Dom Whiting is seems to be everywhere. Whether you’re a cyclist or not, you are probably familiar with the drum and base spinning, bike-riding DJ. He rides a modified electric Christiania, equipped with a built-in deck-stand and a long, curving camera arm that captures Whiting as he moves through Berlin or Barcelona or Bristol, with crowds of cyclists following behind, some stopping to dance mid-ride, others holding dogs – or babies – next to a mic-wielding Whiting.
“It just attracts people for walks of life, whether they’re on a bike or exercise machine or whatever, people want to be involved in it,” Whiting told Cycling Weekly.
“I feel like this is a good opportunity for me to encourage that that safety aspect to the to the broader public, and also making it a bit more apparent through the night ride,” Whiting says.
“We went from one person to 50 people, to 100 people, to 500 people in such a short period of time. I think it was all also elevated and exaggerated to an extent, because we couldn’t have music [during lockdown], and we had just lost a lot of our community feel,” he explained.
Five years into D&B on the Bike, and multitasking is second nature to Whiting, who near-effortlessly juggles the use of a mic, a DJ deck and a bicycle, all at the same time. Families, first-time bike-riders, dogs and even babies have been seen among the throngs riding with Whiting – and it’s no surprise, his commitment to the communities he rides with fringes everything he says.
I ask him about the night ride this Friday and he tells me about the need for people to keep safe while cycling. I ask him about the most interesting people he’s met, and he says it is watching repeat riders grow.
“There’s lots of standout moments…