Ritte Van Vlaanderen Overload

Ever since I saw the radical Ritte window display in Cadence Cycling and Multisport in Manayunk, I fell in love.  The style, craftsmanship and standard colorway are unbelievable,  the team is awesome and who else comes up with ads like this and this?  Fabrication videos are some of my favorites and this is no exception. Plus, the music is dope, which is always an added bonus.



In going with the Ritte theme, this is the best tattoo of all time (sorry for the lack of photo credit, it's an awesome shot that has been sitting in depths of the "random junk" folder).



I'm on Ritte overload right now, too bad I'm a starving college student.

Finding Time

Waking up at six in the morning and working forty hours a week has really been taking a toll.  My Crank it posts have been struggling and I haven't been able to ride nearly as much as I would want.  I have finally been getting into a rhythm and yesterday I was able to get a nice ride in.  The weather has been awesome and it's summer!  Get out there. 

Mystery Messenger

I don't know where I found this painting or who painted it but I just fell upon it in my "random junk" folder so I thought I would share because it is so great. Seriously an awesome idea and if anyone knows the artist I would be very interested in seeing more.  On another note, (see what I did there?) this song is awesome, as are most of the KEXP live sets.  Enjoy!

Hell on Wheels: In Praise of Mutant Bikes

Spotted on LIFE Magazine

The other day a fantastic young woman sent me a link to LIFE Magazine's Hell on Wheels in celebration of bike month and I must say, these bikes are insane.  I posted a few that I thought were pretty whacky but honestly it is 100% necessary to check out the full post.  From a bicycle used to aerate a field to one with square wheels, I'm really not sure what is going on here; 1948 must have been a pretty wild year.

And for your listening pleasure, a modern twist on some jazzy old tunes. It seemed appropriate.

BMC Dream Machine

So I have been admiring this 08' BMC SLX01 for quite some time now, waiting for some photos of it built up but honestly, I just can't wait any longer so I am going throw up what was available.  This repaint bumped BMC up significantly on my "one day I'll get one of those" list.  For a full component rundown check out his Velospace. Still hoping that one day there will be some rad photos of this machine in my inbox, but until then...I can only dream.

Wooden Wave: Board Number 2 Preview

So now that school has finally come to an end, for the time being at least, I have had more time to work on a few projects that I have been meaning to get done.  The first being my second, hand pressed and painted longboard.  It has been pressed since last summer but I finally got around to staining and painting it in the last couple of days.  It's not quite finished but here are a few shots of what I have so far.

Life Behind a Lens: Full Frame Collective

Photos by Terry Barensten and Aaron Durand

I know that I have been doing a bunch of life behind the lens write ups lately but honestly these photos from Full Frame Collective are some of my favorites as of late.  Amazing landscapes and awesome riding make for perfect shots.  I highly recommend adding these guys to your list of blog frequents.  Keep the rad content coming!

Raleigh Bicycles: How a Bicycle is Made

I spotted this short film about the bicycle manufacturing process over at Go Means Go and man is it rad. Basically the video starts out as an advertisement for Raleigh Bicycles and then starts in with the manufacturing of steel all the way to the final product.  The film was recorded in 1945 which makes it even cooler.  If you have about 17 minutes to watch it, it's definitely worth a look.