Links to photos. GTV, Valley Kitten, Haven Death Rail Jam

Found via RE:New Haven, Kama's Flickr. He's also got pix from the start of the Valley Kitten (which, by the way, the Scorchers destroyed), but, alas, all his photos are "spaceballed" so you'll just have to follow those flickr links.

Tyrant's got photos up from Haven Skatepark's "Death Rail Jam" at their flickr.

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.

Tracklocross. This Weekend. Randal's Island

Tracklocross is this Saturday! What could be better than playing with track bikes in the mud or needing a tetanus shot before the event?!?! Well, actually the tetanus shot decision's on you.

We're sponsoring this event, so head on down.

Breaking News! Sam to race GTV!!!

This is Sam. He's from Baltimore. He'll be attending Grand Theft Velo III. Will you?

Death Pedal Trailer 2

A day late on this one, but it's still pretty amazing.


DEATH PEDAL trailer 2 By Kareem Shehab from Killa Kareem on Vimeo.

Tracklocross Update

Tracklocross is just over a week away (Saturday, 4/11) and Team Wreckstuff posted some pics from their course recon last weekend. It's going to be more brutal than last year's race, featuring a checkpoint that will simply be known as "tetanus." The guys putting on this race have been longtime supporters of New Haven's races and it's always a blast when they come up to ride with us. The Scorchers are proud to be saying that we'll be sponsoring this race and encourage anyone who isn't going to show up, ride, get muddy, or just laugh at everyone else who is. Just as a heads up on the rules, here's the deal:

We here at Tracklocross Headquarters would like to take this opportunity to announce some simple things about Tracklocross 2009:

1. FIXED OR SLICKS RULE: Your bike must either have either a fixed gear, or slick tires no fatter than 25mm. Want to ride your cyclocross bike? Fine, as long as you throw proper road tires on it. Wanna ride your fixed gear? Great. You're allowed to use cross tires. What? You only ride singlespeeds? All right, just make sure it has slicks.

2. SPECIAL TRACK BIKE CATEGORY: There will be a special prize for the highest-placing rider riding a track bike. By track bike, we mean a bike with: a fixed gear, geared at greater than or equal to 49x16 (700x23c). Plugged drop bars. No brakes. Slick tires.

Visitor Count

While this doesn't reflect our "ecscorchers.blogspot.com" address, and is technically a lower number than our usual "scorchers.tk" hit-count, I couldn't resist sharing...



Hit count? 666.

Vans Clipless Shoe

Not sure how long these have been out, I just noticed some SPD clipless shoes on the Vans site:

The Warner is the first choice in style, comfort, and performance for SPD compatible shoes for today's BMX racers and mountain bikers alike. The Warner utilizes our lightweight gum rubber "Off the Wall" tread pattern molded to our performance driven SPD compatible outsole. We've internally relieved material from key points on the SPD plate to keep it light and stiff over the mid foot area while providing flex in other key areas. The upper infuses weather resistant synthetic leathers and vented ballistic nylon mesh with a removable hook and loop tension strap. Our self centering gored tongue and a comfortable molded EVA foam sockliner top it off.

They retail at $90, but if you order anything from vans between 3/23 and 3/29 you can save 20% off your order:

PARDON OUR DUST

We're sorry we missed you! Our site is currently undergoing maintenance, but after a brief stint on the DL, we'll be back in business tomorrow, 3/26/09.

If you come back and shop with us by 3/29/09, we would like to offer you a 20% discount on your entire purchase.

Coupon code SORRY09 must be applied at checkout.

Offer is valid between 3/26/09-3/29/09, on in stock and custom orders.

Thank you for your patience!

Polo season begins, coverage in Advocate.

We'd like to give a quick shout-out and "thank you" to David Riedel, intrepid reporter with the New Haven Advocate for his piece on bike polo in the weekly's Spring Guide series.

Check the article here or at the Fairfield Weekly here.


Pic credit: David Riedel

Additional photos here

Also, be sure to check out the article on New Haven's hashers. Running & Beer. Sound familiar?

Milnes killing it at Edgewood

Edgewood Skatepark. Sean Milnes. Scorchers.







Must be those new Azonic bars and stem offering all that pop!



How 'bout a chainring grind at Yale's Women's Fountain...






...and Kanye Nuge only tricks while smoking. It's his "thing".

3RRR to sponsor GTV

Last weekend we met Nao from 3RRR at the Friday the 13th Alleycat (Freddie vs. Jason) hosted by Cambridge Bicycle. Nao's been fabricating some killer chainrings and other metal miscellany...








We're psyched to have Nao and 3RRR on board for Grand Theft Velo 3

Grand Theft Velo update and call for submissions

May 16th is sooner than we'd like it to be.
We've got quite a few sponsors lined up. Check the left-hand column of this blog, or throw Scorchers2009 on the ol' RSS reader. for updates.
We're working our hardest to get a li'l sumthin' sumthin' for everyone who comes out to race, but we could use help. Maybe you're that kid who just started out printing his/her own shirts, or sewing your own hats, or building your own components/framesets and you're looking to get your name out. Or, maybe you're a shop rat looking for something constructive to do with the NOS parts that are taking up space in the back room. Either way, we'd love your help. Get in touch with us if you're able to contribute.

If you're planning on coming out to ride or work a checkpoint, we're doing our best to fill lodging requests from those traveling from afar. We're getting rumblings from Baltimore, Madison, Austin, and Boston of large crews coming out, so if you're looking to win 1st out-of-town you better be bringing your game face.

Keep checking back for updates.

More from Nike...

On top of their upcoming line of shoes targeted at fixed gear kids, Nike has dropped a preview of some other cycling apparel coming this summer. This rain jacket looks promising and word is that it is extremely lightweight and packs small so you can keep in in your bag for the random rain showers.
I'm still weary of Nike's labor practices and they definitely didn't do much to win me over with their unauthorized reappropriation of a certain anti-consumerist hardcore band's artwork, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to find some more info on this jacket. You can find more pictures of the collection over at Hypebeast

It's a Scorchers Wedding!

Drew Will Ride

"I will ride"

Follow the link to a replay of this morning's NBC news. At 47 seconds you'll see The Scorchers own Drew Deep during his snowy morning commute giving a brief interview.
Rain, sleet, or snow he will ride.