The train is leaving the station.

Though at least a part of which has apparently become a house.marcia-caboose1

Welcome back to yet another end-of-the-week AHTBM installment where it’s always casual Friday;
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PB is literally one of the only people in the world who I look at in a Hawaiian shirt and think, ‘that works‘.

With our casualness in full effect, let’s get down to business.

In the world of Halls Of Fame, there are those that exist in celebration of aviation, sports, rock and roll, black film makers, circuses, and even Canadian cartoonists. Now, added to that list apparently is one for Urban Cycling™;

We are proud to launch the Urban Cycling Hall Of Fame (UCHOF) in conjunction with Chrome Industries. The purpose of the UCHOF is to spotlight the rich culture and history of urban riding. Hoping you can get something up about this, we are trying to generate a lot of buzz and get the community involved.
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We are also trying to do a social media push through Instagram and the handle is @UrbanCyclingHOF.
That is where we will be spotlighting riders and memorabilia that we will collect for the physical hall of fame. If you can find a way to incorporate that into the post that would be stellar.

We will keep you updated about this project as it continues, super excited to be a part of it.

I tend to be pretty thick in the brain, so it’s no surprise that I wouldn’t really understand what this is for, but just for the sake of argument, I’ll reserve judgement for now.

I wonder however… Will Tim Blumenthal, Jenn Dice, or Richard Fries be inducted? Will anyone pay mind to former Massachusetts state representative Anne Paulsen? And how far back will the Hall Of Fame go?

Will the visionaries behind California’s once celebrated bicycle super highway be included?
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I would hope so, but I doubt it.

And when I think of people who should be inducted into said Hall, the first person who came to mind is a homeless fellow I used to frequently see in the Claremont neighborhood of North Oakland back in the early 90s. I don’t know what his story was, but if there was ever an individual who deserved the recognition, it’s him.

At anywhere between thirty and sixty years of age, he was as dirty and disheveled as they came, with one single gigantic matted mess of hair atop his head. He was always either on or nearby a converted brown Schwinn Paramount with straight bars, a single gear and platform pedals. Instead of shoes, he wore perhaps a dozen pair of socks on each foot and rain or shine, I would see him pedaling his bike en route to wherever.

In maybe seven or eight years of seeing him around, the only time I ever heard him utter a word was at a coffee shop when he rolled up, looked around and blared out, “WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY ME A FUCKING CUP OF COFFEE?!

So I don’t know how I would go about nominating this guy, or for that matter if he would even be recognized as a legitimate contributor to the culture, but he’s got my vote.

Either him, or, I don’t know…. Anyone who goes to work, school, the movies, the grocery store, to volunteer at the local animal shelter/community farm/porn shoot and who picks a bicycle with which to get themselves there?

Moving on to other forms of solicitation also relating to Chrome, I was recently notified that Handsome Bicycles will soon be making their way from Portland East to Minneapolis West to attend a thing that based on what I can glean from the flyer somehow involves bikes, gear and beer;
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When Portland East meets Minneapolis West, a reaction occurs that’s not unlike an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, but there will be far more neck kerchiefs and microbrew involved.

And what’s a blog post on a bike and bikecycle sports action related website if I don’t have at least three mentions of Minneapolis West per?

From the good hearted dirts at Velo Cult I received the following shot of some recent goings on in their basement;
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Clearly sexy is their business, and business is good.

And kind of relating to that, but not really, but sorta, Manuel For Speed, (or as I’ve taken to calling it, ‘Middle Finger Salute‘) has just launched their very own stretchy suit;
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Naturally, these are made by purveyors of fine bikecycling garb, Castelli and should be noted will automatically make you eight to ten feet faster.

I mean, look was just the simple t-shirt did for this guy;
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The proof is in the pudding.

Mmmmmm…. Pudding

And the last thing before I go is a reminder that this weekend in my beloved home state of Colorado, an open house-thing for Swobo Enterprises will be taking place;
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A special guest and I will be making our way there to join in the fun, and make with the meeting and the greeting with the good people of the Front Range.

I’m very much looking forward to it, however I can only assume that folks who eventually make my acquaintance will inevitably be disappointed, but at least we’ll have that in common.

When I first met me I was bored to tears.

So it goes without saying that Monday the 20th’s post will likely be postponed until Wednesday the 22nd, and Wednesday the 22nd’s post will be moved to Friday the 24th.

That is unless the train leaves the station without me.
newlittleskull

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9 Responses to “The train is leaving the station.”

  1. Jon Grinder May 17, 2013 at 7:28 am #

    Hey, if you are in Denver, tonight, come by Bushwhacker’s Pub for some loudness. Skull Full Of Blues, my two-piece Delta blues-punk shitkicking backwardass country fuck band goes on at 9:00 PM…

  2. d*pow May 17, 2013 at 10:58 am #

    I love that picture of Lemond. He looks so damn happy!!!

  3. irishpunk59 May 17, 2013 at 11:40 am #

    what has two thumbs and is glad as feck that LA finally shut the hell up? Greg Lemond that’s who.

  4. Tarik May 17, 2013 at 6:07 pm #

    Bigfoot! Or so I called him. You would see him from north Berkeley through downtown Oakland into the foot hills. I wrote something about him as a unorthodox cycling hero, I need to find that. He would acknowledge a wave or nod by nodding back at you when riding the other way, which made him more personable than most of the east bay road cyclists.

  5. b May 19, 2013 at 2:17 pm #

    did you buy him a cup of coffee?

    • Stevil May 20, 2013 at 1:01 pm #

      I do believe that my companion did.

  6. R. May 20, 2013 at 2:04 pm #

    urban hall of fame? how about wake-up-before-dawn-to-get-my-shred-on hall of fame?

  7. Brij Lunine May 21, 2013 at 10:18 am #

    Stevil I’m freaking out. For years we’d see Eddy Planckaert’s uncle all over the place doing his secret training, but mostly by Claremont Pete’s. The 20 socks per foot must’ve been brutal. Always wondered about that dude, not to mention Larry/Rarry (Larry, “How do you like your meat?” “RAARRRRE! ARGH!”). Bigfoot/Eddy’s Uncle needs a special place in the Urban Cycling HOF. The fact he’s the first person that came to your mind makes you Hella Fresh my friend.

    Ever see Santa Cruz’s non-homeless (assumedly) metonym? Purple Vitus, flat bars, helmet, jeans, about 50, always riding on West Cliff or East Cliff. Don’t sleep on this potential future inductee.

  8. Nowheels May 22, 2013 at 9:49 pm #

    Remember the guy who biked wearing green ski boots and cut off jeans while we gawked at him from the middle school bus? Hall of famer no doubt.