soapboxla.blogspot.com/2009/02/good-for-bikes-good-for-business-bike.html

So i’ve had this Chrome (citizen-medium) bag for about 6 months now and i feel its a good time to write a review, (rather than when you first receive a new item and try it out for a day).

The outer shell is some heavy duty polyester like material and the inside is a thick smooth tarp waterproof material or some shit, its not really gonna rip unless your carrying a bunch of razorblades or a machete out of its case (and if your doing that, you probably got bigger fish to fry than read some lame bag review).

Anyways, there is a ton of room inside, i can carry pants, shirt, hoodie, hat, camera, pump, tools, etc. and there is still plenty of room to put more stuff). The bag has two separate sections of space and front little pockets to put small stuff (wallet, phone, etc.). You can carry your bike tools (tubes, wrench, patch kit, etc. on one side and your clothes/whatever on the other. The shoulder strap is heavy duty and has some thick padding so its pretty comfortable even with heavy loads. Also on the strap is an old school seat belt buckle clasp with the Chrome logo which is waaay fooking cool man (that’s pretty much what sold me on it..it’s the little touches ya know). Considering your carrying a suitcase on your back, this mufuka ain’t gonna break and the chest strap stabilizes it very well. (When my bag is full i don’t want it to move!).

The c-note + feels kinda hard to part with at first but we all know you get what you pay for and the last thing i want to think about when i’m riding is shit in or falling out of my bag. All in all the bag is worth the dough, built like a tank and meant to last a long time.

chromebags.com

fixiefiend.com/art/obama-bike-by-thunderdog-studios/

Moving to a new place in Silverlake! A whole 2 blocks away from the Manor and way nicer with more room and an actual kitchen sink and living room, WOW people have those? (end of an era!) Moving in with the baby, YAY. The moving part sucks (boxing up, lifting, going through old shiz) but once we get settled it will be rad! So many boxes, so much lifting…more time boxing means less time on the bikey. Lets get this done!

I love the feeling of getting over a cold!

Why can’t we all just get along? To get a PBR tall boy, LMFAO!

skateboarding.transworld.net/2008/12/30/vans-gabe-morford-syndicate-half-cabbelt-pack/”

So its 2009 and i gotta a few things going, got some little merch up on this blog until the website comes through in a few weeks. Going to do some better product shots and what not but until then you can get a little taste here. I’m really excited about 2009 more so than 2008, the beginning of last year i was going through some personal stuff that was clouding my vision alot. Now i feel like i’ve grown and more at peace and have come to terms with alot of that ole’ shiz.

Alot of stuff is already getting planned for this year, and i’ve never been much to plan any freaking thing. Got a new lover and thats been going really good, my best homeboy is getting married in Mexico (can’t fucking wait!) and i’m thinking about some tasty things on the horizon! I feel good about this year.

I’m going to see Wicked tomorrow with my lover! I wonder if they have bike racks?

http://www.wickedthemusical.com/

So i tried my first Wolfpack Hustle last nite to kick off the new year. Been wanting to do this ride for awhile now with all the hype and shiz but didn’t know if i could hack it. So i showed up to Tangs Donuts around 10pm and barely any heads were there, maybe the cold is keeping people away? Though, the spot filled up with quick mostly high end road bikes, i counted 4 brakeless fixies including myself out of maybe 40 heads. This is going to be interesting, we started out down Hyperion ave and we are hustlin’ already and this roadie right in front of me catches a seam/pothole and slams pretty hard causing me to check my speed and do a mad swerve so i don’t face plant right over him. Damn i am awake now, here we are flying down a dark totally fucked up road incline and already someone bites it hard, this ride is serious! I hang on for a bit then i feel my lungs starting to expand, my legs are starting to cramp spinning the fuck out on the downhills. I guess what homeboy said to me at the beginning is true (your probably gonna want brakes on this ride)…i guess being weak and not really riding for 3 weeks has caught up with me, oh well there’s always next monday. Excuses, excuses, they are like assholes, everyone has one.

wolfpackhustle

1. Keep your head/chin up and looking down the road even when you get tired. Fucked up shit can and will happen.
2. Watch drivers from the opposite direction making left turns in front of your azz. Even if they see you they’ll try to squeeze.
3. Learn how to skip, skid and make sudden stops..I’m all for picking lines and not stopping and shit but learn how to control your speed man.
4. Act like the bad ass you know you are. I mean come on your riding a bike in the city that doesn’t have gears, can’t coast or have brakes for crissakes. Its dangerous and thats why its so much fucking fun! If you want a safe activity go do yoga or knit a hat or some shit.
5. See rule #1

63xc

So here are my babies that i shoulda posted along time ago, but i didn’t realize that little picture thing above the box you type text in means that you can upload a picture….so maybe more pix will appear on this blog

Bike #1 – White Atala 1970’s fixed gear road bike converted, 53cm, originally navy blue but i wanted it white so i left the lugs blue and painted the rest white (this is the lazy mans way of rattle caning a bike when you don’t want to sand around the lugs) came out killer though! vintage Zeus crank with pista chainring, Christophe pedals, Soma double straps, Nitto drops with brown cloth tape, vintage seat (not a Brooks, but a real good copy, riding on leather is nice for the ass), gearing is 53/17 fixed hub only, can’t go floppin on this cat, this mutherfucker flys!

Bike #2 – Red Nishiki 1983 Tri A road bike 12 speed, with pretty aggressive geometry, wanted to convert this to fixed but homey at the LBS talked me outta it and i’m kinda glad he did. This bike is all stock, down to the bar tape, biopace crank, the only thing i changed was new tires. I love this bike though i never even ride this sucka anymore so a fixed may be in its future, don’t want to but may have to! Get it out on the road instead of holding up my record shelves.

And someday i’ll post my early 90’s Ross mountain bike and 1970’s low rider kids schwinn with the ape hangers and banana seat!

Was our family dog named Lucky, an irish setter laborador mix that was saved by my mother on the freeway after she witnessed him being hit by a car 16 years ago. He was the best most loving coolest mofo that i had ever hung out with…he saved me a bunch of times in my life….not in the traditional sense of rescuing me from a burning building or some shit..but telling me to hang out and take him for walks instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself because i had no job, no money, no girlfriend, and what i thought “no life”. But i did have a life, it was taking care of him and that kept me going alot of the time…we would go jogging and on walks like twice a day…you know those days that last forever and are soo long when you don’t have shit to do…you have to plan little things to do. Everyone else is getting up and going to work, to school and taking kids to school and whatnot ya know living…
This dog was so fucking cool…he makes you get his name tattered on your chest so everyday when you look in the mirror it will bring a smile to your face. I was in the room to see you sleep for the last time buddy, 12/2/08 is a day i won’t forget…i don’t know why i’m writing this post but the world should know how much you meant because without you i wouldn’t be here to type this today.

Went on a ride to downtown LA last weekend to witness and take part in the protests going on against Prop. 8..we got there late so it was kinda mellowing out but the coppers were still in full force moving people along “you can’t stand here” and riding on horses and bikes. How do i get that job!? Could i ride a brakeless fixie though? Talk about easy money…until you have to ruin someone’s day by giving them a ticket or hassling them. I’m too much of a softie..
Then we rolled out to this inner city garden project of a friend of a friend that was down on Martin Luther King blvd and Normandie…a really inspiring project to see people growing there own food in the heart of the city. I thought food just appeared in the grocery store and i just stuck it in my face….Don’t they have big farms fields in the back of Von’s?! Just think, if you can grow your own food and have your own transportation how efficient one could be not having to rely on major corporate grocery stores and gas stations to take all of your hard earned chedda?! In a perfect world…but since i don’t have a garden in my closet apartment i guess its more 99 cent store hot dogs to live on for the next week or so. Those dogs taste soo good going down until the salt intake headache kicks in a bout 10 minutes later. I finally sold my Jeep too, i guess the old myths about “don’t run a car completely outta oil” is true…yes it does seize up and yes it will be a piece of useless shit after that!
Anyway screw it, i’m being way more “car lite” in my lifestyle and it was a gas guzzler to boot! I still got my old pickup truck “hooptie” as its been refered to…i mean i ain’t gonna attract any girls or look cool pulling up to the valet at the club but who cares, cars are metal coffins and LA is way too obsessed with them, way more than any other place in this country…i feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and i’m doing my little part to decrease my imprint on this earth. Awe how sweet that sounds.

On my ride to work this morning i was like damn did Obama really win!? I always pass by this hugh banner with his face on it that someone has in there back yard facing the lake. I looked up this morning and it was still there ..i wonder how long they’re going to leave it up.
It was going off last night in Silverlake i could hear people driving down the street honking and yelling..it’s kinda weird aren’t we supposed to be radically progressive on this side of town. Do we really think that this guy is our savior…doesn’t he have to play in this Capitalist game with all the other crooks? Are the major candidates really that different from each other? (i don’t think so but in this case i hope so). Nonetheless, i’m glad that he is in office and maybe we could see some change for the better for a while. He reminds me of a tan JFK with his good looks, pretty wife and excellent orating skills. I wonder if all this green environment talk and shiz will bring about more bike lanes/roads haha.

Been riding my “fixie” bike ALOT lately, started out commuting to work and stuff and now i can’t get enough of that mufuka! I bought a Nishiki road bike that i was going to convert to a fixie, and it got me hooked on riding road bikes initially….my local bike shop guy said “hey this bike is cool why don’t you just leave it and get a fixie bike?”…”uh cuz i live in a closet of a apartment and i don’t feel like spending an arm and a leg on bikes that i have no money or room for”…but he was right and i’m glad i left the nishiki as is and bought a fixie off ebay. So i bought an old 70’s italian road bike “Atala” off ebay that was converted to a fixie for the most part but was a little banged up..perfect! I got it and put new wheels/tires on it, painted it and have been LOVING that mufuka each day! When i first got on it i was like oh shit this is a trip like i’m learning to ride a bike all over again…and i ain’t no slouch, i consider myself a pretty coordinated guy, been skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and what not for years. But this bike is a “bad boy” and he forced me to go slow and learn…you can’t just hop on this thang and go…I could go into any bike shop and pull down a $2k road bike and go ride the shit outta it…but you can’t do that with this $200 fixie, no way..you even start to sketch going down a straightaway at first, let alone a hill. The roads you used to mob on you now have to relearn to mob on a fixie…and now you have to keep your head up and alert and look ahead because your stopping distance is increased with no real brakes…all depending on skidding/skipping and your legs. Its fricken fun as hell to ride…i climbed on my regular road bike the other day which i hadn’t been on in months and i was like…wow this is weird, the bike feels all slow and loose…don’t get me wrong i used to fly on my Nishiki but compared to my Atala which is so tight and stiff its incredible…i was going to throw in a joke but i’ll spare u. Now i feel that i’m getting pretty good on it but i have so much more to learn and its the type of thing that is not easy which is why it makes it so fun! I guess thats the allure of all those kinda aggro dude sports/activities.
Its also weird now i’ll be riding to work and i’ll pass some spandex wearing label whores on $2000 bikes and and they’ll make some shitty comment “hey organ donor” or “get some gears” or some stupid shit to me (and i even have a geared road bike!). I would never say some shit like that to someone for riding fucking bike! We’re on bikes for christsakes! “oh well”….and then i proceed to ride with them for a while when they think that they’ll blow right by me…”cuz they’re way better riders than me, right” I really want to say “ya know, i can ride the shit outta your bike but i bet you can’t even go down the street on my bike, its all about trying to become a better rider right, you Lance Armstrong wanna be?” “Just because you look the part more now, doesn’t mean you should get the role”. But thats not really my personality…i’m more of a shy non confrontational peace loving person. I’m using my bike for more than just getting logo’d up, buying the latest parts and gear and pulling it off the roof rack of my Volvo and going for a spin around town on a weekday before i meet with clients or cuz i have the day off work. I’m using it for actual transportation – to work, the grocery store and trips around the neighborhood day and night…(trying to reduce my pollution filled footprint on this earth)….thats in my perfect world and shit.
Though, one really cool thing happened to me the other morning on my commute to work. I’m stopped at a 7 mile stretch that i just completed, soaking it in and catching my breath a little when an older guy musta been about 80 who was on a very nice old road bike and pretty geared up in spandex stopped right next to me “i mean right next to me” and just looked down at my bike for a good 4-5 seconds….At first i’m like “oh no here we go….just start talking shit old man” and he said “track bike huh” and i’m all “yeah its alot of fun ya know its all about fun” then he goes “yeah, i don’t have the coordination to ride one of those”, then i said “yeah but i like your bike too, its nice!” He then proceeds to pat me on the shoulder and ride away, that pretty much put a smile on my face and made my day!
See, just because we ride different bikes or have different clothes, haircuts and lives doesn’t mean that we can’t get along (just as in real life), shit, we’re all the same “idiot on a bike” as far as some rushing/hurried driver is concerned and we can all get tagged by a car just the same.