SPRING!!!

Spring has officially sprung! I am so happy that the snow is melting away, and that it is starting to become warmer. I have not ridden my bike in so long and I seriously feel like an addict going through withdrawal, (maybe not that extreme). I will be returning to my beloved steed very soon and will be getting a brand new bike hopefully before the end of the school year. I am looking at All-City's new freestyle bike, the "Def Wish". Things are starting to look sunny and bright!!

(This is what I think of a Minnesota Spring)

Sorry For Not Posting

I have been super busy and lazy with posts recently. I officially apologize for my absents, even though I am sure you did not miss me very much. I will try to be more diligent with posts.

T-shirts

I makes t-shirts and sell them. Time to time, I will draw a design and make a screen of it. I use silk screen or screen printing materials. Its old fashioned but very affordable. I have a new design that I will show you soon. Basically it is the Minneapolis cityscape with the letters "MPLS" underneath the skyline. I will usually sell them for $15, unless I have to go through special measure to make them. I will use Hanes t-shirts most of the time. Let me know if you want a custom shirt. Email me at brakelessmpls@gmail.com

99 Problems

A cool Blue Grass version of Jay-Z's song "99 Problems". Hugo is the Blue Grass band that gives their twist of the song.

Leftover Lunch, Garabage Munch

A sweet fixie freestyle video. I am jealous of the talent these guys have. I am trying to start doing this stuff. For those of you who don't actually know me, I use to BMX, but I got tired of hurting myself. I don't know why, but I want to start risking injuries again. Just watch the video.

I don't know how to add a video from Vimeo, but here is a link to the Video.

I feel like there should be an image, so here is one.

Bet that hurt.

A Little Banksy for You

Banksy is a stencil artist from the UK

Bike Jerks T-shirt

I just got a sweet new t-shirt from Jeff at Bike Jerks. Its a reminder of how we, as cyclist, need to fight for our part of road. I am proud to wear it.

 Front

 Back

It was swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle that is my bedroom floor, which caused the wrinkles.

Save the Giant Pandas!

Over the weekend I had to work on a Social justice class project. My injustice topic is endangered species, but focusing on the Giant Panda. I was in uptown for a couple of hours with some friends getting signatures to prove that people care about Pandas. I got a couple of pictures while I was freezing my but off!

It was really cold out!

Waste Basket Got Some Sweet Art

I drop off my Waste Basket over at Jeff's house. Jeff runs Bike Jerks. He put a cool skull on there. I got some pictures off of his blog.

Looks even cooler with the art on there!

Obsessing Over These Songs

 Self Esteem

 Sense, Sensibility

 

Andrew Jackson Jihad is a really good band. This album, "Can't Maintain", is part of my winter soundtrack.

Local Videos

Bike Jerks video is pretty cool. Bike Jerks blog

Longboarding

Bernardo lives in a condo complex downtown next to the Guthrie. The parking garage is underground and heated. we decided to take advantage of it and longboard in the garage. There were some pretty steep ramps to bomb down and danger at ever corner. The sketchy level was so high, because we didn't know if a car was coming when we would carve around a corner. Ultimately, it was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again soon. Here are a couple of Photos we took.

 Bernardo

 Me. Hanging ten.

Bernardo's little sister.

BMX Bike for Sale- $250

So I was walking through my garage last night and I noticed how cluttered it was. Long story short, I am selling a lot of stuff. One of the things that is for sale is my BMX bike. I use to do tricks and all of that jazz, but I got tired of hurting myself. The bike for sale is a Specialized Fuse 2. It is a freestyle BMX bike and is in great condition. There are some scratches on the front fork, but they are from using it. The saddle has a tear in it from doing a tail-whip that went wrong. I am selling it for $250. I got it for $400 brand new. Let me know if you are interested. Email me at lcaffes12@bsmschool.org.

All-City Dropout

So I am looking at my bike this morning and noticing that paint is chipping away off all of the frame the frame. I don't think the frame is worth getting it repainted, however it is a sweet vintage frame. What I really want is an All-City Dropout frame. It is simply beautiful. Sea foam green color. The head badge has a ton of work done on it. Just beauty. Only problem is that it costs more money than I have. Here are a few photos of my dream frame.

 Gray version of the frame.

 First prototype ever made.

 Such a cool color

Pictures from All-City Cycles. You can read all about it at the website. They describe the geometry really well and how it is like a large BMX frame, gnarly.

Surfing the Web

Thought it was really cool.

A Couple of Nights Ago

 Lock and Keys.

 Bernardo. Looks bad in this photo

 Bernardo keeps Tabasco sauce and hair product next to his bed.

 St. Anthony Main. We saw "True Grit" and it was really good.

 Snowing across the river.

 Guthrie.

 Another bridge.

 It was really cool that night, because it just snowed and the blue lights were reflecting off of the snow.

 Blurry.

Bernardo's dog is part dingo! His breed is called Australian Cattle Dogs.

This is What I look like

Just to let you know what I look like.

Cleaning My Bike

I realized last night that my bike was dirty as hell. My chain barely had any lubricant, black snow stuff caked on the tubes of the frame, and the wheels looked horrible. I don't have O.C.D. about the cleanliness of my bike, but it didn't look good at all. Plus it gave me something to do today, which I needed badly.

 Took out my spoke cards to clean them off also. Local cartoonist, Roger Lootine, makes a really cool spoke card for Minneapolis being the number one city to bike in. Used a brand new bandanna to clean some of the dirtiest parts. The only way to brake in a bandanna is simply to use it a ton.

 Betsy (my bike) was pretty dirty, but I cleaned her up nicely. I made a huge mess in the living room.

 Christmas tree in the background. Still has wrapped presents under it.

Bike grease from my chain ring got on my forearm. It looks like it could be a super sweet tattoo. 

WasteBasket II for Me

Another gift I am even more stoked about is my WasteBasket II. I have been obsessing about the new Wastebasket that Trash bags have been making. Andy has really made the new fanny pack look super sick. I have been teased by friends when I show it to them on the website. The one friend who thought it would be ridiculous to own one unless you are a messenger actually got it for me.  Bernardo, you are the best. He wrote "Levi's Fanny Pack" on it with sharpie, because he didn't want to pay for the custom art option. Custom art or not it is still a great present and I have been using it nonstop. Here is a little review of it.

 Has a nice size compartment. Andy describe it eligible space as "It can hold like three beers", hilarious. The outside clip, which is only featured on the Wastebasket II, helps hold a ton of stuff. It has a Cordura fabric outside layer (Woven nylon and super strong).

 The inside is lined with a waterproof rubber layer. Nothing will get through this thing, except a bullet.

 It has an outer inside pocket to keep smaller things. I keep my knife, keys, and sometimes phone in it. The pocket has Velcro to keep it closed and makes it easy to get inside of it while riding.  The big inside pocket Holds a lot and i was surprised it did. I fit my tool kit in, small bottle of Vinegar, a large bike pump (it was sticking out a little bit). I was running errands which was the cause of the weird contents.

 The strap is made out of a seat belt material. Has a huge clip on it and I like it. The back of it can hold your U-lock. 

 It feels really nice resting on my hip. It is easy to access stuff while riding. The strap is a little big for me, but I am a skinny kid.

It just looks sweet and I recommend it for anyone who is tired of carrying there messenger bag to only hold a couple of items. I have never been a messenger before, but i would think it of it to be useful. The only problem was when it would get caught on my saddle, but I just needed to slip onto my hip more. So in conclusion, I think it is an awesome little bag to use during races, errands, or whatever.

Christma Gifts

Just some smaller things I got for Christmas that I am super stoked about getting.

Blackburn Airstik SL mini pump.  Its so small and so sick that I was thrilled to get it. I just want to get a flat to use it. Small enough to fit in my bag and big enough to fill my 700c x 25 tires!

Crayola 64 pack of crayons with the sharpener in the back. Its something so small, but means so much. Reminds me of when I was little and watching the movie "James and the Giant Peach", weird.

Rubik's Cube. Just awesome.

Fox biking gloves. I am tired of getting blisters when riding my BMX bike. I plan to use them when I get my All-City Dropout, fingers crossed.

Those are just some small gifts that I am really excited about.