个胆子特大、中文说得特溜的老外——安博远和林高高,他们开着一家在名为Natooke的固定齿轮自行车店,企图“拖”下城市慌张前行的“后退”,让成都可以回归“慢”的步调。

Judging from the current situation, China is nowhere near being the “Kingdom of Bicycles” that it once was. In spite of streets crowded with cars and their cacophonous horns, people remain crazy about cars. Still, Adamson and Klink (who speak fluent Chinese) jointly opened their fixed-gear bike shop, Natooke, on Xiaotiannan Street, a back street of Chengdu. Their aim is to show people how great and fun a life by bicycle in Chengdu can be.

骑车的人,爱做梦
Cycling-lovers Dream Big

Natooke源于非洲语言,寓意“绿色”。在北京,一个叫伊泉的德国女孩以此名开了中国第一家死飞自行车店兼俱乐部。热爱自行车的安博远和林高高便是因伊泉组织的骑行活动而相识,两人骑行实力相当,对死飞精神的理解不谋而合。怀着对城市自行的热爱和梦想,他们在成都开起了自己的自行车店。

The word, Natooke, means “green” in an African language. Ines Brunn, a German woman, opened her fixed-gear bike shop & club, the first of its kind in China, in Beijing under the same name. Adamson and Klink got to know each other through the cycling activities organized by Ines’s shop. They are equals in terms of their cycling skills, and they echo each other’s passion for fixed-gear bikes. Their common dream of promoting cycling in cities led them to start their fixed-gear shop in Chengdu.

成都,从他们的11个候选城市中脱颖而出,除了成都正正吸引着越来越多的外来投资方,还因为“宜居城市”的美誉。从成都到北京,沿着108国道,三千多公里,骑三周——2009年,安博远和林高高,便在这样旅行中,领略到了小城镇、小村庄的乐趣。“他们很好奇,很友好,”回忆起骑行的经历,安博远开心地说:“虽然有时不会讲普通话,对我们而言,这是练习中文再好不过的机会了。”

Back in 2009, Adamson and Klink spent three weeks searching for the proper location for their bike shop, covering 3,000 km along the China National Highway 108 from Beijing to Chengdu. They really enjoyed themselves in discovering some obscure towns and villages. As Adamson said with a smile on his face, “[People] were very curious about us and were friendly to us. Although sometimes it was beyond us to speak in perfect Chinese, it was a golden opportunity for us to practice it.” Thanks to the growing amount of capital poured into Chengdu, and to its reputation as a livable city, Chengdu stood out among 11 candidate cities for the shop.

说到骑行,不得不想起近百年前的夏天(1930年),一位名叫潘德明的22岁青年,抱着“雪东亚病夫耻”、“以谋世界上之容光”的信念,徒步走出了国门。次年元旦,他在越南购买了一辆英制“兰翎牌”自行车,开始了骑游旅行。他这一走,耗时8年,先后到达40多个国家,会见20多个国家元首和名人;他这一走,将自己走成了一张“中国名片”,走成了英雄旅行家,走成了“世界徒步单车环游第一人”。

It is not possible to talk cycling without mentioning Pan Deming, who traveled out of China at the age of 22. He started his journey in the summer of 1930, with the conviction to bring glory to his nation and to break stereotypes held by foreigners about Chinese people being the “sick man of east Asia.” On New Year’s Day of 1931, he bought a British-made Raleigh bike in Vietnam and kicked-off his journey. He spent eight years traveling through over 40 nations, and met with more than 20 heads of state and celebrities. His feats represent the spirit of China and made him a heroic traveler, as well as the first bicyclist to pedal around the world.

潘德明还自制了一本重达4公斤的《名人留墨集》,扉页上他工整地写下“旅行世界自叙”,其中这段,在如今看来既遥远煽情,又令人感慨惭愧:“以世界为我之大学校,以天然与人事为我之教科书,以耳闻目见直接接触为我之读书方法,以风雪雨霜、炎荒烈日、晨星夜月为我之奖励金。德明坚决地一往无前,表现我中国国民性于世界,使知我中国是向前的,以谋世界上之荣光。”

Pan also wrote the book Words from Celebrities (or Min “Ren Liu Mo Ji”in Chinese). On the first page, he neatly wrote the inspiring words, “Everything I see through my travel around the world teaches me how to behave. I am grateful for all elements and humbled by beautiful moments. Deming will press on, come hell or high water, to bring glory to China and to let all people know that China is making progress.”

 “希望全世界的路都印着你脚车的轮迹。” 新加坡华侨巨商胡文虎给潘德明留下墨宝,他是《名人留墨集》上的第一位题词人。如今,骑行已经成为很多人探索世界和内心的生活方式。在北京时,安博远和林高高喜欢同朋友一起,在北京火车站随意买张终点站离京城400公里的陌生小城镇,周五晚上坐过去,再用周末两天的时间乐颠乐颠地骑回来。安博远说:“骑车让你看到在巴士、飞机、地铁等交通工具完全不一样的风景。”

Aw Boon Haw, an overseas Chinese merchant residing in Singapore and the first celebrity who gave his words for Words from Celebrities,wrote: “I hope that you will leave your tire tracks on the world.” Nowadays, cycling has become a sort of lifestyle through which many people learn more about the world and their true selves. When Adamson and Klink were in Beijing, they and two of their friends often bought train tickets that would take them to a strange town located 400 km away from Beijing. They would go to the town Friday evening, and then spend the next two days riding back to Beijing. As Adamson said, “cycling enables you to see a totally different landscape than you can see by bus, airplane, or metro.”

慢下来,城市骑车文化         

Slow Down and Enjoy Urban Cycling Culture

在西方很多国家,人们开始厌倦四个轮子的束缚和禁锢,想要去掉框框回归自然,即使是不差钱购置豪车的成功人士,也甘愿享受起自行车上的慢慢自由。中国人虽然还在私密空间和舒适体验上向往着汽车,但是,城市建设中,政府和开发商在道路规划时,已经开始为自行车做出考虑,预留空间。

In many western countries, people have had enough of the constraints of cars. They are longing to return to nature because even the rich have begun to ride bikes and appreciate the slow pace of life. Although Chinese people still prefer cars because of the private space and comfort that they provide, government and developers have reserved more space on the road for bikes.

何以深爱自行车,有生物研究背景的安博远绘声绘色地说道:“自行车是最具效率和自主性的交通工具,乘客即是发动机。骑死飞自行车更是将这种体验扩大化,你能感知到自行车成为身体的一部分,你们是相联的,当自行车运转时,也能感知到它的所有。”

When Adamson was asked why he loves bikes so much, he talked from a biological perspective, “A bike is the most efficient and independent vehicle because the rider is the engine. Fixed-gear bikes can make you feel this intimately. You will feel that the bike is part of your body and you are linked to it. As the bike is running, you can feel every part of it.”

“我们生活在一个故意被弄复杂的世界。”台湾漫画家朱德庸在一次采访中如此提到。他说:“时速100 公里的车和时速10 公里的车相比,你以为你走了很远,但其实什么也没有看到。人本来就应该在地上走,任何交通工具都阻隔了我与城市的接触。在所有的交通工具里,我唯一能接受的就是自行车。越慢的工具与人性越接近,从擦肩而过的人身上感受到气息和讯号,能帮助我了解这个城市。”

Zhu Deyong, a Taiwan cartoonist, said in an interview, “We are living in an artificially complicated world…A 100 km/hr car will help you go further than a 10 km/hr bike, but you will see nothing on your way. Human beings are supposed to walk on the ground. Any transportation vehicle will stand in the way of the connection between the city and me. Among all transportation vehicles, the bicycle is the only one I can accept. The slower a vehicle is, the better I can know people. I can learn more about this city because of the information obtained from people passing by me”.

从2012年9月开业以来,Natooke组织和支持了很多活动,不仅有自行车迷们喜欢一起闹腾的城市夜骑、自行车马球、野猫赛……每周星期日他们还骑着三轮车,拉着音响和投影仪,在居民区中随便找一处墙,放起了怀旧的坝坝电影,连路过的城管也会停下来,友好地望几眼。他们选择这样这种复古的“慢动作”来亲近成都,他们还选择了另一项四川特色来拓展创意——竹子。从天台山运回的竹子,被他们捣鼓成“拉风”的车架,第一辆车已经优哉游哉地在城市行了300多公里。“绿色原料+绿色出行”,对于Natooke而言,不仅是在自行车产业的中尝试,更是希望推动一种接着成都浓厚底蕴的单车文化。

Since Natooke was set up in September 2012, it has organized and sponsored many events such as urban night cycling, bike polo and alley cat races. Each Sunday, Natooke fans gather to follow a tricycle loaded with stereos and projectors to screen a movie with the aid of a wall in a residential community. The movies even command the attention and interest of urban management officers (or Chengguanin Chinese). Adamson and Klink are trying to better engage with Chengdu by bringing people back to the slower pace of life in an earlier era. They also innovate by using bamboo from Tiantai Mountain to create beautiful, eye-catching, custom bike frames. Their first bike with a bamboo frame has covered over 300 km in the city. For Natooke, using bamboo is part of an effort to promote green raw materials, green travel, and a bicycleculture that is linked to Chengdu’s culture.

链接LINK

Natooke成都实体店于2017年11月停止营业。

The store of Natooke Chengdu was closed in November, 2017.