Pedalling for electricity – Radlkino at the Sillzwickl

One of the last beautiful late summer evenings was used by the last bicycle cinema of the season for a rendezvous at Innsbruck's Sillzwickl. In the small cultural metropolis of Innsbruck, this has not been a rarity for a long time; the city of Innsbruck has already invited cyclists to pedal for electricity at the Rad.Kino four times this summer. Organized by the Municipal Department for Civil Engineering - even responsibilities can be very diverse these days. Good thing: I don't want to miss one last opportunity and pedal to the meeting point in jeans and sneakers.

"DOPING" AT ITS FINEST

In the autumn of 1978, Freddy Mercury roared his love for bicycles into our ears for the first time. Since then we have been singing along loudly. He was inspired by the 18th stage of the Tour de France, which cycled past Barre-les-Alpes just where Queen were recording their seventh studio album. Because I'm already expecting the worst on the way to the bike cinema, I'm singing a bit wrong. I only know spinning from watching and marvelling at it in the gym: pedalling screaming in a storm of stroposcopes. People who like that are properly called spinners. I prefer to lift irons and had a leg workout before - that wasn't smart either. On the cycle path along the Sill, an e-food courier with a thermal backpack overtakes me as fast as an arrow. He smells delicious. I catch up and Freddy sings along.

We reach the Sillzwickl at the same time, unfortunately the courier has to go on, but I am now really good going. Next to the bike path are seats, five of them with saddle. Four are already occupied, it doesn't look like spinning. Instead of ergonomic cycling gear, you make yourself comfortable in casual clothes, cycling hands-free and with canned beer in the bottle cage. I'm relieved, in a way. After a thorough 3G entry check, I get flyers on the cinema program, a recommendation to the Labstation (including cyclists) and a short briefing on power pedaling. Then I saddle the last free steel steed, start my smartwatch and pedal away. The dynamo purrs, the display climbs to 100 watts of power and a little later the projector starts up.

Three critical contributions on hydropower are shown. I didn't know that only about 15 percent of Austria's wild waters are still in their natural state. Next to us the Sill rushes into the Inn, tamed elemental forces. Organised by WET - Wildwasser Erhalten Tirol, they campaign for appropriate environmental issues and encourage critical thinking. The energy turnaround needs perspectives, self-reflection is one of them. Translating electrical needs into tangible quantities is something a bicycle cinema can do very well. After half an hour of pedaling and 300kcal later, my seat hurts and I let myself be relieved. By the way, in the saddle you hardly notice that the nights are already getting cooler, also an advantage. I wrap myself in one of the fluffy blankets and wonder what else could be driving my electric power.

Even when the contributions have long since flickered across the screen, the head cinema continues to run. On the way home I push, the next Radlkino will come for sure. The Inn rolls leisurely through the night, sparkling, catching the lights of the city and seems to wink at me on the way: tamed elemental forces among themselves.