recovery

On the tail of that rather pessimistic last post, these are awesome.

Tim Knoll BMX from tim knoll on Vimeo.

Get pysched for Ghettocross!

yuck

PretaRouler from blunt films on Vimeo.

Potentially everything wrong with bikes? Apparently there was a bicycle fashion show in London recently and this is the riveting coverage of it. I absolutely can't stand this high end boutiquey stuff that keeps popping up. Are esthetics's important? Yes, to an extent. It feels good to ride a bike you like the look of and have stuff that you feel looks good as well as being functional. But is functionality more important than esthetics, yes. And it's pretty clear that half the stuff you see people marketing with bikes is marketing bikes as another high end accessory.

There is never going to be a shortage of people out there telling you to buy stuff. Be it components, bikes, clothes, hair gel, whatever. But that is the last reason I ride a bike. For me riding a bike has always been about the freedom that accompanies it. When your young it lets you get away without a car. It does the same now. It also provides that aspect of financial freedom, which all this ridiculous fashion oriented bike stuff takes away. Now you don't need money to ride a bike, but you won't be riding the "right" bike. Get real...

found!

Just wanted to say that Sydney's Bianchi was recovered last week shortly after it was stolen. So if you see someone riding a purple and pink Bianchi you don't need to tackle them off of it anymore. Well actually...

at it

Saturday was an awesome time. The whole day went off without a hitch. While the turn out was not the biggest ever it was still good enough to make the race really fun. The weather held off just long enough for everyone to race and make it to the after party for prizes and pitcher after pitcher of beer, the ultimate post race prize.

Afterwards a handful of us got food and afterwards I was totally exhausted and headed home. I wish I had taken more pictures, but here are at least a few.

Then Sunday morning I got up early and went to work. The entire time I was riding I was thinking about riding a similar route the day before in an entirely different context. It's funny that racing for me is so much less about placing (all though it would be nice to do one of these days...) and more about just having an opportunity to open up on the same stupid roads that I dread riding to work or school or the store on every other day of the week. Then of course there is the added advantage of doing that with my friends who do the same stupid commutes that get so old in the dead of winter or the hottest days of the year and getting chance to race them. It's the same appeal as TNR in a lot of ways, except you get prizes for racing.

Anyway, all of that is just a way of saying that Saturday was a blast and I can't wait until Ghettocross in a couple weeks. See you then!

Howl

Last night was crazy. It was Brian's birthday and a ride to Chippewa was in order. We started at Dewey's Roadhouse and from their things just went off. I've said it before, and I will say it again I feel extremely lucky to be able to ride and hang out with the people I do and nights like last night remind me of why I am so proud to be in this city right now with these people.

Race on Saturday rain or shine.

STOLEN!

Yup, another bike got jacked last night. This time it was my sisters Bianchi.
Here's the low down

Blue Bianchi, Pink fork (the frame is tiny)
White Wienman DP-18s
Candy Cs
Hodge-podge of other stuff

Keep an eye out for this thing, or it's parts list popping up.
I'm not going to go ahead and directly condone violent altercations, but this is total garbage. It feels like there has been a serious rash of bike thievery going on lately and it's got to stop. I don't know who this chump that has been stealing them is, but I'm sure they will get their come-uppins, and I hope I'm there when it happens.

soon!

SATURDAY!!
BE THERE!

classy ladies

Saw this at UV and as a history major and bike geek I feel like I need to post it.

Women's Liberation and the Bicycle from Jim Kellett on Vimeo.

Classy ladies ride bikes

bounce

You know how bike manufacturers started throwing suspension on everything they could just because they thought it was cool?





http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/suntour-swing-shock-suspension-fork-for-road-bikes-and-fixies/

Duluth Saturday

If anyone is in the mood to go for a drive their is a free alleycat thing going on in Duluth...

The flyer almost makes it worth it.

choo choo

Q:What are all of these people doing?


A: Bike funeral


Thursday Andy's 90s Cannondale Track finally bit the dust in a blaze of glory. Apparently this was the only year that Cannondale made these bikes in green, otherwise I've only ever seen them in blue. This was a super cool bike, but I've got to see I was honored that I got to see one of them get ridden to the ground in our fair city.

yes!

A version of the North of Ten edit by Erik Ellllstran that was at Bicycle Film Fetivle is now online and everyone seems to be paying attention to it. Including John Prolly. Major props! check it out here.

Erik Elstran's Dragon Shredit (internet edition) from North of Ten on Vimeo.

get ready

Just in time for winter
Coming to a town near you soon....

Not sure what is going on here? Check it out

The Goat Sprints from Corey MacGregor on Vimeo.

ROCK'N'ROLLO from sergio twardowski on Vimeo.

from the vault

Through a miracle of engineering(it was actually pretty easy...) I was able to get a bunch of old pictures from Chris Z's last ride and a couple others. Here is the long overdue cream of the crop.

edit title

I put together a couple unofficial flyers to get the PR ball rolling for the next couple races. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE feel free to print and distribute at will.

Side note: When I was younger I loved printing and putting up flyers because it was one of the things that I felt tied me to a scene the most. I would print off dozens of leaflets for shows in EC and usually only put 3 or 4 up, but it was just the prospect of doing it that thrilled me. Just a thought...

ride

I'm working on setting some sort of post record today I guess. I saw this over at Urban velo and couldn't help but want to share it.



A couple other quick grabs from there.

A bandanna with a gear ratio table on it ( I WANT THIS!)
And a ridiculous amount of interbike coverage is up their as well.

more

I realized that I haven't even said anything about how awesome last Thursday was. It was really awesome, lets just leave it at that. Fire, fence hopping, new polo court finding, off roading, graveyard riding, hammerfest, abandoned bridge, trolls roaming the woods, and more. be there this week for more. But the real reason for this is the Mike put up a bunch of photos from the cross race at Carson on his Flickr, check them out here.

everyone's doing it

I got an old Bianchi Martini Racing frame a while ago and can't wait to get the thing moving.

Other than that I am feeling a cold coming on and feeling stressed. I went down to the Carson Park Cyclocross race after work to check out the action and had a pretty good time. Cool event, and it is getting me pretty stoked to set up Ghettocross soon...

omens

Another one bites the dust...