Hey losers...

"get out of the fucking road"

1804-1894

I've been lazy with the photos lately so here goes. Some are old some are new.

I have what feels like 7 million things to do between now and Friday. Wish me luck.

Free Chrome Shoes!

ONE DAY ONLY!

In an attempt to let the world know how committed they are to their footwear line, Chrome announces their Turds For Gold Shoe Exchange. For two days only, Chrome will be slinging a new pair of shoes to anyone that sends them a worn-out pair of kicks.

“There are a lot of great shoe brands out their but few, if any, are made to handle the harsh demands of riding in the city,” says Chrome Marketing Director, Matt Sharkey.

“Our shoes are built to hold up under the toughest conditions and are designed 100% to address the needs of the everyday city cyclist. Not only did we want to build a shoe that was durable and functional, but we also paid close attention to overall fit and timeless style.”

The exchange begins on Wednesday, March 17 and ends promptly the next day on Thursday, the 18th. Packages must be post marked by 3/18 to qualify and should include a return shipping address and shoe size info.

Please ship all packages to:

Chrome Industries
Attn: Turds for Gold/Sharkey
580 4th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

spontaneous combustion

Last night We worked on a bunch of bikes, drank beer, and had a campfire. That is how every tuesday should be. Unfortunetly I have a feeling that soon enough it is going to be chilly again. But on the bright side, after that it will be beautiful again!

Valleycat planning is underway, Thursday may be the time to put it into the air...

More stuff of note, this Saturday is a workshop at Banbury to get the place in working condition and start planning for the future. Check it out...

"Hello Greasy Folks -

Thank you to all that could make it to the Greasy Fixins meeting we held on campus last week. I know the student group really appreciated it, and some awesome collaborations were made.

We decided that before we start the bike workshops down in Banbury again this spring, we should first have a work day next Saturday, the 20th, where we crank some tunes, roll up our sleeves, and get rid of the unusable stuff down there! Specifically - load up bent rims, worthless frames, broken parts, etc. and get them in the freight elevator and out of the basement. We will also be working on improving the lighting and possibly putting in some work benches/shelves. Please bring or do anything you can to help! Tools, food, support, ideas, friends, and even your bike if you want first dibs on anything down there before we start workshops again!

Thanks again and we hope to see you at the Greasy Fixins Spring CleanupSaturday -
March 20th 12:00pm - 3:00pm.
Banbury Place - basement of building 17.

P.S. We will be meeting with the student group Friday, April 9th at 12:30pm in HSS again for them to present their project results to us, and to finalize plans for Earth Day - which is coming up on April 24th in Owen Park in Eau Claire. Greasy Fixins will again be doing a bike valet service/quick tune-ups to make a little money and to spread the word about the project! Let us know if you want to get involved or just come to the next meeting!"


And it looks like the Menomonie bike polo folks are at it again every Thursday. Looks like we need to find ourselves an outdoor court and get ready to play some more. More info on that stuff here

Most importantly, THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE TOMORROW NIGHT! BE THERE! meet behind Racys 6:30/7ish. I have a bike that needs riding and over half a case of beer in my fridge that need drinking...

Vuelo Velo from Vuelo Velo on Vimeo.

...

I rode BMX with Magyar yesterday, and had a the first early joynt session of spring. All is well.
I'm cooped up inside untill 6pm, you had better be riding your bike.

Also, a new thing from Walz caps. They are now doing special limited run "Caps for a Cause."

"Our caps and our causes will vary but one thing will remain the same: we will donate $10 from every Caps For A Cause that is sold directly to the cause or organization. Not only will you be wearing a stylish, unique cycling cap but you will also help promote and highlight a worthy cause and/or organization."


It's a cool concept. Walz makes kick ass hats and people always ask about mine, especially my winter cap which is a gift from the gods. Check them out here.

Broken Bicycles

Half way to class today I heard the all to familiar clicking and scraping of bearings going out in my back wheel. I've been knocking shit over, spilling water, stepping on the cats, stubbing my toes, and getting my socks wet all morning. Suffice it to say I'm in a bit of a mood right now. So I sat down in the studio to do some work and turned on Pandora and the first song I heard was "Broken Bicycles" by Tom Waits. Cosmic irony at it's best. (Even more so because I am working on producing a Tom Waits show right now)

In other news I got sent a link about the first Western Wisconsin Bike Summit coming up in La Crosse on the 23rd. Sounds like it could be fun. I also took a bit of time poking around the website for the Driftless Region Bicycle Coalition and can't help but be a little jealous. The area is of comparable size to Eau Claire, but defiantly looks like it has it's act together. It would be really cool to have a group organized like this in EC.

Although it does bring up the question of making cycling work. Bike advocacy has become this huge political and social entity and so much of the time I find myself wishing I could put forth more time towards it. But at a certain point when you begin to view cycling as a 'cause' it begins to loose it's charm. I tend to view simply commuting and having a good time on your bike as one of the most vital forms of cycling advocacy. If there is no one riding, then what incentive does government have to change. This however becomes a vicious cycle of how do you get people riding bikes to prove you have legitimate numbers? Advocacy. What is the most powerful tool of advocacy? Numbers. And fun pictures of smiling kids, but I don't have any fun pictures of smiling kids... But I do have these!

My clothes still smell like cave fire.

Looks like the snow and ice are going to be gone for good after this weekend. DRY PAVEMENT HERE WE COME!

At last!

A new Northoften edit!

Bikes Aren't Fun! from North of Ten on Vimeo.

Well worth the wait. Tons of antics at the Whits mini. From NO10

"It’s been a long time in the making, but here it is, finally. So, this was originally going to be exclusive for RideBMX but when I was done and looked at the timeline, I realized it was just so Northoften and decided to not do it for Ride. I know that sounds foolish since they were going to pay me but… I don’t know, it’s hard to describe myself. The vibe of the video would just seem off if it was for Ride with their logo in the corner. I don’t know, just watch it! I think it turned out pretty rad. In the end Gerry didn’t pull that crazy footjam-whip but I included his closest attempt in the video anyway since he spent so much time trying it. We were contemplating faking it and making it look really obvious that it was fake but decided against it. I mean, he practically pulled it anyway. Big thanks to the White family for letting me film in their garage. Also, I found a workaround for my rendering problems and will be able to upload Sunkenrock to Vimeo as well! I feel like such a champion! Actually, before I do, there are a few things I want to change/refilm."

Also, I wrote an article about biking for "The Spectator" I tried to avoid being antagonistic, so it's pretty tame. You can read it here and look at a wild man looking picture of me.

Eau Claire Criterium

Heads up,

"The area's first "criterium" bicycle races are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 21, at Owen Park and a loop of six residential blocks in the Historic Randall Park Neighborhood. Sponsored by the Eau Claire Sports Commission, the Chippewa Valley Chase will have several short, high-speed races throughout the afternoon on the course. It will mean periodic street closures, but organizer Michael Strubel said residents will be able to come and go with the assistance of race personnel."

More info to come...

Tampico

The new Urban Velo is out and it has one of the best covers I have ever seen. On top of that it also features the "State of the Union for Biking and Walking" which is a pretty damn interesting piece.

"Historically, tracking and analyzing transportation-related statistics has been extremely auto-centric. For example, one of the metrics by which “progress”—that is, the free-flowing movement of traffic (motor vehicles)— is measured has been defined in terms of “level of service” or “LOS.” LOS is one of the key measurements used by local, state, and federal agencies to determine and prioritize new and retrofit transportation projects, and largely precludes bicycling and walking. There is in fact a “bicycle level of service,” or “BLOS,” that attempts to describe the subjective safety and comfort that a bicyclist may feel on a particular road, but it is almost never used as an indicator or funding mechanism for new or improved facilities. While this is just one small facet of how the current transportation system and associated funding strategies work, it is a great example of how bicyclists and pedestrians have been ignored with respect to the system as a whole."

Wisconsin made it in the upper half of the country ranking #17, just edging out our friendly(albeit backwards) neighbors to the west Minnesota who ranked #18. Milwaukee also made it on the list as the 16th best city in the country for biking.

It's definitely worth a look and you can read the whole issue for free online here!

There is also some pretty interesting info up right now about the crackdown on San Franciscos Critical Mass as well as this gem...

GOOGLE MAPS NOW HAS A BIKE OPTION!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Whenever looking for directions you can now select pedestrian, bicycle, or public transportation as options. This is pretty damn cool for people who don't know how to get around without a car. Granted it is probably not the most accurate, but it's a start. NOTE: I just played around with this a little bit dunning routes from my house to the UWEC campus and it is pretty flawed in some of it's time estimates, but it is still pretty fun.

The big question however is what effect will this have on alleycats...

This entire post is courtesy of Urban Velo and Andy

Turning lane

You can probably anticipate what I'm going to say. Lots of things about being busy and not having time to do much, you can make up the excuses why, I'm sure they will be appropiate and very mature.
In other news we had a greasy fixins meeting last week to discuss the future of the project, which is actually pretty inspiring.
It is beautiful out and perfect for bike riding.
And finally last Thursday I got absoulutly tanked, can't wait to repeat again soon.
Polo rumors for tonight!

Last but not least the most over the top thing I've seen in recent memory.






I'm trying to ween myself off of posting videos all the time but this is just too much. Apparently this is the guy who won the 09' Stuporbowl too...

new name for everything

This morning I was super lazy and ate a ton of french toast and coffee with Jen, it ruled.
And on top of that, it is fucking beautiful outside. People are back on their bikes and running and walking all over the damn place. I'm actually excited for my ride to work tonight for once.
Seriously, LOOK AT THIS DAMN FORECAST!
http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/54701
40s and rain! Time to put the skinny tires back on!
Anyway it's gorgeous so get off the computer and go for a bike ride.

3-1-10, the future

It's been a crazy busy month, but it would be alie to say it hasn't been fun. No time to recap now. Can't wait till Thursday.