Saturday, September 29, 2012

Cycle until you die!

Unless it's raining outside and the trails are closed or the crazies are driving on slick streets. In that case just sit down and enjoy a cold beer.



Cycle until you die!

Olympic athlete montage - Survival

Muse song and video
We are the Champions!

Olympic athlete montage video featuring Muse
London 2012 official song,
Survival.

What's Next? full length film - by larock

What's Next? full length film - by larock on Pinkbike

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Riding the River Bottoms on the 1X1

fff-fatties fit fine!


posted by Gern Blanston

I know what you’re saying;  the 1X1 is old, don’t you have a bunch of awesome new all terrain and off-road bikes that you could be ripping around on instead of that old dinosaur?
Blog | Surly Bikes

Dirt Derby Fall Series 1st Night

First Night of the 2012 Central Texas Grassroots Cycling's Dirt Derby. - Fall Series - Way to go Aj from The Peddler Bike Shop! Nice win and thanks for carrying my camera! Video below not stabilized!!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Pink Mink - Ghost Bike

The rhythm guitarist is playing a sweet G&L.  I wish I still had mine!!


Thursday, September 20, 2012

What happens to the Lance Armstrong Bikeway?

Maybe we just call it the Austin Bikeway! This is a stupid article.  Link to story below:

"No one knows if the city will change the name of the bike path. If they did, it would be extremely hypocritical and inconsistent. After all, Austin has a statue of guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and a street named after Willie Nelson. Both spent their careers on drugs. Don’t get me wrong, Willie and Stevie are great, but they did a lot of dope and the city didn’t seem to mind that when honoring them.

And then there is Leslie Cochran, a thieving, alcoholic bum from Miami who set up shop on the streets of Austin in the late 80s."

Willie and Stevie were not competing in races that were supposed to be on a level playing ground and Austin has been known to do some stupid things in the past.   Stevie did sober up in the end and became a way better man for it.  Let's see what Lance does before we give him the key to the city.  The trail will be around for many years and we can wait for his name to cleared.

What happens to the Lance Armstrong Bikeway?

Dangerous Road or Thrill in the Hills?

I love bikes and everything about them but riding on Capital of Texas Highway seems like a death wish too me.  I feel much safer flying down "Powerline Hill" or "The Hill of Life".


Insane Driver harrassing cyclist in Colorado. (license plate Colorado 893 EKG)

I'm not sure that I have as much patience as these guys but I have been known to road rage and have a little trail rage on occasion!

" Maybe he needed a nice piledrive to the face... or a punch to the face... but you cannot do it." - Nacho


Info from youtube:

(Update as of Wednesday Sept 19th: The Colorado State Patrol is involved and we've found others who have had similar run-ins with this driver. Stay tuned for more updates) Here is what was supposed to be my relaxing Sunday morning ride with my teammate until things became a bit unsettling when an older male driver came up behind us in his Ford Explorer (license plate Colorado 893 EKG). This guy obviously doesn't like seeing bikes for some reason since he sat behind us for more than five minutes blaring his horn. What's even worse is we saw him approaching from behind and to be polite we ride single file to give him as much road as possible, as we did with every other car we encountered on this road east of Longmont, CO. This guy was so intent of bugging us that he backed up traffic behind him and cars had to pass him on a double yellow line. It seems he was the one obstructing traffic, not us. We ended up slowing up in order to force him to pass us and go on with his day. Insane. Hopefully this is the worste thing this guy does to cyclists.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Origins of mountain biking: Joe Breeze Interview

Outer Edge magazine speaks to Joe Breeze, one of the so-called Godfathers of mountain biking. Apart from being one of the original Repack racers, Joe is widely recognised as having built the very first mountain bikes with full rigging. Joe talks about how the mountain biking movement came about, the riders, and why a mountain called Mt Tamalpais in Marin County is considered the spiritual home of mountain biking and why and a race called Repack is the genesis of the sport. Interview: Chris Ord, Outer Edge magazine, 2010.

African Bicycle Dancer.

Monday, September 17, 2012

29er Single Speed Cruiser : Wacko's Garage

This a really great idea and I want one. I have been looking for an old frame but now I want a 1x1 or Karate Monkey to chop.



The bike is setup with a Surly flip flop rear hub running fixed and free laced into Salsa Delgado Cross rims.  J bars up front give lots of positions.  Currently it’s running V brakes and tubeless Hutchinson Python tires.
Climbs like a hard tail should and is plenty quick in the decents. Riding a full rigid will remind you quickly why they invented suspension forks!

29er Single Speed Cruiser : Wacko's Garage

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Flying Karate Monkey



The venerable Karate Monkey must be ten years old now and one of the earliest production 29ers. In honour of that, it gets a nice paint job in spangly blue.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Peddler Bike Shop looks to build on Austin's biking culture

http://www.peddlerbike.com/

Story from the Austin American Stateman  By Brian Gaar -

If you work at a bicycle shop, summer is the slow season especially in Texas.
As the employees of the Peddler Bike Shop can tell you, it's too hot for lots of folks to ride.
But business was picking up last week, as college students started to return to the nearby University of Texas campus.
"Everybody's moving in. This is the big moving week right now," said Paul Crossley, as he worked on a bike.
The Peddler is the definition of a small business. With nine employees, it was started in 2005 by A.J. Camp at a small space on North Loop Boulevard. The shop, which sells and repairs all manner of bikes, moved to more spacious digs at 51st and Duval streets three years ago.
It's a good time to be in the bike business in Austin, employees say, as it's a city whose healthy-living lifestyle dovetails nicely with cycling.
"Austin's a real bike culture city. There's more bike culture here than there is infrastructure to support it, but the culture is here regardless," said Simon Kiddell, a shop employee who said he's only owned a car for a couple of months out of his entire life. "I think it's only going to get stronger and more prevalent."
The same might be said of the country as a whole. During the past two decades, cycling has increased in the United States. The number of people commuting to work by bicyle rose by 64 percent from 1990 to 2009, according to Bikes Belong, a national nonprofit that encourages people to ride bicycles.


All of the Peddler's employees ride their bikes to work. Crossley said driving can put him in a foul mood.
"Because cars tend to make people very impatient," he said. "When you're on a bike, you always feel productive ... you never feel like, ‘I'm just wasting time, sitting at this traffic light,' you just think, ‘OK, now I get to take a breather.'"
A lot of the Peddler's customers are new riders, Crossley said. And that increases when gas prices spike.
"That's when you see a lot of people start to get into bikes, when gas gets to be over $4 (a gallon), at least here in Texas," Crossley said. "You get a lot of people saying, ‘...I'm just going to ride a bike to work."
That's a trend that was seen nationwide in 2008, when gas prices shot up. A national survey of 150 bike retailers by Bikes Belong showed that 73 percent sold more bikes compared to 2007. And 95 percent of shops said their customers cited high gas prices as a reason.
For its part, Austin's record high for average price per gallon is $3.98, set in July 2008.
Camp said business boomed back then.
"It was insane," he said. "Everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do? I can't afford to drive.' So it was nuts for a good 3-4 months there."
Locally, gas prices climbed to nearly $3.80 a gallon this spring.
If they keep going up, Camp said his business could see another jump.
"I think if it spikes like (2008) again, it definitely would," he said. "The negative being that everything goes up in prices when the gas goes up."

Peddler Bike Shop looks to build on Austin's biking culture

Whatever! "Austin grapples with tricky Armstrong legacy"

This Austinite says "FORGET HIM"!  It's real easy!  Move on and find someone that doesn't cheat to be our hometown hero.

"For years, Austin has basked in the glow of Lance Armstrong's cycling success. His seven victories in the Tour de France helped develop a culture of cycling that has taken hold in Austin, and Austin is proud to be the home of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and proud of the work Armstrong and the foundation have done for cancer patients and survivors.
When the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency declared last week that Armstrong's refusal to arbitrate doping charges against him amounted to an admission of guilt and stripped Armstrong of his Tour de France victories, Austinites were left to wrestle with a complicated legacy."


Austin grapples with tricky Armstrong legacy

Dirty Derby - Metal

Comedy Mountain Bike Tour Part 2

Second installment of the Comedy Mountain Bike Tour. Different trail with a nasty wreck. Complete with a hike from the farthest point on the trail. Panther Creek Trail in the New Braunfels Texas. Not many times when you get two flats at the same time.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

2012 Dirt Derby Course

The Dirty Derby is back and starting 9-25-12 with a new course at the Austin/Del Valle Motocross Park.  It's 1.1 miles of ups, downs and arounds. Come out and join us Tuesday nights.  For more information visit www.dirtderby.com.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Armstrong Banned From Chicago Marathon « CBS Chicago

(WSCR) If Lance Armstrong wanted to exchange his seven Tour de France titles for seven Chicago Marathon titles, he won’t be able to.
That’s right, according to Chicago Marathon director Carey Pinkowski, sanctioning rules prevent Armstrong from running the Oct. 7 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
Here is the official statement from the Chicago Marathon.
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon adheres to USA Track & Field rules, which includes following the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) regulations, the testing agency of the marathon.  USADA’s lifetime ban prohibits Lance Armstrong from entering races sanctioned by USA Track & Field, which applies to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, as well as all competitions governed by USA Track & Field.

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon has had no direct contact with Lance Armstrong, nor had he submitted a formal registration to participate in the race.

Armstrong Banned From Chicago Marathon « CBS Chicago

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Sheryl Crow -- Questioned By Federal Agents In Lance Armstrong Scandal | TMZ.com

The chics will come home to roost.

0901_sheryle_crow_lance_armstrong_tmz
If federal agents were looking for a smoking gun in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal ... they were hoping it might be Sheryl Crow -- this according to a new report.

The country-singer was called in by federal agents in late 2011 and questioned about any knowledge she might have regarding accusations that Armstrong was using illegal substances ... this according to The New York Daily News.

The move to question Crow makes sense ... she dated Armstrong from 2003 to 2006 (he won 2 Tour de France titles in that time span) -- and spent lots of time with him in Europe, traveling on private jets and in other locations where, according to the report, Armstrong allegedly participated in doping programs.

It's unclear what information Crow gave during her interview ... both the Feds and her attorney declined to comment.

As you know -- the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recently stripped Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France Titles in late August and banned him from the sport of cycling ... after he dropped his case to fight back against doping allegations.