FIVE THINGS WITH CHARLOTTE FAGAN, FOUNDER AND CO-ORGANIZER FEMMECHANICS

FIVE THINGS is a new weekly feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog and it's a short interview about life and bicycles with a notable person. This week’s FIVE THINGS features Boston Resident Charlotte Fagan. Charlotte is known for a lot of positive things on and off the bike -- Her epic blog, Woman on a Wheel, the work she did with Bikes Not Bombs as their International Programs Coordinator and she is founder and co-organizer of Femmechanics and their event Babes Bike Boston. Charlotte is passionate about community-driven social change and about getting more FTW (femme/trans/women) folks on bikes all over the world. Enjoy this week’s FIVE THINGS.

BANJO BROS: WHAT ARE YOU RIDING?

CF: This was my first ever cyclocross season, and woah was it fun! I rode with a new women’s dirt team called The Hustle Hive. So, I’ve been riding and crashing my new cross bike a lot. I bought a Raleigh RXW and then had my friend (and artist) Ellen Bechtel  give it a ridiculously rad honeycomb fade paint job. I feel like a rockstar on this bike.

BANJO BROS: WHERE ARE YOU RIDING?

CF: I am lucky to live only 2 blocks away from Franklin Park, which is the biggest park in Boston. Franklin Park has everything you need - a zoo, a stadium, a woodsy wilds, a golf course, a pond - you name it Franklin Park has it. Including, of course, an excellent practice loop for cyclocross only 3 minutes from my front door.

BANJO BROS: WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING/READING/LISTENING TOO?

CF: Boston is a weird place to live. There are so many amazing things about this city. But, Boston is also a deeply, deeply segregated place, and it’s hard for me to ever shake that when I think about it as a whole. (Especially within the larger politics of Massachusetts as the bluest blue state at this particular political moment.) Anyways - right now I’m reading ‘Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families’ which is a journalist history of the busing riots in Boston, and I feel like it’s helping me to better understand where I live.

 

So, I’ve been riding and crashing my new cross bike a lot. I bought a Raleigh RXW and then had my friend Ellen gave it a ridiculously rad honeycomb fade paint job. I feel like a rockstar on this bike.

 

BANJO BROS: WHAT ARE YOU COOKING/EATING/DRINKING?

CF: I’m a self-professed carb-a-holic, and love all forms of bread, pasta, tortillas, etc. Right now I’m back on the no-knead bread train, and enjoying having freshly baked bread at home.

BANJO BROS: WHAT’S STUCK IN YOUR CRAW?

CF: Right now I’m working on a culturally appropriate and efficient cook stove design for use in rural Guatemala. I’m bringing students down to Guatemala next month to prototype and test it out. So I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about cooking surfaces, energy sources, and the best way to burn things!

 

More About the Five Things Interviews from Banjo Brothers

A big Banjo Brothers thank you to Charlotte Fagan for participating in this week's edition of Banjo Brothers' Five Things. These short interviews about life and bicycles will appear every Friday on the Banjo Brothers Blog.

Would you like to be interviewed for Five Things?

Use the contact form on our website to send us a note. See you next Friday.