Keirin Berlin Alleycat Photos

Pics from the epic alleycat organized by the Keirin Berlin during the ECMC2009. Yours truly and my boys can also been seen in one of the pics. And that was great fun.

Back Again

I'm back, I survived the mighty ECMC2009 weekend and had plenty of fun. Hi and thanks to all the nice people I met and all that. And respect to all the real hard-core messengers out there!

There are millions of pictures all over so just head over to the official site to see some of then. 

EDIT!

uao kindly made this especially for me:

1000 // Berlin

It's been bit more than a year with just over thousand blog posts and I think I've earned a little break. First I want to say big thanks to all of you, and there's been plenty of you guys, who read and comment the stupid stuff I post. Cheers! 

Tonight I'll take my huge Chrome messenger bag and fill it with my girlfriend's skinniest black stretch jeans, my retro Brooklyn Team cycling cap, a keffiyeh scarf and a bunch t-shirts with witty slogans on them. Then I'll trim and wax my ironic mustache and polish my vintage track bike and I'll be ready to leave for Berlin early in the morning. If you're also going to be there and catch me stuffing döner kebab in my face and drinking too much beer, say hi if you feel like it.

In the meanwhile, if you're really bored you can always go back to the very beginning and re-read my old posts, starting here. Remember also to click all those ads*nse-links so that I can pay my credit card bill when I come back to entertain you here again.

Jussi

ECMC Berlin 2009

Only three days left now.

WTF?! // From Berlin Again...

Now my German language skills are pretty much limited to ordering beer, buying döner kebab and to shouting rude words but those bikes are obviously 'brakeless fixie bikes' confiscated by der Berlin Polizei... 

ATTENTION // ECMC Berlin 2009 Participants

So the Berlin cops vs. brakeless bikes and the ECMC 2009 saga continues:

[messengers] ACHTUNG! berlin and fixies update:

"Fixengers,

Bad timing with the ecmc and all, but they are definitely (and possibly illegally) confiscating brakeless bikes here. I nearly lost mine on wednesday but got lucky and got away. This event didnt even happen in traffic, i was just locking up and he was in his car stuck in traffic.

We meet with the chief again next week where we will try and get an amnesty agreement for that weekend. we have a good relationship them- this is definitely not something specifically against messengers- its just that hundreds of people are riding brakeless now and there has been a lot of press about the "wild" youth and these bikes. It is not yet clear how and when someone will be able to get one of these confiscated bikes returned. (It is also not clear how skateboards and rollerblades manage to escape the same treatment.)

The racecourse is on private property and this will not be an issue at the event. But seriously, do yourself a favor and put on a front brake if possible, or take routine precautions like checking around for 5-0 when you're out cruising around.

This sudden action by the Berlin police is embarrassing and unfortunately casts a bad light on a city otherwise known for its tolerance and objectivity.

See you soon,
Bregan"

REF:Berlin Cops. Alternative Solution

The Berlin Cops don't apparently like 'brakeless fixies' and that might be bit of a problem as there'll probably be some guys & gals riding real brakeless track bikes at the ECMC 2009. 

Now I don't want to be the problem, I want to be part of the solution. So, problem solved. Thanks to Lauri for suggesting this.

Der Berlin Cops Ain't Nuthin' to F**k Wit'

I posted recently about the Berlin Police's current campaign targetting "the minimalist trend-bikes, e.g. ridden by bike-messengers and members of a growing fan-scene... (which) do not have proper security-measurements, i.e. they lack any sort of brake."

Well, now this seems to be getting actually bit more serious. Like Kenji from Keirin Berlin informed me earlier today and Straightchain reported: 

"Berlin police starts seizing bikes

Seems like the first fixed-gear bike has been seized by police, in Berlin. Its been the bike of a befriended courier. He told them, he went up into a building for a delivery, and when he came back down into the atrium, two policemen in plainclothes were already waiting in front of his bike."

I also posted  the stupid pic of the Polizei on Segways. Well, of course they don't ride them over there. In fact the Berlin Police Department is not known as the nicest bunch of law-officers in the world and, for example, they know a thing or two about riot control, this being Berlin after all. Now I'm quite interested to see what will happen at the ECMC2009.

Anyhow, while waiting for that let's all chant together to the beat of the mighty Wu-Tang Clan: "Der Berlin Cops..." 

Star Track Copenhagen

ECMC 2009 Berlin Pre-Event in Copenhagen. Most likely mucho fun. 

Check the crazy site HERE.