Well our 4 man contingent has been whittled down to two. This will be my third year, LowCO2′s 2nd and Team Bacon Strip’s 4th or 5th showing straight. (Japhy Rider will have to verify that).

As LowCO2 and I roll south to Arizona today, take a look over here at this Ebay Auction for an original Photo print by our own Restless Ape, AKA Barrett Donovan: Landscape Photographer.

Barrett is a really good landscape photographer. This last year he switched over to digital, but this is one from his old Pentax 645n on Fuji Velvia 50 film. It’s a pretty stunning image from really a stunning morning @ Thousand Island Lake near Mammoth CA. The wind was HOWLING over the sierra crest and the clouds looked about as ominous as I’ve ever seen.

As with the last auction featured here, proceeds of this sale go to 1) compensate the artist and 2) fund the hosting of this website. Any excess funds will go towards getting us more stickers, patches and MAYBE even some socks. Barrett looked into Sock Guy socks and we have to get like 10 dozen pairs as a minimum order. So if there’s enough interest in a Bacon themed cycling sock, let me know…

Thanks for reading! Look for updates here as the race progresses. Please consider bidding on this print and tell all your friends.

Thanks!

-M

It’s that time of the year again folks. Time to shake the sand out of your vaginas and slather on the chammois butter for the Second Annual Great Mount Rose Loop Race.

Second Place Finisher in GMRLR07 VNasty is race coordinator for the year and here’s what she has to say:

OK. Sunday, August 10th @ 6:00 AM @ Brick Park, Reno, NV it is…and don’t even start with that I might not finish sh-t, we won’t get pass my house on Geriatric Pubic Hair Street with that attitude. I’m CCing Turner on this one. He might be into a longer ride like this? I’m trying to enlist a friend of mine from Truckee to join us. She’s a bad ass and is really hot as well-a fine carrot to chase down come hour number 10. If Dansmella wants to come up to the house for lunch that day she’s more than welcome. Smitty has agreed to be available for massages and lemonade delivery (not sure if that applies to you too?) I have only one small route deviation to suggest from last year now that I know the Sawtooth Trail system better. It’ll be a cleaner ride to 06/Northstar.

The route is over 100 miles and a shit ton of climbing. Other route mods might include riding to Martis Peak and down into Kings Beach on fire roads. Includes: Henness Pass, Emigrant Trail, Sawtoothe Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail (watson to brockway), Sky Tavern, Galena Creek, White’s Creek, Thomas Creek, Bartley Ranch…

Got back Monday. Trend did epic battle with an epic trail and wound up dazzled by the awesome singletrack, cramping and puking a little. It was pretty hot. Pyrofloptic burned out three of the four climbs and called it a day.

I hung with Scott from uBRDO Cycle and Mountain in Kirkland WA most of the day. We did some wrenching, some BSing and some beer drinking. Good guy. Sounds like his shop is pretty much what TBS Bike and Sport would be like if such a thing existed…

There were a lot of fairly beat down people sunday. I suppose that was the point. I even got in on some of that action Saturday taking a hard slammer into the lower section of the Alpine Trail (?) which we rode with Nat and his crew from Seattle on Saturday. I think I broke (or bruised REALLY bad) a rib.

Oregon is amazing. The forests are SOOOO THICK!!! Ferns, evergreens, flowers, green plants EVERYWHERE!! And poison oak. Fortunately the had Techu for us in the showers. That stuff works pretty well. Doesn’t do shit for cramps though.

We met a dude named Kris from Seattle area who is an engineer for e13 components. He and trent helped pace each other in the first few laps. then Kris punked him with a can of Ensure. (We’ll get our revenge punk!!!) maybe pretty soon, Kris said he’s coming down for a Tahoe Epic, stay tuned…

I’m really stoked to get back up there and do more riding. Super bummed that TheRestlessApe and I got squeezed out of it due to being old and broken.

But what can you do. It’s the bitching and moaning that makes the difference between a baconstripper and a Creampuff… Good work TRENT!!

-M

If you’re going to be in the Cascade Cream Puff Zone this weekend look me up. TBS Rider TheRestlessApe dislocated his shoulder and can’t ride. This is after I hurt my knee and couldn’t ride. So post a comment if you are tall skinny and look like an ape and want to try to take his spot!

-M

More to follow…

-M

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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

Well, we found it this time! There was a small crowd, and they were all FAST! So I claimed my first DFL of my career. There’s no shame in loosing, it just means you’re a candyass. But at least I got 2nd singlespeed and 1st fixed. So all y’all’s sukkas!! (JR was in bed, another victim of timepiece dysfunction or I’d have been 3rd and 2nd…)
Anyway there it is. Next race, Thursday. Meet @ Walden’s @ 6:45, train sails @ 6:55. So if you have your watch set back 15 minutes for some reason, you get to drive yourself and then wonder if you can make it back to boomtown with the tank on empty…

-M

ps The adds are gone. All the feedback was negative. So I sold the movie rights. Too bad Don Knotts is dead…