Art in motion
Chad Cheeney brings bikes and art together for offbeat exhibit, Tracklocross Weekend

Chad Cheeney needs little introduction, at least not in Durango. Chances are, if you see a gaggle of people in team jerseys riding bikes, Cheeney is nearby teaching someone how to do a wheelie. The co-founder and head coach for Devo and head coach for the Fort Lewis College Cycling team, he’s also been the curator of many bike-related events over the years, including secret – sometimes questionably legal – underground “back yard” events. (I, myself, took part in a few Cheeney events while I was in college more than a decade ago, outfitted in some leopard print with my scrappy Trek road bike in one hand and a Solo cup of PBR in the other.)

Cheeney

Cheeney has helped host pretty much every cycling event in town, and every day, seemingly, he has more ideas for micro-bike events to keep things fresh. He’s a beacon for fun on bikes, and a big reason is his creativity. And now he’s channeling that creativity into an art show. 

On May 1, during the monthly First Friday Art Walk, Cheeney will most an opening for his first-ever group art exhibit, “Rad Bike Art.” In partnership with the Durango Creative District, the show takes place at the Creative District’s Art Gallery, 1135 Main Ave. The show, which will be open Monday-Friday through May, showcases the work of 27 artists and includes paintings, graphic design, sculptures and more. The artists are all part of Cheeney’s world in some way or another – old friends, new friends or acquaintances through a few degrees of separation, from all over the country. Many are his students, past and present, and even his own kids are getting involved. But all of the artists have the same things in common: a love of bikes and big imaginations. 

The art show was originally an idea for Cheeney to generate buzz around Tracklocross Weekend, which he will be hosting in Buckley Park on May 22-24. (If you’re unfamiliar with tracklocross, think cyclocross on a fixed-gear, or track, bike.)

“I was realizing that the key to cool events is you gotta have music and art along with your event,” Cheeney said. (Which, I think is a little funny because, in actuality, the key to cool events is just having Cheeney plan them. But I guess art and music don’t hurt.)

That’s when he ran into friend Kathryn Waggener, who just so happens to be the Executive Director of the Creative Art District. 

“She was like, ‘You should curate a show,’ and I was like, ‘What does that mean?’” Cheeney laughed. He realized, while talking to Waggener, that curating an art show is actually something that he could do. And serendipitously, the gallery is directly across the street from Buckley, the venue for the event. “It was as simple as that,” Cheeney said. 

While tracklocross and art don’t seem to be an organic mix, tracklocross is, arguably, an art form of its own. This genre of biking can hold its own when it comes to interesting things to look at, and it is most certainly entertaining. The most basic way to describe tracklocross – which is done on a bike with slightly bigger tires than a cross bike, no brakes and one speed – is to ask yourself how you can make mountain biking more difficult. Or make road biking more difficult. Or make any sort of biking more difficult. But, with tracklocross, you do it with friends, so it’s actually fun. 

Tracklocross usually takes place on dirt, but as long as you’re riding on unpaved, uneven, rough terrain, you can call it tracklocross. Usually it’s a race, but the vibe is different than any other race since its objective is fun, and the lycra is a little less lycra-y. Mostly, it isn’t about how fast you’re going, but how often you can keep your body upright and the rubber side down. 

Cheeney, who gathers his tracklocross team, Dracklo Turango, every week to ride some local dirt, said all are welcome for Tracklocross Weekend, which will feature rides and races all over town.

As far as Cheeney curating an art show, anyone who knows him knows he is an artist at heart. He draws on his helmets and has created an anthology of spoke cards, posters and flyers. His personal style is fun, his bikes are cool, and every piece of marketing material he produces has a unique “Chad” vibe. He doodles on images, creates collages, and his photos are often dramatic angles with a double exposure. Looking at the art he produces, you know he does it not because he needs to, but because he has fun doing it. 

“On a bike, your brain works in a new way. It’s a flow state with the movement. And you’re more drawn to things,” Cheeney said. He describes how riding his bike helps him with his creativity, and why bikes and art are so intrinsically linked. “(On a bike) you’re at the perfect speed. Horses are too bumpy and too slow, trains are too fast and stay on just one line, cars are too loud and too fast, but bikes are just right,” he said.

On a bike, your mind clears out so your imagination can come in. 

“You see a penny on the ground, you wave to the granny next door, you go socialize,” Cheeney said. Being on a bike slows you down to take in what, and who, is around you. It helps you be creative and more in touch with the things that might go unnoticed. 

“Now I find trash, and I collect trash,” Cheeney said. “I put it in these little jars … I just scored this jar that is literally the size of this table (about 3 feet by 2 feet), and I’m going to fill it full of really cool little trash that I find – maybe like a diamond ring or a kid’s tooth or a scab; all the weird, disgusting, cool stuff.”

Collecting trash off the ground and keeping it in a jar, to me, is completely brilliant. How much stuff on the ground do we pass by every day? What are the things we find if we start paying attention? Cheeney wants to put it all in a jar. That, to me, is art. 

Cheeney will even be displaying a piece of his own at Rad Bike Art – something very similar to trash in a jar. For the last 14 months, he has been collecting yellow No. 2 pencils that he has found on his bike rides all around the country. His only rule is that he has to be on his bike, not walking, because he says he’d find too many on foot. He’s found so many, that they barely fit into a jar. 

“They’re just packed in. My God. And I keep finding them,” he said. 

In fact, Cheeney has found so many that he knew he had to draw the line somewhere – to stop himself from finding more – and that’s when he decided the art show was a good stopping point. 

Not all the pieces in the show are so abstract, however. Most are statements about why we love bikes, why we ride them and what they mean to us. Others take a more serious tone, like Kamaljit Punia’s “Monuments of the Combustion Age,” which encourages bike commuting and graced the event’s official poster. But overall, the art is meant to inspire us to get out on some dirt, on a bike with only one speed and no brakes, and have fun with our friends (leopard print costumes optional but highly encouraged.)