Opening Ceremony: The secrets behind the 'dove bikes' - a speedometer and a blackout zone for any breakdowns
The secrets behind the “dove bikes” seen in the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony are revealed: a torch attached by tape, a digital speedometer and a “blackout” zone for any breakdowns.
Photo: AFP/GETTY.By Jasper Copping10:49AM BST 28 Jul 2012
The releasing of doves became a traditional part of the Olympics opening ceremony after the end of the First World War. But the spectacle has undergone some changes since the 1988 games in Seoul, when several birds were inadvertently burned alive in the Olympic flame. Danny Boyle steered clear of any similar hazards by substituting the birds for 75 riders on “dove bikes” who performed a circuit of the stadium at Friday night’s ceremony.
According to the organisers, the “magical bike-bird hybrids” were inspired by the words of Louis Helle, an American naturalist: “Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. "The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient Pegasus; it gives him no wings of his own.”
The bicycles themselves were off-the-shelf “hybrid” bikes, which had had all their fittings stripped off and markings covered by black paint. The wings were clipped onto lightweight backpacks worn by each rider. Each wing was also fixed to the handle bars of the bicycles by a thin metal strip. This meant that as the riders gradually rocked backwards and forwards on their saddle while they rode along, the wings gently flapped.
The wings had a rigid skeleton, with a thin, fabric covering, lending them a more birdlike flapping motion. In practice sessions, plastic, “all weather” wings were used. The bicycle which ascended into the air on high wires operated a different flapping system. Its wings were controlled by the rider’s pedalling.
This rider, a high wire expert, was a late stand-in after the previous rider, a stunt cyclist, had to step down due to a back injury. When the rider reached the stadium roof, he had to unclip his safety harness before scrambling over the barrier and making his way back down.
The rest of the riders, who emerged to the sound of the Arctic Monkeys performing The Beatles’ Come Together, were all recruited by British Cycling, the governing body for the sport in the UK. The amateur cyclists each responded to an email sent out by the organisation asking for volunteers. They attended an audition in the spring to test their basic cycling skills and the movement they would need for the performance.
Rehearsals only began last month, first at the disused Ford plant in Dagenham, where two floor plans of the stadium had been replicated, and later in the stadium itself. In total, the riders had 16 rehearsals.
For the ceremony, each rider wore black clothes beneath a white vest and cycling helmet, which, combined with the white wings, gave them their dovelike appearance. Ultra violet lighting further picked out the white parts of their costume. The top half of their faces were covered with luminous orange paint, to resemble a beak. In a last minute alteration, at the suggestion of one of the volunteers, the face of the “high wire” rider was painted yellow, in honour of Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins.
Incorporated into their wings were dozens of light emitting diodes (LEDs), which could be turned on and off by a switch on the handlebars. The only other feature on the stripped down bikes were rear mudguards, fitted after the last training session, after some of the riders expressed concerns that the “tails” from their wing back packs could snag in their back wheels.
In the event of any technical mishaps, riders were instructed to switch off their lights and head to a “blackout zone” along the side of the track, from where they would not disrupt the spectacle. However, there were no mishaps. The riders all rode in a comfortable, middle gear. The two “lead-up” riders, who led the two columns which lapped the stadium in opposite directors, each had a digital speedometer on their handlebars to allow them to set a steady pace of 9mph. A torch strapped to it allowed the pair to read the display.
The riders behind were under instructions to maintain a gap of around one bike-length between the rider in front. They had a “lead in” space of more than 100ft before the entered the stadium, to allow the riders to get into formation and avoid any “concertina effect”.
The “creative team” responsible for the section, included Toby Sedgwick, who won an Olivier Award in 2008 for his choreography on the play War Horse, as well as Bob Haro, an American former BMX rider who performed as a stunt rider in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Andrew Dowden, 52, a barrister from Pimlico, south west London, who was one of the two lead out riders, said the riders had received an email from the creative team just after the finish of the ceremony. “I think it went completely to plan and without mishap. They were just so happy and I am sure they would have said if there had been anything.”
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