CROSS VEGAS WORLD CUP CX 2016

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Another summer is brought to a close, and for West Coast Cyclocross, we see Cross Vegas as the kickoff for the race season. The event has grown over the years, becoming the staple for the bike industry on a Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The UCI World Cup took it to another level, with pros traveling from around the world to get in on the action. Our shop team races at the USAC level (more on those races in a future post) and as fans of the sport, we love being able to see an event of this magnitude piggyback an industry event, Interbike. For a few decades of my life I worked as a “professional” photographer. It was my career and I have spoken about how the art process that I fell in love with was then tarnished when it became a job. MASH saved me in that way. Just shooting what/when I wanted, and sharing with a community that I am really stoked to be a part of. I don’t get a press pass at these events and wander as I please, oftentimes getting yelled at along the way. This is fun to me, and because I’m happy, I enjoy shooting photos of shit that I am way into. I did not get the name of the shooter pictured above, seeing him, with his 12 shot rolls, and waistlevel finder got me stoked. It’s bike racing, what’s the hurry? Enclosed are some photos of the Women’s and Men’s UCI races for the night.
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2T1A2106The call ups included many national champions from Europe.2T1A2113
Ellen Noble (USA) in the Rapha kit would later pull on the under-23 women leader’s jersey.2T1A2123
No doping. No handups.2T1A2121
Powerbraid by the night’s Elite women winner, Sophie De Boer.2T1A2133
The intensity during staging is incredible.2T1A2144
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Would anyone ride the long uphill sand?2T1A2196
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The American women are contenders in this Euro-dominated discipline. Katie Compton is a big reason why and finished third.2T1A2343
Broadcast (or more likely streaming) live worldwide.2T1A2311
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Laurens Sweeck has a rep for pushing the pace early but not quite to the end. In this race he finished on the podium.2T1A2554
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Cross Vegas started as a nighttime alternative to gambling, strips clubs and bars during Interbike. After a string of successful events it was upgraded to World Cup status. Putting the US on the muddy cyclocross map, even though its in the middle of the desert.2T1A2749_1
The world champ made his move in the sand and left the pack in his cloud.2T1A2765
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22 and still growing.2T1A2508
Jpow finished sixth at last year’s event, the highest USA World Cup finish ever.2T1A2770
This year he was the top placing American at 18th.2T1A2795
After stumbling on the stairs, breaking his toe, chasing back and winning solo. Cross is here!2T1A2775“McTubbin” Tobin Ortenblad is someone we’ve raced with in NorCal for years. So stoked to see him riding strong at the highest level.

Words: Mike Martin and Brandon Reif
Photos: Mike Martin

Brandon + Hunter 2015

By running a bike shop, we have a door to our community. Friends visit daily, and we are constantly meeting new faces from around the world. The shop has 2 people that fix bikes, and ship orders. While shooting video, Brandon and Hunter ran the shop together. They became great friends through the shop, music, bikes, photography, travel, and on down the list. Martin and I went to Oakland, and jammed around with Hunter, then met them both at the shop, to do another city loop. We thought this footage was going to go into the friends part, but it ended up being a really fun and sometimes heavy section on it’s own. Enjoy

HIGHWAY 1

It timed out that while Kyle was in town, a section Highway 1 was closed for erosion. This is a dream descent on a road bike, and the guys knew that if they had access to both lanes, they could rip down this section. Martin and I headed out, and shot a few passes as the sun went down, and this edit shows the highlights. There is a ton of dirt on the road from the construction vehicles, but the tires are smoking on their own.

All City Championships 11

All City Championships in its 11th year is the bread and butter of the Minneapolis alleycats. This year the championships were scored as an omnium. There was four days of events – Sk Afterdark, Bandit Cx, Match Sprints, and the Main alleycat. Minneapolis gets down in all the right ways during the summer and Jeff Frane does a fantastic job putting together this event. I Took home first out of town which freakin’ rules because last time I came to this event i ended up in the hospital. Thanks for all the love, brunch, and hospitality. Stay Spicy my friends. – Sean

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FRIENDS

Over the years of shooting videos, there were several friends we would run into while in the streets. We compiled these vignettes into an edit of friends. We love when riders visit from out of town, state or out of the country in a few cases. Hit us up! Let’s get out and shoot.

MASH 2015 Matt Shapiro

Matt Shapiro is another one of the Portland crew that moved to SF to further explore art and cycling. His positive outlook inspired us to want to get out and shoot with him on the bike, and what we received was a really unique look of the city, and the way Matt interacts with it. Enjoy.

Kosuke Masuda

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We met Kosuke Masuda – or simply, Ko – in 2006 during an art show in Tokyo. Ko engages in multiple art mediums, from painting, to engraving, to writing. He is a Buddhist monk and his personal philosophy is apparent in his work.

Enclosed are a few photographs of his work. The details are mind blowing.

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We recently sent Ko our Cinelli MASH drop bars and stem. Ko hand engraved them with a dremel and the results are jaw dropping. The bars, stem and top cap were supposed to be it, but a black anodized Campagnolo record pista track crank set and chain ring seemed like a must. Would be nice to build a complete bike with him one day!

ko_03I highly recommend checking out Ko’s website as well. His intention with his artwork is so advanced. It can be easy to get caught up with the modern busy life, but I could sit with these pieces for hours, continuing to find new hidden details. Honored to have them here on display at our shop.ko_02 ko_04ko_08 ko_07 ko_09 ko_10

  • Photos: Martin Bustamante