Spring Days

Good news! That longtail that got stolen in San Francisco has been reunited with its owner!

That's love, right there.

I'm going to try to get hold of Matt to find out the full story, it sounds epic. 

We got a woodchuck! He showed up in a box! 

8 cm seat tube, we are ON it.

He arrived just in time to embark on our epic spring camping trip-- we rode out to Evansburg State Forest on the treacherous trail of the Perkiomen (actually flat as a shovel, but that doesn't sound too macho). Here we are waiting for Steve: 

Must check the email one more time!

We couldn't have picked a lovelier spring day or better company. It was nice to see a ton of cyclists out on the trail, though not a Bilenky among them (come ON, local customers!) I was hoping for more photos of us looking adventurous, but most of them seem to be us eating or lounging. 

Guarding the B.O.B.

Elliot Faust on his first tour, facing off with the 'chuck.

Miles from civilization, Jake's right pedal decided to take off for greener pastures. He bravely muddled along on the stub until we found a bike shop in Collegeville. Steve was treated like the celebrity he is, of course, and Jake was rolling again in no time. Thanks, guys!

Collegeville Bike Sports-- Good dudes. 

Once we arrived at the campsite we found it crawling with boyscouts, who offered us large quantities of meat. They had thick central NY accents and were aggressively friendly. "This is what angels look like," said Jake. 

In the morning, Steve practiced his modeling skillz...

Ankles!

And the woodchuck ate all the sugar...

Bad dietary choices, chum.

And we looked at flowers...

Spring ephemerals everywhere!

So touring season has officially begun. Do YOU have your touring bike ready to go? BECAUSE YOU SHOULD. 

Ride safe, ride far, and don't forget your 'chuck.

Isis

BCW

OH! OH! PINK BILENKY HATS WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN NEXT WEEK! ORDER YOURS NOW!

Spring! Flowers! Fresh Bikes! And.... No woodchucks?

Seriously, we at BCW are disappointed with our readers. Not a SINGLE PERSON turned up with a 'chuck to claim a new bike. That said, we did see a few hairy beasts lolloping around in the shrubbery out back. I can only imagine that someone allowed their potentially prizewinning woodchucks to escape and was too embarrassed to tell us. I asked the boldest escapee rodent if he'd like to claim a bike for himself, but he just looked at me like he was William Howard Taft and I was stupid.

What are YOU looking at?

Moving on....

Look! Steve is practicing his newfound love of modeling!

Should we do a calendar?

In the spirit of spring cleaning we grubbed that paint booth out hardcore. This art piece, among several lesser ones, peeled off the wall:

You'll see this in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, we promise.

Naomi's white paint jobs are going to be SO PRISTINE now-- look, they're glowing!

Dancing coupler Viewpoint bits

Meanwhile, in the building department, we are making big bikes and little bikes and nothing in between. 

The big dude is 64cm. The small one is 43cm.

We love making unusually sized bikes-- we want everyone to be equipped with a comfortable ride, no matter what height and proportion they are. Here is a custom (unfinished) bulky tandem crown for a couple planning on some heavy touring:

Pack the cast iron cookware, the crockpot, the mantlepiece...

In non building news, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BIKE? 

We put it on the website and Facebook, but just in case...

It was stolen in San Francisco, and the only other one we ever built is in Australia. It's unmistakable. Above and beyond the immorality and jerkishness of bike thieves in general, this one was just dumb. How do you resell something like this? As Steve says, it's like hiding an elephant behind a sofa. 

If you see it, lock it to the nearest pole, call the cops, then call us and we'll put you in touch with its rightful owner. EYES OPEN! 

To alleviate stolen bike related depression, here's Naomi bringing a pile of donations from the shop to Neighborhood Bike Works in West Philly: 

Vroooooom!

Happy official Spring! Enjoy the weather, ride far, ride often, and don't hit the woodchucks.

Isis

BCW

The Great Woodchuck Challenge of 2012

As you may or may not have noticed, Steve has a thing about woodchucks. In fact, sometimes he is one:

But you all knew that.

With that in mind, we are delighted to announce the Great Woodchuck Challenge of 2012-- your chance to win a FREE BILENKY BIKE, like this one! 

Well probably just the frame, but you get the idea.

And how do you win a beautiful custom bike? Well, all you have to do is find a woodchuck....

Ignore the homicidal gleam in his eyes

Who bears a more than passing resemblance to one of the presidents featured on Mt Rushmore:

Extra points for identifying them all

Your 'chuck can be baggy and pensive, 

We saw one just like this watching the TD Bank Bike Race last summer

Ascetic and prim....

Good luck with this one

Shortsighted and bristly,

They all kind of look like that anyway

Or craggy and gaunt...

We don't like the odds on this one

The woodchuck only needs to look like one president: a woodchuck with a Roosevelt 'stach AND a Lincoln beard would not qualify. Extra points for serious expression and presidential behavior. Plastic surgery and Photoshop will also lead to disqualification. In fact, to avoid cheating, we ask that you bring your woodchuck to the shop to meet us in person. 

Good luck and may the best 'chuck win! Also, happy Presidents day. 

In other news, we are delighted to welcome a new member of the team, Tom Faust:

His beard is edging towards Steve's in epicness....!

Not quite the same as a woodchuck who looks like Teddy Roosevelt, but we don't mind. 

Also, happy spring (seriously, where did winter go?)

-Isis

BCW

Winter Designs

Steve loves winter. He seems crestfallen when his beard HASN'T turned into a beardsicle on his ride in.

Go Steve go!

He likes grey skies, early evenings, and the AMAZING light that sometimes graces the junkyard:

Trees gilded with the blood of cross racers past...

Then he inexplicably goes upstate where it's even colder and eats baked potatoes. 

Bikes, farm shows, it's all good...

Naomi deals with winter by being a yeti,

The impermeable power suit

The rest of us just grow beards and gripe. Bina wrote a great article for Embrocation about every cyclist's favorite season. Here it is. 

Besides the usual bike building, we're working on a new look for our 2012 bikes. We will have a new line of stock colors (although your beloved 'Dirty Possum' and 'Lizard Sex Green' will still be available). I came up with some new headbadge concepts. Here's one:

A vinyl take on the metal headbadge.

And another one:

A vinyl take on another metal headbadge.

And my favorite one!

Just a sketch. But you get the idea.

Steve doesn't like the idea of putting his face on his bikes. So I'm punting it to you, dear readers. Would YOU ride a bike emblazoned with the Head of the Steve? Let us know in the poll at the upper right. Vote well, vote often! 

Keep warm, ride safe, and happy belated New Year. 

Isis 

BCW

Well, that was awesome.

Wow, that was a terrific junkyard cross. SO MANY PEOPLE came out! We can't thank you all enough-- the racers, hecklers, drinkers, and volunteers-- you all are just amazing.

Here's a great video from CXHairs:


Bilenky Junkyard Cross 2011 from In The Crosshairs on Vimeo.

Did I meet the CXHairs photographer? I don't know which one it was. CXHairs photographer, YOU ARE AWESOME.

And here's another great video, of the A class guys getting all Dukes of Hazard on my carefully arranged slalom:

Untitled from Erik Silverson on Vimeo.

I love the guy saying 'Hold this...' and handing off his bike.

Now look here, kids, the junkyard guys were up in arms about the damage we did to their cars. Apparently someone was going at hoods with a saw? Also, we definitely told you not to climb on the trailers and you all did. So please behave a bit better next year, it took quite a few cases to placate them and we're only able to do this because they're awesome and move the cars around for us. All clear?

There are amazing photos all over the internet, but here are a few I like a lot:

Mr Safety Firth, MCing in British

The men's A winners-- all completely nuts if you ask me!

The Alt-est of the Alt bikes. Photo by Stevie Sax.

Three dedicated guys got cowbell tattoos!

We're already planning for next year. New obstacle ideas include a fire trap and a bear. 

In completely different news, cross country rider, BMXer and selfless volunteer Lowell Smoger is reviving Philadelphia Critical Mass.  This is a great idea and a good cause and you should all go. Here's the facebook invite.  Be there! I can't go! Be there for me!

Thanks again, guys. You make our cycling community the best in the whole world. 

And wait till you see our NAHBS bike....

Isis

BCW