This one came in from Michael in NC. Claims he races this behemoth and tends to kick ass while doing so. Sounds like a good plan if I ever did hear one. He also sent in the one below. Now that’s just silly.
As for “normal” bike news… finally got my ass registered for two days of pain, a.k.a. Derby City Cup or the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross if you will. John, being the good father and husband he is has persuaded both his wife and daughter to take care of the handups. Dolla dolla bills ya’ll and beers beers beers! Additionally, I was asked to provide a short bio for the announcer being associated with the fine Rogue folks… this is what I came up with:
jimmy, a drunken cyclops and author of the internationally syndicated blog fuckgas.org, leans towards pacifism, is genuinely disgusted by both competition and bicycles and is actually only here for the beer. hand ups appreciated.
And speaking of Rogue folks, looks like I’ll be joining a few of them and taking in all that is this supposed epic event, Race Across the Sky tonight. If you don’t know what in the hell I’m talking about, you need to read this blog more. Here’s the trailer again…
As always, we’re just looking for a good time. Even if you’ve never played bike polo before, this would be a hell of a time to start. Good times and good people - we don’t really know what the hell we’re doing either.
Feel free to just join in for the ride if you like, tag along to polo and act as a spectator or jump in on a game. It’s all for fun and the love of bikes. All bikes and all riders are encouraged to attend.
Ride leaves from On Your Left Cycles and ends at the Louisville Bicycle Polo Society indoor arena at 416 W. Chestnut…
Yep - as I type this, it is 1 below zero in Louisville and even though we’re looking at a forecast of 13 degrees, it’s still on. While that other bike club in the city is canceling every ride they had scheduled over the last couple days, Fuck Gas stands strong. In all it’s glory, the Fuck Gas “We Don’t Give a Shit How Cold it is” Penguin Waddle will go down as planned. Meet up at On Your Left (618 Baxter Avenue) at 8pm to ride shortly after. Once back to the shop we’ll have free coffee and beer as well as screening of the Mash SF video.
The 2005 documentary B.I.K.E. follows Anthony (Tony) Howard in his quest to join the Black Label Bicycle Club. For those unfamiliar, Black Label is a super elitist bike club started in 1992 by Jacob Houle and Per Hanson as the “Hard Times Bike Club” in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The club has grown to include a chapter in New York, Reno, Nevada, Austin, Texas and a nomad chapter loosely based out of New Orleans known as “Nowhere”. Black Label members seemingly detest consumerism, cars and corporate power. However, I found it odd that in the movie the New York chapter took a road trip in a Mercedes wagon and a Land Rover Discovery, make of that what you will.
Tall-bikes and jousting are noted as the culture basis of the film and even Black Label to an extent but it seems more elitism and cliques are what take center stage, and understandably so. Over all, B.I.K.E. is a fucking train wreck of a film which in all actuality reflects the main character perfectly. Everything slows down midway through with Tony totally losing his shit and then finally picks up speed again for him to make a great comeback.
While I’ll try not to spoil the ending too much, it was nice to see Black Label get their asses handed to them at their own party in a final jousting match to which they shut down as soon as possible. B.I.K.E. is full of drugs and violence with some brief nudity thrown in for good measure and surprisingly enough, makes for an enjoyable couple of hours. If you’re interested in watching people ride bikes, get pummeled, drunk and high then you’ll likely enjoy this one.
Winter sucks - cold ass temperatures, grey skies and short days don’t exactly scream bike ride but what the hell do we care - we ride at night anyway and we own gloves and balaclavas! Come warm yourself up at On Your Left Cycles January 16th at 8pm for the Fuck Gas “We Don’t Give a Shit How Cold it is… Penguin Waddle.” We know you don’t want to be out there freezing your ass off for too long so seeing that January is the coldest month of the year on average here in Louisville, we’re making this one short.
Join us for an 8 mile loop starting and ending at On Your Left Cycles at 618 Baxter Avenue. You’ll also be able to enjoy some free hot coffee or even a cold beer - don’t be scared to bring your own though as the beer won’t last long. Finally, we’ll end the night with more freebies - a showing of the Mash SF video.
