MFS: KYLE MURPHY Jun 11, 2015 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment Kyle and Evan are in the middle of their domestic road season, so Manual For Speed caught up with Kyle after Nationals, so see what makes this guy tick. Check in!
ERIK ZO: THOUGHTS ON L’EROICA CA. Apr 10, 2015 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment Erik Zo is the real deal. His life is dedicated to cycling, photography, and preserving the history of these topics and their relationship to San Francisco. I was excited to hear he was heading down to document the L’eroica this weekend. He posted a detailed account of the thought process he put into preparing for this trip. As a photographer with a bike, I really enjoyed the details. Please click through for the full report!
GET RAD BMX ALLEYCAT: RECAP Apr 9, 2015 Categories: alleycat, MASH Frames 0 Comment Easter Sunday is a special time for friends and family. But for one rowdy group of BMXers this was a day for shredding. We assembled at the top of Bernal Heights at 1:00 and overlooked the city below us. There were three check points that highlighted iconic spots around the city. The race had one rule: 20″ BMX bikes. These bikes are equipped to ride jumps and ramps and skateparks. Riding long distances is not usually not on the menu for bikes like this. Little gears mean you’re spinning at a sprint. The danger was real and the race hadn’t even started. The obligatory ’70s poses pre race. Warming up on the starting gates! The starting run was down this. Pick your line, stick to it, and don’t flat, we just started. The race was close! I rolled in for the win only a few minutes before John rolled in for second. Ten miles on BMX is a huge challenge! Congratulations to everyone who rode across the finish line and to everyone who helped out. Here are a few of the top contenders! JDR held down one of the hardest check points. Thanks for the help and good vibes after smashing up a mountain on 20″ wheels dude! Cubby hand wrote each manifest that morning on Beatles stationary. Fun proceeded with high jump and long jump challenges! Huge thanks to Cubby for getting everyone out here and putting this together! We are super stoked on this format and are looking forward to the next one! And thanks to the sponsors! Mash SF, Vans, Oakley, Cult, Freewheel, and TCB. Report and photos by Dylan Buffington.
TOUR DE POLLO ALLEYCAT : RECAP Apr 7, 2015 Categories: alleycat, MASH Frames 0 Comment We all showed up hearing rumors about what was at the checkpoints: stuffing our faces with fried chicken, going from point A to B with a raw egg. At this point it could have been anything. Unfortunately neither of those things happened and it was a smash fest of a race. Once manifests were handed out everyone scrambled down Mission towards Market Street. Chas, Rob Ward and I hung back and figured out the cryptic clues that put together the routing. Satisfied with our plan of action we jumped on our bikes and decided to go for a ride around the city. We aimed for the Bayview, initially scattered through the streets of the Mission looking for the best line. Chas and I ran into each other and at that point were we synced. Catching the light to Cesar Chavez put the gap on Ward. Heading out and smashing through Bayview was so fast! We knew that the next move was a time trial down Third, so we had to make sure this first checkpoint was smooth. Chas had carbon wheels and drops, I had street wheels and risers. His power was noticeable after a five-minute interval of crushing with our heads down. We were flying down the Embarcadero. We contrasted the 27 mph stint with some textbook lane splitting and weaving once we hit Market St. It all came down to the last check point. Chas and I were neck and neck but working together. “!!!UP PAGE ST!!!” Chas yells. At that point, at the speeds we were moving, that decision would make anyone’s heart drop, or in this case, lungs. We were ripping to the top. At the absolute last crest, Chas grabbed a car and pulled himself just enough to put a small gap on me. What was three bike lengths felt like miles when our legs were deep fried from Page St. Left on Stanyon, right on Frederick and a final wind to 11th and Irving. At this point Chas was on his way out once I rolled in. The two of us hadn’t seen a single rider the entire race and he was starting to disappear from me. Lincoln to Oak, the final sprint. We’ve done this a thousand times. Once I hit Haight St. I could see him four blocks up rolling into the finish. I rolled in and we were ecstatic. What a sick race. It was 1-2 with Chas and I. Ward rolled in only a few minutes after us. The day ended with greasy fingers, a few beers, and some great vibes. Thanks to everyone who was involved and helped set this race up! We are so stoked that small businesses are able to use alleycats as a race format to promote both the cycling culture in this city but also link arms with other small businesses to put something like this together. Also thank you Alexander Shvachko for grabbing these moments from the race!! – Dylan
Hsin-Yao Tseng Mar 13, 2015 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment Hsin-Yao Tseng paints here in San Francisco and must love this city just like we do. Check out more of his work HERE.
San Francisco to Las Vegas 2012 Jan 30, 2015 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment Going thorough an old hard drive, I came across these photos from a trip I went on in 2012. I don’t remember whose idea it was originally, but none of us really had any idea what we were getting into. I didn’t really know Crihs and Marc all that well. That didn’t stop us from loading up our messenger bags, hopping on our track bikes and trying to make it from SF-LA in four days and LA-Vegas in two. Six days and roughly 800 miles. That day we left with a solid crew who rode us south out of the city. Steve, Lucas from Eugene and young Kyle sent us off. Marc on HWY 1 headed south. The route was based primarily on a route I had ridden four years ago on a previous bike tour, we had no maps. Crihs especially was a trooper. He wore his recently won Monster Track prize bag. Pit stop. My view for twelve hours a day. Big Sur represented one of the most vicious and challenging days any of us had ever faced on a track bike. I was riding the first Histogram prototype, I was actually delivering it to Las Vegas to the Cinelli booth at Interbike that year. Hours of out-of-the-saddle climbing. Marc arrived at the first gas station out of Big Sur, ate a massive ice cream sandwich, and then almost died of an epic brain freeze. Its crazy to look back at the equipment we had. Integralter bars and sling bags. I’m sure Crihs has a few gems from this trip somewhere too. Poor planning and the fact that we were trying to push 130+ miles a day left us finishing most days well into the night. That same poor planning also left us doing a fair bit of hiking. We stayed with random people. I posted on the MASH blog about our trip and various riders put us up on their couches every night. There was a point in our lives where 130 miles a day on aluminum pursuit frames sounded like a great idea! On our way out of LA, we had this great idea to ride at night and avoid the heat of the day. It’s was too bad we neglected to bring any real lights. Also, riding on the side of a freeway means a ton of flats from blown out radial tires. On the last leg from Barstow into Vegas we shipped all our extra gear home and left at 5 pm, hoping to arrive in Vegas at sunrise. We had no idea you climbed over a mountain pass, nor that it was going to rain all night. If I remember, we had twelve flats that night between us and “liberated” these ponchos from a gas station. We rolled into Vegas at sunrise, all with flat tires but huge smiles. Then we got 86’d from eleven hotels on the Strip less than one hour later, but that’s a whole other story. _chas
AWOL Jan 25, 2015 Categories: MASH Frames, Photo 0 Comment “Let’s ride into the middle of the desert on our bikes.” Dylan, Eric, Garrett, and Sean headed to Death Valley last fall to get lost. Follow their journey at The Radavist.
BASPS 2 2014 Nov 11, 2014 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment The San Francisco cyclocross season has several race series to choose from on any given weekend in the fall. By traveling under two hours in most directions, you can be racing a double every weekend from September to January. One of the most popular events is the B.A.S.P.S. night race. This full day of races happens just outside of the city limits and is a chance for friends and family of the racers to come out and cheer. With no real rain to speak of this season, and warmer then normal temps for November, this year’s crowd was large, loud, and inhaling dirt together. This race is fun to photograph because it happens from day, through dusk, and into the evening—offering all levels of racing, mixed with all types of light. Enclosed are some moments captured Saturday evening at Sierra Point.It has been fun to see TCB grow as a company, and see their employees rally as a team.Eddy and Yan help out in the shop when they are not in school. It was great to be out and cheer for them in the single speed Bs. Rightly known as the “killer Bs” for its fast and loose racing style.Hey what’s up man? This event happens in the shadow of San Bruno Mountain, beside a marina, creating the most scenic office park in the Bay Area.RJ, like the others will have a dirt cough for a few days.The organizers made one mud section on an otherwise dry lap. Like birds in a bird bath, racers just wanted that ‘cross feeling, even if it came out of a hose.This is Cubby. He is a natural on any bike. This was his first cross race and he found himself on the podium at the end of the evening.Water was added between races making the mud deeper as the night went on. Spectators would tempt riders to test the softer lines with dollar bills.Single Speed Bs headed out as the sun was setting. This course has a ton of corners, so taking gears out of the equation works for many racers.Gabe Cubby converted his bar bike into his race bike by taking the fork from an old Kelly and swapping it with his track fork.Eddy and RichRun-upYanChelsea on the last straightaway, last chance to make a pass.Non-pro cyclocross in the US is fun, and we like that. Here a racer got tangled in the barrier tape, and saw a moment to refesh.The moon was near full in a clear sky, offering a bit of extra light for the racers.Neutral supportRainier was called up for the start of the last race of the night: Elite Men As.Derek kept up a fast pace over one of the sets of barriers.Thank you to the event staff for helping keep Bay Area cyclocross alive and thriving. Now just if we can get back into Golden Gate Park for 2015!Scotty Chapin is a beast and Bay Area racers are accustomed to getting beat down by him on this course. Once again, he dropped the geared field on a single gear. Nice work! Bright headlamp!The lunar surface, or an unnatural color of gray earth at Sierra Point.Rainier getting a kick out of a racer running straight toward him in one of the sets of barriers on the course.As the night drew to a close, this top corner on “Heckle Hill” gathered the rowdy fans. All the fun you would expect from a non-pro CX race in the states. Derek finishing the geared As on his SSCX after a rear flat put him in the pits for a bike swap.Cinelli has closed production of our SSCX frame set for 2015. This bike is so much fun we hope to be able to bring it back to production again one day. Let your Cinelli dealer know if you are looking for one. There are still a few left!
OAKLAND ALLEYCAT Oct 31, 2014 Categories: alleycat, MASH Frames 0 Comment Come win $100.00 from Steve T!
OFF THE GRID Sep 18, 2014 Categories: MASH Frames 0 Comment https://vimeo.com/106179483 Check out the most recent adventures of Lucas Brunelle, where he takes Chas and Austin to ride the Darien Gap between Columbia and Panama. More info here!