I’ve just started on a new adventure. I’m hoping to provide more updates on this as they happen, but for now I’m going to let you know what’s up. Back up a bit… back in February, Chris Carmichael put up a call for people to join a team going to La Ruta. That’s short for La Ruta De Los Conquistadores a four-day long mountain bike race across Costa Rica from the Pacific to the Caribbean. Nuts to begin with, so why would I even want to do this? I’ve heard about this race for a few years here’s Carmichael’s summary of what he has in mind. It’s his 50th birthday year and this is his plan for what to do. Now Chris is an ex-pro (the 7-11 team) and a very strong athlete himself, so why do I think I can keep up with this? I don’t know, but I filled out an on-line application and waited. I was a bit surprised when I saw that I had made the top 25 cut and was asked to make a short video application. They asked that this be less than 3 min long and the instructions were: “please record a video that gives us a better sense of who you are and what you’re passionate about.” So here’s my video application:

The next step was waiting and I finally found out that I’m in. So now that I’m in, what’s next? I guess I have to starting thinking out about 7 months and refocus my training on how I’m going to get into the kind of shape it takes to do that race, not that I know what that is. I figure I’ll find out soon enough.

We (the entire hand-picked team) will be meeting at Carmichael Training Systems in mid-April. At that time, they’ll run us through the battery of tests, including Lactate Threshold, VO2Max, do a proper bike fit and do some riding too. Then we go off and train for some time, coming back to Colorado Springs in mid-July. I’m sure some of us will meet up at Leadville in August, then September, we go to Costa Rica for a pre-ride of parts of the course. The cool part of that is we will be joined there by 2009 winner Manuel Prado and he’ll show up the trail. Good recon beta in that. Then some time to put the finishing touches on my training and we race… November 17-20.

Meanwhile, I’ve decided to start a Video Diary and did  a couple in the last week. Mostly this is for me to see, but I thought someone else might be stuck at work and bored out of their skull and watch this…

Or this:

Oakland Mike, with whom JR and I rode back in July on the TRT, is in town this week. So let’s break out the lights and show off The Bacon Strip Tuesday night!

Also, don’t forget about POWDERWHORE on Wed @ Ceol!!!

-M

In between bouts of conferencing my ass off at the American Advertising Federation’s Western Region Conference and Filming episodes of Tallcan.TV, ramPaige and I got out to ride trail in Bend 3 Times!

Here we are putting our mark on Phil’s Trail!

This awesome trail is along the Descutes river just behind the Seventh Mountain Resort where we were staying. We rode this at sunset, then sunrise the next morning. Both are the absolute best times to ride almost anywhere I’ve ever ridden.

The trail in Bend, at least what we rode, was smooth, rolling windy singletrack. Easy for the most part, but the trees and the scenery was unbeatable. If we had persisted in riding until the scenery started to tank we would still be riding.

I didn’t get to hook up with any locals. Bummer. But I did get out to the Brew pub downtown for a cajun bacon burger…. Bend is now on my list of places to move to. Damn nice up there!

-M

I don’t want to knock america’s adventure place (even if they do have a slick new website) but Afganistan is where it’s at for extreme mountain biking!

Since the invention of the motion picture camera, when man finally had the opportunity to put the works of Mellville and Bradbury in motion, the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains have been the set for hundreds of movies and TV shows. The most awesome of which have been the SciFi classics cause we all know we feel like we’re on another world in places like the Alabama Hills, the Buttermilks or rolling down the surreal depths of Saline Valley.

From Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger to Jean Luc Picard and now Tony Stark in the new movie Iron Man, It’s not just a place for fulfilling your own outdoor hardman fantasies, though it does pretty damn well with those. This is not a review of Iron Man, except to say I liked it (read: was entertained) but I always love to see the East Side on film!

Ok, so when I was in the Theater I was POSITIVE that Tony Stark got Blowed up on Buttermilk Road right near the Tungsten Hills, but looking back @ the trailer I’m not so sure. My Mom said that a few months back they were @ the Alabama Hills and there was some filming going on. But still, most Jeep commercials are filmed @ the Buttermilks… Check out the opening sequence in this trailer for Iron Man, where somewhere on the East Side is standing in for the Afgani mountains:

Oh, we roasted the hell out of some schmoes…

And here’s the bike I helped my sister RozyT build with parts from Gris and Tongaroo!

We camped @ Y Boulder for the first time in YEARS! It was RAD.

Here’s ths whole video:

-M

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

All this talk about chuck norris blah blah blah, Let me tell you this: Chuck can come or go, but you DON’T want the Grisly Bike Geek dropping a bomb in your shitter @ 5 in the morning. That’s why I was ready and waiting in the driveway when he pulled up yesterday.

It was a simple plan and a plan that would end in disaster. Well, not really. Gris, Nooner, Huck Tater, JohnS and I started riding from the Confluence around 8 or so. 30 min later we hit the connector trail. Badda Bing Badda Boom, we ride and ride and climb and climb. Nooner and Gris are way off the front. John and Lee are riding my ass like a $5 whore. WTF! I’m gonna quit MY job, throw in a 2000 flushes blue, quit drinking coffee and ride and ski until the water turns clear again!

Nothing eventful on the first lap, but the sighting of this strange sticker on the Foresthill Divide trail. Weather was perfect, dirt was perfect (as if dirt could be anything but perfect) and the GBG seemed to be riding spry despite his advanced age.

Popping out from the Tunnel Trail I hear the sweet sweet call of my lovely-but-taken, look-but-can’t-touch (or so you believe..) Bustigator! He brought with him the DogIsNuts, Icandy, and Matty themack daddy, smokedthefatty from cincinatti Larson of The stable Quiver. Almost EVERYONE on singlespeeds! (including Nate on the Maverick with the Paul Melvin!)

We all started back up the connector trail. GBG, Nooner, Huck and John blasting it the fuck off with Matty riding them like they were $20 whores. Icandy had some issues with, of all things, getting his tires to seal. Pretty bike dude. Maybe some dirt on those tires would help thicken the sidewalls. Anyway, he and Bustigator and Schuster and I rallied pretty good around the course.

GBG said he pushed it hard as he could and didn’t cramp or bonk. I did the same, though a third lap would have pushed it too far.

Nate’s says: ”
23.2 mile lap. 2970′ of climbing per lap. 6.7 miles each way on the connector trail, + or -. The down hill to the confluence is .3 mi longer than the climb. So that puts the final leg at about 13.7 miles with ~1300′ of climbing. A-squad total of 60.1 miles you crazy bastards.”

We had a frame fatality, and a near rider fatality when John hit a kicker and went off the trail @ the end of the Tunnel Trail down by the American River. GBG can chime in with the description. Here’s the aftermath.

Then we hit Maria’s in Auburn for some Carnitas. Matty’s not a huge fan of Mexican, but he suckeditthefuck up for the good of the team. Thanks Bro!!

Good riding with all you fuckfaces! And on a WEDNESDAY!?!???!?!!!!!

-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

Vulture and the minataur

Originally uploaded by i am indisposed

-M

Well Team Bacon Strip will be Reppin’ The Single Speed World Champs 2008! Had my ipod Touch all cued up and hit send @ 12:01 while watching the fireworks in Downtown Reno from our dining room. Gris, Bustigator, Icandy, Nat and Myself all got in so far. Next, to find some camping! Anyone else get their app in in time?

Beers @ are in order to celebrate! GBB or Downtown @ Ceol or Imperial?

-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