Zombiecat Cancelled

I heard from Paul in New Orleans. Instead of putting on a Zombiecat this year they are focusing their efforts on a November bike polo tournament. They've set the dates for Nov. 21st and 22nd. Check New Orleans Hardcourt Bike Polo for more details. Dennis and I have already scheduled to go. I don't know who else is going but it would be great to bring a team or two.

Practice getting CRUNK

The 2009 (yeah, I corrected the other post below) Cyclocrunk series is in one week! If you don't think you're ready there is a pratice session tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 6am at Tobey Field. I'm going and I'll find out how much I need to repair on my bike to make it ready. See you there!

The weather outside is

absolutely great for polo! And check this out:


View Larger Map

A public court. Yes, it's way out in Germantown. Riverdale Park. If you go east on Poplar, left on Riverdale and right on Neshoba it will be on your right.

And speaking of bike polo, check out this promo from Peugeot:


seen on Tracko

They're #1 in health care so why wouldn't we expect the French to be level with the sport of the future. Vive le Bike Polo!

CycloCRUNK!!!

Joel has set the dates for Cyclocrunk 2009. October 6th, 13th, and the 20th. I've never raced in the Crunkness but I'm trying to get a bike together for this year. I'm going singlespeed and the only thing I'm missing is a frame (which I want to double as my polo bike). So if anyone has any leads on a 56cm frame, preferably an old road frame that originally had 27" wheels (need the extra clearance for larger tires) let me know. You can see pictures from past Crunkies at cyclocrunk.com. From what I hear and have seen it's a tough series, which Russ Griffin usually dominates, lapping people. I know Russ is a tough rider, placing 2nd in the New Gears Alleycat (because he thought side streets would be faster in windy conditions, a mistake I made once) so I'm not racing to win, only to have fun. I'm just wondering if Clark Butcher sold his cross bike. If he hasn't, maybe he can give Russ a challenge?

Halloween in New Orleans

Emily and I, along with Dennis and Erica (who made the trip last year) are all going to New Orleans for Halloween this year. Several people have expressed interest in going so let me know if you can do it so we can arrange hotel/housing.

You've heard the stories, now's your chance to live it.

We've been a little busy

Let's rewind about two weeks and check out what happened on Labor Day. The polo day for the Memphis Downs started with a great cookoff at Jasons and before we all got too drunk we rolled over to CBU for a little mallet action. It wasn't long before a security guard came up and made it clear that we weren't welcome. Since we weren't able to finish with the double elimination tournament we had going I awarded 2 points to every player on a team beat by the winning team, who all got 3 points. And, as we suspected, Chase swept the podium. Here's how everything came out:

Chase 26
Josh 18
Zac 17
Kermit 16
Brett 16
Todd 13
Andrew 13
Joel 12
John 9
Cort 8
Daniel 6
Charles 5
Ted 5
Eric 4
Parker 3
Dennis 3
Burly Andy 2
Jason 2
Andy J 2

I still have prizes to give out to Zac, Dennis, and Ted (I think). We'll do something soon.

Two days later Em and I took off for Nashville to see the Chuck Close exhibit. A-mazing. Also, inspiring. I'm anxious to print some new stuff. We'll set up a printing night pretty soon. We got to stop by Halcyon Bike Shop and talk to the nice people there and check out their bikes. Lots of pretty candy. What works for them is taking old road frames, putting on good quality components, color-matching, and selling it for around $500. What they don't do is take an old road frame, order some low level wheels off the internet, respace and fuck up the hubs, use whatever old original equipment they can and sell it to some craigslist sucker for $550.



We also got to ride with a lot of our Skumlife friends. We met in Centennial Park and hung out doing skids and whatnot while everyone showed up. There was some debate about where to go, everything was either 1 mile away or 7 miles away, so we opted for the 7 and hit up the 3 Crow. They had 2 for 1's and bar food so some people got a little rowdy. I ended up braining making a brain out of my testicles and placed them on Art's head and then high-5'd him with my penis hand. When we rolled out of there Art was so drunk, running through the streets like a stray chicken in traffic.




Then Thursday night was Gorman's last ride so we needed to make it epic, which we did. About 15 fortunate people rode to the Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis, AR. Man, riding across the old bridge is perhaps the scariest thing I've done. You're riding a sidewalk with cars and 18-wheelers coming at you at 60+ mph, headlights blinding you on one side, then the other side is an easy over the railing drop into the Mighty Miss. Thankfully everyone made it across safe. After a brief bit of pavement we hit a sandy/gravel road. Parts of it were a little awkward to traverse so I shouldered my bike and did the 100 yard dash. Back on the pavement and in a little bit of civilization we were cheered by the few people we passed. When we arrived at the dog tracks the valet was a bit confused. We bike pile'd as I don't think he could have ridden a fixed gear. After some beers in the Juke Joint and some loud Steelers fans (I don't get it: Pittsburgh? You don't live there, you weren't a fan 2 years ago, but now you look like a bumble bee and you have ruined your car with giant stickers!) we rode back through the gravel and across the bridge (much easier this time with the cars behind you) and safely home.




...And it's been raining ever since then...

Don't steal bikes, bro.

Just for you, Cort.

Bike Thief vs Street Justis from triple on Vimeo.

Points Distribution

When you look at the point system keep in mind that it is cumulative. Even if you don't think you can top the list by being on the winning polo team today, you can still move ahead of other people, which will give you bragging rights until next year. So here's how it looks so far:

Skid Comp

Chase 8
Zac 7
Cort 6
Todd 5
Andrew 4
Brett 3
Josh 2
Burly Andy 1

Alleycat (with times, red font is time with bonuses)

Chase 1.34.23 1.32.23
Kermit 1.36.10
Josh 1.47.55
Joel G 1.48.27
Brett 1.54.53
Zac 2.01.17 1.57.17
John 2.02.28
Todd 2.06.40 2.03.40
Andrew 2.11.56 2.07.56
Daniel 2.11.17 2.08.17
Charles 2.12.48
Eric 2.22.13 2.20.13
Parker 2.20.26
Ted 2.31.21 2.26.21
Burly Andy 2.36.57 2.32.57

Look at Andrew/Daniel time and Eric/Parker time and you can see where the time bonuses helped people, if only by seconds. Where does that put the overall standings?

Chase 23
Zac 17
Josh 15
Kermit 14
Brett 14
Todd 13
Joel 12
Andrew 11
John 9
Cort 6
Daniel 6
Charles 5
Eric 4
Parker 3
Burly Andy 2
Ted 2

It looks like Chase has all but sealed an overall victory but can he pull off a sweep of the podium?

Don't forget about the cookout at Jason's house on Harbert at 12:30. If you need directions call me: 901.921.8096

hey you there reading ths...

MEMPHIS DOWNS TONIIIIGGGGHHHT!

7PM: MEET AT THE REVOLUTIONS CO-OP TO RECEIVE YOUR METAL MANIFEST!
$10 BONES TO RIDE AND IF YOU'RE FAST, YOU WILL BE HANDSOMELY ADORNED WITH PRIZES! YEEEAAA!
LIST OF GARAGES IN POST BELOW!

Also, tomorrow (Monday, Labor Day) we'll be having a cookout at Jason and Lucy's house on Harbert. 12:30, bring some food and beverages.

Party tonight!!

Yo, we're throwing down at Odessa tonight. Films from Death Pedal, Council of Doom and Macaframa from 10 til about 1am. A $1 raffle for a Timbuk2 Messenger Bag, a cycling cap, and free issues of Urban Velo. They will also be giving away some Amerian Apparel clothing!

And I just heard that they bought ten Dirty Thirties! That's 300 beers art schoolers!

Get there around 10 because you won't get in once the party reaches capacity!

Meet & Greet tonight

8pm at First Congo Church and the corner of Cooper and Walker. We'll play some footdown and have a skid comp to start the weekend off right.

And here are the Eleven

505 Zach Curlin
Clark Tower
Cannon Center/Hilton (lowest level)
40 Dudley Street
230 Shadyac Ave 49 S. Front Street
245 Washington
Commerce (Market) Square Parking
216 East Street
340 Innovation Drive
Parking Can Be Fun
MLGW Front Street 869 Madison

afterparty/finish: ???*

Like we did last year, once you have written down all of the letters on top of the garages you will unscramble the letters to form the finish destination. 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. By all means research the garages on Google Maps but DO NOT ride them as it will draw unwanted attention. I was kicked out of one garage already.

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.

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 Sunday 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.




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

Saturday Afternoon Rock Flick: Died Young, Stayed Pretty

Saturday, September 5, 2 pm

Check out this first-hand view of the underground poster scene about bands, ideas, and what makes a rock poster sing.
This indie-based creativity gives its viewers a unique perspective into who is actually behind that slammin' poster framed in your living room. See what sets off these progressive artists ideas of obscenity, uniqueness, and cool.
Bring a bag, though, there may just be a record store selling posters and records before the film.

Director Eileen Yaghoobian will be in attendance.

How much? 8 bucks for non-members, 6 for members!
Where? Memphis Brooks Museum of Art!
Check out the trailer here:
youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=vrrss_Bxfw0