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BLOCK NEWS WIRE |
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July 31st 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster Ride
15 weeks we have been doing this ride now! Incredible how many
people join us each week. Some people we haven't seen in years,
others we ride with daily. The two things that we all have in common
is the bike and friends. A total of 60 riders rolled out of
Lancaster City Park for a tour of the westside this past Wednesday
night. This week we hit neighborhoods, open roads and raced down
Lancaster Blvd. Shilo and Casey reclaimed the jerseys again this
week with dominating sprints.
Sigma Sport again provided the winners with product. Every week
we include a different type of competitive event and the winner
wears the coveted CYCOLOGY Jersey the entire following week. If you
have a bike, and have the ability to pedal around town for two hours
on Wednesday night, come out and join us. All of the ride info is
posted on the Local Rides link. The
ride is totally social and cruises around a 12mph pace. We hit parts
of town you never even knew existed every week!
Click here for last weeks
pictures |
July 23rd 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster Ride
The best part of our ride is you never really know what
to expect. Sure you are given a route slip at the beginning of the
ride and you may know the streets but what do you do when you get to
barricades and road closures? We might roll through estates,
industrial centers and ghettos. The best part is that we are
welcomed with cheers as we roll through no matter where we are, It's
not just a ride - It's a lifestyle!!!
(Click here for pictures) |
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July 22nd 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster Ride
Wow! Another successful record setting ride. 56 riders of all
disciplines invaded the streets of Lancaster for yet another
Wednesday night bonanza. Two hours and fifteen minutes of ride time,
24miles, two new jersey holders, Sigma Lights, 3 different solo
crashes (all Block employees and sponsored riders - how
appropriate), perfect weather, dinner at Coaches and nothing but fun
all night long. Check back tomorrow for more news and
photos!!! |
July 15th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster Ride
We always have hopes of greatness. Lately our hopes have been
reality as more and more of our friends keep coming out to ride with
us on Wednesday night. Even celebrity status like Kyle Lewis, Gary
Laurent and Bob Vigil (pictured right), who won the men's road race
on a big travel mountain bike, are coming out week after week and
having a great time. Also pictured right is Shilo Hawker who won the
women's road race in her first appearance. A huge THANK YOU to
SIGMA for continuing to sponsor our ride and give us great
prizes. Last week the winners received limited addition Sigma
computers and will be wearing the CYCOLOGY Winners jersey all next
week! Click here for Pictures. |
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July 9th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster Ride
Amazing!!! Last night 43 riders rolled 25 miles around the
streets of Lancaster with us. Midway, at the AV Fairgrounds, we held
our first ever competitive event. More than half the field lined up
for a free for all - winner take all drag race. Approximately 200
meters later it was Rob Anderson with a come from behind win at the
line on his new fixie. Rob was presented the jersey from Jr. Miss
Quartz Hill, Kylee Sulek who just happened to be on the ride as
well. This coveted jersey will be passed on week to week to the
winner of that weeks event. A
Sigma sponsored taillight was also given to Rob, as well as the
first Drag Race Champion spoke card. With all of the hype and
participation we have decided to award a men's and women's jersey
starting next week. The events will very week to week and will range
from physical and mental challenges. The drag race went well and was
a total success with no fatalities! The best part of the ride is how
we have incorporated national mountain bike champions, school
teachers, fixie hipster cats, recreational road riders, moms,
national bmx champions, tandems, Vegas showmen, mtb free riders,
recumbents, road racers, just about ever kind of bike rider all
sharing a great experience. It is rides like this that keep the bike
community in the AV growing. Meeting new friends, sharing new
routes, trails and other group rides is priceless. Watching riders
gain confidence, strength, speed, lose weight, and overall become
better riders is what it is all about. With American Lance Armstrong
racing, the Tour de France is once again popular with non cyclists
and cyclists alike and is gaining popularity daily. We are proud to
be involved in this cycling community & hope that our influence
keeps spreading. Hopefully everyone will show next week and we'll
break 50!!!
(click here for pics) |
July 6th 2009
Wolfpack Hustle All City Race
Rich's to rags in the past two weeks. The Wolfpack A Team
presented by Block wins the
All City 3 race on June 28th featuring Rich Bartlett, John
Gabriel, Justin McMillan, Feliz Lopez & Matt Alejos. From Silverlake
to Docweiller Beach, any route, first 5 man team across the line
wins. The boys put it together with an amazing crash which bent
Matt's wheel and was hitting the frame. Without panic the team
straightened the wheel and stormed to victory covering 17.5 miles in
47 minutes. Considering the crash, traffic patterns and wind - not
too shabby! First place overall & first place all fixed gear!Then
on July 5th at the
Coaster Brake Challenge #1 the luck ran out. With a huge lead
over second place Rich Bartlett pushed it a little too hard through
a sand wash and blew his tubeless tire off the rim. The tireless rim
connected firmly with a rock and as you can see in the picture
nothing good happened. Rim destroyed and shoulder separated.
Spectators came to Rich's aid and helped carry the bike just under a
mile to the start/finish as he limped along in tow watching rider
after rider pass by heading to the finish. A few weeks healing and
he should be back at it! Disappointing as this is one of the best
"underground" series in SoCal. |
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July 1st 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
Increasing cycling and awareness is what we're all about! This week
33 riders started and finished our 25 mile tour of Lancaster
together. We are expecting as many as 50 in the next couple of
weeks. It has become an addiction that we share with our friends and
look forward to on Wednesday nights. Every night a different part of
the city. It is such a diverse group that shares the passion of bike
riding. Geared, fixed, mountain, occasional bmx, tandem and even a
recumbent this past week have all ridden together and made
this ride a total success. Lights and helmets are recommended. Dust
off the old clunker and come ride with us! Information is on the
LOCAL RIDES link on the left.
(Click here for pics) |
June 25th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
A record turnout this week! 30 riders rolled out of Lancaster City
Park on a big loop to Quartz Hill, The AV Mall and Palmdale
Metrolink Station. Road, fixed, mountain, tandem, bmx and even a
trailer made this ride complete. Next week promises to be even
bigger. The evening weather is perfect for the next 3 months!
(Click here for pics) |
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June 18th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
19 riders showed up the the best weather we have had since we
started this thing. Every week the ride gets bigger and better. The
group headed out to the Soccer Complex on L & 30th Street East since
the soccer tournament was in town. Of course it was deserted at
9:00pm but cool to see the setup. We have rolled a different route
every week and end up in places that the group has never seen
before.
(Click here for pics) |
June 11th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
Winds weren't going to stop the group from the Ghetto Tour of
Lancaster. Rolling through some of the shadier neighborhoods of
Lancaster ended up being the smart choice as the neighborhoods
sheltered the winds. It wasn't until we hit the AV Fairgrounds that
we realized it was a hurricane. But only 3 of the 23 miles was
exposed and one of the worst nights for weather ended up being one
of the better rides. Cheeseburger even did it on his BMX!!!
(Click here for pics) |
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June 4th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
Last night was one of the best yet. 14 of us rolled out in perfect
conditions. Thundershowers stopped half a hour before the ride
started and the skies cleared to total blue. Gary Laurent (pictured)
joined us after a day of riding his motorcycle in the Globe of Death
at Magic Mountain. He will be doing the shows 7 days a week this
whole summer and said he plans on riding with us every Wednesday.
Gary wasn't afraid of throwing down BMX tricks on his MTB at every
stop.
It's going to be an amazing summer! |
June 2nd 2009
On the right you can see the contrast of riders that attend the
Wolfpack
Hustle on Monday nights. On the right is
Bearclaw Jason,
on the left
ShoAir John. Both have had amazing crit and road results. Both
make Wolfpack painful. Monday was a good night with an average speed
just under 22mph for 35 miles around downtown LA. Not for the weak! |
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June 2nd 2009
Team Block's junior shredder Angelo Loskota
just returned from the ABA BMX
National in Kansas City, MO. Check out the brand new Block jerseys
designed by
JoJo Ackermann at
American Made Tattoo. Look for a race and product update in the
next few days. We have tons of new products in the works. More to be
revealed daily. |
MAY 27th 2009
CYCOLOGY - The Lancaster
Ride
is gaining popularity weekly. 18 riders showed up and cruised almost
30 miles in perfect weather. This week we rolled out to the infamous
Singing Road that is featured in the Honda commercials. Technically
it isn't the exact road as they had to rebuild it after the
commercial shoot due to adjacent neighbors complaining about the
noise. The original location was Ave K & 63rd Street West. The new
location is Ave G & 32nd Street West. Only the coyotes are out there
to hear it and I'm sure they just sing along. Every week we have hit
up locations that we typically wouldn't go to. Can't wait for next
Wednesday. |
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May 26th 2009
Another crazy night at
Wolfpack!!!
From Silverlake ShoAir John set a ridiculous pace up to the top of
the Cahuenga Pass. Down the hill to Griffith Park and a regrouping
at the AM PM on Riverside. At the time we were unaware that the
vatos picking up a case of Bud Lights weren't talking about
riding bikes when they said they could beat us. They stumbled into
their SUV and drove off only to come back 2 minutes later. The
dialect was slurred as neither of the two were coherent to make a
complete sentence. We roll as a group of nearly 20 from the parking
lot unaware of them following us. Roughly 4 miles later we hit Eagle
Rock headed to Colorado and there is a ton of yelling in the back of
the group. Loud enough to hear over a cranked up ipod. As we look
back over our shoulders we see the same SUV pinching one of the
riders between a car and headed for us. We changed direction
immediately and head back on the sidewalk with tree and light post
protection. They pass and flip a U-turn and head back toward the
group throwing full beer cans as the pass. Another U-turn and back
again. Thank god - no guns, but full movie scene none the less. Then
miraculously LAPD drives by. 20 riders flag them down and 2 more
vatos get to occupy some
county funded housing for the night. No one was hurt but it was
a intense brush with reality. Heads up and helmets on always.
You never know what is out on the streets of LA! |
MAY 25th 2009
On his way home to
Woodward West from Cincinnati our friend, Coco Zurita stopped by
the Block Shop to tell us about his results and new website. Coco
spends half the year in his native Chile and half the year living at
Woodward West while hitting X-Games and
Dew
Tour contests in BMX Vert. This past weekend he took a
solid 5th behind the likes of Simon Tabron and Chad Kagy at the
ASA Tour. Below are a few links to familiarize to yourself with
Coco. You will hear a lot about him in the near future!
CocoZurita.com
ASA Contest - Transworld BMX
Alliance Of Action Sports
Alliance of Action Sports 2
FAT BMX Bike Review
Vital BMX Video |
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MAY 22nd 2009
Cory Nastazio & 8Mile stopped back by The Block Shop today to pick
up the first round of IssuezInc tee
shirts. This run is available only at the Nasty Jam in Tehachapi
on June 6th. Go to
IssuezInc
for more info on the shirts, the Jam and random acts foolishness
that only Nasty could bring and get away with.
Block Alternatives is back on the bike scene doing the remake of all
the old favorite products as well as doing printing for Nasty and a
few other print jobs. If you need screen printing done there is only
one choice -
Block Alternatives. |
OLDER POSTS
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