Mo fun

WFO - WTF?

2012-01-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

Two down and how many more to go is any ones guess. This is the second Niner WFO9 frame that has broken on me. You know the first time it was the edge of a weld and I thought it was no big deal. It happens that way sometimes.
The latest break was disturbing. Both cracks down low, centered around the BB. The one on the down tube to the BB ran right down the center of the weld. The one on the swing arm was straight metal. Cracked all the way through. I have been really happy riding the bike. Actually I love it. I am totally hooked on the long travel All Mountain 29, no doubt. Still it makes me wonder if the engineering to get 5.5 travel with 29 wheels needs another look. These cracks aren't factory defects.
I suppose as long as they are willing to keep replacing frames I'll keep riding them.

Currently I am waiting on an XL in black to be assembled. Meanwhile I have Marks birthday ride weekend coming up at his cabin. I really look forward to this every year. Brevard likes the big bike. I might be on the Sultan though, which is a great ride too albeit not as much of a stomper.
This just sort of pisses me off because of the whole Maxle lite incident I had this past summer. Basically it snapped on an outing to a freeride park and I separated my shoulder. Catastrophic failures scare the hell out of me now. It was quite painful.
Just another chapter...

2012-01-24T18:14:00.001-05:00

Untitled
Originally uploaded by MykP8

2011-11-16T15:51:00.001-05:00

Untitled
Originally uploaded by MykP8

On my way to the top spot, and then ...

2011-09-01T09:43:00.001-04:00

I clipped a tree at the bottom of the run. Rolled out of it like a Champ although my time was docked because technically I took a short cut. Nonetheless it was a fun day. The Pirated Stanley Gap Time Trial was a success. Now around min 4 of the video is where the Radar Gun was set up and I did tie for fastest speed at 32mph which is not to shabby.

Should have gotten style points or something!

Blankets Creek mashup

2011-05-12T15:47:00.000-04:00

Messing around with different camera angles.

Desk and bike stand for really cool mountain bike

2011-05-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

Believe it or not you really do not spend a lot of time in the saddle when riding Mountain Bikes.
I'm not seeing this as such a great thing. Of course if you work a hip start up this would probably
bump your Hipster credit way up with your fellow associates.

The design called PIT IN uses a desk or table as a bike rack. The bicycle seat then serves as a chair while you work or take a break. Link -via Laughing Squid

Now that is a Birthday Bash

2011-05-10T08:29:00.000-04:00

I have not balled it up like this in a long long time. Guess I was due. I was out for an all day epic on my Birthday yesterday. I had done Bear creek to Pinhoti 1 and then on to Pinhoti 2 when, and I still have no idea how this happened but, I ate it big time. I think something snagged my front wheel. Possibly a root sticking out of the bank hooked it. It was a total stop. Well, except for the flying through the air part.
Pretty beaten up I still managed to hook up with DJ and do Stanley Gap to end the day.
Life's good eh'?

A Day at Dupont part II

2011-05-10T08:21:00.000-04:00

Not quite as good as Dupont I video but a very fun day.

A Day at Dupont Part I

2011-05-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

Bought myself a Helmet Cam and here's what I've got.

section of Area 51

2011-04-04T13:19:00.000-04:00

Test of my Contour HD. I have had it on my belt, my shoulder and this one is on my helmet. It actually seems to be the best angle. I did like being able to see the handle bars when mounted on my belt but it just didn't pull the viewer into the trail enough. I have added the BT card so I can see what the camera sees on my iphone. Really cool. I am very happy with this head cam.

This is the good for you FATS

2010-11-15T13:54:00.007-05:00

Forks Area Trail System in August Ga is a blast. Mark and I headed out there this past Sunday. He wasn't able to take off Friday and go to Raccoon Mtn to ride. I remember him talking about hitting this place recently. I had a kitchen pass for Sunday and we haven't ridden together in a while so plans were made.IMBA had FATS listed as one of their Epic rides this year. They also had their year end or mid year or something other shindig there a couple of months ago (Man my research is spot on).

The trails are for the most part effort free. Very groomed and fast as a mother in spots with rollers and enough whoops to keep you pedal free for long runs. The air time on this trail is great or you can just roll it and haul ass. I think with a little more time a familiarity there are plenty of doubling up opportunities. It really is worth the trip. We ended up not doing Tower. It was at the other end out by itself and the day was getting short. I think my favorite was Skinny and the long sections off the pavement down Big Rock.

The work that went in to the trails is pretty amazing. It's like the trail is cradling you the whole time creating a flow that is unreal. It was easy to pick a good line and pin it.

New posts on the way.

2010-10-03T08:54:00.002-04:00

A lot going on with the riding theses days. New bikes, new riding buddies, and new trails. I have a whole bunch the ramble on about. Oh and a 2nd place in an Mtb race. Once I get pictures gather I will post. So hold tight Mike Pate, since you are the only one that reads this blog.
"I will".

Can you really trust one wheel?

2010-03-17T12:16:00.006-04:00

The Hornet one wheeler is a cool concept but what if you get a blow out. I would think it would need one hell of a Gyro to keep it up right at speed. Whatever, still pretty cool.

LiNK

31 Awesome Benches ~ Now That's Nifty

2010-02-05T05:38:00.000-05:00

And who doesn't enjoy a Butt Bench.

31 Awesome Benches ~ Now That's Nifty

The best of both worlds

2009-09-29T10:03:00.001-04:00

I finally got my mounting system for the Mtn Bike set up. I have to
say it turned out excellent. Doesn't budge at all. I rode to the Cabin
this morning to work from here today and I couldn't even tell it was
back there. Rock solid. My side boxes can still be accessed and there
is room to strap down gear under the bike.

Oh man this one makes me laugh.

2009-09-28T14:05:00.004-04:00

The thing that is so damn funny about this quite poignant video is that I have said the same thing. "AAhh I just park at the church and cut through the woods when they close Blanket's." It's like somebody heard me talking and put it to the video. I'm sure every hardcore BC fan says the same thing. The sad part is it's all true. Blanket's Creek is pretty much down and out. I started road riding (insert joke) and will probably be working from the Cabin more often so I can go ride Stanley Gap at quitting time.

Thar be Grizzlies in them hills, or is that Mark snoring.

2009-09-15T15:41:00.007-04:00

I give him a hard time but all in fun. Anyway he can take it especially after the ride he just did. I'm talking about my buddy Mark. Riding in the Yukon with our old friends Chris and Ray. A couple other fellas joined the group and they were a posse of five. I couldn't go. I've had my share of adventure this year and with buying a new motorcycle I just thought it best to sit this one out. This is some remote riding that's for sure but, I can't think of a better way to experience the grandeur of the outdoors and Mountain biking itself than on a trip like this. It looks amazing.

Catch the slide show too.

Midnight Sun: Yukon Territory with Big Mountain from big mountain on Vimeo.

Will we ever see this in real life?

2009-08-06T09:28:00.004-04:00

Lots of cool concepts never make to the real world. This one I really hope does. But if you notice there is no drive train or disc brake lines. That could really be a tough one to solve. I would think maybe a shaft drive or belt drive that utilizes an internal shifting rear hub. Still very cool and has to the potential to be a big hit.
It was designed and constructed by 24-year-old Royal College of Art student Dominic Hargreaves. He calls it the Contortionist. Pretty slick.

Man, I gotta get me one of these.

2009-07-30T12:39:00.006-04:00

This is a really cool idea and it looks to be made pretty well. American designed and made. Very cool. Of course if you use it as a storage closet and fill it full of junk it could be a pain in the ass to unload in order to switch to a trailer. Then again I guess that would depend on how much you use a trailer.

The dividers that are used as shelves will also divide cargo in trailer mode. It's water proof and for lower loads you can close the doors and lock it. Pretty cool idea for camping gear or small children (keeps the from wandering off).

Check out the videos:

Time to make some room in the back yard.

2009-07-22T14:54:00.001-04:00

I'm down with anything that has two wheels. To a point.

2009-07-22T13:56:00.007-04:00

I saw this thing and can't for the life of me understand the effort that went into this. The logic is that a motorcycle can weave in and out of traffic. Hello? You're still pulling a car and you are longer than a rollback. It will tow about 2.5 tons at a max speed of 20mph. Hell I've seen a strong man pull a bus with his teeth faster than that. Who knows somebody might buy it.

No really. Take it Easy, Rider.

If the Flove doesn't fit you must...

2009-07-17T10:18:00.005-04:00

These are not called Floves. I nicknamed them Foot Gloves. Floves. I have two pairs of these. One is a comfy cruising around pair and one is more rugged and warmer for harsher activities. I also do not run. I have done some trail running and I might again but, for now I just ride, obviously. I wear them around the house, working out, and out and about, sometimes. Depends on where I'm going. I love these things. They are very comfortable and I have noticed a lot of leg and back benefits. Leg strength and posture for one. A cleaner stride or gate also. At times I have a sloppy walk. Sort of a pigeon toed thing going on. Because you are stepping on the balls of you feet you tend to point the toe more instead of hitting your heels out to the side. For me anyway.

Long way East.

2009-05-13T10:00:00.015-04:00

My route was longer than going I 70 but so worth it. I have to say spending about 2000 miles on my new GSA I really got to know it. I love that bike. The day after I got back I did a ride to North Ga. I had some things to attend to up there. It was a beautiful day for a ride. I think I need a couple days off though. The only part that is really sore is my neck. Not used to adding the helmet weight to this noggin for five days. The bike was comfy and I found out that bicycling shorts as an underlayer are the only way to go.

The night before I left for Denver I couldn't sleep. Excited yes, and a little nervous. Flying was most of it. I don't really care for it but the upgrade to first class took care of a lot of discomforts I have with not fitting in those damn seats. I read a book and took a nap. Dan who was selling the bike picked me up at the Airport. Great guy that Dan. We went to his house and the Shrine that I call his garage. The man has is priorites straight that is for sure. The bike looked great.

As promised. We went to the post office to mail off the payoff. Dan gave me two rear knobbies for the bike and we took those to Fedex to send them home. Lastly we went to the DMV and I gotta say you will never have an experience as pleasant as that in this state at a DMV. Mmmm Hmmm.

I loaded the bike up and put on my gear. Made my way out of town to I 25 south. I would say it was a few hours into the ride and I ran out of gas in "Somewhere" Colorado. I made it half way up an exit ramp and then pushed the big girl to the top and parked her off to the side in the dirt. Luckily a lady and her kids came by and gave me a ride to get gas. I had to buy windshield wiper fluid. I dumped it out in there windsheild cleaner box. Swished it out with a little gas. Went back and put some in the tank. Started the bike then went back and filled up. Arrghh! (I later found out by stopping at the BMW moto dealer in Oaklahoma city it was an issue that BMW has a fix for. I didn't have time for them to fix it so I pressed on and just watched the mileage.) Dan never had an issue with it. Lucky me it popped up. Well at least I got a ride for gas right away.

This put me more behind. I really did not want to ride across the Texas Panhandle in the dark. It's flat and wide open but at night as I have experienced before all you can see is straight out in front of your head lights. But, I lucked out and the sky was clear with a full Moon. I could see all the Praire. I felt pretty sure no animal was going to surprise me. As soon as I headed towards the East the crosswinds were unbelievable. I rode for hours in the dark leaning to the left to counteract the wind. Not to mention freezing me arse off. Still it was really cool with the Moon out and being able to see for miles. I made it to Amarillo and the Big Texan around Midnight.

I missed my steak so I just got a room at the Big Texan Motel and ate a bunch of trail mix. Then I went to bed. Between my nerves and trying to make up time I hadn't eaten anything

since breakfast which wasn't much. I figured an empty stomache was probably a good idea anyway. Kind of hard to pull off in the middle of Praire lands and disguise taking a poop. "Hey everybody. Nothing to see here".

The next morning I had Breakfast over at the Big T. A bit disappointing as I know how good a steak would have been. I hit the road and spent the whole day in crosswinds. I made a lot of stops. It just got to be very taxing. Still I made it to the Oark General store in Arkansas to meet Adam with plenty of daylight left.

Adam was there waiting. He rode in from Roswell. He did a very cool thing for me. I sent him a text when I made it to Amarillo he knew I couldn't have made it in time for the steak I had wanted so badly. He had the good folks at the store save the last T-Bone for me. I had that and the Sweet Potato fries. I finished the whole thing up with a slice of homemade Apple Pie with ice cream. DAMN! That was a good meal. Not to shabby for a 40th birthday.

Oh and don't ask for the Pecan Pie there. They call it Caro Nut as Adam found out. Hahaha Cay-ro Nut.

We camped up the road at a site next to a river and had a great sleep. Adam had brought a couple of lightweight tents that did a great job of keeping the rain out that night. Oh yeah and I dumped the bike in a mud puddle. I forgot about not having knobbies and took off about 3 feet. Ooops. We laughed, picked it up and set up camp. You could ride that thing off a cliff and it would be fine.

Love it, love it, love it.

The Oark General Store provided a great breakfast and we were on our way. We hit Forest Service roads for a while and then Mountain Twisties. Once I figured out my riding style I was really comfortable with the curves and the feel of the bike. I went at it like a Mountain Bike. Or dirtbike. Sort of SuperMoto style. Leaning the bike in and the body out. Or keeping your body kind of vertical. It works really well for me. I think the bike likes it better than Sport Bike style. Now all I have to do is get the rear to slide through. HA!

The Mountain Carving fun didn't last because it started to rain. That lasted about a couple of hours and then we were back on highways. We rode in to East Arkansas. Yuk. Made dinner at a pinic area that we thought was going to be a state park with camping. We end up in a Hotel outside of Memphis. Another Yuk. We left Memphis Monday Morning and got home around 4:30. The last day was pretty uneventful.

I have to say it would have not been as fun with out Adam coming up with the idea of meeting up in Arkansas.

Riding a new bike close to 2000 miles was a really good way to get used to it. I think it was probably safer than picking it up locally and riding around in the traffic and silliness around here right out of the gate.

More pictures.

And , I'm home.

2009-05-11T17:29:00.000-04:00

Whew. It was great! Tell you all about it in a couple of days.
mike

Forest service roads

2009-05-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

Adam and I had a good time on the fire roads Sunday morning. Made a pitstop here for cell service. Had to call and wish the mothers a happy day.

Breaking camp.

2009-05-11T09:52:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning up and headed out to the Oark general store. They don't serve pecan pie there but they do serve Caro Nut pie. Between you and me, it's the same thing.

Little mud. Little rain.

2009-05-10T16:07:00.000-04:00

Hit rain. Still in it. weeeee

Who doesn't enjoy an Oklahoma truck stop

2009-05-09T12:56:00.000-04:00

tURN OFF THE WIND TURBINE ALREADY!

2009-05-09T12:55:00.000-04:00

leaving

2009-05-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

This was before I knew was going to be fighting gale force winds fot hundreds of miles.

Stop the wind. I beg of you.

2009-05-09T07:16:00.001-04:00

Good grief, I rode almost the whole way to Amarillo going straight but
leaned over. Then once I hit Texas(in the dark) it really picked up.
Not a light breeze. I mean like all the scrub brush was leaning to the
right. I was beat down by the time I got in at midnight.
The bike is a winner. Handle great. I got in to some twisties in
southern CO. It's a comfy ride to. I have the suspension set to
"comfort". I even got all my gear packed on.
Let go eat and the hit the road.
Mike
Oh Happy Birthday to me!

Sent from my iPod

Dan you are the man

2009-05-08T15:43:00.001-04:00

I just want to stay here an hang out with this dude.

On my way

2009-05-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

I decided WTH it's my Birthday day (9th) I going first class. I do not like flying any way so this makes it a little less stressful. Mmmmm comfy.
And it's a beautiful day up here.

test

2009-05-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since sending any mobile post from my phone. I am heading out to Denver soon to pick up my 08 BMW 1200GS Adventure. I am planning on posting from the open road so I figured I had better test everything out.
The picture is of the Nomad. Now with sweet matching bars and seat, to the fork. Super sweet!

My little buddy.

2009-04-28T10:10:00.002-04:00

Back when I would take Truman to run on the trail with me when I went for a ride I clocked him at 22mph once. Look out squirrels.

Chicks dig a guy with a nice Segway.

2009-04-07T11:14:00.010-04:00

Segway has partnered with GM on there latest project to yet again remodel inner city travel. Wasn't the original Segway suppose to be the ultimate people mover. I mean I love the inventiveness of the thing and I think it's one hell of a gadget. Aside from running tours down town with them and watching Adam Savage zip around on one during Myth Busters what have you got. A gadget. A toy. It ain't solving no transportation issues.
Enter the PUMA: Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility. Maybe this thing will address the problem a little better. It's got a roof. It's faster than a Segway. A single charge will send you about 25miles and it's top speed is 25 mph. In town that's not too bad. Like the Segway it only has 2 wheels. Running 25mph on only two wheels like that sort of gives me the willies. What if you hit a curb. No gyro in the world is going to keep that up right. Can you say Face Plant?

Article: Autobloggreen

My next project.

2009-03-26T13:18:00.001-04:00

The attire not the bike. That's just straight up downhill luge. I think they need some drop bars though. This is a bit of a lame post but seeing as I have not touched the Blog in a while I figure what the Hell.

Season 2. Brett and Jermaine

2009-02-06T09:45:00.002-05:00

They're back. Season 2 of Flight of the Concords has been pretty damn funny. The songs are great and the cast is even funnier I think than last year. Seems like they have more scenes with Dave as well. This past episode with Mel and that painting - Ha! Murray is great for a laugh and I see where he has a part in Yes Man. But of course the songs play a big part and never fail to amuse.
Enjoy.

Hi there. Helllloooo? Creep.

2009-02-02T14:10:00.002-05:00

Wow. I'm really not keeping this thing up. The weather has been such crap. Cold and wet. Or when it's not wet it's way to cold. Mostly lots and lots of rain. I'll ride as cold as 32 degrees occasionally but below that forget it.
Yesterday was a great winter teaser. Sunny and 60. I was able to get over to Blanket's Creek and it was actually open. Everyone else with a bike had the same idea. The main parking lot was packed. The overflow in the church parking lot was about 1/4 full. All I could think was this is not going to be that fun. Ever the eternal pessimist happily I was proven wrong. Once I got off the Mosquito Flats things started to clear out. I rode up on a carbon fiber frame wielding "weight aficionado in his Roswell Bikes tights. ------- I'm not going to do it. I just deleted a whole paragraph on how I dropped this guy. I gotta quit making riding a competition with everyone I run into on the trail. At some point I turned into this guy that felt like he had to take everyone out. Mostly I like doing to the "weight aficionados" (weight weenies). Just because I can on a 40lbs bike. They tend to not look down there nose at you after that. Hell if they look at you at all after that. Anyway it's a shame that it has come to this. But with any sport once it takes off the grassroots appeal and the everyone playing for the same team feeling is gone. You're lucky if you can get any one out there to reciprocate a damn greeting. And I tell myself other people's rudeness is not going to change me. I still say hi to people I meet. Now though I realize it has. In the old days....

Hey! Gandalf, Nice Dress.

2008-11-07T15:49:00.003-05:00

Ray sent over this video and man do these dudes rock. Step to the side for a moment Clutch. I've gotta new band. Red Fang.
This video is so damn funny. Gets a little gross toward the end.
Two selling points on this one for me.

1st- That 67 4dr Cutlass was my first care. In gray.
B- Armor made from Beer cans. Ha ha. That's the DIY spirit.

Enjoy
Mike

Oh. Thanks Ray

A great day at Tsali, I don't care who ya are.

2008-09-25T14:05:00.014-04:00

A great great day for a ride. So nice it didn't really matter what you were out doing. Norm and I kept a fairly decent pace. But there was plenty of stopping and site seeing or let's jump this'ing. Tsali to me doesn't seem like much of a "real" trail anymore. It's more of a place to goof off. That's not to say it's not fun, sometimes. Norm will agree that his riding is not where it used to be. Cause that SOB could hammer! So going to Tsali is a great way to ride at a level everyone can do and just have a good time. After riding so much in Pisgah and then really looking for tougher and tougher rides to do I just feel I have sort of out grown Tsali. Single Speeding there is always the best. It's very fast for that. Nonetheless we had a great time and found a few photo ops along the way.

A few more pictures.

Ooohhweee fall is in the air. Tis the season to rip.

2008-09-19T09:14:00.007-04:00

Ooohhweee fall is in the air. Tis the season to rip.
Originally uploaded by at&t Tilt

I wore a long sleeve jersey this morning because of the chill in the air. It felt great. Perfect riding weather is upon us. This is when I scrounge every moment I can spare to get up in the hills. Once the leaves fall on the trail a bit more excitement is added. You never know what you're gonna get. Slippin and slidin. Love it. Love it. Whooooooweeee!
"Would you like the extra shot?" Obviously I said yes to that this morning.

Just belt it. Just cinch it. Yeah, cinch it! No belt it!

2008-09-04T15:34:00.006-04:00

Trek has a couple of hipster cruisers with belt drives coming out. Kind of touted as the next big bike thing. I don't mean like the Hammerschmitt. This is more along the lines of the general public. For that reason I cannot rip on it. Belt drive for a commuter bike or cruiser might be mo fun. Not the best idea for dirt. Obviously a rock getting sucked up into the pulley would stop the show all together.

Trek has two models out now.

Surely you jest?

2008-08-27T16:39:00.005-04:00

Contains peanuts.

Why not just catch the people that warning is for at the front door and call it Dumbass Butter!

Make a purchase.

Let's talk about pain for a moment, shall we?

2008-08-11T08:11:00.005-04:00

Before I get in to the agony I endured at the White Water Center let me set it up. Saturday I decided to go ride Bear Creek. I left at 530am and according to the GPS my arrival time would have still been in the dark so I decide to go past to the WWC /Tanasi. One in the same. Very early morning start which is good for me.
On the first down hill I rounded a turn and there are 3 bears. 2 cubs and Mama. About 10yds out. I generally am hooting and belting out the Rebel Yell on the down hills. Hikers and riders coming in the other direction need to be aware I'm coming in fast. The bears heard me and started running down the trail. I stopped. Mama stopped and looked back then she ran off with the cubs up over the hill. They were all surprisingly small. I tried to get a picture but couldn't get to the camera fast enough. From all the signage I half way expect to see a bear. So that was exciting. Seeing the bears, and it was early, in the 50s. A really cool start to the ride.
I felt good and really cranked the ride out. I did the Quartz loop Clockwise and CC. Someone told me once it was fun CC. Not. CW is way more fun, fast. Thunder Rock Express. Fuggetaboutit! I tore that run up. Coming out of the berms wheeling and cranking. Even with taking pictures and goofing around I got back to the car at 930 so I decided to do it again. It just didn't seem that long. I think the ride we do is 12 or 14 miles. I forget.
I bypass the care and start on the second go around.
I have been running a 36 tooth ring which I have not had on a big ride at this point. Blankets creek and Big creek sure, no problem. Still, it felt good to push that big gear and I never dropped to granny for anything out there. I sure wasn't going to do it on the second run either. There is nothing out there that needs it anyway. My quads started to cramp up. I figured I will just push through and work it out. I turned on to the short climb up to where the Quartz loop starts. Halfway the pain was unbelievable. I got off the bike and WHAM! My quads seized up so hard it locked my knees and I could not bend my legs. I couldn't move. I stood there bent over holding the bike and whining. I have not felt pain like that in a long time. I calmed down and started breathing. After a couple minutes I was able to start the robot walk. The cramping backed off enough to drop to my knees and catch my breathe. I walked up to the quartz loop. I went to granny gear and walked to get around the loop. The TR express was not quite as fiery this time. My legs were cramping on and off and I got sloppy a couple of times, narrowly avoiding bad times. I backed off and finished out the ride. I do not pace myself well when not riding with others.
Back at the parking lot, man it was a big day. The river had been let in and the Kayakers and Rafters were sprinkled all over the White Water course. Lots of spectators. It was a pretty cool. It was also a great day for Motorcycles. They were everywhere.

Before:

After:I took a few pictures. None of which show any kind of actual riding because I was by myself.
They are all here.

And your Hellride winners are... not me.

2008-08-08T08:33:00.004-04:00

There is always next year. The Santa Cruz Hellride page doesn't seem to have a whole lot of fanfare about it. Actually that sort of took the wind out of my sails relating to this event. Kind of a "Hellride, eh, whatever". And of course I don't like the looks of the new Nomad. I suppose the stats are better. That's all relative. Throw a CCDoubleBarrel on it. Problems solved. Also it looks like all the others of that ilk out there now. Generic. No more bulldog. "What's the matter McFly you got no scrot?" Not to say I wouldn't take one if you gave it to me. I'm not a latest and greatest guy as far as bikes go anyway. If you got no ass to back it up lookin purdy just makes you another Gear Queer. Obviously I'm in a mood today. I'm lousy about posting and feeling a bit nastalgic. It was a year ago that we rocked Switzerland. Ahh the Memories.

HellRideFive

This place Rocks. Well, not the way you're thinking.

2008-07-11T09:39:00.006-04:00

I don't know why I expect anything different riding in Pennsylvania. The rock and stone amaze me every time. Jim Thorpe is ok to visit every so often. This time I thought I might get a little more flow with a different trail. And actually I like Jim Thorpe better that the Prompton State park trails now that I have ridden them.
3 guys we ran into on the ride last month on the Laurel Mtn trail in Pisgah were from North Eastern PA and told me about it.
It took about an hour to get there from my Grandmother's house. I did 17 miles but man was it a killer. First off I am still in the early phase of getting use to pushing the 36ring on the Nomad. Rock covers every inch of the trail so, that makes for a pleasant lung busting ride. These trails do not get the treatment of the Southeast. The forest service cuts the down fall off the trails but that is about it. I do not think they have any cycling groups to advocate anything type of trail maintenance. In some places the trail just sort of disappeared. I had to follow the blazes on the trees. It roams through some fairly deep forest. Not many high points to the trail. No real ups or downs. Just one big rocky traverse. I still had a good time doing something different. Long as I'm riding it's all good.

One big one coming up.

2008-07-08T13:59:00.004-04:00

I have wanted to do the 50 miler out of Bear Creek for a while. I was not sure where to get info on it. Thanks to Bruce Dickman for the map. We had a good ride last Sunday out at Blanket's and I surmised that Bruce is the man for Mtn Bike trail and the goings on in the area. I think eventually he will getting around to meeting everyone who's on a bike.
This route is called the Firewater course. I've never heard the name but I know the ride. I have done all these but not in one ride. Should be interesting. Oh that damn Tibbs road. Killer. Nothing but a killer.
I thought I would wait for cooler weather but I need the day light so maybe not. I also need a few spare parts to carry with me. I might end up doing this one by myself.

Untamed wilderness

2008-07-08T07:31:00.004-04:00

Friends Ray and Elaine from the Yukon have some amazing riding right out their back door. Ray emailed pictures of the ride they did this past weekend. The Sam McGee trail is a 7hr loop to an old mine in the hills. Serious hills. 5 hours of climbing. Wildlife O-Plenty. Bears and Caribou. Beautiful Alpine riding at it's best. Ray says the pictures don't do it justice. I know how that is. Sometimes the mind is the best camera of all.
Elaine on her Ladies Rig. Don't let the pink highlights fool you. She'll Whoop ur Ass!

Why is this man so happy?

2008-07-07T13:25:00.003-04:00

Well aside from having a (over stepping some bounds) a good lookin' new wife, he's Chris Winter dammit! He's the proprietor of Big Mountain bike Adventures. Not only is he a big mountain bike rider he's a big mountain skier as well. And an all around great guy. He runs tours in Europe, South Africa, Mexico, and Costa Rica to name a few. Ok enough of the schmoozing.

I decided to put a piece on the blog as I am getting nostalgic. The Switzerland trip was about this time last year and I have been going over all the pictures. Then I picked up the latest Bike Magazine (July edition) and there he is on a big fat two pager Rockin it Alpine style*. A huge grin appeared on my face and the goose bumps followed. It was like I reliving the moment and riding those same trails. The entire vibe washed over me right there in Borders Book store. DANG! I GOTTA GO BACK!
In the past year I have noticed Big Mountain has blown up. Big time. There have been articles about the trips that Chris runs in several of the big publications. Rightfully so. He runs a great operation. If you decide you want to experience this for yourself you won't be sorry.
2010 we ride again.

*Minimum of a 35lb full suspension rig. Leterhosen. Riding your ass off. Mix well. Nipple rings optional.

Thumbing through some old pictures

2008-06-21T22:16:00.001-04:00

This was taken about a year ago. My "chopper project". I sort of abandoned it. It took a back seat to the Triumph Trident. Now that the Triumph is done and is a runner I have decided to scrap the Honda Motor in the picture for an old Triumph Motor. The shop that works on the Trident for me does major custom builds and has said no sweat to helping me out.

For awhile I thought that I was going to put this thing on Craigslist as a project bike. The more I looked at it and realized that I build this frame from the ground up the more I thought I can't get rid of it. I would kick myself. I have given up way to many things in the past and regretted it. This one is a keeper all the way until she is road worthy. Then we'll see.

Come on in.

2008-06-16T10:41:00.005-04:00

I rode Blanket's Creek on Friday and had to sneak a ride on Area51 again. I went out and rode it Sunday morning and presto, it's open. They knocked out all the issues on Saturday. All the orange barricades are gone. They have done a few reroutes and a bridge or two but no major changes. Still fast and flows like obscenities in a trailer park.
Go ride it everybody!

Guess I am not going to Hell after all.

2008-06-13T12:17:00.005-04:00

Complete bummer. I received the email letting me know I was not chosen for the voting process to get on the Santa Cruz HellRide Numero five. I was so sure I was going to get to that point. The ones that were picked have multiple photos. I only submitted one. I wonder if you could only submit one photo on the form and then they contacted the finalist to send them some more. Man I hope so. I feel like if I have thrown in some riding picts and maybe some from Switzerland I would have nailed it. Damn!

I just might put together my own Hell ride. Starting at Bear creek over to Wind Gap and all that biz. Should get 50 plus out of all that. I believe there is already a route for that. Any takers?
Tibbs road is calling. Ooooohhhhh!
Go over there and vote for someone.
I'm not sure who I like yet.

Busted at Blanket's.

2008-06-09T07:49:00.004-04:00

I did a ride yesterday morning at Blanket's Creek. Much like I do on the weekends. I arrived around 7:10am. Hit the trail and poached Area51. Now, everyone knows it is closed. It's painfully obvious. Most people know it's due to some agitated non-rider who complained to the Core about part of the trail coming to close to the water. Maybe an erosion issue. I'm not certain. I just know it was a BS call by someone who wanted to squash the whole thing out of spite. Either way it is closed. I am sure it is a legality issue that has the orange barricades up and the signs. I don't feel like it is that big a deal to go around those and ride it even now. Somebody is. It is still packed nicely and flows great except for one area close to the end, or start depending which way you go. I look at it this way. I am helping keep it packed in and I am not even on it 30 minutes at a time. I get there early to haul ass on it and move on.
So, yesterday I am riding it on the Single Speed an I see another rider through the woods. He is riding it in the wrong direction according to the day. I mean if you want to kind of follow the rules. I thought that's cool someone else out here snaking a ride. We finally meet on the trail and I say good morning as I am riding up. It's and old guy. He says. "Good morning. You know this trail is closed." Really I didn't know that (plead ignorance no matter what). "It is. They have it blocked off on both ends." I reply "Then why are you riding it?" I never heard the answer as all this transpired as we were riding past each otherf. Who does this guy think he is? He's going the wrong way and is out for a roll on Area51 himself.
I have my theory on this: He is part of some sort of SORBA elitist subgroup and thinks he has every right to tell you what to do. If you're on a Bike he is your ruler. Probably one of the same people that gripes and whines when a jump is placed on the trail. These groups foster this type of attitude. Especially towards us that will not join them. Oh, now I donate money from time to time and pay their parking fees. I will also give them praise for the trails they get made and the bike advocacy work they do. Don't get me wrong I think there is a place for them and the Mtn Bike scene would not be as great as it is. But just as with every sport Mtn Biking has changed. Back in the day it was just a bunch of guys hanging out and riding. Doing a little bit of tail-gating afterwards. Everyone seemed friendly and all wanted to just talk bikes. Now you have so many jerks. They can't say hi or screw you. Nothing. They just look at you when you say Hi. It has sort of changed my attitude in to Piss off and get out of my way. It's sad and I realize that I need to just ignore it. I try to keep myself in check and not let it effect my ride and mood. Hey I'm out riding, It's all good. As the kids say.

The heavens opened and a voice said "You boys have a good ride".

2008-05-20T15:06:00.014-04:00

Man Oh Man was there some good riding this past weekend. It was the HIP weekend in Pisgah National Forest.

Now for a little back story on the name. HIP - Homers IN Pisgah. A dreadful name by any account. A group of Turner bike enthusiast came up with it on a group ride one year. There is a BBQ joint near most of the riding area that has a life size Homer Simpson by the cash register. So I don't know if it's Homers or Homer's. As in Homer is. And that is as far as I want to go with that moniker. I just call it the Turner weekend. Although there were a few other bikes of different brands this year and the turn out was much lower. That certainly did not hurt the event. I actually thought it was better.

There were 11 to 12 of us. 3 from Atlanta. 4 locals at any given time. 1 from Manhattan. The rest were from Alabama. What a great crew of guys.

Friday Mark and I swung by Cane Creek for a visit with Malcolm and the boys. After that we headed over to I-9 to meet up with the rest of the group and catch the tail end of the tour. They make some super sweet wheels. Oh and they are proud of them. The ano fade has an up charge of 250 bucks. To steep for me. Especially for something I am going to just tear up anyway. None the less some very nice wheels. I wouldn't throw them out of bed for eating crackers. Huh? Yeah.

We decide to head over to Bent Creek. It's after 1pm and I have not eaten anything. A headache is developing and I am drained. I perfect remedy for that is a Jamocha Shake, Reuben Sandwich, and curly fries. I never eat that crap but there really was nothing else in a hurry. It ended up being nothing but foulness on my stomach 30 mins later into a ride. You could trade the nasty stomach for a headache and no energy. Either way I screwed myself. Still managed to hammer out a great ride. Not for all though. This is the ride where some young fella that was feeling his oats at the front of the pack DRILLED his knee. In a big nasty way. This was after we did Greens Lick. I came around a switch back and one guy is sitting right in the middle of the trail and another is standing over him. No one actually saw it happen but, the aftermath was gruesome. A huge flap of meat was split open to reveal his knee cap. He was holding himself together pretty well, mentally. Not a lot of moaning and groaning. Shock? Probably. Mark got on me for yelling "Holy Fuhq" when he moved his hand and I saw the wound. I couldn't help it. It just came out. Man, if you had seen that knee at the time. Just check it out here (scroll on down).

Later that night we ate at a Mexican Restaurant Jason took us to. Being a local boy now he knows all the spots.

Saturday we met up with Mike, another local and friend of Jason's. We were also joined by Matt who lives and rides in the area. Laurel Mountain with the Pilot rock downhill would be todays big combo. Such a killer ride. Pilot rock is WFO. Just rocks everywhere. Skillz Baby. Skillz. I could go on and on about how much fun that ride was. There are lots of pictures from the ride on my Flickr site. The link to it is below. After that was Wild Hawg's BBQ for lunch. Ohh that was much needed. We got in one more short ride. It was over by Black Mountain. Actually it was up to the bottom of that run and then around to do Sycamore. That was a really fun run as well. That evening we had the T2bikes.com sponsored raffle. Two bike frames that none of us won. Both went tickets bought from folks in California. I won a pair of gloves and the Push certificates that I really could have cared less about. Gavin won a new Cane Creek 110 headset and traded it to me for the certs. Yeah! Score!

Sunday plans got kind of hosed up and we got to the Dupont forest trailhead late and missed the group. We decided to pack it up and just head home. What a great weekend of riding. Enjoying life.

All the Pictures.

39er on the 29er.

2008-05-13T10:34:00.014-04:00

I headed up to Tsali to do 39 miles on my Single Speed (SS) to commemorate my 39th Birthday. I over shot it by a mile and a half. The time logged is the total which included picture taking and lunch. That's why it doesn't look to impressive. I stopped starting and stopping the GPS on rides because I always forget to restart the thing.

I headed up there even though there was rain the day before and it did not look to good for a ride that day. It actually cleared up and was sunny and beautiful the whole day. I had a great ride. The long distance on the SS gets the knees to aching after a while. I ran out of water. So, much like I have done in the past I drank out of a creek. I know, I know. I have heard it a million times and guess what a million times I have not gotten sick. I use to do it all the time as a kid and no one ever even heard of Giardia.
Between that and the three ticks I pulled out of my leg I should be layed up for a good long time any day now.
I did the Left and Right loops twice with all the overlooks thrown in. To get the last couple of miles I headed up County Line Rd and took the Right loop bypass back to the parking lot. A mile out I stopped and jumped in the lake. Man the Fontana Lake provides a great end to a ride.

On a ride that long at some point you just settle in and it's like riding in a car. The body takes over and your mind starts to wonder. I ended up thinking a lot about an old friend who died back in the late nineties. It was a different crowd back then and we split riding between Road and the Dirt. DK was a really good rider. Sort of the wing man to whoever was out front. He climbed like no bodies business. He was a hellva guy, funny, and always had the coolest bike. We all drifted apart and started riding with different people. I didn't have to much contact with any of those guys for about a year. I was told David had run in to hard times money wise. Not that he was not making any but, he just spent everything he made. He had payments out the Whazoo. It started to overwhelm him and I guess there were other issues as well. One day he was gone. Just left. Hit the road. No one heard from him for months. I found out through friend that talked to his mother that he had contacted them and said he had had enough and wanted to leave it all behind. He worked some odd jobs in Florida and I think Louisiana before settling in Texas. His Mom said he was working out in a National Forest with some huge Mountain range as a Forest Service something or other. Maybe a Ranger. Probably an assistant. I don't think you can just show up and be a Park Ranger. He lived in the bunk house and still seemed to be in a fairly depressed state emotionally.
About a month later I was called and told there was going to be a memorial service for David. He had died out on the Mountain from a fall. The Rangers found him after he never came back that night from a hike. Apparently it was a very treacherous area where several people had fallen. His body was found down in the rocks below. I felt really really bad when I heard the news. I kind of think about David a lot when I am out riding by myself. How could someone so into Biking/Cycling end up like that? I guess I thought he was like me and had found himself through the Bike. The Bike makes everything alright. Right?
So for 39 yrs young I decided to crank out some hard miles and be thankful for what I have, where I've been, where I'm going, and the friends I've made.
I miss David and his wise cracks and the good times we use to have. Rest in Peace buddy.

Photo stream is here.

Give a 5 yr old a camera and hilarity will ensue.

2008-04-27T19:20:00.008-04:00

I gave my little boy an old 3Megapixel camera. It doesn't work right on a few of the settings. That doesn't matter to him. It still takes pictures and he is very excited to have it. He snaps pictures of everything. It is quite entertaining to get a look at things from his eyes. Some of the pictures really make you take notice at just how much wonder that little mind sees in things. He's taken some good ones and I think it's a neat thing for a little one to do.
Now comes the funny part. He of course follows the animals around and clicks off picture after picture. On this particular day he was at my Dad's house following the cat around.
Mind you the cat is the subject of these pictures with a little added bonus. The cat certainly was not oblivious to the goings on.

Though I ride through the Valley of Death...

2008-04-22T12:26:00.006-04:00

Hellride numero 5 is here. Although it's news to me because I never even heard about 1 thru 4. Ray emailed me with a link and said this is all you. After I read it over and found a few articles on I became really fired up about the idea of trying to get picked to do this race/ride. The basic idea here is four men and four women are chosen to ride with two pros. One male Mark Weir, an animal by anyones account. One female, Rachel Lloyd women's Super-D champ. The race will be a 70 miler over some serious hardcore terrain. Big bikes and big packs. Uh, wait a minute I have been riding like that for years. The mileage is something I have never done on the dirt. I've come close. It will be done on a 30lb plus Santa Cruz Nomad. You will also have to do it with only one front ring. 36 or a 38, I think. You have to ride what Weir rides pretty much. The winner gets to keep the Nomad with full Sram XO group and sporting a RockShox Lyric. The winner also gets all travel expenses paid for. Now I would love to win the bike but that is not my motivation. I just want to be a part of this. It is my type of riding and nothing but straight up self abuse. How far can I push myself? I want to do some crazy shizz that most people would never consider. I really want to see what I can do. Not if I can do it, but how well I can do it. I don't think there is a question of can I do it.
The shear excitement of being in the Rockies will probably keep me so pumped the brutality this ride is going to dish out might not matter that much. A lot of planning and training is going to be my focus right now. Just in case I get picked to be in the 32 that the Internet will vote on.
Whatever happens if I get there I will have been a part of something huge in the sport that I have enjoyed most of my life.

BigMag.com has a good article on it that describes the event.
HellRide#5 my registration to be accepted to race is in.

I love the World.

2008-04-16T10:34:00.004-04:00

I could not have said it any better. This should be the MO-Fun anthem.

I Love the Mountains.

(notice when Adam sets Jamie's arm on fire. Hehhehehe)

I completely forgot about this.

2008-04-11T14:42:00.004-04:00

I jumped on a beta for Google Pages a long time ago. I had forgotten that I had it out there. It was sort of an attempt at starting a blog before I got into the Blogger scene. I got off to a descent start but then abandoned it for whatever reason. I registered a few different URLs and never did much with them either. I'm not sure if Google Pages will allow you to still sign up but it is still active. The page creator and tools work.
A few old projects.

Will it come to this? Hahaha maybe.

2008-04-11T10:51:00.004-04:00

Trade in your Beemers and Bluetooth headsets. It's time to hit the bricks.

Excising Demons can be fun and easy.

2008-04-10T14:25:00.003-04:00

Just watch out that you don't take your personality with it. WTF is up with this video?
First off I will say that I do this. It helps my sinuses quite a bit and I hate taking all the sinus meds. But, this video is just to ridiculous to pass up. Give the lady her props for the fact that she does not even flinch whilst pumping the warm salty brine through her nasal cavity.
Soup's on!

HellBoy II is going to rock!

2008-04-09T09:29:00.004-04:00

If you're a Hellboy fan you'll get that little play on words in the title. I have a link to the new trailer and man does it look good. You can see a lot of director Guillermo del Toro's imagery in this flick. Quite a bit of it looks straight from Pan's Labyrinth. The monsters could fit into either movie. They look like they do well in this newest Hellboy though. A bunch of baddies with their eyes in other places than where they should be. Or none at all. The whole style of the Hellboy story is something I have always liked. It has kept pretty true to the comic I would say. After the first Hellboy movie I went out and picked up a comic or two. The style is characterized as (I am starting to hate this word and I am really into it. Sad.) Steampunk.

You woke up the baby.

If you're ever in the Alps look me up.

2008-04-05T19:47:00.001-04:00

GravityDropper I love you.

2008-04-05T17:55:00.006-04:00

I came to realize just how much the GravityDropper means to my riding. The mechanism that locks and releases the post came unglued. I had to do without it for a couple of rides. I did not like that. No sir. No, indeed I do not.
The earlier post had some such issue with anodizing and the epoxy used to hold the mechanism to the post. After a year and a half of hard ridng and more abuse than Punch gave Judy it finally had it's one and only problem (luckily not on the trail).
I called up the company (a small operation) and let them know what had happened. Just send it on back. So I did. I guess about a week later. I really could not believe how quickly it came back. Clean, oiled, most of all fixed. An owners guide was thrown in along with extra mounting hardware and a sticker. It works better than before. The return action has such a snap it could knock the balls off a bull. It almost did. HOOYah!
If you do more than just ride like Roadie in the dirt then a GravityDropper is for you. Every bump, root, decline is kicked up about 10 times on the fun scale. The overall speed of your ride is faster as obviously you are faster with the seat down on the downhills and faster on the climbs with the seat up, which is controlled right there at your thumb.

SWEET! SUPER SWEET!

I can't give up now.

2008-04-03T14:54:00.008-04:00

I drug out the chopper project of yore. I thought since I have finished the Triumph and it actually runs now that I would put this on Craig's List.
*The Triumph write up is to come.
After I had it out and started to take pictures of it I thought to myself I can't get rid of this thing. Especially now that I know the guys over at British American Cycle repair. I have an "in" into custom building process now. These guys can help me out with ideas and how to's for some of the more difficult areas I have run into. I have decided to pull this motor and go with something British.

Not sure when I will get back into it. I feel a renewed interest though. Might not be far off.
This was a ground up build. I used the steering head off a twisted frame. The rest was unusable. I made this frame long for my height and allowed for the 180 to be put on the rear. The gas tank is a faux stretch. I tigged on a shroud which was smoothed into the main tank. The capacity is the same but it fits the frame better as far as the look. The front end is going away. I have a longer one with a match mag to the rear. The fender mount turned out great. Just barely off the rear wheel. A nice tight look. The wheel itself is from a Kawasaki ZX1100.
Originally the fake oil tank was to hold the electronics for the Honda motor. Now that I am going to be going to a British motor of some sort it is going to actually have to hold oil. So that needs to be redesign. The seat pan I made and just need to have it covered. I the bike to have a suicide shifter. I think that is still going to be the route I take.
Yet another project that has been on the list a long long time.

Here it is with the other front end on. I think I like it alot better.

Lame video of an unlame bicycle.

2008-03-27T13:16:00.004-04:00

The only pictures I have of the Mac Daddy of all the bicycles I have built are about 2 years old and are fairly crappy. So, Hey why not add some crappy phone video to that vault as well. I helped Norm move again and the Chopper moved again with him. If you aren't at least 6' 3" forget about riding it. I barely can wrap my mitts around the grips. It is so much fun to ride. Amazingly strong and not as difficult to handle as you might think. There are several lessons learned over the years since I built it. There are some upgrades and modifications that could be done to it for a better look and ride experience. That may be developments to follow.

Spoof of the creep ass Big Dog robot

2008-03-27T11:12:00.006-04:00

If you have not seen the Boston Dynamics Big Dog robot you should check out the video of it. That thing creeps me out. This spoof video is so damn funny because of that buzzing. The freakin buzzing!

Will it mulch? That is the quesiton.

2008-03-21T20:43:00.005-04:00

Yeah, a Zune mulches up pretty nicely. This will be the second 1st gen Zune to be removed from my ownership. The first one was stolen. The latest was hack to pieces by the riding mower. All the sudden ELO stopped playing and my headphones were being snatched out of my ears. The Zune slipped out of my sweat jacket pocket and landed on the mower deck momentarily then under she went and out on the lawn. I have and ipod and my trusty iriver IHP-120 but I really enjoyed the Zune. This last one was 100 bucks on Woot. Although many trash talk the Zune to death it is really a nice player.
Well, RIP 1st Gen Refurb'd black 30 gig Zune. The Social Is Over.

Ray, buddy this one is for you.

2008-03-14T12:30:00.005-04:00

Those of you that have ridden with Ray know of his mobile DJness on the trail. I have finally found the perfect gift for him. The Reppo II backpack. A couple of 6" full range speakers and a built in amp. Sure to scare off any wildlife within a one mile radius.The hard plastic shell looks like you could probably get a little ice and some beverages in there as well as getting your Rock N Rolling on (get it?).
Link

Oh, I'm not flipping that switch. What and go to hell?

2008-03-06T08:40:00.004-05:00

Perhaps a focus group should have been consulted before actually making this a product.

Happy Birthday Bro!

2008-02-21T09:14:00.019-05:00

Mark certainly did put a great ride weekend together for his Birthday. We stayed at his cabin in Saluda, NC and as always it was just the best location to set up home base. Some rode on Friday and Saturday. Some showed up and just did Saturday.

We started the weekend by meeting up on Friday at BentCreek.

Malcom from Cane Creek took us around to a few other trails in the Bent Creek area after we finished the whippin down hill. I got so tired of pumping all the jumps I just started rounding them out towards the end. I did have some trouble launching the jumps. My fork was really mushy and I was getting bucked. Close to going ass over tea kettle a few times. Still fun as it could be. All the guys really ripped down that one. Big grins everywhere after that run. Last time down it (few months back) I got a flat. This time Ray got a flat. I think a precedence has been set. Afterwards we swung by Carolina Fats where I bought some fork oil that I couldn't use. Wrong weight. I ended up trading it to Shaun for dinner Saturday night at a Pizza joint in the town of Black Mountain.
Friday night back at the cabin Paul was waiting for us. I think there were about 10 of us staying there. We had spaghetti for dinner and a great Lasagna ala Shaun. Really good meal and beer with freeride videos thrown in for good measure. Hanging out with all your riding buddies talking about bikes and different rides is nothing but good times. The hot topic of the evening was the ride to come. Heartbreak ridge on Saturday. Of which none of us had ever ridden except for Paul who has some painful memories of that ride. Not due to the ride itself either. That is another story (Big Ball Paul). We knew it was going to be a grinder, death march, killer. Choose your cliche'. We had heard 7hrs of riding. I was looking forward to it. I have really come to love the long epic rides. Ever since (man I use this a lot). Switzerland. This ride would not disappoint in that respect. About a 20miler . I think.Sat image taken from Shaun's MTBR post. (giving credit where credit is due)

Saturday morning we rolled out bright and early. We met up with Marty of Pro Bikes and her boyfriend Christian. Two great riders and really awesome people. We all followed to the parking area along the road to where we would start this ride. Up a long gravel road. Through some some sort of Bible camp to the trail head. Straight up. The climb was a beast. Steep and rocky. This caused the front of my Nomad to dance around all over the place. I had to dab a few times. The fact that I had 20lbs of food, water, and gear on my back did not help. Hey I like to be prepared. The trail took a hard right and leveled out to a regrouping area before the super long rock garden climb. Insanely bumpy baby head rock climb. Over all about a 14 mile climb from the trail head at the Bible Skoo. On the way up you pass a few hunting camps. For bear. For that reason this trail is only open for a few months out of the year. It does pass through private land and there are no short cuts. Once you start it you can pretty much only turn around or keep going. There might be a cut off at some point. You know, to pick Pansys. Get it? This is some very remote riding. Apparently there is a bit of controversy around HeartBreak Ridge. Anyway, when we reached the very top there is a camp set up with an old RV and a camper. Long gone are the days that those saw pavement. It was a little bit of a wait for everyone. We built a campfire and hung out around that until everyone caught up. Roasted some gloves over it to dry them out. It really got chilly up there.
The run back down was pretty good. It was tight and loose. Lots of off camber sections with roots and, about a foot deep in leaves in spots. Super slick and had some really gnarly exposure in some precarious spots. Closer to the end of the run are and abundance of switch backs. Those are lots of fun. Overall quite an epic ride. Not a huge downhill payoff. More of a "yeah let's go out and spend the day on a grinder". Honestly I was not expecting a downhill to beat all others anyway but I do think running the 14 mile climb the other way so you get that crazy rock garden for miles would be lots O fun. After all was said and done I guess the downhill was not bad. The over all ride is really cool.
We had some great participants. The Usual suspects. Me, Mark, Rob, Shaun, Ashley, Paul, Rick, Jason, Dirty Dr. Ray came in from Va. Beach. There were also some new friends that added to this ride. It was great having them on board. Bill my new best friend from Cali (great riding with you), Daniel the machine from the Yukon, Ashley's Pal Keith the Huckster, Marty and, Christain (we could not have done Heartbreak with out them).
Good times everyone!
flickr photo set

Taste like chicken. Well, chicken @(*# anyway.

2008-01-25T14:16:00.000-05:00

Now if a bird just dribbled on my shoulder the last thing I would do is to look up. I recently saw a thing about various species of bird get nervous when they feel threatened and puke or poop. So I guess it work as a deterrent.

Can you say Avian Bird Flu?

Bear Creek overlook

2008-01-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

I've never been up there when it looked like this. Mark and I did the 22 or 24 mile (whatever it is) loop to Mountain town the week before Christmas. Knocked it out pretty quickly and had a great time.

WOW!

2008-01-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

The longest motorcycle jump in history. Robbi Madison jumps a dirt bike on New Years eve 322 ft in Vegas. The commentary is pretty good. They explain how the bike has to be handled in the air to adjust for the drift when traveling that kind of distance. Just amazing!

Robbie Madison Breaks Record Motorcycle Jump, 322 Ft 7 Inches - video powered by Metacafe

Super Trucker!

2007-12-21T15:31:00.000-05:00

I don't think I can do anything else to make this bad boy more bomb proof than it now is. I through a set of DeeMax wheels on this afternoon. They were laying around and Mark sort of steered me in the direction to try them out. I'm going to take them out this weekend. Probably Monday for a test run. The rear axle is bolted and a 20mm on front. Good Lawd! Stiff as a ... (nasty). I haven't gotten any tubeless tires yet. I am curious to see how they ride too.

There's not a whole lot of people out there that would call something like this their trail bike.
I damn sure do!

Another one on the books.

2007-12-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was a great ride. Good times. Brother Dave came in from the U.K. to visit his parents and Mark had a rig for him to ride which in true Dave fashion he crashed. Hehehe love ya Dave. Ray came in from VA Beach and Rob showed up at midnight on Friday. Saturday morning we met up with Paul and Caroline at the BILO.
The cool thing about every time we do a ride in Pisgah or Dupont we stay at Mark's cabin the night before and usually have dinner in the little town of Saluda. A great little bar/resturant call the Purple Onion. Man that is some good eatin'. The cabin is 30 minutes at most from the trails. It is a great little place up on the top of a small mountain all by itself in the woods. Mark has done a lot with it. Very cool place to get away to. And he is always up for hosting riding buddies. Guess that's part of what makes him a really good friend.
We put the new Double Barrel rear shock on Ray's Heckler early Saturday morning before heading out. We did Black Mtn before lunch and had a blast. This time the Rainbow of Death was not attempted. I did do the second half of the down hill twice because I dropped my glasses at the mid point and had to go back and get them. Black Mtn is so fast and flowing with all those water breaks with some berms thrown in here and there. I didn't mind a bit. You can really push the bike hard into the turns. Make the rims creak kind of railing down that section. I love this trail. The day was a little chilly but sunny and beautiful. Lots O leaves that's for sure. It was toward the end of the ride on Sycamore loop that Dave ate it and lost the carbon cover to the rear shifter. So lunch time was spend at Sycamore Cycles. Dave ended up buying a whole new X9 shifter and they used the cover off that for the XO. If not the guts would have fallen out. Stand up guy that Dave. Then over to the fish hatchery. We only had time to do Caney bottom and whatever the other one is that dumps you out at the campground. Ray realized after the ride he needed to upgrade front the suspension to keep up with the Double Barrel. I believe he was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the rear though. Everyone usually is. Just can't beat the CCDB. Rob had to leave at lunch so, he didn't make the second half. Always fun riding with him. Excellent rider. Paul and Caroline, man talk about your hammerheads. A great bunch made for a great day of riding.
And of course I ride up just to come down. I do have to take my jumps where I can get them. One of my favorites is on the climb up the fire road to Caney Bottom. A gravel parking pad at a hiking trail head. Not really even a jump I just sort of started doing it one day. Kind of big. It puts you way out there. It's fun.

Now this is the meaning of MO Fun.

2007-12-10T14:38:00.000-05:00

Awesome speed and drops. A little exposure thrown in there. "Remember gang, You Fall You Die".

I am falling out of my chair. BLah Hahahaha!

2007-12-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

Look past the little girl dancing and take note of other "action" in the room. Apparently she never noticed this. Tasteless yet so damn funny.

Mistreat your bike and it will leave.

2007-12-06T07:22:00.000-05:00

HAHaHA! The best part is watching him run his ass off to catch it.

http://view.break.com/411656 - Watch more free videos

Crickey! I'm smoked.

2007-11-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

37 miles later (add a mile cause I fogot to start the gps until I saw mile marker 1) and I am totally shot. Single speeding involves all kinds of mysterious upper body muscle that are now really hurting. I've got a 2.5 hr drive ahead of me so gotta go.

The above post was from the trail head at Tsali Friday when I finished my ride. I have been really feeling the need to go single speed Tsali and get in a lot of miles. It ended up being just me so, I thought why not try to do the left and right loops twice. I was looking forward to seeing just how bad I could punish myself. I have not done a ride of that distance on a single speed in a long time. Well, actually I might have only come close with a 20 miler and that was years ago on a 26 inch single speed. I think an aluminum one at that. Let me just say I will never ride another 26 inch aluminum SS again. A 29 for SS'ing is the way to go. I also can't take the beating that aluminum hard tails hand out. A spoiled fancy pants? Yeah maybe. Still won't wear sweety tighty bike shorts though. So not that much a fancy pants. Ha!
The day was chilly. Never broke 45 and it was windy. The only time I felt really cold was on the sides exposed to the lake. The wind cut right through and being sweaty made it a bit worse. Aside from that it was a classic fall scene. All the colors, the leaves, and the sun was bright. A beautiful day to be sure. I might have seen about eight riders on the trail all day. All of which were running it in the opposite direction and let me pass. Beautiful. Not crowded. I was loving it. The trail was thick with leaves and still I never had a problem with the 29s loosing grip. Never slipped or washed out. I had two hills that came right out of turns that I just could not get the momentum I needed to clean and had to push them. I tweaked my wrist the first attempt on one of them because I was torquing so hard to try and make it. Sometimes you have to concede and push. I held a pretty descent pace and just sort of slipped into the zone. Not really thinking about anything. I just sort of soaked in my surroundings and slip into a groove (much like my moto for life. Digg and Groove)(thanks drunk skater dude). I broke for about 20 minutes to have lunch and had to put on a jacket before running the trails a second time. This ride worked my joints the worst. A lot of upper body soreness. Shoulders, Elbow, wrist, and lower back. But hey that's Single Speeding. I really felt like I had done something after this one. I had packed a cooler full of goodies. Something for lunch and post ride. I really had to hit the fluids and food afterwards to get my energy back up. Driving home for two and a half hours after a ride like that can be miserable if you don't try to get a quick recovery going. Part of that recipe is to grab a milk shake somewhere. Aaahhh.
A ride like this is great for a little introspection and to clear the neural pathways of poop left behind by inconsiderate pet owners.
-Mike

Roll your own: Headset removal tool.

2007-11-15T07:16:00.001-05:00

Instructables has a posting on how to make your own headset removal tool. Pretty simple really. I ought to do this myself instead of using and old seat post. You might think about splitting it 4 ways and capping the top with a piece of steel. Or just make the whole thing out of steel. Maybe a piece of galvanized tube.

Removal Tool

Blankets Creek a destination? I think so.

2007-11-13T07:25:00.001-05:00

I have been riding Blanket's Creek (I have no idea if it possessive in the spelling) about three times a week. Sometimes four. I try to run the counter clockwise days on my single speed. Clockwise on the Nomad. I have to give it to the trail builders out there for going outside of the box. They have built a jump section on the Dwelling loop that has sort of a weak log stack, table top and rock garden. But, at the end there is a kicker. The landing stinks because it is to flat unless, you hit it fast and then weeeeeeeee! I am able to clear the flat and land on where the two trails come together on a transition. Of course then you are throw right into a flat turn that I keep washing out. I say good for them anyway for building it. I know they have tried stuff like that in the past and some of your more pansy pants'd riders have complained. Come on! WTF! There is a bail out, ride around, whatever you want to call it. Point being you don't have to do it. These trails need these stunts. It gives something for everyone. I am still going to ride a trail on my Nomad because I make my own fun off rocks, tree stumps, squirrels,:) whatever. The counter clockwise direction on the South Loop has two fun rock drops. Nothing huge but for a local trail that is quickly turning into a destination trail it's pretty cool.
The Mosquito Bites section is a short beginner run that is fun if you run it fast. Lots of turns. A nice bridge. There is a big switch back section near the end or begining, depending on how you run it. Toward the end I usually go off the side through the woods. Something different.
There is another new section that I did not know about that starts out by Tim's Trip. I hooked up with this guy on Sunday and after we rode South and Dwelling he showed it to me. Very cool. Switch backs, climbs, and a swift little downhill. It looked like some jumps are going in as well. It needs to get packed in a little more before those are doable. I orginally heard from a goober who is "outspokin" ;) that it was going to take a year to do the five miles. Now I hear that is wrong and they are going to finish it way before that.
Friday the 16th I am going to Tsali to SS left and right. Should be a hoot!

T-Shirts are here.

2007-11-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to do some t-shirt designs and put them up on cafe press. So here is my first one and I think it is kind of cool.
Buy the shirt get a free bowl of soup. You gotta find me first.

Out There

East Coast riders chime in.

2007-11-07T08:15:00.001-05:00

Blue Collar Mtn biking has a little forum post about the East coast being left out of some of the countries Mtn biking organization's events. The point being most everything is done on the West Coast when it comes to riding. I posted my comments. My thought is who gives a rip.

Tell em' what you think

Aahh

2007-10-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

I thought I would go up to the roof and hang out in the hammock. Whilst there I started playing around with the camera on my new phone. Not to bad. Wow what subject matter.

Eeooohh

2007-10-26T09:44:00.001-04:00

One man. One Wheel. One dumb idea.

2007-10-25T18:14:00.000-04:00

I'll give this guy and "A" for having the ass to pull off some of the stunts he does. I also like the North shore stunts he pulls off. Notice the classic multiple teeter totter he rides. But, what in the world is the attraction. I usually don't really care if you're on wheels. I say good for you. Even the guy out on the GreenWay with the old Igloo cooler helmet. On backwards no less. I figure hey he's making the effort. But this? WTF?

Now see the Asian fella getting ready for the Olympics I can understand. That's the spirit!

Dorking around with the code.

2007-10-24T19:51:00.000-04:00

I am goofing around with the HTML code on the page to get my lead picture to fit just right. I love that shot. It was so hairy right there on the side of that peak with the glacier down below. Straight down. Every time I look at it it takes me back.
So the site is probably going to look like a mess since I don't know how to code. I change something in the code and then look. Change it back and repeat the process. I don't have a whole lot going on with riding unfortunately right now. This week is rain and last week was Orlando for work. No riding down there. Not close to where I was anyway. I did stop and ride the Daucet Nature center on the way down. I have not ridden there in years. The last time there I checked a tree in mid air with my shoulder. Had bursitis for almost a year. Painful. This time I rode it on the big bike. Fuuunnn! Very fast and lots of drops/stepdowns. 17 miles. Afterwards I swung back on to the Interstate and headed to Orlando.
In a couple of weeks some of us Single Speed Luvas will be going to Tsali for the day. No better place for SS. Am I right?

The peppermint toothpicks work best.

2007-10-23T13:56:00.001-04:00

Because when you prop your eyelids open with them that minty sting helps too. I had to go out of town for a training course and good God that class was painful. The instructor could not be understood due to the accent. Unable to answer what I thought were simple questions that one in a teaching capacity for a particular product should know. So boring.
Moving on. I have the ATT TILT to do my mobile blogging on. So far a great device. We will see how future pictures for the site turn out. Right O!
Attended the my 20 yr High School reunion this past weekend. Had a very good time. Seemed like the crowd was made up of mostly the genuine people from those days. You kind of think before you go to something like that there's no one I really care to see either way. Then you get there and all these people you have not thought about in awhile are there and it was very cool. I hooked up with some really good friends again.
We got these programs that are everyone's (everyone that filled the form out) email, home address, and career, etc... There is also a section that asked what have you been doing since High School. I can not even do justice to one persons entry has to how ridiculous it is. Oh and he was serious in writing it. I thought about scanning it and posting it but I think there are to many real names and places in it. I might try to paraphrase it or censor the names on the scan. Now far be it from me to have a laugh at another person expense. But... hell why not.

20 dollar Oakley shorts

2007-10-18T08:15:00.001-04:00

Steepandcheap.com currently has Oakley Alloy riding shorts. 20 bucks,new. Not like anyone ever looks at this site. Mine I mean.

This way I won't have to smell your sweaty ass helmet.

2007-10-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

I'm sure a lot of practice went into this before filming. It seems really awkward. Kind of cool when they get in sync.

Welcome to Hell. Have a good ride.

2007-10-07T06:42:00.000-04:00

About every 5 years I would say I have to declared a particular ride the worst I have ever had. Usually that is about how long it takes for me to forget just how crappy a previous ride was. And I don't mean a bad ride like the trail was no good and it just wasn't fun. I mean disastrous.
The ride started as a slight detour to get to St. Louis. I had to go for work and I thought I would drive and take a couple of bikes. I took out the car seats. Folded the back seat down and fixed two fork mounts to a board. Both bikes fit inside with only having to lower the seats. This would keep them safer than hanging outside the truck in a parking lot for any length of time.
I researched my trail options. I found a 24 miler billed as the best thing (by some mag) between the Rockies and the Appalachians. It was in Missouri which was good because after a big ride I want to be relatively close to my destination.
The trail was the Berryman trail in the Mark Twain National forest. This is in the the Ozarks. After many two lane roads I got there around 4:30. I kind of had it in my head that it's Missouri and probably flat. I can kick out 24 miles in a few hours. The trail head is at a camp ground with a picnic pavilion. So I gear up and hit the trail. It is recommended that you ride it clockwise which I thought I was. I'm in such a hurry to get the ride in I forget lights and to start my GPS.
The trail is not hard packed. Loose rock like gravel. When it is not that it is peat covered in pine straw. A lot of power is being lost at the ground. It is a tough pedal and kind of sucks at this point. I hit some climbs and then get fast flowing down hill runs. Ahhh yeah now we're talking. There are some humped up areas that provide fun little launches down the runs. Now I am excited about it and looking forward to the next climb to get the pay off. Oh I need to mention how absolutely miserable it is to run through spider webs every 50 ft. My face became raw from wiping it with my gloves trying to constantly get the webs off. Anyhooo on one of the down runs I went into a turn pretty hard and kicked up a softball size rock that smashed into my shin. The mother load of pain welled up and I knew that stopping to look at it would make is worse. I kept riding figuring that the amount of bleeding it was doing would cause any dirt or bone fragments as the case may be to run out. Ran out of water by now. Going down behind any of the hills made it apparent that I was seriously running out of daylight and only halfway into the trail. The map I had was worthless. Later it became physically worthless due to sweat. It was saturated and fell a part in my pocket. I decided when I came up on another fire road or cross trail to take it out. I took an ATV trail and pointed back to the direction I came from. Eventually right as it got dark I made it back to a fire road. I took it for some time and then came to a fork. Of course I went the wrong way. I doubled back and took the other one and eventually it turned into black top and ended up back on the highway or state route. I wouldn't call it a highway. I found the road that lead back to the campground. At that point I am looking at a mile and a half climb up the road to the truck. It is dark, dark, night time now. Half way up the road I pass a trailer with a bunch of junk cars in the yard. If you could call it a yard. And then I hear them. At first I thought it was just one dog and I would get off if needed and kick the stink out of him. NOPE. Three. They started circling the bike as I was riding. Mean bastards. I had no water to spit on them so I geared down and started to crank as hard as I could. My inner thighs cramped up and I was just smoked. I didn't out run them. I went just fast enough that they could not get a bite. I out lasted them and they finally peeled off. Arriving back at the trail head was a great feeling for sure.

A couple days later I road the Chubb trail. Maybe about 20 minutes outside of St. Louis. Super fun. This trail was hard packed and not since Switzerland have I ridden anything with the amount of boulders. Platforms to launch off of and lots of natural kickers. Of course I arrived late again. So this one I rode out and back. I got in about 8 miles. Mtbr has it listed. So, if you get the chance to ride it you should. It gets a little burley. That's what makes it so fun.

Chris Winter post Switzerland pictures

2007-10-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

I know there have been an ungodly amount of pictures post to the Flickr page from Switerland. Chris of Big Mountain is back in his native Canada and has posted pictures his pictures from the trip. Man, was it worth the wait. He has some really great ones of the whole crew.
Enjoy

A new shop rises from the ashes.

2007-10-02T19:15:00.000-04:00

So, it looks like the small section of Trowel Trades where the bike shop is will be moving to bigger and better facilities. We're going to be moving off in a temporary shop while plans are in the works to build a new Trowel Trades building. The temp will be on the same premises. A little bit bigger and the inventory will be bigger. Items ordered from the website will still be available for pick up at T2 bikes in Suwanee. Hopefully we will have what you want already in stock. We're also looking to add T2 bikes to the Trowel Trades billboard. We've gotten a lot of email asking about high items and will we stock them. The answer is of course. So the old Brick and Mortar should be expanding soon. I am getting a plan together to start selling hand built wheelsets. I will be building those and offering them in the new shop. More to come...

Ride Guide TV. Big Mountain Adventures.

2007-09-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

I noticed I was able to download this video that was done last year with Big Mountain Adventures on the Switzerland tour. It really sealed the deal for me. I watched this video many many times before we left on the tour. We rode on some of the exact same trails. Soon as I would come up on one of the trails the imagine would pop into my head from the video. I got very stoked from that. If you were thinking about going this might help you make up your mind.
Enjoy.

Never thought I would say this.

2007-09-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

This Frenchman Kicks ass. He rides his Trials Motorcycle like it was a bicycle. Very impressive.

Pulled this one off itunes.

2007-09-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

I'm working on my Southern Rock collection. Added some Raging Slab. Oooh yeah sweaty and dirty like the South. Hahahaha. And check out Leadfoot's I'm gonna creep up on ya. Just some damn good rockin.

Now, you have to go on a Big Mountain Bike Adventures trip.

2007-09-24T08:22:00.000-04:00

I asked Chris to use the photo of me hucking a 30ft road gap. The picture was a little blurry so he used the one from the train. Well, actually he said he didn't have the time to spent on that much Photo Shopping. HA!
I can't say enough of how great an operation Chris Winter is running with Big Mountain. He really puts on a great tour. When the description says "All Mountain" that is exactly what you get. The blistering climbs and the ripping downhills. Thanks again Chris. Hope to get back on board in the future.
I fully endorse the Big Mountain experience. If you have the means, GO! Enjoy.
Big Mountain.

That's why they call em' business socks!

2007-09-21T07:38:00.001-04:00

Blah hahaha. Flight of the Concords is a parody folk band. They have a show on HBO. It is really funny if you're in to dry humor. Bret and Jermaine make up the band and are actually really good. The songs are funny and very well done. From Electronic and Soulful grooves to rap. They really nail each genre they have written the song in.
This one is one of my favorites.
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