Further info on some hijinx from the land of Port;

"Saw you posted a picture of my boy Craig on the blog. Very nice. Figured you might enjoy the whole story as well…that is if someone else hasn’t already forwarded you all the stuff.

Rapha did a pretty nice job of making a video about the whole event here…

And I did a little write up about our “team” here..

And it’s not like you need more fodder for your site, but in this time of seriously intense campaigning...it’s nice to see that both candidates agree on one thing…

...Sally"

That email contained more brilliance than most.

Then there was one from Dpow!

"Happy Friday,

that thing you were looking for?

found it.

dpow"

..and this one the Buzzard;

Its good to know that Ive got feelers everywhere.
Ive got a suspicion that some people are going to get sad with me about that last one.

After Fridays windfall of event flyers, I thought I was done for a little while, but like usual, I thought wrong;

Birmingham,

Pittsburgh,

Albany,

Athens,

Im thinking Nashville, but I cant be certain,

Calgary,

and the damned grandpappy of almost all bike events the world over, The Homie;

If you sit quietly for a moment over the next couple of weeks, youll hear the sound of wheels turning, beers opening and manifests being stamped floating on the wind.

And as much as it hurts my heart to be missing The Homie, Im pretty sure Ive got a lock on another event thats coming up, which I dont want to mention anything about quite yet so as to not jinx myself, but rest assured, Ill keep you posted.

We had a Sanchez that was hanging around the warehouse for a little while that had come back to us after being damaged in shipping. Not quite sure what we were going to do with it, WKB swooped in and took it away, putting his own spin on it in his version of 'The Frankenbike'-

Say, you know whos got some new shirts? Well, of course we do, but our super homies at Urban Velo have just released some new threads as well;

If youre smart, youll get both and wear them at the same time. As long as Im blowing up our brothers and sisters in the trenches of the underworld media, I will now go ahead and poach U.V.s release of some new amazingness straight from COG;

"Cog Magazine came out with their first issue in the fall of 2007 and raised the bar on the entire genre. The three issues since have shown constant improvement on an already good game, and the forthcoming hardcover photo book promises the same.

The magazine features stellar photography throughout, presented on large format heavy gloss paper along the lines of some of the more arty magazines on the newsstand. The theme is fixed, and everything that goes with riding a fixed gear…and only things that involve a fixed gear. No shifters, no freewheels, few brakes. It doesn’t hurt that everyone we’ve met from COG has been an all around great guy, sharing the same passion for bikes and media making that we know too well. If you haven’t read COG Magazine yet, you should. Even if you don’t ride fixed, the photography is some of the best around. And maybe if you ask nice you can get a set of the pictured printed bar plugs, as they don’t seem to be available online."

And as long as were on the topic of mandatory additions to your library, the very good people at Velopress recently bestowed the ultimate gift up me in the form of this.

It looks like Im going to finally have to remove my bong collection from the bookshelf to free up a little more room.

..I sure am gonna miss that collection, but then again, I havent gotten a whole lotta use out of them since the 2001 Renaissance Fair party we had, so perhaps its for the best that it ends up going into storage, and I begin expanding my mind in a different way.

Heres a video clip that tanner sent to me that originally was slated for the 'One For The Weekend' segment, but I kinda felt it was important enough to be featured today instead;

It was about time someone read between the lines on that video.

While trolling the seedy underbelly of Ebay, Amigo #3 came across a gem which he rightfully forwarded on to us directly;

"Maybe it's just me but I found this e-bay listing pretty amusing.

'Vintage, old school (none of that new junk being sold to the masses) SWOBO knickers. If you are looking, then you know. These are from way-back-when it really mattered. Straight outta San Fran with nothing but style. Size large. Some stains ( i included pictures). They may wash out, but I didn't want to chance it. If you win this auction, you might be able to use some stain remover to get them out. They were used and loved and still have a ton of life in them. Just thinking about all the bikes I worked on wearing these, rode wearing these and all the chill people I met while in these brings back great memories. Time to start your memories! Here's your chance to grab some tradition, some history, some style. Good luck.'

If he washed them he could wash away the highest bidders chances of meeting some chill people."

Chill people are truly hard to come by, and I completely agree with the Amigos sentiment.

I think its good that folks sometimes try to keep their hands on some of their old, and favorite threads, or at least in the case of the above mentioned auctioneer, attempt to at least 'keep them in the family', as it were.

Case in point, one of our own family out there in Lincoln Nebraska that goes by the moniker of Hoss has a long standing relationship with an old thread-bare t-shirt, and lucky for us he does, because otherwise we wouldnt have the same kind of power with our guerilla advertising techniques;

If sex truly does sell, then because of Hoss, were about to make millions.

Well, Sunday brought me my first cross race in some time, as I completely opted out of any event last year primarily due to injury, although there was a healthy dose of apathy to be blamed as well, but when young whippersnappers whove only been racing for a couple of years refer to me as 'the new kid on the block', I felt as though it was my duty to sharpen up my elbows and get back into the mix.
Unfortunately for me, the last month of traveling and unshakable case of Vegas lung pretty much brought me to my knees, which sadly is not a whole lot different then when Im feeling fit, not to mention the comedy of errors that actually was my race.
As Im pre riding the course I hear the five minute call for my class. I make my way to the start inside of three, and am standing there wondering where everybody is. About that time, I see the entire field emerge from around a corner on the other side of the course.
I begin my chase, and as Im approaching the latter half of the mid pack, I get pulled for wearing a hairnet. The Ref recited verbatim the UCI rules regarding the use of a helmet, at which time I said, "I thought the rules were that if I didnt look at you, you didnt exist."
Eventually a kind chap from Marin Bicycles loaned me a lid, and I got my race underway again, finishing somewhere, not dead last, but close.
But at the end of the day, in regards to bike racing, like Sov has said so many times before- "Im not a racist. Racisim is wrong.."
Anyway, I returned in costume, (which this photo will give you a hint about);

to watch the open Bs race, at which time I realized watching bike racing without a beer in your hand is not alot unlike watching paint dry....
...Without a beer in your hand.

It might need to be noted that thats my opinion, and Im sure it differs from many of yours.
Thats why Im me and youre you.
But just the same, there was some revelry in the ranks, which did my heart good..

And I was done the ultimate honor, when The queen B arrived to the ball dressed as me;

So this is what infamy feels like..
She had every detail locked down, including the 'Kill Whitey' hat, and the intoxicating personal fragrance.

I ended up bailing out from the race mid-day but was fortunate enough to catch a live streaming of The Hellacopters final performance in Sweden.

I first saw this band at San Franciscos Kennel Club about 12 years ago, and had my mind sufficiently blown. It was a little saddening that I had to witness their swan song on the 'naked lady box', but it cost a hell of a lot less than a ticket to Sweden, and in that sense, Ill take what I can get.

Its no small irony that the above screen shot was taken as they played 'Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial', as that pretty much describes me on a good day.

Id also like to mention that during their encore, at the beginning of 'Grace of God' their back drop fell to the floor revealing a wall of Marshall amps, coupled with the eventual surprise appearance of original Hellacopters guitarist Dregen, currently of The Backyard babies. It was at this point that all the way out here in California, Im not ashamed to admit my hair blew around a little bit.

They truly were one of the most prolific and amazingly energetic live bands Ive ever seen, and will truly be missed.
The Hellacopters are dead, long live The Hellacopters.

Finally, and in a completely unrelated topic, Id like to go on record to say that this bar at 151 Rivington In New York might very well be the place that Id like my ashes spread.

When I come back in my next life, Id like to work for Vice Magazine, and then spend my evening holding up barstools here, maybe while being dressed like David Beckham.

Dont ever let it be said that I have or will ever set my sights very high, but its good enough for me, and my dreams (as awesome as they are), are all that matters.

On that note, its time to ice my bits and pieces and gear up for another week in the salt mines.
We hope everybody did a dutiful job of avoiding all parts bummer this weekend.
If you didnt, consider this your first warning.