KickBall News! Free Beer!!!

I just got this e-mail from the kickball organizer, so Join team BigWheelers now!!

Dear Kickballers,

The big day is getting closer! We are excited that all of you have decided to participate in this year's event and we appreciate your support of the Kid Power program. Below are a few things to remember for the Kicks for Kids event on July 14th:

• Prize--Cubs Rooftop Party for All-Star Division's winning team members and the top 3 individual fundraisers. So get all donations in by July 6th, we will announce the winners at the event!
• Post Event Party-- Held at Bar Louie at Polk and Dearborn from 6pm-9pm. In a private party lounge at Bar Louie participants and spectators will receive unlimited food and drink tickets for a suggested donation; suggested amount is $20. Invite friends and family to join us after the tournament for food, drinks and raffle prizes.
• Registration at 9am and first pitches roll at 10am sharp.
• Each team's $1200 entrance fee is due by noon on Friday, July 6th. Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Gourmet sausages, Italian Beef, hot dogs and other food and drinks are available to you that day.
• You are welcome to bring your own food and drinks down to the fields, but PLEASE DO NOT bring your own alcohol. We will have a beer tent at the site, but alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited outside the beer tent.
• Bring your ID to the event. Our permit only allows only registered participants into the beer tent. Nobody will be permitted in the beer tent without proper identification per the Chicago Police Department.
• Each team is guaranteed to play in 3 games. A schedule of games will be posted on the Kicks for Kids site by the 9th of July.

Thank you for supporting Kicks for Kids and the Kid Power program. Your dedication to the cause makes it possible for children in the hospital to receive important assistance in their greatest time of need.

Woohoo!!!

I'd like to thank the company I work for, Fresenius Medical Care, for approving my donation request today in the amount of $500 for the kickball team! Thanks FMC!

My pledge to you!

If Team Bigwheelers raises $2,000 for the Kicks for Kids Kickball Tournament, I will wear a unitard similar to the one pictured below. So get the pledges in, or join the team and donate some money yourself.

Kickball?

Ok, so here it is, the next awesome thing we're doing! We're forming a team for Kicks for Kids. Its a kickball tournament held on Saturday July 14th, should be a great time. Click HERE to join the team or just donate some money for the team. We need to raise a total of $1200 to participate in the tournament. So any sponsors would help a lot.

Jessica's and Amy's Pics!

You can check out Jessica's pics HERE on Snapfish and then click HERE for Amy's pics. Crazy how so many people have pics of so many different groups having a blast.

Team Ramrod pics

Click to see them, What was in the green drink? and you found the cow!

2008 Registration

Ok, I know its 361 days until the next Chicago Big Wheel Pub Crawl, but I figured why not open registration? The date will be May 17, 2008. I know its super early, but why wait? So here it is....The 2nd Annual Big Wheel Pub Crawl Registration.

More new pics...

More pics from the pub crawl have been posted at www.bigwheelpubcrawl.com... from wherever Chuck got them from.

Pics from Angela!

You can click HERE to see a bunch of pics that Angela posted. Thanks for sharing these! funny stuff there.

Rush hour?

Nope, just a bunch of people on Big Wheels, this is some video of the trip from Nick's to Tavern. Gracias Danny with the video.

New Guestbook

Stop by the new guestbook at www.bigwheelpubcrawl.com and let us know how you liked the pub crawl.
Also, get free shipping at www.bigwheelbikergang.com/shop with coupon code: CHICAGO.

Thanks!
Johnny

Wow

Thank you everyone for showing up last night, I think I still may be a bit drunk. I'll start getting pictures up as soon as possible. You can e-mail your pics if you want them posted to cpuboy@gmail.com Had a great time! Hope everyone else did. I forgot, Team RAMROD won the digital camera scavenger hunt. And Angela, I have your dog poop bag dispenser thing, dont ask how I got it? I just somehow have it.

Registration Ends at 3pm Today

Online Registration will end at 3pm today. You will be able to register tomorrow at the registration table located at Wicker Park. Sorry, we can't take credit the day of the event.

Plan for Saturday

Here's how its going down on Saturday. Meet at Wicker park for registration, sign-in, map and tee-shirt pickup from 4pm-5:30pm. You'll see my lovely mom working the registration table. If you get there early, go to Pontiac and have a drink. We'll all gather up at 5:30 at Pontiac Cafe then proceed to Nick's. Due to the crawl being so big, I'll be distributing maps and hopefully having people split up into smaller groups (20 or so, I know, not all that small, but I doubt we can fit 80 people into some bars). There will be some competition going on here. There will be a DIGITAL PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT. On the back of the map will be items to find/things to do and get a picture of. I'm not sure if I can get prizes for 20+ people but some sort of bragging rights would be sweet for the team that has the most or all of the photos asked for on the scavenger hunt. At 9pm we will meet back at the park for races. The races will be split into a women's and men's division. It'll be tournament style races with heats running and winners moving on (maybe 1st and 2nd place). We will then have a Women's and Men's Champion of the 1st Annual Big Wheel Pub Crawl Race!!! After the races (depending on when they end) we can go to another bar or so then meet back for the last stop at The Note, everyone can easily fit in here and it should be a great time.

8 More Days!

Ok, so we're about a week away from the big day. I hope everyone is ready and if you're not, Here's your mission for this weekend (I Feel like Tyler Durden from Fight Club):

1. Get a ride!! anything that has more than 2 wheels and looks funny

2. Pimp your ride! The best thing to do for a big wheel is to get a rubber tire on the front tire, it'll cost under $10 and makes a huge difference (bigwheelrally.com has info the tire conversion). Invite your friends over, have a few drinks and get some streamers for your handlebars.

3. Costumes, I know not everyone is doing the crazy costume thing, but it would be hilarious to see Charlie Chaplin on a big wheel, I dunno, something stupid and pointless would be great. Dont worry about getting embarassed, you'll be on a big wheel.


Alright, so that's your mission this weekend for Project: BigWheel

Hope everyone is ready for drunk big wheeling!!!

Overwhelming demand!

Because of all you awesome people, we're going to extend registration including a tee shirt until 5PM Central time tomorrow, May 3rd! So Hurry up and register.

Due to popular demand...

There will be a "Best Costume" prize given to the goofiest looking one of us on the crawl. Please remember to keep the costume safe and comfortable since we will be on big wheels and will be out all night. Try to stay away from any type of mask that would impair your vision.

Plastic on Concrete

I just got word that K-Mart is carrying the Original Big Wheel in Stores right now for the sweet price of $24.99. I dig the Original, its quite sturdy, so if you're looking to go old school, you should pick one up.

Hurry!

Tomorrow night is the end of Pre-Registration, So that means no more sweet Tees if you register after May 2nd. You can click HERE to register.

Rides

I've been asked a lot about what bikes are acceptable. ANYTHING that you'll look like a kid riding that has more than 2 wheels and a seat (no scooters please). A plastic lady bug on wheels would be acceptable, a sit and spin attached to a skateboard, I dunno, get creative and ride.

Register!

There's only about 2 weeks left to register to receive a sweet tee shirt! The last day to pre-register is May 2nd. So just click here and register today! We will also be taking walk-up registration the day of the crawl, but sorry, can't get you the tee.

Next Easter, I'm going

Here's a clip from last Sundays Bring Your Own Big Wheel race held every Easter Sunday in San Franciso. Great stuff, can't wait to go next year. At the 1:00 mark you'll see a guy lose a steering wheel and then at 1:30 you'll see the one and only Johnny Dynamite from the Big Wheel Biker Gang fly by with his Blue BWBG shirt and Bunny Ears. Good times there.

Sweet

The Charleston has been added to the list of stops for the Pub Crawl. Ah, yes the bar I left my own birthday party for. I've missed this place ever since I moved out of that neighborhood. $1.50 Point Pints and $2.50 Vod Tonics! Thanks Wendy!

The map!

Thanks to Googles new "My Maps" I've started working on the pub crawl map, Click here.

Can you handle 16 inches?

The Big Wheel Biker Gang has redone their online store, and as a supporter of the Big Wheel Pub Crawl, Johnny Dynamite has setup a discount code for free Shipping!!! The code is CHICAGO. They've got some sweet tees!! Check out the '07 Tour shirt below:

Gracias Johnny Dynamite for the shirt deals!

And Don't forget, The Big Wheel Biker Gang is looking for their next Top Model, so ladies, apply today!

21+

Somebody actually asked me if they had to be 21 for the Pub Crawl and YES this is a 21+ event, the bars will be carding people.

Giant boxes of Cereal, 60 Waffles...

And Big Wheels!!! Costco Carries this bad boy, for $40 if anyone is looking for a ride.

I Hope You're getting ready.

Just like the Big Wheel Biker Gang.

Thanks Metromix!

Just a quick thank you to Metromix.com for listing the pub crawl!

I want this...

By far, the coolest Big Wheel I've seen, This is the Trek Mod. If someone shows up with one of these, I need to take it for a spin.

Questions

With our fantastic street team (ha) we were out passing flyers last night and I received a few question about the crawl.

Do I really have to have a big wheel? No, but you wont be nearly as cool as the people riding them and you're going to eventually get jealous and steal one.

Does my ride have to be a big wheel? No, bring whatever you'll look stupid on. Someone actually asked if they could bring a Roller Racer....I dream of riding the Roller Racer if she shows up with it.

Will there be drink specials? Yes!! after yesterday's events, we do have some wonderful bars willing to give us specials.

What's wrong with you? Ah, the age old question...I still dont have an answer for this one. I still smell like ketchup

Reminder

Early Registration ends May 2nd, so to guarantee a shirt and all the laughs, register soon! Wow, its almost April already.

T-Shirt Design, first draft...

So here's the first proposed Front for the Tee, let me know if you'll wear this. Please comment in the comment section
Here's what I've got for the back, hope you like and I know the bottom is off center, but I would shrink it down a little so it would be in the bottom right corner. (I do know a bit about tees, but no clue what you people would want)

If you click on any of the images it will show you a larger size. Seriously be honest, let me know what you think. Thanks!

First test run...

Traction is key, and we are just getting to big for these little bikes. I highly recommend do the tire modification that is described on the Big Wheel Rally site. Its quick, and cheap and super easy to do. And with the crawl less than 2 months away, start looking for some rides. Later, yo!

Need a Ride?

So, with some help from the Captain at the Big Wheel Rally, you can order your Big Wheel from him them $5 off!!! Use the coupon code "ChuckRox" (sweet, eh?). You can order from the site at bigwheelrally.com I've also put up a link to that site and the Big Wheel Biker Gang on the right side of the page. Looks like the Gang might be showing up to the crawl and LADIES, they are looking for a Top Model for the gang, so applicants can check out their site at Bigwheelbikergang.com. Ok, Well, I should get some sleep, I'm still down in sunny Florida on vacation. I'll see you all back in Chicago.

Sweet ride

Dick's Sporting Goods carries the Huffy Green Machine, so cool. You can check it out by clicking HERE.

Big Wheel Tip #1

A padded seat is key. We tested this over the weekend with a pillow on the seat and it was so much better for the kneeling kick/push technique and it keeps your butt from rubbing on the sides of the wheels. Use a small pillow or maybe a seat cushion or something, this will help a lot. There was also the suggestion of having a best Costume contest to go along with best ride, this would be hilarious. So go for it!

Registration is open!!

I will be accepting pre-registration now through eventbrite.com. You can register by clicking here. I sound all organized now that I have a registration site. When you do register, you will receive a ticket, please bring this with you to the crawl. This should be good, and have fun being a kid!

This should be interesting

the first big wheel arrived today at the office. This will be the test ride, I'll give updates on problems that may occur, considering this is a little kids bike. Its the Original Big Wheel, so its the old school test, there's much nicer ones out there with steel frames and whatnot, but I cant wait to hear that plastic wheel on pavement....
So I couldnt wait, and I had to put some BMX stickers on it of course, sweet, eh? So far it holds up quite well, had this guy at work on it.

Die Happy

So the idea for this whole thing came from the book Die Happy: 499 Things Every Guy's Gotta Do While He Still Can. The book was written by two fellow Chicagoans Tim and Michael Burke. I e-mailed them a few weeks back to let them know I was going to attempt this feat and they actually posted something about this on their blogboard. Sweet, It'd be great if they could make it. Check it out HERE
Every guy should own this book and attempt as many of these things as possible, I've got a lot of these done already but there's so much more for me to accomplish.

Bike Trouble?

I know, everyone is trying to figure out where to get a Big Wheel? I found mine on Ebay, Wal-mart also has them online, but not yet in the stores (i think its too cold
out). Toys R Us has a great one made by Hot Wheels. Really, its cool if you just have some little kids bike of some-sort, its not a must that it be a "big wheel" just something you'll look stupid on. Just make sure its not a powered vehicle, that gets me into a whole different legal issue, and I dont want to see razor scooters out there, that's just sad. Ride Low!

First Flyer

So here it is, print em out, pass them around, fun stuff, This is not something cool, I'll work on a nicer one in the future, this is just good enough for now. Click on it, it'll give you the full size flyer.

Gameplan

Here's the rundown for May 19th

4:00pm-Crawl starts at Pontiac Cafe (Damen Ave. Just South of North Ave.)
5:30pm (I know 1.5 hours at Pontiac, but I know you jerks will be late)-We leave Pontiac to the next bar, we stay at each bar a maximum of 1 hour.
9:00pm- RACES! yes, RACES at Wicker park, Race will be tournament style with different divisions based on what you blow in a breathalyzer. Soberish Division, Buzzed Division and Can't F'n Pedal Division. Course will be setup, I'm debating whether to have the circle track around the fountain or to go with a drag race. Trophies will be awarded. There will also be an award for the sloppiest drunk and an award for most ridiculous ride. I'm picturing Travis on a Barbie trike...

After the races, back to the sauce.
12:30am or so-we leave last bar

After Party at hotel. Something downtown, probably the Congress

I knew there were other stupid people...

Here's a clip of the BYOBW Race held every Easter in SF. After seeing this, I fully expect someone to be dressed as Santa for the Crawl. Enjoy

Look like a Kid for the Kids

I just submitted the paperwork to have this be a fundraising thing for Children's Memorial Hospital. Hopefuly the drinking and pedalling gets approved, I'll post any updates.

I need your help....

the hardest part about pulling this off is going to be access to big wheels, so please, anyone who reads this damn blog, check your garage, your neighbor's garage, ask around, i know people have these things laying around. I'm going to buy as many as I can, but I have no idea how big this could get.

So here it is, day one....

Here it is, the official blog of the 1st Annual Big Wheel Pub Crawl! The tentative date for this will be May 19th, its a Saturday. The location as of right now is up North near my old place. I will be testing out some big wheels and purchasing a few just to figure out what will be the best for the crawl. Below is a pic of the classic Big Wheel that we've all had at one time or another. I'm also open to t-shirt designs, I was actually thinking about giving people numbers on the back. Alright, any suggestions would be great, thanks!