Kid's and Bikes

I always try to get the kid's out on rides. Dirt or street. We've been doing some 26 mile around town ride lately so that has been cool. Solomon is a bit to young to ride that far , so last night we did a short around town ride. Way short. We cruised over to a local school to have a drag race. We had a lot of tire sizes represented. 29", 26", 24", and two 20" 'ers. I won but in the commotion we we're all turning around and Louis cut off Otto and he had a big crash.He rolled well but lost some skin on his elbow and shoulder and sprained his wrist. He ad to ride home with one hand, so he crashed into a tree just to make it even more memorable.

All and all...i think he would rather crash in the dirt.

The ride to work

I've ridden to work 5 times now and it's been pretty fun. I found a good route that keeps me on bike path's maybe 50% bike lane's 30% neighborhoods 20% and 10% Danger zone riding. I'm riding my Surly Karate Monkey. It's a 29'er and I've been running it Single speed, with BIG fat road tires. Schwalbe Big Apple, 2.35. I cruise through some neighborhoods right from the start then hit a bike path which takes me through 2 town's through 2 parks and over the Tualitan river. Then it's up hill for 5 or 6 miles then the last bit is the danger zone section. Country road with no shoulder and Lot's of trucks. Other than that it's great. Coming home today Marla and Louis met me in Tigard and rode the rest of the way with me. We even went to New Seasons on the way for some food. This bike commute thing aint too bad.

Riding in the heat

Not a big deal for some. I know that Pac man loves to ride in the hot weather but i'm from Oregon and i like it cooler. Mid 90's today in Hood River and it sucked the enrgy right out of you. I took Louis (our 12 y/o) for his first time at Post and he was kinda nervous on the way. We hooked you with Chip which is always a good time then we met up with Don Coyote,Todd( who got 2nd place at the beacon race in Spokane) and Daver. On the first run we took that single track that bypass's two chair and it was dusty. Louis was trying to keep up with the big boys and crashed like 4 times that i saw. He was following Chip so close that the dust was about a foot high and you couldn't see the trail. Boom! e clips a stump,Wham! he hit's a big rock..and so on.He got up fast though. Gotta keep up with Chip. When we got to 8 track he was getting worked. On 8 track he crashed through a berm and flipped OTB. I was starting to get nervous. He made it to the bottom ok and we even saw Maing and the little Woman on the way down. Second run we lost Chip but gained J.R. his son and Robholio. Same deal but even HOTTER. Louis opted to stay behind and guard Davers truck. Good idea i think. The 2nd run was hard for me. the heat i think and lack of food and water. Little things like that. Don Coyote hit a few cool things and mostly we sweated. When we got to the bottom i was spent and ready to go to sleep. Another great ride

Black Rock Shuttle Day

I ride down at Falls City a lot over the winter, you hike up and ride down. So when a shuttle day happens I'm there. 135 riders,3 trucks and as many runs as you can get in. I rode down with Daver and Jeff. Dave had been before but Jeff was a first timer. We hooked up with Frisco right away then Whiplash and Raul ( the local border jumper). We went to the top and hit Bonzi all the way down. They've added some great stuff at the top. Then on our 2nd run we hit the upper part of Granny's kitchen. Whiplash and Frisco hit the cheese grater. That is a cool move. Down to the E.T. ( Endless Tranny) jump. I hit it right after it was re-built and it was HUGE. Now as it's so dry it's a really fast run in. I hit it twice and was laughing all the way. We headed down to the Halo area. The drop to long ladder to drop is really fun. I think the next run we lost Frisco and Whiplash so we took Sickter nar all the way to behind Basic Training. The next run i forget and finally we hooked back up with Whiplash,Frisco and Flying J and BIG Craig. We took Middle Bonzi to the mighty E.T. jump. We sessioned that for a while. I did a couple Fonzie style. I guess i was getting tired. We rolled to the bottom and Jeff,Daver and i left. I think both Dave and Jeff had a great time. Dave had a couple of small crashes but nothing compared to his Helicopter crash. Flying J did a 1 handed no footer to keister slam. I thought Mtn Rider was the king of that move but Flying j's a close second.

The Video clip is Frisco on the cheese grater.

Week day ride

Had Friday off so i took Otto for his first trip to Post Canyon in Hood River. We met up with Dave and his brand spankin new Iron Horse 7 point and headed to the top. Geared up and we we're off. Otto was getting worked by all the big rocks. His bike is a little specialized with 24" wheels and a mini fork. He had his full face helmet and pads so i figured he would be ok. Probably. After the rocky single track right before 2 chair we took another sweet,rocky single track down,down,down. I took a bad line and got sent over the bars landing between big rocks but not on them. Yay. After that it was flowing trail with ton's of turns. We were laughing. Otto did great and Dave was loving the new bike. We came out at the bottom of Egg hunt and dropped into 8-track and Dave got to test his bike a bit more with some cool roll downs. Otto was getting tired and had a few crashes. We fooled around at family man and Drop out a bit then headed to the bottom. Only one run but it was like 6:30 when we got to the bottom so we needed to head out. Gotta love driving home through the Columbia River Gorge.

We Rode to the grocery store

It was a 27 mile ride. We live 2 mile's from the store. We took the long way.

Browns Camp

I was going to do a ride with Dave and Louis and Otto at Post canyon but it was looking wet and it would have been too muddy for there first time there. So we went to Browns Camp instead. Dave brought a friend Jeff and we we're off. It was wet from the get go and just got greasier as the ride went on.Louis leading. He is always in the big ring for most of the ride. He gets all excited and has to be in the lead. His biggest problem is shifting. I climbed some stupid sections on the SS. Lucky i guess. Otto had a little crash but other than that there was no carnage. Louis was so wiped out that he practically fell asleep in the back of the truck before we left.

Fun ride.

Sleepless in Spokane

The Beacon Blast Off was the first Down Hill race i ever participated in. The Red Raja and i went in 04 and we were so stoked. I've been trying to get back there for a while but this year i made it. It was Maing, Irish Rob, SSdomination, T-mac and I, and we were ready to ride. We arrived at like 2 am Sat morning , so not much sleep before Main and i loaded every ones bikes to go to practice. We walked the course and checked out some lines and realized it was getting HOT. Practice went good. I had a small crash, but mostly i was dieing pushing my bike to the top.After practice we headed for the room and mexican food and then the rain,wind and thunder started. What a change. Mexi food was good even if the waiter was rude. After that it was Toby Maguire frozen then at last SLEEP. Up at 7 or 7:10 and to the hill. Conditions we're much better than Sat. The rain was on our side. Raining on my first run and it went ok. I knew i didn't push it since i didn't puke. 1 hour break between 1st and 2nd runs so i watched Maing and SS domination on a jump. BIG! 2nd run was better for me. Cut 7 seconds off my time which was good. I could have done better on some sections but oh well. Long drive and to bed at midnight, Up at 6 for another day. Man ...i wish it was Friday .