Caps

Rivendell is offering this sweet Sugino cycling cap on their website. Rivendell Bicycle Works:



Sugino cranks are rather dope so I thought you all might be interested in this. Mine's on the way. I've also scooped one of those Nitto T's.

GreenForAll Event-Tour the Greater Memphis Greenline

A show and tell of the proposed rail/trail project, it's benefits and
plans. Come see the trail and how it relates to 2 locations. 11:30 am
Sat, Sept 27 where the trail intersects with Shelby Farms Park. Meet in
the parking lot where Mullins Station crosses the railroad tracks
(slightly west of Farm Road)-there will be signs. Then at 1pm meet
again at High Point Pizza 477 High Point Terrace at Philwood near Summer
in the High Point Terrace neighborhood center for a tour of the
rail/trail as it passes through a neighborhood. As to the Greening of
Memphis, this trail along with the Wolf River Greenway and
bike/pedestrian developments, will enhance the walkability/bikability of
Memphis. Come see the economic value of a greenway in jobs, business
and recreational opportunities. Green Jobs include all of the jobs
associated with building, maintenance and use of the GMG from planning
to construction, maintenance, administration, local shops, recreation,
picnicing, gardening, playgrounds, arboretums,retail and other jobs as a
result of the public use of the GMG and the parks. Additional benefits
include reduced transportation, less carbon impact, more efficient
transportation, as well as less health care cost as a result of the
exercise, etc.

Call Steven Sondheim 761-1793 for information.


[via the venerable tatrehead]

Cycling laws... Again.

A while back JMG posted the City of Memphis cycling laws:

http://fixmemphis.blogspot.com/2008/07/memphis-city-cycling-code.html

And here are the TN State Cycling Laws:

http://bikememphis.com/TCA.htm

The only conflict I can see is that City Laws say to ride single file and State Laws allow riding two abreast.

Memphis Downs 3 Race Results & Pictures!!

Thanks to everyone that came out for the events and an extra special thanks to all of our sponsors, especially Chuey Brand who did not make it onto the flyer. The results for the races are as follows:

Memphis Downs Garage Alleycat

Denis Raml - 18pts.
Chase Hardin - 17
Josh Gorman - 16
Matt Rogers - 15
Joel Glasgow - 14
Kermit Dyer - 13
Zach Taylor - 12
Isaiah Flowers - 11
Josh Ryan - 10
Eric Garcia - 9
Patrick Wilson - 8
John Evans - 7
Zach Crandall - 6
Emil Orth - 5
Parker Davis - 4
Ryan Mitchell - 3
Andy Jameson - 2
Anthony Siracusa - 1

For Bike Polo:

Kermit, Josh Gorman, and Cort - 4pts
Matt, Mike, and Andy - 3pts
Denis, Martin, and Jason - 2pts
Anthony, Chase, and Parker - 2pts

Skids:

Josh Gorman - 7pts
Chase - 6
Cort - 5
Parker - 4
Denis - 3
Ray - 2
Eric - 1

Footdown:

Denis - 11
Chase - 10
Kermit - 9
Cort - 8
Josh Groman - 7
Parker - 6
Ray - 5
Eric - 4
Emily - 3
Andy - 2
Matt - 2

Overall Points Winners:

Chase Hardin - 36pts
Denis Raml - 35
Josh Gorman - 34
Kermit Dyer - 27
Matt Rogers - 20

Ray swept the girls competition and came out with some beautiful prizes.

Hope everyone had a great time and we'll see you for the next one!






The entire set here!

And one more change of address

The Fun and Games event for tonight will be happening at Revolutions Co-Op. It's a wonderful place for footdown and skids as we learned at the MASH Premier. The weather looks great so we'll see you at 6pm.

Yet another change of address

Bike Polo will be behind the Peddler on Highland tonight. Bring $5 if you haven't paid for everything. Mallets are taken care of.

Oh, and everyone who came to movie night got a point.

See you at 7!

Memphis Downs Movie Night Change of Address

Unfortunately the Media Co-op has had theft problems that resulted in there no longer being a Media Co-op. Therefore, we have moved the location of the Movie Night to a big and empty house.


Don't forget to ride your bicycle on acount of the streets will be closed off for the Cooper Young Festival race. Directions to the best night of your life are as follows:
1930 Nelson
Heading East on Nelson, turn left at the fourth house on the left.
The house is at the intersection of Barksdale and Nelson, right across the street from the "8 til' 8" shop. The house is mauve-colored stucco with white shutters and green stars on those white shutters. Hot tree in the front yard.

B.Y.O.B. and L. and Popcorn

Prizes! Well, so far...

Snowflake wheel, wool jerseys, hats, T-shirts, hoody, dvds, u-lock holsters, top tube pads, cycling caps and we're still waiting on a few more packages.

Same rights, same rules

Memphis Downs was run so well last year that not only are we doing the same garages but I'm even stealing Josh's rules with the exception of the finish.

Checkpoints, thoughts and rules for the first ride

245 Washington
49 S. Front Street
505 Zach Curlin
Comfort Inn
Cannon Center/Hilton (lowest level)
Third and Monroe, West of Autozone Park
869 Madison
Commerce (Market) Square Parking
340 Innovation Drive
Parking Can Be Fun

afterparty/finish: ???*

Instructions for manifests will be announced at the beginning of the ride. Riders are advised to wear a helmet and have proper lights and reflectors on their bikes. We also require that all traffic laws be respected - especially speed and weight limits.

This ride requires that all participants act in an honorable manner. If you think it is cheating, it is cheating, so don't do it. Go to every garage, please. All podium positions and three random riders will be selected for post-ride blood tests. All riders currently under investigation by the UCI, WADA, CONI or their respective national anti-doping committees will be barred from participation.

The points for the winners of the Memphis Downs will work like this: Riders receive points in each ride for the order in which they finish. The first place finisher receives as many points as there are riders in the specific ride. For example, if 37 riders ride tomorrow night, the first place finisher receives 37 points, the second place rider receives 36, etc. For bike polo, points will be awarded on a team basis and teams of 3 will be drawn at random. If there are 5 teams, the winning team will receive 5 points each, second place 4 points each, etc. Skid contest and footdown work the same way.

There will be prizes for each race as well as prizes for overall cumulative points.



*PAY ATTENTION*

Last year we did numbers on top of the garages, this year it's letters. You will have to unscramble the letters of the various checkpoints to determine the finish destination.


Check back for updates, some shit will probably go awry.

No Flat Track, Bike Polo Instead

In an effort to get more practice in for the Downs we will be playing Bike Polo behind the Peddler on Highland today at 7pm. We will divide into teams and anyone who shows up will get a chance to play. Tell everyone!

Bicyclist Assaulted by Police Officer in Memphis Last Night

Last night I saw a bicycle rider attacked by a police officer.

Around 11:30 p.m., a group of riders headed south on Second Street to the intersection of Second and Beale. With foot traffic very light and no police prohibition at the edge of Beale, the riders rode down Beale to Third Street. Upon seeing further bike traffic as prohibited, the riders turned to head south to bypass the busy section of Beale St. When the cyclists reached Third and Beale, a police officer turned and began waving his arms. To avoid the policeman, who would have otherwise been struck by the bicycles, riders headed south on Third up the sidewalk.

After six riders passed the officer, he became angry. As the seventh rider passed the officer, the policeman grabbed the cyclist by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. Shocked, I slowed to a stop, worried my friend had broken his arm. When my friend pulled himself from the concrete, the officer stepped as close as he could to my friend, who was now bleeding, and screamed into his face: “Didn’t I tell you to stop?”

Officer Woodward, badge number 842, had the number “06” pinned to his lapel. After the officer ceased yelling, I asked the him if we were free to go. “You are!” he screamed. “But not your friend! He’s getting a citation!” And after a moment’s pause, he screamed “You’re all getting citations! For hanging around!” We calmly replied that we were concerned that our friend was injured, to which the officer said nothing. After 30 minutes, my friend who was assaulted by a police officer and the three of us that stayed around to be sure he was alright ended up with tickets.

While we waited, three eyewitnesses offered their phone numbers to us and offered to testify against the police in a court of law. Our court date is set for the 21 of October at 1:30 p.m.

The citation reads that we had been warned many times before, and had been seen on Beale riding bicycles before. I have never once been warned about riding bikes on Beale St., and had never in my life seen any of the police officers on duty that night. The police report was falsified.

This type of un-checked violence from police to citizens is not new. This summer, a transgendered woman was assaulted by local police inside a police precinct, and security forces on Beale have been in the news repeatedly for using excessive force.

In court, we will challenge the charges. We are now investigating a suit against the city for assault and excessive force. Our friend almost broke his arm, and whether it is right or wrong that bicycles are not allowed on Beale St., violation of a pedestrian or bicycle law does not warrant violent force to subdue citizens.

On Saturday, September 27, a ride will leave from Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop at First Congregational Church and proceed to Beale Street. We will dismount from our bicycles and walk the entire length of Beale St.

Please forward this message along to interested parties. For more information or to share similar stories, please contact Anthony Siracusa: 901.949.1201 or sirac@rhodes.edu