Rick Wreckin' Wheels

Poor things.

BMX Video Monday

Favorite Things: KMC Rustbuster 1/8th Chain

During November I start getting my winter bikes ready for the coming cold months. In many cases I haven't really ridden them much during the summer and their chains are the most common casualty of the neglect and prior year. My winter chain of choice is the KMC Rustbuster.

They are readily available for $11 or less, work with most 8 speed chain tools (unlike some other 1/8th chains), and as the name implies are extremely corrosion resistant thanks to their grey coating made of I have no idea what.


They do the job, last a whole winter no problem, and require minimal lubrication. One of the best values to be found in the bike world anywhere.

Sunday

lazy weekend, great dinner, got a little carried away with the steak sauce

Dose of Awesome

DVS X Cinelli Shoes

normally I spare you from all of the fixed gear fashion stuff, since A. it's not ususally anything I'm interested in and B. if you've ever met me in person it's clear that fashion (as it pertains to clothing anyway) is not my priority. These DVS X Cinelli Shoes though are looking really good. I want some bad.

LA Marathon Crash Race

I've been looking for an event to build an LA-SF trip around.

Think I just found it!

Saturday In Milwaukee

Quintessential Riverwest bar - The Uptowner. Saturday afternoons equal random mobile taxidermy, conspiracy theories, telling each other to shut up, and smoothing out the edges from the night before. Or in some cases, making the impending Saturday night worse. Good dominoes sesh.


Damn fine birds. Just beautiful.




"C" is for CoCo. She had the moves.

Wilderness: Epic

saw this on ASL. Holy shit.

The Rise

The more I watch this the more I like it.

Unexpected Thursday 21 from the rise on Vimeo.

Friday In Milwaukee

So man, I was going fucking nuts. Heaven forbid I go all Torey. Let that be a lesson to you all - don't ever come here less'n you got the CHEESE. Midwest is a hard ass Vixen. She can tell. (And no. You can't just get some cheese when you get here. Gotta bring it.) So I went to see my spots.


Under the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge -

Dreamin'

Tailgatin' -

Forest Home Cemetary -



And after all that - I went to check out the Kinnickinick River Canals, but they were totally impassable.
So I went to REHORST, my favorite micro-distillery - where I usually end rides anyways -

And got myself the best Brandy Old Fashioned EVER -

Check it - REHORST Pumpkin Brandy, brown sugar cubes, sour cherries, Vermont maple Syrup, and Canadian Club Soda.

I had 5. Thank you Valerie.
Luckily, I was able to tell my bike "Get me home, Girl." And it worked out.
Pretty good day considering it's winter in Wisconsin.

Mason Lodge

These are photos I took a while back at a friends wedding reception at a Mason Lodge in Eau Claire Wisconsin. I've always like them very much, so I thought I'd post them up.

Skate Vid

This video reminds me so much of growing up in Wisconsin and doing whatever it takes to get outside during winter to do your thing.

Stupor Bowl All-City Prize Frameset

Brought the Stupor Bowl prize home yesterday. It's a one of two white powdercoated Dropout. We've been saving it for a special occasion and can think of none more special than the Stupor.

Thursday

Classic Style

Best Cheap Whiskey

Yesterday's post about booze and cocktails received a lot of comments and some good advice so I figured I'd continue the discussion but shift focus to the slippery topic of which is the best cheap whiskey in the land. For the purposes of this inquiry let's stick to Kentucky and Bourbon whiskey's please.

I'm voting for Evan Williams. It's about $14 for a liter (an important distinction since .75's are pretty much the norm), you can find it everywhere, and most importantly it's decent enough to sip on with ice. With other cheapies you can mix them fine, but they taste like shit straight or on the rocks.

Who's got suggestions for other good cheap bottles? I'm always on the hunt.

Trash Bags Backpack Update

Today I picked up my custom Trash Bags backpack from Andy at Trash Bags. It was in the shop for a some upgrades. Over the last few months Andy has developed a new strap system and he graciously offered to make some alterations to mine.

The back originally looked like this


and it now looks like this

It's got new straps, a new waist belt, and the addition of the side wings.

Prior to this it was a great pack for carrying a large load, such as when I took it to New York for a week. It's plenty big enough to live out of. The problem was that it just didn't hang right when empty. The wings fix that.


it's like a cordura hug

Thanks for the upgrade Andy. This once more proves the advantages of buying from local craftsman.

Bike Snow Plow

via

Records

this came yesterday


this is so my fucking jam

Winter Essentials: Whiskey Ginger

It's no secret that I like booze. Whiskey in particular. More specifically bourbon or Kentucky whiskey. It's also a well worn mid-western tradition (as we've discussed in the past) to ride out the winter by spending mucho time with your music collection and alcohol.

what you can't see is the fresh lime juice I squeezed into it. that's key

I had been a whiskey-coke man for years upon years (side note winter is also a very good time for brandy. That's the 'Sconnie in my blood) and continue to this very day to enjoy the beverage very much. Over the last few years though my drinking habits have begun to change a bit, culminating with what I imagine will be a permanent change in my mixer of choice (when mixing).

I used to get a pint glass, add ice and dump in whiskey until it looked about right. Then I would fill the rest of the glass to the top until the better part of a can of Coke had been used. When I was still living at the old house, Bike Jerks AV guy Kevvy, saw this concoction and proclaimed that I in fact didn't love booze as I have always professed but instead just loved Coke. Needless to say this scathing comment cut to the bone. I quickly dismissed his comment as "asshole," but for the next few weeks it stuck with me and and kept gnawing at my soul. The end result of all this hellish introspection was a switch to highball glasses and boozier drinks. (Thanks Kev)

Even in smaller doses, and though it is delicious, Coke is pretty gross stuff. It leaves that weird film on your teeth, which always makes me feel like an eight year old.

Enter Ginger Ale, and the refined gentleman's cocktail of whiskey ginger compared to the college freshman's whiskey Coke. Ginger ale doesn't make your teeth feel like they're rotting out of your skull and thus is tasty way deeper into the evening. Is great with a lime (shoutout to my man, the King of Limes), and I'm guessing is going to be my cocktail of choice from now until infinity.

Coke we had a long run, but I'm fucking over it.

xoxo

Stupor Bowl 1 Manifest

Martin posted this and I couldn't help but grab it to share. I love seeing pieces of MPLS history, and this manifest from Stupor Bowl 1 is a treasure. I realize that's a bit dramatic, but I get super excited about crap like this. The Stupor Bowl means a lot to me, the alleycat race scene in Minneapolis means a lot to me. I'd put that shit in the Smithsonian.