Time to get outta here.


Before we head out the door presented to us by the lovely and talented Generica A. Stockphotostrup into what hopefully will be weekends full of activities aside from replacing toilets or recovering from appendectomies, I have a lengthy stack of material to get through. As always, generally none of it is related, and all of it you almost certainly can live a full life without.

Except for this thing that I recently found on the internets;
goddamn
This is called a ‘Soul Roll‘. It is a mac and cheese, collard greens, yam, and grilled chicken breast egg roll.

Can you stand it? I didn’t think so. A long time ago there used to be a feature in Thrasher Magazine called ‘Chef Boy Am I Hungry’, which would regularly feature recipes similar to these, that for better or for worse was one of the components what taught me how to cook. It could be argued at this point that if those recipes continued to be a mainstay of my diet, I wouldn’t have lived past thirty.

And vaguely speaking of soul rolls, albeit rolling soulfully, (though cooking the goods in a different, but equal kind of badass way), Emily of Squid Bikes got in touch with a little bit of whatfor, and how ‘ya doing from her camp;

Stevil-

So we have been doing this Race Day Rattlecan thing. Basically, we paint a bike (with Spray.bike, which is the new bike specific spray paint that Squid is now the sole US distributor of) the day before a race, build it and then race it the following day. We first tried this at Sea Otter with Anthony. We had a few friends over, painted the bike over the course of the evening. Chris built the bike in the following morning and Anthony raced it in the pro cross race that afternoon;
anthonybymattbriggs
Photo courtesy, Matt Briggs.

Our second Race Day Rattlecan was for Lost and Found gravel race this past weekend. We stripped (yay, metal bikes) one of my race bikes on Thursday and we painted it in the expo area on Friday afternoon. Chris built it at the camp site under a Coleman Lantern that night. I raced it 100 miles through the best gravel, and grime the High Sierra had to offer the following morning.

In terms of the process for this bike. People are always perplexed.

– The first coat was orange. Layer of Creamsicle decal masks.
– The second coat was white. Another layer of Creamsicle and cloud decal masks;
Dreamsicle01
Dreamsicle08
– The third coat of blue;
Dreamsicle10
Dreamsicle06
– Then remove all masking.

Basically, the whole Race Day Rattlecan thing is meant to show how easy the paint is to use, let people experience the process, have the opportunity to ask questions and, generally, put both the Squid Rattlecan and Spray.bike in front of them. Plus it’s just fun. One of our friends said it perfectly, “It’s the Iron Chief of bike racing. A little desperation. A little creativity.” Ha!
Dreamsicle28
Photo credit, Zack Cunningham.

Let me know if you (or any readers) have any questions. emily(at)squid bikes(dot)com.

You’re awesome. See you at MYM 😉

E

From my perspective, putting art on a bike frame is a fool’s errand, but one that Emily and her cohorts happen to be exceptional at.

Not so very long ago I myself arted up all over a frame for Rick Hunter‘s Sacramento NAHBS booth;
hunterstevildirtjumper
Which by the way is currently on display at Oakland’s King Cog store.

Upon that bike’s completion, I vowed to never again sully my hands with such a project.

And then Maximo Supremo resident, and craft brew giant New Belgium got in touch and notified me that they’d tapped the shoulders of several creative types to do one-off bikes, and asked if I’d like to do one as well.

I said no. They said please. I said no, and then they asked if I was sure. I said yes, then they said that upon the frame’s completion, it would go up for auction and whatever money raised would be donated to a local no-profit of my choice. At that point my heart strings got tugged just enough and upon realizing the giants who I was standing shoulder to shoulder with, I finally agreed;
NBbikesfolks
So then a couple weeks ago my local new Belgium guy, Justin dropped off a raw Detroit Bikes frameset, at which time I took all the components to my friendly neighborhood powder coater;
andsoitbegins
Upon the parts’ retrieval, I immediately got cracking;
frame
parts
At this stage in the game I guess I’m about 70% complete with the project and about 250% complete with losing my mind, but the nonprofit I have in mind is a local animal shelter so my dying by what are effectively a thousand paper cuts is a small price to pay.

And speaking of which, my brother in arms Robert Ives from Blue Collar Bikes is busy putting the finishing touches on next weekend’s Meet Your Maker ride in Sacramento;
2016SacMYM
He sent me an introduction, and a plea for raffle tickets which was nearly as long as this entire post so sit back and drink it all in. After all, all monies generated are going straight to help out two area pitbull shelters, and if that’s not reason enough to wade through the next pile of words, I can’t imagine what would be.

Stevil-

The MEET YOUR MAKER TOUR is coming back to SAC in 2016! Like our previous events, the 3rd running of MYM here will be a no fee, casual paced & social ride on our beautiful 37 & 50 mile routes. Both routes will have vehicle support and aid stations. Our good friends at BIKE DOG BREWING have invited us back to start, finish and party at their awesome location in West Sacramento where we’ll have builder displays featuring : BLACK CAT, BLUE COLLAR, BRUCE GORDON CYCLES, FALCONER, HUNTER CYCLES, PARAGON MACHINE WORKS, PAUL COMPONENT ENGINEERING, RETROTEC/INGLIS, REX CYCLES, SOULCRAFT, SYCIP, and WHITE INDUSTRIES. We’ll also have music, food and hold another huge raffle which includes two complete bikes, various components, OAKLEY sunglasses, soft goods and a pile of great gift certificates and other assorted loot from our generous sponsors. For more info about the ride and how to register, please see our ride description at the Meet Your Maker page, or our event Facebook page.

One of the complete bikes up grabs this year at the raffle is a fully loaded VENTANA 27.5+ WOLFRAM hard tail;
MYMVentana
This bikes is insanely dialed thanks to VENTANA & our generous sponsors. SHIMANO came through for us huge this year and equipped us with a complete XTR Di2 1×11 group, featuring PRO THESIS carbon bars, a Di2 compatible stem, PRO carbon seat post and and XTR brake system. The fine folks at FOX set our WOLFRAM up with a 120mm BOOST fork to handle the 3” WTB tires this beast is sporting. CHRIS KING donated a headset to hold all the goods together and the VENTANA is rolling on a set of CLD thru axle hubs from straight out of Petaluma from our friends and fellow MYM members WHITE INDUSTRIES. Suffice to say, you’d be hard pressed to find a bike set up this rad in any raffle anywhere else.

The second complete bike is a BLUE COLLAR Nigel CX gravel eating machine featuring a killer new gravel road fork donated by ENVE Composites, a set of KOM hoops donated by WTB laced up to another set of WHITE INDUSTRIES thru axle hubs with a set BRUCE GORDON Rock N’ Road tires (for the record, Bruce Gordon is ALWAYS nice to me);
MYMbluecollar
This bike is also sporting a KING headset as well as a Boxcar stem, a Tall & Handsome seat post and a set of custom anodized Klamper disc brakes from Chico’s finest, PAUL COMPONENT ENGINEERING. I supplied the CX1 drivetrain and the frame which is a 55.5cm “medium” sized frame. If you win it and it doesn’t fit, I have a complete tubeset waiting in the wings to make you one that will.

**To purchase raffle tickets, send a payment of five dollars per via PayPal to bluecollarbikes916(at)gmail(dot)com, select the “friends & family” option (free to both parties) and fill in your full name, email address & phone # in the “add a note field”. Within 24hrs we will send you a response via email confirming your purchase, and a list of your ticket numbers.

We will fill out your tickets and hold on to your stubs until the day of the event. If you win, we will contact you and arrange for your prize to be delivered or shipped to you, at our expense. So please open your hearts and wallets and start purchasing some tickets. We have a lot of buddies out there that need some help.

Why are we going so big for a simple raffle? First off, it’s just how we do things here at BC- moderation is not our specialty. Secondly, 100% of the raffle revenue goes directly to the incredible folks at PB SOC (Pit Bull Socialization & Obedience Crew) and CHAKO PIT BULL RESCUE, two amazing rescue organizations in Sacramento working to better the lives of pit bull type dogs through shelter work, training, foster/rescue programs and advocacy. The money raised will help with the costs of medical care and off site training for dogs with special needs, foster supplies like food, beds, leashes, and collars and myriad of other expenses associated with the care and training of rescue dogs;

Mrs. BC and I have an affinity for the blockheads and have been PB SOC volunteers working with shelter dogs for the last 5 months. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience and made us more passionate than ever about pit bulls, their plight and the ways we can help them get into good homes. Shelter and rescue work is definitely not easy, we often times witness some of the worst examples of humanity’s shortcomings-abandoned, abused and extremely neglected dogs-while simultaneously experiencing the very best that humanity can offer-the dedication, empathy, unconditional love & sacrifice of the volunteers who we are blessed to work with.

At the end of the day, the hard work is worth the tears as we see the dogs we’ve nurtured during their stay at the shelter find adopters and start new lives with a clean slate. We are also inspired daily by the love and joy that our own pit bull, Lola, has brought to our household and the hope that we can allow another animal in need a chance to provide those same benefits to another family elsewhere. Below is an example of some of the tough situations these poor dogs can endure and still come out shining in the end;

Thanks for everything,

Robert

The sad, but happy, but sad, but happy videos always get me.

So did you get all that? You can win one or even possibly two complete bikes, or a host of other prizes. There was an absolute metric shit ton of goods given away last year to folks all across the country. I’d wager to bet that everyone who entered won something.

That is except Sean Hunt and me.

But don’t let our misfortune stop you. At five dollars a piece (and there’s no limit to the number you can buy), it’s a small price to pay to not only possibly net you some amazing goods, but more over, to help some sweet pups who are just simply looking to have a happy life;
baby blockheads
How can anyone possibly say no to those squishy little faces?

So it’s with that, that I bid you farewell for now, and advise you to take care in not letting the door hit you on the way out.
newlittleskull

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9 Responses to “Time to get outta here.”

  1. Jose June 10, 2016 at 6:37 am #

    I was going to leave a snarky comment about bikes, but the puppies made me forget what it was..

  2. jackie m. June 10, 2016 at 7:37 am #

    Thanks for the coverage on some of the sweet stuff going on out in our humble valley town. I consider myself extremely lucky to have befriended both Emily and Robert after ending up here a few years back. Awesome folks doing awesome shit with no ego involved, just love for cycling and a bigger love for the pups. Consequently, I do remember the “Scarfing Material” column from the old newsprint Thrasher magazines. I still make, from time to time, “Skate Dogs” which is pretty much a hot meatball sandwich with the balls replaced by a dog. See? It all comes back to the dogs.

  3. Case June 10, 2016 at 7:45 am #

    I basically started crying before the video even started.

  4. fatlip June 10, 2016 at 8:20 am #

    Awesome art on them bikes!

    The puppies don’t suck either.

  5. Steve @ G4G June 10, 2016 at 8:42 am #

    Two tickets purchased. I hope I win a puppy.

  6. Bianchi June 10, 2016 at 10:01 am #

    And that, my friend, is how you get all my monies. Tickets purchased.
    Dogs are all that is good in the world laid bare. I have to go snuggle my pup now.

  7. Mike Moore June 10, 2016 at 2:38 pm #

    Re: Chef Boy Am I Hungry. (aka Mofo) Did you ever make one of his nuclear holocaust sandwiches? There was many a night after too many sudsy pops and hippy lettuce delights, me and the roomies would crank them out. They were basically french toast peanut butter and jelly sandwiches covered with chocolate sauce. They tasted of guilty pleasure.

  8. yuri June 10, 2016 at 7:19 pm #

    the world of 10,000$ mountain bikes..All of these people must have 3 jobs

  9. Raymond Epstein June 11, 2016 at 5:33 am #

    I made a few of the nightmarish recipes from reading ‘Chef Boy Am I Hungry’ back in the day. Unfortunately, my diet (as a type 1 diabetic) would not allow me to go off too much with those kind of possibilities despite assorted inebriates that would lead to poor decisions. I was a serious pack rat and had every issue of Thrasher from their first in ’81 (yeah, I started reading it then around the second or third issue as a young punkster) until sometime in ’90. I do wish I had not given them all away. Nevertheless, every time I read about your recent skateboarding exploits I get the urge to build a new stick and lawd knows I still eyeball curbs and ditches everywhere.