Abraham Lincoln and the future of BikeNewHaven blog

Our friend Bill's Bike New Haven blog has been dormant for some time now. In his most recent post he hints at discontinuing the blog. I'll admit I'm somewhat disappointed because his blog stood in a Purgatorical (yep, new word, I invented it) gray area between ours and the Elm City Cycling ListServ.
His recent post is highly recommended reading, however, and will give you an idea of what we're going to miss. He recounts a tale of a Yale grad being hit by a minivan whilst traveling along the Orange St. bike lane. The story is amusing, replete with an immigrant who's ID claims his name is Abraham Lincoln, and Bill's response to said story is hilarious.

BTW, I’m assuming you’re from out of town for these three reasons:

1. You called Nica’s Market Nikita’s.
2. You actually used the bike lane on Orange Street.
3. You used the phrases “Un-Fucking believable” and “I shit you not.”


The bike lane on Orange Street, as any local will tell you, is a death trap. It typifies the type of urban planning New Haven likes to embrace. Somewhere between FUBAR and great idea, it represents a classic example of "we didn't think this through".

Bill, we're going to miss the blog!




Also of note, is Bill's link to the law firm of Jonathan Mills who has a bicycle-accident-specific department.

Prolly vs. New Haven -- gapping fixed

Found at the blog, The Art Of Trackstand. The original is by Justin Keena. The rest of the set (and more Prolly gap pix) can be found at Justin's flickr set from Grand Theft Velo 3.
"Aldone" from TAOTS has another, all Italian, blog: Bicifissa.

The RoundUp: Monday Morning in Fixed Gear

Happy Memorial Day to all. Hope you've thrown a rear rack on that whip and strapped the ol' Weber Smokey Joe on the back for the old school Tom O'Hara rolling barbeque. Just make sure you're using a lined RE Load for the ice! (RELoad's legendary April Fool's Race has been postponed again, probably mid-June)
Since I've got a rare day off, and I still wake up insanely early, let's see what's going on in the Fixed Blogosphere...



Our gal, Pandalicia, lady ripper, has probably already whipped out the credit card for this tee...



From Blue Lug via Pedal Consumption


Also at Pedal Consumption...


Flickr set here, you've gotta drop a line there to get one.


In a post over at Trackosaurus, we get our weekly dosage of the Vuh-Jeen, straight from the Giro...




Jussi in Helsinki posted the German Fixed City Trailer...

fixed city | Trailer from fixed city on Vimeo.

CyclingWMD posted a Wicker Bike from eBay...




Locked Cog gives us more video, Nathan and Machine and Rotterdam Fixed Gear Teaser...

Nathan&Machine from Bjorn Rust on Vimeo.

Rotterdam Fixed Gear Teaser from Blocter on Vimeo.

They've also got a pic up of the new Velocity B43's:



Of more interest to me in that photo is the DMR fork on the bike. Many of the Scorchers have been switching over to the DMR, and Justin at Amity Bicycle (Selden St. Woodbridge) has been ordering them by the dozen.




Speaking of Velocity, you should throw their blog on the ol' RSS reader. They've always got the neatest stuff, including this Rat Rod Tricycle...




Tony Tyrant's been playing in the dirt an awful lot lately, building his own trail network...

3RRR - aluminum TT protectors

When Nao from 3RRR offered us a couple of his "Bring Rings" to give away at Grand Theft Velo, I attributed his pronunciation to some very bad stereotypes, and referred to them as "Bling Rings" instead. I'm glad to see in one of his recent blog posts that he's even spelling it "B-R-I-N-G" for a little good humored satire. I feel much better now, Nao.
Nao thanks Scorcher Sean Milnes in his post for Sean's use of the Bring Ring during a recent trick session.

If the "Bring Ring" is too much for you, 3RRR's also got a more traditional style available...



There's also some other metal-work afoot, including custom top-tube protectors in collaboration with OPEN Bicycle and Jeff Carvalho from High Snobiety...



Hand-brushed 6061 aluminum. Nao's also done some for Freeman Transport as well as a host of others...





pix gratuitously stolen from 3RRR's flickr.

Grand Theft Velo 3 in words (Volume 1.0)

Shoreline Drew, our man-about-forums, has found quite a bit of buzz around last weekend's Grand Theft Velo alleycat in New Haven. Wow! Thanks, everybody.
Here's a sampling...


"pretty place to ride around, and so easy to get to, I left and it started pouring a minute later! And wtf, best facial hair.? WHERE IS MY PRIZE? just kidding. Drew, pass my congrats to the organizers, they were really on top of their game!"
-Andras from NYC

"Indeed, that was a seriously originally thought-out race, great separation between manned and un-manned checkpoints... just a blast."
-Aaron

"Wooo!
I honestly did not expect so much awesome from New Haven, no, no I did not.
But these kids threw down hard, plenty of miles, and prizes to go 'round.
That race was long, taxing, complicated, and amazingly well organized.
Well worth skipping a road race, that's for sure."

AND

"I just wanted to thank you personally for a great time!
Speaking as the first ever West Side Invite champ, I really appreciate a long, yet very interesting alleycat.
I could dig on New Haven.
Best race yet."
-Josh "Robot" from Boston

"A great time. Thanks to (Shoreline) Drew for giving me a couch to crash on and showing me around, Zack from Open, Justin from Boston, Justin from New Haven, the scorchers, everyone who rode, bmore for crashing and Drew Haven for getting naked at the bar and pissing the Yalies off.
My wrist is bruised and it hurts to ride my bike!
hahaha "
-Prolly
(Prolly also did a nice writeup on his blog about the weekend.)

"I have to say thanks to everyone who put that together. That was my first time to New Haven and doing an allycat and I had a great time. Everyone I met was really nice and helpful. Also, I got some nice stuff to take home. I will definitely be back to do another race."
-Jenny B. from Boston

It probably goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it. Maybe I'm just weak, but this was the HARDEST alleycat I've ever done, hands down. My legs are still sore today. Thanks for putting together such a bad-ass race. You all know I love long events, this one was dope! Hopefully we can put together something ridiculous and fun for KONE!
-Matt from Ghostship

You guys really knocked it out of the park on this one. Serious good times, good manifests, good checkpoint workers, fucking killer prizes... I got caught on the drawbridge, I rode down stairs, through a tunnel, on a dirt path, up a mountain, pushed my bike for a few miles, talked to liquor store owners... Such a good time.
My only only beef is that I'm from Bristol, not West Hartford. :)
Can't wait for KONE!
-Aaron from West Hartford Bristol, CT

I had a lot of fun and can't believe I pushed myself so hard (with a bad back to boot). But psyched I didn't get raped and killed riding the back way up east rock with no light in the fog, doubly psyched I won the cannondale bike (!!?), and triply psyched Eric and I can walk through our sun porch now that all the dozens of boxes of prizes and wheel sets have nice happy homes!!
BIG THANKS again to of course my sweetie Eric, and my other sweetie Drew Nemetz for getting SO many ridiculous prizes (?!?!) and Justin and Amity for the frames and everything else and Brian and all the scorchers for sticking with it and everyone for coming out and making it a killer time !!!!!
I think I just got all my energy back....
-Pandalicia

i want to say thank you to drew, eric and uva for taking my baby and making it a monster! this shit was crazy. and to the rest of the crew, racers and workers, fucking awesome. this was the best race new havens seen and hopefully the foundation for the races to come. on to the next epic chapter of scorcherdom!
-Sean Milnes, Scorchers/OPEN Bicycle rider


This race was a blast to host -- possibly more so than it was to race. Last year's participants asked for it to be longer. Yep, it was longer. First Place (Raf) finished in just under 3 hours, and there were people who were still working on their first (3 or 4 total) manifest. The DFL crew came in well into the afterparty.
Congrats to all, and a huge thanks to all who helped, raced, sponsored, or bought Drew drinks!

Grand Theft Velo 3 in pictures (Volume 1)

Some photos posted so far from this weekend's Grand Theft Velo 3 in New Haven, CT....


from the Tyrant BMX blog and Tony's flickr.



NH Scorcher Dan Nugent vs. Austin Scorcher Dan Nicely. Battle of the Dans!
from Sara T.'s facebook


Scorcher Drew Pattison (5th Place) at Fort Nathan Hale


West Coast Scorcher Lily DiMauro reaches Nathan Hale. Look at that fog!



Rich House (6th Place) and Mr. Lucas Brunelle. Photo from Rich's facebook



The early scene outside Rudy's (372 Elm St.). Photo from Mark M.'s facebook.



"celebrity" blogger John "Prolly" Watson and "celebrity" alleycat documentary producer Lucas Brunelle bunny hopping Boston's Justin Keena. Photo by Tyrant via Prolly Is Not Probably.



Raf getting his Bianchi Pista Concept for taking 1st place. Look at all that swag! Organizer Justin Bagnati gives out. Organizer Eric Jennette on left.


Amity Bicycle, Team Scorchers rider Justin Bagnati having his final manifests checked by organizer Matt Uva. Justin came in 2 minutes before Raf, but missed one tiny detail, resulting in a DQ. Robbed!


West Hartford's Aaron Meberg had some technical difficulties. He took Uva's bike to keep racing, then traded it with Phil Lique to finish. "Musical Bikes" scored him 8th place overall.


"Chefpants" from the Baltimore Scorchers.


NH ScorcherDan Nugent working towards that Bruiser.


Boston Scorcher, Justin Keena, forgetting the "wheels down, helmets up" part.


Francesca from the Boston Scorchers working that map. Many checkpoints were foreign, even to locals.


Ghostship Clothing's Matt Lolli, during his "oh sh!t" moment, realizing that the "bonus" manifest for the top 15 added 21+ miles to his ride. Prolly and Chris Wielk in the background.


He rode it well. Here he is receiving his prizes (no Ghostship swag) for 13th overall from organizers, Scorchers NYC's Brian Kaspr, and NH's Matt Uva and Justin Bagnati.


25th place finisher and token vegan straight edge Scorcher, Anthony Acock

Thanks to Tony Tyrant for that batch of photos




The Water St. Legal Wall checkpoint, mid project. Photo by Hillary Stearns via her facebook.


More to come!

Grand Theft Velo 3. Final Results.

Grand Theft Velo 3 was a blast! Thanks to everyone who raced, worked a checkpoint, or sponsored the event! We'll get you a full race report soon, but for now the final results (of those who finished):

1. Rafael Cornier - Scorchers New Haven - 2 hours 52 minutes
2. Brian Hornby - Scorchers New Haven
3. Brian Kaspr - Scorchers NYC - 1st Out of Town
4. Sam Hansen - Scorchers Baltimore
5. Drew Pattison - Scorchers New Haven
6. Rich House
7. Pandalicia - Scorchers New Haven - 1st Ladies
8. Aaron Meberg - West Hartford
9. Dan Nicely - Scorchers Austin
10. Danny B - Scorchers New Haven
11. Dorothy Fortenberry
12. Colin Wambat 11&12 were on a date
13. Matt Lolli - Ghostship Clothing
14. Bill R.- BikeNewHaven
15. Lily DiMauro - Scorchers West Coast
16. Marty Waters
17. Dave Walker
18. Jim Fitzpatrick - Scorchers Boston
19. Kale
19. TIE - Marcus Leitch
20. Robot - Boston
21. Leslie Blatteau
22. Ethan
23. Andras Ordrevesz - NYC - Best Facial Hair
24. Jay Kubeck
25. Acock - Scorchers New Haven
26. Britney Fielstra
27. Paul Osborne
28. Roxy Zuckerman - LA - Furthest Traveled
29. Sarah Kirshner
30. Patrick Dole
31. Bill O'Grady
32. The Shockers MTB Team
33. Andy Horvath
34. Pat Hoey
35. Chefpants - Scorchers Baltimore
36. Francesca - Scorchers Boston
37. Greg Robillard
38. Craig Cronin
39. Rebecca Goldberg
40. Cait Dooley - Best Crash + Hit By Car
41. Zack Virgilio
42. Alex Graupner
43. Ryan Taylor
44. Jen Baudanza
45. Mollie Detmers DFL w/ completed manifests

Honorable Mention: Andy Dutkanicz - didn't register, but rode the whole thing as a domestique

Thanks to DJ's Zark, Luis, and Budzy
Extra thanks to the Pedalphiles Crew for the checkpoint support!

Ghostship Trick Jam, Prolly shows, brings cops

Tony from Tyrant came down to the Ghostship Trick Jam last night and snapped some photos...



Milnes @ Beinecke


Prolly 180 Stairset


Milnes' newest trick:
the one foot flat o' death


Damn BMXers always show up 'n make us look bad
Brian Arnwine (who has his own line of cardigans)

We got run out of the Beinecke spot by the cops who were on the lookout for menacing kids on 700c wheels, or something.

Thanks to Ghostship for putting the jam together...







Grand Theft Velo weekend is underway!

Getting Around New Haven

Here's a quick map with a few points of interest on it for Grand Theft Velo out-of-towners...


View New Haven for Grand Theft Velo in a larger map


On it you can find the start location, train station, after-party, and some bike shops for last-minute supplies.

Last minute Grand Theft Velo shop sponsors come out in droves! Trackstar, Affinity, King Kog, Eighth Inch, Shop Gentei

Grand Theft Velo 3 promises to be bigger than ever, and we've got the last minute sponsor add-ons to prove it!




TRACKSTAR is one of NYC's preeminent (and one of the oldest) fixed-gear-specific shops. They've helped us out in the past, and we couldn't be more psyched that they're helping again. Back during the original Route 1 Stage Race leading up to the CMWC's in NY, we had the opportunity to hang with Team Trackstar. Trackstar is a rad group of guys 'n gals.




AFFINITY CYCLES has a knack for custom builds, and rarely shy away from finding some ultra-rare parts. They're keeping pace at the Kissena Velodrome as well. They've also emerged as a frame builder of some of the most sought after bikes on the East Coast.




KING KOG was one of our earliest event sponsors for the original Grand Theft Velo, signing on over 6 months before the race. They've been a force in the NY scene for some time now, and currently kill it with their sponsored riders, most notably Austin Horse and Sarah Murder.




EIGHTH INCH is the fixed-specific wing of the Wheel & Sprocket Co.. They carry a ridiculously large assortment of everything you would need for your whip, delivered to your door. They've also entered the frame and fork business with their Scrambler.




SHOP GENTEI may be the true originator of the Track Boutique, placing as much emphasis on the fashion and culture surrounding the urban cyclist as the bicycle itself. It's a business plan that's worked, as they now hold two locations -- Baltimore and Towson, MD.


GTV3 is THIS Saturday, so get on it!

Best Trick Jam Friday Night!

Matt and the crew from the Ghostship Collective have put together a fun Best Trick Jam for Friday night...or Grand Theft Velo3 eve as it were. Come on out and have some fun on your bike! NO ENTRY FEES!



Check out www.ghostshipclothing.com for some info...

Raw Revolution in as a sponsor.

Raw Revolution, makers of raw, organic, vegan food bars just sent a 20 lb. package for pre, during, and post race fuel for all the GTV racers. I recommend the spirulina/cashew one as long as you don't mind having green teeth right after you eat it.