In life some times there are things you just can't "push up" your way out of

Midnight Mass 1-yeariversary/November Critical Mass/Brandon learns fixed

Point form recap in somewhat chronological order (to be edited later?):

MIDNIGHT MASS:

-I got Laura and Tobi out to their first Midnight Mass. They were very excited to be there=]

-Asha made some sweet cuppin cakes.

-NikC debuted his new Pake, a solid machine if I've ever ridden one.

-Morgan shot photos while riding

-It was insanely cold. Wool socks don't cut it. time for booties.

-The Cemetary is a perfect spot to stop

-Rhiannon's bike lost its front derailleur cable sometime before the Crescent, and she was pretty bummed. I set the bottom of travel limiter so that she could use the middle ring. Hopefully she had an alright ride home.

-N1ck switched it up from Rye to Brandy. A welcome change.

-For some reason, after saying they were going to Cambie/Broadway, the pack went west. Morgan and I broke off and headed North on Granville, then back to Eastvan on Broadway. No Pizza could be found.

-I was a zombie at work on Friday.

-THRILLER! THRILLLLER!

CRITICAL MASS:

-After work I headed back to Morgan's work, and met up with him again.
We picked up some supplies for Critical Mess on Main street.

-Somehow I overshot Howe downtown, and that made getting to the art gallery much more difficult than usual

-There was only a couple hundred people at the mass. Just the hardcores.

-I helped clot the Granville bridge. The first guy to stop REALLY didn't want to stop, and made me a littled worried for my safety. He was practically foaming at the mouth.

-I didn't really like the vibe of this mass. I guess the percentage of vocals was up, due to the cold weather.

-Nick3 bombed the yellow line of Burrard on his Penny Farthing. Nearly took out my arm with a spinning pedal

-I met up with him on the bridge, and after boosting his ego, watched him go over the bars and taco the Penny's wheel

-We threw our bikes over the side of the bridge to stop and help.

-After unsuccessfully trying to do a quick bend and tension of the wheel, we determined we'd have to stop, and do a complete tensioning.

-I got to work, Morgan shot photos, Ifny and Nick3 cracked the beer

(see flickr)

-I was glad to stop and help Nick3. The mass passed, and we had no intention of catching up. This was fine by me. I'd rather just get this Penny mobile again.

-We got it running! The wheel held, and Nick said it felt better than before! GO CHEAP TAIWANESE SPOKE KEY! (who knew I would ever use any size besides the ill fitting 14 gauge)

-While on a Freshly taco'ed then trued Penny Farthing, Nick bombed the lane down from the bridge to Beach avenue. His footjamming technique is oustanding. Tokyo drift style with the consequence of hitting a concrete wall. I am officially blown away. I have never witnessed such riding. (and I've seen unicycle trials!)

-We made it to the Anza and waited for the mass...and drank, and rode the penny. I felt heroic.

-Half the mass finally arrived. Just half? Where was the rest?

-At Budgies of course. Don't you know theres a burrito eating competition and bands playing?

-That burrito was SOOOO good.

-The fact that bands played at a TINY burrito counter still amuses me.

-Camillo spent the entire time trying to convince us to have a skid competition. I wasn't too sure about it.

-Eventually, he voiced his plan well enough to convince us.

-5 of us rode up to Kings-tenth, with plans to bomb down the hill, and lock up at the North crosswalk, hopefully skidding all the way back down to Budgies.

-We timed the light, and locked em up.

-The bus pulled out behind me while I skidded. James' tire grabbed traction and tried to buck him. Morgan had perfect technique... and it happened. Camillo went down!

-Instantly, a guy in an Echo got out and steadied Camillo's neck, telling him not to move.

-The ambulance arrived in under a minute and a half. Impressive.

-Despite not wearing a helmet, Camillo was okay.. apart from being a drunken bloody mess.

-Convieniently I ran into Kim at this point. Not sure if she saw the ambulance. I felt sheepish for some reason.

-The crowd was starting to thin, and the band kind of sucked, so we headed back to the Anza to check the scene. Nick3 gave me a hug. Aww.

-It was then determined that more biking was in order. a Crew of 5 (Skylar, James, Matt, Morgan and I) decided to hit the club scene downtown.

-We scared pedestrians at crosswalks with our impeccable style. You cant touch this.

-That giant Pizza place is perfect for bringing in bikes.

-more crosswalks were carved. ..as were some road blocks.

-I found it funny when the cop yelled for us to 'GET BACK IN THE BIKE LANE' when not 100m ahead, was a long line of cars idling in that bike lane.

-Back at the gazebo we finished off Matts last beer.

-Strangely a curious boy in a wheelchair rolled up. He was nice enough, asking about our bikes.. and what were we doing out so late.. WHAT WAS HE DOING OUT SO LATE? He was like 14!?!?! Roll on, kiddo.

-Arriving home, I was still amped from such a fun night of riding.

Brandon learns fixed:

-The next day we Met up with Brandon at Morgan's work. He needed a 'crash' course in fixed gear riding, so he borrowed Morgan's bike. I took him around the cemetary a few times, then over to QE park, then the crescent, then to MEC.

-I exchanged the booties for some XLs and they work like a charm. My feet have never been toastier.

-Brandon took to the fixie like I knew he would. Only one attempted bucking from the Sekine.

-and then.. it started to snow. By the time I made it home that evening, it was REALLY coming down. I was covered, as was my bike.

-Sadly, I haven't ridden my bike since that night. Its glare ice, and I've been dreaming about studded tires.