Just a little pre-race inspiration...

While the clock ticks down to Morgan chasing the $500 gran prix in the annual Valentine's Day Massacre, here's a little Berg Cup hoon action courtesy of Speedhunters. Grab a coffee, turn your speakers way, way up, and be prepared to have to explain to your girlfriend why an Opel Manta is not necessarily the most feasible project car to own. See you at Crab Park!

HONK!

I hate you Danny MacAskill

Dammit. Why do you have to remind me that I cannot ride a bike?

In other news, Morgan and I have layed down 250km in NYC in the past 3 days. (Including a metric tallbike century). That's got to count for something, right?

RED. HOOK. NIGHT. CRIT.

I feel like I should have mentioned this earlier. Its another thing to be stoked about. To be downright scared about. I'm going to Red Hook on Saturday night, to race in the 2nd annual Red Hook Night Crit. This event is basically David Trimble's birthday party. ..and its fixed gear street racing at its finest. I heard that it was intense last year, and this year the ante has been upped. Roadies, trackies, couriers and hoons will be battling together on a semi-closed industrial road coarse.

Last year's flyer:



Interview with David August Trimble up HERE on BikeblogNYC.

INFOS YOU SHOULD KNOWS

The Red Hook Criterium returns in 2009. Saturday March 28th

This race can best be described as a hybrid street criterium and caters to the strange half-breed racer type that is a combination of glory chasing scenester and ultra competitive road racing athlete.

The .75 mile 10 turn course in Red Hook is tight, twisty and dangerous. The course is haphazardly closed (with volunteer street marshals) and lighting is dim at best. A fast cobblestone hairpin requires teeth chattering grit to transverse smoothly and a wide open and brightly lit finishing straight offers a perfect runway for a chaotic sprint finish. In order to do well in this race you’ll need street tuned handling mechanics and an engine to match. Brakeless fixed gear bikes are required (as are helmets). Gearing is recommended to be somewhere between 85 and 90 gear inches. Lapped riders will be allowed to stay in the race but will be shown a blue flag when the leaders are approaching and must get out of the way. The finish will be video tapped for accuracy and scoring provided for at least 25 places. I will also be posting a chart with a run down of each lap time. The entry fee is $10.

Last year the race had 25 entries and 5 made it to the end to contest the sprint. Kacey Manderfield made good on her trash talking and dusted the field in the final sprint. A former national collegiate champion and a current National track champion she played her cards perfectly. She is rumored to be returning to defend her title. I (the race organizer) finished 2nd last year barely squeezing out Shusaku in the final sprint. Young prodigy Cooper Ray was 4th and ever imposing Prentiss 5th.

This year the competition is expected to upgrade. Many top local road and track racers will see if they can control their brakeless track bikes and compete with the best street racers. I will be compiling and updating a list of confirmed race entrees in the run up the event. The prize for first place is $300 cash ($150 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd).

The race will be 30 minutes plus 3 laps. The final race course design will posted in the next week. I am expecting a tighter and more technical layout which will include the same cobblestone stretch on Columbia St but avoiding the highly residential street of Dikeman. There will be (3) primes. One at the end of the first lap, one at the end of the halfway mark and one with 3 laps to go. The prizes for the primes will include homemade granola and booze. There will be a bell indicating primes as well as a board counting down the laps with 5 to go (based of a time calculation to determine how many laps the race will be).

Race registration starts at 9 pm. The race itself starts at 11:00 pm. Awards will immediately follow the race at 65 Dikeman in conjunction with my annual birthday party.
This race will be excellent for spectators and photographers as most of the course is visible from the start/finish line and fast lap times will be around 2 and a half minutes.

Date: March 28th, 2009
Registration: 9:00 pm at 65 Dikeman
Race Start: 11:00 pm (pre race meeting at 65 Dikeman at 10:45pm)
Entry Fee: $10
Prizes: $300 1st
$150 2nd
$50 3rd

Primes: (3) Prizes to be announced.

Rules:
Brakeless Fixed Gear Bikes only
Helmets required
No free lap allowed

Here's this year's course map:



Latest Press Release:

On Saturday, March 28 the 2009 Red Hook Criterium will take place and will be be filmed as a competitive sporting event. The film will be produced by Kalim Armstrong (Orange Bikes Take Manhattan, Messenger) and John Hoppin, with assistance from Daniel Leeb (Cinecycle). The race organizer is David August Trimble, and the race director is Al Barouh.

Multiple HD cameras will be set up to film the race. At least one helmet cam will follow race action firsthand. Additionally, a surprise helmet cam shooter may be in town to cover the race. We will have a camera at the podium presentation immediately following the race.

Live race commentary and analysis will be provided by John Hoppin and Michael Green (bikeblog NYC).

The 2009 Red Hook Criterium is an unsanctioned race through a desolate post-industrial part of Brooklyn. Brake-less track bikes are mandatory for riders. The field will be a mix of semi-professional cyclists, bike messengers, and urban cyclists. The race consists of 16 three quarter-mile laps of a course which features several hairpin turns, a fast sprint through the parking lot of a chain retailer, a cobblestone stretch, and a sprint finish. Start time for the race is 11pm on Saturday night. Bus and automobile traffic on the course, even if kept to a minimum, is a near-certainty.

The first person to cross the finish line at the completion of 16 laps will take home $300. The second place finisher will receive a $150 prize, and the third place finisher will pocket $50. Additionally, the first rider to complete the first and eighth laps will receive a prime, or prize, to be announced on race day.

Immediately following the race will be a house party where the podium presentation and distribution of prizes will take place.

This project is made possible by the Bicycle Film Festival family, a festival showcaseing films featuring the bicycle in 39 cities annually. The Proud Sponsors of the Red Hook Criterium are the Coffee Den, Katherine's Homemade Granola, Zafeiropoulou, Trimble Racing, Sam Trimble Design, Taki's Express, and Roo Design.

... uhh.. High Def footage anyone? Could THIS be our special guest cam?

Here's the vid of last year:



..and the winnar! (OMG A GIRL):


..and some more photos to get ya stoked.

Okay. This is seriously. RLY SRSLY. Glad I went and climbed hills yesterday. Anyone want to lend me a light weight front wheel and some race tires?

Projekt: Race Recon

I hadn't ever been to Randall's Island. Or Ward's Island. Or Great Barn Island. In fact, I don't really know what to call it. them. they? I've ridden by the Harlem River pedestrian bridge all winter, and marvelled at its fully raised glory. This bridge is seasonal, and only opened this past weekend. Today I rode over to investigate.



Why am I drawn here?
The thought of mud.

Team Wreckstuff put together a riduculous Projekt-B worthy race series last year entitled Mud Sweat and Tears, which consisted of Tracklocross, Sludgement Day, and Harlemegeddon Alleycatastrophe. Even the snob poked some fun at it, which I recall reading from across the continent. Clearly it wasn't just fad, but a TREND. This past year in NYC I met some of the Wreckstuff crew at their RAT PACK Hustle sprint series. A solid bunch of cycle hoons if I do say so!

The events went off so well last year, that they're bringing it back.


The rules are simple. There are TWO rules:

1. FIXED OR SLICKS: Your bike must either have either a fixed gear, or slick tires no fatter than 25mm. Want to ride your cyclocross bike? Fine, as long as you throw proper road tires on it. Wanna ride your fixed gear? Great. You're allowed to use cross tires. What? You only ride singlespeeds? All right, just make sure it has slicks.

2. SPECIAL TRACK BIKE CATEGORY: There will be a special prize for the highest-placing rider riding a track bike. By track bike, we mean a bike with: a fixed gear, geared at greater than or equal to 49x16 (700x23c). Plugged drop bars. No brakes. Slick tires.



I'll be doing it fixed on cross tires and risers I think. Its too bad I can't run this thing:


I'm stoked!

Reposting for Posterity

Ya, its been up a day. Its on all the blogs. You already seen it. Duncan. Now it's searchable for when i try to find it next year. Duncan. Skitch. Tom. Tdot. Video. Duncan. Witch hunt.


Skitch presents Saturday In The City from Skitch Clothing on Vimeo.

Impending Doom

Three days off. The point of this race is to come out with your friends and have a good time. Be prepared to stay the entire evening, including the show at the Cobalt. Satan gives the race 5 out of 5 pentagrams.

Lyle already posted it, but I'm watching the race vid again and so are you now. 

In other news, Chunks got a good number of people out to race and heckle at a themed Hey Fixie, the National Avenue Sprints. It wasn't too cold. I raced Travis Jutson twice and we both won one. He was riding 77" while I had my usual 71". The track was around 200m, coincidentally the same length as the Burnaby Velodrome.

I may have forgot to mention..

Tomorrow is Black Label's 6th annual BIKE KILL!!! \m/


Needless to say, I'm taking the BMX, and wearing protection.

NEW YORK RIDE REPORT

Hi.

Here it is. My first post as an official Project-B member. My report on the current status of our foreign correspondent, Lyle, and what riding like a bit of an idiot in the Big Apple is like (My first post was actually going be about hauling a Bob trailer full of racing gear - including wheels - with my track bike to Trackfest #2 in Victoria but I failed to get any photos of myself with my aerohelmet on while pulling my trailer).

In the interests of full disclosure I have to let it be known that I'm not a regular fixed-gear street riding with no brakes kind of guy but factoring transportation to & from and the conditions of the riding I was about to get involved in, bringing my track bike (with a brake) seemed the way to go. I also figured that if I'm going to do some bar-scraping fixed street riding it might as well be in NYC.

First off, Lyle is great. Making fools of the Central Park roadies and dicing through city streets with two-tonnes of wood planks strapped to his bike. What more can I say...

I'm sure Lyle has touched on this already but street riding in NYC (fixed or otherwise) is quite different than it is here. The flow is different. Everyone breaks the rules of the road but within all of that rule breaking there is still a certain code of conduct. It took me a couple of days of just sticking to Lyle's wheel to learn it but it's sort of an "If you're going to disregard the light or whatever and it's my right of way, if you're quick about, that's cool I guess." This goes for cyclists, motorists & pedestrians. That said, I still had a few horn honks directed my way but what are you going to do? This also actually relates to another element of the flow in NYC. Even if you're wronged or you wrong someone else, it just gets let go of, 'cause man with Manhattan alone being over 75% of the landmass of all of Vancouver but with the building & street density of our downtown core, it's just going to happen again.



And again and again and again.

Of course, this is with exception, but I witnessed circumstances that had they happened in Vancouver people would have been chasing one another for blocks screaming their heads off and trying to kill one another. Maybe that's the problem with a city our size? Small enough to still understand the official, proper rules of the road yet big enough for them to not always apply yet young enough for no one to understand how to accept it. In this respect, NYC is very different. Lyle and I blew a lot of red lights with a cop or two right there, watching us and doing nothing. Then again, pedestrians do the same so what's a cop to do? Even with their interceptors we would have been able to lose them easily enough.

So yeah, I guess riding in New York gave me a different perspective on riding in Vancouver. Everyone here needs to chill out and let shit slide a little more - including myself. Even if the other person pulls a dough-head move (no matter if they are on foot, a bicycle or another planet) just let it go 'cause man, it's just going to happen again.

And again and again and again.

Bike Swappin'

Since Lyle broke the Bianchi, he has been riding my Sekine. As he was looking for a new frameset and wanted to ride track geometry on the street, it was a no-brainer that he try out my KHS as well. Here are some photos from Wednesday's bike swap breakfast. It's interesting to see how much longer Lyle's legs are: 7cm to be exact.

2005 KHS Flite 100, 57cm square, Reynolds 520. This was the "Ugly-look Winter KHS" that I took to the 2008 6 Days of Burnaby. Race winner; clavicle breaker.


Lyle needed only put 30km on this setup before ordering the identical frameset from Spicer. Fortunately, the SLUT seat post is long enough for him. I'm looking forward to dropping the post and trying out the bullhorns and Sora-Ace caliper.


1981 Sekine, 56cm square, Tange #2. 1cm shorter in the seat tube than Lyle's broken Bianchi. This is what Nick T. would call a "proper gentleman's bike," as it exudes class.


I wanted to try this look on the Sekine ever since I stole its original bar/stem/saddle on the Marinoni. I apologize about the blue tires; they look horrible, but are the best tires I currently own in terms of traction. In fact, I think Lyle's cockpit just doesn't look as good with 7cm less post. After 30km on this setup, I think I'll keep it this way for a bit. Very upright and gentlemanly.

Simpsons already did it.

Although Saturday's open-class carnage at the Burnaby Velodrome Six-Day is fast approaching, we regret to announce that we've been beaten to the coveted drome-poach by a bunch of kids from France:


street bmx video from monsieurlagarce on Vimeo

THE GRAND WIZARD MERLIN COMMANDS YUO TO ATTEND

"unholy and merciless good times"

In this post is my race report from the four horsemen's All Hallows Eve Race, with a few anecdotes along the way. You know it's on when your keys are confiscated at the beginning of a race and you're essentially not allowed to look at anything but the ground for the 5 minutes prior to the start. Who's got my key?!

Thought I'd first post up a recent deal on the CL Bikes: recumberant STATIONARY BIKE (yes, email is the preferred form on communication). What I wonder is whether the mini backhoe has multiple forward and/or backward gears. If anyone would like to enlighten me, may Satan sing your praises.

"this bike was used short term for therapy(6 months), heart rate monitor, several programs of difficulty speedometer"

If only I'd had a several programs of difficulty speedometer for last night's race. The evening's tasks started with a key swap clusterfuck, and ranged from assembling and lighting kerosene torches with a lit menthol dart in the mouth at Prospect Point to an incoherent and babbling sayer on the worst hill on Adanac. All parts of this race were done fully; all players played well.

The people who won were those who made it to that last (and, in scoring, only) checkpoint and worked their asses off getting there. Like Indiana Jones searching and discovering a goblet, the freshly-returned Midnight Simon picked up the elusive Phil Wood low flange hub and 17 tooth 3/32" cog, courtesy of Darren at Dream (a little more on that shortly, though). I'm sure that at least the hub will be put to good use on an upcoming project.

As I just hinted at, the scoring of this race was not in completion of all tasks, but in the completion of a single task. Though Brock didn't hit all the checkpoints, he went hard and even had his pedal go missing during the escapade. He ended up with first prize, a "custom" courier rat style IRO in crashed-up orange.

DFL deservedly went to Rob, who raced on a borrowed mountain bike as, after being screwed by the random key swap, he was given the task of carrying the four-foot upside down wooden cross. As Ranae and I pedaled up the Causeway, we came upon the martyr with an overshifted chain threatening to be jammed into the spokes with any pedal movement. Projektaru-B race team kicked in, and the chain was back on the cassette in 10 seconds flat. At Prospect Point, I remember him yelling "this is why I'm never buying a bike with shocks!" Score: A PAC Bag.

Now, back to Simon's cog score: Why Darren continues to push 3/32" fixed drivetrains is beyond me. With 1/8" drivetrain parts easily available in track lines and compatible with road front rings, would it not make sense to run the strongest chain possible when it's often your only source of deceleration? I'd like to see a better selection of 1/8" 130bcd chainrings, if only for the sweet noise they make.

On the topic of performance, though, my Marinoni performed flawlessly after hinting at withholding use the big ring on the way down to the start. Yes, the new bike is fast - faster than I appear to be able to ascertain just yet; Ranaynay kept up like a champ, even though, as Lyle stated and I responded:

as i knew you riding 5.0 would be Ranae riding 12.3

yeah, so I rode 5.0 and waited when I got far enough ahead
called lights clear for her
etc

With that performance, she could totally be captain of the Asthma Olympics team. Girl pushed for about 35km before a flat ended the night as the group hoon unfortunately lost track of her, 1.6km from the Cobalt at Adanac and Clark.

Fuct Up and Fixed hammered us from start to end, and it was well executed on our end apart from a maligned attempt to hit the "foot of main Bridge at the lions" and a complete overlooking of dialing the reaper (should have called right when we got that manifest).

Of trick or treat, treat seemed to have resulted in some much appreciated chalice and gas mask treatments, while trick was mostly pushups and jiffy marker.

The post-race festivities included a roman candle fueled trackstand contest, only made better by the fact that normal roman candles appear to be made of unobtanium these days, leaving us with giant $4-5 hand-held rockets. Matt A. took it after a smoky dispute over the calling of "one foot" and subsequent showdown with Skylar. Bottle of Wisers to victor.

The ensuing show at the Cobalt had a very appropriate air to it, and was surprisingly mind-clearing. Might be why I listen to a lot of metal, hmmmm. Had yet to see Bison play live - definitely enjoyable.

The Four Horsemen didn't just put on a good show on race night; their wake does the same in the surrounding weeks. The race was cheap (about $10 total), and well worth the ass-kicking it delivered. So far, five pages of drama on fixedvan... kinda makes you wonder, What is Stephen Harper Reading?

Thanks to NikC for results recap, and Damon for photos of the start.

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

Having an average weekend

Chronorder:

Blew out N1ck's second Michelin Dynamic while sprinting up the hill after work on Friday. Changed over to Nashbar deathcommuter.

MC3 Hoon ride. I managed to pinchflat my back tire casing up some steps. The ride stopped and waited for me to patch it up. (Awwwwwwww <3 MC3)

I got about 200m further and blew out my front tire. I fell back quietly and fixed it..

Caught up with the ride at the Nautical Museum, and then went for late night burritos, followed by cartoons.

Saturday started out with some hazy Bon's action, not Project Bons mind you, but Bon's none the less. HeyHeyHey.

Then Rhiannon accompanied me on my commute to work. Yes, I was working on Saturday.

On the way up Gladstone, I saw a stroller rolling down the sidewalk, in the opposite direction as we climbed the hill, and it took a moment to register in my brain, and realize that the woman was back at the house 20m away. The carriage was picking up speed too, so I rode across the street, hopped the curb, rode beside it and grabbed the handle... then brought it to a halt.

The baby looked at me inquisitively.

That was weird.

Then after blowing up my laser at work, I hit the streets again to get some bike parts, and check out Haley's new triple triangle Polobike.

Later, I attended a screening of BMX bandits in Ranae's backyard. Pretty terrible movie to be honest. They can't all be rad. Rhiannon took it upon herself to embarass me for 'saving' that baby in peril. I love custom labels on alcohol.

Sunday Paul N hooked me up with an Intense Mag 30/ Ringle wheel to run for the Velomutations weekend. Wow. Intense is right!

The kittenchopper is all growed up now. Ready for serial hooning.
See you all next weekend =D

Sewn Back Together Wrong

The story of the human-machine connection is not an unfamiliar one; our relationships with bikes are forged over many miles in the saddle. As natural as this sounds, becoming connected with a bike and one's every day rides is an often overlooked aspect of riding. Occasionally, the connections are disrupted, and may take a considerable amount of effort to rekindle.

Long before I broke my collarbone, the Sekine was already having appendage-related issues. The original fork's steerer tube was bent from a winter of 700cmx. Its rehabilitation was arduous, but eventually resulted in a Craigslisted low-clearance fork paired with a nice Shimano 600 brake from Mark's stash. I was excited to ride the bike that took me so comfortably through my first winter of bike commuting, with a steepened head tube angle that I thought I wanted.

My high school shop teacher, Gord Gaudet, always used to say "Thought thought he farted but he shit his pants." Well, that statement couldn't be more true in the case of the Sekine. The new fork has favourably quickened the steering, but at the cost of a much more forward riding position that just isn't as comfortable as it used to be. The bike is still rideable, but it doesn't fill the ultra-comfortable fixed-touring niche that it used to live in.

Now that I've given you the context, let's go for a ride. This morning's commute was more eventful than average. I've been straight-shooting it lately: Victoria to Broadway to Fraser. When you regularly ride the same route through the river of conveyance, certain spots stand out - the rapids of the river, if you will. These spots may exist due to topography, infrastructure, or traffic patterns; the fun part is discovering the resistance - least or otherwise - of each path. All of these are interrelated, and weather comes into play as well.

For the topographic variable, the Vic-Bro-Fra route has three big climbs: Broadway from Clark, and two on Fraser from 20th to 25th and 28th to 33rd. A couple highlights of the infrastructure are the bike/bus only lane on Broadway and the deep dump truck tire grooves South of Fra-Kings. Car traffic is slow on Broadway and fast on Fraser. Today's weather: Overcast, 100% wet, but not raining at the moment.

After filtering through the usual backup at CommBro, I closely followed a car through the intersection at Woodland. As we had just passed through an intersection in a bus only lane, I felt at liberty to give him a hearty "What are you doing?" as I passed by his open window. Then, coming up to Clark, the right lane was too packed with buses to filter up. I took the left line and noticed Ryan, resident brace-face, trackstanding behind the buses on his newly assembled Goldilocks.

The frame is spray painted gold, and I can't decide whether it reminds me of a worn out pair of American Apparel lamé shorts, or a gaudy lawn ornament. The lime green fork and stem, topped with the season-appropriate riser bars, have me leaning toward the latter. After a well-executed moving handshake, we flowed up the hill on Broadway.

Ryan, standing up and hammering on his new bike, paced me up the hill as I stayed seated on the Sekine. Though he may have been mile 200 of a double century, I maintain that riser bars are terrible for hill climbing - this coming from a guy who did Mount Seymour on Nitto B123s. A hoonish left turn at Fraser left Ryan to continue to his orthodontist appointment.

I rolled up to 12th Avenue just as the light was changing. In front of me was a performance commuter, who was awkwardly half-standing as his full-suspension Infinity appeared to be absorbing the grooves in the intersection with the agility of a K-Car on blown stock shocks.

At Fra-Kings, there was a lineup of at least five vehicles in the right lane, and only one in the left. One of those five was a full-size garbage truck, which I was not particularly interested in being behind. I chose the left, and ended up riding the gnarliest section of Fraser - the one with the huge dump truck grooves - in the left lane beside a garbage truck. Then, the car ahead of me decided it was turning left. Into the draft of rank stench I went, as the lack of head wind sucked me even closer. I got out and around the truck again when it made a right turn.

Trackstanding at 25th was the first time I stopped on the ride. With a few moments to reflect on the preceding events, I had a relaxing final stretch before beginning my day at work. Seems like business as usual at Project-B.

Looking back, the Sekine was the first road bike that ever fit me perfectly. With a solid, yet forgiving ride, it was a great winter commuting-slash-adventuring bike. I now have the steep track bike that I wanted - which rides more comfortably than the Sekine in its pants-shitting current state. The now-clichéd phrase "stiff, yet compliant" is a feel the bike had, and has lost the latter part of since the fork swap. Conclusion: it needs to go in for a second surgery.

Also on the topic of disrupted connections, the Mielgeot is currently down with a broken rear axle. Ironic, considering the Miele frame's tall bike destiny was decided upon discovery of a broken rear axle. Without getting into the story of how perfectly that bike fits me, I will say that I'm very much looking forward to commuting on it again.

Dethklok's Toki expresses the uncertainty of our ongoing experimentation, saying "we such screwups that he would be sewn back together wrong." Fortunately, we're dealing with bikes, which can be taken apart and sewn back together right if things don't work out the first time.

SEWN! BACK TOGETHER! WRONG! BACK TOGETHER...

Epic

20InchWestVanBomb last night.
Cassettes no longer sound like rotaries, more like high speed tinnitis.
Elevation drop to make the ears pop.
Ambleside senior reminds us about signage.
Little bikes rocking, we pull on commuters going over the bridge.
Gravity bomb through Stanley park has us perfecting tuck stability.
A drunkfight breaks out at English bay, spills onto Pacific, then trudges along, and keeps going, we watch from the shade.
We hit Sinclair Centre bank for some rollback tech, too drunk to fuf.
South on Carrall, I hoon gap the safety tape.
We make our way up to Granview to see the Polo people in fine form, and get our donair on.
Sailor has us manual jousting for his entertainment.
We're fighting it.
We're done.

Hoon is Bike month

I haven't been blogging much lately. Mostly just poking around the internets and echoing the Youtubes available to me.

Well, its time for an update.

I just got back from a screening of BIKE (okay, this is old news already) and I'm all fired up. I want to ride, but the crowd was dissipative, and went their own ways.

Thats the way it is on bikes. we roll alone, we meet briefly. we roll apart. Sometimes we're held together and it can be a really great thing, other times its not needed.

BIKE was all about this theme. this inclusivity, this cohesiveness. this exclusivity. This love.

Tony, the film maker, spent a year and a half trying to get into NYC's Black Label bike club, and they wouldn't have him. They wouldn't have him because they didn't trust that he wanted in for the right reasons.

I've got a lot of things on my mind.
Amy brings up the bikesphere and triggers deep feelings.

"What is your main concern in the bikesphere"

Self Preservation? I talked about myself. Are we all so selfish? I want to see the community grow and thrive, but I just focus on keeping myself in running order.

I don't know where I'm going with this. This love.

Just tonight I met a guy who works in the bicycle industry. (also old news) On the mountain bike side of things. I'm curious to talk to him more. One thing he said, was that it has to be done for the love.

Also recently, I was up North, doing Projekt-B field work, and met a guy named Phillipe, who has single handedly brought bike culture to Whitehorse. He's a bike mech, he's an artist. He's changing the landscape for the better. He lives above his shop, he's doing it for the love.

It makes me wonder just where this Project will take me. Probably to the world of High fashion


Choppers, modifications.
On a human scale, its not dangerous.
Because 50km/h is not dangerous.


Where was I? Its a week later, and I just cant get this blogging thing right. Originally, this blog entry was supposed to be posted early morning on Sunday. However, that didn't pan out. Then I got busy with commuting and Solidwerking, and well, here we are at the weekend again. Except is Thursday. (or Monday, fuck)

I guess I've been watching a bunch of bike movies lately. I just got back from the Bike Shorts screening. There were 14 videos. ] Including Wendell Challenger's long line of cars. There was a great time lapse flatland one on an airstrip, and we even got to see Morgan take his pants off! One of my favorites was a 'post apocalyptic' story about THE BREATH, and how hard a good bike pump was to come by. Sadly, in this future, people are still getting killed for oil. I'm reall glad I went to this event.

So this week in bikes, I put new 600 cranks on the Bianchi, except they're not new. They're older than the ones I had, and they're shorter. I can only hope they're not just on long term loan. I also got into the dirty dirty with a middle aged guy in a minivan. I shouldn't pick on them. Its been relatively dry, so I've been rolling the Cunny to work most days. Thats right, you're Health and Safety representative is riding the brakeless unicorn. A cop spashed me with a mud puddle Tuesday. It wasn't even raining. I think he aimed for it. its just a 30cm diameter hole in Union street, that he MUST know contains muddy water. Right in the face, all over my jersey. I'm trying to catch up in kilometerage to my normal months this year, but I think I've already taken about 7 days off the bike. That really affects the numbers. I'm a nerd. pie chart. [650km total for the month]

This weekend promises to be crazy. I'm starting off with Midnight mass tonight. I better decide which bike to roll, and soon.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit the big June Critical Thrash

Edit: rain, drown rat.

I've slept, but it still feels like I've been up forever. The rainy MM, the out of control Critical mass, The scarface, the BBW, The race. its all a bit much. This guy is a writeoff. He drifts in and out of conciousness. Not sure how he rode a bike. 8.0 hoon.

Non Biased CTV mass footage:


Paris Hilton's Big Day Out, Cooper Park Checkpoint:


Edit: I think I'm ready to go back to work. edit.

BIKARNIVAL

This friday is the annual MC3 Performance Ride, aptly titled BIKARNIVAL.


Its a rolling party, stopping only to get crazier, as people show off their respective talents. There will be performances by the Brakes, B:C:Clettes, Kablamo, Megan Rose, MC Uberkranker, and even Project-B!

We're hosting an open class street jam, with prizes. So get ready to shred the gnar and go big in front of a crowd. Bring whatever you want, BMX, Urban two sixxer, 700CMX, just get ready to get ill! (no parkour, sorry)

The idea is, we get everyone to the secret street spot, and have anyone who wants to participate in the jam line up along one wall. The rest of the crowd can watch from behind sectioned off areas. We wouldn't want any bike parts to fly up and hit ya in the face! Once the music starts, its a free-for-all on the spot. Our announcer will be letting the crowd know just how tough this stuff is to pull off, and at the end of 10 minutes, you can vote for your favorite trick. The person who garnishes the most cheering get to take the prize =D

<< Margaret Charles Chopper Collective >>
=== PRESENTS ===
BiKarnival - a Performance Ride!
Friday, June 8th
Meet at Science World Gazebo 6:45
Performances start at 7:00
Ride leaves at 7:38 sharp

Sideshow at the Velodrome

The Burnaby Velodrome invited the East Van fixie kids back to be a sideshow to their Three Day event, after a great reception at January's Six Day. Proj-B was asked to help organize the "fixie" events, which gave me and my broken collarbone a chance to do something other than support a 180-to-backward circle.

Thanks to everyone who did show up for coming out. The track shows their support for us by providing a slot; it's up to us to fill it. When things were first getting going, there were only four "fixies" signed up to race. However, after a bit of time, more of us trickled in for a total of 7 racers - a couple short of the Six Day turnout, but to our credit there were a lot fewer "trackies" out than in January.

I would like to send out a specific thank-you from Project-B for the enthusiasm you guys brought. The blindfolded trackstand was hilarious, and should provide us with some great photos. Your feedback will directly affect future events, so be sure to keep talking.

Hopefully, with more interest at the next event, we can look forward to some more track time, as the BVC is willing to work with us. I would also hope that our local shops will get behind us for the next one, as there's a lot of great energy going around that 200m oval.

Until next time, when I will race again, and titles will be defended... looks like both Mike and I are undefeated at the moment. Keep posted to the Proj-B for more track-related hoonery. And remember, you have to get off before you blow Chunks.