STOLEN BIKE

I was gonna drop a lot of stuff here, but I might as well just keep it simple.

Deep breath.

My bike was taken at the Brooklyn Banks tonight. It was around 6:30, still light, and the guy who took it approached me as a friend. I didn't remember his name, but he's one of those guys that comes through now and then, riding a scrapped-together bike asking about different stuff. Tips on how to nose wheelie, whether anyone has any parts for sale. Anyway, he asked to try my bike, and I made the mistake of saying yes. Haven't seen it since. And of course I let my renter's insurance lapse.

A lot of people at a lot of companies—people I TRULY consider friends—helped me piece this bike together. (A few of you might even read this post, and if you do, thank you. Again.) A few parts, including the seat and post and the tires, weren't even a week old. As I can't afford to build another new bike right now, I'm going to be asking a lot of those same generous people for help again. Feeling like a fool. All because someone decided to abuse the rider-to-rider trust that's usually solid. A rider should know better than ANYONE not to steal another rider's bike.

I'm mad right now (my bike was finally set up PERFECTLY), but most of all I'm just disappointed that it's come to this. I've ridden little bikes my whole life, and BMX has meant a lot to me. It still does, but obviously things have changed. Whether I get my bike back (a long shot) or I build another one (which might take a while), I'm not gonna be as trusting or friendly anymore. And that's kind of sad. Part of me doesn't even want to ride BMX anymore, let alone take photos or write about it.

If you hear anything, or see this bike (I took the picture TODAY), let me know.

I'm also half-seriously looking to move out of New York. Too expensive anyway. If anyone knows of any writing/editing gigs in a town with a real BMX scene (and a pro basketball team), let me know. There's nothing holding me here.



FRAME: 2007 Fit Edwin, 21" (original version with chainstay wishbone and plate seatstay brace)
FORK: 2007 Odyssey Race Classic
CRANKS: Odyssey Wombolt 175mm
SPROCKET: Odyssey Vermont 28t
WHEELSET: Odyssey cassette/Hazard Lite 36 (LSD), Odyssey M7
TIRES: Odyssey P Lyte 2.1s
PEDALS: Odyssey Jim C mag
SEAT: FBM Rumble Seat
POST: FBM Web Post
BARS: Animal Bob Lite
STEM: Animal Jumpoff
GRIPS: Animal Edwin
BARENDS: Animal
PEGS: Odyssey Jpeg Lite (4)
HUBGUARDS: FBM rear, BSD front
HEADSET: FSA Impact
CHAIN: KMC 510hx



Be careful out there.

The calm before the storm.

Riding had to happen on Saturday—not because it was particularly nice out, but because the coming week was going to be so bad. The 10-day forecast said rain, rain, and more rain.

So, the Banks. And the first time I actually tried to shoot any riding with my new fisheye. It's going to take some getting used to, because you need to be MUCH closer to your subject if you want to use the whole frame. And I don't want anyone's wheel hitting the lens. It'll probably take a good bit of practice.

Well, I ran into Ralph Bury for the first time in a long while, so he was a natural test subject. Only the one whip photo really popped (and since he didn't land it, I probably shouldn't even use it—but it's not like he's never done a whip before). And I had to take a shot of his mangled Macneil SL. It's broken in half, the padding is gone, AND it's completely covered in electrical tape. Sort of a Macneil Junior. (Someone send him a seat!)




I wanted to link directly to Joel Moody's bike check on the T1 site, but apparently I'm not l33t enough to figure out how. Anyhoo, Mr. Moody's bike is rad—and he's a good dude to boot. You can (and should) preorder his latest work now.

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Not really. I just wanted to use the title of a Friday the 13th movie on Friday the 13th. (My all-time favorite Friday the 13th flick remains The Final Chapter. Crispin Glover, Corey Feldman, and hot naked twins. It honestly doesn't get much better than that. I think I still have it on VHS somewhere.) And I know I've said it before (and lied) but I really do intend to update more often.

SRSLY.

Anyway, it's in the 50s, so I might actually go ride (!) today, but first I wanted to post up a few items of interest that I've run across. (And a random fisheyed photo of my now-disassembled Sunday—I put my Edwin back together for the longer rear triangle.)

• Remember the Sunday Vinnie frame I posted about yesterday? Now you can win one. I don;t really condone ordering from Dan's Comp (Empire 4 lYfe), but winning contests from them is fine. Free is free.

• The 2007 Bicycle Film Festival is coming up on May 19th (well, that whole weekend). Plenty of BMX stuff going on—the premiere of Etnies new epic, "Grounded" (click that and this to view the RIDICULOUS trailers) and an FBM-sponsored bunnyhop contest in the street outside the theater. And you can submit your own short video as well. But the deadline is Sunday, so you might want to get on that.

• Brian Tunney's oddly named blog is home to some great interviews he's conducted. The Vic Ayala one, particularly (everyone who rides should read and learn). Taj is good, too.

• If someone were to send me a 21" white Stricker frame, I wouldn't be upset.

OK, time to go outside.

Spring? Please?

Got back from Arizona (where I was visiting fam) early this A.M., and landed at JFK to find rain and sub-40-degree weather. What the hell is going on here? I was tempted to get right back on the plane and make them take me back to AZ.

So...yeah. In the meantime I'm waiting on some new stuff to beautify my ride (since I can't, you know, RIDE IT), and surfing the Net. The usual stuff.

(Big ups to Vinnie Sammon, by the way, for getting some signature love from Sunday. Been a long time coming.)

And here's a lovely self-portrait of me from the Grand Canyon. The first two people who commented on it said it looked fake. It isn't. Nikon D50 with a 10.5 fisheye. Sunglasses were $5 at Wal-Mart. Holla. And note the T1 Garrett shirt. I was gonna send the photo to Joe actually, but then I thought, no, that's stupid. Is it?