AquaLangs

I’ve always respected Hungary’s contribution to the photographic community at large as some of the best photo artists, photojournalists, scientists, and cinematographers from the past 100 years are Hungarian, including some I admire greatly like the Capa brothers (Robert and Cornell), Brassaï, László Moholy-Nagy, André Kertész, Dennis Gabor, József Petzvál and László Kovács to name a few off the top of my head without resorting to Google. What I didn’t know until I visited Budapest is the Hungarian passion for the bicycle. As an avid cyclist and cycling advocate, I was stunned to see their Critical Mass bike ride. In NYC, depending on the season, the rally only attracts a few hundred to a couple thousand participants. The same event in Budapest pulls in 50-80,000 riders! Instead of angry monthly protest rides, the Hungarians have two peaceful and festive rides every year to overlap with Earth Day in the spring, and International Car-Free Day in the fall.

This very adept trials rider, who could give Jeff Lenosky a run for his money, was one of the many cycling demonstrators who took advantage of the closing-down of Andrassy Ut, a major thoroughfare through some of the most posh real-estate in Budapest. The nervous girl on the pavement was a volunteer from the crowd who got a view of a bike most people don’t – from the underside. In this shot she could probably read the serial number off the bottom bracket.