Sick while riding

I had planned a good XC ride for a week and rode quite a bit after work in anticipation of. Even rode to work one day. Then on Friday i started to get a sore throat. Typical.  I try to never cancel a ride so this was no exception. I woke up Sat morning really congested with an even more sore throat and got ready to go. Today it was Louis, Jeff from next door,Dale, Jim and 2 of his kid's. Dave was going to go and ride his new frame but ended up being sick also and had some stuff to do in the afternoon. We met Dale on the 

way and hooked up with the Swanson's at the trail head. Super foggy and colder than I had expected. We rode the

 usual trails old and new. I was worked from the start. Hack-ing and trying to stay on the trail. It was kinda greasy but really fun. Jeff rode some cool log's and had a good time i think. Didn't even crash. In fact no one did .  

I think the best thing to do when your sick is drink even more coffee than normal and go mountain biking.

Trail work

About a month ago We went to Browns camp to ride and it was a complete disaster. We only went a mile or so and there were 6 tree's down. Lame excuse for a ride. So Today I decided to clear some trail. I took 3 of my boy's. Henry,Louis and Solomon. We had a dull hatchet and a crappy 8" pruning saw. We managed to cut through 6 trees but there were more. We pretty much cleared 1 mile of the 8.5 mile trail before our saw broke and the kid's got blisters. 

I'll be back.

Solomon's first Mountain Bike Ride

He's been bugging me for awhile so today we did it. We went to Forrest park to minimize the anguish . Forrest park is the largest city park in the nation. All single track is off limits to mountain bikes but that will change soon. I hope. So we rode the fire roads and had a blast. We only rode a little over 6 miles but he had fun. It was supper muddy so that added to the challenge. Some of the challenge was dodging hikers and dog's. It was a good time and no one was injured. That's a switch. Next time were taking him to the single track. Blood will flow. Hopefully just from me.

Perfect dirt

That's what it was today in SW Washington. Perfect dirt. It's Feb, not exactly the time for that. Usually it's a mucky mess that fouls your drive train. SS are great in the winter (and all the time) but today there was no mess, no muck just perfect dirt. We had Daver, and the young punks Louis and Otto (mattic). We rode some of my favorites I have been riding for 6 years or so, then we headed up the big hill to ride some of the new stuff. The K.M.A is a fine trail that really represents the pacific N.W. Lot's of moss, moist dirt and tight singletrack through the trees. There are three sections to K.M.A and I have ridden all of them with Paul from Wa. but every time I try to link them together I get messed up. Today was no exception. Things were going great with no wrong turns and then we lost the trail on a dbl track. I think if it was Dave and I we would have looked longer but the kid's were really tired so we hiked back up to where we could get out and headed down the lower section where I was familiar. O well, next time.

 Every ride day has a few highlights. Today's were: seeing a truck load of freshly slaughtered pigs in the back of a pick up on the freeway and Daver doing a cool log ride 3 times in a row and Dave breaking his chain and fixing it in record time.

Filming

Did a bit of filming down at falls city last weekend. Pretty fun. Jake fell, Jamie fell, Derek rode  and I didn't even take my bike. How's that for dedication?  A short clip?  ok

Wind

A few weeks ago Jamie ,Raoul and I were on our way back from Post Canyon and it was SO windy we had to stop at Rooster Rock state park and experience it.

Shortest ride this year( I hope)

I recently got a hold of Dale who I hadn't talked to or seen in a while.  So of course since rides I said "Let's Ride!" SO it was Louis,Otto, Dale and I . My mistake was going to check out Browns camp. Sure it's a bit early , but the weather has been nice and I'm not too smart. We say snow along the HWY and in the parking area but i still had hopes of riding. Lot's of sticks on the trail but the surface was really good. Then we came to the 1st of 3 big trees across the trail. Then came snow, small trees down and more snow and...well you get the idea. 1 mile in 1 hour, but I did get a good shot of Otto on a rare spot of un-cluttered trail. . I figured we should get out while we could and head home to watch MTB videos instead. I'm getting smarter. By the time I die I should be a genius. 

I ride the bike in Washington

Headed up to Growlers w/Louis and Otto ( son # 2 and 3) and met up with Paul for a ride. It was Paul, his wife Mel, Jack, Ryan and a couple of others. Rode some trails that were new to me (which is good.) Only 10 miles but on the single speed that makes it like.....12 miles. ?  Great ride  and no flats...

Well except for the van on the way home.   We have great roadside 

assistance . So we stayed warm in the van and watched a few videos on the I pod,  while the guy changed the tire..  A good time for sure. 

Progress

I'm getting parts and my Enduro is getting close to being built. I need Tires and ?.... Brake pads and pedals? not sure. Tomorrow Growlers!!

Black Rock

I hadn't been down to the Black Rock trails since October, so it was good to be back. Boy was it dry. A couple of weeks of no rain makes for great trails. I had a full van going down. It was Chip, Noah, an old friend Jeff and Paul and Mel from the Growlers gang. Lips and his buddie followed. We met up with Jamie,Derek and the flying chalupa and morman Craig once we got down there. Cold,  but not once we got to Basic. A few runs and we were tired and ready for sleep. A good time was had by all i think. Did i say that Fonzie was there?