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11.11.09 well i was quite the eager beaver for the collegiate conference champs, but sadly the mid november Davis race was cancelled, making the Santa Barbara race that I'm not going to the finals. boo... hiss... worst news in awhile, oh well it all happends the way it should. but felt like that guy on the pirate headlines with the fork dropping out, had a hard time motivating to train through the next few weeks, but there is still the Stomach Churn Classic on December 5th so we'll try. not that it has worked the last week until today got on the road bike in the rain and rolled three hours with Shazo. Lovely fall day.
10.27.09 san jose collegiate races this last weekend. quite an eventful trip, though not quite what i had in mind. arrived friday night at santa teresa park determined to pre ride. being the naive country boys that we are Schifter and I didn't anticipate encountering the urban phenomenon of traffic and therefore rolled in to the park that closed at sunset right at dusk determined to pre ride. haven't pre ridden an xc yet this year so this was a must. not 20 minutes in to the loop, 6 + miles or so, I sliced a sidewall on the rocky descent and of course had a tube but no pump. so matt rode on as i walked/ran out to car. got there and matt was no where in sight so packed up, took off my sweaty t shirt, and made a phone call. just then the sheriff rolled by with his bright spotlight telling me it was time to go. he pulled i behid me to get a closer look, and i began to walk toward him in a foolishly friendly manner. perhaps it was my shirtlessness that frightened him, or maybe the sweat gleaming on my barrel chest in the white light of his spot. whatever it was i apparently threatened him and things escalated by way of an angry voice coming over the P.A. telling me to get back in the car. He came over and we started to chat about the finer points, it seemed this was the first time he had ever had to deal with sunset delinquents in his park and was overly flustered as he came to accept that there was a rider somewhere on his trails in the dark. told him i would drive out and he could lock me out, my friend could figure it out, he had to think about this hard. luckily he didn't have to risk his fragile head i thinking much more as matt rolled up right then. he started to load his bike but was cut off by the blar of the P.A. "Meet him at the gate!" so we did and managed to roll out without a fine or further entanglement. after the flat that night i had to think long and hard about tire choice, tube arrangemet and desired pressure for the next day. as it turned out made all the wrong decisions, but you can't win the slots every pull... race started well, was looking at my best finish in xc this season, likely a top five. was just starting to get my flow on and gai ground in the second lap of three when i pinch flatted in 400 gram tire. had it fixed before i lost any spots, and dialed my CO2 generator in for its first race use ever. only to learn my spare tube had holes... luckily two tubes came my way from helpful citizens, but my pump was small and insufficient. so a long time later i wrapped up the fix and gingerely finished my lap wary of pinching. next lap had a little more confidence after clearing the first two flat spots in the descent, was trying to put a pedal in while turning around a rock when my chain popped of the big ring in which it was residing and I went OTB superman style. managed to limit the damage despite the likely hood of meeting rock to face and continued fuming a bit sore, and frustrated. then guess what, shortly after i flatted again... the downward spiral of fixing flats in a race with a meager air pressure vessel had victimized me again. luckily i had one tube left from a good samaritan, so fixed it up and tootled in to finish bloody and dissappointed. although my negative thoughts during the race had me convinced i was through with xc that passed and i competed in all three reamaining events. the Hill Climb Time Trial was that afternoon, did ok but the course had a few too many false summits for me and I peaked too early and popped hard, but a good feeling to ride over threshold up steep gravel pitches into the unknown blue yonder. next day was short track, all but four turns and five feet of elevation change, got dropped four laps in and then things got worse as my bars began to slip back, momentarily giving me an aero advantage, before slipping past the point of comfort and reasonable control. I managed to finish only one sport down from where i should have been thanks to a cagey draft and sprint on stanford at the line, thanks schiff. then came super d, my specialty, except my legs were spent, it was an uphill lemans start and an uphill fire road finish. wow. actually had the lead after the transistion, but didn't have the power for the hole shot and wound up fifth, held the leaders through the rocks, but they out powered me every where we put the pedals down. so with a month to division champs I plan to train some and bring legs better equipped to vie for it in every race at bogs.
10.19.09 so long north star we love you. only time i got to visit nor cal's favorite chair this season and it was unainamously the best conditions of the year. moist soil and awesome tracks. didn't walk away with a stars and stripes jersey, but did walk away feeling like I had performed well. blew off a lot of rust this weekend, both in terms or riding (especially the big bike) and race prep. had been months since I had been to a big race, and the first I have attended as a student athlete, valuable lessons were learned about time and stress management. by sunday i was back in race head and got my t's crossed and my eyes open. saturday was 4x finals in the afternoon. had trouble bringing myself to focus on itfor fear of sacrificing a result in dh. got a late start to practice saturday morning as I wanted to watch my teammates race the stxc and cheer them on. Luke Ramseth pulled an impressive 6th place, and Matt Schiff a strong 13th in a deep and very fast field. no regrets for sticking around, it was fun to see. but by the time i got back in the lift line it had swelled, last weekend of the season, and took awhile to get up to the dh course. two runs down practice was going fine, got up to the top for my third in perfect time to finish it and get cleaned up for 4x until I noticed my rear tire going flat halfway to the course. so turned around and hike it back to the chair. of course they didn't have a pump, and of course i had to wait almost ten minutes for a "down load" chair. I then spazzed on loading the bike, almost left the platform hanging from the bike rack, jumped off with the bike cursing... the liftee was nice enough to allow me to load on the next chair, apparently my urgency was noticeble. rode down to mid mountain where shimano was offering neutral support, but no tubes. so down loaded to the village. ran into the bike shop and asked if they could change a flat righ now... no repairs in progress but they started arguing over who would do it. they unlucky volunteer then proceeded to look at my bike like it was an alien space ship until I told him I would remove the wheel and install it. so we walked into the back of the shop only to find out they were out of the appropriate tubes. so i ran out of there and began jogging my bike back to the condo, now less than 30 minutes until 4x practice closed for qualifying. in a panic i tried to decide whether to fix the flat or switch # plate and left pass to the small bike and thus commit to it for the 4x which I still did not know the final course... decided to take the big bike, got it fixed and raced back up to arrive just as qualifying began. it was first come first serve and i was going to be last in line. so i walked the whole crouse and watched, gathering beta and became more and more unhappy about my decision to bring the big bike. it was clearly going to be a race for the first corner and mos the competition were on small bikes or hardtails... after an hour sitting around i was freaking out, wishing i wasn't racing 4x, wishing i wasn't racing at all, wishing i was shredding every trail on the mountain taking advantage of the sick dirt and this one visit to n.star to progress some. decided to do another run to loosen up, as there was still a substantial line. ran into Luke and Matt at the bottom and expressed my concerns to them, I wanted to run back and switch bikes, but i had dallied too long. so they got on the phone and got a hold of the other guys who agreed to bring my other bike and all the necessary tools to change pedals, plate, and pump tires and shocks. i felt bad asking for such a favor, but Dustin and Winston were champs in offering to help. In the meantime I had to qualify, so i rode the chair back up and got back down to the 4x course just in time, 5 riders yet to go. I ran last and pedaled the big rig for all it was worth, boosting a couple jumps well beyond their landings in the process. surprisingly qualified 3rd and headed back up to the top to stat the rounds, as D2 men were first. on the way up someone told me my bike was somewhere on the hill, but i couldn't wait, said if they saw it to send it to the top. things stalled out longer then expected and they they appeared and we got it all online. was very unsure about jumping into the finals on a bike with no practice runs but knew it was the only way to hang. first round for some reason they negelected to give top seeds lane choice and i wound up on the outside. but i powered down and cut em off creating carnage right out of the gate and I was able to easily ride down in second, getting a feel for the bike and realizing it suited the track perfectly. an interesting development appeared in the subsequent rounds, a loose rocky inside option in the first corner that was a guaranteed pass if you could clean it. the catch was about half the people taking it were crashing. i studied it, but without gettting to run it once i decided it wasn't worth the risk unless I was trailing, in 3rd or 4th. made some adjustments to shock pressure and gear selection and flew through the next round easily, confident I could make the final. in the semi i got a good start, right on the 2nd place qualifier who took the whole shot, i was on his wheel into the fist corner when third took the inside. he took it slow but succeeded in cutting me off forcing me to shut it down. i rode his wheel the rest of the way but couldn't make the pass. so into the consolation very dissappointed. after getting gamed out of the final i was not going to get less than fifth, haven't ever felt the first corner commitment like i did this weekend. I took the hole shot, second tried the inside, but i had a big enough lead, stayed in front and won the heat. 5th. rode the gondola up in the dark that night to a fun awards banquet, lots of costumes, comradery, and positivity. the collegiate scene is a great one. the next day was dh and the schedule was not to my liking but i got over it. qualifying at 9:30 for me, no practice, finals to start at 12:00, no practice in between. felt far from solid on the track, still hadn't totally decided on numerous lines but that's racing. showded up and put down a mediocre run in the morning, couple dabs and ended up 4th, a ways off the pace, but also a ways up on 5th. so knew where I needed to clean it up, knew times were going to come down a lot, knew i couldn't back it off at all. run wasn't untill 1:35 so got to chill out, eat, and relax till it was time. this day i took a backpack with pump, tubes, food, water, jacket, etc. so of course nothing went wrong, the way it should. got to the top after a little pedal around the top of the chair with ten minutes to go, got my backwards pedal on and rolled to the line with i minute to go. the run went amazing, now amazing is relative. not amazing like Joey Schussler fast run of the day, a 4 flat, but amazing like i cleaned sections I hadn't for two days, I nailed lines I had been missing all weekend and I made no significant dabs despite the uncertainty from my run that morning. felt really good, really loose, really smooth, flow. threw a big whip on the last big jump for show, my last goal, almost squirrled out and crossed the line into third, a mere hundredth between me and fourth. yeah.
10.16.09 the stars are brighter in truckee. rolled in at 2:30 this morning, couldn't find my condo, and didn't want to risk waking the guys before the xc race, so i bedded down in a parking lot planter box and called it a night. a cold 4 hour night, but a night. got a nap in later after the sun came up and i found the guys. then watched a very exciting xc race and ran the feed. next despite hobling on a bum knee i was able to ride pain free and happy. seven runs. four on dh and three others. dirt is moist, incredbile, best n.star conditions ever. lots of fast guys here and lots with local knowledge. excitin. and a 4x i think i will race my dh on, body's too sore to risk banging on the smaller bike. practice and 4x quali and finals tomorrow at the collegiate national champs in truckee. M.Schiff was 7th today in D2 xc, which is hella studly given the field. and LukeR. was 12th. all studs, good buds. good night. 10.07.09 another exciting weekend ahead. steps have been taken to step up the bike and kit a bit, in response to poor performance from man and machine. knee has needed some tuning, so have tried to take the necessary steps to improve things. supposedly tracks are in toro park, monterey. means the hard tail should be fine in the xc, and mid bike perfect for dh. good odds. still feeling off, chico was a major task for me and recovery is just now coming around. but was feeling much better today, and mentally i'm hungry, so as my coach saysl, "we'll find the new pain" 9.25.09 moving right along. headed over to chico today, first time there, to race the first collegiate stop, the bidwell bump. was a bit under the weather and busy this week so didn't prepare quite how i had hoped, but i think the base is there, so i'm ready to go have fun and make a showing. the thunder bringers are holding an all mountain category that looks awesome, wish my trance was a bit lighter and a longer seat post, but i've been loving my kula so defintely going to rock that in the xc. results in a couple days.
9.18.09 few and far between here eh? not sure anyone is hitting this site, and honestly i ca't blame you. a nice archive of Humboldt riding, but as far as fresh intriguing content... we are lacking. it will be here another year, but i can't make any promises. Time taken focusing on other things. Right now one of those is collegiate cycling, trying to be fit and trying to get to some events. Feeling good on the bike, getting there is the challenge. But at any rate be headin to Chico next weekend for the Bidwell Bump. Hear the course is rough, rocky, and so on, so I am excited. Let's hear it for the green and gold.
8.31.09 school days school days. procrastination has seldom brought me anything good. it does buy time and bury responsibility. but when that bugger bears his ugly head it is always way smellier after rotting underground for several days + than when i dug the hole and put him down there. about to settle the last of the nagging issues with university enrollment and that feels great. and on the verge of settling my fox 40 issue that i left dormant after the rough mt. shastarama. smashed the bottom of my fork good in one of the steepest notchiest rock gardens i have ridden, first time i have signinficantly hit the Foot Nut Cover in about five years on the fork. examined it today and appears to be little more than superficial blemishes. sweet. so i'll pour some neosporin on it, hydrogen peroxide inside and a bandage on the stubbed toe and should be good to go for collegiate killing in three weeks or so. now just gotta get back to spinning to rehab my knee to shape to push the big beast. 41 pounds isn't what it used to be. 8.24.09 okay so it is clear i am a bit out of practice here. summers busy, technology marches on and computers breakdown. did just renew this spot for another year, so i'll try to make it worthwhile... recovering from the 12 hours of humboldt two days ago. first xc event i have sorta trained for in some time and it payed off. me and my teammate did two more laps than we had hoped for, sixty miles a piece. and i surprised myself by accomplishing my other quiet goal of pulling fastest lap, and did so without completely bonkin at the end of the day. did it on the first lap with one blown corner and a stick in my wheel that stopped me toward the end but guess I climbed hard. went for it the next lap, and had a great lap, no dabs, warmed up, and good climbs, but no replacement for fresh legs. fast lap was 36:59, next one was about 30 seconds slower. stoked to be the only one under 37, but all i think about are the seconds I left out there. still felt like hell that night and missed a couple of good parties, but was worth the sacrifice for a solid performance. too much gu and heed drink, takes time to get back. and maybe too much champagne, but that's how we roll. liked the course, loved my kula, feel like i am hookin a little more every time I rider her. a new sid is gonna replace the phony fork on the front end this week, and then it should be ready for some collegiate racin. first day of school was today, so far so good, except all the new mandatory websites have me super confused. hope i acclimate soon. 7.30.09 It all comes down to the sun. The source of all life, the energy that keeps us ticking. most of the time arcata/eureka is too fogged in to tick, so one has to ride up the hill to have a gander above the clouds. Did so today with a tidy lil couch mission before lunch. Got my sun on for a while and the rest of the day was better for it. Sad news in computer land, my old archive of a tower was declared D.O.A. so now i've got to go about building a new one or externalizing all my film work before I can get the DVD's rolling again. In the mean time I've got some t's and zip hoods to sell. 7.13.09 who like voodoo, who do? ubuntu! after a business freezing computer crash again last week I have a fresh open source start thanks to my homie. ubuntu, free, open source, non micro soft p.c. operating system. still getting my bearings but seems to be pretty slick. so hopefully content with get back to some regularity. today's my b day, gonna go ride with my brother. gonna go try out my new five tens. been wanting a pair for 3 years, so a review is sure to follow. may make it to the shastarama this weekend. in prep i am gonna go push my rig today. ras. 7.06.09 lawdy dawdy nothing has been so exciting or pertinent to our page since the Open and the page has layn dormant while we rested and refocused. been busy though. riding every day, putting that before computer time in these long summer days. took part in a fun trail work session in the kings range. went something like this "Saturday was a great day on the trail. The hottest day of the year, lots 5.27.09
well the east coast mission comes to a close today. boarding a Boeing 737 in about five hours and headin back to cali. will be finalizing the finals vid in the air. haven't had time or desire to complete it amidst washing clothes, shipping bikes, and saying goodbyes to fam. still impressed with the U.S. Open experience. the folks at Diablo do an awesome job of turning it into a festival. above left i'm pictured with special guest DJ Sploogee, who they flew in from Germany to M.C. in the JBL rockgarden. Played more rock, metal, and horror punk than he did techno, but nobody was complaining. above right, me and the broken man, equipped with media passes and a mission to spectate like no others. would have been fun to be in the big game, but had a blast watching and filming. hope i can get to another event soon, keep the spring momentum rolling. could definitely handle doing this for a living. couldn't you? 5.25.09 it was crazy. let's leave it at that for now. moving pictures are worth a thousand words, and boy oh boy do i have some words for you... hunkered down to bring what, I thin, is going to be some of the best U.S. open Footage this year, to you. wasn't easy, but we do it all for the footy. And for two boys, and one outdated camera I think we did damn good. you can never get it all, but wait till you see what we saw. stay tuned, amidst packing, shipping bikes, and flying back to cali there will be a video up in the next 48 hours. cheers 5.24.09 well today was an interesting day on the hill. down on myself mostly. after years at this game i still can't pick a good line and stick to it. struggled in dh, put down a pretty embarassing time, and the worst part was it was about the best i had... loads of reasons why i didn't make the top 60 of 110, about 80th. but what it comes down to is i wasn't good enough today. so again diablo gets the better of me. started sandwiched between Rando and Carter, thank god eric didn't catch me. followed up the dissappointing dh quali with a turn in the slalom final. awesome feeling to be in the game with the big boys. was pretty pumped, and feeling fast come race run so i went for it. first time i had actually GONE for it in days. dabbed, then crashed. but felt sooooo good to actually hang it out, to feel some real speed and not just put down a cautious run. but by the time run two, best of format, came i was tired, arm was all bloody and i just wanted to get down without incident so i resorted to my brake dragging, cautious self. another emabarrassing time, but that is how the cookie crumbles out here and i deserve it. would like to think i will step it up a notch some day, we'll see. filled with vigor and vim right now if you mention the races, only consolation is at long last i am realizing my dream of pirate event coverage on demand. but it is pirate, shoty, and barely holds up to all that is out there now, so why do i stay up until two am to render it, guess i'm stubborn. looking forward to watching the runs tomorrow, but a bit bitter at all those bastards who mastered the rockes faster. sorry to seem grim, just being honest. need to get tough and ride for real, don't let isolation bring down my bar.... Video Day Two 5.23.09 day two is about to begin. late night after a long day on the mountain. day one was good. sunny hot, looks like it might stay dry this year. lots of world class company, gee atherton rode my ass and i didn't even know it... hill and faivlough are looking super human, and steve smith is taking the dh apart. after a hard day of dh practice on a very challenging course i went to the giant slalom, no expectations, but a quick quali run barely got me into the round of twenty pro final today. yeah, good feeling. so have to try to find more speed this morning, and then make up my mind about the many line gnarly line choices on the dh in practice from 10-12 and do my best to smoothly qualify right after. check out some sweet video shot by joel yesterday, very exclusive, very pirate, very prompt.
5.21.09 tomorrow's the big day. the U.S. Open begins. The trailer is packed, the bikes are tuned, and i am exhausted... felt fine this morning, but a week of touring etc feels like it is catching up with me. actually feel some sickness coming on. so not drinking much tonight, alcohol that is... eating some fruit and taking some vitamins hoping a good night sleep chases the lump out of my throat. spent the last two days in washington d.c. and wouldn't trade it. had to be done, and did it well. plus got two nice bike rides in, one in maryland, one in virginia. blah blah blah, saw much and had a great time, but i can't even write about it now, so foggy feeling. gotta be up and out the door around five am so i am off line and getting horizontal now. more soon. 5.18.09 expect the unexpected... Our trip started off with a bang, or perhaps a bust. Arrived at Mountain Creek Resort on Saturday, bikes tuned and anxious to ride. After sign up and the necessary b.s. we were up the hill and on the course. a 2-3 minute rocky bust, fun, some pretty flat sections requiring a lot of power, followed by a couple steeper tech chutes at the bottom, leading into some high speed grassy corners at the end with strategically placed water bars to add to the flavor. First run Joel flatted due to a single ply rear tire, no good. He got that fixed and swapped while I did another run and inspected things a bit. We got one smooth run in together checking lines. Then the next was a bit harder and Joel flatted again, 30 pounds in the rear wasn't enough for him... We took a break, got that fixed, ate a bit, and headed back up. Peeled off a pretty quick one with fresh arms (first big bike race in months I had some serious hand pump going on) then back up feeling pretty confident now. We headed down the linking trail to DH course. I stuck to the route we had been riding, Joel opted for a new line. I got to the bottom, and he wasn't there... waited for several minutes, no sign... hiked back up to find my worst fears realized... he was laid out on the side of the trail with another rider standing over him. Hoped it was just a bell ringer, but as soon as I got to him I knew it was much more. He was having trouble breathing, could barely move, and could barely speak. he had a look in his eyes I haven't seen before. I checked him out a bit, limbs were ok, but a blunt trauma to his side was the issue. Afer several minutes I got him up, and walked slowly back to the top while I pushed his bike. once there the pain intensified. soon became clear he wasn't getting back on his bike, and with the medics at the bottom he had no choice but to ride the gondola down solo while I rode down to meet him. took the emt a while to get there, decided it was worth the call and so the ambulance arrived to give him the first flashy coach ride of his career. The local hospital was about twenty minutes away, there were still two hours of practice left, and I literally had to tear myself away to do the right thing and pack up to head to the E.R. once there I was glad I did. always nice to have a friend around in these times. took awhile but they got him to x-ray and c.t. and confirmed three broken ribs in his right side with a partially collapsed lung. the head doc arrived at about 5pm to confirm he would have to stay the night to ensure his lung didn't worsen. bummed. so after we got him checked in, into his room, and situated I headed out to out hotel alone. needless to say this really broke my spirit about the weekend, the trip, and racing in general. had a hard time that night working on my bike in the room, wondering why why why. meanwhile it thundered and rained heavy outside. by morning the storm had passed, but my mud tires were on, and off I went to the resort. started peeling off runs and getting back in the swing. actually liking things wet more then I had the day before. practice closed at noon and my older brother showed up having just visited Joel in the hospital. brother Sean and his friend suited up and after my final practice run, hard and sloppy, we went up for a fun jump run before the race. this was a mistake, should have been resting, hands and legs were burnt from sprinting through the mud, but I wanted anything but to take the race seriously. didn't clean my bike either, whatever. the atmosphere was casual, and my heart was barely in it. the run rolled around, jabberd with some columbians while I was on the ramp, too distracted, good snap, but thought I jumped the light, and was suddenly everywhere but in my body. haven't been so distracted in a race run for a long time. guess it has been a long time since i've done a real dh run, but as soon as I hit the first rock section I was thinking about the guys behind me and what they would be doing, so on and so on. missed some key lines and speed up top, and then just tried to flow and ride the rest, not sure where i was going. by the steep chute at the end I felt extra cautious cause I had already made so many mistakes I didn't want to totally blow it, too much brake. no big dabs, but just not hitting my lines or finding the right gears.enjoyed the track, enjoyed the training, but hate getting beat. so i guess I need to make up my mind about doing this right or not. ended up 14th of 24 pros, ten seconds off the podium with a 2:24. bested by a couple am's and juniors to be 19th overall. not bad, not good. you get what you put in. plus most everybody who beat me are lokes and have this place down. did twice as much practice as the top four guys, and my hands paid the price. rode out the day with my older bro, his first day on the bike since major back surgery, stoked for him, and the many groms on the hill. but still crushed Joel wasn't with me, as his progression and experience wa the major motivator for this trip. happy with the bike and the new battle axe. now i gotta clean up, and refocus for the U.S. Open next weekend. It's what I came to do, so now I've just got to focus on my ride and try to not be bummed with the inevitable stomping that Sam Hill, Brendan Fairclough, The Athertons, and Loped will be handing out.
5.15.09
two days and roughly 3000 miles later we're here, my brother and i, in dirty jersey. luckily the place got a good wash last night, awesome lightning show as we flew into philadelphia and torrential downpour as we left airport. apparently it was nice last week, poured last night and 30 percent chance of showers this weekend. means it will probably be slippery, but hopefully not too saturated. we'll find out in less than 24 hours. Diablo Domination number 1 tomorrow, so gotta get the bikes built today, hopefully Joel's show up as scheduled, but if they do then i'm a dunce for paying the three day service. oh well it's never perfect, better safe then sorry... no smell like jersey after a thunder shower, surreal being back after over two years but loving it. woke up this morning to the whispers of me lil nephew and niece, how sweet it is. then of course they farted on joel's head to bring him around, hijinks. more tomorrow from diablo...
5.12.09 as i sit right now, eating ben and jerry's, enjoying my last karmac rewards for completing the T.U.C., ninety percent packed, leaving in less than twenty four hours, en route to air port, en route to north new jersey and diablo free ride park. weather is iffy. 40 percent chance of rain and thunder showers on saturday and sunday for the first race of the Diablo Domination Series. Then goof off and ride for a few days and go in on the U.S. Open the following weekend. I am going to make an attempt at posting some coverage here. we're dorks, dumb, and archaic. so enjoy it for what it is. alternative media. thinking about my bikes right about now. not dirt tested yet. dialed in the stand, bounced in the driveway, then in the box and across the country. let the thunder showers come, i'm ready, i've got pants. 5.10.09 after a bit the log becomes daunting, because there is so much to say and so little time. Trying to organize my thoughts here on this momentous morning... A proud witness to history today, o'er slept my 4 am alarm to catch the live world cup, but the ol' sixth sense woke me up just in time for the top thirty boys in La Breese. Steve "The G.O.A.T." Peat qualified fastest and backed it up in the final with a ridiculously aggresive and pinned run, banging poles like he was on a slalom. The rain came on for the top ten, and it came down light and steady during Peat's run, but he was still able to crush Hill and the rest of the boys by over a second. Fantastic to see, Thanks Freecaster. Other than that today marks the end of the T.U.C. 2009 so now can shift focus to the next challenge at hand, some east coast DH at Diablo Freeride Park. Will be ou there racing next weekend and the following for a local series race and the U.S. Open. To have the Tour past is a good feeling, especially since I rode my best Tour ever yesterday. Had no expectations as I haven't been doing any training rides over two hours... but mile after mile my confidence grew and felt like I might "be there" at "the wall", the turning point of the race each year... A big part of this I attribute to a better feed strategy. Ate more food and more diverse food then ever before. Of course there were lapses in the schedule, like when I lost my double mix cyto bottle amidst the vietnam potholes in the alby creek section. Thanks to diligent support vehicles it was returned to me later. At about mile 40 something we got to Panther Gap, everybody stopped to pee, and or poop, I rolled through and prepped for the climb. Up panther takes about forty five for me cruising quick. Went too hard there last year trying to bridge up to leaders, so this year focused on rythm and keeping my heart rate lower. Windbigler and I had a solid climb, about 40 pleasant minutes, less thn a minute off lead, then a bombing descent and caught the pack within a few minutes of honey dew. Stoked, my best position ever, knowing if I hung with those guys for a bit I would be ensured a personal best. At mile 63 I rear flatted. As the slow leak progressed, I bobbed to stop, watching the lead pack ride off over the hill. Accepted the obstacle, whatever, too good to be true... made a quick tube swap, but fumbled with my little hand pump. minutes later i was back on the road in no mans land. crested the hill and started ripping the descent making ground, when my shyly inflatted rear tube caught one of the roads many pock marks and pinched. This time the frustration of losing position hit me and the air was filled with colorful words and animalistic roaring. I Stopped. I walked. no one came, no support cars. Out of tubes. Started riding again. Rider passed. Riding slowly. Geoff Hales. Hales stopped and saved the rest of my Tour, gave me a tube, shot it up with the CO2 and we were rolling. Worked together to and through the beach picking up some folks as we went, including Matt Deshazo of Far north Climbing gym. By the end of the beach we were five. Slapped hands and headed up the Wall. started pulling away, almost cramped, kept crawling. passed Chris Johnson who was really crawling, side to side. Didn't feel good, but kept eating and felt bad instead of awful and that was good. Got a V8 from Rocky Brashear at the top of the wall that really hit the spot. Fifteen miles to go I realized I still had a shot at beating my time from last year (5:55) if I finished strong. So I gued up and kept her rollin. Good spirits, gorgeous day. no where else I wanted to be. One minute slower than last year. Stoked. So stoked I decided to ride home to Eureka. Forgot about the cruel north wind that was still whipping. avg speed over one hundred miles 16+ (very hilly). avg speed home (mostly flat) 11mph. 5.09.09 it's 4:17 am, just up, eating some eggs and toast, feeling chipper. The T.U.C. begins in two hours and twenty minutes. Gotta eat now so the food is available then. Pockets are stuffed with some where just under three thousand calories, everything from mom's oatmeal cookies to a flask of "espresso gel". Sounds like a party in the making. Not expectivng any grand performance, not much endurance base training, but the weather should be grand and hopefully the six hourish ride will be enjoyable. another entry awaits on the other side of self discovery, tally ho. 5.04.09 word from the king is there was a crew and they rode the range. his range that is, king's range. Words has it at least eleven folks rode on sunday. some were there saturday night, braving elements which threatned to flood their tents. rewarded sunday with a blessed break in the weather and sweet trail conditions. i was told on monday that the Paradise Royale is best in the wet, tacky, rippy, fun. sad i wasn't there, stoked some friends still rode. no times till next time. may the force be with you. 5.03.09 a bit frustrated with myself and the site and all right now. cased the king's range ride, false expectations of a falsified automobile and an over ambitous body both fell through and left me with no means to lead a ride. again my apologies, my eyes were bigger than my ability. The Pirate tradition is a decade old this year and trying to figure out where it is going to go. not going away, that is all that's clear. not sure quite what the site is offering, haven't been tending to race updates and logs like i should... can no longer over poignant event coverage outside of the area... are we growing, shrinking, dinking? yes yes and yes. i have lots of ideas, but a little less time, so must cut some of the ideas and focus on delivering. and still fit in training somehow... 5.02.09 Well a lot of work just culminated this weekend. A lot of it went great and I am straight up casing the rest. Simply an impossible to do list, eyes were bigger than my capabilities. But got a phat order of new pirate gear thursday, unveiled two sweet local films, and threw a good party all thursday night so that will be my consolation. After our show thursday night celebrated a bit, only to feel like doom the next day and even worse the following night. Missing out on obligtions to the Bike Gear Swap and Talib Kwali... but twenty hours of sleep and nutribiotic and lots of lemon 'n ginger juice has me climbing out of the crash. I won't be camping at King's Range tonight as I had hoped, though some should be. I'm just gonna try to roll out in the a.m. if such passage is possible. That's the thanks I get for keeping my body up late drinking coffee for two weeks. 4.28.09 sitting here, wasting away... least that's what it feels like this week, when i'd rather be actively recovering from and for some hard racing i sit sip coffee and stretch occasionally. for what? to splice down some footage of a tiny local race with like thirty people total in attendance. not a huge audience. but if all goes as planned and some or all of those thirty people get to watch their hohum attincs projected ten feet tall on a wall and smile for me on thursday night it will have been worth the sacrifice. are we there yet??? 4.25.09 been a busy couple of weeks with concern to riding. What with the Sea Slaughter Beaver Fest last week, followed by the Lemurian Shasta Classic today. Maybe it's the ass whooping competition or the fact that I missed a career altering junior x podium by two seconds on my first trip that has kept me going back to the sea otter for about eight years now... maybe it's the fact that my first shasta lemurian ended me up on a stretcher that has kept me going back for three xc years now... we may never know. no we do know. at sea otter it's the challenge of an un technical track made technical by the attendance of the best national and international athletes. And as for Lemurian, well it is a freakin man's track that makes me want to cry and whine every time and somewhere inside I seem to think it will get easier someday. Someday when I give up video editing and web blogging and start training like a man... but until then you should all come to our show thursday night to see why it is that I am off the back of the fast guys right now, rather then in their midst. Sea Otter was crazy, first year in Pro. Finally a big bike track, and me wih only 9" of travel between my two wheels. Blew my fork twice in three days of practice. My younger brother Joel had even worse luck, shredding four hangers and two derailleurs in three days, then snappin der cable and crashing in race. I didn't crash but was pretty cautious after getting the family jewels sucked into the rear wheel and the 'ol seat to the gut on my last practice run race day. Fork blew and I screamed like a ninny in right behind the prettiest girl in downhill. See I caught her, layed on the brakes to allow a gap, sprinted back up to an over ambitious speed, then hucked a lil drop to big and almost threw the whole thing away. Luckily was ok for one more, but played it safe and wound up buried deeper than a hatchet from the Simpson trial. Small consolation in that my time would have won my Cat 1 age group, but that's not where I am, I'm Pro so best start training like it. 4.03.09 the age of technology.. the age of viruses... technology is changing, the internet is changing... hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. it's all supposed to make things easier, which should've equated to more time... but sadly it seems to only equate to more time texting and facebooking. so watch out, the virus is spreading and it wants to get it's hands on you. enjoy the outdoors, you may catch a cold, but time will pass slower and you will be better for it. have had troubles with my system and therefore trouble keeping the page up, but we keep cracking. so relax, kick back, do some yoga, do some bike yoga, and maybe send a text message while your at it. 3.24.09 the end of it all... first i apologize for the stale state of this site lately. we are a small company and have been experiencing issues with time and infrastructure. steps are being taken and soon things should freshen up. with that said there are some exciting events on the local horizon. Sea Otter is right around the corner and drawing some serious focus, as I strive to get the legs ready to sprint against the worlds best and wealthiest. This weekend it started to happen, thanks to some fine weather, got in one hundred road miles and a first in the cruiser race at R.E.BMX (can't brag to much about that though as the class' average age was about 40 and I barely pulled it out... I blam the flat pedals) Then our shop is closing on April 25th as we all are headed to Whiskeytown Lake, near Redding, to race the epic Lemurian Shasta Classic. Up to 24 miles of rocky goodness, can't wait. The beginning of May is going to be high times for local Piracy. Friday evening May 1st will be the premiere of some HoHum local films at the North Coast Climbing Gym in Arcata. Documentation of this winters cyclo cross races coupled with a short shining documnet of last years T.U.C. titled "Event Support" will be shared, along with the world debue of DJ MickStickinChicks... Flyers out soon... then that weekend head on down to the Lost Coast west of Redway to rage the Paradise Royale trail with us. Pre riding Saturday the 2nd, camping that night, and riding again on the 3rd with optional check point timing for those studs who want to shralp the superbly sculpted gnar that has been laid out for us in the Kings Range Recreation area. This get together will be friendly, casual, free, and all are welcome. A lot to do between now and then... In the meantime there are insanely fun/fast road rides going out every Tuesday night at 6pm, at the Giuntoli side of West End Road. Made my first of the year tonight and had a blast. Hammered my guts to mush trying to keep up with the more conditioned roady contingent, threw up a little in my mouth, yelled encouragement, and loved it. A better high than those empathy exaserbating drugs so many love. By the end everyone were close comrades, all very supportive of everyone's effort, slapping fives, sharing our lives, and feeling very content. Looking forward to having more juice next week, but i'll need all six days to recover. Suppose I'll take adavantage of our local BMX races Friday night to mix it up. Suppose I'll Have one more P.B.R. to recover tonight cause they taste so good. The end of it all. You see there are two sides to the coin. Many people are ready for it all to come to a flaming end in three years when the Myan calendar runs out in 2012. For some this is an excuse for total apathy, I'm trying to look at it as an excuse for absolute urgency. To extract the best, brightest, and most positive results in the time we have left. We have the choice.
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