144: Chris Crites at Ampersand Vintage

Went to the new Ampersand art opening last night. Holy shite there is some good work going on over there. If you have not been over to Ampersand yet you need to go and check it out. And this might be a good time to do it Chris Crites is showing his stuff. If you have not heard of him that is alright, I had not either. But I won't soon forget either.

Sex, Guns, Brass-Knuckles and Criminal Record paintings adorn the walls. An examination of violence in America? Possibly. The rendering of some objects and objectification into an artistic tribute of themselves. Also a possibility. Saying things big things that do not really make sense to you because you are talking about "art?" Busted. However these are definitely some beautiful paintings.

Big fan of the brass knuckles. And the ladies and the guns. Kyle was on hand as well to add his brand of commentary as well. "The only thing that I can see we are missing here are knives." True. But I think there were enough other vices to go around.

"To Have and To Hold."

Carey's husband Myles is Ampersand's proprietor and she was telling me today that Mr. Crites goes into a local (he is based out of Seattle) public records housing (what would that be? a courthouse? library?) and scans in ancient Criminal Records and then sets about the task of painstakingly recreating them with the most minuscule of paintbrushes. It is fairly obvious though because every line of color on each piece looks to be a deliberate and thoughtful act. Even up close all of the details hold their own.


The rest of Ampersand is pretty amazing as well. With books and prints ranging from animals and insects to Design, Fashion, Art and Photography one is sure to find something. What I always find the most fascinating though are the vintage paper ephemera that Myles' somehow finds. He finds them at things called "Paper Shows" and I love browsing through his recent finds... On the coffee table at this very moment sits a copy of Facts About Narcotics and other Dangerous Drugs. I need to know what I am dealing with right?

Maybe I should get this one?


Or one about Birds?


This is hands down the best place to find interesting gifts for people. Especially when you have exhausted the bicycling industry. I found a pin for Evil Ryan that was an old Woodworkers Union pin of two hands giving each other "bumps." There is no telling what you might find here. Especially if you know where to look....

143: A Call to Arms, Of Sorts.

I hesitated for a moment before putting this video up. I had not watched it for a few weeks and I thought, well, maybe the time to talk about Cross Vegas has passed. Then I watched it again and I thought, you know, maybe there are some timeless messages that should come from this. And getting this video out there into the world is the best way to do just that.

Good things that could come from this:

1) Peter Tachelet, the man in the video could become a world famous Belgian bike builder*. He already holds the record for the fastest complete build in the Ridley factory. This is no joke. I will be looking back through my notes to find this exact number, but I know that it is mind-blowingly fast. It does not include cutting the steerer tube though. Please, that is personal.

2) That Mr. Tachelet will welcome me back into his home. Remember last year when I was phoning in updates from the heart of Belgium? Well, I was doing it from the cozy couch of this man and none other. I cross my fingers and pray every night thinking of the many nights that he forced me to eat those delicious frites (read that because it alludes to Molly's Greatness*) and drink every alchoholic beverage under the sun. Ha! You should have seen us sprint the half mile from the (only?) bar in town to his house on New Years Eve (we got lost).

Wow, I'm getting a little...what is the word? Verklempt? Over here. And while we are reminiscing I thought I should show you this image, which was actually the first ever place holder for the Embrocation Website a couple years ago. I then made these into flyers and handed them out at the N.A.H.B.S. a couple years ago here in sunny Portland. I think that it is safe to say that Embro was just a twinkle* in my eye at that point.

Not quite sure who that is? Well, I took the liberty of updating it for you....

Better? And if you are still not sure, then this should jog your memory. Molly, you're like Samson (not the gorilla, the biblical figure that was Sampson) you cannot cut that hair. Samson and Dellilah was sort of like a "David and Goliath" type story, with shears of some sort.

Moving on (is anyone still with me?)

3) Portland Bicycle Studio will not be able to keep up with the demand for those hot T-shirts and Belgium and Holland will quickly run out of Speculoos. Not quite sure what Speculoos is? Well, me either. Although Steven Hunter did this post last year (featuring Peter, or "P" as he's more affectionately known - but when they say it, it sounds like "Peh"). Hopefully that helps, but somehow I am sure that it will not.

4) This last one is important. Maybe, just maybe Cross Vegas will heed the words of Tachelet and A) Crown he and Gino Vervecken (no relation) Co-Mayors of Cross Vegas and then they could promptly B) add more beer dispensing options. Possibly our good pal Brian Worthy could be the Secretary of Awesome? Check out his van over at this post on the Freeman Transport blog. I want that Van.

So, the way I see it, only good can come from having this video out there in the world. People will get famous, crowds will have their beer, Belgians will be happy. And from the looks of the Euro-Pro scene going on over there. Do whatever you can to make those guys happy.

*ps- did anyone read Brendan Quirk's What's New this week? Calling for an end to PRO?

Excuse me?

Seriously man, I am not as attached to it as you might think, but for gods (or Sampson's) sake...Do not do this to your people. It is not something you or anyone can just go adding to your banned list of goods. It is not a word to be bought or sold on the pages of the web.

It is however, something to be sought after, something to suffer (and strive for?) in the trenches for years for just one fleeting glimpse. A flash of sunlight through the trees, slight downy soft hairs on the tanned leg of your parking lot princess? A hot cup of sugary sweet tea at the end of a long day in the saddle? Whatever PRO may be - PRO is out there. And then, sort of like that original Saquatch video, it is gone and all you are left with is a memory, or was it a dream?

Which is when you pick yourself up and start the search all over again. Hoping, wishing, dreaming for just another glimpse.

So, I implore you. Don't Do this. I am calling you to rescind Banned Word #4 and I'll leave you with two very important reasons as to why you should not ban this word PRO. One of them is more important than the other. I can't decide which though.

1. People will listen to you and give up on their quest for PRO, whatever that may be. And that is very bad. In fact I'm hoping that I got to you soon enough that we have not lost too many already...

2. Mark my words Radio Freddy will be back. I believe. Come on Buddy, you can do it!

142: The Weekend.

Benji Wagner put together another stellar video, this time for the cats at Signal Cycles. They have been updating their blog with some sweet shots, but more importantly I have seen them at every race this year. Love those guys. And remember Benji? He did the Breaking Away rendition down in Austin and that funny little short of me where you get to see every jiggle the my skinsuit has to offer. And apparently there are quite a few of them.



New bike weekend. For everyone. Ok, not everyone. But I have been seeing some new bikes around. The Signals, that you can see in the video above are sick sick sick! Hufnagel has a couple new frames out there that Anderson and Tommy have been raicing on and they look amazing. And then there is our little Collaboration with this pretty awesome company known as Ridley.

More on that after the Jump. What jump? Basically whenever someone writes that in their blog, I think of this jump that one of the neighborhood kids and I built when I was in fifth grade. I think we broke both our bikes, a few sheets of plywood and my snoopy skatboard (that was on purpose- too nerdy -lashing out).

Headtube Action.


Finally had some mud this weekend too, which made me happy. I prayed for it, and I do not pray. On the way to the race Steven Hunter and I had a sort of quietness about us (not true) and we meditated on the possibilities of having rain. What it would feel like, how we would react. Would we want to keep racing, or just take off our shoes and squish our bare feet around in the earth? Anything can happen.


What did happen was one of those results that I hoped for.

I went up to Molly after the race to check on Mullet Growth. You will be happy to know that here EuroStyle has quickly become EuroSteeeeze (hold out the "eee's" for dramatic effect.) Here is a photo if you are wondering what I am talking about. Aside from the hair though she also had some sweet zip offs from Showers Pass. They looked good and they keep your kit clean until you are officially ready to go for "it." Might have to check that out. (Ps, she does not have "cankles" either, it was just a funny angle.)


Forgot to mention the best-best part (best part was the mullet). She won, again. So, to all you naysaying Bitches* I say "Boom" and I say it short, (with a sort of stuccato vibe) and I say it sort of loud, but not too loud. Like an intense whisper.

"Boom."


*There were not any naysaying Bitches. Come on man, this is a sport of love. Of Athletics. This is what Pete Rubi likes to call "the Athletic Community" and there is no room for naysaying Bitches in it.

141: Work Hard

Mud. I am going to sleep thinking about Mud tonight. Thinking about it trashing my new Yokozuna Cables (BQ raved about them so I thought should give them a try right? Thanks Thayne.) Dreaming about Mud so thick it sucks your shoes off and levels the playing field. White bar tape instantly dirty. Let's have some of that.

The fellows over at Veloshop took care of me this week. Thanks so much for that. But while we are at it Molly, Ryan and Jake had some good stuff going on over there. Sour grapes and all. Take a look at the mutant pile of tubular tires that she has right inside the front door. This is not what I need to see every time I walk in the door. I want. I want.

I am currently running the TUFO Cubus and from what I can tell (just from putting my filthy paws all over them) the FMB's have a more supple casing to them. Check here on Molly's blog to find out more about Francois Marie Boyaux and his fabulous tubular tyres.

140: Superb

I'm really sorry to be missing out on this tonight. Go check it out and support the local Boston scene because Mr. Kip Chinnian has been in that bike scene for, well, for ever and it is good to see him "classin" it up. But we know that it couldn't be done without the help of Jason (DJ Mayhem) Hollingsworth.

The shop has really come a long way and I'm anxiously awaiting the day when I can get back to ol 'Beantown and check it out. Sounds like they have an stellar cast of characters rounding out the crew as well. Heard the other day that my man-crush Andrew (if you are looking for some great Ink in the Boston area look him up- and I don't mean for your pen) is working there a few times a week. Look to that guy for a great sense of style. He is amazing at mixing new-school with a classic sensibility. Probably one of the few people that I would have no problem walking up to and saying "I want you to help me put together a sick bike." In fact that might be a good experiment.

Just sayin.

I also heard some rumors that Meighan O'Toole is having a little party tonight down at the Fourth Wall Project on Brookline Ave. There is no reason why you can not check out both of these events.

And please, dress up. I want to see some class, some distinction coming from our Boston Brethren/Sistren (what is the female version of Brethren?)

139: More Pubs.

Sorry to take a break from the regularly scheduled programming to talk about paper products. But I love them so. Besides when you see the next two videos that I have cued up you might just lose your mind. One has a Belgian friend of mine complaining about the lack of Beer at Cross Vegas, the other one A. Myerson talking about his top 3 overall in the American Crit Championships. Or something to that effect.

Here is Molly quickly perusing Embrocation Volume 4. I will not try to claim this idea as my own. I got it from the website for this newsprint publication Archivo. Which is very strange and very good. Carey S-H brought some of these little printed nuggets back with her from NY when we were there for the Gentleman's Race.

Not really sure what my deal with newsprint is these days? Maybe it has something to do with the dying art form? Or the amount of cool stuff that can and is printed on newsprint? Either way the interesting thing about it is to take this age old form of communication and put some amazingly beautiful photos on it and see what happens.

I also think that part of it has something to do with ritual. Not that I delivered newspapers when I was young, because I did, but more the tucking it under your arm that I align myself with. Carrying around a folded up newspaper is like some sort of gesture, a nod, if you will to times past.

PIE Paper - New Zealand - $5
The most recent issue of Pie Paper focus' on repetition. This is very apparent in the two exterior covers. One with little boy blue and the other is a girl obsessed with what looks like the color Pink. Yeah, definitely the color pink. I really like this paper. It comes out of New Zeland and seems to be doing everything right. Plus, they are only $5. Go get one and see its greatness for yourself.


The Arkitip Intel Newspaper Supplement - USA - $10
Again, a really well put together newsprint publication. The arty-ness of it will make people shy away from it. But I am here to tell you that what you actually need to do is "shy towards" this little beauty. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the MASH photo spread tucked neatly away.

Other interesting things to note are the Ace Hotel Palm Springs advertisements. *Ding. I think that pretty much anything looks good when it is printed really large. I could be wrong? But something tells me that I kept coming back and looking at the Everlast photos. So raw. So good. Note: the model does not have a belly button because of the seam.



SNEEZE Magazine - British Colombia - $4 + shipping
You know how you eat around the ice cream when you order the ice cream and brownie at a restaurant? Or save all your tofu chunks until that last big of...of...struggling here? Tofu is left...
In any case the point that I am trying to make here is that this publication is awesome. If the issue were not sold out I would tell you to go get one right now.

Why is it amazing? Well for one they work hard to get SNEEZE newspaper boxes put up. I hear that there is acutally one going up in Portland soon. I had the pleasure of meeting and the lovely Michelle who escaped the Awesome state of Vancouver (I know it isnt' a state) to find some sort of anoniminity here in Portland. Good luck with that.

Anyway. Sneeze is huge (22" x 16"). The photos look distorted because it is so big and I was trying to lean away from the light. Also it is great because it has no stitching. So, if you were to desire you could hang up any one of these sexy spreads as a nice poster in your home. Or office. Or Mancave, or Womancave, however you roll.

That is all for now. There are more, but I will save them for a rainy day. In fact, Ira Ryan stopped by the other day with a few Vintage Cycling publications that made me excited. I will bust those out soon because they are ripe with old Cyclocross photos from the 70's.

Just sayin.

138: Get into the Orange Jumpsuit.

Amazing stuff you have just seen there. I tell you what though. I was pretty bummed that Bob could not make it to our party. That is definitely who I want to be hanging out with when I am at Interbike next year. In fact, we are not having a party for the Spirit of Cycling next year. We are having a party for Bob Roll.

And do not let Joe Parkin (click the link to read him talking about 'style' on the bike) off the hook either, he is in two of the above four photos. More on him later as I had the pleasure of hearing him speak last Friday night. This is a photo from that night. I honestly had a hard time focusing on Mr. Parkin though as Josh Creem was there dishing out delishious waffles.

My stomach thanks you for that.

137: Stay Famous

Florida Logic:
Try to hang with me on this, because it takes off from the station pretty quickly. Maybe scan through, get the album that I recommend. Look at a few pictures (while playing the album) and then start to really get into the meat of it. What else are you going to do?

Ready?
-----------------
Cue Rhinelander.

Rich Bravo sent me this morning. Not fair. Can I just come out and ask: What is up with Northwest Racing? A little mud is all I ask. Remember last year when we could barely push our bikes through that slop in New Jersey? Destroying all our bikes and we loving it. I do not have to even clean my bike (never did) anymore, it just stays clean.

Why is it that I feel like I'm being cheated out of a cyclocross season?

One day of riding through the woods with Pals and then what on Sunday? Hammerfest through the a lung burning bone-shakingingly dry field of horseshit. Literally. Horse Shit. Everywhere. Just so you know the Granogue race is held on the Dupont Estate. No big deal, they just have someone else clean up their horse shit on an estate.

Hear me out before you get all antsy though.

I came out here to work on my mud game. The support out here for Cross is phenomenal, the races are fast as hell, and the fans some of the best that I've heard in the sport. But I'm telling you guys (Portland) we need to tighten up our game before the East Coast comes out here to, as they say, "wreck shop." The weather will be nasty by the time December rolls around right?

I'm just afraid that they're going be all lose and limber and agile from all the mud that they have been prancing through and we will not be able to keep up. These are the emotions that I wrestle with daily. Will I be able to keep up when the mud hits? Sigh.

Like this for example, loose, limber and he is practically prancing through the mud.


Both of these photos I borrowed from the NY Velocity website. Mo Bruno (2nd!) is looking fierce. Well as fierce as a sweet braided, mud covered Mo Bruno can look.

Pro's though, you can get some more of that over at Cyclingnews. Remember when we (I'm roping you into this one) went to that site every Monday to check the stories and standings of....well, bike racing. I needed facts this time.

Tim and Jeremy both won in Toronto.

Neils seemingly can't be stopped. But I am rooting for Stybar. Just sayin. The other interesting thing about these photos? Ankle weights anyone? Seems like maybe they are using some kind of Ankle Timing Chip on their non drive side leg. It must be tough to score those races over there. They are that fast. Welcome to the future.

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New Section: Been thinking about sound.
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Here is what to do for this next section. Or at least what I did and had a good time with. First get the song Duante v Armada by the band Cougar. Go on, I'll wait, it is an experience you are going to like. It starts quiet and then just kind of builds in a nice way for this...

The PDX Cross Gallery of photos from the day before sort of softened my cold east coast heart. in other words Seeing D. Sharp wearing Ray Bans kind of made my day. CD told me earlier and I just kind of willed the photo in front of me. Bam. There is was...

So, start with that one (#11) and then just go for it playing Cougar. There are some absolutely fantastic shots in there. And a great track to go with it. I mean, the guy throwing his child into the air? Are you kidding me? AMAZING.

Then I got to this shot. Molly walking away with her first ever Cross Crusade victory.

I would like to think of this shot as the decisive moment. The KO? The spot when it was apparent that this race had been won. (It is 2:58 into the song).

Wha? Are you kidding me?

I even snuck into a photo myself. Someone should sign me up for some sort of a Fantasy Cyclocross game (who is in?) I will even tell you my top five pics for Nationals... (you know how this works right?).

D. Roth took some great snaps as well. Like ones of Shannon wearing nice socks. Or Steven Hunter crushing fools for a Top Ten finish.

Side Note: The band Cougar is actually from my home state of Wisconsin. Here is the Band's Twitter (I was hoping for Cougartwit but its still good). Keep an eye on their US Tour dates.