It’s raining here in LA – hallelujah! I love the rain – it reminds me of the east coast. It’s always sunny and warm here in LA, and it can make a person feel guilty when they’re not ‘taking advantage of the nice weather’. So, sometimes I feel like I’m being lazy. (But I also miss playing in the rain a little, too!) And, if you want to hang out in front of the boob tube, catching up on some couch time, rain can be all the excuse you need.
We’ve got an answer to your ‘what to watch now’ dilemma… That’s right, bike porn! We’ve got copies of Bootleg Sessions for all you trick stars on track bikes; Summer of Fit, Stoked on Being Pumped – filmed in high def, Etnies Grounded, Rodeo Peanut, and many more for the BMX heads; for the huckers and mountain riders, we’ve got New World Disorder 8, Trials is Dead, the Chain Reaction box set, Roam, plus a few more action flicks; and for the roadies, there are copies of Stars and Water Carriers/The Impossible Hour, the ‘07 Tour de France, the ‘07 Paris-Roubaix, eat!sleep?bikes! – a short by local filmmaker Sasha Perry, and a couple more titles.
If you’re looking for a free video online, it’s amazing what you can find on the web these days. In addition to “Nowhere Fast” listed in the last post, I also found Primo’s “Made in Taiwan”. It came out around the same time as “Nowhere Fast” and featured a couple of the same riders. (I used to lose to Chad DeGroot every time we competed against each other. Thank goodness his riding style is so awesome… Nowadays, he runs a rad shop and park down in Florida, Mesh Skatepark.)
And to leave things on a light note, here’s a picture from the Brew Tour this past summer – Craig from Boston and Noah from San Diego showing us that technique and beer aren’t the only things that matter in a proper game of Bocci…style is key, too! Photo courtesy of the amazing Aussie, Mike Makatron, at the Bocci Cellar in Santa Cruz.

I will be out of town through Tuesday, the shop WILL BE OPEN, so I want to get a couple more posts up before I leave. Here is the latest shop news: we’ve got some new bags, frames, and bikes making their debut in the shop this week! We just got our first shipment from PAC Bags, and they look great! (Just click on their name to check out their website…) Pat from PAC bags is responsible for many messenger bag “firsts” including: ‘D’-ring adjusters, suspension straps designed to ‘hug’ the load to your body, and the ‘X’-shoulder strap – a second shoulder strap on traditional, single-strap messenger bags that stores itself on the flap of the bag when not in use! Pat’s PAC bags are some of the most-prized and sought after pieces of equipment in the bike messenger’s arsenal.

(And if I could find the camera, then there would be photos in this post, but it’s been hiding from me all week…so you just have to stop by the shop – or wait – to see all this rad stuff!)

Also new this week, we’ve got 4 frames fresh from Japan with one more still to come! So far, we’ve unwrapped a blue Panasonic with super track ends, a red Umezawa, a sparkle-blue Samson, and a sparkle-white Vivalo; and all of them look great! The frame sizes, by seat tube (center-to-center), run from 48 – 53 centimeters, so if you are looking for a smaller frame, these should definitely be on your radar. Come on by and check them out.

And finally, we should be seeing the new Cutter completes from Volume Bikes any day now! Volume Bikes was started by pro freestyler and all-around shredder Brian Castillo, so you know the Cutters are designed to withstand some abuse. (Check out Brian Castillo’s link to see his part in one of the most influential and ground breaking street/BMX movies of all time, ‘Nowhere Fast’.) And no, the bikes were not named after Chad Rathbone’s dog or the ‘Warriors’ crew from SF…it’s a throwback to “Breaking Away”. (Heal up quick, Chad!) They only did a limited run of 75 bikes for the Cutter production model, and we have only been able to guarantee 3 for the shop – one 52, one 55, and one 58. (We may still be able to get a few more of the larger sizes; however, the 52s are all sold out…) This complete will retail for $800 – $50 more and a few months later than they originally expected, but they look pretty damn nice. Hopefully we’ll have one together by this weekend!

Just want to let you know that Robert and Ozzie are putting together the BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT alleycat February 2nd. The flyer is below, but in case you are having trouble reading it: the start is at the bridge at 4th and Flower, 2p.m. on Saturday, February 2nd, and it’s gonna cost you 5 bucks to race. Come on out and explore east LA… Hope to see you there.

Riding in the dirt is rad! And this weekend, in addition to watching the amazing racing action at the ADT Velodrome, Jack, Kyle, and I (Team Neck Beard) raced some skinny-tired bikes at a cyclocross race in San Dimas. It was the last event of the 15th annual Urban Cyclocross Series, thanks to Brad at Back on Track Productions. Kyle proved that he has more than just out-of-control facial hair happening – he came in 2nd in the B (for awesome) Class Singlespeeders. (Cole came in first, thanks to his amazing moustache power!) Jack stayed in the fray with a 4th-place finish, but his extra large gearing (and not his fashion-mullet) was his downfall…at least, that’s his excuse. And I proved my beard is not a weapon, and that ’style’ is worth way more than points by bunnyhopping barriers, crashing my bike, and surfing (literally) across the finish line in dead last!
Here’s how Kyle did it:



Good ol’ weird beard…

And this was my inefficient – but entertaining – technique:



See some more cool shots in the rest of the post…all thanks to Omar Ogues!

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This event is just too big to miss! If you didn’t see the post earlier this week, the World Cup track events are happening this weekend here in southern California. The ADT Event Center in Carson is hosting the UCI sanctioned races Friday, Jan. 18th, through Sunday, Jan. 20th. If you are interested in watching 400 of the best track racers in the world battle it out for their chance at an Olympic spot, then come on down and join us. There are exciting competitions all weekend, and these races draw racers, as well as spectators and support crews, from all over the globe! To see a preliminary schedule (note: there are more racers than organizers initially expected, so some timetables have changed…) click HERE. You can also get up-to-date info on race results and start lists HERE. If you are interested in some Sunday morning session tickets, come on by the shop an Saturday – we’ve still got some to give away!!!

(Photo taken straight from the ADT velodrome webpage.)

So, the past couple of weeks, I spent some time traveling around the country, bossing around my kid sister, visiting some amazing cyclists, and spending time with some of our community’s visionaries on their own turf. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to get a glimpse at the inner-workings of some of my favorite bag-makers’ and frame-builders’ shops. Like a dumb-ass, I didn’t have my camera with me most of the time in the northwest. (Sorry Corn-Dog at DANK, Ellie at RELoad, Dustin at Cadence, and River-City Bicycles…next time, I promise. I’ll be back up for the NAHBS…)

I really want to thank a good friend and great guide, Cory Bennion from DANK Bags, for a fantastic tour of Seattle. I had a chance to see his shop, check out Mobius Cycles, ride a mtn. bike skills park, visit our buddy – Matt Case, and shoot the shit at Counterbalance Bicycles. I also made it to the R.E.Load shop and had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Ellie and Dustin from Cadence. They’ve got some great things happening up there, too!

From there, a quick trip to Portland, a tour of the city and some of its amazing shops, and I was off to Boston…

Can you say gorgeous? I had an opportunity to spend a day at the Independent Fabrications shop in Somerville. (More on that later…) I also had a chance to see a different side of the operation at the Bailey Works shop in Portsmouth, N.H. – here’s an interesting shot of Jon and Jan at the store.

Continue reading for more great photos…

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