happy holidays

snow job

over the past few days in toronto and southern ontario there have been major snowstorms. toronto was hit with around 30 cm of snow dumpage and the temperatures were hovering around -20 celcius with the windchill (which was intennnse). anyway, i absolutely love it. the whole city kind of shuts down and except for a few zany drivers, the streets have an eerie calm and quiet to them. the perfect opportunity for a ride. it was much warmer today (-1 celcius) so there was a lot of melting. then it got dangerous tonight as the sun set and the melted slush and water began to re-freeze. on my way home from work, i fell and jacked my handlebars and brakes. luckily, i carry a few essential tools with me all the time, so i was able to fix the problem in a few seconds and happily (and carefully) bike home. when i got home, i grabbed my camera and went out for a little ride. the snow isn't as impressive as it was sunday/monday, but it's still pretty beautiful. here's a little look.

out in front of my house.

goin' down the road. it's a lot tougher than you'd think to navigate a bike through slippery snow and take a semi-decent photo at the same time....spooky.

yummmmmmmmy!!!!!!

there's a lot of misconceptions about masks.

the winter city at night.

enjoy whatever weather you got, and be safe out there.

see you on the road,
vv

It's facking Christmas

Makes me want to have money and take the fam to NY

Group or Joy riding with cadence after BFF

After BFF japan,Group ride was done.I wanted to see Tricks cadence crew and top riders of japanese perform.
I went Ebisu alone by my bike.

RIDE was noted starting by 20:15,but no one came out.
I went the spot SFF(skate film fes)　held in.


One hour later,BFF was over. People came together at Saigouyama park. I was still alone.


For anoter half an hour, group ride started to Meiji park.


At Maiji park, Competion like footdown,trackstand,longlasting pogo and best trick was done.
Finarly I met my acquaintance like Ikkei-kun,S-san and K-san.I felt easy.

P.J.s pogo was awesome.Hakushaku's nohand-willie and his friends keo spin were too.
I watced various tricks.It was pricious morment.

New old shit

With all the new videos coming out (fast friday, MASH, Macaframa etc.) we are seeing a lot of shit being done on bikes. Then I see something like this and think "fucked up and a cussin. Those guys wasted a summer filming shit that has already been put down". This video doesn't really differ from any of the trick videos we're lining up to see now but it just seems cooler. PLUS these guys don't wear those creepy skinny grape smugglers.

TWIN PEAKS ride

It's been 2 weeks since we did a Friday night ride and I was really happy when the smoking lurker mailed me. I was sitting around my house being awake when the mail came. A little background is kind of needed here because most people wonder why the lurker never phones. The truth is he doesn't have a phone or if he does has never told me the number. He insists that cell phones are for losers that always want to feel like they're in some sort of dolphin pod of coolness. This is really fucked because, in Tokyo, having a phone is like having a libido. Nomater how old or failing it is you assume that everyone has one. So the mail came and we set the time for 10:15 at 711. The process sounds easy but he infrequently checks his pc and it took an hour or so to set the plans. We met with little ceremony and began to ride. We rode and tak\lked about everything except cycling and we were happy. After the 4th lap (peep previous course post) A2C asked me if I knew TWIN PEAKS and if I wanted to see it. Of fucking course was response and he laughed. Keep in mind his laugh is tinged with schadenfreude and makes you wonder if you're about to be murdered. We went to the park near the river and it was strange at night. The leaves seemed to glow and I thought that an eastern europran man pushing a shopping cart was gonna appear.

After that we headed through the park and talked about the rumours we had heard and kinda scootched out quicker than normal. The kind of cold chill you get exiting a creepy cellar was tapped into my tailbone. We got back to 711 just in time to hear my front tyre deflate. I grabbed a mango juice and the smoking lurker explained spoke width to me. Sick stuff to think about on the cold walk home. Friday night rides are less frequent than in the summer but still a huge part of my sanity maintenance plan.


Riding by the airport was a good chance to snap a picture. This is where the ride kind of feels boring before turning onto a four lane road. This night was special because the had a ride program set up and they were stoping every car. Once we negotiated the line up the cops waved us through and we were on our own for a good 3 kms. It felt strange not having cars fly by and wonder if you're going to get rear ended and die.

The spooky part is that they are real ghosts in that park and I have met people who won't go there. The park used to be an American golf course andsports grounds. People have hung themselves in there and it gets pretty spooky at night. The lighting combined with the dull glow off the leaves just added to the stragenessity.
We saw the mad max car and stopped to take pictures. It's pretty out there when you see it in a parking lot full of Japanese compact cars and 50cc scooters.

You the rock

Here is something that made me laugh. A watch commercial with YouZArock. A weird Al/Ali G style hip hop guy that usually appears on Japanese comedy shows. Relax haters.

Front brake by Hal Johnson

Recently there have been a lot of people boasting that they ride sans brakes without fear. I rode without a brake this summer and didn't seem to have any troubles stopping or negotiating tight situations. Now that the "no brakes, no problem" (thank you Nike) ads are up around the fashionable areas and photos of people standing with track bikes are in every magazine another issue has arisen. Several members of the rode racer bike clubs have started posting blurbs on Japan wide message boards about the brake less menace. They have drawn the attention of the police to the issue and that equals tickets. If you're caught riding without a brake you might have to pay up to 50,000 yen (about 500 CDN$). Also if you're in an accident and you are riding sans brake you are automatically at fault regardless of the situation. That could also lead to lawsuit and further monetary damage to the little one's college fund. So putting a $50 brake on didn't seem like a big deal. I've found that I can actually relax a bit more while riding and I don't get the shivers when I pass by police. Another thing to be taken into consideration is gear ratio. If you're pushing a 2.5 to 2.7 stopping quickly by way of skid is an option. Once you pass into the 3. sumptins it becomes less viable. Not to say that it's impossible but for for me it is. Lately I have been experimenting with the gear ring thing fling and it's been scaryfun. After riding 30km pushing a 3.26 my right knee convinced me to gear down. now comfortably at 3.16 with a brake I don't get that "monster's gonna jump out the closet" at every intersection. Go fuck a wood chipper.

Hero eh!?!

What do people think of you when they call up and ask if you want a beer? You say "yes, i was just about to go and get one" and then there is a knock at the door and they are calling from their cell phone. They enter and hand you three beers asking if you have ordered pizza. Then you get another call and the person is asking if your're busy. Turns out they are just in the neighbourhood and wanna swing by. The person comes over and exchanges money with the aforeentioned beer bringer and a stem is produced. Turns out they knew you would be home and would have tools so the stem could be set up. The first person also happens to have the mash dvd on his person and everyone views it. I could have had plans or been out of the house. I could be on a no beer kick and just want to be with my family. coulda

MASH

Last Saturday the MASH crew came to for the Tokyo premiere of their DVD. It was a pretty big event and a lot of pepole showed including the police. I didn't go because the cost to get in could buy a new tyre, a six pack and a burrito. So home I remained. The next day was a messenger race through Tokyo and the police were invited to that as well. A bunch of people showed up to that and later moved to Meiji koen for the the sprint race, backward circle, wheelie and trackstand competition. That's where everything kind of built up then died. They held the events with about 10-15 minutes in between them. After the sprint and wheelie dealy everybody left letting the kooks do their thing in the back circles and trackstand event. Fair enough because who wats to watch that shit anyways? I was coming back from the store and overheard the organizer complaining that the MASH guys had left before the last event. I guess it never occured to him that nobody had been translating for them and that they probably didn't give a fack anyway.

velowe'en v.2.0

i know i said i would post photos of halloween and biking in costume, but things got a little hazy, i got a little lazy, and before you knew it, it was all over. nothing - NOTHING - beats biking down queen st. on a saturday night, home-made cape flapping in the wind and people staring and gasping "look at the ghouls!!!!"......360 days and counting until next year......
see you on the road,
vv

Setagaya and destroy

コース

Here is the course we've been riding on Friday nights. The last 3 weeks it's rained so we haven't had much luck but Veloween was pretty good. The later at night the better because some areas are 4 lane roads that get hectic.

VELOWEEN

I got a mail from the smoking lurker and it said he wanted to do a Halloween ride. 3 days late but fack it. we met at 10:30pm Friday and he showed with up with a surprise. It was 24km ride (loop posted at alter date) and ended with beer(s) at 7/11. While we were talking a guy showed up on a touring bike that was cool as fack. He was riding a Brooks Pro and it was 10 years old. Fun night, thanks A2C.

stolen brooks #2

fool me once, shame on you
fool me twice, shame on me

so my sister and i were having a few afternoon beers today and when we came out of the bar, my brooks saddle was gone off my bike. fuck. that's the second stolen b.17 i've had in under half a year. i know, i should have had it on quick release or locked it to the frame, but what sort of a world do we live in where these are even concerns? seriously, fuck crackheads and fuck bike thieves. no more "blaming the victim" shit. fuck that. i'm pissed. off to the lbs to by a new one tomorrow (which will be PERMANENTLY locked). it's not the money, it's the time invested working it in and the feeling that you've been kicked in the gut when you see your bike with a naked seat post and the utter lack of faith you have in humanity after it happens.....
goodnight sweet prince.....
see you on the road (and if you've got my saddle, you're fuuuuuuucked....),
vv

I just wanna clap hands riding my kuwahara

like that.

New CM

This has been on TV lately and it's making wish I could leave the living room. Although my web surfing skills are at an all time high.

http://www.sho-ri.jp/cm/9ways.html

fright night

with the air getting cooler, the leaves falling and the smell of woodsmoke in the air, it's hard to deny that hallowe'en is just around the corner. this is my favourite time of year, and hallowe'en is my favourite holiday. here is a topical (both to the season and to the blog) painting by one of my favourite artists, jose posada (mexico, 1852-1913), and it's probably one of the very few works of art to combine cycling with the supernatural......oooooooooo-eeeeeee-ooooooooooo!!!!!
i'll post pics after next wednesday when vampires, witches, ghosts, and skeletons ride.....on all hallow's eve.

see you on the road,
vv

4 days off

because I am sick. I have Saturday and Sunday off and was looking forward to riding to Tachikawa or someplace close by. Then I came down with the cold that has been going around and I want to cut my head off, pour out the snot and stitch it back on. So now I am stuck at home in the living room and I came across this on the web and thought I would feel better if I put other people in agony. I hope I'm right.

trippin' in the fall on the toronto islands

sorry to be such a friggin' cockroach around here lately, but i wanna get this shit done before i forget. so today, pocahontas and i took a little trip over to the toronto islands. for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, toronto is a city in the canadas and there are a series of islands (3 big ones and a bunch of really tiny ones that suck) in the lake just south of the downtown core, accessible only by a magical ferry-boat helmed by none other than charon! really? i don't know..... so, anyway, i had the day off work and the weather was absolutely and unseasonably beautiful (26 deg. on oct. 22? we're in deep shit......), so i went to the eye-lands. grabbed a couple delicious empanadas in kensington market beforehand and took half a dozen apples with me so i wouldn't die from hunger in the wilds. below are some random images taken throughout the day......(dai?)
off the ferry and onto the island, charon paid and onward to freedom.......
weird/cool bike sculpture thing at a tree on ward's island
at the same "sculpture" - look closely, there's a bike hanging in the tree......bicyclynched?
big sky country.....amazing cloud formations
the end of the world
blair witch/wickerman gateway to paradise....all woven by hand from twigs and small branches. beauty.
feeding satan an apple core.
no shit!! duder nearly took a chunk out of my brooks.....maybe he sensed that my saddle was his dad. there's now a small tooth mark where he got it. awesome. seriously, i'm stoked.
ontario autumn.
rollin' along.
on the boardwalk.
wall behind the bathrooms (closed for the season? well, guess that means i'll be micturating on the wall). someone put a single stone/potsherd/clay piece on each of the protruding bricks. neat.
another wood-woven gateway to the beach. awesome, actually.
look at that gear ratio!!!!! like the millennium falcon and shit......
pocahontas nestled amongst the birches.
a nice reward at the end of the day.


see you on the road, vv.