Breakin L.A. (2012) - full transcript

The Alley Cat in Hamburg is

an alternative bike event

where riders come from all over to race the streets

of our famous red lights district: St. Pauli

I'm Ivo. I was born here in Hamburg.

I've always ridden bicycle.

I was also a bike messenger for 3 - 4

years… at that time we used pay phones.

Eventually I began working more,

always working more and more.

If I wouldn't have had cycling,

then I wouldn't be how I am today.

I'm Henrich, I am now 25 years old.

Originally, I'm coming from skateboarding.

I rode skateboard for 5 - 6 years.

But early on I was somewhat

into cycling through my father.

We made bike tours to Grandma

and Grandpa, about 50 - 60 km long.

I'm Jan Glietz, Gianni Suicycle.

I was a bike messenger for many years.

It must have been in the first grade when

I broke my first seat post on my PUKY bike.

My father had it welded at his work since

I had jumped around with it so much.

That means, I have been breaking things for

quite a long time and having fun doing it.

I am Peter. I am 35 years old.

My earliest memories were back in the

80ties, like '87 when everybody around me

in the the little town where I lived,

started BMX race.

We had race tracks everywhere just one was

like 2 minutes from the house of my parents.

I got this cheap, crappy BMX

from the supermarket and started racing.

Did that until late '88 and then I

switched to to skateboarding for 22 years.

Wicked. My name, Rene. I was born in

Hamburg but I was raised in the suburbs.

Living on the countryside, you have to use

a bicycle otherwise you don't get anywhere.

You can take the bus, which

runs every hour. Its sucks.

I always rode bike from the age of 12 until

I moved away and had a car at 18.

When I moved to the city I forgot about

bike riding but then I rediscovered it…

… because it's hard to find places to park

the car, I'm a lot faster, I see more.

It's simply sweet and it is

also a sweet form of movement.

I really love my bike.

Of course it is functional, somehow I

have to go from A to B but riding is fun.

It is really the case that I like to

ride my bike around the neighborhood and

maneuver through the red lights

and around the corners.

Or to check the fastest route from A to B.

I think it's fun.

St.Pauli is narrowed to 6 sq miles,

we live along the river Elbe.

There are no mountains, traffic and

bike lanes suck and it rains way too much.

When you travel regularly to Los Angeles

the process is always the same.

You have to go through immigration at LAX.

You have to pick up your rental car.

Then you are practically on the

road in a car for one week.

I actually thought that I've seen

everything Los Angeles has to offer.

But one evening I was walking through downtown LA and

I was completely impressed by the city's atmosphere.

Suddenly a group of fixed

gear riders passed by me.

I thought, "What's going on here? Bike riders in

Los Angeles? Somehow that didn't seem right!"

After I returned to Hamburg, I couldn't get

these images out of my mind.

I met up with Ivo and told

him about what I had seen.

At first we just joked about it

but somehow it became clear…

… that we had to go to LA.

We had to travel with our bikes.

We didn't know of anyone that ever did that and we loved

the idea of crossing barriers in the capital of cars.

Riding in an ecological and cultural desert

that stretches 45 miles from East to West

and 47 miles from the North down South.

We gathered a crew of riders from Hamburg,

packed our bikes and flew 6000 miles to see,

if we could break in the

city of Los Angeles.

Where is the route master? - For today?

- What, ribs Ivo?

I can grill anything, first we buzz through

the city and then we grill the ribs.

We want to ride around

and check out the block.

- I'll build up my De Rosa and then

we can check out the block.

Really, I should go into the roughest

neighborhood, Crips and Bloods and

me with my bling bling bike, white and

I thought, "No way, not for me."

I would be really scared but I really don't

think we will put ourselves in danger.

For 12 days we faced LA`s great distances, its massive

traffic and the pressures of modern evolution.

He'll come over here.

Hey did you see, we're following a bunch of guys on

bicycles. Did you see like 8 of them go by right now?

Yeah?

What way?

All right, thanks Brother!

Thank you! All right.

You have the opportunity to immerse yourself differently

in the city, since we will be riding bikes.

Through that situations will arise

that normally would not occur.

Also, we don't look like tourists

and have very different objectives.

The TV images that I have in my

head are not only of LA,

but they are of various American

cities simply pureed together.

It is huge and cool and there are banks

and things everywhere that I can ride on.

That is why I think this is something

that I could never have… only with you.

Since I simply would not fly to LA with somebody

that has not put so much thought and plan into it.

But you have put so much

preparation and love into it.

All I have to do is enjoy. I'm like a bear devouring

a pot of honey and just thinking: "Sweet, LA."

Just riding around and simply enjoying it.

I hope that I can give something back that

you can start with and also be happy with.

I think we will be able to do that because

the group is good for it.

When I imagine approaching Downtown on a bike and

imagine that Downtown lays in front me like an island…

… like Kilimanjaro that you basically ride

towards than that is even greater.

Los Angeles is a different type of cosmopolitan

city and I think that you ride differently.

You realize as if you

are in another cosmos.

I don't fear the traffic at all because

they drive extremely defensive.

I think that's great. I like

that, it's also my thing.

I think its great to be able to ride in that

traffic since the traffic is so linear,

these broad and large streets,

which have a different surface,

it is simply great, it is warm.

It must be extremely great to ride through the

streets with the other members of the group.

I think it will be simply a blast.

I'm up for both, whether it's 200 m

wheelies and 180's or any grinds.

In LA you have the

opportunity to really ride,

Things that I've really noticed is that Fixed Gear

Freestyle, that has like exploded in the last year.

I mean you head out to the

West side of Los Angeles and…

… Fixed Gear Freestyle bikes,

whatever you want to call it.

Probably outnumber people on skateboards

or regular bikes. I mean every kid, male…

that's like 12 to 17 is

riding a Freestyle bike.

My name is Michael Chacon, I am 18 years

old. I live in in Culver City, California.

I've been riding Fixed Gear Freestyle

for about 2 years and 3 months now.

When I first got into it I was riding

a track bike just for fun.

I would go out on some rides with

my friends and just hang out,

and then I started knowing that people could do tricks on

these bikes like wheelies and going backwards and such.

So I thought that was crazy,

so I started trying it myself.

Everyday I practiced in front of my house,

just practising, practising, practising.

Time went by, just tricks started

coming faster and faster to me so…

… I started learning.

Now 2 years later I'm getting sent around the world

to ride my bike for fun, which is awesome, you know.

I love it. It's sick.

I would never thought that this would have

happened, but it kinda happened really fast.

And I love that the sport is growing.

Kids are always hitting me up on Facebook and

"can you do this" and "I got this ride".

It's really cool to get that kind of attention, doing

what you love doing, you know, just riding bikes.

I'm having fun with it right now.

Los Angeles is notorious for being, you know,

completely being run by cars and freeways.

So by having this subculture, we are the

David versus the Goliath thing here.

We're just doing fundraisers,

private events and doing certain…

… raising money for certain accidents

like we know of in the city,

for certain people, friends, friends

of friends, things like that.

Eventually we want to be able to be an

organization, that anybody can come to

and say, "this happened to me", "this is my story",

you know and I really could use your help.

And that way we can sort of take a little

bit of the financial burden off of them.

We did a tattoo event.

One of our founders owns a tattoo shop here in LA. And so

we wanted to really bring those two communities together.

I mean, it's sort of a cultural thing now being tattooed

and getting tattooed, so we wanted to do something really

fun and positive to support, not only our community but the

tattoo community as well and sort of bring them together.

So we did like a set of flash,

and we did certain designs.

You could pick from them and

get your tattoo and hang out.

It was a great time.

My main problem that I've been able to see is

the lack of knowledge. Nobody knows the rules.

I guarantee that, its safe to say that 90% of the population

out here does not know about the 3 foot passing law

that has been ordered for bicycles, they're not allowed

to pass us unless we have 3 feet clearance on all sides.

It is not allowed to pass by us, as long

as the distance is less than 3 feet.

I mean Mayor Villaraigosa gets hit

you know, on Venice Boulevard,

and suddenly you know,

he's all talking about it.

The drivers in Los Angeles are actually

a lot more aggressive,

they drive faster, most of

them do not like cyclists

because its a city run by cars.

Riding your bike in Los Angeles is probably one of

the most dangerous things, that I've come across.

Now I'm in the process of

rehabilitating a couple old injuries.

Last year of February 28th of 2010

I got hit by a F550 Pickup Truck,

in the process of that I was dragged 30 feet. With

that entailed, I completely crushed my pelvic bone,

broke both legs out of the hip sockets,

broke the 5th vertebrae on my neck

which fused with the 6th vertebrae.

I have 4 pins here,

22 pins and 4 plates completely holding

my pelvic bone together,

I was in a coma for a month,

hospital for 2.5 months.

Lower intestines was ripped

off the stomach wall.

I had complications with every surgery,

had about 12 surgeries,

7 different fusions between blood

plasma und platelets.

I was told, I was never

going to walk again.

Here I am a year later,

skateboarding again, walking, running.

Currently training to get back on

my bicycle to race again. YEAH.

First I thought it was really cool

that you contacted me,

it showed me that the blog or what I'm

doing is reaching a worldwide audience.

I thought that was cool. I felt some respect out there. That

inspired me to keep this thing going, keeping it moving.

But then thinking about it, that's really awesome that they want

to come to LA and ride bikes in a group and check out my city.

The Velodrome impressed me

because it was so beautiful.

With the palm trees and as evening

came inside the concrete track.

I found the aesthetic of

the Velodrome very cool.

The track can easily be recognized

when you see images in the internet.

Just a small excerpt, with the palm trees and the

steep curve, somehow you know instantly where it is.

I noticed at a point that somehow

I couldn't cycle any faster.

I was pedaling without resistance.

We'll have you start over there actually.

Ride out on to the track,

get high on the track,

ride around,

when you get to there,

you call out your name.

Stay high on the track,

you have one more lap to get up

to top speed.

So stay high on the track and

when you get to about here.

You are going to dive down from the

top of the track, to the black line

and the clock starts when

you hit that black line

coming down the track

and all you have to do is maintain your absolute

total top speed until you get to there.

And then you're done.

But how many riders are on the track?

Only one at a time.

- What's your time, Ivo?

What do I have 16.4 seconds?

Yeah, 16.4 seconds.

- Yeah, it's because of your ratio.

LA is probably the worst

possible place to ride a bike.

Not the most dangerous but the worst

possible, just because everything is so far.

If you don't have a car, sometimes people will

give me a weird look and they'll be like:

"What! How do you live without a car here?

You need a car. You need a car."

and then I'm like, "No, you don't."

LA sucks and it is good at the same time.

I like it, because you can ride a lot,

put in a lot of miles.

You can be at the beach in 45 minutes

from Hollywood on a bike.

Get there faster than a car.

Most of America is fat

I mean really overweight.

Just get on your bike

and you'll feel better.

You get places faster, getting through traffic

you don't really get stuck in the jams.

I mean you get really fit and it makes me

happy. I think it makes other people happy too.

I guess you can say it happened naturally,

but very quickly within the one decade.

We had an entire change from 2001 to 2011.

Within these 10 years

I've seen a major shift

in the way bicycle culture is not only

viewed by the city, people who live here,

but by the city council,

by the police officers.

Everyone engaged and involved now has to sort of recognize

the fact that there is a bicycle culture in Los Angeles.

Culturally wise, the main

reason why I wanted to do this,

was just to try to inspire

the next generation,

like my sister and my

brother-in-law did to me.

Keep this movement alive and really show

that you can exist in such a car filled city

like LA, that you can exist wholly by bicycle.

I don't have a license, I don't know how

to drive a car. I've never had one.

All I've ever had is bikes, throughout my life

it's one thing that stayed consistent is bicycles.

You look at it and from my vantage point, from where

I stand now I'm a working messenger for 14 years,

and I'm kind of looking at it and man this is it's own

animal now. It's really, really something and it is huge.

I moved to Los Angeles, and the

one thing in mind that I had,

was I wanted to give back to a

community that inspired me.

So I started throwing street races,

Alley Cats and street crits,

and found out that I was kind of good at doing

it. I was able to talk to companies and …

get products for helping

build bigger races.

And then I formed with my friend

Joseph Lobato, we formed Takeover LA.

An then now its blossomed into this blog,

we're building a website,

trying to make it into a brand

but still keep the core values of

where we came from:

Street racing.

The night before Henrich and I sat together

guessing how large this entire thing would be…

… since it was totally

hyped on all the blogs.

The whole story here, you see all the riders

and constantly hear something about it.

In the end we thought about

how large it would be.

Henrich estimated 200 participants.

My feeling was about 150 participants.

In the end maybe about 30 people were

at the first start, prior to the main race.

Then the second race or main

race only 15 people started.

That included already two of us and

maybe 10 people originally from LA.

Only Henrich, me and three people

from out of town, which astonished us.

On the other hand it showed us the quality of the people

that showed up. They were in complete racing gear.

Here, street race is a real deal,

it's no longer an Alley Cat like at home.

Where messengers cruise around through

the neighborhood during their time off.

Rather people actually race with click pedals

in racing clothing and each one trains for it.

I saw a guy a couple of

days prior to the race,

he told someone on the street that

he was training for a race on the weekend.

That's how they all ride, at least 50% of the

people that raced were super fast, without a doubt.

The routes were quite demanding,

I would say from 9 to 10.

Since the distances were relatively broad.

Griffith Park felt like 10 km only uphill.

That was a real mountain stage.

Then we had to ride down from

the top to Downtown.

That was another 5-6 km

until the next checkpoint.

We were really riding hard the whole time.

I think we had a pretty sweet start and

we went full speed from the beginning.

The three of us agreed to ride together,

we ran to our bikes and jumped on.

We knew of three guys that had the same checkpoint

as us and we raced after them like crazy.

At Sankt Paulopoly we had

about 300 participants.

We knew of three guys that had the same checkpoint

as us and we raced after them like crazy.

At Sankt Paulopoly we had

about 300 participants.

We rode until it hurt and after so many

inclines we had to let them ride off.

We had Rene and 2 other

Americans behind us.

The problem is that the locals themselves don't

know L.A. or don't know how to use their iphones.

We had the Echo Park checkpoint through

and then we were off to Wurstküche but…

along the way I saw the Dodger's Stadium

on the left side, where we went uphill.

Then I reckoned that we passed Elysian Park,

Angels Point where we needed to take a photo.

I thought that since we were so close and so

high up that it would make sense to ride there.

I explained that to the other two and

they thought it was a good idea.

We went up the hill and then we found ourselves behind

the Stadium, where the guys said it was all wrong.

Then we rode all the way

back down to Chinatown.

Then it turned out they changed plans without

telling us and we were on our way to Wurstküche.

Oh well doesn't matter.

Having a bike,

you stay fit and it's free.

Very little things can go wrong,

especially on a track bike.

Maybe you get a flat,

and you have to replace that

but usually everything

else runs pretty smoothly.

It is easy to find, it's just a big uphill

climbing hills, winding, winding.

- Really? - Yeah, it's a bitch.

- How long uphill? Is it 10 minutes or…?

- I don't know. It feels like a year.

One. I think you have Griffith Park.

Did you go there already?

- No. - I have to go to Griffith,

that's going to suck.

- Where do you have to go? Are going to the climbing up

to the Observatory? - Yeah, what do you want to take?

- Whatever. I don't care. - because I already did the

reservoir, I already did the lake, I already did Wurstküche,

Angels Point… Griffith Park.

- what, holy fuck… - You're a machine.

… I still have like 3 more check points

or 2 more to go… - Let´s go to Griffith.

I do get competitive and I

do get a little aggressive.

My room mate, he does a lot of the

races with me and he's said to me,

"you don't ride like a stereotypical girl, you

don't ride like a girl, you just ride aggressive."

My boyfriend is like, "You ride like a dude,

you ride like a guy but you are a girl."

So it's awesome.

I just like being able to go hard and

play hard and just not half-ass it.

Instead they stretch and prepare themselves,

maybe even have an energy drink.

In Hamburg it is exactly the opposite

drinking occurs before and afterwards.

For us it is more a game, or for fun.

For them it is a race.

I have wonderful memories from the race, sweet

images. I also had a camera on my bike.

Henrich and the American that we waited for at the

summit, I don't know if he was really from LA,

rode in front of me and skidded together.

They left small smoke trails on the road.

It was great. But it was one of the fastest

downhills that I have ever ridden.

Los Angeles is more than the hills of

Hollywood and the beaches of Venice.

A few blocks east of Downtown`s financial district lies

Skid Row where 15,000 homeless people live on the streets.

There are well known reasons such as alcoholism and drug

addiction, however this is only a part of the problem.

Mental illness is prevalent and those who are lacking

the necessary insurance, have no place in a dominantly

private health care system. Public institutions don`t

exist anymore and self medication occurs often.

In the beginning I was surprised to see so

few homeless people on the streets.

But it had to do with the fact that I was so

overwhelmed by the entirety of it all in LA.

That often the eye for the special or the

twisted is not there at all, you know?

After a week somehow, I

would say that changed.

I had already ridden under the bridge 10 times,

and had already seen the gigantic thing 10 times.

Then you look onto the

ground and in the holes,

around the corners, in the back where all of a

sudden you see people sleeping all over the place.

When you suddenly think, "the last time I didn't see

them at all and I thought maybe they were not there."

Usually I am very open for those things

and see that actually quite clear.

At that point I was so blinded and overwhelmed by

the whole thing that I didn't notice it at all.

We decided to volunteer at the Midnight Mission, where

they have provided for the homeless since 1914.

We sorted through large bales of donated clothing

in a seperate room, which did not really comply

with our stereotype of charity work but we were simply

glad to be able to contribute at least a little bit.

After we completed the work we were thanked with a

lunch, it gave us an idea about the quality of the food

being served at the mission.

We were fed chicken and rice.

Not bad if you consider that the mission

serves close to 800,000 meals each year.

It would be quite terrible if things

would go in the same direction,

and in 20 years we would have

the same situation in Hamburg.

I hope that they take LA as a deterrent

example so that doesn't happen here.

They also offer counseling, education, medical care,

a 12 step detox and multi-level housing program

or simply protection and

shelter in the inner yard.

I thought it was really dreadful

how all the people slept there.

There were about 100, 200 people in one room

like a huge army camp, like before a battle.

There were no window's and people are living

there for at least for several months.

It's only until they are at the very top in the individual

rooms before they can leave and hopefully find work…

and then somehow live independently. Only when they

at the very top there is somehow sunshine for them.

So they finally reach light that's

what I found most terrible.

It is a therapy approach that I didn't like. I

thought it was relatively inhuman in some ways.

It was also mentioned that the cafeteria in there

followed the example of the cafeteria in Disneyland.

Which was definitely not built

for people to happily linger there.

It was rather built so that the necessary food intake

can be quickly completed to become productive again.

I found that really

disgusting as I heard that.

Our guide has also been a resident in the mission,

he explained that it is mandatory for all counselors

and employees to successfully

complete the program.

We left the mission with mixed feelings.

They provide an incredible amount of help.

It is hard to believe that the mission operates without any

governmental subsidies and is financed by private donations only.

Nevertheless, the

atmosphere felt oppressive.

- We arrived at this club and you sat together

with Michael, a homeless man and Rene.

- I quickly noticed that Rene actually did not belong to the

conversation although he sat with both of you on the bench.

No, he didn't have much

to do with the situation.

There are many reasons for that,

first of all I have a very deep fear…

… due to my personal history anything

and everything can happen at anytime.

I don't have any security at all. Something can

happen at anytime that completely kicks me out.

Consequently, I observe such

people more intensively.

Not to mention that he was truly special.

He was kind of how I

always imagine it to be.

Michael was in a fucked up position but he was

able to handle it well. And he was sober.

That was the most important thing

for me to see, that he was clean.

I find it really shitty when people have problems and

they begin to drink or take drugs or something like that.

One thing leads to another and it is over.

Actually there is no way out anymore.

Although many institutions exist, in my opinion

it is not worth living from that moment on.

I mean for me this is the case.

I think it's good when you can help people but

I think actually it is over at that point.

He was that kind where I would have done

everything possible for him in that moment.

He was fit and he had tried everything.

He walked his routes.

But not only from the doctor to his home… so to his bridge

but he walked from a city in the North to the South.

So, New York to Los Angeles

because it's warmer.

So, anyway he is… well that was incredible.

What kind of strength does that require

at such an age and with his problems.

To pull through in such a country,

without any support.

Basically, I found that truly impressive.

I observe such things very closely because

I simply find it interesting for me.

- So do you identify yourself with him?

Absolutely.

Yeah, he was really funky.

He said way out things.

It was really strange.

- Why?

He had an answer to everything that I have

questioned myself over the past 20 years.

He recounted on his own… it was so strange.

Our first ride out of LAX was filled with such euphoria

and since then we scattered in all cardinal directions.

The environment that we were exposed to was rough at times,

however it shaped a relatively small but fine bike community

who is more enthusiastic and better trained than

riders in most so called bike friendly cities.

You got this small community fighting

against this large aparatus,

which is the car and the oil industry

and everything else associated with it.

We are a very small group of people

fighting for…

… whether it's political or environmental or

whether its just because you want to have fun.

It's part of it. I mean I'm paraphrasing

but H.G. Wells said:

"When I see a person riding a bicycle,

I have hope for humanity again."

What I found impressive in LA was

the existing bike community.

We don't have that here.

I realized that riding in

LA is much more dynamic.

Due to the uphills and downhills

that we don't have in Hamburg.

With the help of our bikes we came across a Los

Angeles that many Angelenos don`t even know.

It was so exciting and multifaceted.

I would definitely do it again

wherever it is… it's so much fun…

… to ride bike with a

group of guys and gals.

Because here in Hamburg we don't

know that you can ride so much.

You have 2 weeks to bike ride only and

it's great. To discover new things,

other food, other odors, other mattresses,

everything is new.

It's great, I would do it again.

We went to the opening of what was called the "Biggest

Street Art Show" at the Museum of Modern Art.

And watched the Dodger`s

play at Chavez Ravine.

We devoured terrible greasy food and saw scary bill-

boards advertising 50 chicken nuggets for $9.99.

It came to a point where

I was really irritated.

I mean, I can eat a burger or

fast food or a burrito. Super tasty.

But not every day and not

from mornings to evenings.

You have way more possibilities to eat

cheap and shitty food than in Hamburg.

But it tastes delicious.

I could have stuck to it, I would have needed

more time for sports to avoid becoming fatter.

We crossed fields of giant potholes, struggled hills

and heat and sometimes Los Angeles made us walk,

where we wanted to ride.

Honestly we did not break LA, but we inhaled

it and experienced a new perception of a city,

its people and its nature.

Yeah, LA has nature.

We were surprised about the wilderness

hidden within the city.

We saw parrots perched on telephone poles, heard

rattlesnakes and even watched a coyote crossing our path.

LA had the hardest cuts I have ever seen.

Between clean Downtown and

right next to it, Skid Row.

Then there is again

another residential area.

Then all of a sudden you have the LA river scenery.

It was wet do we couldn't really ride in it.

I would have never imagined it

to be so broad and gigantic.

One of the most impressive discoveries

was the wildlife inside the LA river.

We watched a great variety of birds such as

comorans, cranes, ducks, seagulls and many others.

It is amazing how flora and fauna have reconquered an

original riverbed that had been completely concreted by man.

If nature strikes back then we should also be able to adapt

to an environment that seems quite hostile at first.

I had the idea about the LA Gun Club because I

had travelled often to LA with a work colleague…

… who always went to the gun range first and

then spent two hours shooting senselessly.

Nevertheless I asked myself

what drives someone…

… who takes a gun in his hands

and am I able to judge him.

Either to feel stronger, to use it as a penis

extension, potential for violence or to exert control.

I can only judge the whole thing if

I have really experienced it myself.

Actually, I never thought about it before nor

would I have placed myself in this position.

But in that moment I wanted it.

Sometimes you have to face new challenges

and put yourself through the test.

I didn't want to patronize anyone in the group and

therefore I didn't demand Peter to participate.

Everybody has to put themselves through

the test when they are ready to do so.

And even if there are bad vibes

it shows you what is not good for yourself.

At first I was anxious because it had been a long

time since I served three months in the army.

Of course I had shooting

practice and due to that…

… I ran into difficulties since I clearly realized

how people can be harmed and that is no joke at all.

And even what guns can do to someone

when they are stupid enough to use them.

It is stupid to use guns for hunting, like shooting

birds or animals, which is unbelievably stupid.

It is even more stupid to practice

or regard it as a sport.

Unfortunately that all belongs together and

therefore guns are completely stupid.

However, if I imagine the possibility

to strictly shoot on paper only…

… than I would find that okay.

I would have fun with it.

If simply no opportunity exists to kill someone

or something than I would say why not?

I'm up for it and the faster

you|shoot the more fun it is.

For me it's like with many other things, I do not have to

see certain things in person in order to comprehend them.

I already know how fucked up the world is and

likewise the people and I find it utterly absurd…

… of course I find it totally absurd that

such an extreme hype about guns exists here.

Nevertheless, I had no problem with it…

… until I realized, in the moment when we were

given instructions on how to handle the guns,

I briefly thought, "Fuck man, we are going shortly into the

firing range and there are people with lethal weapons.

And if someone had a bad day,

then we would not come out anymore.

I think it is difficult for us to grasp because

the guns laws for us are quite different.

Of course, we are not given a gun

from daddy at the age of four.

And then told to try to shoot at a can.

For us it's different. With the exception of

an air gun, it was the first time in my life…

… that I held a loaded weapon in my hands.

I believe that many people here grow up

completely different with this gun thing.

So, any questions on this one?

How many times you got the ambulance here?

- How many times you got an ambulance here?

- Ambulance?

Actually never, since I work here. Never.

Don't play any pranks on me. I really

don't want someone pointing a gun at me.

Steffi, we are firing real

bullets in there that can kill.

I'll be glad knowing that everyone

we will pass in there will be cool.

- I think nobody will misbehave because you

would be immediately kicked out.

- I think they just kicked some people out.

Really?

I get scared so much.

Don't you have to push it in from the back?

- Doesn't work.

- Who knows how to use this gun, is it like this?

- What is it, Ivo? - Yes. - Oh I see.

This is hardcore.

- 3…

Nothing can happen, now.

- … 4

Hinricht, would you like to shoot? I have fired

3 times so there are still some shots left.

Rene, you have to show

me briefly how it works.

We went into our lanes and started

shooting. Then it was suddenly my turn.

I first started with the small pistol.

Then I was confronted with loading

the ammunition. 'How does that work again?'

Well, he had explained it earlier

but then it was somehow…

… real ammunition, a real gun. I have this thing

in my hand and I am totally unfamiliar with it.

I put the rounds in, I was totally nervous.

Then I asked again if everything was

correct and I checked it again.

Then I shot 2, 3 times and it was so…

… very strange, I felt only really lousy.

It wasn't cool at all,

how the recoil pulled my

arm up with every shot.

The entire pressure, I just didn't like it. I tried the

other 'so called smaller' gun and fired 2-3 shots.

Okay I've done it, I don't like it,

now I know it and so I walked out.

I left the guys to play with the big guns,

and watched them celebrating themselves.

This is great.

- Wicked, man.

- How many shots are left? - I have 10 here.

- Now, will you do it yourself, Steffi?

I have 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 hits.

- I have put down the gun now, it's loaded.

Oh man!

- I believe this one is empty now, we have to use

the next one since there are only 6 shots left.

-There are still some in this one.

- Is it empty? And? - Terrible!

Man, four hits in the chest.

It was completely uninteresting for me.

We shot once, it lasted 45 minutes.

A lifetime spans about 90 years.

45 minutes out of 90 years.

Fuck it.

Three hits. Only two shots fired.

Not bad.

- This gun can still be fired.

Does anyone have an allen key?

- In my suitcase, no.

- What do you want to do?

- Have you loosened your headset again?

- Of course.

I'm riding through the neighborhood with a loose

chain anyway so I can at least fix my headset.

- It doesn't matter, Ivo.

- 'Loose' is something else, Ivo.

- Do you want to brake here in the front?

- Look at your chain fool - Yeah, fool…

- Yeah, we consider ourselves friends, right?

- Sure, friends.

Everything, actually everything is broke

except in the expensive neighborhoods,

everything is broken whether it is the traffic light, the doorbell

nameplate, the store lighting or the turn signal from a car…

… something is always

broken, which is charming.

It's slower, it's bigger,

it's wider, no one honks.

When you are somewhere on the street,

most drivers stop.

Those are the greatest

differences to us in Hamburg here.

Those are the big difference to us, here it's small,

most honk, when you are riding along 2 lanes or 1 lane.

The motorists were actually, almost fearful, also

friendly, but restrained towards the cyclist.

It's also cool when buying 2 colas, beer and a chocolate

bar at the same grocery store three nights after another…

… and the same guy behind the counter

with the same night shift notices you.

He notices that you had been there before and asks where

you come from and suddenly you have a conversation.

The next day he says, 'the fucking germans' and then

it is more fun than just being someone passing by.

Riding down to Venice with my BMX bike

was for me one of the most sublime moments.

Simply rolling down. What a

feeling of total liberation.

There were no flashbacks, but shortly

afterwards there was an emotional climax.

For 3-4 weeks I actually, stupidly

tried to maintain the same lifestyle.

But I simply was not able to,

due to my daily routine.

Naturally it was more annoying than before.

Back in Hamburg I was really annoyed

by the constant stopping,

by the lack of space for me to ride and thus

having to swerve off the bike path or sidewalk.

Always this constant stop and go.

I'm quite happy that we flew to Los Angeles

and I found it also great with the group…

… even when problems arose,

probably for that reason.

We were simply many very different characters and

sometimes you can not push your way through.

I thought that was important

and so we can do it again.