5.3.2008 von Ines.

Do you want to find a cool fixed gear bike? Or do you want to have something beautiful put together just for you? This is the place you have to go:

Velo Culture Bike Shop
in Birds Rock, 5717 La Jolla Blvd. Phone: +1-858-454-0398
http://www.myspace.com/veloculture

They have a lot of frames and fixed gear bikes.

It is a cool shop with super people: They are fixed gear experts and can get you about anything you want.

And they are fun to hang out with. So also friends drop by and spend time in the shop or on the backyard bike trick area (needs to be paved) playing around on different bikes.

But be careful: If you go to the shop you might end up there for a few hour so go there early enough Or you might end up buying a bike…

Some more pictures are on: flickr

Geschrieben in USA, Fixed Gear | 1 Kommentar »

29.2.2008 von Ines.

This was wonderful coincidence! I am only in the US for a few days and I had only heard about Critical Mass but there was actually a Critical Mass ride in San Diego.

The general idea behind it is to have all kinds of bicycle enthusiasts to get together and ride together to create awareness in society of the huge bicycling communities (http://critical-mass.info/). San Diego seems to have this every last Friday of the month meeting at 7pm at the fountain in Balboa Park (http://www.myspace.com/criticalmassride). I have heard that in the past they had over 200 people join in for the ride. There is no route or destination - who ever is at the front leads the way. Families with children ride among, people who use the bike to commute to work, track bike racers, street racers, bike freaks, cool BMX kids, mountain bike lovers and many others and the fixed gear riders.

This was my first Critical Mass I have taken part in. I wanted to get there a bit earlier but we spent so long in the Velo Culture Bike shop to get my new Corima frame all ready to ride. I think I rode my bike for about 2 meters before putting on the pick up truck and driving to the Critical Mass meeting point. The ride had very good vibe and was really fun. Somebody counted 475 cyclists all cycling together. There are some videos on youtube. I only took pictures at the break:

So the San Diego Critical Mass was the inaugural ride on my new Corima fixed gear bike! It rides really smooth even uphill with the 70 gear inch. It was such a great feeling. And not only that, I actually also had my trick bike with me and did some tricks before the mass of bicyclists started riding through downtown and outskirts of San Diego:

I am very happy after I performed on my trick bike! Click here to see a video of my performance that night.

Geschrieben in USA, Fixed Gear | 4 Kommentare »

28.2.2008 von Ines.

It is so cool that there is such a fixed gear bike scene in San Diego. Every Thursday is the E.Vill Doers get together and ride. If you have a fixed gear bike just come to the parking lot on 8th Street and Market Street at 7pm. Check it out on www.sdfixed.com

As I was in town I joined tonight. I did not yet have a track bike, just my trick bike so they did not ride very far nor fast. We played around with the bikes. Many people wanted to try my trick bike and as an exchange I tried out their tack bikes. It was a very fun evening. I took quite a few pictures which I uploaded to flickr

At the ocean front we did some balancing (nobody fell in):

And just some riding around:

Some guys did cool skids (that is what you call the technique of stopping a fixed gear bike with your legs only. Most fixed gear bikes do not have a hand brake) but I failed to shoot nice pics. Here is one picture of a skid:

…and some last crazy tricks before we went to the Neighborhoor:

Geschrieben in USA, Fixed Gear | Keine Kommentare »

27.2.2008 von Ines.

The best Christmas surprise was an email I received with the title “sponsorship”. I moved it to the spam folder because I did not want some blue pills or some extra inches free of charge. Luckily that person had also filled out the contact form on my homepage with the same title “sponsorship”. I was surprised: A person called Allyson Vought was asking if I would be interested in getting a track bike frame sponsored. Of course! I had only been searching for about 8 months and wanted nothing more badly then a fixed gear track bike. Of course I would be interested to get a frame free of charge!

So I started communicating with Allyson to find out that she is not only the importer of high end bikes from companies like Koga-Miyata and Corima but moreover a extremely amazing woman. She is over 50 and still rides track bike races in the velodrome. And not just a bit, she is really good and really fast. She is an idol showing that you can still achieve outstanding records and push the limits when most people just sit down and say with a sigh “…oh I am too old for that”. I want to stay physically fit till I die. That is my goal.

Allyson Vought is also an artist and does a lot of Walt Disney related artwork. And she used to fly formations and do many other interesting things. But here is a picture of the Corima track bike frame that she gave to me free of charge. I still can’t believe it. Thank you so much Ally!

Geschrieben in USA, Fixed Gear | Keine Kommentare »

26.2.2008 von Ines.

Beginning of this year I had already planned that I will be in India in the middle of February. So I was running around getting the documents ready for my Indian visa application which I then applied for just before my trip to Thailand. Unfortunately I then heard rumors that there was a delay for all requested Indian visas in Beijing. I was slightly nervous if I would actually get my passport back on time for my trip to Thailand or if I would let my friends enjoy there holiday in Thailand while I would be left back in Beijing with all the horrible firecrackers. But I was lucky I got my passport with Indian visa back on time so I went on holiday.

And now? I am actually not in India, I am in the USA. I am in sunny San Diego.

Geschrieben in USA, Beijing | Keine Kommentare »

25.1.2008 von Ines.

There is an art exhibit all around fixed gear bikes. They will display bikes and spokes cards as well as photography. It will start on February 1st in Berlin and on February 2nd in Los Angeles. Also three of my photographs of my single speed bike will be displayed. Drop by if you are near Berlin or Los Angeles.

http://www.visual-research.com

Geschrieben in Germany, USA, Fixed Gear | 4 Kommentare »