play it faster

2011-12-13T13:06:00.003-06:00

2011-08-29T00:55:00.002-05:00

2011-07-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

I got this new (to me) 02 Subaru WRX bugeye recently, it has alot of miles on it, but it was obviously purchased by a grandmother (look at that yellow) and driven gingerly around Denver. All 4 corners are in good shape as far a stock spring/ stock strut, so i'm thinking that will be pretty good with good shoes. Turbo spools fine, I don't think there are any leaks. I'm probably putting down around 190whp.

With money and love over time, i'm hoping to get above stock, somewhere to like 235whp, I want the engine to last, and you don't need anything crazy to do well, maybe to win, but to compete, you just have to know how to race.

Underhood.
Planned: Short ram intake,
larger boost solenoid connection for better boost response,
an on-the-cheap intercooler mister(Just simple electrical and windhsheild washer hoses, there is already another pump in the windsheild washer reservoir, and a little wiring, washer pneumatic line, some plant misting nozzles from home depot, and a check valve, and I will have a functioning intercooler mister, stock switch and everything. I need to drill holes in the stock air scoop splitter, but I will be super stealth and it should look stock or at least professional.

Also would like to snag an STI intercooler far in the future maybe.

If I do well in A Class for a couple years, maybe I will spend some money on the engine and turbo and go for C Class. Also an SCCA rally is $35, a skateboard race is $2-300. F that.

Anyways, follow my progress, I'll make sure you don't forget I'm doing this.

2011-05-20T01:25:00.001-05:00

2011-05-16T22:12:00.002-05:00

2011-05-15T04:52:00.001-05:00

rolling face.

2011-05-14T11:31:00.001-05:00

2011-05-14T00:41:00.001-05:00

The Future

2011-03-28T21:03:00.000-05:00

It is the year 2017.
Facebook has been made illegal. Millions of addicted users carry their photos around with them, meeting in back alleys and dark basements, asking each other, "DO YOU LIKE THIS? DO YOU? DO YOU?"

2011-02-16T05:25:00.000-06:00

I Wrote a Book.

2010-08-22T17:21:00.001-05:00

I wrote a book about modern furniture design. It's totally rad. I ran the event which was a 1 week design charette re: modern furniture design, methods, and materials. The book includes diagrams, schematics, process photos, and finished photos. The designs range from stupidly simple yet awesome to incredibly complex and expensive ( 20+ CNC milled Baltic Birch pieces anyone?)

It's not that expensive, and it's available on LULU also for a significant discount. It is also available as a digital download for only like $10.

For the project, we worked with Eldorado Architects from Kansas City which is an awesome design-build firm.

Subaru XT-6

2010-08-22T05:29:00.000-05:00

I spotted this Subaru XT-6 north of Seattle and I just had to take pictures. Such a radical 80's car. It looks like a spaceship, and has crazy technology embedded in its interior like holographic 3-D dynamic displays, racing seats, and self-adjusting ride height

Here are the specs (from Wikipedia)

2.7 Liter boxer @ 145 Hp to the wheels

Massive 160 ft-lbs of torque

Full time 4 wheels drive

Dynamic height control which varied with speed

Tucked in Fold-Up Headlights, Tucked in Wiper blade

Front air dam and Spoiler

About the interior:

The standard tilting-telescoping steering moved the instrument panel to keep it lined up with the steering column when tilting. The shifter was joystick-shaped and had a thumb trigger interlock and "on-demand" four-wheel drive button. Turbo models featured a sort of artificial horizon orange backlit liquid crystal instrument display with the tach, boost indicator, temperature and fuel gauges seen as three-dimensional graphs tilting back out to the horizon.

The XT was loaded with features rarely found on small cars, such as a turbo, a computer-controlled engine management and transmission, adjustable height suspension and an optional digital instrument cluster. The XT also had some features found on few other cars, such as an electronic in-dash trip, retractable flaps covering the door handles, and a single wiper blade for the entire windscreen. Pass-through folding rear seats and racing style front seats were standard equipment.

thought it was important to share this piece of awesomeness, a rarely seen and under appreciated car- one of the most aerodynamic designs of all time, and to top it off, it looks like a fuckin spaceship!!!

LettuceFresh Longboards Racing Skateboard

2010-08-20T03:52:00.002-05:00

Blast from the Past!!!!

Here is the infamous LettuceFresh downhill race board, designed by yours truly, tested at Danger Bay, Paskapoo, Maryhill, and taken above 70mph in RIST canyon. The master of Lookout Mountain, slayer of drop boards, drop through boards, it will fucking drop you.

It owes a great debt to WeFunk skateboards, Alex is a genius and amazing board builder. He also worked on composite engineering and production the Toyota F1 race team.The rest is classified.

This has alot in common with advanced racing skateboards.

Anyways I ran this as a company for a couple years in high school. It was a cool way to pay for my race boards and my travel expenses to go race. In one year (2007), I did only 3 IGSA events, yet finished 117 in the world out of over 500 skaters listed. I wish I could have kept skating and building, but there comes a point where school and a real career (architecture for me) become important.

White Line FEVER!!!! I'm going so faaaaaaaaaaast. Haha. check that shit out though.


Danger bay 666

Lookout Mountain - My old stomping grounds.
check it, 2 sets of 3 and 4 hairpin turns respectively, over 15 turns (not counting hairpins)
and 1 gnarly ass 180+ degree hairpin at the bottom that you're going 50 mph into.
If you skate my hill, respect it.

Leader 722TS review

2010-08-19T03:29:00.005-05:00

I have been riding this Leader frame for about a year and I think I can give a good review of it at this point. Leader Bikes made a huge mistake in their 721 by fucking up the rear triangle so that you couldn't slam a 23c tire on a 700c rim into the dropouts without it rubbing on the seat-tube. Big, big mistake. So with that basically destroying their reputation they are trying to slowly get back to being a respectable company.

The 722 is their steel Pista offering - Kawasaki Double Butted CroMoly Teardrop thin pulled tubing. It is a gorgeous bicycle, mine is the black gloss powdercoat version with Tange steel fork. It has tight geometry, and unlike previous models has a perfect rear triangle, allowing up to a 28c tire to be slammed in the drops without hitting the seat-tube. Like all Leaders, it has a long top-tube, allowing you to ride a size smaller frame than you would for road while retaining an aerodynamic position and good placement over your crankarms for efficient power transfer. I am clocking in at about 190 lbs there days and there is no flex whatsoever in the frame, be it in the BB cluster, the head-tube, or the chainstays.

The powdercoat finish has held up extremely well (this is my street bike, not my track bike) to the rigors of daily riding, and I have yet to see any rust marring the several scratches on the frame I have acquired. Aesthetically speaking, the bike is very pleasing with clean lines, very nice welds, and a good, classic track appearance. Although the tubing looks classic and round, it isn't, it is the teardrop aerodynamic Kawasaki tubeset, very high quality. The dropouts are gorgeous, built with a very nice filigree consisting of thin, yet strong tubing and dropouts which looks as light as air, yet are extremely strong.

I bought this bike as my Urban Commuter, something steel which could be dedicated to totally mashing through the streets, off curbs, through traffic, and of course, stopping safely at stop signs. This bike has been down 9+stair drops as well as 4-5 foot ledges, huge banks and wallrides, down ledges with pedal grinds. This is a great deal as i picked it up with a fork for just a bit over $350.

I built this bike up as a commuting/ trick machine. I just really like being able to cruise the city at normal to fast speeds (unlike with a BMX) then stop and hit features when you come across them. It's a never ending scavenger hunt for sweet spots; and the really awesome ones, well, you remember those and come back to them time and time again. I ordered the black frame with a murdered-out build in mind and it has turned out as just that, except with the blinged out gold rear hoop (which is sometimes replaced by a black B43) and the brake (which comes and goes depending on what kind of riding i'm doing) It won't barspin, but I'm not too into doing those kind of slow tricks anyways - I'm much more into gaps, stairs, and blasting airs off everything I can find. So far, jumping this across a channel on a bank formed by a stairset has been the most fun I have had!!!

Although I don't normally like doing this, here is the build list:

Leader 53cm 722TS
Tange steel fork
Tange Ultraglide Threadless Headset
Bontrager MTB stem 90mm with 10* rise
Leader Cromoly Riser bars
Sun BMX grips
Origin8 Dual Pivot Front brake
Origin8 Cross Lever
Leader Aluminum Seatpost
Terry Fly TI Saddle
Integrated Chain Tensioners
Front Velocity B43 to low flange Araya hub / or Weinmann LP18 to High-Flange Formula
Rear Weinmann Deep-V in Gold, laced to rear Fixed/Free Formula with 17t Formula / or Velocity B43 to High-Flange Araya Hub fixed/ free with 16t Dura-Ace Freewheel and Cog
Continental Gatorskin Ultra 28c tires
Andel 165mm Forged Crankset 140BCD
Andel Cro-Mo 46T Chainring w/ TI Spider bolts
MKS Full-link Track Chain
Wellgo Magnesium BMX Pedals
Hold Fast Straps

Overall, a great Build. It is worth noting that I broke 2 cranksets on this bike. The first was a Sugino RD which I ripped the chainring in half when I was trying to skid stop - when it broke it took several of the spider arms with it, just straight up sheared the forged aluminum off. The second was the origin8 knockoff of the Sugino RD and the crank is fine, but i tore the chainring off and literally bent it in half. This one happened as I was accelerating from a stop into a sprint start. This Andel crankset has been bombproof, I love it, and the chainring is CNC'd - a thick, burly, solid ring which you can easily do stalls on, let alone not worry about it breaking. Ever. No matter what you do to it.

This bike had 46x16 gearing for a long time and I just went to 46x17 for the extra hill climbing ability since I am on vacation in a hilly place and could only take one bike, so why not make it the most simple yet high quality bike I own? Plus I can still descend quickly - spin to win!!!!!

Big thanks to Leader for excellent customer service. 5115 bikes in New Orleans for being the best damn bike shop in NOLA, and Mike's Bikes, oh and Bayou Bicycles, great shop also. Go out and Ride!!!!!!

Velo Orange Stems

2010-08-18T19:45:00.001-05:00


Image from Velo Orange Blog

Check these stems out for your classic bikes with threaded forks that take quill stems. Absolutely gorgeous, and from Velo Orange, one of my favorite online manufacturers. These look great, can't wait to nab one to replace my Sakae custom on my older Schwinn roadie.

Sketches of (sketchy) Travels

2010-08-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

View from a tucked-away wine bar run by a French ex-pat and his Ecuadorian wife.

Gorgeous courtyard in a century old mansion.

Chapel of a Cathedral in northern Peru

Courtyard in a Convent.


Courtyard in a Convent

The Ruins of the original fortifications of Panama City.


View from Casco Viejo back toward modern Panama City

These are some mixed media works I've been meaning to scan in since I got back from South America.

Fun times, sketchy places, cool people.

Leader 725 TR with Carbon Track Fork. Track only, not tarck.

2010-02-26T03:46:00.006-06:00

My Leader 725TR.

It's track, not tark,
Weinmann DP18's laced to formula fixed/fixed hub
Formula cog-set.
I have 15 and 13 tooth on there now, dropouts are perfect size to accommodate two different cogs in back separated by 2 teeth.
MKS tensioners for Aluminium Frames. (One already broke- I'm not a huge fan of these, they aren't too burly)
Sugino Messenger w/ 46T chainring (yeah i know i'm starting to get some color coordination, but the shit costs the same, might as well floss it)
Leader Carbon 33 Rake fork.
FSA zero-stack headset
Velo-Orange Stem
Leader Keirin Drop bars.
Sella San Marco Saddle - Regal NOS
FSA Track chain, candy coated.
MKS Track Pedals w/ chrome clips and single straps.
CST Super HP Skins (160 PSI Clinchers!!!!)

This bike is super nice. Thanks to 5115 Bikes
and Mike at Mike's Bikes.

After a couple months fine-tuning this, I'm super happy with it. I went with Alloy components instead of carbon and the difference is noticeable, much stiffer, and killer in sprints. I am considering selling the crankset and replacing it with an Andel, like the one I recently got for my Leader 722 trick bike, They seems stronger and just as well made. The frame itself is nice for Aluminum - super light (DUH!), but with a livelier feel than other Alum frames I've ridden.
Leader's carbon fork is super rigid and responsive, and super damp, which is nice on the hands/ back.
I've been taking this our in the mornings, alternating with my Roadie, which i'll have to post up next. Sadly, BREC veledrome is still closed for resurfacing, so i'm stuck riding this beautiful machine in 2 mile ovals at Audubon Park, which ain't too bad, especially when they're 3:30 laps.

2010-02-09T17:11:00.002-06:00

UrbanBuild work is online with a new website. House #4 is ours.

Dutch Dialogues Studio

2010-02-09T17:03:00.004-06:00

Work is online from The 2009 Dutch Dialogues extension Studio that Tulane University ran.

My project was a station for high-speed commuter rail which will connect the 5 major metropolitan parishes in New Orleans by 2020

Downhill Skateboarding

2009-10-19T18:06:00.004-05:00

Those are from Maryhill 2006, right before DH blew up and all these damn kids started doing it.

Lookout Mountain, Golden, Colorado (Home to Coors Brewery) Fucking raddest hill ever.
Enough Said.
I think it's been cranked up to 78 on the same hill. fuckin FAST. once you get past 60, it's all the same, your just floating.

Here's some super old to slightly recent pictures of my time doing professional Downhill Skating.
Fuckin Gnar.
Check out the GPS watch at 70.0 mph.

2009-08-24T23:54:00.000-05:00

Staying on the beach in northern Peru.

Coricancha Pyramids in Central Ecuador

2009-08-24T10:52:00.003-05:00

These were some large earthen pyramids at archeological site we were exploring.
It was foggy and a bit chilly, but there were llamas everywhere chillin with us.
I found a bunch of mushroooms growing in some llama poop.

This is some of the art which ensued.

A Legend....

2009-08-21T15:19:00.003-05:00

Credit where credit's due.

Rob McKendry III is the gnar-raddest dude on the planet, and he just left Colorado for New York. I've been skating downhill with him for like 8 years, and he's been skatin longer than i've been alive.
Fast, infamous, and a great friend
This guy's more hardcore than you ever wish you could be.
Good luck Rob.
follow him at His Blog on NCDSA.

Welcome to my blahg.

2009-08-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

This blog will cover art, architecture, music, gnar shit on bikes, skate, snow, fast cars and women, and anything else I fuckin feel like.