Picking up where we left off. Last month I moved back to San Francisco. After nearly a decade of living here, and 4 years spent living in other cities I can honestly and confidently say that SF is the best and only real city on the West Coast. Good vibes and great friends are a hard thing to find everywhere you go, but the Bay Area has it in abundance.
On Saturday (September 5th 2020) we all got together at “The Island” and made our way up Market street to session both Wallenberg & The Museums in GGP. The gang finally convinced me to get back on my FGFS bike, and I must say… I’m sure glad they did. I almost forgot what it felt like to ride this bike and how much it raises my spirits. It’s like the old saying, “you never forget how to ride a bike”.
Oakland California – January 3rd 2020. I took the subway from San Francisco to Oakland with Jake 100, Isa, CBreezy, JN & Grady to ride bikes in the East Bay. Jakob Santos, Andy Sparks and a bunch of the usual suspects met up with us for a day wheelies around Downtown. We pulled over at some of our favorite spots around Lake Merritt before ending up at Jack London Square for the Sunset. I won’t waste too much time with words on this one, so stop listening to me immediately and press play already. Oh yeah, I quickly whipped up the soundtrack for this one too.
First stop, Town Park. Jake 100, CBreezy, JN, Issa & Grady met up with me at the Civic Center Bart Station in San Francisco where we to took the train to Oakland. After a few quick stops we hopped off the Bart and rode to Town Park to meet up with the rest of the crew for the day. Santos laid it down as usual, Andy Sparks gave us some of that signature flare, Gus Molina caught a quick clip and the London Boys supplied the rest of the action.
Shout out to the homie JEF for the banging soundtrack in this one, check out more of his music on sound cloud if you haven’t already as well as the new band he started “9th Heaven”.
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This sewer vent is always going off and recently I was lucky enough to catch it at just the right time of day that it was the only thing illuminated on that side of the block. I immediately pulled over, put my bike in it (regrettably) and caught these photos. It oxidized my wheels in this weird way and now they’re only kinda black, mostly gray and super water spotty. It’s kinda rad, I’ve had these wheels for forever.
Concrete looks its best in black & white. I’ve been dreaming of this shot of Gus (above on the right) for a while now and I’m glad we were finally able to get it. There’s a similar shot of Kameren Boun soaring over San Francisco in the latest issue of LOOP Magazine. Pick one up if you have a chance, I always find one at the book store in Japan town. Also another important note, no birds were harmed in the shooting of these photos. I repeat Jack did not harm any birds in the process of these skids. Alright, that’s enough for now, more photos below. We’ll catch you next time.
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There aren’t a lot of riders out there running brakes on their FGFS build, but Gus Molina is one of them. It’s the addition of this variable that gives his style and trick selection such a unique flavor. He’s always stretching the imagination and perception of what’s possible on these bikes. Gus is one of those riders that you have to keep your eye on and start filming before he says anything. He’s always pulling the most ridiculous combos the moment we roll up to a new spot. Anyways, scroll down and check out a handful of photos of his MASTER BIKE CO Hightek frameset as well as a complete parts breakdown.
FRAME: Master Hightek
HANDLEBAR: Rare pair of altar burial bars
FORK: Master Chopstick
STEM: Fit High Top stem
GRIPS: Merritt Cross check grips
HEADSET: Merritt
BRAKE STUFF: Odyssey lever and cable Fly Bikes brakes
SADDLE: Tree Bike Co. Fat ergo seat
CRANKS: Eclat Maverick cranks 170mm
BB: Cult mid
PEDALS: Elcat Seeker
STRAPS: Burro Mudflaps
SPROCKET: Madera Bash sprocket
GEAR RATIO: 25/9
CHAIN: Shadow Supreme chain
FRONT TIRE: Cult vans tire 2.3
REAR TIRE: Bombtrack 2.3
FRONT WHEEL / HUB: G-Sport hub laced to mtx33 36hh
REAR WHEEL / HUB: Rinng hub laced to Ruff Beer Can rims 36h
PEGS: Eclat Venom 4.8
Last month I was in San Francisco riding bikes for a couple weeks. I brought with me the usual slough of camera gear as well as the GoPro / Gimbal setup. It’s really fun to ride around and film without worrying about what you’re framing up. It’s basically a point and shoot video camera. Similarly to the trial and errors of shooting film, I was bummed when I realized I didn’t format the card correctly and subsequently corrupted the rest of the footage we shot that day. Oh well, at least this one clip made it out unscaved so we could chop together this little jammer. Enjoy.
Last Saturday Ramon Antonio hosted the “Still Pourland” premiere here in San Francisco, and all the usual suspects came out of the woodwork for the event. Valentin Racho showed up as well as Jeff Dempler, Alex Blanco and many others. We met up at Soma West Skatepark and rode there for a few hours. Stacking clips, cracking cans, and hanging out until the video premiere at Chrome Industries in the Mission. I brought a pizza to the jam so you know it was a party. I’m sure Mon will make a video from this at some point, but here are some photos from the day until then. The scene needs more meetups like this.
Do you think you’re better off alone? If so, come ‘talk to me’. Alice Deejay’s hit single Better Off Alone was the anthem to our weekend. But isn’t it always. Riding is always better with a squad. I guess it’s the strength in numbers mentality that comes along with it. On Saturday we gathered together some of the best FGFS riders the West Coast has to offer, and met up to ride around our new found home in Portland.
We packed our bags, loaded bikes into the Re-Rack Van and headed to University of Portland to kick start our day. After dodging campus security for a few hours, we got what we needed, pushed our luck a little too far, and decided to head downtown for a change of scenery. Jimmy Watcha sealed the deal, and drove the final nail into the coffin with one of the heaviest lines I’ve ever seen. The sun was setting and the day was pretty much over after that. Always finish on a strong note
Click “MORE” to check out other shots from when the Bay Area homies were in town.