I'm Calling It

Mander, let's book a date. When are you in town next year?

Others interested? Leave a comment...

Bike Culture Not for Sale

Last night Mark, Morgan, Rhiannon and I gave Leo's tall bike a better home than my current bike corral. Its now hanging from the ceiling in Bandidas Taqueria. It took a little while to get it just right (too many cooks in the kitchen?), but its not going anywhere now.

New Black Label day!

In a hard situation, our friend Leo (of Black Label Bike Club) has to leave us to go back to Minneapolis. He can't take everything with him, so he's been having a massive bike yard sale. He kept his jig and his welder of course.. but there's just some things you have to let go of. I offered to take care of his tallbike for him. He looked a little choked up as he handed it to me to ghost ride it away.


Of course, in order to ghost ride with a tall bike, you have to be on a tall bike. Leo's mom was concerned for my safety, but I assured her its just like walking with a cane.

..anyways, I'm sure my timetrialtall and the Free Spirit will be good friends.

Another day, another BMX vid.

This guy hucks himself off some pretty rad lines. I love watching good style, and we get some fresh scenery out of Latvia.

Also, The Come Up has done an interview with Tate Roskelley after the video posted immediately below this. If you've got a few minutes, it's not a bad little conversation. I know I've been talking about it with a few people.



Photo Bryce Packham

Stealing more vids.

Thanks again, John. A good BMX vid for the non-BMXers.

Beauty is in the eye...

How Alan sees it:


How the rest of the world sees it:

All Thumbs Up

Now, before I start this, there's no way I can reach the heights Brandon did with his first and second posts. So, from an entertainment and reading enjoyment perspective, click those links and read all about Brandon's experience with the V02 Max test.

The real reason I'm posting is to announce that I am apparently in good enough shape to undergo a similar test. Stacey Hutton, one of our Mighty Riders team mates, does research with Canadian Sport Centre Pacific out at the Olympic Oval in Richmond.

Today, I did a 20 km time trial in the lab to see if I had the power to take part in her current study. The mark to hit was about 270 watts average over the distance; I passed with an average of 302 watts, and an average speed of 38.9 km/h. That jerk on the screen held me off and won by about two bike lengths.



The 62/16 gear ratio on the test bike was not a factor, as that shiny thing in the back provides magnetic resistance equivalent to the gear you choose. I rode most of the test in the 53/16 (that is, all but the rollout and a few seconds in the 17 during my first couple minutes). It was pretty cool, though. A full 11-23 cogset and the choice of 39 or 53 up front.

As far as fit, the up/down and fore/aft saddle adjustments were good. The saddle itself was a BBB, and my entire choad area was numb by the 10k mark. The bar/stem could also be moved up/down and fore-aft. The hoods were kinda weird, way up high on track bars. The crank length was adjustable as well; I rode a 175.



Since I passed the test, I qualify to undergo a full V02 Max test for Stacey's current study. It will apparently be three sessions of the increasing-resistance test Brandon did, as well as a sprint test known as "The Puker". All thumbs up, right?

Stealing vids

Right off John Watson's site:

Levi's® BMX 2009_24 Crashes from Will Stroud on Vimeo.

Damn. I think my favorite one is the failed 180 barspin at 1:40.

Also, I better go outside and cut more wood before thinking about rebuilding my BMX

West End resi drop, in pictoral form:

Via Failblog: