About the shirts:
Printed by Escape Tees/Handlebar Mustache in Boulder, CO and designed by Aaron Edge in Portland, OR.

Aaron was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis so his work has been limited and his bills are never-ending. $5 from every shirt is going to him to help with his bills!

Slim cut, 100% Fine Jersey cotton construction. Durable rib neckband. The softest, smoothest, best-looking T-shirt you’ll find. Garments are constructed and printed in the U.S.A.

aaronedge.com
escape-tees.com

mothattack.bigcartel.com

My favorite photos so far have come from Prolly is Not Probably and Urban Velo. I saw the official NAHBS photos as they were being taken, but they aren’t yet on the internet.

Photo by Prolly is Not Probably

John Watson always does a great job covering events. I often look to him to follow events I attend because I never get to see everything I want to.
Prolly is Not Probably Moth Attack Track Bike

Photo by Urban Velo

I looooove the photos from Urban Velo. I’ve linked to the website before as I was included in an article that accompanied a short film I was a part of in 2010. This time Brad managed to get some of the best lit shots of the show in front of the women’s bathroom. It only took one try to get this super mean photo of me.

Urban Velo’s Moth Attack photos are sandwiched between 611 and Naked

Last but certainly not least, new kits are available through Voler! I love working with them and they make it easier every year. The quality is great and the prices are totally reasonable. The order closes on MARCH 18th, so don’t wait!
Moth Attack kits

ss Jersey

All of the images can be found on the Moth Attack Facebook Page.

Now Interbike has come and gone and I couldn’t be more relieved. It’s a beast I love and hate, but this year was better than ever. We officially unveiled the Ritte Racing x Moth Attack track bike all dressed up in it’s shiny new paint and brand new parts. To say it was an attention hog would be an understatement. I actually had my new friends from Handlebar Moustache drag me across the show floor to see the bike in person.

Photo from lovelybicycle.com

Some other folks who actually seem to like blogging wrote posts about the show here:

All Hail the Black Market -Stevil even managed to get a photo of me. Drinking coffee in a bar.
Prolly is not Probably – Stoked to have finally met John. We have lots of friends in common and as far as I can tell, spends all of his time on Twitter. Possibly even while riding.
Lovely Bicycle An avid cyclist and blogger from Boston.

Plans to ride the Furnace Creek 508 were foiled this year, but I’ll be out there for support and to watch a friend finish the race on his new custom fixed gear road frame.

Have I ever mentioned that Iove S&S Couplers? We took a ‘vacation’ this year where I spent 4 days being a nerd with Eric Baar of Ground Up Designs. He started teaching me how to TIG weld, so I’ll be spending my winter trying to get control of that and maybe build myself a new road bike cause we all know the last thing I need is another track bike.

I’m headed to Austin at the end of February for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Originally, I had intended to just attend and wander the show for the weekend, but I’m not eligible as a new builder next year, so I felt like I should take advantage of the new builder tables now. I’m already overwhelmed with the thought of the show, but it’ll be fun if Austin is half the town I’ve been promised!

I’ve also started using my twitter account a bit more. Still not super tweet-savy, but I’m catching up with the technology. I’m trying to keep the dog and cat talk to a minimum. Moth Attack Twitter

Added some photos to the gallery as well. I know it only shows 6 at a time, just refresh it for now!

We (Swarm!) had 9 racers at the 508 this year. Our 4x mixed, Emperor Tamarin, a 2x men’s team with former Bonobo’s Max and Brian, Godwit, a 2x mixed team of JLaw and Cara Gillis, and Matt! riding solo for the 3rd year in a row. Matt bet us that we wouldn’t close the 2 hour gap on him, and if he had been as fit as last year, I don’t think we would have caught him. I couldn’t resist the $80 bet even though I knew we would be potentially cutting it close. We passed Matt coming out of Shoshone. I guess he slept while I was still pedaling along, so the hour gap he had going in to it was totally blown.

And because I’m a frame builder, you need new photos of new bikes. This is my first bike out of state (Philly)! Matt has already taken it to Atlanta to race and hangout at the North American Cycle Courier Championships and is sending me updates almost weekly. I love it. He had a friend paint it locally, so more detailed photos to come when he can get them to me. My own camera charger cord is missing somewhere, so I can’t upload any photos from it currently.

Urban Velo printed a story, written by Eric, based on the film. The direct link to the page featuring Moth Attack here. You can click through the whole issue online. I’ve always kinda liked Urban Velo, so it’s cool to unexpectedly be in a feature!

Just in case you’ve never seen it (his year I’ll be at the 508 on a road bike)…

The ride itself made the weeks of working 14 hr days totally worth it. We arrived after the kick-off Friday morning ride just in time for pizza and hanging out with the events participants. I was quickly introduced to Jacquie Phelan who proceeded to write my name in sharpie on my neck so she could remember it. There were some people I knew already from previous Adventure Corps events, and a lot of folks I didn’t know and Jacquie was just one of many mountain biking legends in attendance that weekend. The rides all left from Tam Bikes in Mill Valley. A really cute shop in what appears to be the main drag of cool, small businesses. We stayed in San Francisco with friends because we’re too cheap to pay for hotels more often than at 508. The choice to stay 20 miles away was a bit of a problem the next morning when we turned up late to the pre-ride coffee and bagels portion of the day. We ended up not being the only ones to have issues getting moving quickly, and eventually set off with Adventure Corps regulars Mike and Donna and our personal Marin County resident tour guide, Jacquie Phelan. We thought we’d catch up to the riders, and we probably would have if we hadn’t taken a fairly long break to enjoy the West Point Inn on Mt Tam. Jacquie is a member, so we got a full tour. We decided we should probably ride up there and stay overnight sometime to fully enjoy the view.

View from the West Point inn.

The entire route on Saturday was an epic 36 miles that somehow took us 6 hours. It may have been the 6000ft of climbing. Or the overall group tendency to stop and take pictures. Maybe we rode slower than we thought we did? I’m leaning toward blaming the climbing though. There were some definite sections where my 8spd Internally Geared hub just wasn’t geared low enough and I ran faster up the hills. I crashed myself once just going too fast downhill through a turn. It was a great first ride for a brand new bike. The top tube was later branded by Jacquie and her Sharpie. Super funny, and I kinda don’t want to paint over it.

We had dinner, and some awesome guest speakers after Saturday’s ride. There was also a ‘Best Bike’ award from the ride. Not surprisingly, Sean Rawland’s bike took top honors with my own coming in second. I couldn’t really complain seeing as it was unfinished and kind of a weird bike. I made the internally geared hub’s cables run inside the whole frame, so it’s been mistaken as a single speed many times.

Next time, I’d probably opt for staying in Mill Valley. Driving and riding back and forth to the city proved to be time consuming and meant we missed out on some of the fun. I’d also hope to start the bikes sooner, but some things are out of my control in that department.

Now for picture time!

Dirt:

Belt Drive:

Jerseys (okay, skinsuit, but it makes it easier to show all of it):

The jerseys arrived just after we returned from Rough Riders. I have been super happy with the quality and the turnout for them. Distribution has been totally exciting and totally worth it. I’m looking forward to doing a second order now that everyone realizes they totally missed out the first time. email me if you don’t want to be left out this time! mothattack@gmail.com

Internal routing mania!!

You could be like this guy! Anthony won the masters omnium at Encino during ‘A Fist Full of Handlebars.’ Congratulations and thanks for making my frame look cool!

photo by Pat Benson