Romina Wendell is a musician, writer, event organizer and nexialist* who is currently working as the Food Security Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast of BC. She finds joy in the journey and she always makes an impression in the landscape, whether it is on two wheels, or two turntables. Over the years, Romina’s creative approach has led to interesting jobs and projects, including a pedal-powered lunch delivery service with a Workman’s tricycle. We caught up with Romina Wendell over a hot beverage in Vancouver’s Gastown.
Tell us how you came to start the “cycle deli.”
My friend Eric came back from Central America and gave a slide show about a recycling project using bicycles. I had a eureka moment and I thought, “I’ll deliver bread early in the morning by bicycle on one of these Workman tricycles.” It evolved into a bicycle lunch delivery service, called Romina’s Original Cycle Deli Co. We said, “Forget the hike, call the bike.” So people who were stuck in offices and couldn’t get out for lunch would call and we’d deliver lunch by bicycle. It was all vegetarian but we didn’t advertise it as such. Within a month we had regular customers and government bookings. We’d guarantee that you would get your meal in 20 minutes or it was free. I always made it in time. I had buns of steel by the end of working that job. I used to knit through the alleys like a courier would, but that bike was a big thing with a cooler in it. The fact that I didn’t take out somebody’s car or another bike was a miracle.
How long have you been biking to get around?
All my life. I learned to ride when I was five or six. I don’t drive, and I have always had a bicycle.
Was it a conscious decision not to drive?
I remember when I was becoming 16, my grandmother said, “Your mother might get a new car. Would you want her old car?” I had bigger things in mind. I wanted to go travelling, and I couldn’t see spending money and energy on that. It didn’t appeal to me. It wasn’t a political decision. There was no bike culture. It was just, “No, that doesn’t interest me right now.” It just wasn’t in my mindset.
How often do you ride and what do you use your bike for?
I ride about once a day in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast. I use my bike to get from point A to point B – it’s not something I do for fitness.
Do you have a favourite bike gadget or accessory?
My Thermos. You’re the queen of all you survey with a hot beverage in your hand. Having hot tea that you made yourself, to enjoy anywhere; you’re self-sufficient - not looking around for a coffee shop. You can have it at the park, waiting for the bus or the ferry, or under the eaves on a rainy day. You have that little hot chocolate or something, and you feel good. The Thermos and the bike; they belong together.
Tell me about the musical side of your life.
I’m passionate about the turntable as a modern instrument. It’s a frontier and I use a lot of experimentation. I consider myself a turntablist. It’s the “spinning drum” – that’s my website: spinningdrum.com. People need to have that nourishing thing in their life to feed their health and well-being. When I get behind the tables I get to that meditative zone.
I’ve been playing for seven years and I think of myself as an intermediate musician. I would like to come out with a full-length CD, so that’s what I’m pursuing. Right now it’s a lot of me scratching and beat juggling and getting my technical skills up so that when I come out with what I’m producing it’s based on me, not necessarily how much I can do with the computer.
I’m a big believer in the practice and the process and I can relate it to bikes. When I go somewhere, it’s a journey. I have lots of options but it’s also an adventure. I think about the weather and what I’ll be doing that day. I’ve met lots of interesting people and I’ve seen lots of things I wouldn’t have seen if I had been enclosed in a little vehicle. So appreciating the process is part of my day. That’s how I relate to the turntables: I’m just exploring. It’s not like there’s an end result right away. I’m on this journey and I’m getting there, slowly, but it’s a good ride!
While we’d never recommend riding with headphones, what music would you say goes well with biking?
When I was a teenager I used to go out on my road bike at night because there was no traffic and I just wanted to bike around. I had headphones on – it was a total nightmare! No lights, just cruising around on the bike. I used to listen to a lot of movie soundtracks, like Peter Gabriel’s “The Passion,” the soundtrack to Birdy, and the soundtrack to Cat People which I think is Giorgio Moroder, Legend, which has one Bryan Ferry track, but the rest is Tangerine Dream and Blade Runner which I think is Vangelis. They are a fabulous urban electronica soundtrack while you whip around on your bike.
Check out Romina Wendell’s work at www.spinningdrum.com and www.nexialist.org* Nexialist is a term coined by science fiction author A. E. Van Vogt to describe one skilled in the science of joining together in an orderly fashion the knowledge of one field of learning with that of other fields.
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