If bike culture is like music, the fringe-loving bikers who joust on their tall bikes are like the folks who refuse to see any band that plays a venue that’s legal and holds more than 200 people. To the horror of some members of the punker-than-thou tall bike clique, bike jousting is soon to make it to the very small screen in the form of an iPhone video game app named Tall Bike Joust. It will be released on New Year’s Day.
Ryan Doyle — one of the scene’s most recognizable faces, who was featured in FountainHead’s 2007 documentary B.I.K.E. — helped develop the game. “I was approached by FountainHead and asked if I was interested in creating a bicycle-themed video game,” explained Doyle to BikeBlogNYC. “I used to love playing video games as a kid and I immediately wondered if making a video game would possibly help influence a younger audience to see bicycle culture.”
Doyle said he chose the Tall Bike Jousting theme as a platform to “shock and inspire.” He continued, “I am always into trying new things and learning to create in new technology so in those respects it just made sense for me to say yes. My bike club on the other hand was a bit more ambivalent.”
Although there aren’t a lot of details about the game, if the trailer is any indication, it should be a good one. Featuring chaotic clips from the B.I.K.E documentary, the soundtrack to the advertisement/preview is by the Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim, a band who is ridiculously cool, fun and inclusive. And those three qualities are something bike culture would do well to aspire to, tall bikes, jousts or not.
—Stephen Krcmar
