PedalPlay...sister to the MC3s annual fundraiser went off this year…like really went off…it just isn’t me and my biased opinion..the only conversation I seemed to have all nite was peeps telling me how great the party was…which could have got old but I was having a great time myself….

First of all I had a meltdown in Dressew when Sara called to tell me that the Sprockettes had confirmed they were going to play our part…like really fighting back tears of joy while my friend asks me “Jim are you going to be okay???” which was cool because it totally convinced her to come to the party and she had the best time ever….

To summarize…the weekend really started on Friday when the MC3 gathered at the shop to do prep for the party…a last bit of tidying….setting up Ians POVs…David arrived with the swag…new MC3 t-shirts and patches for sale at the party…the good ones went immediately as we modeled swapped and mock bitched….a bunch of beer was bought and we settled into not working and just hanging out…the excitement level spiked when DeadBabies Soren and Stephanie called on the cel to get directions…and then spiked again when they showed up with Sparks..and then spiked again when Rhino and the RevPhil of the ZooBomb pulled up…and we all melted into a puddle of ecstacy…when The Sprockettes…kinda walked in the door…we laughed, drank, got to know each other until it was time to go to bed…terrible directions were given and off we went…The Dead Babies and theZooBomb to my house and the Sprockettes to DeLizious’ house in deep Kits…

The next morning we gathered in a parkoff fourth and Dan and RevPhil cooked a mad breakfast on a portable camp grill..Lee did some werd and we split to finish setting up the party…it was super hard to part from our guests it is always so special to share stories and ideas and histories with like minded over the top bike freaks but we had to set the stage for the best biker party ever….

Which went like this

First of all as my friend says you know it is going to be a great party when you can't find bike parking for six blocks

Out in the street Skylar and the Urban Assualt put on a show leaping over their ramps, doing tricks and working the crowd into a rabid frenzy with the megaphone…the crowd wanted to see the limits pushed and Urban Assualt did not disappoint…afterwards the ramps opened and the Pedal Powered Tank was launched..well sort of…around ten a half dozen riders took off on a scavenger hunt competing for prizes like a toaster oven…beer tickets…some MC3 and Sprockette swag…when they got back the fixy contests started and then the cops arrived it was around two and they wanted to know if we had a permit to shut down the street…uh noo

Inside the compound...under the lights of the refinery and amidst the scrapped cars.... peeps were enjoying the POV tower.... which performed flawlessly less the flawless part…but popular nonetheless...the make out chopper which was a huge hit with the Sprokettes and they posed on it in various states and configurations….Donald was cooking burgers and Maitland was projecting slides and finally the first band Pink Noise arrived…Kim one of the mechanics from OCB is the drummer and she kicks ass…their set went off and people were crowded around…next up were Channels Three and Four who arrived without any gear like a true avant garde band…they broke a drum and stopped playing….which was okay because that put us on schedule and the Sprokettes were up…people crowded around and were blown away…DJ Guyo dropped the needle on the rock tracks after their set and kept the party going and kept it going……..until final shut down at 4am..Dj Seamus was on hand to spot him off with some hot electroclash and the whole dance floor was smiling

Inside the studio the bar was hopping serving beer and wine to thirsty partiers…James was working the bar and his blue party pants…I am surprised he kept his shirt on the whole nite…next to him Yosie was serving out blender drinks and zuchinni loaf…the Djs started up at ten with TNT spinning.... then Corrior.... then DJ Bad…then Micheal Red to melt it all down….everytime I went into the space it was a sweating goopy mess of smiling happy faces….as soon as the decks started spinning the people started dancing and did not stop..until the final shutdown…and Jessica had decorated the space all pretty like with yards of silk..and Maitland was projecting more slides

We all ate the leftover volunteer food that Jack had brought in the back of the pickup truck…and Liz and I went back to my place to sleep and the floor of my house and my room was covered with sleeping Sprockettes…and I went to sleep with visions of the best party ever flashing before my eyes…whoa thatnks every one who helped and was there and supported us...

The next day we woke up and had breakfast again in the sunshine by the water and drank bloody marys and talked about how we would hook up again and go to Portland and Seattle...and build more ties between our communities and what kind of shows we could put on..and events we could throw and all the good things that a great weekend can inspire in you....thanks so much DeadBabies, ZooBomb, and the Sprokettes for coming and partying with us...it meant tonnes and I can't wait to see you all again

Much

Jim

New From Mama

Ride Report and pics on the Dead Baby page

The MC3 went to the Chunkathalon 2005 and it was pretty ephin Fantastic

Representing were DeLizious, Grovetron, Slippery Jim, Donald the Chopper King, Jack, Sailor, Maitland, Yin and Mark…we rented a minivan and a moving van..DeLizious handled all the logistics of transport and piloted the van full of bikes…which was packed with two bikes each…exstatic luxury…the rest piled into the minivan and watched Dvds…conspicuous consumption fer sure….

There were the inevitable screwups and our startime was delayed but we rolled out of van southbound by 11pm..hungover but excited…there was a one hour delay at the border but we amused ourselves by hauling out the minibikes and screwing around in the border lineup providing amusement and skeptical glances from our fellow travelers…no hassles at the border and we started our trip to the PDX ..Cascadias capital of bike culture…We were going to be sleeping on the floor of FreeGeek a computer recycling non profit and host of the Chunkathalon…on arrival our host RevPhil was nowhere to be found but Matteo and Klaut were on hand to give us the tour and settle us in..We went for food and cheap pitchers of Ranier at Acme who had previously hosted Cyclecide a few weeks earlier…..after eating and getting our collective asses kicked at foosball by a couple of locals we got the call from Soren and the DeadBabies and went to meet them at a bar far far away..we stopped at a corner store and bought a bunch of beer..hydrate or die and Sparks..ooh Sparks…the ride to meet the DeadBabies was pretty eventfull…a drunken local took the time to trash talk and vow to kick our asses at the Chunkathalon the next day…..and it was a lovely ride…taking some lanes…upon reaching Woodstock we ran into Chunk 666 PDX and Chunk666 New York…we helped with some minor repairs…made friends and then dropped our bikes in a pile and went into the bar to hang with the babies…pabst $1.25..we hung around and got fucked up for a while Soren was there along with Ian and Peter..who had made an EastVan ambassadorial earlier in the summer…Chunk666 was in the house Tad and Megulon 5..it was super cool to hang with them and talk about the origins of Chunk666 and get a sense of what their history was…after a bit the call was made and all twenty or so of us made a late nite ride across the city to a bonfire in a Chunk backyard…the ride was super fun….. two clubs and one collective represented…much laughing and stunting..then chilling at the fire…DeLizious made the bold move there and organized an all girls team for the Chunkathalon…pretty super… fast ride back to FreeGeek and we c.r.a.s.h.e.d hard

The next morning began with the adventures of Jack…much random riding separated us from Jack and he caught sight of us several blocks away…a race to catch up with us led to some bent forks and a nice chat from a police officer…seems your not supposed to run reds and cross lanes of traffic in Portland..a traffic warning later….we all enjoyed breakfast at a 24 hour breakfast joint…then fuelled up to compete…we milled around for a while watching Chunk set up riding around on our bikes meeting our fellow competitors..the chixs from Victoria of note and others…we let bunch of kids mess around on our minibikes.... I got to meet Dingo from the clown house plus others which was super cool…..

We split into two teams…less Liz who had her own team…the rest of the MC3 split into Team BO (Blue n Orange) and Team Low Dexterity..Sailor,Maitland,Grover and Mark had BO and Low Dexterity was Jim, Jack, Donald(who hadn’t yet arrived) and an alternate Mark from Portland..in total there were 16 teams competing

We were all holding full beers when the events started…first was a team relay..around the block slamming a full tall boy…BO was hampered by Sailor a light weight drinker but fast rider…rules stated that you had to finish the tall boy before you could pass off….DeLizious cut off Soren of the Deadbabies in a stunningly technical competitive way…for some reason even tho all of LDs competitors were finished one full lap ahead of Team BO…and team BO came in fourth…LD not even placing…I think the judges were drunk…but maybe I just was

Between events I had a chance to talk to RadMaggie of VeloMutations..sewing machine bike fame…. I kind of abandoned my team during the Essay Writing event to chat…sorry dudes…..The best was in the competitiors pit…all the out there chopper riders hyped up and in ultra flam mode….I remember this one guy in yellow challenging people at random “you want some of this???...you want some of this???you want some Mantastic???? Then grabbing them and hugging them..kinda summed up the spirit of the competion..sorta

Next event was Save the Baby...each team of four rolled up to the starting line against another team of four…they were designated Good or Evil…Good was to Save the Baby…Evil was to prevent it…at the start each team was to race towards end of the block circle a pylon then head back to the baby

DeLizious’s team were Stellar!!!!!!!at this event ….the Babes were Good and ChunkNyc were Evil and as the Babes headed toward the pylon the empties rained down like roses in tribute…a storm yet unseen this day…Stephanie reached the baby pulled it out of its carrier and was slammed hard from the side by ChunkNyc…a brief face plant and then a sprint across the finish line…Babes ruled over Evil!!!!!!!

Team Low Dexterity chose Jack to represent in the time trials…this event had one rider from each team race to the store buy a six pack and then race back…Jack took a piss and prepared for his run…the route was explained then he was off….the crowd at the end of the block parted like water and he disappeared in the distance…I went to get a beer and came back to the check point to see his triumphant return….the time keeper said he was way over time…”wheres Jack” Delizious asks and at that moment an ambulance appeared and the crowd parted to allow it through … we watched as it continued down the block lights flashing….” I think that’s for your guy dude” the time keeper said…ooohh fuck and we ran…to find Jack being attended to by the paramedics….a huge gash in his stomach and his chopper lying folded on the ground….forks and frame way separated…..Jack are you allright….Can you take a picture he said….Liz rode with him in the ambulance and I went to find his medical insurance…The doctor on duty was pissed because he had to work and miss the Chunkathalon but a bit of it came to him….we hung around at the hospital until Jack was released 20 stiches and some morphine later and we headed back to the event….Special thanks to Kammy for calling the ambulance…Dave from Free Geek for guiding us to the hospital to pick him up and to the paramedics…average time for the time trials 2.5 minutes arrival of the paramedics at the event from Jacks departure 6.41…thats an amazing response time

Back at the event we watched the fucking freak show of fireworks and bikes oooh the chaos…roman candles, bottle rockets..fire crackers shooting off in random directions and Klaut riding through it all on my minibike……(which he saved from the impromptu bonfire and if I ever find out who thru it on there I will kick yer effin ass)

The winning teams of the Chunkathalon were announced and LowDexterity placed fifth!!!!!style points no doubt...Chunk666 Nyc..placing first

Food Sleep and back to Vancouver we drove…Jack in his hospital PJs…

L8rs

J