new straps

My friend Charles had an extra set of Burro straps that he got for free somehow, so I decided to give them a try. I love my Hold Fasts but thought it'd be fun to try something new, plus they look pretty badass.



I tried them out yesterday at this spot downtown that I've been wanting to go to for awhile. Unfortunately it's too hot here to practice during the day when the light is best, so the photos we took didn't come out the best. Here's a decent one of me practicing barspins on a bank.

New Polo Deets!

We've got a new spot for polo goin'! From now on, we're gonna be playing in the Bluff City Sports parking lot:


View Larger Map

Anthony was nice enough to hand saw a bunch of wooden pallets to make borders, so yeah, it's gettin' a bit more legit. He also can get out a bit earlier than I can, so from now on Polo'll be starting at 6 pm on Sundays. We're also trying to add a day, and right now we're trying Wednesdays at 7 pm.

The new court is MUCH narrower and a bit shorter than the church lot; definitely feel the difference. Time to bust out the 19 tooth cog - I felt kinda gimped last night.

If you're one of the people that can only come out late (Andy, Nathan mostly I think), I'm still down to play after y'all get outta work, just need to find a few other people who are as well.

SO! To summarize:

What: Bicycle Polo!
Where: Bluff City Sports Parking Lot.
When: 6 pm Sundays, 7 pm Wednesdays.
Who: YOU!

BE THERE.

Court, Polo, Vacation

We're headed out the door to go camping for a week, but just wanted to post a quick update on a few things.

We may or may not be back in time for Polo next week, but Anthony has said that he'd host it if we weren't. He's got three of our mallets, so yeah, don't worry if you don't have one. He also mentioned that he might want to start earlier - say around 6 pm. But you should probably confirm that with him before you head out. We also talked about getting together a Memphis Polo blog, so yeah, be on the lookout for that.

Lastly, our court date for obstructing traffic was this morning - dismissed, as we suspected. I'm glad it's over, but it's still not very satisfying. We pretty much just told the lady (judge? clerk? I dunno exactly who she was) what happened and she dismissed it, adding that she didn't want to see us up there any time soon for the same thing - a bit of a jab considering we DIDN'T break the law. It kinda felt like they were saying, ok, you broke the rules but we'll let it slide. But I'll take what I can get from Lady Justice.

But all that's behind us now and it's time to relax for a week, so adios!

PS - Don't wear shorts to court.

PPS - Also don't take any bike tools with you because they are DEADLY WEAPONS! That includes tire levers and pumps!

Equation!

+ = TONIGHT! 8 pm! 1st Baptist Church!

I've been thinking about changing the day of the week, or possibly just adding another day - Anyone have any particular day/time they like? I was thinking Wednesday sometime in the evening, just because Revolutions has their ice cream rides on Sunday and we have people that can't get there 'til late. But nothin's set in stone right now.

Frame for Sale!!

Hey people, I'm selling my old frame for cheap!





I'm asking 100 for the frame and fork, and another 20 if you want the brake.



action shot!


This is an awesome frame and the only reason I'm not still using it is because I got my new bike kind of on accident. It's great for tricks and can barspin 700c with a 23c tire. Check out the craigslist post here, where I have my number and a link to the specs. Let me or Brett know if you're interested!

Bikeway/Pedestrian Coordinator for Memphis!

The City of Memphis today announced that they're lookin' to hire a Bikeway/Pedestrian Coordinator! According to the job posting on the city website, the bike/ped coordinator will "serve as the Spokesperson/Advocate while promoting bicycle and pedestrian projects, programs, and policies." The entire job description can be found here.

This is great news! Just one more step towards making Memphis an awesome(r) place to bike! Obviously, this isn't gonna solve all of the problems facing Memphis cyclists, but if nothing else, it's a token from the city that they really do take these issues seriously. You can apply online here, just type bicycle in the search box and it should pop up.

According to the description, they would prefer someone with "knowledge of bicycle facilities in other areas of the country or world". Hmmm, who do I know who has just gotten back from a worldwide trip to study different bicycle cultures? Just sayin'...

The Flyer has an article about the job posting in their new issue; it also mentions that plans for the much-bandied-about bike lanes on Cooper are starting to materialize, though not for like a year. Not to bitch, because bike lanes are pretty cool in and of themselves, but Cooper's pretty ride-able as is. Maybe a lane on Central, sure - cars go pretty fast and there's not really much shoulder. But then, I dunno if we're at the point that people would give up more room for cars on such an often-traveled street.

Polo Wheel Covers

So, after a few busted spokes and some crazy out of true wheels, I decided it was time to make some wheel covers. There are numerous sources out there if you're looking how to do it yourself, but I mostly used this one. They recommend using corrugated plastic, which is exactly what campaign signs are made out of. So if you don't mind waiting 'til right after a race is over, they're pretty much yours for the taking. Just make sure you wait until the race is over. Unless it's a candidate you don't like. Kidding! (mostly)

Here's how mine turned out:



First I spray painted them a nice base blue and then went over with acrylic paint. I have yet to zip-tie 'em to my wheels, but I hope to be rockin' 'em by this Sunday. Come on down and play, this Sunday at 8 pm! First Baptist Church, East Parkway and Poplar.