CHAS CHRISTIANSEN

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Over the past year we have shared a video chapter or two each month, bringing us to the final chapter in the feature release, Chas Christiansen.  Over the years we would get out and shoot with him a ton – with friends, solo sessions, and location concepts. When it came time to cut a part for him we knew it would be really strong, and his expectations pushed Martin and I to document just how fun/intense it can be to ride the streets with this guy. Every time we got out, it felt like a collaboration between this floating camera and the rider  seemed to glide through the city effortlessly. The Ender. Enclosed is his full video part, as well as an interview we shot with him a few years back, while on standby in the Mission.

Russian River 300k Brevet Ride Report

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I had been wanting to do a brevet for a few years now. Back in 2012 Matt Shapiro and I rode down to LA on our track bikes. It took about 13 days and we averaged 100 miles a day. On this trip we meet a good friend Erik who long story short, roped me into the world of long distance riding. This year was the first year where I felt fit enough, and mentally prepared to attempt rides like these. My goal, to get a Super Randonneur title the first year.

The Super Randonneur title isn’t something to joke about. Although many have achieved this title, it is more than just finishing a ride. By the end of the season, you will have had to complete a 200k, 300k, 400k, and a 600k brevet. The Russian River 300k is a classic, with a 20 hour time limit. Starting the the Golden Gate Bridge, running north through Petaluma, Santa Rosa, through Healdsburg, over to the coast through Guerneville, south Bodega Bay and back to the starting point on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Map here

The ride left the Golden Gate Bridge at 6am. Erik had been briefing me on the way to the start. Usually it’s fast off the line, then it mellows out into a softer pace, something reasonable for the 189 miles in front of you. We were the first onto the bridge, getting out in front and figuring out who was going to work together. We we’re hauling through Sausalito when two guys on a tandem come up alongside our breakaway of 5 or 6. These guys had some serious power and it become very apparent that they are going to turn this ride up to 11. We start to shed riders after a climb 10 miles in, and were left with the tandem, Erik, myself, and Bill Brier, previous president of SF Randonneurs… dream team.

Let me get something straight, there aren’t classes or categories when it comes to randonneuring. No masters, no pro, cat 5, or tandems. Which means were all in it together. Also, let me make this very clear, two really strong riders on one bike will always be more efficient than one rider on one bike. Therefore, the three of us had to WORK to hold onto the tandems rear wheel. We made it to Petaluma in 2.5 hours, and all the way to Healdsburg before noon. Those are fighting words.

Erik and I were sick, I forgot to point this out. We started feeling pretty shitty two days before. We weren’t sure what was going to happen, if we would be able to finish the brevet, or if we should even attempt the ride in the first place. Our plan was, if things go south we turn around in Petaluma. But with the tandem, and Bill in tow we were a well greased machine. We just might have been some rusty gears. My throat would get scratchy, so a banana, and a bite of a chocolate bar to fix the problem. Erik had some Blueberry soup as his secret weapon. Basically we were patching a sinking ship every mile we rode.

But… we were the lead group and we were hauling ass and that felt @$*%ing good. Averaging 23mph, we were on schedule for a 10 hour finish time. As 300k brevets go, thats fast. Once we made it the coast, the illness hit Erik like a brick wall. He fell off the back just south of Jenner so we waited in Bodega to regroup. Pizza, coconut water, candy, fix. Erik rolled in about 10 minutes later. The tandem and Bill rolled out and at that point we changed our pace to two airplane whiskeys per hour. The next 40 or so miles were becoming familiar territory. This just makes things feel slower and although you know you’re almost there, the anxiety level builds. The weather was overcast for most of the ride, so rolling into Pt. Reyes at 76 degrees meant a power nap and beer. This is the typical brevet style when you go fast and chill hard.

We made our next move, this time warm and filled with some liquid courage to grease the gears and 130 miles in our legs. I had a dinner date at the Martin house, so I had some motivation to get to our point B. Erik was on cruise control. At this point the sickness had grabbed ahold of his DNA and started to attack his soul. His cough would produce some red tinted phlegm so there was no point in trying to ramp the pace up. We parted ways just just before descending into Fairfax. As punishment for leaving my friend, the ironic fate of my front shifter breaking and leaving me in the big ring only solidified my need to hit mach 10 to get home on time.

I rolled over the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge to finish my ride in 11 hours 27 minutes. 4th place, considering the tandem as two. 45 minutes behind Bill Brier and the freight train who broke the course record by 20 minutes. Do you remember when Felix Baumgartner space jumped out of the Red Bull Stratos, falling 39 kilometers breaking the sound barrier? This ride, that finish, same feelings.

Mike snapped a few details of salt and grease on my way home.

: Dylan Buffington

MASH X SCVDO

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I’ve always been a fan of street races as well as outlaw cross races, so last year when Vito and Stephano from SCVDO Genova invited me to the 1st iteration of their race RESPUBLICA I jumped the chance. I was not disappointed as the route ripped you through downtown Genova then up through the hills on some sketchy dirt single track, back down to the city center then back out to the dirt! A ripping race thrown by a rad crew SCVDO RESPUBLICA is a great format that I hope I see more of in years to come! This year they road their fully loaded tracks bikes UP from LA to SF! Once they got here and recovered a bit I was stoked to show them my SF just like they showed me their favorite parts of Genoa. We spent a rad day ripping around, drinking tons of espresso and getting loose! Long Live Brakeless Mixed Terrain Alley Cats!
– Chas

Monster Track 2016

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In a few days hundreds of racers will converge on the streets of Manhattan to once again battle it out for the glory that is a Monstertrack Win. Monster Track is the Epitome of an Alley Cat. Brakeless Trackbikes only make this race the real deal. One race to rule them all if you will. It’s got style. It’s got History. It pits you against the Jungle of a city, some of the quickest witted street racers in the world, and all of the drama that comes along with that. People get their feelings hurt. People Get lost. People Quit. And some of the fastest few will make it to the last manifest. But regardless of win or lose everyone will have a damn good time. So to tide you over until the chaos ensues once more – Here’s a few photos from Last years race and surrounding events. -Sean

Brice

Stoked Johnny & Hiromi

King Kog

Registration Party

Party Boiz

Nico Jammin’ out the Karaoke

Cooper’s Zine release @ Deluxe Cycles

PEZ

Willow

BLACK LABEL BIKE CLUB

The Ace Bar

Pre-race jitters @ the Ace

OG’s

The line for Registration @ Tompkins Sq Park

The Colombos

Podium
1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th

shut up n roll

WTF podium announcement

WTF Podium hype

all the way from Barcelona!

a few words from Brandon Lockfoot and a Moment of silence for BMX Dave

5th place Goat trackbike prize

Victor announcing men’s podium and awarding chris with the winners challace

Re-Load Prize Bag

Chas Christiansen and Matt Reyes

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A few weeks back, we brought Matt and Chas out to the green hills to shoot a new video. While Martin is chopping down hours of selects, we thought it would be fun to share a clip on Matt’s Birthday. Happy Birthday Shredder!

RAINIER SCHAEFER

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When you visit with Rainier, the emits a sense of calm. He is thoughtful, and does not speak to fill in the gaps of silence. Watching him on the bike you can see those moments of peace, but it is the power he puts down on the pedals that motivates us to this day. We have traveled the world together racing bikes, but going to Yosemite to shoot him descending Tioga Pass is something we will never forget. He was truly in his element there and our cameras witnessed it first hand. Take a moment to also watch him share how he fell in love with the track bike, as he prepares his meals for the week.

MASH FOR JANDD

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Jandd is a timeless outdoor brand based In San Diego. For decades, they have produced intelligent bags that are designed to last. We have admired them forever and feel lucky to be able to collaborate with them for the first time. The first piece we designed is a new bag for Jandd and MASH. The bike travel bag. Available in Black, Navy, or Olive. (shown)

After years of flying with bikes, we have evolved the bike travel bag in a direction that fits us. The goal was to create a bag small enough to avoid oversize bag fees at the airport, to be light weight, and for your bike and components to stay protected. The bag is lined with a thin lightweight padding to protect the bike on all sides.  This is the bag we have wanted for a decade, and we feel lucky to have created it with a historic outdoor brand like Jandd. It will fit most all sizes of road, cyclocross, and urban bikes. Not ideal for touring or mtb bikes.

 The bag size is: 32 X 26 X 7inBackpack straps tuck away completely so they do not get hung up when flying. A shoulder strap and top handle allow for several carrying positions through the airport or train station.The inside walls of the bag host offset wheel compartments with reinforced liners to protect from axles pushing through. There are also 2 large pockets inside to carry large and small components. We had fun creating a new multi-color theme for the Jandd X-Small hip pack. It fits enough of the essentials for a long day on the trails. They have 1.5″ waist belts, dual zipper heads on a storm-flapped, heavy-duty zipper, and a flat storage pocket on top. Time-tested banana shape that started the fanny pack phenomenon almost two decades ago.

Volume: 161 ci/ 2.6 ltr

Weight: 6.4 oz/ 180 g
Dimensions: 3.5 x 12 x 3.5 (in)
9 x 30 x 9 (cm)
Material: Dupont Cordura

Also works as a small sling bag, for a camera, phone, bottle, etc. 

The Jandd Small Saddle Bag is lean and light enough while still capable of stuffing a large tube, tool, and a snack. The multi-panel bag is Gray-Navy-Black, with a vertical zipper, and reflective trim.

Reflective finishing tape adds an added level of saftey on early mornings and late nights out. All three bags are available in our shop and on our site. Check in!

REFLECTION: Chas Christiansen for MASH

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REFLECTION: Chas Christiansen for MASH from MASH TRANSIT PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

As artists, we look for tools that allow us to create looks in the recording of light that continue to celebrate bikes and their riders. This new project is an experiment in polarizing reflective light. With support from Apple, we wanted to shoot a video with equipment that is accessible to a large population of the modern world. The best camera you own is the one you have with you, and the smart phone is in your pocket day after day. We used two ExoLens Zeiss wide angle lenses and one B+W circular polarizer mounted to a Movi M5 gimbal. We recorded through the MoviePro app to create a camera rig that shoots duplicate images, with one camera recording all reflectivity, and the second camera, with the polarizer, blocking all the reflective light in the
scene. By editing between the two recordings, we created an effect that feels like the cyclist is powering his bike and clothing through the energy he puts into his pedals.

REFLECTION: MASH Behind the Scenes from MASH TRANSIT PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

BONUS FEATURES SCREENING SF +

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Come out Thursday night! Rain or shine. Alleycat + Screening. Will be a good time!

MASH X BOREAS 2017

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2017 brings new collaborations with local bag maker Boreas. We have 3 new designs, including updated features on the 50L race day bag. This bag has proven itself over the past four years, quickly becoming the go to travel bag for the team. This season we added a roll-out changing matte to the shape. The coated nylon matte is connected inside a sealed pouch inside the bag, and offers a clean dry place for your feet as you change clothes. The race day bag, and 2 additional designs are available in our shop, and at on our site today.