Hi everyone, My name is Josh. I am an bicycle mechanic,volunteer, bicycle advocacy supporter, as well as musician. I found the ginger ninjas while they were on their east coast tour last fall. They were looking for a show to play in Worcester. I emailed them immediately when I first read about them and listened to their music. I tried getting them a show to play but I got them a place to stay for the night instead. They play at Worcester Polytechnic Institute the day after. They invited me to go to Boston with them the day after, which was actually my birthday. I couldn’t pass it up so my natural response was YES. So we hit it off and I told the whole band and crew that I would like to join them. Well after a couple of months… Kipchoge called me up and still asked me if I was interested in joining up and I said yes. So here I am now, in Mexico City in Dante’s Office with Dave,Jared,Corey, Andrea and Cara.
You all can check out my personal blog at joshisridingaroundtheworld.blogspot.com
On the bus ride to Guadalajara my life started changing instantly. Everything I witnessed and noticed just started changing my life little by little. In Guadalajara we stayed at Chava’s mom’s house for a couple of days. Chava knows how to repair and tune up bicycles and he knows a bit about the generator system. He is a really cool guy and I enjoyed staying at his house. Then after that we stayed at this Tzintzuni’s house. She is a really cool young woman with a lot of energy and spunk. I slept on her roof for a couple of nights. We went on a Wednesday night bicycle ride with about 600 or more people. It was one of the largest and longest group bicycle ride I have ever been on. After the ride we played a really cool show. Then we took a bus to Cuernavaca on Thursday night. We spent a day with Ennio and his beautiful family. Ennio is our Mexico tour manager and has booked a couple of great shows so far. Today around noon time we took a bus from Cuernavaca to the outskirts of Mexico City, where we currently are now. Kipchoge and Dante are working on the generators while the rest of the crew are working on videos, more blogs, etc.
Hola Josh y todos!
Thanks for the update.
I am currently freezing my butt off in Connecticut and dreaming of Mexico and riding with los Ninjas
Especially the prospects of riding through the rain forests and temples on the way south
I played percussion (congas) sitting in with the Ninjas on the first leg of their tour through New England but had to bail after Providence (no rig to bike on an carry my drums and wildcrafted jungle juices, etc.).
I met them coming back from Denver where I marched with IVAW (Iraq Vets Against the War) and they played for the Critical Mass action/ concert outside the democratic convention.
After 36 hours on the double decker Amtrak ride with the Ginger Ninja crew and listening to the brilliant songs written/sung by Kipchoge I was simply floored by the whole thing.
I had not ridden a bike in almost twenty years since my last bike got stolen in the city where I lived and these guys inspired me both to ride and to promote what they do – both the music and the nomadic environmental lifestyle and the whole concepts of the sheer windblown joy of sustainable self reliance on the road on two spinning wheels.
It inspired me to write a piece, a song, called “(Cara has) The Wind in Her Eyes” which one day I hope to share with you all.
My kids, Maia and Raphael, needed me at home and when the Ginger Ninjas rode off into the sunset leaving the East Coast, I went into a pretty serious funk.
The joy of their magnifico magic of sound and energy left an indelible loving tint on my soul.
My love and serious respect a todos on this shamanic journey!
I am regrouping after a rough winter (I imagine we all are) and s time goes by I am looking at all the possibilities for the future for the Ginger Ninjas, for the dream of Kipchoge and all his allies, and for the VISION of a Pleasant Revolution!
I am mostly writing (still working on my screenplay) and networking – I actually met with Mylie Cyrus’s director for Disney, an old friend, who teaches film and is an A list director (Friends/Hannah Montana, among many other credits) who has agreed to be a creative consultant.
An article based in part on an interview I did with the Smithsonian Magazine is being published the month (look for the March issue) on “La Resistance” against fascism and my Dad’s part in an underground railroad who saved artists like Marc Chagall as well as writers and musicians and many antiNazi and other Jews on Hitler’s “most wanted” list.
Part of the reason I believe so much in Kipchoge’s vision, as well as the commitment of all of you, is because it was a karmic meeting for me on that train journey from Denver to NYC and the band was a complement to the concept of liberation angels who can rescue humanity which is so evident in the resistance to fascism in Europe and Latin America as well as in the relentless determination which makes the pleasant revolution so powerful and beautiful.
So..
Nice to make your acquaintance Josh and many hugs to all of you and to all who have the wind in their eyes!
Paz y musico!
Bill Bingham
Salem Connecticut
And don’t forget to check out the Smithsonian Mag article (written by PBS contributor Peter Eisner who also interestingly did a book on Manuel Noriega after extensive interviews with him) if you see the March issue in your journeys or online any day now.
Amor a todos!