Aussie cyclist Pete Stokes has ridden more than 150km around Adelaide as a 30-year anniversary tribute to Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind.
National Parks project manager Pete Stokes cycled far north to Campbelltown and far south to Plympton on a journey to reproduce the album art from Nirvana’s generation-defining album Nevermind, which turned 30 last Friday.
Stokes used the exercise tracker app Strava to map out his ride, before taking to the streets of Adelaide on his single-speed bike to recreate the iconic image of a naked baby swimming after a dollar bill.
The timely tribute was posted on Friday the September 23 to coincide with the album’s original release date in 1991.
This isn’t Pete Stokes’ first time paying homage to musicians through his passion for cycling. In March 2021 he travelled nearly 120 km to recreate Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon album art with the symbolic fractal prism.
Back in 2020, he celebrated Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday with a detailed rendering of the composer’s face around the Adelaide CBD.
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The same day Stokes posted his Nirvana tribute, the band announced a 30th-anniversary album reissue of Nevermind.
The new pressing will feature the original album art despite recent controversy relating to the subject of the image, Spencer Elden, who has brought forth a lawsuit against the band for exploitation of his image.
Elden himself recreated the album art (albeit fully clothed) for the album’s 25th anniversary in 2016.
Commemorating #Nevermind30 with the album newly remastered from the original analog tapes & 4 concerts from Amsterdam, Netherlands; Del Mar, CA; Melbourne, AUS & Tokyo, JP.
Pre-order: https://t.co/J1lLWPAfAL
Watch Breed Live in Amsterdam 1991: https://t.co/AFqBvy25AH pic.twitter.com/q3ic9qfNG6— Nirvana (@Nirvana) September 23, 2021
Aside from musical tributes, Stokes uses his Strava artworks to feature Aussie culture, with maps depicting native wattle, a koala, Ned Kelly, and an indigenous Kaurna shield decorating his Instagram.
His more ambitious works include a couple of dragons, a Plesiosaur, and a selfie.
Last June, Stokes took a swing at something a little bolder to raise awareness for International Men’s Health Week, “Everyone has to do a dick and balls,” he told Guardian, “I did the one… but I kept it highbrow. I did it around the Hugh Johnson Reserve.”
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Check out Pete’s Instagram to see more of his radical Strava maps!
