Congrats to our friends @ the Nevada Wilderness Project for getting the “the Gold Butte National Conservation Area Act” introduced to Congress last week. I know they’ve been working on getting legislation for Gold Butte for quite a while. Check out the post on the issue over @ weethump and post a comment to show your support.

-M

RenoslashTahoe is set to remain Flavor Country for the indefinite and immediate future as the American River Fire Complex might not be contained until OCTOBER!!!! That spells bad news for people who like aerobic exercise, the outdoors and lung health. But what are you going to do? You can’t blame California for everything. They’re doing the best they can. It does make our Nevada smoking ban seem a little meaningless. Why can’t we be down wind of Humboldt county?!!?

More links:
News 10
The Union
Sac Bee (potentially lethal smoke, YAY!!)

-M

national trails day

Originally uploaded by i am indisposed

*This just in from the Poedunks: *

Join us as we partner with the Nevada Conservation Corp and Washoe County
Parks on National Trails Day. Should be a nice day in the trees, something
we are not used to on Peavine! Send an email to Matt Miller below to sign up
and hope to see you there.
**
*National Trails Day 2008*
*What: Trail Walk and Construction
When: Saturday June 7, 2008
Where: Galena Creek Park, off Mount Rose Highway.
Time: 9 am – 2 pm
Other: Contact Matt Miller to register or just come!
(775) 784 -3504
**mmiller(at)thegreatbasininstitute.org*

*FREE Lunch with Beverages
Chance to win Raffle Prizes from sponsors

*Come celebrate the 16th annual National Trails Day on June 7th by helping
build and maintain a trail in our own backyard. The trail is in Galena Creek
Park, just south of Reno off of Mt. Rose Highway. Volunteers will be
assisting with trail construction for an interpretive trail that will
connect the new Visitor Center to the Jones-White’s Loop and a historic
site.

The Nevada Conservation Corps will give instruction on trail building, no
prior experience is necessary!
All ages are encouraged to attend, bring the family!
Meet at 9:00 am at the trailhead, North (first) entrance to Galena park,
near the restrooms.
Lunch will be provided.

*Coordinated by: The Great Basin Institute, The Poedunks, and Washoe
County.
Donations

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…”

-M

100_5843.JPG

Originally uploaded by i am indisposed

With the lights of P hoe nix glowing on the horizon Nooner, Gris and I roll south towards Tucson.

On the way down we stopped off @ bootleg canyon. Super cool spot. We did some riding, some hucking, some getting cold in the wind. Gris went big over a gap jump and Nooner took a hard landing off a tabletop.

None the worse, we rolled on before dark towards Cave Creek, AZ with the Serrius 90′s alt rock blasting to meet up with JR and Shredder @ her parents house.

In the morning we’ll head to 24 hour town to rendezvous with McGuinness, Huck Tater, Reedster, Nat, CellerRat and more. Might need more PBR…

-M

Yesterday Nooner, Bustigator, The Restless Ape, Aron, Juni and I found a new trail out in Sparks thanks to a tip from my buddy Martin. It was RAD!

It starts off a dirt road behind the new softball fields near Red Cock Gold Course. Follow the pink BLM access signs for now. It starts with a cool singletrack, then climbs about 900 feet over really short distance. It’s a lung buster for sure but most of the switchbacks are really well built and fully ridable.

We ran into one of the builders @ the top. Thanks man!!!

The trail loops around from the top there by the chicken sign. Suggest going right for the loop. There is some seriously technical stuff on the back side. Steep, loose, tight, rocky and super fun! About 10 miles all together.

There was some fall-line trail on the back side and some in-sloped sections with no drainage, but it looks like these guys are out there working fairly frequently and are on top of it. Great trail. Lots of potential. I’d like to see it go all the way south to I-80…

Also: check out all the new trail work being done over on Peavine!!!

-M

You all wish you lived here…

That’s right. I was not only there, but right there on the roof! Being behind a camera looking over the edge was almost like being the first wako to skiBASE of a building in a dense urban area. But not quite.

Shane McConkey, JT Holmes, Jesse Hall, and Miles (lightning bolt sideburns) Daisher are all hereby invited to be on Team Bacon Strip!

These guys might look nuts, but were way careful. Shane (McfreakingConkey) packed and repacked the ramp and tested the speed of it numerous times before the jumps. Everything went well, even after Jesse Hall’s minor mishap with getting his ski tangled after his double flip. You got to push the boundaries, it’s not like they gonna push themselves…

Here’s Jesse pulling flip one of two. Not sure what happened. Perhaps he over rotated after the chute opened. Either way, It was WAY freaky watching him careen OOC around the corner of the Silver Legacy out of sight and hear the loud clack of him hitting down. A few minutes later we heard cheers, and got twitters and phone calls and txt messages that he was OK.

All in all a SWEET event to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation, which helps make wishes come true for seriously ill children.

See more and read more @ the Visit Reno Tahoe Blog…

-M

Photo 1 by Wolfy
Video by Dan Dominy w/ music by Sol Jibe
Photos 2 and 3 by Scott Sady