We’ve got a Pittsburgh theatre confirm for showing the Life Cycles film as part of their worldwide tour!
Review: Life Cycles Film
UPDATE: Pittsburgh Premier on Monday December 20
It could be argued that the mountain bike community has been long overdue for a new style of film. Without being saturated in race footage, location and rider intros, Life Cycles achieves an aesthetically powerful, subtly political documentary. Philosophical commentary on the meaningful existence of a bicycle creates a sense of time and plot development, while retaining some sweet riding footage.
There is inherent anticipation built into the bicycle, with its sole purpose to be ridden. In the trailer, we see a lot of manufacturing footage, which is repeated in the film itself, best viewed in hi-definition bluray – preferably in a theatre as part of the premier tour in your town.
Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.
See? Once you close your mouth, I think you’ll realize how much better that would be on a big screen, not missing anything in the slow motion or time-lapse segments featured in the full length film, which runs at about 45 minutes. There’s also more fine details on trail design, different soil combinations and metal fabrication to witness in the film itself, as well as the Bonus sections found on a personal copy of the DVD or bluray, which is finally available online as well as in stores. Life Cycles is a game changer.
The buzz has been increasing for months, starting with the county approval for its first legal freeride trail, trail design, liability considerations, unique trail signage and even breaking ground for an upcoming bike park! There’s a lot of independent volunteers and organizations behind this development, and its quite an inspiration for mountain bikers. Congratulations on breaking ground!!
A little blurb from Jamie Pfaeffle, PTAG Freeride Steward (cross-posted on bike pgh blog):
The Dr J trail was started by myself, Nick Pointon and Tony Urbanek now two years ago as a rogue freeride trail build in North Park. When PTAG and Allegheny County discovered the trail they asked the builders to come forward and work with them to make it into a legal, sustainable trail built within accepted standards. Tony initially came forward and when asked by PTAG who built the trail he said “Some guy named Dr J” (which is the nickname the rogue trail build crew had given me).
We then worked with PTAG, the County and a team of local freeriders (myself, Nick, Justin Jackson, Bill Kirk and Dave Brunger as the design team) to make a plan to meet this goal. We were fully approved by the County parks director Andy Baechle to re-build the trail one year ago. I went from being a rogue trailbuilder to a PTAG board member and organizer of a team of trail builders with the help of the trail design team.
We (the design team plus 20 other guys who have been psyched to build) have spent the last year re-building the trail into what it is now with wooden ladder drop-offs, jumps, bridges, a rock garden and elevated skinny features. More work is planned to add additional features along the bottom section of the trail. A skills area is planned for installation beginning this month. We hope in future years to be able to build other freeride trails in the North Park South Ridge area, making a collection of trails into a freeride area.
And from PTAG website:
Time: Saturday, October 23, 2010 – 1:00 – 7:00pm
Location: Sharon Shelter, Pie Traynor Field parking lot, North Park
Details: Come out to the annual PTAG Party to help PTAG celebrate the year’s accomplishments and the grand opening of the Dr J freeride trail! We’ll toast to PTAG’s hard work. There will be a trail dedication and thanks for the trail crew, riding, food and beer. Some of the build crew may be freeriding in Halloween costumes so please feel free to join them! We will also run some cross country rides around the South Ridge area. Rides will start at 1pm and we will start the party at 3pm.
Since 2008, IMBA has made a shift from Regional Leadership Committees within each state comprised of volunteers, to paid staff assigned to larger territories; coordinating with the existing advocacy groups and land managers in each region. While the initial acceptance of this change was difficult for some advocates to swallow, it has clearly increased effectiveness and overall clarity of the IMBA mission. Velomuse strongly identifies with this mission, as we aim to create lifelong cyclists, which requires significant work with non-profits, advocacy organizations and various land-managers. We tend to draw inspiration from the sections of community that are not already represented well: women, youth, mountain biking and cyclocross. IMBA is a solid affiliate, and we are proud they use community experience to represent us. We thought it would be a nifty idea to showcase the behind-the-scenes work of IMBA Regional Director, Frank Maguire. He’s there, everywhere you turn. And while he may be paid a small salary, he’s certainly volunteering many aspects of his daily life above and beyond the call of duty.
Frank Maguire, IMBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
Name: Frank Maguire
Region covered: I cover 7 states in the Mid-Atlantic: WV, VA, MD, DE, PA, NY and NJ.
Advocacy experience, time with IMBA: I have been involved with bicycle advocacy on some level since I really started biking as an adult. I got more serious about it in the late 90’s and became the volunteer Central PA representative for IMBA in 2001. I sit on DCNR’s (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) Recreational Advisory Committee, I helped write the PA SCORP (State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan),which called for more bicycle infrastructure and access, and have volunteered as the local trail liaison here in State College since 1999. In 2009, I was hired to work full time as the Regional Director for IMBA, a program that was just started thanks to the support of SRAM.
1) How does the International Mountain Biking Association’s mission impact Pittsburgh, and how does it affect my riding?
2) What are some of the obstacles that you have worked on, that pertains to our local community? Are these common in other regions?
3) Any success stories for our region?
4) How can I be involved and support the development of mountain biking in our region? (regional clubs/committees, website, contact information, upcoming IMBA events, etc.)
Getting involved with PTAG is really the first step. The season is winding down at this point, and IMBA’s website, has a calendar. If you sign up for updates, we will send out a regular regional e-news. If you are facebook person, there is a IMBA Mid Atlantic page where I try to post relevant events and information weekly.
“Journal from the ride home”
by Charlotte PH on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 3:33pm
Click the image for bikereg link
Brought to you by:
Velomuse, ko:ǝles Cycling Club, and Barb Howe’s new self-initiated team, Ibis & The Danger Twins.
“Cyclocross 101 with Barb Howe”—the aspiring cyclocrosserʼs clinic of the year! In this clinic, participants will learn hands-on fundamental skills of cyclocross racing including ideal equipment, clothing, nutrition, fitness, and more. The clinic will be taught by 2009 cyclocross champion, Barb Howe and USAC licensed coach, Eryn Hughes of Velomuse. Knowing the skills youʼll learn here will improve bike-handling abilities for all types of riding! Proceeds benefit women’s cycling and local trail advocacy.
| Where: | Washington Oval @ Highland Park, Pittsburgh, PA |
| Why: | Teach fundamentals to beginner/aspiring cyclocross racers and spread awareness of the sport’s unique discipline. |
| When: | October 14, 2010, 6–8 p.m. |
| Fee: | $40 Registration |
| Schedule: | 6:00–6:05 Introductions and expectations 6:05–6:15 Equipment, clothing and nutrition 6:15–7:30 Hands-on skills course 7:30–7:45 Fitness guidelines 7:45–8:00 Summary and Q&A with Barb Howe |
Car-Free Friday in South Side!
[Update: 18September 2010 Recap] Bikerator generates power for a number of electrical applications, courtesy of the Kova Enterprises‘ craftiness. Today, we pedaled to light up 5,000 leds and a waterjet that shot a stream into traffic.
Park(ing) Day at OTB Bicycle Cafe
Bikerator: all the better to power leds or a waterjet, with.
Bike Pittsburgh‘s Car-Free Fridays campaign is visiting Pittsburgh’s South side neighborhood this Friday. With it, local businesses are stepping up to coordinate new, interesting ways to support bicycle, pedestrian and otherwise alternative transportation. One installation for the Global Park(ing) Day re-uses a couple of parking spaces in a high-visibility traffic corridor coordinated by OTB Bicycle Cafe, is particularly RAD:
Car Free Friday - Southside Park(ing) Day
This bag was first seen at the “I made it!” market, during the kickoff of BikeFest, this year. I was already looking for a replacement to the wallet thing I had been using, and the zipper had broken off. Over the past several years, I had been through a variety of practical luggage tags that were minimal in size, waterproof and allowed me to carry a couple of keys, id, credit card, and a some business cards. These are great for putting in a jersey pocket or attached to the tether inside a camelbak or timbuk2 bag, and so I had ordered a handful of them in California a few years ago. But the plastic zip-loc part always broke down after a couple months, and when I ran out; I couldn’t find them as easily in Pennsylvania nor online. Besides, they’re pretty ugly.
Unseamly Creations Small Bag
So, when I saw this bag I was instantly reminded of the movie Run, Lola, Run – and how free her arms moved because everything she needed was in this bag – but it wasn’t a fanny pack. No. Much cooler. And yes, sometimes things are as urgent as Lola conveys, in real life.
I talked with Rebecca Susman of Unseamly Creations about her designs, and learned while she didn’t already have a waterproof design, it could be customized with ease and I was able to pick out a forest-olive green corduroy exerior fabric as well. I was very cautious with the whole corduroy thing, because I am so accustomed to the utilitarian plastic luggage tags or zipper sleeves – but this one is great. It doesn’t require a bag to tether into, either! It can contain my Blackberry Curve, keys, favorite spf lip balm, and id, cc, and business cards with room to spare. At first, walking around with just that made me feel like I had forgotten something. No bulky messenger bag. Indeed, what else did I need? I can finally have the wind at my back on the bike. The bag let my arms fly wildly in the wind when I walk, or maybe run. Like Lola. Now, was she running FROM or TO something?
Have I told you yet how much my riding options expanded once I discovered polarized lenses? I had been a regular customer of another brand with interchangeable lenses until they discontinued the only model that fit my face, and all the spare lenses became blurry with scratches. Proper sunglasses for outdoor activities can be quite an investment, and while fit is extremely important (shouldn’t be able to see outside the frame, nor have eyelashes touch the lens); testing out different models inside a retail store is definitely a challenge. In-store demonstrations don’t emphasize the decreased strain on your eyes and the rest of your face, over several hours.
Pepper's Folsom Sunglasses
Fortunately, Peppers Sunglasses come in at much more reasonable prices, fit my small face, are fashionable and even have scratch-proof lenses. A Pittsburgh-local company, the various designs carry an unlimited lifetime warranty, so there isn’t much risk to the buyer. Peppers is no stranger to taking risks, though. They have a rubberized frame in their collection: the Catamaran. I have yet to try these out, and wonder if they are even lighter in weight, possibly stretchy, or get caught on hair – as compared to the Folsom shades I have. Lastly, the megol nose pad found on most models is less of a liability when I land on my face. Thank you for that.
