Bike Art

ILOVEDUST have been making some sweet bike prints recently; the cover of Ride Journal and graphics for Freshtripe being 2 that I know of.

The have placed a limited quantity of some of these prints up for sale here
^^^^^^^^^^ Notice the nice Dublin Messengers logo incorporated!

20% off during January with the promo code: januarysale

Enjoy!

One more stolen bike...

A good friend of mine had his bike nicked today. Was locked beside the entrance to the Westbury Mall on Clarendon Street.

It's a black Viking road bike. 2008 model. Nothing special component-wise. Black and silver. €500 or so.

Probably no chance of getting it back, but if you see anyone unlikely riding one around the city gimme a shout.

Cheers!

Huh?

Only found this today in my internet wanderings, but if you would like to post a reply to these morons(read the comments section for why I didn't just laugh this off), go here: http://thriftcriminal.org/?p=65

Judging from this guys recent blog posts, he actually cycles!? I'm confused, a cyclist laughing at dooring?

Cycling

By Thriftcriminal | February 20, 2008

Pete’s brakes screeched as he pulled up beside me, dismounted and dexterously unclipped his lock.

“Hey, how’s the form?”

“Give me a minute to calm down”

Pete locked the bike to the railings and removed his helmet.

“I fucking hate middle aged Foxrock women in big expensive cars”

“What happened this time?”

“Stupid cow did what they all do, overtook me and turned left almost immediately. It’s always some middle aged wench in a big fucking Merc or Beemer that their hubby bought them to make them feel their existence is in some way worth while”

“Chip on shoulder much?”

“Look, I cycle right?”

“So do I”

“No, no. What you do can only be described as ‘Faire des promenade aux bicyclette’, you refuse to take the right approach to dealing with the urban cycling environment. You are a wuss bag.”

“You mean I refuse to run red lights, hop onto curbs to avoid standing traffic and annoy motorists as much as possible?”

“Precisely. I behave in as arrogant a manner as possible on the road and expect all other road users to defer to my whim. This is my right as a cyclist, more vulnerable road user, and ecological high horse rider”

“And the broken collar bone last year”

“Proves it”

“Ah. So, the irrational problem with your target demographic is that they try to kill you?”

“No. They try to out arrogant me. Totally unacceptable. Roll on crossbar mounted side-winder missiles”

Topics: imaginary conversations |

1. Baino Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pm

   Haha talk about the mouse that roared! Although our bloody cycle couriers would knock a pedestrian over in a wink! There’s a hierachy you know bikes kill pedestrians, cars kill bikes, trucks kill cars. I’m catching the train!

2. sleepyjane Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 7:51 am

   You’re hilarious you know. I love these posts.

3. Thriftcriminal Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 9:55 am

   Cheers guys. I particularly enjoy these too. It’s fun to come up with this sort of nonsense

4. K8 the Gr8 Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 3:16 pm

   I particularly enjoy opening car doors into the paths of cyclists. You get extra points if you can get them to go through the window.

5. Thriftcriminal Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 4:14 pm

   K8, I think that qualifies for sidewinder action Happened a mate of mine once. It was VERY funny normally he was captain gel with bloody ralph lauren shirts, very full of himself. That whack brought him down a notch or two. For a short while anyway.

Track World Chapionships

Hello all,
Alan Neenan is organising a trip to the World Track Chapionships in Poland this March. He always gets the best finishing straight seats. Here are the details:

Hi there

Would you both mind sending out a reminder to your database that we're
operating a package to the World Track Championships in Poland on
March 25th.

Departing Wednesday 25th March and returning Sunday 29th.
Staying 3 nights in Pruszkow where the championships are on and then
staying the last night in Warsaw.

Package price based on sharing a twin room is approx €460 per person
including taxes.
That's for flights from Dublin, 4 nights accommodation and the tickets
for the championships.

Because of deadlines in terms of getting the best track-side tickets
I'll be closing off registrations for the package next week so if
anyone is interested in travelling they should contact me no later
than Friday 30th of January or earlier if possible.

Thanks
Alan

______________________________

_________________
Alan Neenan
Managing Director
Neenan Travel - Breakaway.ie
12 South Leinster Street
Dublin 2

Phone 01-6079921
Mobile 086-8233791
www.neenan.travel
www.breakaway.ie

While scouring the Irish Times...

A bit of light-heartedness after the previous sombre post:
This from June 12th 2008, An Irishman's Diary;

"...still on the subject of walkers, there was a flurry of letters on this page recently from outraged Dublin pedestrians, angry at the invasion of their space by cyclists. Fair enough. On behalf of the cycling community, I apologise for the excesses of our militant fringe.

But while pedestrians are probably entitled to an even higher position in the hierarchy of self-righteousness than cyclists, they are not without faults themselves. And along with my apology, I wonder if I might also offer them a small note of criticism. If we cyclists are to avoid your footpaths, is it possible that you pedestrians might stay out of our bicycle lanes? I don't mean the ones on public roads, necessarily. If walkers want to share with us the thrill of never knowing when we will be mown down by a reckless motorist, good luck to them. No, I mean those special cycling routes in public parks - the ones with colour coding and little bicycles painted at intervals to let walkers know that they should be somewhere else.

Even here, I don't mind the occasional stroller intruding, just so long as he gets out of your way in time and looks gratifyingly apologetic. But such pedestrians are unusual in my experience. And the enjoyment of, for example, the Phoenix Park's bike paths is greatly diminished for cyclists by the numbers of walkers who clog them up, with the same sense of entitlement as they do the public footpaths.

These are not just strollers, either. Unfortunately, public parks attract high numbers of "power walkers", who pump their arms violently as they go, in such a way that a cyclist approaching from the rear and mistiming his passing manoeuvre even slightly can be knocked clean off his bike.

There are other risks too. Casual walkers who use one hand to hold a mobile phone and the other for gesticulating carry the added danger of being unpredictable. And don't get me started about dreamy young lovers, whose lack of lane discipline even on ordinary city footpaths is one of the biggest risks faced by bicycle couriers at this time of year.

But these summer evenings, the power-walkers are out in force in all the parks. And I can only explain their serial misappropriation of cycle lanes - rare as such things still are - by the fact that, for aerobic reasons, they have to hold their heads up while walking and thus never see the markings on the ground."

1st cyclist death of the New Year

It didn't take long...

from the Irish Times website:

Cyclist dies in Dublin crash

JASON MICHAEL

A man has been killed in a crash in Dublin this morning.

The male cyclist, believed to be in his 30s, died on Harold's Cross Road after a collision with a cement truck. No one else was injured in the crash, which happened at about 10.30am.

The road is shut in both directions from Leonard's Corner at the Upper Clanbrassil Street junction to the canal bridge to allow Garda forensic investigators examine the scene.

Gardaí are at the scene and are diverting outbound traffic via the South Circular Road. AA Roadwatch is advising inbound traffic to turn around and divert through Leinster Road and Rathmines.

According to AA Roadwatch, access has been blocked from from Lower Kimmage Road onto Harold's Cross Rod, and traffic is therefore busy on Kenilworth Road inbound.

For Sale

Sale! Sale! Sale!

A technical boo-boo has left one of Dublin's finest exengers with a couple of mismatched items for sale.

1 pair H Plus Son black rims. These are the latest blinging deep section rims, 45mm!
€120 the pair. (No braking surface)

Send me a mail and leave me your email address and I'll pass you on the details.

New Year, same shit

Happy New Year to everyone.
Here's hoping work picks up for everyone and you can all stop living on less than minimum wage. You gotta love this job!

No news to report as such, but I got a mail about a stolen bike. It was taken from Stoneybatter on New Years Day, I guess some knackers resolution to stop taking other people's shit didn't last very long.



The stickers you see above are what were on it when it got stolen. Top pic is pre-stickering.

If you spot this anywhere feel free to dispense some justice to the thief.

Mail me or leave a comment with any details.

Cheers! and let's hope that we have some nicer stories to continue the year with,

Dodgy address...

Thanks to Gery for this.

Xmas Alleycat results

This is an insight into the shocking world of courier charity fundraising...

Thanks to everyone who came out to race last night, I know it had been a tough day in work and the weather was awful.

Results:
1st: 25 Sean
2nd(after arm-wrestle play-off): Daz
3rd: Kropa
4th: Aidan
5th: Dennis
6th: Jack
7th: Lucasz
8th: Lally
9th: Eoin
10th: Lorcan
11th: Donal
12th: Gary
13th: Fabian
DFL: Rob/Andrea

We had a nice night in Feile afterwards and the raffle was a great success.
We managed to raise €570 for Aware, thanks to everyone for digging deep.

Thanks again to all the sponsors: ThinkBike, Swrve, Cyclelogical, South Ink, V Piercing and RSD.

Have a great Christmas everyone, and remember to ride safe and watch out for taxis :) (I've had too many close calls with the fuckers in the last couple of weeks).

Lycra Lunatics!!! Apparently...

Anyone remember this gem? Apparently we were disqualified from Global Gutz because we were breaking red lights and Loxy decided to ride under a jeep... terrible antics indeed...
From quality rag the Sunday Mirror, July 14th 2002:

LYCRA LUNATICS

FIONA WHYNNE

THIS is an insight into the shocking world of illegal courier racing in Ireland.

The elite group of racers risk their lives for the thrill as they swerve on bicycles between rush hour traffic, only stopping for red lights when they see fit.

The young daredevils often race after dark - when a few drinks have given them some Dutch courage.

Dublin courier Gareth is an "Alleycat Racer". He appeared as part of RTE's new youth series Sampled, but wouldn't reveal his full name because of his involvement in the illegal races.

He said: "Courier racing is definitely to some degree a manifestation of the competitiveness that you see when you are working during the day."

Organiser Neil warned that nobody can tell the racers what to do: "We have no permits, no insurance, no permission, we just do it."

But this form of racing is not just happening in Dublin. Thrill- seekers in several countries around the world co-ordinate the race so thousands of cyclists take off at the same time.

Gareth said: "The race involves thousands of couriers all over the world starting simultaneously - so when we start in Dublin at nine of clock they'd be starting in New York at the corresponding time.

"It has to be the same race all over the planet to make it fair.

"When the race is over they post the results on the web and somebody wins."

Last year the Global Gutz race took place in 43 cities, including Perth, Toyko, Budapest, San Franciso and Katmandu.

The Dublin part of the race involved three checkpoints for 'tagging' cyclists along the course which ran from the quays to Pembroke Road.

But an early halt was called to the race when one speeding racer was knocked from his bike by a jeep.

The accident and the discovery of the antics of the Irish racers ultimately led to their disqualification from the world competition.

Gareth said: "When traffic is coming two ways and you want to get across it you sort of go one way with the traffic and then swing back across the other lane.

"One guy got nudged by a jeep and was knocked from his bicycle, but he was OK."

But this dangerous craze is still only getting started here and Irish racers haven't yet made it onto the world stage.

Organiser Neil agreed that Dublin's racers were only "small fish": "Everyone in Dublin is a small fish in a very big pond.

"We might think we are great but then we sent ten people to the World Championship in Budapest and not one of them made it through."

Final Reminder for Xmas alleycat

DUBLIN MESSENGERS CHRISTMAS ALLEYCAT
FRI., DEC. 19TH, 7PM WILTON PLC.
RACE START AT 8PM SHARP

swrve.co.uk

***COPY OF GOLDEN PAGES REQUIRED TO RACE***
AFTER PARTY UPSTAIRS IN FEILE (FORMERLY CARNIVAL)
RAFFLE!!! TICKETS €5 OR 3 FOR €10
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO AWARE
RACE ENTRY €10, INCLUDES RAFFLE TICKET
AFTERPARTY FREE WITH RACE ENTRY, OR €5 (INCLUDES RAFFLE TICKET)

Race of Champions

Want to Watch Chris Hoy race Lewis Hamilton tomorrow?
If you don't live in the land of tv then you may watch the whole shebang streamed here:

http://www.pitpass.com/src/roc/roc_viewer.htm
thanks dotc

Arty Farty...

short movie... nothing particularly special, but I love the music. I know I've heard it in some movie recently, can anyone enlighten me as to the movie or the name of the music?

http://www.paranoid.fr/player,40

Thanks to TrackosaurusRex via HKFixed

Tomek, Tomorrow

Calgary courier Zombie flick

Fun... and a bit bizarre...

Merry Christmas

Nothing to do with messengers or bikes, but curl up with a cup of cocoa and enjoy David Sedaris reading his celebrated 'Santaland Diaries'.

Keirin Ad

Very funny advertisement for Keirin shop in Berlin.


BERLIN KEIRIN AD from Danny Baarz on Vimeo.

CHRISTMAS ALLEYCAT

Bit of an update.

Race will start at 8pm sharp at Wilton Plc. So be there by 7.30.
*DON'T FORGET YOUR YELLOW PAGES*

Race entry €10. This includes a raffle ticket.
Raffle tickets are €5, or 3 for €10.
Remember all proceeds are going to Aware.
Entry to After Party free with race entry, or €5, which includes a raffle ticket.

We have some savage prizes so far:
€300 voucher for Think Bike, thanks to John.
Honey Leather Brooks B17 saddle, dvd's, thanks to Cliff in Cyclelogical (don't tell Dave...)
Merino base layer, T-shirts, Cycling Hoodies, cycling caps from Swrve. Big thanks to Chris.
There will also be some more prizes from the endless Dublin Messengers schwag bag.
If anyone else would like to sponsor this worthwhile event please get in touch.

After Party tbc. but probably, upstairs in Anseo. Also, Kerr is playing a set in the Blue Note on Capel St. the same night.

Please come out and support this event. A fun night for a good cause.

DCC Christmas Party

Book tickets here.