Archive for March, 2007

31
Mar

So here it is!

Hey peeps, besides the test drivin in front of the McDs place, yesterday and 2day were the real test drives. Yesterday was a cool spin in the peavine area with an awesome friend. She had the patience of Yoda himself with all the tweakin that was demanded of me. Axle displacement was the big problem. Despite everyones lake of ability to trust my wrenchin skills and ability to learn on the fly…I can figure shit out. My other problem was dialin in the fork by de Italianos and de compression y rebound required from my hips down dat I haven’t had to rely on in about 4 fuckin years…feels good to be alive again.

Today, I didn’t call anyone cause I didn’t want to slow anyone down and I wanted to ride the 2 to 1 at my pace…had to stop twice for axle adjustments to stop the annoyin rotor to caliper rub…all good now!

It was the same ride that I did with Marcus and da Geek, except this time I started on Russle road which adds about 7 miles.

Towards the end of the ride I was followed by some Vultures! Don’t know if they smeeled DEATH on me or if they simply recognized one of their own hooverin ground level!

2morrow, I’m meetin some homies at the Backcountry in Truckee so we can saddle up and rally in reno of all fuckin places…please melt snow! Rim jobs are on the agenda!

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Pics never come out right for me…forgive…ya’ll get the jist!

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Is that? It is! The man, the mythe, the legend himself, checkin on the final product!

Miguelito

29
Mar

Don’t mind me…

The folowing was filmed at the TMCC Ski Building Class of Wednesday last. It shows Japhy Rider and Grislybikegeek extricating Taldor from a tight spot.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3s8sEYzHWQ]

And speaking of stooges, I witnessed Smithers atempt a Kippered Herring on Washington St the other day. It was mighty impressive.

-M

29
Mar

Picture speak’s for itself!!!

Noonervulture

Supersize Dat Bitch!(you’re welcome)

27
Mar

Nooner’s effort wheelsmithin’

word on the street is that it’s just a matter of days until Nooner takes delivery of Tahoe/Reno’s newest Vulture single speed. to my knowledge, it’ll be the 5th Vulture dwelling in the area. I’d be happy to say 50th… but not yet. keep makin’ the fly frames, Vulture, and they’ll sell themselves! i can’t say how many times people have stopped me to ask about my bike and jesticulated about someday, sooner or later, getting something just like it. right on then - best get on that b/c sooner is better than later. think of all the trail riding you’ll miss out on!!!

anyway, since Nooner was game to take on the “herculean” task of building up his new SS frame himself (just for fun), i extended access to the garage and tools to provide a safe haven for his learnin’ and wrench turnin’ efforts. the caveats being that i get to watch-help-taunt while drinking as much beer as i want and listen to any crazy shitkicker music that surfaces in the iPod’s shuffle algorithm. didn’t phase Nooner a bit. here he is lacin’ up his new “blinglespeed” WTB hubs with some tough as shit Sun Singletrack rims and DT Swiss spokes. Good choices, Nooner. if you win races, it won’t be b/c you’ve got the lightest wheels on the block, but then again, if you walk out, it won’t be b/c your shit was wambly.

spokin'

tensionin

with a few sober turns of the spoke key today, i’m happy to say, these puppies are shred ready

blinglespeed

soooo, now all we need is a frame…

adios,

Japhy rider

27
Mar

The amazing Bando!!!

bando!
The amazing Bando demonstrates his feathery-light touch as he crosses the Incandescent Rocks WSA without even leaving FOOTPRINTS!
More pics on Nevada Outside.

Also, JW et.al toured Mt. Emma.
Mt. Emma

Where is Mt. Emma?

-M

26
Mar

Grizz Day!

Saturday March 24 was the internatiolatic honorary Grizzly Bike Geek Day. Where were you? The order of the day was trail shreddin’ on fast and fun trails near Auburn, CA. Nooner has done a fine job of covering spec’s of the area and vibe in the previous post (thanks Nooner) - I’ll just fill in some deet’s… a call to action boiled down to GBG on his Vulturified Dean, Nooner on perhaps one of his last rides as singlespeedless rider, and me on my blingy new wheels anchored to the trusty, tall, fast and black VULTURE.

riders

The day was all about furious fun trail riding in moderate weather with modest crowds to share trail with and mega poison oak lining trails nearly everwhar to keep you honest. That’s OK, not itchin’ yet… Other wild life, let’s see, I got within a few (10) feet of turkey vulture (I’m sure it wasn’t so cool to the vulture), Nooner stalked a snake…

snake

Just about everything was greening up, in bloom, or already boiling with trouble (the poison oil was glossy with terror-inducing toxins). It was kinda like riding a very large Easter basket - with kickers and log tricks and long climbs. One note-able was watching Grizz hit a nice lil’ double jump. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzdhxVPmpfM]
A minute later a clutch of lift served riders whirred down the trail- all riding double squish big travel downhill bikes and wearing plastic “armor.” The first rider, must’ve been the alpha male, hit the double, landed in the flat after the tranny and overshot the left hand turn leading onto a logstacle. The 3 riders following him all did stylish wheelies next to the kicker. Sweet, I wish caught all of that on the dig vid. Grizz nails the tranny on his rigid single speed in spandex with a pack on, downhill guy #1 flies off the jump, downhill guys 2 through 4, all on big bikes, ride around the jump. Hahahaha, reminds me of the R.O.T. (rule of thumb)…

Grizz

“Never underestimate locals, singlespeeders, or Grizzly old dudes.”

 

25
Mar

Trailblazers in Auburn!

Saturday mornin started with egg and cheese b-burritos.  I was a few items short of the killer-burritto fit for champions…made my way over to Joe’s Coffee in Truckee, they make a good power beverage.  Nothing of a lesser potency would be tolerated for a day of ridin with the Griss and Japhy (the Rough) Rider.  We met up at the Safeway parkin lot (on McD time of course) and conserved pollution outputs with the ol’ carpool trick.  Made it to the confluence in Auburn without any piss or shit stops.  Fuck yeah! 

We threw on our bicyclin uniforms…Rough Rider and I with the baggy shorts and leave to Griss to think it was a fuckin race and break out the cute-ass, tight-ass, skin-tight shorts!  Wind resistance, that’s why I couldn’t keep up with homie.  And McD, well, he’s just a freak of nature.  Much love for both those guys and all the Strizzzzipers.

So the Stipers mounted up their bicycles and broke for the trail in a fiery vengeance.  We started with about a four mile climb (those guys are good at pop-a-wheelies) to the Foresthill Divide loop (roller coaster style) connector trail (about 3 miles) to the actual divide loop (about 10 or 12 miles of more roller coaster) back through the connector trail and up to the drop in for the Tunnel Trail (Mob Hill) where the Griss put shame to some downhillers and we all jibbed this log a few times!

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Griss

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J.R.

From there we crossed the road and pursued the confluence with some fast puckerin low angle downhill to the Ram for some Soda Pop, a dip in the watery snow, and a quick peep at some boobies on family picture day.   I must say, “it was a good day, I didn’t have to use my AK!”  

-Nooner     

23
Mar

more cricket stories

well everyone, after Taldor’s suggested strategy for traveling light i figured i better just post again rather than comment…

how cute

how cute ~ a boy and a girl, at about 1/2 to 1/3 scale of actual size!

dude, crows don’t even eat the crickets ~ though i’ve heard wayward sea gulls do. man that stuff reaks. it’s especially funky cause the live ones seem to be drawn out on the road to eat the dead ones, and then they get splatted too. they get sooo thick on Austin Pass that NDOT comes through with snow plows. the piles of cricket carcasses in the ditch along 50 were still there in late August, and a dark line of litter even remained last November. eeeewwww!

next time we’re out travelin’ in cricket season i’ll be sure to collect a few. put one in baby food sized jar of formaldehyde or some clear epoxy…

hahahaha, i just remembered the time i rode my motorbike to Missoula to climb the North Face of North Trapper Peak in the Bitterroots with some buddies and i pulled over at the rest stop on I-80 near Battle Mtn. i was getting drowsy and was going to take a nap on a picnic bench. oh the stench from mashed crickets made my nose hairs curl! the flood lights at the rest stop seemed to draw the buggers out in the open. what was especially weird was seeing them crawling all over the walls of the rest stop buildings, jumping around, chirping… i just stood there and watched in horror, tried to eat a bean and cheese burrito that i’d packed next the the muffler of my moto to heat up, and gagged. i got back on the bike and rode all the way to Wells before getting stuck at a gas station at 11pm due to a car hitting a telephone pole in Jackpot, NV causing a failure that left the whole Wells area w/o power. i didn’t have enough fuel to go anywhere, so i waited and met the other stranded motorbike tourers. what an experience…

i like the whiskey part though. i’d probably just carry a pistol and some tequila. come to think of it, cricket season is just around the corner! anyone up for a fixed gear loop around the Toiyabes in early June? it could be a 2 dayer… with dirt and pavers from Reese River V. to Austin down to Big Smokey over the Toiyabes again on the Kingston Canyon road, and back to the rigs. just an idea… Dharma Biker said it was really freaky with those things jumping up in front of his bike when touring across 50, hitting his bare legs or getting crushed by his bike tires.  how fun does that sound?!  on a lighter note, there are a few hot springs out there, which could be hit up w/o too much extra travel.  i wonder if crickets swim?

J.r.

22
Mar

oh my, i wished i’d had my still cam

this has been a fantastic day! started off with a visit to my dentist to have a few old fillings replaced with a temporary crown and a few other spots dialed in with new fillings. at least that got me on out of bed early and hammering to the old SW part of town to make my 8 o’clock appointment… nothing too exciting there, other than fix shredding around traffic with ice on the ground as the result of lawn sprinklers in the wee hours.

cuttin’ across town i pull up to a light on Keitzke and there’s a character there in a holding pattern, straddling a little bmx bike wearing some knee high horse riding boots, jeans, a baseball jacket, and a little kids ski helmet with a bashguard that covered his nose rather than his chin. fierce blue eyes gazed out. “ho there” i offered as i span to a stop. “single speed, eh?” was his reply. “yep, just like your bike there” i replied. the light turned green and i was off, riding away i noticed his gnarled hands adorned in prison lookin’ tat’s and rings. this dude was interesting, but i wasn’t about to wait around and get his story… a picture would’ve been worth a 10^3 words, at least.

then i stopped by REI to see about scoring some new tele bindings for my ski building project, but was a half hour early. while waitin outside, who should roll up but John, “the Dharma Biker!” i met John last June when Grizz and i drove US50 to Ely, NV for the Beers, Tears, and Fears mountain bike enduro. we were eastbound in Grizz’s truck crossing the Graben east of Eureka (i think) and were stoked to see so many tour bikers spinning away through the sagebrush ocean. actually, they must’ve been stoked to have finally cleared the cricket slicks that plagued the highways from Austin to Eureka that time of year. these tourists usually ride in pairs and are pretty well decked out in cycling gear.

Mormon Crickets in Austin Pass, NV

then we passed some dude on an old Nishiki with low rider panniers on the front and a rack on the back with panniers and pack on the shelf. he had a head band on, scruffy knotty hair, some cut-off pants, a t-shirt, sneakers, and he was machin’! we pulled over in a safe spot and waited for him to pass. he slowed up to take a breather and see what we needed. my first inclination was to offer him a beer, which he declined, then we shared some trail food which he gladly partook in. he was heading to Colorado, travelin’ solo, and definately spartan. after wishing him well we got back on the road, riding high in the pickup and stoked on his adventure. we made it the remaining 125 miles to Ely, found the race venue and struck out for the Schell Creek Ridge Trail (which is now designated Wilderness and not legal to ride, gasp). that night we made it back to Ely, set camp in the grass of the park near downtown, and settled in for a few beers and rest. the next day the race went off and was a bunch of fun. the apres race party and awards were underway when who should roll up but John, the tourer we’d met the day before! he’d fired off 125 miles and was lookin’ for a place to camp and hangout. welcome! the man must’ve been chargin’ to have covered that distance with that load and that old road bike. he pitched camp near the racers’ tents and rolled right in with everyone. he even joined us for some dancing and bar hoppin’ in downtown Ely - though he declined the booze. coffee, it appeared with his addiction, and vagabonding. on our way back home i likened him to a character in Kerouac’s book Dharma Bums, and have since referred to him simply as “Dharma Biker” when recounting that weekend.

today, John the Dharma Biker told me he finished his tour to Colorado by heading to Steamboat in NW CO, then up to WY, and finally a bunch of backpacking in the Cascades of WA. well, Dharma Biker, good seeing you again. hope to hang out soon, do some riding, and talk about travel. best of luck with your upcoming big bike ride across the US of A!

“may the road rise to meet you and the wind be at your back”

Japhy rider

21
Mar

Linkage

RenoRambler tackles a truck.

Don’t forget about the Cow Canyon Re-Seeding. Let’s get together and ride out there to help!

A Rowell Photo show @ Patagucci next month.

And now this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2ZgaQ_H-Y]

-M




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