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Beautiful Godzilla: Giving Cranks: Pedalin’ Away The Holiday Blues
Every year around November, cyclists across the nation group together for their own two-wheeled holiday tradition, Cranksgiving: the alleycat that gives back. Traditionally, Cranksgiving is a scavenger-hunt-style bike race where you ride to different grocery stores and buy food, which is donated at the end. Salt Lake has served as host to this event annually since I joined the scene a few years ago, organized by a variety of individuals, but it was Christy Jens who stepped up to take charge for 2012.
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Red Bull Rampage: The Evolution @ Virgin, UT 10.07
The acrid taste of dust fills the air as we scramble up the trail to the venue. It is just after eight in the morning and the final day of the Red Bull Rampage: The Evolution is almost underway. Since 2001, this invite-only event has been held in the deserts of Virgin, Utah. … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: Spooky Spokes
Cyclists love costumes––especially when worn on themed group rides. The reasoning behind this is pretty simple––cyclists are also total attention whores. Seriously, think about it: Take the lane campaigns, Critical Mass, spandex shorts … You think it’s about activism and awareness? Of course not. We just want all eyes on us in our two-wheeled fabulosity. That being said, costume rides are heavy, and Halloween costume rides are even heavier. … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: Rebel Grrrls—Ovarian Psycos
Ovarian Psycos’ Maryann Aguirre, aka La Fingers, answers a phone somewhere in East LA with unrestrained enthusiasm as I state my name on the other end at the SLUG Headquarters in Salt Lake. Ovarian Psycos claim to organize and cycle “for the purpose of healing our communities physically, emotionally and spiritually, by addressing pertinent issues through cycling. ”As she explains her nickname, La Fingers, a result of being caught wagging her middle-finger on more than one occasion, I know I’m talking to the right person. … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: My Chain Hits My Frame When I’m Bangin’...
I know that, as a cyclist, I’m supposed to love nature and spend the daylight hours outside mountain biking and hugging trees, but give me a fat stack of Tom Hanks movies and every season of 30 Rock on Netflix, and I’ll be happy never seeing the light of day. I only ride bikes ‘cause I hate walking, remember? That being said, movies ABOUT bikes are the cat’s pajamas, the bee’s knees, the fixie’s wooly pubes. … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Wal-Mart
I was once pretty fashion forward: putting lots of thought into my outfits, makin’ my hair all fancy and even smearing on eyeliner every day––but my entire look changed when I started cycling. When your main transportation is a bicycle, that cute sundress you pull from storage that highlights your supple winter boobies, and the matching sandals that showcase your fresh pedicure … Well … their story won’t end as happily as The Brave Little Toaster’s. … read more
Evan Service: Fixie Fiend
Like many cyclists, Evan Service boasts a lifetime of rollin’ rough: “I’ve been riding two-wheelers since before I was three,” he says. What sets him apart is exactly what reeled him into the world of fixed-gear freestyle, though. “I always thought it was cool, something different,” he says. “No one did it at the time that we all started doing it.” … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: Yeah, Prolly
John Watson, aka Prolly, has documented everything from epic alleycats and up-and-coming fixed-gear freestyle riders, to the latest in urban cycling trends since 2006, wrenching it all together on his blog: Prolly Is Not Probably. Prolly has pedaled into a successful career on the blogosphere over the past five years, traveling around the globe from San Francisco to Australia, providing us with a taste of what those greasy bike meccas have to offer. I met up with the “#fixiefamous” cycle god himself where he now resides in Austin, Tejas to juice his brain. … read more
Beautiful Godzilla: Will You Go To Prom With Me? Check...
Last year fellow lady cyclist Agnes Robl and a handful of others decided Salt Lake City needed a bike prom. Jonathan Morrison of the Bicycle Collective, along with a bunch of help from some more dedicated cyclists, made it a reality. Wouldn’t you know it, the hands-down most fun dance I’ve ever been to, I attended stag. I said no to all of my suitors, matched my dress to my pink bike chain and danced the night away with friends and strangers after going on one of the best-dressed group rides in the history of Western bike civilization. … read more
Wrenching It Out: Local Bike Mechanics
In honor of National Bike Month, SLUG interviewed some of our favorite local bike mechanics to give us the scoop on their respective shops, and inspire you to pull out your own set of wheels and join them on the road. Read on for interviews with Jace Burbidge of the Bicycle Collective, Mark Polichette of Sport Chalet, Chris Ginzton of Cyclesmith and Lindsey Howard of Saturday Cycles. … read more