The K-Swiss/Kinfolk collaboration also extends to an edited, limited-edition collection of gear, in line with Kinfolk’s passion for the ultimate in handmade, modern and enduring. Custom made and branded with K-Swiss’ ‘66 shield, the project embodies and combines the best of each company’s culture, imbued with the artisanal Japanese quality of Kinfolk with the SoCal flavor of K-Swiss. The bikes were recently unveiled at at Kinfolk’s bar in Tokyo’s Nakameguro nabe, and are currently being showcased in the window of the flagship K-Swiss store in Tokyo. Ten handcrafted bags and fifty hand-dyed indigo scarves from the collaboration also were commissioned—proof that when it comes to sports and innovative design, California and Japan make for good kinfolk, indeed…

The Rio Hondo Channel is approximately 20 miles in length and its source waters are found in the San Gabriel Mountains.  It is accessible from Irwindale, Whittier Narrows, Pico Rivera and Downey (among others). I happened upon the Rio Hondo one day while trying to loop around the LA River Bike Path route I usually take. The area where the Rio Hondo outlets into the LA River is pretty much a dry bed of concrete, but the path is very clean and the surrounding areas serene (for those of you who are familiar with the areas).  The Rio Hondo is also a part of the revitalization of bike and trail paths supported by the Sierra Club and other organizations contributing to the quaint parks along the river.

I’ve been doing my long runs (15 miles at the moment) for the Ragnar Vegas Ultra Relay along the Rio Hondo as a change of pace from the LA River.  It offers uninterrupted bike paths for a longer stretch than the usual paths I happen to take along the river, and it’s always a good idea to change up the scenary every now and then when you are mentally/physically trying to conquer  15+ miles at once. If you are a local to the area, this is a great route to take for an uninterupted long run (no obligatory rests at stop lights). Watch out for occasional cyclists speeding by you (I usually come across 2-3) and if possible run with a friend during daylight hours.

Elevation gain: 80-100 ft at most, though the hills along the bike path near overpasses are minimal. Difficulty: Easy. The route is mostly flat and either fresh concrete or asphalt line the bike path.

Oakland is the birthplace of the Scraper Bike, a phenomenon that blew up a few years ago with kids using their bikes as canvases for expression. They were aping the tradition of customized cars, or “scrapers” that have flossed out rims, colorful paint jobs. Tyrone Stevenson, aka Baby Champ, couldn’t afford his own car so he took to his bike’s frame. Now, its a bona fide internet craze. The idea didn’t catch on until he made a song about Scraper Bikes and added it to Youtube and now it’s a craze that’s spread from Oakland to Oregon and as far as Australia and Jamaica.

The kids use everything from Skittles packages and mylar tape to trick out their spokes, and the stance is decidedly “I got my bike, I don’t need no car!” They ride in a single-file line when riding, and after 10 rides Champ and his crew will decide if your bike is up to standards. After your evaluation they will determine you a member (or not) and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. You should be so blessed. (Thanks to @raymondroker for the tip.)

For more Scraper Bike videos, link here.

The object of the game is pretty self explanatory – two teams of three riders try to get the ball between their opponents set of cones. Sounds easy peasy right? Not exactly.  The crew started to school me on the different ways of hitting the ball and various penalties no-no’s, but i just got too distracted by the DIY genius constructs of the mallets and funky wheel covers. They looked like Ikea designs on a good day!

The UK Bike Polo Championships is on next weekend in Manchester. Peep this video from last years tournament and get yourself rolling.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I had been toying with the idea of a scavenger hunt race for like a year now with my closest cycling friend Brian Guzman.  And I wanted to make it an event that no other Alley Cat race has done, so the thought of having to find Waldo takes the edge out of a straight all-out grinding race.  I wanted to make it fun and adventurous too, so I finally got the resources together to pull this shit off.  Right now I am doing an artist collaboration project that is running through May, and the artist for this month was Raul Gonzalez .  And I thought it would be perfect to have the finish line and afterparty at his spot. He was like “fuck yes you can.” So we made it so.“

Here is the trailer for the race:

So I’m new to this: what is this sport called?
The sport is called Fixed Gear Freestyle or FGFS and it’s awesome.

Why not just ride BMX?
Thats a big question and controversy in the FGFS world right now. But the main thing is that Fixed Gears are for commuting first. Its a bike that you can get places on and crush spots along the way.

Are there ever any Warriors-style clashes?
Haha, I wish! But no not really…this isn’t graffiti or b-boying. But if it were to go down I’d have glass covered knuckles Kickboxer style!

When did Vincent Shim start trying to grind on a Peugeot? They’re not Peugeots, right? They’re made of moon metal or something?
Hahaha. I started fall of ‘07? Mainly just doing skids and trackstands. I got into Keos, barspins and fakies the next summer. Sort of took off from there I guess. Just to say this: I was the first dude in Minneapolis to do Keo’s. Now all these kids are making me look like a joke!

Vincent Shim just has to step it up in 2k10, show the babies how it’s done.
Hell yeah I’m already working on new tricks! Watch out young’uns – old school’s making a comeback!

How did this sport get going?
It started a couple of years ago. A movie called Mash SF came out which was a movie shot in the style of skate videos. It featured a few fixed gear riders from San Francisco. It had a lot of hill bombing and a few tricks. At this time the freestyle aspect of fixed gear riding hadn’t blown up like it is today but it was definitely a starting point. Early spring of 2008 a video came out from Ride/Relax productions called Bootleg Sessions. It featured riders from all over the US, mainly New York, Philly and Seattle…this was a pivotal video in launching the scene. Since then there are a bunch of new videos like Macaframa, Fast Friday, Death Pedal, Bootleg Sessions versions 2-4, The Revival, Council of Doom and No Cassettes.

Where’s it gone from there?
From there it went on to full blown events with movie premiers and trick comps.  In February there’s was a huge throw down in Milwaukee called Midwest Mayhem. It was I think the first organized comp that had riders fly in from all over the country. A bunch of kids from Cali, The Mpls crew, New York, Philly, Texas, Milwaukee of course, Detroit, Virginia…. you name it. Last weekend there was another one called the RVA trick Jam that brought it the same way. The Bike Film Festival in New York I think is going to be the next major event. From there who knows?!

Wasn’t No Age hired by the Bike Film Festival to play? That’s kind of a ‘get’. Nice synergy! [this is not synergy - ed.]
I’m not sure what that means…but No Age rocks! Hahaha

What’s the “bike scene” like in Minneapolis?
The bike scene in Minneapolis is pretty good. Actually really good. Its supposedly has the 2nd highest concentration of cycling commuters behind Portland. There’s a scene for a walks of bikers from Mountain Biking, to Road Cycling, Cyclocross, Urban Commuters and the single speed crowd.

I meant with the fixed gears?
Haha, sorry not great at assumptions…you know why Ving Rhames. Its a great scene. Mike Carney and Jesse Hiliard are from Mpls and they was the first dudes (in the same night) to hit a handrail ever on a fixed gear bike.

Last year your shop was involved in a city-wide bike race for gutter scrub fixie riders, who put that on?
Haha…which race? And gutter scrubs what are those?

Oh maybe that was the all-girl bike race [Babes In Bikeland] I was thinking about and your shop was a check-in spot. I guess I made that whole thing up. But gutter scrubs are all those friends you try and avoid after 4am because they get into some ugly goings-on respectable people like you and me don’t take part in.
Oh, two girls named Chelsea and Kayla put that on. They’re really big advocates of female bikers. They’re actually making an all female biker calender for some kind of fund raiser… that I can’t remember right now…Jameson… Ha yeah people like you and me get into the ugly goings-on before bar close.

People really like to bike in -30F teeth-gnashing, eye-watering weather around there. Do you bike in the winter?
I did bike through a couple of winters… I still try to most days but man… -30 is not kind to the body.

So living in Minnesota slows it down I suppose?
Totally. The guys on the West Coast move at light speed compared to us because they can ride year round. In the winter there is barely any way to ride, so that’s why I snowboard. And snowboarding rocks.

Holy moly. How painful is it to eat shit on one of these giant bikes?
It can be pretty bad man. I sprained my knee really good about 6 weeks ago and I’m still not fully recovered. I busted my ankle last summer and that was pretttty bad. took about 4 months to fully recover from that one.

How many gutter scrubs stop by your store in a given day?
Too many but at the same time not enough.

I read about “Wants Vs. Needs”, something associated with your store somehow in URB, what is it?
It’s the most awesomest party ever on the face of the planet. I can’t even explain how great it is. It’s a monthly party in Minneapolis and we give out free shirts designed by Adam Garcia of The Pressure. It features our awesome DJ’s Espada, Petey Wheatstraw, So Gold and Anton.

Who are some of the bigger FSFG names?
John Prolly, Tom Lamarche, Ed Wonka, Torey Thornton, Mike Carney (Minneapolis boy), Taylor Dwight, Chris Clappe (Da Buthcher), Eric Puckett, Tom Mosher, Tony Fast, Tyler Johnson, Jason Maggied it goes on and on. This shit’s getting huge!

Blogroll!
www.prollyisnotprobably.com
www.vssocial.com
www.bikejerks.com
www.zlogblog.com
www.lovefixe.com
www.bootlegsessions.net
www.allcitycycles.com

Los Angeles Fixed Gear Freestyle from Video Market on Vimeo.

Brakeless polo isn’t just for fixies. These kids take to the polo pit on BMX bikes and obviously not a care about the so-called elitism in bike polo. Obviously there’s no love loss between BMXers and Fixies, but this looks to be indication of common values. Here they take over the court and run shit.

via Love Fixe

More: Long Beach Bike Fest

While BMX gets a ton of attention for trick and freestyle riding, fixed gear is on the come up as riders have switched allegiances and evolved to bring tricks to the fixie. If you live in SF, you have probably witnessed it first-hand, but if not the guys from Fonseca, a small production company focused on fixed gear films. As you can imagine, the potential casualty list is endless, broken everything from skulls to bike chains. However, these fearless riders treat their chariots intended for bike rallies like they were balsa skate decks, flying through the air, across coping, over obstacles. I say you’d have to be nuts, but I think it’s really more about guts. Nothing more renegade than no brakes… no helmet, no safety net, no precedent. Not so sure about the BIIM soundtrack.

Fonseca Films

Danny Macaskill’s talent has made its way all over the internet, since we last posted about him. Some 12 million views later, it’s not hard to imagine why the production company behind the video(s) decided to create their own outlet for their work, and the scene they come from. Watch26.TV is a high-quality platform, which they claim “will also set new standards in usability, video and player quality as well as user integration and comfort.” The site also just offers really fresh mountain bike video content from all over the world. Even though their proprietary player makes it difficult to share videos right here on the page, we’ll gladly represent because Macaskill is that dope. Watch26 is not just a promotional effort for his skills, it’s witness to a hugely vital bicycle scene that hadn’t gotten much props (outside of say, Denver) until now. Peep Macaskill in a recent VW ad, for just a taste.

Check Watch26.TV.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over the past 8 years, Kei has visited 37 countries and traveled 28,000 miles (which makes that spinning class look easy, right?), but his trip hasn’t been all sunshine and gumdrops—he has faced pirates, a rabid dog, arrest and marriage. He’s made his money by doing magic tricks for tourists on the street. Next, he plans to head to Africa. Dude is so hardcore.

The bicycle, a customized mountain bike with a steel frame made by Waterford Precision Cycles, served for four years as Stoll’s vehicle for discovery. It is a star in his new book, Falling Uphill: 25,742 Miles, 1,461 Days, 50 Countries, 6 Continents & 4 Moments of Enlightenment on a Bicycle. It may be optimistic to think that anyone could make this trip successfully, but it’s good to know that it won’t take a extra special bike to ride.

via Outside

“Race Across the Sky,” a new film about the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race, will premiere this October. The big guns, Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens, are both featured, but the movie encompasses all the other cyclists as well. You can get a taste of the drama and action in the teaser, above. Check out Citizen Pictures‘ website for dates and times of upcoming screenings.

via Outside

Even though we’ve featured plenty of bikes made from everything from African bamboo to aluminum, this time we use the term “bike” loosely, but what the Yike Bike does is help personal transportation in a realistic way. It’s almost better than a bike, if it works the way it’s been demonstrated, because it’s made of carbon fiber (so it’s light) and folds up into a very reasonable size. The Yike is electric, travels up to 20 mph with no pedals, and has an accelerator and a brake at your fingertips. It’s a minifarthing design (which isn’t quite clear what that means) that is not just another tweak on the traditional bike, which is what really gives this an innovative edge. All the clumsiness and size of a folding bicycle is gone, and finally this could be a real solution for urban trekkers looking for a new way to commute.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Treehugger

Case in point: my neighbor, who rides his bike approximately 10 miles each way to his job at (appropriately enough) a bike shop. This is the same neighbor that was pleased to announce that he’d “only” been hit twice in the past year by cars while riding. While the first incident was a hit-and-run, the second resulted in a hefty cash settlement; neither left him with any serious injuries.

Things only got more intense with the rise of the fixed gear bike scene blew up in Venice, CA before spreading across the city. It’s a scene of devoted hardcore riders will little patience for casual riders. So it’s easy to image the blind rage that’s sure to ripple across the fixed-gear nation once word gets out that none less than the arbiters of all that is trendy in American youth culture, Urban Outfitters, are now selling customized fixed-gear rides on their website.

While respected bike company Republic/Aristotle are behind these rides (which can be customized more than 100,000 ways), it won’t lessen the blow for serious fixed-gear aficionados.

Hey, at least it’s not Wal-Mart…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I then strolled over to the transition area where I saw wetsuits get bagged up, socks thrown on and bike shoes velcroed in, and racers looking as if they just started the race. Blimey! I was mesmerized by the scene of calm breaths and focused faces as the swimmers-cum-cyclist geared up for the 40 km ride, that would see them pass Greenwich, Tower of London, and the always ever present Gherkin building. Certain motor ways were completely shut off, giving free clearance for cyclist to claim the roads with championing timing.

Looping right around back to the transition zone, all that was left was the big run.  This was the best part of the game for me, simply for the fact that crowds along the route had the most unified cheers. They couldn’t help but scream out the names on the t-shirts of running strangers. Go Bob! Go Alice! Strangers cheered on other strangers and loved ones cheered on their beloveds. Just a beautiful air of comradier that sports tends to connect us. All in all is was a great sporting day. Another great day for London.