Hitting the dirt

I had been talking to Maing about doing after work ride this week. After work for me but not for him. He ride's. Anyway...we planned to hit up a local DH trail that we hoped was not a soupy mess. Flying J decided to join too and it was on. We met at the bottom , by the beanie. Nope, don't touch it, and headed up. got into some mud early on and i was sliding around a bit. Super cool trail though. I hit a couple of steep roll downs and then on one i got slammed, rib's first into a log and rocks. Hmm. di another run and felt quite sore. I think i bruised some rib's. So much for my riding weekend. I'll be riding this trail again soon for some payback.

A nice day?

That's a rare thing lately around here, but guess what. 78 deg today and it was on a weekend to boot. (whatever that means) Rode some great single track with Chip and his daughter, Dave, and 2 of my kid's(Otto and Louis). We started at a fast pace and since the winter has been long Louis started bonking early but i kept him going by saying inspiring things like " Keep Going".

I'm still on the single speed as my other trail bike's are not built right now. It's good though, just stand up and pedal. Trail condition's were PERFECT, with only a few muddy spots. Creek crossings were bigger than the last time but that make for some exciting kid riding. We fooled around on some log rides and generally enjoyed riding and not being cold. Otto hit this log over that was half the size of his wheels(and since he's on 24" wheels that's big) and managed to make it over. I may half to check his big ring for bent teeth, or just get him a bash ring. It's always fun riding trails with the kid's, cause you never know what's going to happen.

Fluid Ride Cup #1 2008

What a long weekend. Maing was slated to pick me up at 6 am but he had some issues and was a little late. No big deal. Oh..but he forgot his shoes. That's a big deal. Since he was wearing sandals. In the rain. Anyway..we got his shoes and got fuel then the turn signals went out. Hmm? A sign of things to come? Nah.. Let's get going i say. We we're having a good time listening to the Crucified when i hear Maing say " Uh oh..no throttle" Hmm. So we coast into the rest stop which was thankfully right in front of us. Short story long...bad alternator. Oops! so we wait for the tow trust and stand in the wind. People watching and me taking pictures. Finally the Marine tow truck driver shows and he get's the truck up on the flat bed but can't get the trailer hitch switched out for Maings mini hitch. Maing showed he has what it takes and never stopped trying to get the stupid thing off and finally succeeded. Yea maing! So we drive, to the shop where Billy-bob is gonna fix the truck, we go to the Hick cafe called the Place. Never to early for grease right? So Billy-bob is done and we stand there way too long while they try to figure out what to do with a credit card , then we're on the road again. Very scenic drive but it's all ready a long day. We arrive in Port Angeles around 3 ish which is WAY too late but we're still positive. We find out the shuttle stops at 5 and we run to the trucks and get 3 run's in before going to watch the Dual slalom. Awesome! Man can those guy's ride. Got to see Nathan Riddle, and other N.W. pro's. Got some good video and pic's. So Maing wanted to do one more run since we had , like no practice ..so we hiked for 25 min and did another run. Good track. Nice and wet. Bailed for the Motel and got a big laugh when the moron at the desk said he gave away our reservation. I said " why would you do that?" He said "i thought it was you" Very confused at this point i come back with a good one " Did you ask for their names? He say's we only had 1 reservation so i thought it was you. Whatever. then he say's " I can't give you a room anyway. We have water problems and stuff. Trying not to laugh i ask if he can recommend a place. He say's no. I say " See ya never" and leave. What a gong show. I'm starting to wonder if we'll live the out the night. Found a place and headed for a good looking mexican place to eat. Saw Geoff Gulivich there and tried in vain to get Maing's wife to go up and ask for a autograph and say "Thanks Wade". that would have been rad. Crashed ( in the motel not the truck) and headed to the coffee shop and then the race. One practice run and then the waiting game. I did really bad but still had a great weekend. Dirk destroyed his bike, Derrek was crazy on his Hard Tail, Maing was bummed, Rob got 9th. Saw Katrina Strand and some other Pro's so that was really cool. Met Mike Estee finally. Looking forward to the next one.