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.