It’s always nice when you can singlespeed something you use to suffer up on the little-ring. Juni and I went up cow canyon yesterday AM. Weather was great! The morning sun coming over the ridge from mogul was beautiful and even though there is all that building going on that area still seems almost remote.
Only intrusions are the sound of the Interstate, the one house poking over the hill from Mogul and the trenches, braids, stutterbumps and mudboggs cut into the trail by ATVs and motorbikes.
What used to be a sweet fast flowy and technical downhill is now unrideable in some spots thanks to motorbikers riding up the hill under full throttle in wet to muddy conditions. Now I’m not going to say those guys have no right to the trail (cause the USFS has already said that) but this could have been, and still could be, a good area where we can share the trail. The only thing we ALL need to do is concede this one simply tenant of two wheeled fun: If you can’t get up or down something without dragging your rear wheel, or digging a rut up a climb then you’re a hack and need to slow down and learn how to ride. Or am I missing something? Is that the goal these guys have? Do they see a nice trail and say, “Wow! how awesome would it be to obliterate that and make it almost impossible to ride!!!!!”
That said, this trail is not well aligned and is completely unsustainable even under the best of circumstances. Perhaps the Poedunks will get to it one of these years. I can’t help but think that when citizens look up at areas like that and then consider weather they want the City / County to limit development they think, “what’s the point? It’s just road warriors tearing shit up out there anyway…”
I was thinking about that skiBASE jump I witnessed the other day and morbidly fascinating about plummeting to death at the bottom of the Silver Legacy. But that’s the worst case scenario there. Maybe the absolute worst is that you crash into a spectator and take him/her out too. That would be bad. Still the probable outcomes are such that Shane McConley et. al. still go for stuff like that because the general consequences are limited. That’s pretty much the same reason any of us do any of the seemingly risky things we do from hitting the jump @ the Radio towers to dropping a chute we know could avalanche.
Here’s a little video that illustrates that kind of thinking on, let’s say, a GLOBAL scale…
Check out this video featuring Rep. McHenry (R, NC) demonstrating a crystal clear understanding of a truly thoughtful and intelligent inclusion into the Dem. sponsored energy bill.
Lots to say about this one. Well, this guy may be fabulously clueless, but at least bikes have this pork-farm-subsidized crony feeling threatened. It’s about damn time.
If by recommending that cyclists stay off the streets at night Steve Friday admits that the RPD has little handle on traffic violations and reckless or distracted drivers, I suggest Chief of Police, Michael Poehlman, resign, as most public officials do after admitting in the press that they can’t do their job, or put out a news release outlining his plan for assuring safety for everyone at all times.
Bicycles are a legitimate transportation mode; it is time we align our laws and streets to reflect that. Increased bicycle commutership is a good thing that will clear traffic and the air, not a nuisance to motorists or a safety hazard. The bigger dangers to our safety are the drivers distracted by cell phones drifting into the bike lane.
Perhaps the people they are trying to lure to the area are the kind who are willing to become political to get things they want, like better bicycle transportation infrastructure and better management and protection of open spaces. If so, let me be the first to show you the trails!
–>
The little website is cute, but really holds no information, and links to none. Although it is pretty fun… Oh and who likes the logo and can decipher it’s riddle?
-M
ps Why are we always piggy-packing Tahoe onto our city? Who here says they’re from Reno-Tahoe? What other cities identify themselves with another entity that is miles outside it’s border? Is Tahoe going to start marketing itself as Tahoe-Reno? Lest we forget how they refer to us!
vulture’s comin through for a bike crazed fool like a crack dealer comes through for a young man gettin ready to sell his ass for some dope…ooops, did i write that out loud! wha wha?!
No more gears pullin the ol’ auto shift trick, no more knee bustin, no more pullin the ol’, “i gotta adjust my derailleur,” to catch a breath trick! i’m not the one who pulls that shit! wha?! no more junk n da trunk, no more bein the only one on a geared bike, no more hearin walker say, “pussy!” pussy back biaatch! ha ha ha!
i think ya’ll get the idea…i’m finally gonna get my bike…watch the mother fucker get lost in the mail! ain’t that a BITCH!
i was reprimanded by my supervisor and it’s been a rough day here in the Lab. good thing I’ve got the fix-gear urban shredder to spin the angst out with…
on a lighter note, we did make an effort to watch A Scanner Darkly, twice for me now. i’m ready to go into hermitage.
Japhy rider
ps- if this no-snow pattern doesn’t break, the TBS header is misleading. verbage could read ” ‘06-’07 the winter that wasn’t”
Once again the RGJ pisses me off. I’m writing an article next month on alternative commuting, so I gess that’s what they call “put-up or shut-up” (piss of get off the pot?).
I guess I’ll post the letter I wrote. You should also note how one of the proposed routes looks like it goes right through Hidden Valley park!!
-M
NOTE: I just got an email saying that I can’t submit more than one letter every two months. So one of you needs to get something in too! Maybe we can meet at the GB on tuesday and scratch something out.
Dear RGJ,
Once again the you fail to dig deep enough to see the real story behind your story. Your cover article today on the North/South connector claims that more roads (automobile-centric commuter routes) are needed to avoid “southern California style gridlock.”
Metropolitan Southern California is gridlocked because of sprawling low-density development and a lack of effective public transportation or commuting alternatives to the automobile, i.e. bicycles or trains. That means that people live a long way from work and have to drive to get there. If we want to avoid the same fate here more roads and the influx of automobiles are not the answer.
Driving is a choice. Our freedom to choose alternatives to cars is being curtailed by our own inability to plan beyond our current tank of gas.
Recent Comments