Six Pack Race

A video by Luke Stiles. The last day of the NYC Velo tour was decided by a six pack drinking contest.

Wednesday-Memorial Bike Ride for Brad

Yesterday there was a protest at the Mexican Consulate in NYC to demand justice for the killing of Brad Will, independent journalist who was shot dead in Oaxaca.

Here is a link to a media roundup of yesterday's protest including 2 videos taken yesterday.

This is a response from the Will Family:

"We are grieving over the tragic and senseless loss of Brad's life. Brad's friends and family admired his brave support for the downtrodden and willingness to act tirelessly upon his convictions. We believe he died doing what he loved. We will all miss Brad's compassionate, loving and adventurous spirit and it is our hope that his life's work reporting on the human struggle will never be forgotten."

Tomorrow there will be a memorial bike ride for Brad.
Bike Rides for Oaxaca!
friends of Brad will.org

If you are in New York City,
join the Friends of Brad Will
this Wednesday, November 1st for a Bike Ride
in Solidarity with the People of Oaxaca!

We are meeting this Wednesday at 1 pm at 40th St & West Side Highway (12th Ave)
and will be riding to:
1. Expose the commercial media’s distortion of the current situation in Oaxaca.
2. Raise awareness about the capitalist forces in our city that are benefiting from the continued repression of the people’s movement.
3. Highlight the hypocrisy of the Mexican government holding a seat on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

If you are not in New York City,
we are calling on people from around the world
to join the Zapatista call for November 1st actions
in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca
by organizing a Bike Ride for this Wednesday
or As Soon As Possible!

Kevin Dillard of DemonCats

Kevin Dillard of Demoncats took great pictures of the 2006 Halloween Alleycat in NYC.

the pix

Here are the results of the race posted on NYBMA

60 people raced, and only a few more than 30 finished the 35 mile course that took us from Thompkins Square park up to 153rd street, down to the bottom of Manhattan, and out to Carrol Gardens and Sunset Park before finally ending in Bushwick. Twentyfive mile per-hour wind gusts made this brutal course even more difficult.

Top Men
1. Ken
2. Yatika
3. Cali

Top Women
1. Heidi
2. Dagga

The 2nd annual All about the Benjamin's race had three racers who managed to survive the Halloween race. Austin, Hugo, and Crihs dropped $100 for the winner take all, 31 mile, midnight race.

1. Austin
2. Hugo
3. Crihs (DNF)

Tod Seelie's pictures of Bike Kill 06

Tod Seelie of Suckapants blog took great pictures of Bike Kill 06

everyday I live pictures

Report of Halloween Critical Mass on Friday in NYC

a report from Brian Mcgloin on the Critical Mass and Time's Up afterparty.

Bike Kill 2006

Photo by Josh Whitesnake

Amazing weekend. Bike Kill was awesome as usual. Lots of participation.
Here are some pix
photo by: Bike Fever...on Flickr.com

Bike Fever's
and
Photo by Violent Grind

the best pictures of jousting I have seen.
the violent grind

Josh Whitesnake of Mess NYC has a good photo report of this weekend events.

Goldsprints NYC video

Ken Stanek was the big winner this weekend. First he came in 2nd place in qualifing time at the Goldsprints series at Lulu's in Greenpoint on Friday night...then he won the Halloween race the next day. DAMN.


This is an ongoing series. For two more Friday's in November, you can qualify for the your best time in a 200 meter indoor race. Then the best time's will battle it out on Friday, November 17th.

Lulu's Lounge is located at 113 Franklin St. just off of Greenpoint Ave. in beautiful Greenpoint Brookyln.

Come race.

7-9pm. $5.00 to enter, $1.00 each race. Race until you get your best time.

Rest in Peace Brad

Brad Will, was killed in Oaxaca Mexico on Friday by paramilitaries who did not want him reporting on the killing and brutalization of the local residents who have been staging a 5 month occupation of their city.
Brad is a friend of mine. He was a tireless activist, journalist and environmentalist. I have been on many front lines with Brad staring down the barrel of over-reaction and militarization of the police force who are used by the corporation as security gaurds to enforce their plunder of the planet. Brad was there to say no and stand-up for equality, but he was also there as a journalist, reporting on the stories that aren't meant to be heard. Brad took it to the highest level. He helped set up independent media centers in Latin America, he traveled the world, he kept his camera rolling on the truth and eventually it took his life.

He died doing what he loved. We always talked about tactics, cameras and about..."getting that shot."

Brad was also a hard working local activist, working on the grass roots issues of our community. He was a cyclist and was passionate about riding.

I will miss you brother. Thanks for all you have done for us and your never ending love for the people. You will be greatly missed.

Here is an account of local Oaxaca activists who had an eye-witness report of Brad's murder.

NOTE: This account is not meant to be a complete account of the day, it is meant to be from the perspectives and experiences of two people in the midst of what can only be described as a battle in the streets of Santa Lucia, in Oaxaca. We know that other things happened in other neighborhoods, and that other things probably happened in our vicinity. This is our best effort at capturing the events that we experienced and witnessed.

On Thursday night, Barricade Three in Santa Lucia del Camino set up a little earlier than normal. Reinforcing the barricades for Friday's day of action required more trucks and buses than usual. At times, it was a chaotic scene with camión after camión joining the barricade and people unsure of where they should go. Eventually things calmed down. Many more people than usual guarded the barricade and the tranquility of the night had many regulars taking time to lie down, if not sleep. As day broke, the barricade took on the feel of a community holiday or small block party with small children running about. At what felt like an informal pot-luck, people brought tortillas and beans, sandwiches, bread, and arroz con leche. Most chose to not cover their faces, despite this being a regular practice at the barricades. Up to this point, the only "contentious" moment was the permitted approached of a chicken truck that surprised several people.

Sudenly, about a dozen people started shouting, donning masks, picking up Molotov cocktails (known as bombas Molotov) and cohetes (large bottle rockets typically shit out of PVC pipes the people call bazookas), and collecting rocks and sticks. A small group moved forward to see why a truck that was part of the barricade (about 200 feet away) was moving and investigate a commotion on the other side of that barricade. After advancing about 100 feet, the group spotted 150 to 200 Príistas (supporters of the authoritarian PRI party that ruled Mexico for 70 years and currently "rule" the state of Oaxaca) marching toward the barricade. The cohetes were fired into the air to warn the Príistas not to approach. The warning was ignored.

The tiny group of defenders fell back to the barricade and gathered more supplies. It was a chaotic situation. Prioritizing in the moment, a split second decision was made to leave our bags, in part because rocks from the Príistas were already falling where our bags lay. As we sprinted down side streets to the closest barricade, there were shouts for children to go inside their homes to safety. At the next barricade, people were banging on poles and railing to sound the alarm and rally the neighborhood to fight the Príista advance. People came out of their homes and armed themselves with sticks, machetes, metal poles, cohetes and rocks. Once a fairly large crowd had gathered several people started shouting "Vamos, compañerQos, Vamos!" (Let's go) and "Avanza!" (advance). People began advancing to the fallen barricade and the Príistas, spreading out along the width of the four-lane highway, it's median, and sidewalks. Both sides fired their cohetes, and as we drew nearer rocks started flying from both sides. We pushed the Príistas back passed the remnants of the now disassembled barricade. There was a lull of about thirty seconds as we populated the area around the barricade before many decided to chase the still-visible Príistas only about 100 feet away from us. Though most of them retreated faster than we advanced, one unlucky Príistas was forced to choose his own safety and well-being over that of his fancy SUV. The look of regret was visible on his face as rocks crashed to the ground around him and he turned and ran. The SUV, lacking a license plate, briefly became the target instead of the retreating Príistas. Tires slashed, windows smashed, someone decided to ensure that it was beyond use and set it ablaze. While some focused their attention on the SUV, some continued to chase the Príistas. Most Príistas had scattered into nearby homes and businesses, so people re-grouped back at the barricade.

As we all clustered in the intersection, the two of us looked around and estimated that there were at least 500 people ready to defend their neighborhood. We were both amazed by what we were seeing. Neither of us had ever witnessed such an incredible display of collective self-defense. We both nearly cried at the inspiring sight of people successfully working together to ward off aggression without centralized leadership. The barricade reclaimed, sandbags replaced, and the Príistas pushed back, the battle appeared for a few moments, to be over.

We're unsure as to the exact reason for the second advance, but we believe that Príistas were again spotted at the next intersection where they had scattered minutes before. As we cautiously advanced, walking in cover when possible, shots were heard from the intersection and everyone ducked or ran for cover. Many corporate news outlets, most notably those relying on AP "reporter" Rebeca Romero (widely believed to be on Ulises Ruiz's payroll), have claimed it was "unclear" as to who shot first. It was the Príistas. From the ground, on the receiving end of the gunfire, there is no doubt as to who shot first. There is nothing "unclear" about it. It was the Príistas, shown by El Universal photos and local television to be armed to the teeth, who shot first. After the shooting stopped, the group moved quickly to the other side of the road and to the corner where the shots had originated from. The attacking Príistas had retreated back away from the highway and deeper into the neighborhood. Fifty to 100 people slowly advanced north a block into the neighborhood while 200 people gradually moved up, either by going north, or approaching it from the west by way of the barricade. Again the group moved north, taking cover by vehicles parked along the street. In addition to shooters at the far end of the street, more Príistas were taking cover inside a building along the street. The building was targeted with Molotovs, rocks, bricks, and cohetes. Someone kicked the door in before Príistas down the street started shooting again and we had to retreat back to the end of the block. This gave the Príistas time to close and blockade the door. A few attempts with similar results gave way to milling about, as we waited for reinforcements. One block west towards the barricade, about 100 people had gathered to take cover from additional Príistas on that street. Soon we heard a truck roar to life and a few minutes later, compañeros in a dump truck came to provide shielding for another advance. In the first such advance, the truck went too far down the road, shooting started again, at which point we fell back to the end of the block. Most waited there while the truck maneuvered itself horizontally across the street in front of the gate of the targeted building. Once the truck was ready, another advance began and the truck smashed open the gate. Another round of shooting began, and again everyone took cover and began to withdraw.

At this point, Brad Will, an Indymedia reporter from New York, was shot in the abdomen as he was filming. Many people ran to carry him around the block and down the street. As we waited for a car to arrive to take him to the hospital, efforts were made to keep him conscious and breathing, including CPR. As Brad showed signs of consciousness and movement, the crowd surrounding him cheered. He was carried into a car and driven to the hospital. Moments later, as people were still taking in what happened, it started to rain. People gathered up the Molotovs and cohetes and got them out of the rain. About a half hour later, people started to gradually head back to the barricade.

When we arrived at the barricade, we learned from a teary-eyed compañero that Brad had died on his way to the hospital. People from APPO such as Flavo Sosa arrived at the scene and were attempting to coordinate with the rest of the city where there had been other attacks. Hundreds of bottles were being filled and prepared as Molotov cocktails. Thanks to the help of several compañeras, we recovered one of our bags; though the other which contained a passport, several forms of id, travelers checks, over $1,000 pesos (most of which was intended to be used for the barricade), a video camera, is gone and was presumably stolen by the Príistas. Hundreds remained at the barricade for the night. The two of us went to a compañero's house to rest, write and watch the news.

As of this writing, the Príistas have set up their own barricades within the neighborhood, APPO has activated the mobile brigades, 4 or 5 people have died, dozens injured, and barricade 3 remains up, reinforced, and alert. Among the attackers were local municipal police (such as Abel Santiago Zárate and Juan Carlos Soriano Velasco) and politicians/PRI thugs (such Manuel Aguilar and Pedro Carmona, the man identified as Brad Will's killer), all from the neighborhood. Though the two of us had slightly differing expectations of how the day would pan out, neither of us expected an attack of this kind or magnitude in broad daylight. The diversity of people who fought the Príista attackers was astounding. We saw young kinds helping to gather cohetes and Molotovs. We saw old women armed with rocks making their way to the front. We saw people wearing circle As, hammer and sickles, and people who didn't wear their political identity on their sleeves. In the end, it didn't matter who you were, only what side you stood on.

La lucha sigue; the struggle continues.

"Tenemos dos manos y un corazón para luchar."

"We have two hands and a heart to struggle."

--CIPO-RFM

Two Poggers in Oaxaca

PS

We didn't know Brad before meeting him here in Oaxaca, and wish to direct you to accounts of his life that are better than anything we would be able to write. Our thoughts go to his family, friends, and loved ones.
------------------------------------
illustration of Brad from FLY:


Brad's final video footage:
video

Response of Brad Will's death on NYC indymedia center
October 29, 2006
New York City

Brad Will was killed on October 27, 2006, in Oaxaca, Mexico, while working as a journalist for the global Indymedia network. He was shot in the torso while documenting an armed, paramilitary assault on the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, a fusion of striking local teachers and other community organizations demanding democracy in Mexico.

The members of the New York City Independent Media Center mourn the loss of this inspiring colleague and friend. We want to thank everyone who has sent condolences to our office and posted remembrances to www.nyc.indymedia.org. We share our grief with the people of our city and beyond who lived, worked, and struggled with Brad over the course of his dynamic but short life. We can only imagine the pain of the people of Oaxaca who have lost seven of their neighbors to this fight, including Emilio Alonso Fabian, a teacher, and who now face an invasion by federal troops.

All we want in compensation for his death is the only thing Brad ever wanted to see in this world: justice.

We, along with all of Brad's friends, reject the use of further state-sponsored violence in Oaxaca.
The New York City Independent Media Center supports the demand of Reporters Without Borders for a full and complete investigation by Mexican authorities into Oaxaca State Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz's continued use of plain-clothed municipal police as a political paramilitary force. The arrest of his assailants is not enough.
The NYC IMC also supports the call of Zapatista Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos "to compañeros and compañeras in other countries to unite and to demand justice for this dead compañero." Marcos issued this call "especially to all of the alternative media, and free media here in Mexico and in all the world."
Indymedia was born from the Zapatista vision of a global network of alternative communication against neoliberalism and for humanity. To believe in Indymedia is to believe that journalism is either in the service of justice or it is a cause of injustice. We speak and listen, resist and struggle. In that spirit, Brad Will was both a journalist and a human rights activist.

He was a part of this movement of independent journalists who go where the corporate media do not or stay long after they are gone. Perhaps Brad's death would have been prevented if Mexican, international, and US media corporations had told the story of the Oaxacan people. Then those of us who live in comfort would not only be learning now about this 5 month old strike, or about this 500 year old struggle.

And then Brad might not have felt the need to face down those assassins in Oaxaca holding merely the ineffective shields of his US passport and prensa extranjera badge. Then Brad would not have joined the fast-growing list of journalists killed in action, or the much longer list of those killed in recent years by troops defending entrenched, unjust power in Latin America.

Still, those of us who knew Brad know that his work would never have been completed. From the community gardens of the Lower East Side to the Movimento Sem Terra encampments of Brazil, he would have continued to travel to where the people who make this world a beautiful place are resisting those who would cause it further death and destruction. Now, in his memory, we will all travel those roads. We are the network, all of us who speak and listen, all of us who resist.
-----------------------------------
Related news articles:
Village voice
alternet
daily news

Goldsprints series in Brooklyn

What could be more frightening than seeing Mike Dee commando on a couch in Vegas? Not much...

Halloween weekend kicks off with...
Tonight starts a 4 time weekly Gold Sprints Race series in Greenpoint. LuLu's Lounge 113 Franklin St. @ Greenpoint Ave. in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
Each Friday night you can have the chance to qualify with the best time on an indoor roller race. $5 to enter, $1.00 each race.

Tonight is the first night from 7-9pm, then there will be a group ride to the Time's Up fundraiser party in Manhattan.
----------------------
Here is an article on Goldsprints

GoldSprints Expand on National Cycling Phenomenon

News Released: September 28, 2006

(PRLEAP.COM) It began in Zurich, Switzerland during the 1999 Cycle
Messenger World Championships. Popularized by legends like Major Taylor
roller races were a vastly popular activity until the 1960's. It took
messengers and other 'underground' bike subcultures to realize a
revival. Modern configurations feature 2D and 3D visualization allowing
anyone to be a rock star in front of a huge crowd of ecstatic friends

Get Sum organizers, Mike Dee and Hodari De Palm debuted the set up at
2005's Cycle Messenger World Championships in New York City and
expanded to six American cities: NYC, Philly, DC, Boston, Baltimore,
and now Las Vegas. With their superior equipment set-up and iconic
status in NYC's messenger scene they've evolved to showcase the first
GoldSprints Series starting this Halloween in New York.

GoldSprints have the excitement, competition and community aspects of
messenger style street racing without the potential for major injury or
death. It can quickly and safely be organized in a party, party venue
or on stage.

GoldSprints can be hired for events allowing urban athletes from all
walks of life to get in on the excitement. Sponsorship is available for
a wide range of opportunities from equipment, transportation to
tournament prizes for participants. Sponsors getting in now will have
and undeniable right to be considered authentic and original as the
scene grows.

"The first time that I ever saw GoldSprints, it was the coolest thing
ever. Everyone wanted to keep it going." says Mike Dee, co-owner of Get
Sum Entertainment and star of the messenger documentary Red Light Go.
He is often citied as an authority on NYC messenger events and culture
through: VH1's can't get a date and Nerve.com's "Sex Advice" anthology
under the Chronicle Books imprint. Sponsorship, as well as event
inquiries from individuals and organizations should be directed to Mike
Dee at goldsprintsnyc

Getaway

Go biker go. Hmmm I don't think this is real but it looks cool.

Swiss TV honors 2nd place female messenger

So the second fastest Female messenger in the world is Anja Raecher from Zurich.
Here is a picture of Anja

Anja won her crown in the World Messenger championships in Australia.
Here is a Zurich tv report:

tv report

here is a report from Australian tv on the worlds:
tv report

here is a link to more pictures from the CWMC 06:
pix

Community website for European Messengers:
messsenger

Vlad is Rad

Vladimir Teichberg, otherwise know as Vlad...has done some cool things with video. He is a member of the glass bead collective who does cool projections at parties and has contributed to a number of documentaries about protests such as Mandate and Watch This! about the Republican National Convention. Along with Chrisitian, he came up with this simple but cool rig to video critical mass...and he got an article in this week's Time Out

NYPD sucks

Did I mention that. So does our so-called civic leadership. What the fuck is the problem with these city council people? We elect people like Council speaker Christine Quinn and then they stab us in the back and applaude the police for their new parade regulations? We are not a free society. They say the terrorists hate our freedom? Like the freedom to go to the police and beg for their permission to have a bike ride???

Ok I'm calming down, 10...9...8...ok...whew.

Here is a recap of what is going on.

October 18th the NY Times annouced that the Police had redifined what a parade is and that people would have to ask for a permit in order to have a "parade."

Manhattan: New Rules for Parade Permits

By AL BAKER
Published: October 18, 2006
The New York Times

After recent court rulings found the Police Department's parade regulations too vague, the department is moving to require parade permits for groups of 10 or more bicyclists or pedestrians who plan to travel more than two city blocks without complying with traffic laws. It is also pushing to require permits for groups of 30 or more bicyclists or pedestrians who obey traffic laws. The new rules are expected to be unveiled in a public notice today. The department will discuss them at a hearing on Nov. 27. Norman Siegel, a lawyer whose clients include bicyclists, said the new rules "raise serious civil liberties issues."


Here is my translation of what this is all about:

We the NYPD have been royally embarassed at our failed attempts to stop a peaceful, non-confrontational bike ride known as critical mass. We have tried every trick in the book...orange nets, violent arrests, stealing bikes, lying to people, using under cover cops, wasting tax resources with helicopters which end up spying on people making out on roofs. Faslifing video footage, dooring people, raming them with scooters...it just hasn't worked. Often times things have backfired like we crashed into each other on our scooters and the same people we are trying to arrest ended up being an EMT and helping our fallen officers. We have been investigated by the NYtimes, we have gotten thrown out of Federal court, thrown out of State court. We just can't get one over on these damn bike riders who have been doing this ride for 10 years without a problem. We were told that critical mass is a violent group who stops traffic and loves Sadam Hussien and ever since the Republican National Convention in 2004 we haven't been able to stop this damn thing which really doesn't break the law and hardly ties up trafffic any more than every day in Midtown when we shut down Time's square so Justin Timberlake can perform on MTV. So we are trying a 2nd attempt to define what a parade is...we think we finally got them this time and instead of having this agreed on by a wide range of the city council we are defining what the rules are and besides Christine Quinn likes it so...there.

So here we go again.

Here is what Christine Quinn said in response to the police taking upon themselves to decide what is legal and illegal:

STATEMENT BY SPEAKER CHRISTINE C. QUINN

Re: NYPD Parade Regulations

The New York City Police Department's proposed regulations for when and what activities will require parade permits are a substantial improvement over regulations proposed earlier.

We are very pleased that the NYPD was receptive to our suggestions for a practical approach to traffic and public safety issues.

New York City is a symbol of creativity and free expression for people around the world. It is difficult to balance the protection of civil liberties with the need for public order. We believe that the newly proposed rules have struck a better balance. We hope that the Police Department will carefully consider all the comments that they receive from individuals and groups during this public comment period. We hope too that the Police Department will be open to additional suggestions of ways to better balance the competing interests at stake.

Here is my translation of what Christine Quinn is saying:

"New York City is a symbol of creativity and free expression for people around the world. So I think it is perfectly ok for the NYPD to do what ever it thinks is best to stop one of the greatest events of creativity and free expression, like critical mass. I also think its ok for the NYPD to define the rules and not have it be decided on by the city council as a representative form of governance. After all the NYPD know best. I don't care what the evidence says or what the NY Times reports on. I will turn a blind eye, much like my mayor and never address the real issues of our civil liberties being flushed down the toliet. For example when he invites 5,000 republicans to have a party here, we will imprision 1,000 demonstators in a toxic bus depot for 48 hours and continue to wage war on free speech and free expression. Lets clog up the courts with arrests that get thrown out and confiscate bicycles and yes lets spend thousands of dollars to stop a monthly bike ride that goes on in 300 cities around the world. Now I hope Mayor Bloomberg will give me a raise."

Please go to: assemble for rights to learn more about what is going on.

Here is what Tod said on suckapants

This just in from Time's Up, the NYPD has given it another go redifining their unconstitutional parade law (the main crutch of their Critical Mass persecution). Unfortunately it seems to have appeased important early opponents, such as Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. Blurb from the NY Times below, more info at OnNYTurf and Razor Apple. Looks like the famous Halloween ride might be the last one before we return to the days of arresting hippies on bikes in NYC again. Sigh.

Oh, and PS. Apparently there is also a provision in the works to make it a crime to PROMOTE any such "illegal" activity. That's right, you are now no longer allowed to say what you want about what you want. But wait, I'm sure you knew that already. Anyone else see that movie V For Vendetta?

also visit:

streets blog
On Ny Turf
Time's Up
and
razor apple

BIKE KILL 06

The funest day ever on two wheels...two bikes...welded together!

Noon...Saturday October 28th...Black Label's bike kill 06

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED>>>now go.

In another of the important high priority category of what the city needs...we find another lame duck...no, not a Jets stadium on the West side highway or a NASCAR track on Staten Island. This time its a giant water park on Randall's Island. Now not to be a spoiler of anyone's wet fun...but my first thought is...have you ever been to Randall's island besides for a rock concert? The place smells...bad. Not the kind of smell that would make me want to frolic in a giant wave pool with thousands of New Yorkers. What needs to be happening with Randall's Island is for it to stop being a dumping ground and start to embrace the nature. One person who knows a lot about this is environmentalist and community activist Harry Bubbins. Harry has done tireless work in organizing and protecting of community gardens in the South Bronx, leading environmental bike and kayak tours and working with young people to gain a better understanding of their environment.

Harry has been focusing his efforts on fighting the water park and more info on his work can be found at friends of Brook park

Now you can help by sponsering Harry in a triatholon...here is a letter from Harry:

Dear Friends,

As you know, I have been working hard to stop the water theme park on
Randall's Island and to preserve this rich resource for all New Yorkers.

This Saturday I am going to be in a triathlon for the cause, and I need you
to sponsor me!

Even just $1 a mile will go a long way to helping our lawyers push this case
through to victory for all of us.

Please make a donation at:

preserve Randall's island

and to learn more. (And to see a picture of me at the only other triathlon
I have ever done!)

Please pass this on to your friends and family and colleagues with a note.

Our goal is $1,000 in one week.

I will be thinking about you and your support as I run, bike and kayak the
approximately 19 mile course.

Sincerely,

Harry

Down Under...

I would love to just report on fun cycling events all the time...unfortunately the NYPD is once again proceeding with the enormous stick up their ass and trying to stop critical mass once and for all, thus spoiling the fun.

More on that later.

Meanwhile, this weekend Sydney Australia played host to the 14th annual World Cycle Messenger Championships

Messengers from around the world competed in alleycat races, closed course races and specific skill competitions like trackstands and skids, all to see who is the fastest messenger in the world.

Here are the results:

RESULTS:

Main Race
World Champion Male -
1st Raphael Faiss/ Lusanne
2nd Super Mike / San Francisco
3rd Rob Beijsens/ Eindhoven

Female -
1st Sarah Torgrimson/ San Francisco
2nd Anja Raecher/ Zurich
3rd Emma James / Sydney

Main Race first fixed - Male
Shino / Tokyo
Female
Sarah / San Francisco

Alley Cats King of the streets -
Crazy Dave / Sydney
Best out of towner - Bruce Beran / D.C.

Sprints Male Rob Beijsens/ Eindhoven

Female Mary Maroon/ Sacramento

Skids Male Alex Farioletti/ NYC

Female Sarah Torgrimson/ San Francisco

Trackstand Male Andy Zalan / DC

Female Sarah / San Francisco

Backward circles Male Andy Zalan / DC

Female Megan / LA

Bunny Hop Turkey / Sydney

Wheelies Distance Felipe / NYC

Style Andy Zalan / DC

Here is an article from ABC news in Australia which came out Oct. 2nd.

article by Mark Colvin

you can also listen to the story at this link on MP3, real audio or WIndows media player.

Last night on the 11 o'clock news

Last night on CBS local news, there was a story about Jacob Redding who has been videotaping on the critical mass rides. Reporter Ti Hua Chang, who has been good at following up on these types of critical mass abuse related stories investigates weather or not you can video tape police activity.

Here is a video link to the story.

A transcript of the story can be found on onnyturf.com

Basically, the police can force you to stop activities if YOU are being arrested and NOT if you are observing, as long as you are not interfering with the arrest...which the police can always say that you are. It is clear that the videographers were video tapping police harrassment of the critical mass riders from the sidewalk and NOT interfering in the arrest of Jacob Redding, who was being arrested and had his camera damaged by another officer.

My tips to video people from several years of offensive protesting is:

1) the police CAN and Will try and break your equipment, confiscate your stuff and disrupt your legal documenting of their wrongful activity as much as they can. I have seen just about every trick in the book, such as physical assaults, shooting at camera people with Non-lethal weapons, even telling local residents to steal peoples video equipment.

2) be aware of your surroundings, keep cameras close to your body, try to be stealth and not let people know your shooting, although sometimes your documenting of the situation may protect you.

3) always keep the camera rolling when you are in a hostile situation. Try and get cops badges, names, street signs and as much information that you can.

4) it is always good to remove the tape and put it in a safe place after illegal activity is taking place.

5) who knows, your footage may be used in a major networks report and that is BAD press for the NYPD.

Craigs list bike pictures

Wouldn't it be cool if you could go to a site and just browse bikes for sale on craigs list in pictures. Now you can. Ryan alerted me about this site.

updated daily.

Build a Green Bakery...Bike Friendly

I first saw this on streetsblog. An eco-friendly bakery that gives 50% off to people arriving by bicycle. I asked the owner about it and she wrote back...

"Thanks for the email. Offering such a friendly discount to bicycling bakery customers is an effort to reach an enviromentally-friendly customer that is just as concerned about alternative transportation as they are organic & sustainably produced foods.

We think of ourselves as the greenest bakery on the planet: the floors, walls, paints, organic ingredients, staff uniforms, and energy practices - you name it. But we don't want our "green-ness" to stop at our front door. We want to encourage other businesses and home owners to green their environments, so we are happy to grant tours and talk to groups about why we think green construction is important. We want to encourage walking, use of public transportation, and bicycles as alternatives to cars, so we offer discounts to cyclists. I guess you could say that it started when a customer came from Brooklyn via bike just to get a muffin from our bakery. We thought that was so great for someone to travel on bike from another borough just for our muffin, that we started offering discounts to customers arriving on bike."

Sara Jane Weeks
General Manager
Birdbath, a k a Build A Green Bakery, a k a The City Bakery
www.buildagreenbakery.com

The greenest bakery on the planet.

223 First Ave. in Manhattan.

Spreading the word on a bike Creep.

This was originally posted on the NYBMA website and I want to spread the word:

PEDESTRIAN ASSAULTED BY MESSENGER
Last week, a pedestrian was sexually assaulted by a messenger who used his agility in traffic to evade her, a cab, and a cop. Behaviour like this is NOT cool, and the bicycle community cannot condone it. If you think you might know who this guy is, please alert the NYBMA with information on him. Our frequently maligned public image doesn't need stuff like this. The pedestrian's letter to Squid & Amy is below:

"I'm hoping you can get the word out about a bike messenger that assaulted me on Madison Avenue at 33rd Street on Wednesday 10/11 at about 2:30pm.

I was walking on Madison towards a car that was waiting for me when a bike messenger riding towards me made a sharp turn at me, mumbled something and grabbed my breast as he rode past. I chased after him, as did a cab driver who witnessed the event, and even a police officer tried to catch him on foot, but he weaved in an out of traffic and got away.

He was a scrawny dark-skinned man wearing a beat up, dark colored bag that had 4 rows of what looked like taped-over or removed block lettering and/or numbers on the flap.

I think it's a shame that there is a messenger out there sexually assaulting women on the street while taking advantage of his ability to make a quick getaway through traffic. While he may have enjoyed himself, I've been unable to sleep and am furious at myself for not knocking his ass off his bike when he got too close. I have an enormous amount of respect for cyclist in the city and never dreamed he was swerving at me to grab my breast, I simply assumed he was swerving away from a car. Unfortunately I was wrong, but will certainly never make that mistake again."

PLEASE EVERYBODY WATCH OUT FOR THIS CREEP! If you know him please contact the NYBMA.

October 21st. Graffitti Ride

Saturday, October 21st is the Graffiti Tour Ride hosted by three photobloggers, Jake Dobkin, Mike Epstein and Will Sherman.

This will be a bike tour of local graffiti artists work.

Check out the website for more info.

The ride meets at 12:00 PM at the corner of Pitt and Delancey in Manhattan.

Brooklyn Critical Mass 10/13/06

I got a chance to ride in the Brooklyn Critical Mass on Friday the 13th...ooooh scary! About 20 of us bikers met at the Park at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Brooklyn side. This is a nice park and home to inline skaters and skateboarders who spend hours grinding the steps of the George Washington statue in the middle of the park. Its a good place too for the youth of today...better then some lame skate park that the city could build for them...but that would take away important space needed for unaffordable luxury condominiums. It was cold with a chill in the air singaling that fall is here and Winter is coming soon.
We rode out of Williamsburg and into Bushwick, a place where bikes are often not welcome. We were welcomed with occasional cheers and someone throwing a potato at one of our heads. We darted through the urban maze of barber shops and converted warehouses and arrived at a morbid art show on Bogart Street. It was the Gimme Head show at the Ad Hoc Art gallery, 49 Bogart St. Dennis McNett curated this show of 50 artists renditions of heads-sculpted, drawn, printed and projected. I liked the nazi skull mickey mouse and Tod Sealie's series of roadkill photos...yummy. It made me hungry for the cheese spread and $2.00 Pabst. I was scared Austin was going to eat all the blue cheese, but he held back. So the Williamsburg half of the critical mass went to the art show to wait for the Grand Army Plaza half who reluctantly journeyed into the heart of BUSHWICK (NOT East Williamsburg...ok) They arrived after about 20 minutes of art viewing with the scooter brigade of cops who have been peacefully monitoring the ride since it began. One officer asked some people outside of the gallery if the ride was over...we said yes. The cops left. Hmmm. How to get rid of the cops? Just go to some art show and tell them the ride is over...then wait for them to leave and proceed with the ride. This works in Brooklyn. So after trying to pull people away from the warm gallery and cheap beer the mass reformed and took off, just in time because the gallery brought out the meat balls. The we rode back through Bushwick and under the J Train on Broadway. Some people wanted to go to the Recycle-a-Bike party in Dumbo, part of the Dumbo arts fest and others wanted to go to the King Kog party in Williamsburg. Decisions decisions. I headed over to King Kog, the track bike boutique who have rearranged their store on Marcy St, and have cool merchendise like vinyl tube pads...sweet. They also had lots of free beer donated by Crumpler.

Here is a little movie from the ride.

Amy and Squid win the MCA

(Squid in the middle holding Markus Cook Award-Amy was away on business)


a few pictures here.
Monday Night was Messenger Appreciation night which was a party to celebrate the hard work of NYC couriers. This gathering was an opportunity to award the Markus Cook Memorial Award to Squid and Amy.

Read more about it from Joe Hendry:

The International Federation of Bike Messenger Associations (IFBMA) announces the 2006 "Markus Cook Memorial Award" (MCA) for Services to the International Messenger Community

The MCA was conceived as a way for the international messenger community to thank it's most dedicated workers. Nominations are sought from the messenger community for those individuals who have done most for us, for those who have consistently put the rest of us before them.

This year's recipients are Amy and Kevin "Squid" Bolger of New York City who are being honored for their work with the New York messenger community and their contributions to messenger communities around the world. Their contributions separately and jointly range from working as tireless volunteers throughout the world, to organizing major events, to being among the formative members of the New York Bike Messenger Association and the New York Bike Messenger Foundation.

These organizations seek to improve the lot of local messengers through the empowerment and knowledge of such projects as the New York City Messenger Industry Handbook and they serve the community by providing crucial services like an accident fund to aid injured messengers.

In 2005 Amy and Kevin Bolger were among the successful organizers of the monumental task of hosting the Cycle Messenger World Championships in the city with the largest population of messengers in the industrialized world.

Their imaginative and innovative work with new sponsors brought success to unique events like the Velo City Tour and the Body Glove Challenge. The recently completed Velo City Tour rewarded 6 champion messengers with round trip tickets to the Cycle Messenger World Championships in Sydney Australia. The Velo City Tour also brought messengers rare national television coverage as professional athletes.

Squid's pioneering work with Team Puma and Amy's insightful photographic portraits continue to inspire others, challenge the historically narrow view of messengers and expand the diverse opportunities for messengers in the future.

Tonight is Messenger Appreciation Night

Come share, come drink...come appreciate.

Critical Mass rolls on.

This is a really late posting, since Critical Mass was about 5 days ago...oh well.

So I missed another one by being away in Las Vegas for Interbike 2006. There was talk of doing a post convention ride, a la Critical Mass, which would be a hoot down the strip, but we didn't make that either.

So the city is making moves to make the NYC more bike friendly, but clearly not budging on their personal vendetta with the freely formed critical mass.

Here is one account of Friday's ride sent to me by Elizabeth, it was her first ride:

I thought I would send a quick email to pass along the story of my
first critical mass. Perhaps you were there last night and experienced
the chaos the police created at the beginning of the ride. My
boyfriend and I were towards the back of the pack and we were able to
ride by the first group of cops without incident. However, soon after
we turned east on 20th street and hooked up with a few other riders
the cops showed up again on their mopeds. We were all obeying all
traffic lights and there was only a group of about 7-8 of us at that
moment. One cop began driving very close to a cyclist and pinning him
to the far side of the street eventually driving him into the back of
a parked car. A girl stopped to scream at the cops because it was so
outragous. My boyfriend and I went back to union Square with a few
other guys and got one of the green capped guys to come back to the
scene with us. The cops were just finishing ticketing the two of them
for not having head lights. Luckily the guy was okay. The green capped
guy took down all of our information and said someone should get in
touch with us.
Is this the kind of shit the cops are getting away with every month?

This was the first critical mass I have experienced and I am
relatively new to cycling in NYC. My boyfriend is an avid cyclist and
has been commuting to NJ everyday using his bike and the train for the
past year. (He emailed you some picture of ticketing in Central Park a
few months ago if you recall, his name is Alex Kahl) So we both
finally got out to critical mass last night, excited to ride through
the city with a bunch of like-minded people.
My initial impression was somewhat dissapointing as there appeared to
be little to no leadership in regards to where we ride, when we ride
and how we ride. There were many others like us who were out there for
the first time and I fear many of them will not return. The cops seem
to have perfected their fear tactics so that critical mass has been
severely crippled the past few months. For all of us with both
front/back lights and bells there is no reason why we can't just ride
down the street together without cops harrassing us or driving us into
cars.
Some of the ideas we've thrown around over this past day, would be to
split into 4 groups and all ride different directions meeting up at
colombus circle or somehwere central. This would make the cops job
exponentially more difficult. Another thought would be to ride up the
bike path on 8th Avenue, creating an enormous cycling presence and
making other motorist more aware of that bike path. This would make
the cops ticketing even more outrageous as we'd be in a designated
bike lane.

Despite all the chaos of last night, alex & I will be out there next
month, jobs willing. I just hope that others weren't discouraged by
the police tirad.
---------------------------
Mike Pidel, made this video:

----------------------------
Lauren put up these pictures from the ride.