We took a ride on the “ladder”

Participants of the record Mayakovsky bicycle night showed the poet Moscow, which he never knew

“We are going with Mayakovsky to walk around Moscow, which the poet has not seen, through the quarters that were built after he died. We specifically decided that it would be much more interesting than just taking the guys to their places. Mayakovsky would have considered such an excursion vulgar.

The seventh Moscow Velonoch (and the fifteenth in the overall standings) took place from July 20 to 21 in the south of Moscow. The bike night format is an initiative of Sergey Nikitin, historian, teacher of the tower and founder of the Moscow creative group Moskultprog. They have been held for eight years already, not only in Russian cities, but also in the world: bike nights were held in London, Istanbul, Rome. This year's bike night in Moscow was dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Mayakovsky and was held with the support of the Moscow government, as well as under the watchful eye of the police, and became one of the largest bike nights in the world.

About five thousand people took part in the race. To participate, it was necessary to register on a website specially created for the event. The counter stopped at 4,999 people, Sergey Nikitin said. However, judging by the impressive number of cyclists at the event, not only registered cyclists took part, but also those who learned about the event from the Internet and from friends. The organizers chose a symbolic route: 27 kilometers, along which cyclists traveled, symbolized 27 centuries of history.

"Field" registration of participants began at 22.00 in the park "Beket" on Zagorodnoye shosse, which used to belong to the first Moscow Psychiatric Hospital. But even long before the start of registration, the park was literally filled with cyclists - single riders, fun bike companies or representatives of bike clubs. Velonocht was a tour of the southern district of Moscow - the route ran from the park on Lake Becket to Kolomenskoye through the Danilov factories, Severnoye Chertanovo and the Moskvoretsky district. The start was announced at midnight, and the end of the race - at half past five in the morning.

The main question to Nikitin, the founder of Velonoch, who agreed to a blitz conference with journalists shortly before the official start, was why the event dedicated to the 120th anniversary of Mayakovsky takes place in places that are not associated with the poet - in parks, industrial zones and residential areas of the South of Moscow. Nikitin was not at a loss - apparently, he was preparing: “A year ago, a letter arrived from the Mayakovsky Museum. The employees reported that they were at all nights and would very much like Velonoch to be dedicated to Mayakovsky. We set off with Mayakovsky for a walk around Moscow, which the poet did not see, through the quarters that were built after he died. We specifically decided that it would be much more interesting than just taking the guys to their places. Mayakovsky would have considered such an excursion vulgar.”

Many participants were dressed extravagantly: in a buffoon hat or a panda costume, some balanced on monocycles or slowly passed on tricycles. For many of the "old school" members who have supported Velonoch since its founding, cycling has truly been the meaning of life. The old-timers also helped as volunteers: they registered the participants, and led the column at the race itself. One of these volunteers, Nikolay, nicknamed “Dog”, from the Night Bike Ride cycling club, did not miss a single Moscow Velonoch:

- Twenty-seven kilometers to drive for us as to go to the store. Bicycle for me, roughly speaking, public transport.

Registered cyclists were asked to come closer to the stage, where videos specially created for Velonoch by Alexei Grinko were broadcast, Mayakovsky's poems were read, and government representatives spoke. Numerous sponsors of Velonoch were also often announced - MTS, PIK, Opel automaker, which advertises the "official car of cyclists" near the stage. In addition to sponsors, funds for the organization were also collected through crowdfunding on the Planet Internet platform. Just before the start, the chief architect of the city, Sergei Kuznetsov, decided to speak, joining Velonoch as a participant.

Started to the song of Vysotsky "Letter to the Editor" (!) The bike column was accompanied by several police cars and ambulances - at the beginning and in the direction of travel.

The road was blocked for passage, which caused indignation of some car drivers. According to Sergei Nikitin, the route of the convoy and difficulties in driving were reported the day before the event, so the claims of the drivers are unfair. And it took a long time to wait. The scale of the event is also evidenced by the fact that when the head of the column caught up with the Kant ski center near the Nagornaya metro station, the tail had just pulled away from the start.

Radio "Mayak" followed the events on the bike night live and broadcast lectures on the history of the area where the race route passed, on architecture and the history of music for the participants and all those interested. Lectures were specially prepared for Velonoch, they were given by historians, teachers of the Higher School of Economics, including Sergey Nikitin himself, architects and artists - Sergey Kuznetsov and Yuri Albert. That night, the participants learned about the psychiatric hospital that opened in 1894 on the territory of the current Becket Park, the Danilov manufactories, wild tribes that lived on the territory of Kolomenskoye 27 centuries ago, as well as the architecture of the Northern Chertanovo district. Several lectures were devoted to music: Artemy Troitsky spoke about Mike Naumenko, whose first concert took place in one of the Chertanovsky recreation centers, jazz collector Rafael Avakov spoke about jazz concerts at the Moskvorechye recreation center, and also read about Vladimir Vysotsky and the Laskovy May group. In addition to lectures, Mayakovsky's poems were read by famous actors - Konstantin Khabensky (Daniil Spivakovsky, Igor Kostalevsky and others, as well as sports columnist Dmitry Guberniev and writer Oleg Roy.

At an unscheduled stop on the Kashirskoye Highway, that is, almost at the finish line, it became noticeable that instead of the starting five thousand, by this time there were no more than a quarter of the participants.

The organization is fading. A couple of times cars drove onto our track, and for some reason we also drive with hooks, - commented on the “pevrokhods” ...

But literally soon the main part of the cyclists returned, the column turned solemnly along the Kashirskoye highway towards Kolomenskoye. Despite the rain and fatigue, the participants drove to the finish line very cheerfully: every now and then encouraging exclamations were heard, almost as loud as at the start, and several screamers loudly chanted: “Rock and roll!”

The final stop in the Kolomenskoye park was accompanied by a lecture on the Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In Kolomenskoye, the column finally split up, someone went to the stage by the river, where a concert was held in honor of the end of Velonoch, someone was sitting right on the ground next to the bicycles from fatigue, someone was hiding from the morning rain under the stairs of the Church of the Ascension.

Anna SHULIK