The Radavist

Photo by Doug D

NYC’s Bridge Battle is one of the most grueling alleycats in the US. Yesterday, a ton of racers came out to give it their best and Doug from Hardcourt Bike Polo was there with his camera shooting photos. Check out his set here and the checkpoints below.

It ain’t an NYC alleycat without some drama. Rumble Through the Bronx is one of the toughest alleycats in the country. With most of the racers on road bikes, the speed and skill involved in winning this race can only be delivered by a select few. When fierce competition takes over, shit happens. Check out this Go Pro edit Crihs shot this year to see what I’m talking about. Sketchy!

I’m not going to offer up my opinion on what happened, but feel free to voice yours in the comments.

Photo by Tod Seelie

Well, the world premiere came and went and overall, was welcomed with enthusiasm from everyone. Empire is now going to be released this fall and we’re all beyond stoked to have been a part of one of the first feature films on riding your bike in NYC. Many thanks to Luke and Crihs for including me in this project!

What did you guys think of it?

Come Sunday, everyone was barely able to walk, much less ride but somehow we all got up the energy to head over into the city to catch the world premiere of Empire at the last day of the Bicycle Film Festival. After two years in the making, the guys were finally ready to play the first cut of the film.

Check out some more photos from the premiere below!

Sometimes, older posts reappear in strange places. This week’s Merckx Mondays focuses on a worldwide courier legend once again. If you’re sharp enough, you already know who’s bike this is and where this image is from.

If not, check out the answers to those two questions below!

The period of time between Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday night at 6pm was probably the most fun I’ve had on a bike in a long time. Tom and Tony came up from Philly to ride. First thing we did on Saturday was head into the city and hit up a few spots. After a series of tirades, we made it to bed around 5am only to wake up recharged on Sunday. Tom had to finish off his Empire part, so we hit up a few local spots and here’s the aftermath.

It’s of-fucking-ficial, the Summer of the Sweathogs has begun. Check out more photos below!

Empire Premiere at Bicycle Film Festival 2010 NYC from Empire on Vimeo.

Didn’t this take longer to complete than Avatar? At any rate, Luke and Crihs have wrapped up Empire and will be premiering it at the 2010 Bicycle Film Festival in NYC this year. You better make it! We’re expecting a big crowd, so get your tickets now!

Lorenzo Fariello from the Bicycle Film Festival met up with Crihs, Luke and Yatika while they were out filming yesterday in this gorgous weather we’ve been having. The guys have uploaded a few more photos over on the Empire blog. Go checkem out!

Yatika, JT and Crihs were cast in a movie called The Messenger. Here’s a synopsis of the film:

The Messenger is a short film about Kaya, 19, a midwesterner who leaves behind family and friends to follow her passion for cycling to New York City.

The film is about youth, passion and fate.

Not sure when it will be released, but check out Movement Pictures for more information.

Warm stand-by time. from Dan Chabanov on Vimeo.

What do messengers in NYC do when they’re waiting for a job? Watch the video. Dan and Crihs waiting for work at 57th and Park. I agree, I’m over this cold weather. Nicely done Dan.

Via Bonedeth

picture by John Marshall Mantel

You may have seen on Bike Snob today that Cranksgiving was in the New York Times. If you didn’t make sure you read the article. Really well done. Big ups to Ken and everyone who helped throw it this year. Great turnout, great donations and great coverage! Glad to know all the food raised will be going to families tomorrow.

Congrats guys!

Hills HURT!
Nov. 15th Sunday 1pm start

This is a brutal course. Wow.

I know Empire seems like it’s been dormant, but it hasn’t. Between Crihs doing the 42 Below Ride, various injuries and a dead scooter (R.I.P. baby), the guys have been battling all kinds of unforeseen setbacks.

Now that summer’s gone and the cold winter months are right around the corner, Luke is keeping it fresh with some pics from production this summer. Head on over to see a few shots by Andy T. and me wearing the most ridiculous Mishka shirt ever.

Teaser 016 from mike ambs ☂ on Vimeo.

I just had 3 of my friends ride cross-country and have some other friends in the process of doing so as I’m typing this. Touring seems to be more and more popular nowadays and with bikes at their highest point in decades, everyone seems to be moving across the country on 2 wheels, not 4.

For Thousands of Miles is a movie about documenting two rider’s journey (talk about epic); as they ride cross-country, for thousands of miles (cue Family Guy reference). If this is going to be a full-length film, it’ll be interesting to see how they fill the time up. It’s gotta be more than just 60 minutes of riding.

Empire is full throttle [or at full cadence if you will]. Luke and Crihs have been filming non stop with a series of talented videographers helping out. On top of working with Brooklyn-based Outlier on a Merino tee, they’re preparing for the series of friends who’re due to come to NYC this Summer.

Jason from SF was in town and Luke went out shooting with him. We all watched the footage the other day at Luke’s place. He uploaded a still to the Empire blog, so check it out!

photo by Fritz

You’re looking at the winners of Monster Track X. Crihs and Heather. Both are well-seasoned riders and the grueling manifest brought out not only strategy, but endurance. The format this year was unprecedented.

Monster Track 10 from Michael Green on Vimeo.

The Manifest was about 10 checkpoints, taking you from one end of Manhattan to the other and all over in between. The top 20 back to the finish got a second manifest. The top 5 from that got the last assignment. Wilis and I rode the race together and I’m not sure how we placed. All things considered, we probably got in the 20’s or 30’s.

Top Racers:
1-Crihs NYC
2-Jumbo Copenhagen
3-Dan C NYC

pic by Michael Green

Tom and the Delco kids did Monstertrack on brakeless BMX bikes. Well, 4 checkpoints anyway!

I didn’t Google pedometer my route, partially because of Project White Rabbit. We’ve been talking about this for a year, taking off in the wrong direction and leading as many people as we could down the rabbit hole. We got about 20-30 people to follow us down a bottle-necked sidewalk off the FDR expressway and as we jumped the jersey barriers, we shouted PROJECT WHITE RABBIT.

Everyone was pissed!

I think Andrew Excess from Albany was video taping it, so hopefully he’ll post the video somewhere.

After the race, we all rode to Galapagos in Dumbo for the Goldsprints finals and awards ceremony.

pic by Ray Jones

Today was the MTX stunts and sprints under the BQE at the Peel Spot. A good crowd was there and it was a lot of fun. I think everyone was beaten up and sore from the previous day and the air was frigid and filled with snow ready to drop.

pic by Ray Jones

pic by Ray Jones

Chris Kim threw the event with a 2 minute freestyle; prizes for best overall style and gnarliest trick. Wonka took gnarliest trick and Tony took overall style. I completely woofed all my tricks and fell at least 3 times. Still, at the end of the day, we had a great time.

I’m sure Demoncats will be posting pics soon and videos will surface. I’ll continue to add to this post as photos and videos begin to surface.

Monster Track is approaching and last Friday the 13th was the Midtown Nightmare cat.

Dan took 1st. You can see Yatika, Raf and Crihs in the video too.