Save the Kitties!

I was sad to read that the House of Mews isn't doin' too great financially right now. You can read a bit more about it on LeftWingCracker and a field guide to urban memphis. If ya feel like you can adopt a cat in an emergency situation or could donate some money, they could definitely need the help right now.

Chrome shoes and Thursday Ride

So we got our free Chromes in the mail a few days ago and I've worn them everyday since. I love these shoes. I still don't know if I would fork out the money for them, but they have definitely impressed me so far. I wore them to the studios everyday this week so they're already nice and dirty. Now everytime we go riding we look like a team wearing our uniform shoes! Brett took some pictures of them the other day and I'm sure he'll post about them more in depth later, but here are my favs.



I've also been working on keos a bit. They're pretty much tiny and sucky at this point, but I've only been trying since yesterday. I still like this picture, though.



The Thursday ride was pretty fun last night. I haven't fallen really hard since the infamous trolley track face plant about two years ago, but I made up for it big time last night, eating it hard a record four times. Brett tried to murder me by accidentally running me over twice. I then bombed when I landed crooked jumping the Shangri-la ledge, and once more on the way home while tricking with my feet in the straps. That wouldn't normally have been so much of a problem, but I was too tired and achy from falling so much already, I had no business trying anything. Just in general, I shouldn't be trying tricks in the straps until I'm actually good at them. Speaking of learning tricks, it seems I've started the whole freestyle thing when everyone else in Memphis is getting over it. It'd be nice to have some people to help me out when learning new stuff, but not many people ride fixed anymore beside our little group. I can't wait for Charles to get his Cutter. He's gonna be tearing it up. If Ali wasn't too punk rock for group rides, she would have rode that huge bank with me last night. lolz. I know I should be happy that there are girls riding at all, and I am, but I guess I just want more girls to practice tricks and be awesome with. Ali's still working on the bar spins, but definitely got trackstands down. At the end of the night I had a swollen ankle, a bloody knee and elbow, and a comforting sense of accomplishment.

Exploring the Greenway

Last week Ali, Andrew, and I went exploring the trail where the new greenway's going to be. There wasn't much to see yet, just some rocks and railroad parts. We got on it at White Station and had to walk our bikes because it was so rough. We got to the bridge and had to climb up over it to cross the river. We had to pass over some heavy duty machinery and some freshly stained wood (stunk like hell), and I'm pretty sure we were trespassing. After the bridge we could ride on the trail but it just spit us out a little less than a mile later behind the prison. It's totally going to rule when it's finished and will be a super fast way to get through town, but right now it's not practical for road bikes. I got a few pictures from the instax, which after a week in my bag they're all scratched up, so sorry about the bad quality.





more on the flickr.

Brett and I have been riding with the Thursday night ride lately and it's been great riding with such a big group. Last night there were about 15 or so of us. We road downtown to super shady spot and got the cops called on us, haha. There were a few ledges some people were jumping that I want to go back and try. I was to afraid of busting my ass in front of everyone. I like to fall in private, haha. The ride was definitely fun, but it ended too soon! Now if we could only get some more people on the late ride (hint).

Out the Frame (Bag)

Summer's approaching (or kinda's already here - 85 degree high anyone?) and more and more I find myself not wanting to use a bag unless I have to. It's not that I don't love my timbuk2 - I do! But that wet sweat stripe on my back just gets old! Not to mention I just feel more free and natural without a bag. But I don't wanna slap a rack on my bike. What's a cyclist to do? FRAME BAG!



I'm super proud of this one. I sewed it myself (with lots of advice and help from Cara, of course). Considering it's only my second project ever, I think I did pretty fantastic! Some of its features include:

*Zipper!
*U-Lock Holster!
*Sweet Stripe down the middle!
*Velcro Straps for easy removal!
*Waterproof plastic interior!

Basically, it rules. Of course, it doesn't hold all THAT much. But if I need to carry a bunch of stuff, I'll go ahead and grab the bag. This is more for the usual repair kit/pump and lunches and stuff that I take with me on my daily commute.

A bit more detailed pictures after the break:

Footjam tailwhips

Andrew and I were attempting some footjam tailwhips today, and although I never got one all the way around, I think I made some good progress. Ali took some pictures with her dinosaur camera. Seriously, it's like ten years old, but it does the trick!



I'm totally failing in this one, but Andrew looks awesome

there's a couple more on the flickr.

p.s.

TALL BIKE!!!

I've been meaning to put up photos of the tall bike for a while but never got to it. I built it last semester for a sculpture project and totally got an A. It's collaged with bike-related writings and some other fun stuff.

p.p.s.

new jeans + sweaty butt= blue saddle

Hold Fast straps!

So last week I was attempting to jump a couple stairs, nothing exciting except that my DIY pedals straps completely failed me! I put so much hard work into them only to have one snap off while I was mid-air leaving me with a good bump on my head and some bitchin whiplash. I was always on the do-it-yourself side of things when it came to pedal straps, but when the condition of my head became an issue (yeah, yeah "wear a helmet") i felt I should invest in a more assured way of foot retention. HOLD FAST STRAPS! Since I can't ignore the super trendiness of these, I went with the ugliest color available, neon yellow.


Oh yeah. I haven't had the chance to ride a long distance yet, but I think they'll be much safer than these guys

They had a good run. Neon yellow can never compare with sea foam green. You should get on that sea foam green, Hold Fast people.

Tuesday Ridin

For my next assignment in my digital art class I'm supposed to design a magazine spread, ya know, something involving both photos and text. I thought it be a good chance to write about myself and the kids we ride with and about our bike adventures. I started by taking some pictures of us messing around today. The project has a long way to go, and depending on how awesome or shitty it turns out I may or may not post it on here. Anyway, here are the first pictures.





That second one of Ali is basically awesome. You can check out the rest on my flickr if you wish.

Are those my shoes...?!

A little while back I posted about how to get from free shoes from Chrome. They're finally starting to ship them and I'm hella excited. But yeah, was checking out their blog when what to my wondering eyes should appear but the very shoes I sent them!


Note the green Converses

I know that it's not like shoes are unique or anything - they coulda gotten tons of green converses for all I know - but still, it got me excited. New shoes wooooo!

Hardcore Parkcore!

While Cara and Ali were practicin' in Overton Park (barspins and trackstands, respectively) they happened upon some dudes taking pictures of the big soldier statue. Turns out they had a grant to take pictures at all the Korean War monuments in the USA. While there, they also took some pretty nice pictures of some bike tomfoolery starring the aforementioned girls! Check 'em out:



Pretty sweet, eh? Check out their blog, Wake up it's your turn to drive... More pictures after the break!