Just noticed there hasn’t been a new post for months! Newcastle Fixed is still alive, there just isn’t much happening at the minute. We are still shooting bits here and there for the film, but will start again proper in the next few months.
In other news, the trailer has had 20,000 hits. Sweet! http://vimeo.com/31754101
Newcastle Fixed Gear took a trip to ‘The Sneaker Lounge’ today to pick up some shoes for Lucas. I heard about this place before but had never been and it’s awesome. Friendly, relaxed atmosphere and plenty of shoes, bags and hats. I took a few pictures in between getting mauled by the dog.
The Sneaker Lounge is tucked away in Hoults Yard (Unit 19), go check it out! In the mean time, visit their website: http://soleheaven.com/
Don’t know if I’ve even posted anything about this here yet but, we are making a film. Been shooting for a few weeks now and have some pretty good stuff so far. Been out in the car tonight…
A few Newcastle riders have created ‘DEATH TRACK’. Check out the awesome video below and the blog, fuckdeath.wordpress.com, for future updates. “fucking fast fixed gear frolics”
A few of the Newcastle Fixed riders were lucky enough to get up to the Red Bull Minidrome in Glasgow over the weekend. It seemed amazing in videos and pictures and I can say now, it is even more fun than it looks.
After a massive hassle getting bikes on trains with no reservations and the delays (because, well, it is Sunday), we managed to find the venue, The Old Fruit Market. The place was perfect with 2 floors and a balcony all the way round so everyone got a great view.
I was first out of the Newcastle riders to try to qualify and was pretty nervous after watching a few people before me crash in spectacular fashion. After my first lap I discovered it was way easier to ride than it looks, but so much harder to go fast! A few laps to practice and it was time for my 10 timed laps. I thought I was doing great, when you’re up there you feel like you’re going 50mph, but after about 10 seconds I heard the commentators call out that I was in last place. I tried to push it a bit for the last few laps but it wasn’t enough. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching my place slowly slip down as everyone got a faster time than me. In the end I just missed a qualifying place finishing around 35th. I will be returning to the Minidrome at some point and I will qualify!
After a few more riders it was Liam’s turn. He did really well in the qualifying getting around 12th place. Only a few people managed to better his time and he was still at around 15th place when qualifying was over, well in the top 32 that got through. Next up was the pursuit races, head to head racing with the winner either catching up to the other rider or being ahead after 10 laps. Liam got off to a great start in his race, he was well ahead for the first 6 laps looking like he would comfortably win, then tiredness set in. The other rider caught up and beat Liam by a very small margin. It was all over for Newcastle. In the end he finished around the 20th mark and won a bag of stuff from charge bikes.
All in all it was an amazing day and a great event, well worth traveling for, and we are already thinking about entering Manchester on the 22nd.
Congratulations to Toms, Chris and Ross for the top 3 spots (and toms getting a new world record!), each winning a charge bike. It was great to see Ross proving that it isn’t just trick bikes that can do well on the Minidrome.
As you may have heard, last night was the Cog on the Tyne event and the North East premiere of Boikzmoind. We had a great turnout with a record number of race participants. I’m sure everyone will agree it was a great night and the film was awesome (though the miserable drunks in the corner didn’t seem to approve).
The events were… Alleycat. The usual checkpoint race, do as much as you can in 30 minutes. Each checkpoint had a challenge, which included braving the feral scooter kids and doing a lap of the skate park bowl. The “sprint” race. One checkpoint, ride there, ride back, any route. Though I don’t think 7 miles really classes as a sprint. Skid Comp. Best of 3, longest distance wins. Trackstand. 2 hands, 1 hand, no hands, last man standing. Some confusion on who won the first time meant a head to head was needed between Liam and Tristan.
Big thanks to the organizers Liam, Fee and Lucas for making it happen and getting some amazing prizes (I won some NJS track bars!). And thanks to The Tyne Bar for hosting the film.
And of course, thanks to our sponsors, RIDE CYCLES, ZLOG, THE FOOT DOWN, BROTHER CYCLES, CANTGOSLO and HALO.
A few people were filming the race and events so expect a short video edit soon.
The Results:
Alleycat:
1st. Tristan
2nd. Mark
3rd. Steve
Sprint:
1st. Phil
2nd. Steve
3rd. Lucas
Skid comp:
1st. Mark
2nd. Tristan
3rd. Steve
Trackstand:
1st. Liam
2nd. Lucas
3rd. Fee
(Original winner was Tristan but video footage confirms he cheated)
Some of my photos from the night:
Just in case anyone had forgotten, cog on the tyne is tonight! Pretty much just head down to The Tyne Bar at 6pm or for last minute details look here.
