The Radavist

Does this even need an explanation? TCB Courier is on it!

The 2013 Urban Cycling Hall of Fame‘s first class is filled with many talented individuals. Most of which you will know, others, you might not. Rest assured, this was one of the most tedious and thoughtful selection committees. We all truly believe that the people on this flier have given the most to urban cycling and in some cases, are continuing to support their communities.

Want to see this at a higher res? Click here. Many thanks to Echos and Chrome for sponsoring the 2013 UCHOF.

… and they’re going on 4 years of doing so. Check out the latest from TCB Courier above and if you’re in SF tonight, roll through their 4 year anniversary party. Details below.

“Tour de Force,” by Bruce McCall, July 25, 2005

There’s been quite the buzz surrounding the New Yorker’s latest cover art by Bruce McCall for the featured story entitled “ExerCity”. Why is the New Yorker writing about cycling? Truth is, the New Yorker has featured cycling on their covers for some time. Take the above cover for example…

Check out many more amazing cycling-inspired cover art pieces at the New Yorker!

Nelson Vails has been receiving a good amount of media coverage over the past few months and now, this Indigogo Campaign has launched to fund a documentary about the track racer. Here’s the trailer for Cheetah: The Nelson Vails Story.

“Nelson Vails’ story is a triumph over almost insurmountable odds. Nelson was the youngest of 10 children growing up in the Harlem projects and worked as a New York City bicycle messenger to support his family. Nicknamed “The Cheetah” because he was the fastest cat in the jungle, Nelson rode furiously while working, trained in Central Park after work and raced locally on weekends.

He was thrust on to the world stage, represented the USA at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won the silver medal in the individual 1000-meter Match Sprints, behind countryman Mark Gorski. Becoming a pioneer for the African-American cycling community, this documentary explores the beginnings of his life in Harlem and his impact on the future generation of cyclists worldwide.

It follows the triumph of Nelson’s achievements with the sobering reality of what becomes of athletes after retirement. We see Nelson’s resurgence today as an advocate for recreational cycling and as a role model for the African-American community, culminating in a reunion with teammate and opponent Mark Gorski, as they revisit the site of their historical race.

In the end, Nelson’s story is simply about a kid whose love for the bicycle led him to transcend racial and economic barriers to becoming a legacy.”

See more here.

Photos by Kevin Sparrow

Long-time friend and contributer to PiNP, Kevin Sparrow has a great gallery from the CMWC 2013 up at Vocativ. Head over to check them out! That one of Kym is so rad. It looks like everyone had an incredible time in Lausanne!

Side note: Kevin is really putting that Fuji X-Pro 1 to use…

Here’s some more coverage from the CMWC 2013 in Lausanne. Keep sending these over!

Here’s the first video I’ve seen come from the 2013 CMWC in Lausanne. Hopefully there’s more of the actual event (and the lake jump) coming. If you’ve got something, send it over!

Photo by Kevin Sparrow / Vocativ

The 2013 CMWC in Lausanne appears to be one of the most picturesque and grueling competitions to date. There isn’t a whole lot of coverage up on the net just yet, but the news that Austin Horse won the CMWC has been circulating through social media. While more photos turn up, check out the Flickr group and Vocativ where Kevin Sparrow is contributing photos.

The CMWC makes its way to Lausanne this year and Brooks England is showing their support the best way they know how: prizes and by releasing a commemorative saddle package. This year, they teamed up with PEdAL:ED to make the package even more special.

“Our CMWC Collector Sets have been limited to 300 pieces, and will be available by the time our winners are standing on the podium in Lausanne from selected Brooks Dealers of Excellence worldwide.”

Check out the the saddle here and the shoes here.

See more at Brooks.

The UCHOF still needs your help to build the largest collection of urban cycling artifacts:

“The Urban Cycling Hall Of Fame serves to spotlight the history and rich culture of cycling in the city. To date we have had hundreds of nominations for potential inductees, the window for this years nominations is closing quick. There will also be a physical Hall Of Fame that will be unveiled at Interbike and we are putting a call out to the community at large for submissions. These items can either be donated or put on loan, we are trying to build the larger collection of Urban Cycling Memorabilia in the world.

Some awesome items have been collected so far, we have Lucas Brunelle’s entire spoke card collection (which is massive). We also have artwork from Greg Ugalde who’s fine work has graced nearly every major Alley Cat in NYC for the last decade including Monster Track. Brad from Urban Velo donated the first Ghost Bike Sign ever made. A wide variety of other items have been donated and we have Chrome’s RV out on the road doing Collection Sessions in major cities.

We are looking for items that tell the story in every city, from bicycle activism, to races and everything in between. The Hall Of Fame is for everyone, and we want to make sure everyone is represented.

If folks have anything they are interesting in submitting for consideration it can be done by emailing your submissions here  or posting them on Instagram and tagging them with @UrbanCyclingHOF and the hashtag #uchof. We need to communities support in order to ensure that nothing is left out and the collection continues to grow over the years.

Ride safe, keep the rubber side down.”

Photos by Christopher Dilts

The All-City cycles team did a great job at the Seattle NACCCs. Racing for a #partybrand ain’t easy but this group of fine young men and women gave it their all. Christina Peck won the event, not just 1st place women but 1st place overall. Check out some more portraits at the All-City Blog.

Tomorrow the UCHOF will be in Brooklyn at Red Lantern Bicycles collecting messenger and urban cycling memorabilia from the 1980’s through early 2000’s. Spoke cards, photos, manifests, old messenger bags, jerseys, whatever!

Check out all the information at the UCHOF Facebook and don’t forget to stay on top of the happenings at the UCHOF Instagram.

July 13th brings about the Rumble Through the Bronx, one of the original alleycats in NYC. Check out all the information at UCW and Facebook!

I don’t know about you, but I love hearing Andy from FYXO talk about the “good old days”. He’s one of the original track bike personalities and yet he remains humble and positive. This interview, for Le Tour Prologue came out rad.

Photo by John Daniel Reiss

This year, at the Quake City Rumble Mountain Lion, JDR was out and about shooting post-race portraits. Head over to his Flickr to see more!

My friends in San Francisco are the best. They’re all hustlers in their own perspective professions and regardless what people say about the “Cali” lifestyle, they’re always on the grind. When he’s not running traveling the world racing, he’s running his company, TCB Courier with a handful of other like-minded individuals. Call him many things: “freshly shaven”, entrepreneur, #fixiefamous, whatever, this dude is living the dream.

I stayed with Chas for over a week the last time I was visiting and out of everything I shot on my trip, these three photos of him riding that green Cinelli Mash prototype track frame are some of my favorites. All shot from a moving bicycle…

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400

See two more below!