Foundry on Thursday...

2007-07-24T00:12:00.000-07:00

If youre here on thursday, get down to the foundry for this:

Emil is made up entirely of surgical steel and tattoo ink. Win the first pre-pre-event alleycat and help raise money for him. Organised by melbournes finest...you guys are amazing.

Squat Party flier...

2007-07-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

Smackattack from the Shortbus Window Lickers made this flier for the squat party on friday...

5 Days to go...

2007-07-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

People are already showing up in town, Australia representing big time already.. the buzz is picking up, all the bits are slotting into place, mad ideas to fill up any slots in the schedule are materializing all the time, trackstand darts and musical footdown and good ol' bike toss to name a few. Its gonna be a crazy, crazy weekend people...

To anyone else that's arriving in town early -the Foundry is the place for Weds, Thursday and Friday evenings..it opens at 4.30, maybe a bit earlier on Friday.London is a great place just to ride around if you need to kill a bit of time before that or have a look at one of the other pubs on the map or Great Marlborough Street W1 where London's tastiest couriers stand by.

There are maps in the rego packs available from the Foundry if you can find your way there before buying one.. its on Old Street which is one of the major West to East roads in central London. Funny enough Old Street is also the nearest tube station.

Its worth showing up to the Foundry Thursday, there will be a surprise event or two. Rego packs are ready from Thursday.

If you arrive Saturday morning get yourself to London Fields E8 (its a park, we'll be near the pub at the North end)If you'll be later than 1pm on Saturday go to Baylis Road SE1 (next to Waterloo station) Rollapluza is there, it doesn't start until 6pm but there's a variety of pubs and a park there to kill time if you miss the alleycat (or finish it ridiculously quickly), just look for all the bikes locked up.

You will be able to enter the whole event at London Fields or Baylis Road on Saturday. If you don't contact us asking for a couch right now you'll probably be
out of luck...

Ride to Dublin

2007-07-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of people doing the ride which is great, but please let
Josh know you're doing if it you haven't already cos hes getting
stressed that one van isn't enough for everyones gear, pack light cos
bulky stuff will probably need to be couriered to Dublin.

More info on the ride here

Money

2007-07-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

If anyone doesn't want to enter the whole weekend, here are the prices for all the bits included in the full registration, as they are a lot of independent events.
Mostly for all those skinflint Londoners this post.

Event guide - N/A
T-shirt- £10
Stickers - priceless, or ply us with beer
Friday night Alleycat - £5
Friday night party - £5
Breakfast - N/A
Trackstands - N/A
Saturday Monster Alleycat - £5
Rollapaluza - £5 door + £2 to race
Trackday - £10
Skids - N/A
Bike Toss - toss yer own bloody bike
Musical Footdown - N/A

Getting into town from other airports

2007-07-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Heathrow
Ridable, just go east till you get to central London or you can catch the tube as long as your bike is still boxed (much cheaper than the "Heathrow express" train and goes more central)

Gatwick & Luton
Proper trains go directly to central London for not too silly money, its too far to ride with much luggage from these airports. You can take your bike on these trains unboxed out of rush hour. From Luton airport there is a free bus which takes you to the train station.. bike needs to be boxed, but its not far to ride.

PayPal registration closing Sunday

2007-07-21T01:13:00.000-07:00

Thats right. Online registration closes Sunday evening. This is to give me time to get the money from Paypal and spend it on shirts and beer before you all arrive.

Its not too late to register after that. You can still register by showing up at the Foundry on Thursday or Friday, or just finding one of us in person. Bring cash. We like cash.

London's Calling goes Google Maps

2007-07-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Josh, this is really cool. The entire weekend is now on Google Maps, thanks to Josh and a particularly slow thursday. All the locations for the ride to Dublin are here, as well as the important places around London for the weekend. Check out Google here..

Bikes and Stansted Airport

2007-07-15T05:25:00.001-07:00

Stansted is the biggest airport for european budget airlines. If youre flying in cheap from europe, or flying out to dublin theres a good chance youll be using stansted. Stansted is great because its cheap. Its also in Essex, about 60km/40 miles outside london. If you think thats bad, check out Vienna Bratislava. At least Stansted is in the same country.

Anyway, you just got off a plane, and now youre 60km from Londons Calling. The quickest and most expensive way into town is the Stansted Express train.

However, Stansted Express does not like bikes. If your bike is still bagged/boxed from the flight you should be okay. Usually. Unlike many other third world countries, bribing officials does not usually work in the UK. So if you cant get your bike onto the Stansted Express, and the bus wont take you either (yep. theres a bus. they hate bikes too), you're going to have to ride.

10km away is the town of Bishops Stortford. Regular trains into London from there are much more bike friendly. The quickest way out is to ride the 6 lane highway called the A120 (the green road across this map).

Despite its size, its perfectly legal to ride a bike on an A class road in the UK, although I once got stopped by the police because everyone else jumped a red light. (I apologised and told the police the cyclists were Australians. They told me it was dangerous to jump red lights. I agreed. They let me go. I don’t think they knew how to ticket a cyclist anyway)

I should probably warn you that it’s a fast, dangerous road, especially at night or if youre used to riding on the other side of the road (Europeans, North Americans and pretty much everyone else). That said, theres a wide hard shoulder to run away to, and if anyone can cycle in traffic safely its you guys. Just don’t get killed before the start. If you do want to die, I hear MillportLoco is a good location.

Alternatively, if youre planning on riding all the way, a much quieter ride is to take the tiny local road south (the yellow one in the middle square here that goes through Takeley)

Take the B183, then the A1060 Chelmsford Road. Remember,its just over 60km into London from Stansted.

More prizes. Yep. More.

2007-07-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

You want prizes? We got more.. Thanks to Ison Distribution, we have a whole pile of new stuff for you to win. We got Surly. We got Halo. Dia Compe. Schwalbe. Salsa. And lots more.

Then theres the legendary Bicycle Film Festival. The biggest, coolest, big screen bike show on the planet. And we've got a bunch of tickets for the shows here in London.

Seriously. We have a lot of prizes now. We need you to come take them off our hands...

Rollapaluza latest..

2007-07-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

From the amazing people at Rollapaluza:

"The much anticipated Rollapaluza VIII is nearly here.....an evening or finest rock and roller-racing with Dj's bands and of course....beer."

Read more here.

If youve never seen roller racing, theres a whole list of Rollapaluza pictures here.

Rollapaluza VIII is on saturday evening, and its normally £5, but its totally free for Londons Calling entrants. Sign up now..

More New Sponsors (or more prizes....)

2007-06-27T12:56:00.001-07:00

Yep. Its turning into a worldwide bagfest. Berlin's finest Bagjack are sending bags for you, as well as the USA's Bailey Works, Tamas' amazing made-in-Budapest Bagaboo, and Londons very own Yasu bags (so new, theres no website yet, but you can read about him here).

Also, for those of you around London, real live in-person registration will be starting soon, probably at the Duke and the John Snow on friday. Naturally, Jos has already registered. First as usual (except for the Smithfield Nocturne...), thrusting cash at me in the Strongroom last week.

Oh. Non-messengers totally welcome, btw (see, I didnt use the word fakenger..)

If Anthony Gormley was a messenger..

2007-06-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Polish Championships in Warsawa 30th June

2007-06-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Schedule

2007-05-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

So heres the schedule. Final. Definite. And for just £20 you get all this, as well as a shirt and whatever else we can put together...

The Foundry is agreed to be ideal venue for Thursday and Friday registration and hangout.

Friday @the Foundry

8pm Alleycat
10pm Ian's skid competion
Then:
Squat party. With bands and DJs.

Saturday

11am Breakfast in London Fields
12.30 Trackstands
1pm The Really Big Alleycat
Sometime later..Rollapaluza. Bikes. On Rollers. Racing.

Sunday

9am Meet at City Hall for group ride down to Herne Hill Velodrome
10.30 Track Racing
followed by backwards circles and skids...

Monday

10 am Ride to Dublin leaves...

New shirt design...Jed rules

2007-05-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

So heres the new shirt design, courtesy of jed...click for a closeup.

Update from Josh...

2007-05-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

..who wrote to remind me "The only thing is there's also bands (& booze) at Rollapaluza not just bikes on rollers racing"

Yep. I'm wrong. Theres music and beer too. These guys played at the CWMC in New York, and theyre gonna be here. There'll be a couple of others. And. The bar. With beer.

Guess who's coming to London?

2007-04-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

You know the hardest thing for us right now is knowing who's coming. Do we need a 300 capacity venue for the 12 of us, or should we just take the 50 capacity venue and then have 150 people in the street? Should we look for a squat for the 4 people who don't have a place to stay, or just have them camp in my garden?

Some things have a definite limit. For example, theres only so many people who can fit on the track. Theres still space though, so if youre looking for the rare opportunity to ride around the Olympic Velodrome, let us know at trackday.

If youre looking for help with cheap / free places to stay, the helpful people at accomodation are waiting to find you a couch.

Not forgetting the most important of all. First call on all of the above goes to those who paid first. Right now we're paying for stuff ourselves because we love y'all but giving us those dollars in your bank account now means we can buy more beer instead of paying the Tshirt man. So Pay now.

If youre just planning on turning up and paying when you get here, or even if you get here, thats still cool. The nice registration people would appreciate it if you'd give us some warning so we know how much beer to buy, how many shirts to order, etc. I know it seems like having too much beer is cool, but just imagine not having enough.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if youre coming to the Pre-event, now is a good time to get in touch..

Accomodation

2007-04-30T01:54:00.000-07:00

Whichever way you look at it , London's a stupidly expensive city. Unless youre spending every night in the John Snow, with its sub £2 pints, youre gonna need a beer budget. And that means cheap accomodation. And we're here to help.

First up, Hostels. London has plenty. Youre looking at £15-20 per night in summer, maybe more for somewhere nicer. Ive got a great list from Caspar that Ill try and post later.

Need something cheaper? Try couchsurfing, aka sleeping on the floor of some other messengers. If youve already got a hookup, youre done. Congratulations on being popular and having friends. If you haven't, we're going to try and hook you up. First, drop us an email at accomodation@londonscalling07.org.uk , and we'll try and match you up. As usual, priority to those who paid already, but if youre too skint to have paypal, email and we'll try to sort something out. If enough of you want to come, we're working on a temporary squat, but for that to happen we need to know youre going to be here early enough to start looking for a place.

Schedule latest...

2007-04-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

So heres what'll hopefully be the final version of the schedule..

Thursday

The Foundry is agreed to be ideal venue for Thursday and Friday registration and hangout.

Friday @the Foundry

8pm Alleycat

10pm Ian's skid competion

Then:
Squat party. With bands and DJs.

Saturday
11am Breakfast in London Fields

12.30 Trackstands

1pm The Really Big Alleycat

Sometime later..Rollapaluza. Bikes. On Rollers. Racing.

Sunday
9am Meet at City Hall for group ride down to Herne Hill Velodrome

10.30 Track Racing

followed by backwards circles and skids...

Sunday evening looks a bit bare, buts thats just as well because

Monday

10 am Ride to Dublin leaves...

SF messengers in 1992

2007-04-22T02:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its not London. Or 2007. But I have to share this. San Francisco messengers c.1992 on YouTube. I think my favourite detail is the guy with the ponytail mullet in the background at one point..

Track Day - PLACES LIMITED!!

2007-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

So heres the thing. For a variety of safety and logistic reasons, theres a limit on how many people we can realistically accommodate at Herne Hill. We're going to try and get as many people as possible riding though, and there'll be plenty of food and beer for the rest of us.

However, you want to race, right? So how do you get to do that?

If you havent paid yet. Pay now :)

Or. Email us now and let us know you want to race. If we get too many people, priority will probably go to people who paid, people who registered, people from out of town who cant ride any other time. If you want to make sure of a place and you havent paid yet, email:

trackday@londonscalling07.org.uk

There are some rules you should know. Most importantly, your bike will need to be inspected for safety reasons by one of our mechanics, which means it has to be track safe. This should be obvious, and there'll be a full list of rules soon, but basically:

Track Bikes only (duh). So no crazy shifter brazeons etc.

No Bullhorns/Lo-pro bars etc. Drops only, with bar plugs and bar tape.

No brakes or brake levers.

Helmets will be worn.

Meeting Sunday 15th April 5pm

2007-04-11T13:07:00.001-07:00

Evening everyone,

The meeting is at Larry's flat, there is now stuff to sit on since he acquired Pikey's old sofa and chair.

Sunday 15th April 5pm

37 Pallant House
Tabard Street
SE1

This is the last block at the south end of the street (just north of Bricklayer's arms roundabout) remember the bell doesn't work but if you go round to the Great Dover Street side of the block there is a balcony which you can shout at and be let in. You'll know the one because its got pull a wheelie mister painted on it, and probably couriers standing on it.

Riding to Dublin? Heres the route from Josh...

2007-04-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

There's a few people emailed me saying they're interested in doing the ride, between 12-17 so far. So its definitely happening.

A bit more detail on the route.

Sunrise is around 5.25 and sunset 20.45 this week so we have some time to ride.

Stage 1
Monday 30 July
London to Calne
About 90 Miles
Avebury ancient stone circle is a few miles before Calne for dinner and a pint. The furthest a courier group has previously made it from London is Avebury I think, or maybe stonehenge for equinox (but there weren't any couriers on that one?)
Camping at Calne.

Stage 2
Tuesday 31 July
Calne to Bridgend via Bristol and Cardiff
About 85 Miles
There are some couriers in the cities on this day (or 1 at least) so there may be a bit of alleycat action today.
Camping near Bridgend.

Stage 3
Wednesday 1 August
Bridgend to Fishguard
About 88 miles
Ferries at 18.30 fast 2 hrs to Rosslare which leaves us enough time to get to the the campsite a few miles north at dusk.
Or a slow ferry at 02.45 if you can handle sleeping in ferry waiting rooms and on the boat.
The Pembroke Dock - Rosslare route would save us a few miles riding but the ferry times don't work out.

Stage 4
Thursday 2 August
Rosslare to Dublin
98 miles
Make sure you get somewhere to stay in Dublin lined up I reckon.

I'll make sure every rider has basic route maps and contact numbers because forcing us to ride as a group would slow everyone down. These rides usually work better if people are able to go in smaller groups with people going their own pace. Something to do with different bikes, abilities, fixies going cross country etc. Everyone gets there in the end at their own pace.
I may try and figure out a way for there to be some racing, but probably not. We'll all know who's strongest anyway.

We can get campsites for about £5-£7 a night each. If anyone is able to bring camping gear, they should.

Ferry ticket for a foot passenger (and bike) £20 one way.

Pre Event Meeting Sunday 1st April at 5pm

2007-03-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Time we got together and made some stuff happen. Selims away. And okay, so i forgot about daylight savings time and missed the last one because I'm a retard. But Ill be back this time. Anyway, we're gonna be at Larry's. Thats 37 Pallant House, Tabard Street, SE1. And its on Sunday 1st April at 5pm.