Millions of events, local news, freebies, and flyers, flyers, FLYERS!!!

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of stuff is going on this week with an all-ages YBP fundraiser/alleycat tonight, the big kickoff party for the bike film festival tomorrow evening, the Full Moon Cruise later that night, art shows, after parties, another excellent sounding YBP fundraiser (this one's affiliated with BFF and is 21+), more races, a bike polo tournament, trick comp, gold sprints and that doesn't even include the EIGHT PROGRAMS worth of shorts and feature length films that actually make up the meat of the BFF itself. I've got motherfucking press passes so expect to see me at EVERYTHING! It's gonna be rowdy and I'm gonna be beat by the end of the week, but sweet Jeebus am I looking forward to it.

Speaking of "BEAT", you bike thieving fucks (specifically Christian Bradbury and John Price, but this goes out to ALL Y'ALL bike thieves) should probably stay clear of anything and everything cycling-related in Austin, starting right now and continuing until you die. I know what you look like and lots of other cyclists know you too, so don't expect the red carpet treatment if you show your faces around our events. In case I haven't made it clear enough: Fuck off bike thieves if you don't want to catch a severe beating. I have my serious face on. Test me.

Many of you knew Christie Constante. She was a regular on the rides around town, a commuter cyclist (she never owned a car), and was a good friend to many of y'all. Unfortunately, last year she was diagnosed with cancer and after a short but spirited fight, succumbed to the illness. Some of her friends and relatives have set up a dedication page on the main Livestrong Action site, so if you knew Christie and she touched your life in some way, please leave your mark.

On top of their regular roadie and womens-only rides, Mellow Johnny's is planning on adding a weekly mountain bike ride to their roster. Keep your eyes peeled for more details as they're made available.

In other bike news, Hill Abel, owner of Bicycle Sport Shop was recently featured in an Austin-American Statesman article about his decades-old role in putting Austin on the national mountain biking map, even though we have no mountains. The article covers Hill's humble beginnings as a 20-something mountain biker, his purchase of a local bike shop about 15 years back (what became Bicycle Sport Shop), and the work he's put in over the years to "legitimize" Austin's various renegade trail systems and better the relationships between bikers and other trail users. He's a great asset to the community, and even though we don't always see eye-to-eye on everything I'm thankful for all the time and effort he's put into bettering his surroundings and making Austin more bikeable for everybody.

I mentioned "freebies" in the title, but that was really just a trap. I'm not giving you anything because I'm a cheap bastard, but the fellas over at A2W want to give you tickets to tomorrow's Bikes Rock show. Their deadline for the contest is in a little over 2 hours, so if you miss it but still REALLY want to go, the Austin Chronicle is also giving away tickets to the event. They put you on their "Chrontourage" mailing list even if you don't win, but whatever, just spamfilter those mofos.

On to the flyers! As y'all know, oftentimes the sponsors/locations/details of the events can change up to the last minute. To reflect this, a couple of the BFF events have some brand spanking new flyers associated with them. Check it (click the flyer for links to the events):

There you go, I'm spent. Now y'all other blogs have something locally-oriented to post. There was something else I wanted to mention but I've completely forgotten what it was. Expect an update later this afternoon if it comes to me.