Eh... get practising

I want to see everyone in Dublin performing fakie one-wheeled 360 bar-spins when I get back to Dublin...

www.cadenceclothing.net

Macaframa

24 Hours

From Andy Duncan;

"Anybody looking for something adventurous to do this weekend, should come to the head office of Infinity Express in Amsterdam on Saturday morning at about ten o'clock.

The Dutch Messengers 24 hours race starts there at midday.

This year the route goes through Zwolle, Arnhem, Utrecht, Den Haag before finishing south of Rotterdam at a little place called Westmaas where there are camping facilities, showers and an enthusiastic welcome. About 400 km or 250 miles.

This is the fourth version of this wonderful insanity. The first was organised by Arthur Wagenaar and Willem Dabekhausen in April 2004 because Jur74 suggested once in a moment of mirth that somebody should organise a 24 hours race.

Those of us who experienced this first race were so overwhelmed and inspired by the experience that we just had to do it again. And we managed to spread our enthusiasm to others - even to one or two of the sceptics who said we were very sick people indeed for wanting even to attempt such a thing. Last year there were contingents of very sick people from London Dublin and several German cities.

It is not for everybody though. And there are still those who say we are mad.

But there is something very special about that moment just before dawn, when you know the light will be rising, when you have been cycling together all night long, looking out for each other, stopping when necessary to piss, check the map or just rest quietly, that moment when you begin to realise that you are alive and breathing in a way you never thought possible."

A crazy race which had great support from Dublin last year and has a god few entries as well this year; Goofy, Kropa, Tony, Colin and Sean.

Wish them luck!

Trusty steed

Joel Metz has been messengering for a long time, and has been using the same bike for a long time... kinda like The Rock I guess. Here is a nice piece about the design of his bike and what it's been through with him.

Virtual Light

"Was it significant that Skinner shared his dwelling with one who earned her living at the archaic intersection of information and geography? The offices the girl rode betwen were electronically conterminous- in effect, a single desktop, the map of distances obliterated by the seamless and istantaneous nature of communication. Yet this very seamlessness, which had renered physical mail an expensive novelty, might as easily be viewed as porosity, and as such created the need for the service the girl provided. Physically transporting bits of information about a grid that consisted of little else, she provided a degree of security in the fluid universe of data. With yor memo in the girls bag, you knew precisely where it was; otherwise your memo was nowhere, perhaps everywhere, in that instant of transit."
William Gibson, Virtual Light

Seomra Spraoi, this Saturday

So here's the official flyer for the shenanigans happening to celebrate the official opening of Seomra Spraoi this weekend.

Stick it up yer Goother! (alleycat)

From Liam:
Hi everyone . If you havent heard, theres gonna be a fundraiser alleycat on the second last friday of this month !
I know theres a treasure hunt the next day, but people are legging off to holland the weekend after and we need as much support as poss because this is to raise a few lids to help lucas out while he's damaged .
There will also be an auction of sorts.
Basically, give me anything you can thats of some worth, or can be bought by other couriers. eg funky t-shirts you dont use anymore- stem/bars - your bodies, fukin anything.
All cash will go to lucas.
Still working on a venue for after, but kick-ass party will be organised for sure.

Its gonna be a fast , not to much thinking, point to point race with fun check-points so please let anyone on the road know if you speak to them.
Oh and there'll be a few modest but nice prizes for the winner !

Anyone not racing please let me know if you can do a checkpoint.

Cheers xxx leemobai

So, the details are: Fri 21st September, 6.30pm, Grand Canal Square.
I'll post up more info as it gets to me.

Gearing chart

For all the scientifically-minded fixie riders out there, here's a handy gear-ratio chart to figure out your inches.
(click on image for bigger version)

History Lesson

Old TG4 documentary featuring Robbie Foy, Punjab and some miserable Scottish bloke...
Part 1:


Part2:


Part 3:

Car-less and Care-free

To celebrate car-free day on Saturday September 22nd, and the opening of Seomra Spraoi there will be a Scavenger hunt taking place.

Beginning at Seomra Spraoi, 4 Mary's Abbey. Registration from 2pm, hunt from 3-6pm. Not messenger exclusive, bikes, boards, feet are all welcome to take part. All that's needed is a big bag for collecting stuff.

Party afterwards in Seomra Spraoi.
Teams of 2, registration fee per team 10€/8€(unwaged)

Come join the fun, even if dublin has one of the most pathetic excuse for a car-free day we can still make the most of it, and at the same time celebrate the opening of a new co-op social space in Dublin, something which has been severely lacking.

All proceeds will go towards the upkeep of Seomra Spraoi and it's bicycle co-op. There should be some maintainance classes, and a work-space there in the near future.

Konichiwa!

CMWCXV received a nice email from Tatsuya in Tokyo thanking us for a great time.

'Ireland is very buetifule contry!!!

i want to back & drink sooooooo much.'

They all had a ball and really want to come back. They also really want us to go to Tokyo.

Tokyo will be hosting CMWC in 2009, but until then there is the 9th edition of Mixpression. The guys are going to run this as a pre-event for CMWC Toronto, should be amazing.

So Tatsuya dropped a few links for us to check out, one of which is the homepage of Tomity, a pro Keirin racer and good friend to the messengers. Hasn't been updated in a while, but click on the links at the top of the page, he has some great pics of keirin parts some of which were modified and manufactured by Tomity himself.

Here is the homepage for Mixpression.

Tatsuyas company in Tokyo.

Enjoy!

Banana bike

From Martin 'Banana' Larsen:
"Sorry for the shitty quality of the pic. This is what i would like you to find. It has semi flat bars and a black straight fork though. Please look for it, thanks.

Martin had this bike stolen in Dublin during the CMWC. It's a Basso, and it should be fucking huge, he's a tall chap, and a great guy so it would be sweet if we could find it for him.

Keep yo eyes peeled!

X-Days Zurich, Dec 26th-Jan 1st

Zurich are having their 2nd X-Days event this Christmas and New Years. No Irish made it last year, but by all accounts it was a sick week. James Tait will attest to that, and we all know he knows a good party when he sees one.

Just getting to see part of a proper 6-day event on a 50 degree banked indoor velodrome is good enough, but to have the chance to ride it, and race in front of the massive crowd that gathers there is another altogether.

Add to that, alleycats, lake-jumping, fondue, massages, karaoke etc and you are guaranteed a great time. These guys know how to organise a great event. Food will be cheap, beer will be cheap.

Check the website here for registration info and some scoop from last years event. Aer Lingus and Swiss air fly direct and flights are going for between €200 and €250 at the minute. Consider it an early Christmas present to yourself, you've had a hard year, you've really earned it :)

Paradise Weekend

Ola Muchachos! Dirk and Mahrou are organising the 4th Paradise Weekend this October 19th to 21st in sunny Barcelona.

A bunch of Dubliners went last year and will testify to the weekends' greatness. Sun, bikes, cava on the beach, great people, beautiful city, it has it all.

Check the website out here for more info and registration details.

Ryanair fly cheap to Girona and Reus, both only about an hour from the city, and Clickair fly to the main airport in Barcelona. You should get yourself and your bike there and back for well under €150. Food and drink are really cheap there too, so don't worry about spending too much.

There are already about 6/7 from Dublin going, so have a think and book your flights soon, you won't regret it.

For those who want to add a bit more spice to the trip, there is always the option of hanging around a few more days and making the trip to Berlin for their 15th Halloween Alleycat. This promises to be a huge affair and should be a great party. Contact totallymassive@berlin.com for more info.

The President speaks

Andy Duncan, new president of the IFBMA, has been posting a blog pretty regularly on his spanking new Myspace page.
I'm so happy this guy is president, he's got a great common-sense approach and will be a great asset to the community.
Check out the blog here and feel free to comment to him, he's looking for input from everyone.

Too much information?

From the wonderful engrish.com. Dunno
what it says, but it mildly disturbs me...

holy moly!