(A-bike at Tate Modern’s turbine hall. Taking down (repairing) of the massive floor crack work by Doris Salcedo on the background.)

19th April, I went out to catch a performance by friend of mine, who is currently showing in a group exhibition at Level 2 Gallery, TATE MODERN. Since I was a bit behind schedule, I took my A-bike with me to do the usual golden combination of public transport and A-bike to be there in time.

I rode A-bike from my home to nearest station, folded A, took A to inside train, off at Waterloo East Station, unfolded A, rode straight to Tate Modern. I saved about 15 minutes there over all. It’s only 15mins, you might think, but the 15mins is big if you are on the verge of being late for important stuff such as business meeting, lecture or rendez-vous with fierce girlfriend.

In the train to Waterloo East, an American lady approached and said “Ooo… America should have one like that.” American A-bike market is a kinda gray zone to me, so I didn’t mention Urban Rider or else to her.

(Gail Pickering, Zulu (Speaking in Radical Tongues) 2008, performance view)

Thanks to my A-bikie, I managed to reach there before the performance began. After having satisfying food for thought, it’s time to fill my stomach. There were my girlfriend and three other people joined me at Tate. Two of them, visitors from Japan, insisted to have good drinks and good foods, so I showed them some options in my mobile phone to make a peaceful agreement on the night’s diner. The Anchor and Hope (36, The Cut) off Southwark Underground Station was the choice we made.

(Mobile essentials: A-bike, Nokia N95 8GB, iGO Stowaway Ultra Slim Bluetooth wireless keyboard. No need to say anything for the bike. Nokia N95 is a nice smartphone, but it eats battery like nobody’s business. Built-in GPS and Internet functions really need unlimited internet access to be companied. Some service providers offer the option in reasonable price. I got my unlimited access for £5 from 3. The Stowaway keyboard is a-must-have item if you have a smartphone. The great foldable keyboard can be purchased as cheap as £18 in UK online shops like play.com.)

(I and friends shared Deep Fried Pig Head, Snail and Bacon Salad, and Crab on Toast. They seem small at first, but surprisingly very filling. These delicious plates are also modestly priced at about £6 each. Sorry, no picture of the foods, but an empty Guinness pint on the table.)

(A-bike can be taken to upstairs of Double Decker Bus without fuss. Don’t you love this bike just for that reason?)

Here We Dance at Tate Modern:
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/herewedance/default.shtm
The Anchor and Hope (review at squaremeal.co.uk):
http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/view/82726/Anchor_and_Hope

Did you see or can you imagine your old and authoritative President on a bicycle?  Here is Mr. Noganzi, an Ex-President of Korea. He retired just 2 months ago.

(Korean Ex-President, ‘Moohyun No’ on an electric bike)

In Korean modern history, most Presidents strongly insisted on their power. But many peoples could blame President in his term because he exceptionally permitted the impolite things. Now the other Ex-Presidents can’t appear among peoples without bodyguards. How opposed!! Mr. Noganzi can enjoy cycling with two granddaugnters!!

(Returned to old cowboy bring two granddaughters on bicycle-trailer.)

Frankly, Mr. Noganzi can’t go out freely like the others. Everyday, there are thousands - 10 times on weekend - peoples who are shouting in front of his house, “Noganzi !!  We are waiting for you all day long. Please show you and take a picture together !!”

I can tell you surely, “If your President rides a bicycle after his term, he was honest and he never made a crime in his term.”

(These people were really fast. No match for A-bike.)

April 13 2008. That’s the day for London Marathon, once again!! One year on since the last one, I was riding A-bike then and Yes, I’m still on the very same bike. Some of my colleagues, whom I only get to see around this time of the year, noticed my A-bike and went “Hey, I do remember the bike! You ARE still riding!?” I took it as a compliment. hahaha.

(Elite runners were very fast. No match for A…… never mind.)

I was at 35km point near Shadwell. Current closure of East London Line and alot of road blocks make the location less accessible, but with A-bike, no problem getting there from Media Center right next to Tower Bridge. Fold the A-bike, then going through crowd is also a piece of cake. A photographer saw my bike and told his mate, “Have you seen that one? That’s great thing. You can bring it to everywhere!!”. He certainly got a point there.

(Gorilla… maybe a good match. I love this fun bit of London Marathon.)

Around 3PM, My A-bike had a treat of having Tower Bridge all for himself (well, almost)!! It’s a real joy to ride there without traffic. If you’ve ridden on there before, you know what I’m talking about. Usually the bridge is so busy and many buses on such a narrow road. On top of that, side of the road has recessed surface caused by traffic over the years. Do not ride A-bike there unless it’s a special occasion like today. The recess traps the small tyre of A-bike and makes it almost uncontrollable. It’s really dangerous road especially for A-bike!! I cannot stress this enough!!

Once you are out of the main road and go for the pedestrian, it’s nice and easy with a great view of Themes, though.

Just in case you are one of those rare species who don’t read our fantastic forum, here is a news. Go here and read it!! You can get all the information currently available from official A-bike store about forthcoming A-bike Plus (a.k.a. A-bike Mk-II).

http://abikecentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=987

The new version has…
1. A newly strengthen leyshaft.

2. An improved freewheel assembly.

3. Strengthen alminium tubing.

4. A new air-sprung cushioned saddle.

5. A smoother drive mechanism.

6. An improved sports carry bag.

While the reason why A-bike team decided to change the version name for the new one from Mk-II to Plus is unknown, I could say the Plus is definitely a plus to A-bike market.

Release date isn’t announced just yet, but ‘later this spring’ according to the official website. There is still a possibility of more improvement will be revealed before deployment. Oh, this suspense is killing me!!

Tower Bridge will be also getting a new finish. The construction will commence this summer.

It was just before Christmas shopping season 2007, A-bike.co.uk had sold every single A-bike they had and gone out of stock. Only god knows how many people out there got disappointed to find that there weren’t any much-wanted A-bike among their Christmas presents. (I don’t like people get disappointed, but I hope there were many people wanted A-bike for Christmas though.)

A-bike.co.uk said they are expecting more stock coming in April 2008. For those waiting for the new stock probably could get paid for their paitience. some source suggests the April batch will come with improved parts design.

So, the monumental original A-bike got wiped out from the market already? The answer is no. Just not yet.

Apparently Currys Digital is still selling A-bike. There was a user at A-bike official support net, reporting he bought his A-bike form Currys Digital at Charing Cross, central London in the end of last month, and I also witnessed one display model at Currys Digital, Oxford Street, central London last week. The poor A-bike was already put besides the dark corner of the shop, gathering dusts… I couldn’t tell whether they still intend to sell the one, but when I went back there yesterday, the Currys Digital was now selling the very same A-bike (as an ex-display model) for just under £75!!!! (see photo)

I bet it’s still sitting in the same corner at this moment. Can’t wait till April? Then here is your chance. It’s time to go out to high street and do some hunting.

About one month ago, our HK friend Amuro introduced an interesting site to me. When I visited the site(a fake sales site), I had to shout “Thank you!!” because they were trying to make me and my friends famous with our photos. We owed to you, the fake guys!!

Click on picture to play the YouTube video.