Tale of a Good Ride...

P-dub came over last night. He's in town from Cali and we always plan some kind of shenanigans when were together. Tall Bitch wanted in on the action, and he too is always down for craziness; So the night began...

P-dub and I started the evening with some backyards skills course action. Conditions were grim, slightly muddy which made the skinnies and log rides wicked hard, slick and scary. I was egging [him] on to keep trying all of the stunts. I think there was only one really good crash before we heard Tall Bitch driving up the hill in Quadzilla (the 4x4 van monster travel machine) and we headed back to the house for refreshments.

Soon we were fueled with all we needed for an evening in the saddle. The three of us hit-up some nice dirt singletrack and gravel, eventually leading us to a nice little area with ample lumber and picnic tables that just screamed 'playground'. We moved things around and constructed a good little up ramp to two linked picnic tables and then a steep down back to earth. Many attempts were made until we started getting too cold, and we headed out for more single track goodness.

One small detailI forgot to mention is the fact that I loaned my only light unit to P-dub. I was doing the entire ride, by choice, sans light. Why not make things more challenging right? Next time my light dies on the trail I will be one-up on those who never train for it.

I think all said and done we rode for around 2 hours in the sub-freezing temps. We had a great time - it was good to see ol'  P-dub. The post ride refreshments were excellent and after chatting it up into the wee hours, we called it a night. Riding bikes is stupid fun.

Thanksgiving in Photos...

I had a wonderfully relaxing week in Colorado with my family and friends for the holiday. Non-bike related so I'll save you the torture of words, but here are a few of many images that describe our adventure. Cheers!

Trick Fixed...

I have a few pals into riding what they call Trick Fixed.

I think I'm liking the idea, might have to give it a try.

 Might have to get one of these...

Be Skinny, Live FAT...

I got the first of many NEW ladder bridges finished and installed in the Backyard Skills Trail over the weekend. The previous bridge at this location was the first one built about four years ago, and had broken last week due to age (and The Manimal being so beastly riding it). Just kidding on The Manimal part, but he did ride [it] more than any of you jerks.

So, here she is. A little wider, a little less steep but solid. The leaves off to the side give the illusion of safety, however it's a good two foot drop to a pile of random, leg-crunching rocks below. Just keeping it real.

In the photo below you can see a few of the other features we've got in the yard; The Log Skinny, Long Ladder Bridge and Ghetto Teeter. I really want to pimp this place out, get some new stuff built and some pumpish features to keep the flow. Winter is here. Time to build trail!

Backyard Skills Rebirth...

The Backyard Skills Trail is now a whopping 4 years old. I had constructed all of the wooden features out of scrap lumber, much of which was not treated. In short; the stuff is showing it's age. Today I started to rebuild. Here is half of the first up/down skinny that I hope to install this weekend. I'm planning to rebuild and add new features as I can over the winter so that we have some sweet stunts for spring. If you have any treated lumber you want to get rid of, send it my way (leftovers from that fancy new deck?) If I can get a dump truck load of dirt I'll also be adding a pump track. If you have any ideas for free dirt, let me know!

Fixie Friday @ BuRP...

Friday was a good day. My friend GB called and asked if the kids could come over for a play date. I said sure. Justin called and asked if I could come out and play. I said sure.

Burnsey approaching the hard coner on Highline

We met at BuRP for a short lap of the good stuff. The day was perfect for riding, a great change from the freezing cold ride a few nights ago. The wind was howling but inside the canopy of the trees it was perfect. Justin is getting stronger by the day and was enjoying a little more play time on the hard rock challenges that BuRP is known for. We did the Wagon loop then headed over and up to the East Side, dropped back into Little Moab, under Martha Truman and climbed out to finish our ride on Highline; the beast of them all. We played around a bunch on the technical stuff. If we did not send something the first time we'd try again and again until we were either totally denied or able to send.

Justin on one of the many rock playgrounds
on the North section of Highline

At some point I realized that I was running way short on time to get back to meet the babysitter, so we started rolling faster to get back to the cars. Of course that's when Justin blew his rear tire; what looked to be a 1" tear ended up being two holes. We were able to toss in a plug and let the Stans Sealant do the rest and we were back up-and-going in seconds. We made it all the way out of the trails but when we hit the pavement, the plug shot out of the tire and it was like the fourth of July; Stans was shooting everywhere (but eventually sealed). We made it back to the cars without another repair stop.

Justin refusing to take any Sally-lines

I am still feeling like a chump, riding slow and poorly. Must be something in the air, but I still have hella-fun. The bike felt good, the ride was good, the company was good. Thanks GB for giving me the time, Thanks Justin for the motivation.

Ice Cubed...

Holy crap! Temps here in KC have dropped! It's full on winter temps, but with no snow or rain the trails are in perfect condition for riding. You've just gotta man-up to get out and take advantage.

Last nights P-ride was chilly business. It did not feel too bad as we geared-up to roll-out, but by the time we actually got rolling, the thermometer was dropping to as a guess - the twenties. The Manimal, who's named not only for his grizzly riding style and fearless go for it attitude, but for his layer of man-fur that keeps him warmer than the average man. Tonight was no different; he was in shorts and summer riding shoes. I on the other hand was prepared for blistering cold and still ended up with frozen fingers and toes towards the end of our 3 hours ride.

We thought it would be a good idea to start off the evening by riding a few laps on the backyard skills course. The Manimal was on top of his game while The Kid, Billy and I were having more falls than success. Here we have The Kid riding the Stone Skinny with a foot out for balance, a tricky little obstacle.

The Manimal hit the Log Skinny with success from both directions, after almost OTB'ing it at least once. Here's video evidence.

We finally head out with a few new objectives for the night, first being a ride up some steep switchbacks that we normally only ride down. We were surprised at how doable they were, though we did not send them perfectly, it's obvious that they will go. At this point The Kid is having pedal issues; coming un-clipped on every Log-hop or rock obstacle and decides to head back for repairs. In his absence the rest of us do a loop of sweet single track and then rendezvous with The Kid, only to ride the switchbacks a second time.

At this point my legs go bye-bye. We've been out an hour and I am already riding like a chump. It is what it is so we keep going. We hit some steep climbs and one of the potential future Pirate cXc courses. More hills and were back on rogue trail. We eventually get to the fast wide single track once again and play around on a few log crossings, log skinnies and technical climbs. When there's only four of us riding, it allows for a lot more horsing around and less hammering. I like that.

So now we'd been out two plus hours and were all getting cold. Time to head back home and call it a night. We arrived back at the lair at near midnight. Wow, we'd been out a while! All good times must come to an end, and even though the bonfire was prepped and Hot Tub ready for bodies, we called it a night after swilling a few barley pops and talking shop.

I had a helluva time sleeping last night. The P-ride kick-my-ass, hard. I am hurting. I feel like I got run over by a train and then beat with a lead pipe in a dark alley...or maybe it had something to do with riding my rigid single speed on all those rocks...

Luv and Hate...

My new Groovy Cycles Luv Handles arrived over the weekend. I am super psyched to give these suckers a test ride. They are pretty bitchin'. I'm thinking the comfort factor is going to be at an all time high, especially running a rigid fork.

On a side note; I mounted-up the CX tires that Dirt Dobber gave me. I HATE SKINNY TIRES! Do I need to say it again? As you can see, they look mega-stupid on my 29er. I've already de-mounted those suckers and am going to pay them forward. Skinny tires remind me of elitist, smooth legged girly-boys. I just can't go there.

Instead, I mounted up a set of Specialized The Captain Grid UST (2.0 rear, 2.2 front). Now [these] are some  real man tires! I'm all kinds of ready for winter conditions with the Cappy's.

I do still plan to follow through on racing a CX race before the season's over. I'll just be doing it on a mountain bike instead of a roadie-bike-on-steroids. You're allowed to bunny-hop those dumb barriers right? I prefer to stay on my bike (because I can).

Lumber Jacked...

Last night my legs exploded all over the trail. Maybe they imploded. Whatever happened they hurt like a mofo this morning. The Kid and I went for a good 3 plus hour ride in the dark last night. We started out playing on the backyard skills trail; riding the skinnies, rock obstacles and teeter. Doing [that] stuff by headlamp is pretty insane. I mostly sucked, but it was still fun. Eventually we decided it was time to get in some mileage. The Kid had already been out for at least an hour scouting trial to see if anything was dry enough to ride, and when he rolled-in without a muddy bike, I knew it was game-on. Heading down the Lawrence hill is always a slap-in-the-face in winter months. The cold crisp air, cooler and cooler with every mph gained and foot of elevation lost. By the bottom you're frozen, not even close to being warmed up. Before you know it you're looking at a solid climb up and into the singletrack. After another ten minutes our bodies had warmed up, but the temperature was falling fast.
The Kid is always good for some horsing around, and so it goes. We'd stop and ride over, hop over or just fall over Logs that we otherwise might ride around. We'd try to run fallen trees as skinnies. I mostly crashed a lot and just tried to keep up; it was one of those rides. I just never got my legs and was hurting the whole time, yet still had a good time fo sho. 

One of the 4,268* logs on the P-ride loop

Post ride; what else to do on a chilly night but crack open some brewsky's and sit in the hot tub under a full moon and talk bikes, racing and training. I really need to train. I hear that helps. 

Sorry all you bitch-ass-bitches missed out. I'm sure these hard rides make you stronger...or so I'm told.

Sand Loop...

This Weeks Pirate Night Ride was postponed. Bummer but so it goes; we needed the rain. Tonight (Thursday) we will do a P-ride with a bit of a flair. Due to wet trails, we will be headed off scouting some good future race course options for the upcoming  Pirate cXc Series. This series will be a blend of XC and CX style racing, at night with courses that are good for both bikes types. More info to come in the following weeks. The Pirate cXc Series will bridge the racing season gap between XC and CX, so welcome to year round racing!

Moving on... last night I could not keep myself off the bike. My cousin Brad caught word that the LRT was dry, that he had a new light system he wanted to test out on the trail and there was a full moon. I was totally IN. I drove to Lawrence around 8:30 to meet Brad for a good ride on the Lawrence River Trail. This trail is super fun, smooth and fast. Brad must have been sneaking in some ride time recently because his pace the entire loop was rock solid. He gave me a tour of the new Sand Loop, which was good training for CX with all of the sand pits and cornering. The trail was perfectly tacky, unlike I'd ever experienced there before. Even with the monsoon rains we'd had the past two days straight, the only water we encountered was the creek crossing, and that's because it's a creek. The moon was rocking, the air crisp, and the trees along the river are flippin' HUGE! I forgot how awesome the trees are.
After the ride I headed home to enjoy the moon, stars and a dip in the hot tub. Man, what a fun night. Just what the doctor ordered.

Thanks Brad for the motivation. It was a great pseudo Pirate ride after all!

Full Moon, Giant Trees, Crisp Air and Dry Trail!