Bosco's Anyone?

Cort and I have totally ridden with these growlers before to have picnics in the park!
Check out more from one of my favorite websites, bonappetit.com(and places to find recipes to not make correctly, but that my amazing husband says he likes anyways 'cuz he's sweet).

Biking and Drinking

My friend Molly designed these beer mugs on zazzle along with a ton of other bike-related products. Check it out here!

Memphis In May - Honoring Mud Boots

I've been getting some blog love (blove?) lately. gomemphis has set up the definitive guide to Memphis In May and procured my help in setting up a bike route map. They even link to my bike rack map which is accessible from a smart phone. (You'll need that smart phone to track the storm systems as they approach.) It would be super cool if there were free bike valet at the entrance to Tom Lee Park - yet another nice way to honor the bike-loving country of Belgium.

Speaking of which, here is how I plan to honor Belgium during the month of May:

1. I will only ride my cyclocross bike. Very popular in Belgium, cyclocross is a type of bicycle racing where participants ride in the grass, sand, gravel, mud, water and they even have to jump over barriers. Just like Music Fest! Even if you're just spectating it's necessary to be prepared and nothing says prepared for Music Fest and cyclocross like The Pit Boot from Vanilla Cycles. Available online for $65.


2. I will only drink Belgian beers. Here is a list of approved brews should you decide to honor in the same manner.

SIKE! That's too long of a list. If you want to know you can visit The Flying Saucer's Beer List and see which beers are Belgian.

3. Like most Belgians, I will NOT wear a helmet while riding.

DOUBLE SIKE! Ya'll stay safe out there!

Cargo Bike Conversion

Take it to the next level! You can now convert your bike into a cargo bike and haul 100+ lbs of goodies! The Zaftig from Jacobs Green Solutions is an adjustable steertube length fork that uses a 20" wheel to convert your regular bike into a truck bike!

From the pic it looks like the best brake option is disc. It looks like V's would come up through the rack area and a canti cable would come down through, not to mention you would need a headset cable guide to run the cantis. I suppose all of that would be fine if you planned on leaving the fork on all the time, but what would be better than a quick conversion? All you need is a hinged clamp front brake lever and then you can rock down to cargo avenue!

The fork retails at $200 plus $25 for whichever brake mount you choose. I really do recommend running brakes. If you're hauling 100 lbs of stuff you don't want to have to rely on your rear brake or your legs!

You're probably asking yourself, "Where do I get a 20" front disc brake wheel?" Recumbents! Or you can just get a disc hub and build it on a BMX rim. You know those jams come in all kinds of colors. Colored spokes, too!

Imagine how much beer you can carry!

Giving new meaning to the pub crawl

There's nothing like being cooped up in a tiny apartment to get my creative juices flowing. And as you saw in the previous post I'm super in the mood to build something. First the inspiration, then the idea.

The Hopworksfiets is feat of design genius.



Two Kegs, a pizza rack, and a sound system. See more photos at Elly Blue's flickr. Seriously, check them out. The Chris King and Shimano XTR taps make me light-headed.

So here's the idea. I have this pedal car:



(That's my friend Brian from Columbus, OH!) Seeing as how it's just kind of sitting around and is in need of a serious overhaul I think you all should help me turn it into something spectacular involving beer and barbecue (because I've been talking about making a grill bike AND this is Memphis, y'all!). Some of you have seen it in person and know that the gear system looks like a nightmare, so I'm all for taking this all apart and putting in a new shifting system and even new wheels. This will hopefully lighten the load tremendously. We might even put two wheels on the front. Really this thing has so much potential, I'm interested to hear what ideas you all conjure.

Bikes and Bands not Bombs

Saturday, May 9th, 2009 @ Noon
A historical tour of downtown Memphis by bicycle led by Dr. Josh Gorman.

Ride will leave from noon sharp at Galloway/Lifelink Church.

$15 for the Bikes not Bombs event provides a t-shirt, spoke card, and schwag bag.

$25 covers the tour, admission to the Bands not Bombs event, a t-shirt, a spoke card and beer all day.

Please bring your bike, your helmet, and a water bottle. Ride will average 10 mph, or a “beginner’s pace.” Children 12 and under should be pulled in a trailer, a bike tag along, or placed in a child seat. No children under 16 should ride unless they are on an extra cycle or in a baby carrier (it will work better this way, though it may seem a little “discriminatory”)

Ride should be back by about 2 p.m. for Bands not Bombs Festival.

I love riding in Memphis

Urban Velo has an ongoing feature in their magazine called "I Love Riding in the City" where normal folks like you and me (especially me) fill out a simple questionnaire and submit a photo. You might recognize the bike, trailer, bag, and two cases of Fat Tire in the picture on the bottom right. Issue #12 should be available soon so you'll be able to see why I love riding in Memphis.



Click the photo to fill out the questionnaire.

PS7

...as in Polo Sunday 7. Yes, that number was arbitrarily assigned, but I think it's pretty close. It's going to be chilly tonight but there won't be any precipitation. We'll be making new mallets soon so come out if you want to learn how to make your own. You should also come out if you want to hear about the bike movie we're going to make. Hopefully we can start filming this week and have a trailer submitted to BFF by March 7th.

As usual we play behind the Peddler on Highland at 5pm.

Thursday Night Ride/Party

In addition to the normal Thursday night ride it's also Isaiah's birthday.

As such he is having a party at his house. So the ride will probably happen a little earlier than the normal 10:30 start time (at least I hope) to allow for sufficient beer-drinking/dancing/bonfire antics and of course the requisite tomfoolery.

*I wanted to post the picture of Isaiah that's in the banner but I think Kellen took down all of the Revolutions photos.

It's Definitely Polo Sunday

Kermit's ready; are you?

Peddler Bike Shop, 5pm.

Nashville Roller Races pics and vids

NASHVILLE ROLLER RACE from Nathan Wahlman on Vimeo
Photo by candice.gay
Photo by candice.gay

More photos and videos here: Steve Taylor
And a forum breakdown of the aftermath here.

Nashville Opensprints

I just got this forward from Candice in Nashville:

Subject: BYOV Sprint Races! Jan 31st at Springwater (5PM)
To: Nashville Urban Bicycle League



Whether you're roadie, fixie, mountainie, or stepthroughie, you can
pedal. So get ready to pedal your gluts off in Nashville's first
opensprint races.

Not sure what this all means. Four racers will spin on roller mounted
fixed gears, all connected to a central computer, until a winner
crosses the digital finish line, or their kneecaps explode. The more
riders, the better the party. Bring your girlfriends, boyfriends...
anyone that can pedal has a chance in this mad house. Races will be
one to two minute all out sprints.

Come to yell at your friends as their legs fill with lactic acid!
Prizes will be awarded, and the ones and twos will be spinning too so
bring along your greatest vinyl. Forget iTunes playlist, we're gonna
ride the safety dance this night!

We're bidding a big farewell to Scumlife John as he's soon heading off
to Burbank, CA and a happy homecoming vacation as Nathan's set to be
in town that weekend.

After the races, madness will surely follow as the mob rolls on for
some food then commences crashing every party in Nashville that night!
18 hours of superbowl pre-game, not that you hipster kids are
interested!

Pass the word

Now the fine print: We'll have bikes in varying sizes to ride at the
event that will be attached to the rollers. You can swap your bike, or
bring your own pedals if you have clips, but you must be rolling a
48x16 with 160cranks. No unfair advantages, but I'm sure that some
emergency wrenching will be going down to get the bikes to spec.

The 31st is a Saturday and unfortunately, I won't be getting off work until 5. But I enourage anyone who can make the drive to do it, talk to everyone there and have a great time. Hopefully in the future they'll have it at a later time.

Errrbody

Terie B updated the Driven Magazine website with the pictures she took at the New Gears Race here. She was also able to include a small spread in the handheld version before it went to print. You can find it at your LBS and other fine establishments. There is also a very informative article on Hashing. I learned a few tips that will make our next Bash even better. Also, Terie is interested in a story about the fixed gear scene in Memphis. I can only think of one way to do it and that is to get everyone's story. If you can find the time please answer these questions:

1. Name, Age
2. How long have you been riding a fixed gear?
3. Why did you choose fixed? (first person that answers pseudo-brah bullshit like, "Fixed gear chose me, man." gets their tires slashed!)
4. What's your favorite part about riding fixed in Memphis?

Send your answers via email to fixmemphis@yahoo.com. You'll probably see the results in the next issue of Driven, but before that, I'll let you know who's tires you can slash.

Until then, here's what's been going around the bike stand: Back 2 School Alleycat, Tour de Pizza Cafe, and Bike Polo.

Sean Quigley is en route to Memphis and might be here as soon as next week. The alleycat is pretty much planned out but time is definitely against us. But don't worry, as Taco said, it doesn't really matter what we do because we always have fun.

Tour de Pizza Cafe should be happening when it gets a little warmer. I'm really anxious for this one because I haven't ridden more than 15 miles in a long time.

I'm totally down for starting Bike Polo and my recommendation is for Sunday mornings, at maybe 10am. When the days start getting longer we can switch it back to a Saturday night and also continue with the Track Races.

Let us know what's going on inside that tiny little head of yours.

Thank you everyone!

To start: Thanks to everyone who made it out! Jonesboro guys: Sorry you didn't make it to the finish/afterparty; we cheers'd you for coming out and having fun.
Next: All you guys who said you'd be there: Pat Boyd, Alex Carr (We really missed you and your house!), Jonathan Cisco, Rocky (to name a few; but mainly Pat Boyd who I talked to almost every day before the race and who said he'd be there...) you guys missed a super fun race and really good beer and pizza. Your loss, DICKS!
Finally and ESPECIALLY: Thanks to all of the volunteers: Alona and Wes, Matthew Writt from the Memphis Flyer, and Kermit. This would not have happened without your initials. And extra thanks to Terie B. from Driven Magazine for including our small world in her wonderful publication.

The race started with 9 laps around the East High School Track. The racers had to drink a beer before, during, or after their 9 laps. They were then given a manifest consisting of 4 checkpoints and a final destination: 208 North Main, 209 South Main, a Grocery Store (their choice) where they had to purchase a can of black-eyed peas, the U of M Clock Tower, and the final destination of Midtown Bikes. Two different manifests were handed out which had the checkpoints in reverse order.

Enjoy these few photos and check out the rest of the sets:




The Results:

1st Place: Chris Spencer
2nd Place: Russ "Shithead" Griffin (Should not have taken backroads.)
3rd Place: Isaiah Flowers (who stopped at home to get his ipod)

1st (and only) Girl: Erica

1st Cruiser: NOBODY

1st Hurl: NOBODY (Really, I was totally expecting someone to evacuate stomach.)

Most awesome part of the race: Beer handoff to Russ Griffin. (The man knows how to caress a bottle.)

Kermit's set HERE.
Fix Memphis set HERE.
Matthew Writt's set HERE.
More sets to come.

Stay tuned for a February "Tour De Pizza Cafe" with everyone's favorite cross-country traveler Sean Quigley.

Happy New Year!

See you all at 1 this afternoon!

This is what a trailer is for:

3 Wheels. 4 1/2 Miles. 48 Beers. 576 Fluid Ounces.

There's no ice so you have no excuse

I've told most of you that you're doing this:



It's Parker's last night in town before he goes back to Arizona for the winter AND we'll be celebrating Josh Ryan's birthday which is Wednesday. Thing starts around 10:30pm.

See you out.

If there's too much snow on the ground

Yeah I know, at first snow here we're all out on our bikes or falling off of them but there are probably some places where there is too much snow or some people who don't like riding in the cold weather. Whatever this guy's deal is he's used his indoor time wisely:



Kinda looks like Sasha Barr to me.

Happy New Gears 2009

It works like this: meet at East High Track, ride nine laps, having a beer before, during or after. When your nine laps is complete you will get a manifest for the rest of the race.

Pay attention to the bag, lock and extra $3.

Email fixmemphis@yahoo.com if you would like to volunteer.

Call for Volunteers

We're looking for people to help run checkpoints for the January 1st Alleycat. This may or may not involve dressing in a costume, taking pictures, getting (re)drunk, or explosives. If this sounds like something you can do then send an email to fixmemphis@yahoo.com.