If you’re in the San Francisco this Sunday, you better be making your way to the Clocktower ’cause Trent Brocker and his crew are putting together a Cruiser Ride that should not be missed.
Joe Moody and Mattyjo Shelley are already confirmed so you know you’ll be rolling with good peeps.
24 or 26″, whatever you got, it don’t matter; just get out your big wheels and ride!
Check out all the details on the Cruiser Ride Facebook page.
Dealing with old man winter can really bring you down.
Unless you’re lucky enough to live in one of the sunshine states, have an indoor skatepark nearby (that allows bikes) or are down with practicing flatland maneuvers in parking garages, winter tends to force even the most rabid of bikers into a bit of forced hibernation.
And even if you have an indoor skatepark nearby, they’re often overrun by scooter kids, fruit booters and the like.
Thankfully in recent years, the indoor bike park concept has begun to take off. Usually with a “MTB” in the name, these parks have a little something for everyone…BMXers especially.
Let’s take a look at what some of these parks have going on.
Ray’s MTB
The original indoor bike park, Ray’s MTB is the one that all other bike parks are compared to….it’s basically the one that started it all. Created by Ray Petro as a way for him and his MTB buddies to escape Ohio’s cold winters it has grown to be an international destination for bikers from across the world. Tucked away in an old industrial building, it doesn’t look like much from the outside…but wow, is it ever fun inside. (Two locations: Cleveland & Milwaukee)
Joyride 150
Inspired at least partially by Ray’s MTB, some Canadian MTBers decided to put their own spin on the indoor bike concept and bring it over the border to a suburb just outside of Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Joyride 150 is also loads of fun and happens to be the closest one to Cruiser Revolution HQ so it’s also the one I happen to visit most often. Drew Bezanson filmed one of the craziest videos of 2012 here (and tends to hit the park on a semi-regular basis too) so you know this park has some fun stuff to ride.
http://vimeo.com/33575654#at=0
Cranx
Located in Syracuse, NY, Cranx is another good bike park. A pumptrack, jumpline, and a recently completed wooden bowl are just some of the highlights. It hasn’t been open that long but things are constantly being updated and refined. You can read more about Cranx in the recent post Cranx: shreddin’ in Syracuse. Definitely a great place to check out.
The Lumberyard
The Lumberyard brings the indoor bike park concept to Portland, Oregon. Haven’t been to this one yet but I definitely like what I see. Jump lines, pump tracks, and skatepark-style stuff make this another good one to put on your list of parks to check out. An interesting thing that the Lumberyard has is a full-service restaurant. Being able to get some BBQ and a beer or two after a good session seems pretty awesome.
What’s your favorite bike park?
Anybody planning a trip to one of these places?
Three years already…Wow.
The world famous 4130 Subway Series ride celebrates its 3-year anniversary tonight.
The 4130 Subway Series is pure BMX and that’s been the secret of its success. Looking back at a CR post talking about it in 2010, nothing’s changed:
….cruising the neighborhood with friends.
Nothing quite replaces the joy of roaming the streets, hitting spots and feeling free as you roll along on your bike.
The 4130 Club has captured all those things in their monthly rides.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a street rider, a racer, old school or new school…all are welcome and the positive vibe is contagious.
(Randy Franklin and me (Ed) all smiles at the 4130 Sin City Ride).
That being said, I’m kicking myself for not being down there with the 4130 Chromies for what I’m sure will be an epic ride.
I’m sure even while I’m typing this, people are already doing the final checks on their bikes and making their way down to the meet-up spot in Hollywood.
The main man behind the 4130 ride,The Mayor of Hollywood will be rolling on his sweet twin top tube Tribute 24, complete with a custom 3-year anniversary plate from Crit. (As you can see, Morty the guard dog will ensure no one messes with it before the ride begins.)
So if you’re riding tonight, be safe and have fun.
If you’re not riding, start thinking about when you can attend a 4130 ride in the future. This a must-do for any BMXer!
For more on the 4130 Subway Series, check out 4130 Subway Series is pure BMX and 4130subwayseries.com.
Back in October, we checked out some great shots of Buddy Sardenga busting out his Beelzebike the 20 666 ‘er at the Allied Compound in Manor, Texas (just outside of Austin).
Now we’ve got some video.
Not only do you get Buddy shredding (big beard, big bike, white helmet and red Vans) but also Vernon from Indust riding one of his 22 inchers and Hippie Josh who handled the majority of the filming (along with riding).
Looks like good times at a super fun spot.
Oh boy…has it been four years already?
It really does blow my mind how quick the time goes.
I want to thank everybody for the support over these past four years.
I really appreciate the great comments, pictures, and emails that help this site what it is today.
Let’s keep this going for four more years…and beyond.
Cheers everybody.
(Yes, it’s true…I have used this image before. But it happens to be one of my favorites and the four beer glasses seem to go with the 4-year anniversary theme…so I hope you’ll forgive me.)
Party favors
While I’d prefer for us to celebrate properly over a couple beers after a fun riding session, the logistics are a little problematic.
To make up for it, I’m going to pass along a couple discount codes to use at the Cruiser Revolution store.
They’re good for Cruiser Revolution t-shirts and other assorted CR merch:
Not sure how long I can keep them going, so make sure you let your family know that you want a Cruiser Revolution t-shirt for Christmas (and they should order now!).
In a world that gets more and more complicated, Transition Bikes has decided to make a bike that’s decidedly simple. Big on the fun factor and low on newfangled tech features.
The Transition Klunker features a 4130 cro-mo frame, moto-style handlebars, big knobby tires and…wait for it… a coaster brake!
And yes, this is the second time in two weeks that we have looked at a MTB company crossing over to make a BMX cruiser…I think that we may have the beginnings of a bit of a trend here.
But back to the bike.
Two color options are available, Klunking Isn’t Free Eagle White and Party in the Woods Matte Black (both with checkerboard top tube and crossbar pads).
I can totally imagine Scott Breithaupt ripping up an old B.U.M.S track on one of these bikes.
Actually, if you squint hard enough at this pic of Lars Sternberg you might think it was Scott throwing a flattie back in the day. Classic.
Living in a world of pimped out rides isn’t always easy…but having a beer with your bros then getting sideways on the trails aboard a Klunker?* That’s as easy as it gets.
Check out Klunking 2 for more on the Klunking phenomenon.
*not necessarily in that order.
(Special thanks to Will Weisman for the heads up on the Klunker.)
I’m in Vegas, it’s September, it can only mean one thing….Interbike.
Like last year, it’s going to be a bit of whirlwind.
On the agenda: checking out the new stuff for 2013, catching up with people and doing some things that will (hopefully) stay in Vegas.
And while I would love to be “reporting live”, it’s not going to happen. Rather than be bent over a laptop and missing something good, I’m going to concentrate on gathering as much cool stuff as possible and give you a recap next week.
That being said, I’ll try my best to put some stuff on the Facebook page to let you know a few tidbits of what I see as I cruise the booths of Interbike.
The end of summer is always bittersweet..when you’re young it means going back to school. When you’re older, it means everybody’s back from their summer holidays and things are going to start getting busy at work.
It’ll bum you out if you let it.
So it’s important to try and keep that care-free summertime feeling going as much as you can.
Steal an hour here and there to ride.
Make plans for a biking trip.
Figure out where there’s an indoor place to ride before the weather gets cold.
Stay tight with your riding buddies.
And before you do all that…pack as much fun into this Labour Day weekend as you can.
(Maybe launch yourself off a lake jump…just like Bobby Parker did recently on Brandon Goodman’s 24″ in Austin.)
Have a good weekend everybody!
Throwing the bikes in the car — whether it’s in the trunk, backseat or on the bike rack — and hitting the road is just one of those summertime essentials like beers and barbecues.
Getting out of Dodge and seeing what the next city, state or (if you’re really ambitious) country, has to offer is usually just the thing to shake things up, give you some fresh perspective and open the door to some good times.
Love this pic. (Cribbed from the Skyway Facebook page.)
On my agenda this weekend is racing a provincial/state race (today) and then on Sunday (I’m not making this up…) checking out the Sunday team at a bike shop demo in a nearby city. Good times all around.
Hope you’ve got some plans to check out some new places this weekend too.
Summers go by too fast these days.
Gotta make the most of these summer weekends.
Coca-Cola made a bit of a splash recently with their sponsorship of Olympic contender, Sam Willoughby.
Of course, Sam’s been getting a lot of hype recently as he is one of the favorites to not only podium but possibly get the gold in the games.
Coke’s been using Sam’s image in a lot of advertising lately so you would think they would be hip to the nuances of the whole BMX thing by now.
That’s why I was a bit surprised to see this poster in my neighborhood convenience store.
“Go for the Gold” it says, along with a prominent Olympic logo and the image of a BMXer either riding street (or dirt I suppose) on a bike with pegs!
Is the marketing department over at Coke unaware that there are different types of BMX riding?
Sure, there were rumors a while back that freestyle might make it into the Olympics but that hasn’t panned out. Now here we are a couple weeks out for the Olympics and we have a Coke ad with a street rider “Going for the Gold”.
Part of me thinks I should just let this slide and just be happy that BMX is getting some play from a major company. On the flip-side, however, I’m little ticked off that they could get it so wrong with this ad.
Maybe this will all change if Sam does get the Gold medal this summer.
Somehow I doubt it.
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