Some photos by Amelia Shaw from last week’s Bicycle Film Festival in New York.
We’re sponsoring the Pittsburgh BFF next weekend July 2-4. So go see one of the films, and you might win one of our Messenger Bags.
2009 Bicycle Film Festival
Incase is excited to be a sponsor of this year’s Bicycle Film Festival.
The Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) is a celebration of bicycles through film, art and music. The events kick off this week in New York with a plethora of happenings. Check out John Prolly’s blog for more information.
During select stops of the festival, we’ll be giving away prizes from our Courier Collection to the winners of alleycat races and other activities, so be sure to get involved when the BFF comes to your city.
We’ll be posting updates as the festival treks across the world, so check back with us for continuing coverage.
MASH SF Breakers to Bay Race
Tomorrow, Sunday May 17th, MASH SF present: Breakers to Bay Race
Start: 10am at Java Beach Cafe 1396 La Playa Street.
30 minute route.
$1600 in prizes for the top 5 racers.
Cinelli, Vittoria, Dodici, The North face and a Skate Messenger Bag.
MASH TV Channel on Vimeo
The guys at MASH created a Vimeo channel for bicycles, music, and other cultures on the move. Subscribe now, because you know they will pick and produce some proper videos. (via Arkitip Intel)
Monster Track X Perspective
The tenth annual Monster Track Race theme this year was A Day in the Life of a NYC Messenger. Riders came from all over the US, Europe, and Japan to experience the exhilarating ride in NYC traffic. The checkpoints were all based on real life stops of a NYC messenger.
My favorite stop was Continuum Cycles because it is what I call the default location for the messengers I know. That’s where I know I can find the messengers who aren’t busy making deliveries. I love that the only rule is No Brakes and I love that the snow waited on the race to end!
More photos in this Flickr set.
Monster Track X This Weekend in NYC
The world’s illest outlaw alleycat race, Monster Track X, is being held this weekend in New York.
Friday 2/27
- Goldsprints Open Qualifier
- Rad Rides Hawt Hoopties Contest
Saturday 2/28
- Monster Track
- Goldsprints Finals
Sunday 3/1
- Sprints, Stunts & brunch
MASH Final Thoughts
Photo by Mike Martin
MASH CA is complete. As we began the journey, I wrote that “carrying a hard tempo throughout will require the highest levels of performance from our equipment, bodies, and minds.” That certainly was the case but, looking back, I realize that I was thinking primarily about the point-A-to-point-B and much less about the context of our efforts.
The Tour organizers have claimed that almost two million spectators watched the race. Whether or not you believe that particular number, you can’t deny that there were a lot of people, every day. It was interesting to see how varied the crowds were from stage to stage. Some days, it was all about Lance. Other cities had mainly local crowds, drawn by the novelty of the race coming to town. In a few places, like Solvang and Mt. Palomar, the majority of the spectators could be considered “true” cycling fans.
Photo by Mike Martin
There was something about this race that appealed to everyone, and it was awesome to see how many people – especially hardcore road riders – appreciated what we were doing. People saw us every day on the road and cheered when we came by. For me at least, that was one of the goals of the trip: to show that track bike culture is about more than bombing traffic and doing tricks, that it’s respectful of and connected with other forms of cycling. I’m proud of how we were able to demonstrate that without losing the essentials of MASH’s city roots and artistic vision.
We didn’t see anyone else riding fixed this week, but I hope that we will next year. There’s no ride that can’t be done on the track bike, although frankly I had my doubts going into the trip. It’s a tool with which you can explore not only the city, but also the world beyond.
All that being said, the point of our undertaking wasn’t to change the world or raise awareness for anything. What appealed to us was taking a road trip where we could challenge ourselves, generate great content, and hopefully see a little bit of pro bike racing. Everything else was incidental.
Photo by Mike Martin
A few thank-yous:
Will Meeker flies below the radar, but he’s an integral part of MASH. From driving the scooter, to working on bikes, to processing photos until 2am, Will was the glue that held this trip together. None of us would have completed this trip in one piece without him. Hopefully his professor at CCA will cut him a break for missing that one class…
No matter how tired he was or how late he’d stayed up completing his non-MASH duties as Clif Bar’s senior sports marketing manager, Matt Sharkey was always quick with a joke or a story about his friends in a certain industry. In addition to his help with logistics and general road trip know-how, Matt’s positive energy was a key to this trip.
MASH has received incredible support from many sponsors. Incase, Clif Bar, Cinelli, Vittoria, Selle San Marco, Lazer, Prowheelbuilder.com, North Face, SAG, SRAM, Specialized, and others. Thank you for sharing our vision.
Finally, I’d like to thank Mike Martin. He has carried this project on his shoulders and his photos and videos bring it to life. Balanced with his dedication to friends and family, Mike pours everything into his work and the results speak for themselves. I wish him all the success in the world. And some rest.
Photo by Mike Martin
See you on the road,
MASH Spectators
Photo by Josh Kadis
Friday was a different kind of race for the pros and a different kind of day for us. It was a time trial stage, meaning that riders are timed individually over a short distance, rather than racing in a pack over long courses like the one’s we’ve been covering. Because there were only fifteen miles to ride, the MASH crew was able to sleep in and cruise around at the venue for a while.
Time trial days are great for spectating because you get to see so much. On the road stages, the teams have been showing up about an hour before the start and leaving within minutes of the finish. But at the time trial, the riders took off at 1-3 minute intervals, starting with last-place Francesco Chicchi at 12:00:00 and concluding with race leader Levi Leipheimer at 14:07:00.
Plus, the course started and finished in Solvang, so the pro squads were posted up there all day. Each team roped off an area around their vehicles for working on bikes, warming up, and hobnobbing with sponsors and media. For us bike nerds, it was pretty overwhelming.
Photo by Josh Kadis
By far, the best moment of the day was checking in with the Garmin-Slipstream crew that we met last week at the Clif Bar event. Jonathan Vaughters, the man behind the program, hadn’t been able to attend the Clif thing, so it was great to meet him finally. He has done amazing things to grow that program intelligently and set the bar really high not just in terms of clean racing but also in the quality of his organization.
Photo by Josh Kadis
Allen Lim is the team’s physiologist; he writes the riders’ training programs and analyzes their power data from racing and training.
Photo by Josh Kadis
Finally, Christian Vande Velde was rad. Hearing the guy who placed fourth in the Tour de France asking, “Are the MASH guys here yet?” was actually kind of embarrassing. Christian’s dad, a former Olympic cyclist himself, was there as well and told us stories about how he used to make Christian do intervals on the track bike on the road. Maybe we’ll get to tape a bit with him some day…
-Josh
A Day in the Life of MASH on the Tour
We’ve had some questions about our daily routine on this little road trip. Of course, every day is different but here’s what a typical schedule might look like.
Photo by Josh Kadis
We usually meet in the hotel lobby at 7am and head out to breakfast at Denny’s, IHOP, or something like that. A couple of the hotels have had edible breakfast in-house, which has been rad. By the time we eat, fiddle with our bikes, load up the vehicles, and drive to wherever we’re starting from, it’s usually between 9am and 9:30.
We have a great setup in terms of vehicles and support. The riders and photo/video equipment are transported in a rental passenger van, while the bikes and luggage roll in a biodiesel Dodge Sprinter provided by Clif Bar with a trailer. A lot of the taping happens from a Honda PS250 scooter, which travels inside the trailer as well.
Photo by Josh Kadis
Mike Martin is shooting video and photos, along with Gabe Morford for the first few days. They’re the two filmmakers behind MASH. Will Meeker plays the role of production assistant and gets a litany of little things done. Steve MacDonald has been driving the passenger van and making sure that all the riders have what we need during the day. Matt Sharkey from Clif Bar has been with us the whole time, driving the Sprinter and helping us in innumerable ways. All the support has been awesome. It’s what makes this trip possible, really.
Photo by Mike Martin
The riders, by the way, are Rainier Schaeffer, Jonathan Burkett, Garrett Chow, Blake Van Knopka, Walton Brush, Andy Peterson for the first couple days, and myself, although I won’t be riding all the stages due to some other commitments at the Tour.
Anyways, once we hit the road it’s pretty free-form. Sometimes we ride in a paceline and sometimes the group breaks up, it depends on the terrain and how people are feeling. We eat a lot of Clif product, supplemented by “real food” like ham and cheese sandwiches. I’ve been drinking 6-8 bottles per day.
Photo by Josh Kadis
The pro peloton usually passes us during the ride. It’s kind of amazing how many cars are required to shepherd them. There’s a “rolling enclosure” around the race, meaning that CHP officers shut everything down before the race comes through, then the roads open back up. We just have to wait. If there’s a breakaway with a big lead on the main field, it can take well over half an hour.
A few of the pro riders know what we’re up to, especially the Garmin-Slipstream team since we did an event with them at Clif Bar HQ in Berkeley last week. Svein Tuft always gives a head-nod. And it’s been surprising how many spectators know MASH. A lot of people have seen us out there every day and cheer when we come by.
Photo by Josh Kadis
We’re treating this as a road trip, not an official race. So we just ride as far and as fast as we can until we get as close as we can to where the race finished that day. Our arrival time has varied, but it’s usually dark by the time we climb off our bikes, mill around for a minute, put on dry clothes, and load up the vehicles. We’ll grab some dinner on the way to the hotel, and then get some rest.
-Josh
