Opening Night Party Tonight for Bicycle Film Festival

Union Pool
Williamsburg Brooklyn, Down dear the BQE @ 484 Union St.

10:00pm

Free and you can make donations to Freewheels

Picture of Audrey Anderson at a memorial for her son.

It is one thing to kill someone on a bike with your SUV, its another thing to show little remorse and then brag about the killing on Myspace. Read the story above.
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This Sunday, May 14th-Mother’s Day… Time’s UP is having a memorial ride for Andre.
Time: 12:00pm at Union Square South (there wil also be other pick up spots)
The Rides will converge from 3-3:30 pm at the Rockaway Skate Park. (Shore Front Parkway at 91st Stjust off the boardwalk). (email timesupvolunteer@gmail.com if you would like to host a hook-up/meeting point/feeder ride or to be involved in planning)

there is a good memorial page on cyclists killed in NYC from Visual Resistance

Here is a little video I took from the 5 boro bike tour using a helmet camera.

5 boro in 5 minutes video

Chris Ryan…that lovable lost viking from the warriors ride is at it again.

This time he is lost in a sea of editing to bring you his latestest video creation:

Criminal Mass.
It is my understanding that this is a more personal account of the on going struggle with the city and critical mass. Chris has experience with this as a film maker and by going through the length legal fight in his never ending journey into the radical world of daring to ride your bike in NYC on a regular basis. I give him props and check out his new movie premiering at the
Bike Film Festival.
——————————————————-
Christopher J. Ryan / Director
-CRIMINAL MASS-
a film about the loss of innocence, wages and freedom.

__Premieres_SUNDAY_ MAY_ 14th_ 8:30 pm.____
@ ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES ( 2nd ave & 2nd St.)
part of the Worldwide BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL

May 13th is a packed day for bikes…
*Bike Film Festival
*Trackstar Street Events-Block Party
*Bridge Battle Alley Cat

and this…

***ROVING CARNIVAL FOR GARDENS***

Saturday, May 13th at 2pm
Tompkins Square Park

Spiral Dancing and Drum Beating!
Feisty Cavorting and Street Transforming!
One Part Ecology, Two Parts Mardi Gras!
Rambunctious fun for all!

Come dance down the streets to celebrate community gardens and
camaraderie. We’ll visit some gardens, unleash some surprises, partake in
a ritual, stand up against some slimy developers and end with an
after-party and barbeque.

We all need places to play, to dream, to connect with each other and the
world. For NYC, community gardens are some of those places. So are the
streets. Unfortunately, all things wild—including gardens, forests and
people who defend the Earth—are under attack. Let’s revel in the places
that are still untamed with people who are still untamed.

Bring drums and instruments! Dress as the garden creature of your dreams!

Special Guests:
Reverend Billy & the Stop Shopping Choir
Rude Mechanical Orchestra
100 Flowered Kazoos Collective
Radical Cheerleaders & Faerie Drummers
Jugglers, Puppets & Tap Dancers
More Gardens! Coalition
Time’s Up
You & Your Crew

Please forward far and wide.

Yesterday was the 5 borough bike tour which I participated in for the first time in my 15 years of bike riding in New York. I had a really good time and hooked up with a great bunch of people from various age groups, bike riding abilities and political affiliations (towards biking).
I understand the political debate about this ride and why bike activists shy away from what would appear to be a great space for cyclists and for bike riding in general. The notion that you would have to pay for an event to participate in an activity which you might do on a daily basis seems unnerving to some bike riders, especially when other groups try and promote community by having free bike events. On top of that, there is a political climate in NYC where bike riding is criminalized and normal daily bike infrastructure is often ignored. Critical Mass is the big sticking point and the city does a great job of trying to make a distinction between good bike riding and bad bike riding. Critical mass also divides the bike activists…those who want to work with the city and not piss off their sponsors and those that believe in direct action and taking matters into their own hands. It is an endless debate. In my opinion the 5 boor bike tour is a great for bikes, so you have to pay a little money…you get to ride on major road ways never imagined such as the FDR, Belt Parkway and lets not forget about all the free bananas you can eat. The money is also put to good use with security, marshals, first aid and a large group of paid staff facilitating the ride. The problem is that that thousands of people in attendance, and it is big, may not think about biking any longer than it takes to put the bikes in the Hummer and drive off to the suburbs. They may not think about the daily commuter who is at risk of being killed by a garbage truck that doesn’t see them for 28 blocks and not get any fines and never finish those bike lanes. But hey, you can’t make people care. Also it plays into the cities hands when you have these official events and makes you cater to the authority, the same authority that feels its ok to allow cops to tackle people on a free bike ride in the city that doesn’t need to apply for a permit. It sets the standard of what bike riding “should be…” Permitted, helmeted, controlled and only big once a year as long as everyone follows the rules and gives money to Con Ed. It gives the city officials a bench mark to say, “Why can’t all your events be like that nice 5 borough bike ride?” But alas I am cynical. Like I said, I had a really good time, I would do it again. I support all things for the bicycle, but those Hummer bikes have really got to go. It’s like Marlboro making a clean air filter.

my flickr page of 5 boro

Video is coming soon!

Ride Magazine is a great publication about East Coast bike culture such as downhill mountian bike racing, cycle-cross, messenger culture and all the facests that make up this great scene of bicycles.

They are now called Bike Culture Magazine and here is a little about them:

BikeCulture Magazine is the regional cycling periodical that binds together the diverse strands of the Northeast’s cycling community. Our mission is to enlighten cyclists about the people, groups, and events which keep this wealthy market rolling.

BikeCulture sticks to the basic tenets of journalism, printing the latest news about local cyclists, manufacturers, events, and issues.

BikeCulture Magazine hits newsstands, bike shops and bookstores eight times a year offering a wealth of news and editorial. A year-long supplement to BikeCulture Magazine is our Annual Cycling Guide which covers all aspects of cycling from clubs to rail-trails in the Northeastern region, the event calendar section of the guide is a great resource for promoters and cyclists. It is typically released early spring and remains available all year.

From its humble beginnings in Connecticut ten years ago under the name The Ride Magazine, BikeCulture Magazine has maintained a continuous publishing schedule and now resides in Arlington, Massachusetts.

This month some of the articles include the clown ride in NYC and the sucess of New York’s Critical Mass
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EVENTS, EVENTS and More Events.

May 6th-Saturday-NYC-Brooklyn Greenway Initiative presents-The Future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Bike Tour.
Meet at 9:30am, ride starts 10:00am sharp.

at the foot of the Manhatan Ave. in Greenpoint, at Newtown Creek.
This is a 10 mile ride at a family pace from Newton Creek in Greenpoint to the spectacular waterfront in Red Hook.

also: Because it’s BIKE MONTH

the 3rd Annual Bike to Shea Day
10:30am-4:30PM
Meet at 10:30 am in Tramway Plaza on 2nd Ave. Btw, East 60th and East 59th
59th St (directly opposite Manhattan side of Queens Borough Bridge); Game: 1:10 pm, Shea Stadium 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue (Queens)
Mets fans: Leave the traffic behind and bike to Shea! Join us for a 6-mile ride to see the Mets vs. the Atlanta Braves. Marshals from the Department of Transportation will escort you to the game via on street bicycle lanes and the Department of Parks and Recreations off street greenways at a leisurely pace. Riders of all skill levels are welcome. Once at Shea Stadium, free attended bike parking will be provided. To purchase tickets, call 718-507-TIXX (if you wish to sit near the ride group ask for Upper Level Reserved section 28). For more information call Gary at the DOT Bicycle Program at 212-442-7660.

May-6th in Chicago–
The No NOS Quarter Mile is a single speed, fixed gear, alleycat, drag race, sprint race. It will be held May 6th 2006 in Pilsen, Chicago IL. Racing will start at 4:00. Registration will be from 3:00 until 3:30 in the park at the corner of Damen and 18th St. The race will go from the corner of 18th and Damen north on Damen to 14th. 3/4 of the race takes place in a tunnel beneth a Union Pacific train yard on the near Southwest side. Once all the racers are registered, pairs will be made at random. Once all the pairs have been established the racing commences. The light on the corner of 18th and Damen will turn green for traffic on Damen, as the light turns red, two racers will pull out to the stop line at the intersection. Those two racers will wait for the light to turn green and they go. The first person across the finish line wins that heat. It will be single elimination. After the first grouping of races is over, the winners of each heat will be paired with the person who won the race before them. This continues until the final two racers are left and the winner of that race is the grand master champion! The park on the corner of Damen and 18th will serve as the place for Bar-B-Que and bike polo. Hang out have a beer and race bikes. 10 dollars to enter and that gets you the spoke card and a t-shirt. The BBQ part is still in the work in terms of how people are going to get/pay for the food, but it will be there. All procedes will go to the Bicycle Messanger Relief Fund. The after party will be just up the street from the race. Prizes to: Top 3 Overall, Top Three Females & to the winners of Footdown, Track Stands & Skid Comp.

in Philadelphia…May 6th…a photo exhibit at Reload Baggage:Come enjoy $1 beer this Saturday night, May 6, in Philadelphia. Roll up your right pant leg and get on down to

RELoad Gallery
608 N 2nd St.
Philadelphia, PA
May 6, 6-9pm

Also there is a two day scavenger hunt…
So For all of you who I havent passed a flyer to, or harassed about endlessly about this: This weekend: All Philadelphia Scavenger Hunt. 2 Days, 2 Dollars. Teams of 2-4. Required of each team: One Polaroid or digital camera. This thing will take place over the course of the entire weekend. All day, both days. You can come and hunt through our grimy city streets for all sorts of items, and photo-ops, compete in physical and mental tests, and basically inject the beginning of your summer with about ten pounds of awesome. Registration will be taking place on Saturday Morning at 10 AM aon the front steps of my home at 1616 S.4th St. Come bring 2 bucks and register. From there: Compete! Do as much or as little as you please for as much of the weekend as you can. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place…worth a couple hundred bucks, I may add. A handful of other noteworthy accomplishments will also be rewarded. This race has been designed to be straight edge and vegan friendly, although, other options are available. Basically, I want a Scavenger Hunt that doesnt involve rushing as much as you can through the city at break neck speeds on a fixed gear bike for 2 hours, drunk out of your mind. The key is leisurely exploration here. And having a blast and hanging out, outside for a couple days. For any more specific information, write to me, or Alicia@alicianeal.net and we’ll tell you all about it. Be awesome. And Thanks, J.N.Gray. PS: Feel free to tell whomever you’d like. The more the merrier. Forward this on, folks!

SUNDAY MAY 7th-the 5 borough Bike Tour in NYC

and in Minneapolis…a race series begins

NO-NAME BIKE RACE

$5 Winner Takes All

6:30pm
1st Sunday of the month
starting 5.7.06
meet @ gazebo/bandshell
in Father Hennepin Park
(east end of the Stone Arch Bridge)

Beer Welcome
Spandex is NOT

(race is a bunch of nobodies against a bunch of other nobodies.
come out. have fun. participate at your own risk
not sanctioned or condoned or endorsed by anyone)

May 13th, in Kansas City is the Tour De CowTown. Part mutant bike fest, part alleycat, part bike swap meet…all fun.

Tour De Cowtown

Well, that was creepy as hell. Today I watched from the Williamsburg Bridge a giant warehouse space that I have worked on and off for many years, burn to the ground. In fact I was just in that space last week working on openings for a television show.
Photo by Robert Stolanik-NY Times

Photo by Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

The former rope factory know to us in the world of film and tv production as the Greenpoint terminal was apparently one of the worst fires since 911 and involved more than 350 firefighters to contain the blaze. This has been a popular location for movie shoots because of its delapitated warehouse look which complements the many cop shows and music videos that are constantly shoot in NYC that need that sort of thing. There was also a wood furniture shop, a lumber yard and indoor skateboard bowl private club sponsered by Tylenol the pain medicine and Autum Skateshop. Often you could see skateboarders walking into this maze of giant abandon space and one day I found out about this
skate park
It was a beautiful design and a nice secret spot to rip it up. Sorry guys.

Working in this space was often a real bitch because they would never put any work into it and you always felt a little danger in being there. One time while I was working on Third Watch for NBC and assigned to hang out by some lights in the upper rafters in case they needed adjusting. I saw this large creature coming down the steps and was shocked to see it was a scraggly Racoon. This beast looked like it was on its last legs. It paid no attention to me and went into this little room to sleep. I got on my walkie talkie and told the crew they were never going to believe this.

Ah good times. Walking into nasty rooms with sharp rusted nails portruding out of wood planks, always wondering what would happen in case of a fire and how fast that place would go…now we know.

We always knew that space would be turned into Condos, but then again I was wondering when it would just slip into the East River.
A few pictures from last weeks shoot…tough shoes to fill.


Oh yeah, and we used to ride our bikes up there…

Not only is May bike month it is also the time of the Bicycle Film Festival. This year Brent has cooked up some real treats for the 6th annual festival at the Anthology Film Archives 32 2nd Ave. Between 1st and 2nd street in lovely Manhattan. Tickets are on sale now through the bicycle film festival website. If you want to attend this years festival May 11th-14th it is best to get tickets in advance online…Every Year they sell out and you are standing outside of the Film Archives with a sad look on your face not inside seeing great bike movies. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.

Here is a line up of things going down and what is at this years amazing festival.

Wednesday (tomorrow) May 3rd at Lit bar 93 2nd Ave. is a pre-festival party with $1.00 Beers

Wednesday May 10th is the opening party for the BFF, Location: TBD

Thursday, May 11th
NYC premier of Jacob Septimus and Anthony Howards 89min. Feature about the Black Label Bicycle Club…called B.I.K.E.
This movie played at Slamdance in Utah and was a big hit.

Friday, May 12th
Tons of great shorts including M.A.S.H. SF by Mike Martin and Gabe Morford, a video about fix gear culture and trick riding in San Francisco…love those hills with no hand brakes!

Saturday, May 13th
Great shorts, including ONE I MADE called Death Race 2005, an alley cat hosted by 4916 based on the cult classic movie Death Race.

Sunday, May 14th
Chris Ryan who helped make “Still We Ride” a big sucess and expose the nasty dealings of the NYPD towards critical mass is at it again with his latest creations…the short film is called CRIMINAL MASS. A must see.

And there are Great Classic bike movies on bike racing like “Racing to Nowhere”, Philip Outram film about SKOL, a six day proffesional bike race in Wembly Stadium in 1968. and “For a Yellow Jersey”: by French Director Claude Lelouch.
and Pedal…the classic low budget documentary about NYC bike messengers directed while riding a skateboard by Peter Sutherland.

All NOT TO BE MISSED. Get your tickets now.