photo via Takuya/New York Bike Dreams

As the Boston producers of the BFF, we wanted to make sure we caught all the meetings and got a sense of how Brendt Barbur and the NYC team put on a show.  We headed down Thursday eve to catch the end of the Producer’s Dinner AKA vegan Chinese food fight at the 88 Palace in Chinatown.  Somewhere around 4am, we  settled into our luxurious accommodations at the BFF’s Chelsea office floor after a late-night snack.

Friday saw us scrambling to get all the pieces  in order for Goldsprints at Clemente Solo Vélez on the Lower East Side.  Jamie, Mando, Jon, Jeremy, Vic and the boys at Affinity helped a ton as we worked to get all the bugs in the new Sprints software worked out- the races started a bit late and ran into the wee hours with Prolly MC’ing and the NYC kids tearing up the rollers on the custom Quiros Frames sprint bikes.

A beautiful Manhattan afternoon was in store for us at the BFF Street Fair on Saturday.  We passed the day hanging out with the crowd, seeing old and new friends, and watching people rock the ramps and street course.

Finkle from I Love my Bike Book.

Maurice and Abe from Outlier

Victor sez: "Don't take my pic, bro!"

Jeff from Continuum Cycles repping OPEN

Prolly making fun of Marty's moustache.

Following the fair, I caught the new Lucas Brunelle / Benny Zenga helmetcam / documentary mashup, Line of Sight:

It was a miracle that no one was creamed by a taxi after riding away from the screening- Brunelle’s films always get the crowd psyched to mash through the city.

Sunday was the hotly-anticipated premier of Empire.

Empire Premiere at Bicycle Film Festival 2010 NYC from Empire on Vimeo.

Over two years in the making, Empire was 45 minutes of some of the most exciting and well-shot & edited riding I’ve ever seen.  Luke and Crihs claim that the film isn’t at the final edit yet, but in my opinion, the version the sold-out screening saw this last weekend was superlatively done.

After missing the last bus back to Boston, I not-so-resignedly made my way across the Williamsburg Bridge to the East River Bar for the last BFF afterparty.  A relatively quiet evening was followed by an awesome ride back over the bridge and into Harlem to crash at Jeff from Continuum Cycles‘ sweet apartment.  After two nights of sleeping on Willis’ floor, the couch uptown was amazing.

Jeff made coffee in the morning and we rode down into the Village to check in on Fritz and the other boys at CC.

Waiting in line for the bus (finally) later on that day, I ran into Matt from Budd Bike Works.  We absconded to Noho for a couple quick drinks and I finally made my way out of the city and back to Boston.  Big thanks to Mando, Jamie, Jeremy, and Jon-Boy for all the transport and help, Willis for letting me crash on his floor, Victor for everything, and Jeff for the awesome accommodations and tour-guide service.

We’ve been hustling along all week getting ready for the Bicycle Film Festival’s 10th year anniversary in NYC- we’ll be running GoldSprints on Friday night and be in attendance at the Street Fair on Saturday.

The shop will be closed those days- come join us in New York and find us when we re-open on Sunday!

Sean Milnes- FlipCam Edit from sean milnes on Vimeo.

Riding it dirty down in New Haven, Sean just dropped this lo-fi edit on the All-City blog.  The ledge jump near the end almost knocked me over- big ups to Sean, keeping it real…

Filming Myself #3 from Paper Fortress on Vimeo.

Our good friend (and my new roomie) Stebs just released another BMX self-portrait.  Ever-capable of connoting those often indescribable notes and colors and subtle feelings of space with his medium, Stebs documents his determination and finesse around the neighborhood.  Check out the Paper Fortress website for more….

Filming Myself in the Snow from Quarter Productions on Vimeo.

The mastermind behind Quarter Productions was out filming himself on his BMX bike during the snowfall today. A few short hours later, a brand new video appears.

You can find him at: iloveqp.com

Boston Bike Polo from Boston Bike Polo on Vimeo.

The latest ride video by Quarter Productions features Open Bicycle’s first team rider, Sean Milnes, showcasing his talent on the streets of Boston. Hailing from New Haven, CT, Sean definitely rides with style — Mind the gap!

More info on BFF Boston:

The official page

The Twitter page

The Facebook page

The Volunteer form:

One of Open Bicycle’s family friends, videographer and director — Stebs, (a.k.a. Steve Schinnerer) of Quarter Productions — recently published a hot new BMX video on Vimeo.

It is filmed, edited and ridden completely by this creative youngblood. We could be on the early rise of the next Spike Jonze. Stay tuned for more from this young upstart.

Last Saturday, we good folk here at Open were granted the pleasure of producing the screenings and events for the Boston appearance of the ever-growing Bicycle Film Festival.  The fest hits Beantown on what will hopefully be a clement fall weekend with a slew of events, parties, sociable gatherings, and of course, evocative films featuring bicycles and the people who love them.  Details are still getting locked down- we’ll be posting things here as they become more concrete- check in often and follow us on Twitter and Facebook!