B-Spoke

Monika Jones spends a day on two wheels, checking out Budapest's hippest new craze - the bicycling and cycle recucling movement. Photography by Balint Porneczi.

Wind whips through my hair as I rapidly pedal my 1970's-nostalgia Puch bicycle through Budapest's busy Blaha Lujza intersection. It's dusk and I can barely see enough to whiz safely between a rumbling marigold-colored tram and the stream of vehicles, as I play catch up.

As my fellow cyclists speed off into the distance, I wonder what exactly I am doing here riding two wheels through the cold, car-clogged streets of Hungarian capital. Is this meant to be fun?

Earlier that day, a skinny, yellow belt made from an old bicycle tyre had caught my eye - hanging in the window of Bolt, an eco-friendly design shop. Inside the shop - just one of many such outlets that have been popping up in Budapest - I met two Hungary's most obsessed cyclists and eco-warriors: Dániel Shukri, 26 and Csaba Mata, 28 (pictured hiding behind his homemade mask). They are two of the founders of Recycle Mission, a group that makes wearable accessories and usable art out of old bikes. Cycling and recycling is all the rage in Budapest, and the next thing I know the pair is convinced me to go for a wheel around town with them - or rather, in their wake!

That evening we get drinks at Jelen Bisztro, famous for jazz and hearty Serbo-Hungarian food. "Believe me, it's a cold place," Csaba says, as we take a nose around the bar's shop, Trafik, which also sells Recycle Mission’s retro handicrafts. But just then I find myself going from cool to cold, literally, on a four-lane arterial road. I swing into a side street, speeding past two girls who, like me, have scarves and hair fluttering in the wind; we exchange nods, as Budapest bike etiquette dictates.

It’s no big surprise that an average cruiser like me finds it tough to keep up with Budapest’s veteran road warriors who ride with traffic. In fact, it’s thanks to the likes of Csaba and Dániel’s rugged, rebellious and danger-seeking style that Budapest’s bike scene has grown from nothing into something.

Until recently, Budapest has been notoriously hostile to cyclists. While Paris and Berlin have been investing in bike lanes since the mid-1990s, cycling culture in Budapest has developed at a slower pace, and primarily through the efforts of cycling activists rather than City Hall.

But though most visitors to the city may be too busy swigging peachy palinka (plum brandy) in a romkert (a “ruined garden”, Budapest’s secret drinking spots) to notice, the number of cyclists and bike lanes is growing.

In characteristic Hungarian revolutionary spirit, Budapest’s bicycle revolution is on a roll! In the spring of 2008, the Hungarian variant of the Critical Mass event – a bicycle-rights demonstration that started in San Francisco in 1992, and now takes place in over 300 cities worldwide – boasted 80,000 cyclists, the larges gest Critical Mass in the world.

And here’s me, pedalling furiously, try rying to take everything in. I finally spot Dániel el at the corner next to the opulent, cream-colored New olored New York Palace hotel. “I made it,” I say, popping a wheelie. We head, thankfully, down a calmer n a calmer street, shoot through a shadowy courtyard and urtyard and cruise into the bowels of a massive BBaroque building where the pair’s workshop is. Here, old
s. Here, old bicycles become usable art, and I’m ab about to learn how it’s done.

“You see when it comes down to it, everything on Earth is recycled,” Csaba says ys faux-philosophically, lighting a candle inside a holder made from bicycle chains. He dons knickerbockers with knee-high socks and manages to look a bit more quirky than cool. By trade, he’s a professional bicycle repairman, hence the access to scrap bicycles.

And in this underground workshop there’s certainly a lot of them. Were it not for a cheerful mustard-yellow paint job and the recycled end products in sight, the place could well be a cycle necropolis. All around me are hundreds of old bikes broken into countless parts.

“Look what’s wasted, all of this great stuff!” Csaba gestures to a ceiling-high pile of tyres alongside oodles of chains. “Now look how it can be used.”

Behold: clocks made from gears, belts from tyres, bottle openers from brakes, chairs from spokes, as well as photos of colossal installation art. Much of what Recycle Mission makes ends up for sale at one of the local design shops in town, and at European design exhibitions.

Dániel, a professional artist with a headband that barely holds back his unruly curls, helps me make my own belt. First, I pore through the mountain of tyres to find my “cycle-cessory’s” starting point. Come hither sharp scissors and we’re on, cutting rubber, hammering holes, twisting spokes into a clasp base then sewing in a sabre-like 22-tooth gear cog as the buckle.

Thirty minutes later, voilà! A belt! I wrap the former tyre around my waist. It’s now a thick, black fashion accessory – too wide to go through my belt loops, but a fitting example of Budapest’s down-to-earth recycled style.

“Making things from recycled stuff is very hip at the moment, I think. We’re now on the wave of popularity,” Csaba says.

Sporting my new belt, I decide it’s time to leave the guys behind to check out the city’s sights at my own pace. Biking proves an excellent way to see Budapest. The highlights such as the fairytale Buda citadel and the neo-gothic parliament building are spread across big boulevards and split by the Danube, so not only can I check the city ut in a flash and get my bearings, but I also begin to understand why Budapesters just love their bikes.

I spin up to the wide Heroes’ Square and circle around the steaming Szechenyi baths. Then I head down leaf-fringed Andrassy ut towards the Szechenyi suspension bridge, the oldest Danube crossing, hallmarked by stone lions sticking their tongues out.

The bike path is well marked with plenty of photo-worthy villas along the way. In the dim winter light there are many other red-cheeked cyclists like me.

I get waves or semi-smiles from most drivers. At the five-corner intersection, Oktogon, a delivery truck cuts me off, the

driver waving his hands at me – I ring my bell in protest, breaking hard. Crisis adverted.

The rest of the evening is a dream, a beautiful way to see this historic and happening city. Riding my bicycle and wearing a bicycle-tyre-belt, I head into the last ebb of sunlight coming from behind the iconic Buda Castle and crowning the blue-grey Danube.

My verdict on the biking and recycling movement in Budapest: whatever the dangers of motor vehicles, I’ve simply had a wheely good time!

THE NEXT CRITICAL MASS IN BUDAPEST TAKES PLACE ON 22 APRIL. FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT WWW.CRITICALMASS.HU (HUNGARIAN) AND CHECK OUT WWW.CYCLINGSOLUTION.BLOGSPOT.COM (ENGLISH). TO BUY RECYCLE MISSION’S PRODUCTS, HEAD TO BOLT, 42–44 KERTESZ UTCA, WWW.BOLTMUHELY.HU / TRAFIK, INSIDE JELEN BISZTRO, 1–2 BLAHA LUJZA TER, TEL +36 (0)6 2034 43155 / PRINTA AKADEMIA, 10 RUMBACH SEBESTYEN UTCA, WWW.PRINTA.HU / ALSO VISIT WWW.RECYCLEMISSION.HU (COMMISSIONS AVAILABLE).

5 QUICK TIPS FOR EASY RIDING

Budapest is divided in half by the Danube river, with hilly Buda to the west and flat Pest to the east. By far the latter is more accommodating, and fun, for cycling. Here are five tricks on how to keep your wheels rolling during a Budapest cycling tour:

1 Helmets are not obligatory by law (just by common sense), but locking your bike should be! There are thieves. They will take your bike before you can say: “Egészségedre!”
2 Use bicycle lanes.
3 Occasionally, the absence of lanes means you’ll have to choose between the pavement and the road. If you choose the former, be nice and slow; remember the bike culture is young in Budapest and walkers scare easily.
4 On the road, be fearless, especially on arterial roads. Behave like a car. Vehicles may honk at you, which means they see you. Use your arms to signal.
5 Always use common sense. Don’t stop in the middle of the road, but do stop at bars with bicycles outside – a sure indicator of coolness. Happy cycling!

GET ROLLING AT THESE BUDAPEST BIKE SHOPS

YELLOW ZEBRA BIKES
Offers bike tours of the city from 5,500 HUF (€20), and a wide range of rental bikes, from 1,500 HUF (€5.50) for 1–4 hours.
SHOPS AT 2 SUTO UTCA AND 16 LAZAR UTCA. TEL: +36 (0)1 266 8777, WWW.YELLOWZEBRABIKES.COM

BIKEBASE
Organises bespoke guided tours, as well as bike rental. Prices from 1,600 HUF (€6) for 6 hours. Offers pick-up/ drop-off for a small fee.
19 PODMANICZKY UTCA, TEL: +36 706 258 501, WWW.BIKEBASE.HU

BUDAPEST BIKE
Offers several bike tours, including trips to Lake Balaton. Rent their distinctive orange bikes from 2,000 HUF (€7.50) for six hours.
13 WESSELENYI UTCA, TEL: +36 (0)6 3094 45533, WWW.BUDAPESTBIKE.HU