This Week's Rad Event Round Up

Here are some of the coolest bike events in North America the internet had to offer. From Halloween races, memorial workshops, commuting with your co-workers to being proud to be plaid, there is a never ending supply of fun to be had for those who love bicycles and the people that ride them!


Cogzilla is throwing down a Blackcat Alleycat in Atlanta, Georgia on October 25th



On the flip-side of 'Murica in LA, Red 5 Yellow 7 is curating Ghost Bikes of LA



October 27th, you can put on your best and go on the Ottawa Plaid Parade



October 28th,Vancouver wants you to get your co-workers to commute with you all week



Cycle Toronto is throwing down a Ghost Bike Lane ride on October 29th

Toronto VeloReel fast approaching!

The ever amazing Nuit Blanche comes back to entertain us once again on October 5th! What better way to explore Toronto then a nighttime 12 hour art party? And there is no better way to do Nuit Blanche then on your bike with your friends, family, and frienemies. To prepare for this celebration of culture on bikes, it's best if you start out your night at the 2013 VeloReel Film Festival. For the second year in a row DNS curated an amazing line up of films-about-bikes for your eyeball pleasure. For the first year we are tagging onto Nuit Blanche to do this. For the second year, you can roll up on your bike and watch movies with your friends under the stars... It's only $5, along with being BYOB. No fancy-smansy film festival BS- just good moving pictures, good people, and bikes. Just the way we like it. COME HAVE FUN WITH US!

This year we have as a feature film the long anticipated BIKE LORDZ, a crowd-funded film about BMX trick culture in Ghana. Last year's favourite film makers from Cycle Me Home brings us their new film Feel Free. We have more movies from our beloved city and around the world, why don't you go check out the program to see how awesome it is yourself. While you're at it, why don't you share with a friend and start making plans about coordinated matching macrame pink elephant costumes?



Just the facts ma'am:
What?: Local, DIY film festival about bikes and the people who ride them.
When?; October 5th, 2013. 7pm-9pm.
Where?: The end of Fraser Ave in Liberty Village, Toronto. MAP.
How much?: $5! BYOB! Popcorn is Free!
Why?: It will be really fun, and you don't want to be sad when all your friends are talking about how awesome it was.

Toronto VeloReel is looking for your BIKE FILM!

In it's debut year the success of VeloReel's line-up of thirteen films included an array of shorts: Bikes are Great, 10 Things I Have Learned About Mountainbiking, and Sex On Wheels, finishing with the feature length "Line of Sight", directed by Benny Zenga and featuring world renowned videographer Lucas Brunelle.
 
Very organically and with the support of some amazing cyclist and artist friends, VeloReel began to travel. Hitting 6 cities in 3 countries from small town Orillia, to Montreal and Detroit, all the way to Havana, Cuba, plans for the next line-up are to extend beyond even more boarders!

The Deadly Nightshades, Toronto's all-girl bike gang slash arts collective will be taking on the role of film curators once again in hopes to cultivate community & celebrate bike culture.

Look out for the initial bike-in screening, early September in the heart of Liberty Village. To be a part of this growing love for bikes, film and art, please submit by August 1st to torontoveloreelsubmissions@gmail.com.

Meanwhile in Canada: Winter Biking FTW!

We present to you three big winter biking events for y'all in Toronto who miss the glorious scene of the summer, when cyclists take over the city in pure fabulousness. In winter Toronto rocks hard at winter biking, so come one, come all and lets have some fun!



Tomorrow!!! It's The Coldest Day of the Year Ride put on by Cycle Toronto! (What's with these last minute posts, right?... jezz...) Meet at 12 noon on Wed Jan 30 at Armoury St. and Chestnut St, just behind City Hall. (see map).



Toronto Icycle 2013!!!!! Wooot! It's Saturday, February 16th, 2013, and starts at 7pm at Dufferin Grove Park. (That's 875 Dufferin Street, just south of Bloor on the east side.) To explain this to outsiders, basically this is a bike race around an ice rink. In costumes. With your friend heckling. Nudity in various forms is ensured. Hilarity! It's because we Canadians embrace winter, and want to have fun all season long. If this doesn't inspire you to bike in the winter, nothing will. (Check out the 2011 National Post article on Icycle that asks Thora and Cannibal Vixen about what they do to bike in the winter.)


Big ups to Jo No for the video and pictures.


And then we have a The Great Lakes Winter Classic polo tournament going on during the Toronto International Bike Show, March 2 & 3, 2013. Keep Checking out the Bike Polo TO website for information as she comes. 



And while not an event, it's related... Our Friends at HMPL just put out a new, semi-NSFW video about enjoying "winter" biking in Vancouver. Ha. (Nice buns there Scott ;)
HMPL Winter from Matthew on Vimeo.

PIRATES' PARTIES ARE ALWAYS FUN!

Tired of biking outside in snowy weather?

Patrick Shas and Tom Sands are having a fundraising party at Bike Pirates in support of completion of their newest bike documentary "I Bike Toronto"

The evening will begin with a screening of the pilot of their film and the film "Ghost Bikes", a short about ghost bikes in Toronto.

Following the films will be friendly Goldsprints! Race your friends and show off your skills in the warmth of the indoors!
DJ Levesque and Dragon Scorpion's own DJ Puppies will be spinning tunes for your Goldsprints enjoyment.

(Goldsprints are a stationary bike racing platform using fixed gear or single speed bikes on rollers. Check out this video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSOSK4kMckU)
 
Saturday, January 12, 2013  
7:00pm until 2:00am

Doors 7pm
Film Screening 7:30pm
Gold Sprints 8:30pm

Beverages will be available in the kitchen to help support Tom and Patrick's full length documentary endeavours.

LADIES ARMY IV FUNDRAISER PARTY = SUCCESS!

A HUGE thanks to everyone who came out to the Ladies Army Fundraiser on saturday night! We had a packed house, ridiculous amounts of fun, and I even won at gold sprints (#fiercecompetition)!!

LADIES ARMY IV FUNDRAISER PARTY!

Don't know what you're doing saturday?

...well now you do! You're coming out to dance your face off and help BPTO get down to Lexington KY, to compete in the 4th Annual Ladies Army tournament! It's totally that time of year again!

So get over to Bike Pirates for cheap beer, goldsprints, raffles, & ridiculous dancing! Not only that, but it's Bench Minor & Bike Smash this weekend, so there will be lots of Montreal, K-dub & Ottawa kids kicking around. So expect general hilarity & hooliganism. For more details about saturday go HERE!

BIKE PIRATES / APRIL 7 / 9PM-LATE / 1292 BLOOR ST

My Bloody Valentine Video!

:)

CHROME PARTIES NYC!

So the Chrome store here in NYC keeps throwing parties, and we keep going to them.

Check out the rest of the set here.

Nightshades in Bikinis and Innapropriate Polo Photos

Here are some shots from Sepetember.

Beach time!






EastVan Polo Party!


Tim in his heavy metal costume.

Tee hee.

Then we danced!

Deadly Nightshades in NYC

So far Cat and I have taken over NYC with a storm of seafoam glitter.

It's been like a combination of this:



(Woop! Anyone else spot the Cog sticker on the door? Good authenticity there set designer.)

and this



and a bit of this




Last night we went to a Chrome Party at their rad rad store after visiting both Kaight Boutique for a Prairie Underground trunk show and then the Polo Pit.





See how fun this party was? Here is Cat with Tyrone of Dah Shop.



This is Jason the Manager of the store, demonstrating how good the cookies were.

THANKS CHROME! Looking forward to more awesome times. Now I'm off to overcome my hangover....

GROW UP/ Decentralized Dance Party

This happened on August 20th in Vancouver.



The Zenga's presented some amazingly edited visuals of what seemed to be of them growing up, and a lot of antics. They did this to beautiful live music by great musicians. It was awesome.


Vikesh Kapoor


Lead act Saintseneca was mindblowingly amazing. They made you want to dance and cry and laugh and love all at the same time. If you can see them, go. I got their 12" and free download and I feel like I'm the luckiest girl ever to see them in such an intimate setting.

Then after there was the Decentralized Dance Party. I went from Crab Park to Third Beach were there was a massive (and legal) beach rave set up. There were many a fun stop along the way.







It was really fun. Good job Vancouver.

BIKE VANCOUVER!

Vancouver is exploding with bike fun!

Tonight the Zenga's are showing their film GROW UP at the W2. After that is the decentralized bike-dance party. Tomorrow Namtron and I are headed up to Pemberton's slow food cycle. Then on Tuesday there is this Paper Girl event...



It's a make-art, deliver art on your bike project. I have no idea what this really is, but it's a free event at a rad venue and I'm going. I'll report back with photos soon!

xo

VANCOUVER GOES WILD

A: The Canucks and bikes.

Q: What does Vancouver love?

The next fortnight promises to be a poop-storm of both. If you didn't see the epic of epic goals last night play-off game, Vancouver tucked away the only goal of the night on the Bruins with 20 seconds left in the 3rd. I didn't even watch the game OR read the news but I know this, that is how insane this city is going with Hockey fever. It seeps into your minds whilst you sleep. This is because Vancouver's love for their team is intense. (Don't click on that link if you are my mother/anybody's mother.) I look forward to the giant street parties/riots for the next 6 games. I've been dinging my bell on the streets but it gets drowned out when every dude with their mom's car keys and a jersey is out honking non-stop when the Canucks score/almost score/win/get mentioned on the radio.



Tonight starts the festivities of VELOPALOOZA, Vancouver's amazing grass-roots inspired 14 day festival of all things bike. There is a bike ride for everyone, from the amazing Bike Rave 2.0 hosted by my friend Mr. Eric Stall to a Sandwich Nazi Ride hosted by my friend Cy Eaton. Tonight it starts at the Waldorf Hotel (Vancouver's answer to the Drake, in fact Namtron and I often find ourselves calling it that) and ends with car-free day on Commercial Drive. (Kensignton P.S. anyone?). See, Toronto and Vancouver aren't so different, except the Canucks are a real NHL team.

My must have bike accessory for these two weeks? The Oopsmark Bike Wine Rack.


via the Toronto Standard

Of course a Montrealer would create something so beautiful....

ICYCLE my BICYCLE

on saturday at dufferin grove park, many gathered to celebrate their canadian heritage with their bicycles on ice. yep. ICE RINK RACES. so amazing. all sorts of cyclists came out to test the strength of their physical constitution. here are some pictures for you.





























check out this bike.


..upon closer investigation, perhaps you will notice the fucking spikes on the tires.













then i spotted a group of messengers and asked if i could take a picture of them. they almost stabbed me, and i wondered where the hell the rest of the nightshades were. luckily my cunning saved me, and i ran off with blurry, underexposed photos. so here is only one picture.




















bikes on ice = genius. [probably]





























































.. i don't know who the man on the left is, but the one with the cowboy hat responded to "toast" and became my hero for the night.


























bikes rock. fin.

fotos by frank. check em out.