The precursor to fall was an exciting and busy time for us. We celebrated our 1 year birthday by throwing an Alley Cat Ride for cyclists to explore Chicago and hunt for some meaningful places to the Racketeers. A few of the Greasy Gears from Madison, WI even came down to join in the fun with some of their local friends. Ladies, you rock! Greasy, greasy, gears, gears!!! 
The ride and after party was a great success; we owe so much of it to you, our sponsors, everyone who helped out behind the scenes, and at the event.  We cannot express our gratitude to everyone enough. We feel so loved and supported by those who participated in the ride and attended our after party. Thank you from the bottom of our red and white hearts.
We had some really great "Racketeer inspired outfits" in the crowd, just can't get enough Red and White. Riders your enthusiasm was through the roof and we enjoyed performing our new routine for you.
If you have not had the pleasure of seeing the results of the ride or fun pictures please click here.

We also had the pleasure of participating and enjoying Bike Fall benefiting West Town Bikes. The weather was perfect for everyone to play outside and enjoy everything bikes. Check out the video below.
Thank you to Susan Hayes for sharing this great video of us.  We'll show it off to everyone! :)

The rest of the month was well needed rest time for us and we'll start practices back up in the middle of November, right before the snow falls.

Hey ya'll! It has been one maddening summer. We have been spending the season camping, going out of town, RAGBRAI and watching each other get married (actually, just Bruiser). We've barely been able to perform. But, the new found chill in the air indicates a new season with all new activites. And one of those many activites we engage in to keep ourselves warm involves jumping around with our bikes in a choreographed manner - a little thing known as bike dance (instead Kool-Aid man saying "OhhhhhhYeeeeeaah" here).  As I said, we have been bombarded with stuff to do this summer (and we're not complaining). But, we bitches haven't known whether we were coming or going. Luckily, we've gotten that under control and now know exactly where we are going:

On September 15, the ladies of Critical Lass are allowing us to crash their all female ride with a performance!  We'll be at the Agazzi school at 7:00! But, you should meet these chicks at the corner of Ashland Division and Milwaukee at 6:30!

Also, on October 8, we will be performing at the legendary Hideout for a West Town Bikes fundraiser.  Come on out and show your love for the bike shop that provides the classes showing you how to "do it".

But, most importantly and not to be missed is the almighty, first annual RIDE THE RACK ALLEY CAT AND AFTER-PARTY! Come celebrate our first birthday on October 1 with an alley cat race and the all important beer swilling after party! There will be various stops throughout the ride. Each one will carry with it some importance to us, whether it be where we first came up with the idea of bringing bike dance to Chicago over beers or where we often practiced over beers. You have heard our chant, no?  There will be some amazing prizes for the fastest bikers and some amazing prizes for the not-so-fastest biker. And guess what! There's cool shit for y'all in between! And hey, if you don't feel like riding, come on out and celebrate with us at the after party! And, maybe we'll even perform...ok, ok, we will!

Love and shit,
Boom Boom

There is no doubt this month - the heat was ON! The soaring temperatures matched our high spirits as we tackled one of our busiest bike dance days. On July 16th, we performed twice in one day and both performances showcased our two newest dancers and tricksters, Minor Threat and Mississippi. The epic day began with an early performance at Tour De Fat. We kick started the festival, building the energy, before a performance by Mucca Pazza and the bike parade through our favorite hoods.  We continued our day volunteering for TdF handing out wristbands, tokens, and tasty New Belgium Brews. As the sun set, our weary heads were far from resting as we prepared for a surprise red-eye performance at Midnight Marauders. The clock read 3:30AM as we kicked, flipped, and bunny hopped the second time that day, while handing out red Jell-O shots for our biking spectators. We thank all who attended both events and showed the Racketeers their support! 

The rest of the month and all of August, we will be taking time off from performing to focus on new creations. Fire hydrants and 360’s here we come!!! This is a great time for anyone who is interested in joining to contacts us and check things out. If you're lucky, you may be able to spot us practicing in our corner parking lot ;) 

Amidst our regular practice schedule, we are hammering out the details for the Racketeers' One Year Birthday Party to be held Saturday, October 1st 2011. We're gearing up to host an Alley Cat and After-party to celebrate and meet new people in the Chicago bicycling community. Stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for details! Also, keep an eye out for Racketeer buttons and handmade bike key chains at our next event.

A HUGE thanks to Alex Wilson and Liz Clarkson at West Town Bikes for their support at Tour de Fat, as well as, Michael Craft and Matt Kowal from New Belgium for giving us the opportunity to perform. It was an honor to shake a tail-feather at such an exciting and publicized event. We look forward to next year's traveling bike festival!

Big hugs and hive fives to our special friends in the MM counsel. You guys are great and the rides are epic!!! Thanks for sharing that with us this month

Thanks y'all! 

Catch you on the flipside,

Mississippi and Red, White, & Cute

Hey Bike Lovers!
June has been a fun month for us and it's not over yet! We've expanded our bike dancing family and perfected some of our routines (including our first born).  We had the pleasure of performing our revisions and our favorites (Bad Romance) a couple weekends ago, before the WNBR, at Schubas Bike Bash! Our newbie, Mississippi, did a cameo debuting in Stray Cat Strut. See below to catch how darling and awesome she is!
July is going to be a quiet month for us. We all love biking and the outdoors so much that quite a few of the ladies will be out on great adventures. Don't be sad though, look for us on July 16th. Tour De Fat during the day time hours! We'll keep you on your toes by not disclosing our 'sneak attack' location in the midnight hours. Look forward to seeing all the members in action together and the debut of our newest dancycler, Minor Threat.
'Til next month!

As part of the ever growing Chicago bike movement, I want to take a moment say I'm amazed with the generosity and creativity of y'all! Today a random biker named James (bonus points if you tell us your real name!) sent us the most adorable video of Critical Mass routine pics. Totally unnecessary and extremely thoughtful - thanks, James!

This is in addition to the multitude of good hearted and natured activities our bike friends do. The upcoming Memorial Day Bike Wash (bonus points if you get dirty beforehand!) and the TYK calendar are two great examples of bike-themed initiatives for charity. 

I'm tearing up just thinking of the big hearts you all have in the city of big shoulders. Keep spreadin' the lovin' - We love you all!

Laters,
Bruiser