Rain,Ridin',Beer N Ribs

So last saturday I hit the ripe age of 40. Been planning a ball buster ride on that day to just slow time down. To me suffering seems to slow time down so suffering is what was in store for this day. The word went out to a few and most werre fearin and two came along. The two would be B.Long and Frankie.
Route ridden:
Southridge fire road
Mid Southridge
Lower South
Subway
Coldwater
Mirkwood
Meadow connector
Coffee Pot
Spine
2nd Bro
Startle Factor
Missing Link
Rage in the Sage
Tunnel
Lil Thomas
Upper Ramona
Lower Ramona
Home.
About 50+ miles and a crapload of climbing.
Rained for the first few hours but overall the temps were perfect.With some perfectly timed beers at the top of Ramona and @ the market and who could forget the beers that were had in front of Brian's room in town. Kind of misty cold at that point but B,Leann,Yumi,Frank and myself shared a few beers.
Rolled home with a Buzz and my lovely wife Yumi had fresh baked bread,pretzels and ribs for my B-day. Kids made a few presents that were super cool. Yumi made me a Hemp anklet.
But back to the grub......the family ate like Vikings(pretty good for a bunch of Asians)and I drank AleSmith Barley Wine and I was LIT.
Didn't take long after a belly full of grub and some Barley wine to pass my Ass out.
Good day of ridin,drinkin,and eatin.
Flag next week.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING HONEY.

Pedal 1 Long

Spanish Butta Trail

For those of you in the know there was a ride out to the Butta last saturday.
Riders attended Frank"the cool guy", Roshan "I may pedal slow but I won't give up", Oscar "the resident Beaner", and myself.
Started at 6:30 and it was Fing cold luckily this expedition started on a 5 mile climb. Felt mega good on the climb, body was so responsive to whatever I wanted to do. Peaked it out and searched for a sun spot while a waited for the group.
So we started the downhill to Live Oaks. All I can say is "WEEEEEEEEEEEE".
Spring is flowing strong. No apples on the tree but that is not why we were there.
Started the Jedi trail and boy was it overgrown once it stopped me in my tracks and I could of won any trackstand contest against anyone, vines were wrapped like an octopus sucked to the bike and me minus the suction.
So we made it to the Butta and you know what there was no Butta. Looks like they didn't make it back this year. So back we went. Man can Oscar cry the whole way back was "I can't believe there was no Butta".
So my mind started working............I need to ride some more and I planted the seed with Frank&Roshan maybe we should ride a lil Idie.
So by the time we got back to my house and my lovely wife had Potato bisque and fresh homemade pretzels "Thanks Hun". The boys were pumped up for a ride and it was there idea to leave from the house.
I was stoked but inside I was wondering how long there legs would last.
So worked our way down to the Arts center and crossed over to May Valley. Frank forgot about the climb to May Valley and Roshan was cursing him for once and not me. So we rode Sunset, logpile, 1st bro, Tea cup, exfoliator, and coyote run. There wasn't any more pep in there legs so Yumi got the call at Lake Hemet market.
Ended up being a good day of ridin' with great peeps.

RIDE ONE LONG

AA Meeting

Thats right I atteneded an AA meeting last Thurs. nite.
Meeting place was Adams Ave bikes. This nite included a special trip over to Sycamore Canyon/Martha's Grove.
All I can say is "WOW" I haven't ridden out here in a couple of years and this place has recovered from the fire and is better than it ever was.
A good group of characterz along on this ride. Ernesto fast as ever, Andrew throwing it down, Whitey as slow as ever, David Kaiser a greenhorn that came with me, PP thanks for the help with the pedal, and some of Ernesto's crew.
Great ride and I blew up an Eggbeater parts where everywhere. Crank says they will warranty and if that happens I will load them as a link on the BLOG.

PEDAL ONE GEAR LONG

Sunday Ride

Good riding with Roshan and Frank today.
Specifically picked a route with a good amount of climbing. Kind of a pre-Flag ride to gauge conditioning. Descended down to Hemet and even ran Hell Razor before we started the 4000' climb.
Stats roughly 25 miles........9 descending.........16 climbing. These two guys are tough neither one has been riding much lately but the gutted out a really good day of riding. Also they Rocked Hell Razor with a minimal amount of Carnage.

Ride Long

Climbers Trail

Did a real quick scramble up to Suicide Rock via the Climbers Trail. Definately a fun little hike after a few espressos in the morning. Lil chilly outside but perfect on the first day of fall.

She is a cutie

RAPTOR SPEED

Just one of many reasons why Raptor is so fast. Read this just in from the AP.

Scientists say velociraptor had feathers
2 hours, 2 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Velociraptor, the terrifying predator made famous in the movie "Jurassic Park," appears to have had feathers in real life.
A close study of a velociraptor forearm found in Mongolia shows the presence of quill knobs, bumps on the bone where the feathers anchor, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
Dinosaurs are believed to be ancestors to modern birds. Evidence of feathered dinosaurs has been found in recent years, and now velociraptor can be added to that list.
"Finding quill knobs on velociraptor ... means that it definitely had feathers. This is something we'd long suspected, but no one had been able to prove," Alan Turner, lead author on the study and a graduate student of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and at Columbia University in New York, said in a statement.
The velociraptor the researchers studied was about three feet tall and weighed about 30 pounds. The size of these animals was exaggerated in the movie.
It had short forelimbs, compared to a modern bird, the researchers said, indicating it would not have been able to fly, even though it had feathers.
The feathers may have been useful for display, to shield nests, for temperature control or to help it maneuver while running, they said.
___

I'm Out

Well Hurkey this weekend is not in my future, Adam's wasn't able to field a team. Miss you Dan.
So focus has changed about as quick as my last blink.
Pines to Mines is the new focus.
Good luck to all the Idie racers I might show up for a little rooting on but I'm in need of an adventure and might do a little poaching instead.

It's the adventure not the trail

Good Times

Did a cool lil hike with Yumi. Ernie Maxwell trail was the source of enjoyment for us, cool little trail close to town.Thanks Hun.
Rode from the house over to Hurkey on sat. Ran into a group of deer climbing the Sunset trail. Body was feeling good all throughout the ride. Just kept pushing and pushing to Hurkey. Saw a bunch of people prepping for the race ran into Dennis from Redhawk sportin a Siren 55.
Ran into Mary spinnin laps, good luck in the 8hr cat.
Body is feeling good and the mind is strong it is definately time for an adventure.
What to do?

Oooooooh My Bejeezes

VELOCITRAMP

Check out his new site http://velocitramp.com/Home_Page.html

Oh yeah he is also hooked on ridin' fixed .......offroad that would be on dirt unlike like the rest of you mere mortals.

Pedal Long

Mileage

So the last couple of weeks have been all about mileage witha couple of adventures.
Rouse ridge sub 3 hours on a 32X16.
Tony Bruenig and his sub 18# 29er.
Noble with B.Long and an exploratory canyon,ridge and creek hike. Noble will never be the same now.
New trails in May Valley....Teapot,Spine and the new Startle Factor.
Logistics are all intact for the Jo Pond poach 40 miles with over 10k of descent. Starts in Garner Valley and concludes in Cathedral City ooooooooooh Raptor you are going to miss a good one unless you make it out the first weekend in November.Miss you Bro.
Looks like I'm racing Hurkey either with Adam's or I will be playing rabbit for Kenny in the 8 hour solo division. Andrew wherever you are make a decision.
Big shout out to Dan Large at the Tour of Missouri that sure is a Big Ass Steak you sent me a picture of.
Many thanks to B.Long on the donation of the freeride hardtail frame. It will be built up before we tackle Cactus to Clouds in October. Hopefully I can keep it around 30#.

Ride Long and keep it Simple

Hey Everybody

I LOVE MY BIKE

Groovin Tokyo style

Crossing paths with Idyllwild Angels

So I rode about 50 today.
Left the house this morning with only Ramona trail as a target. Really didn't know the route I was going to take just going with the flow. Beautiful morning up here in the Socal mtns. Just feeling good and loving the life.
Climbing seemed effortless riding a good gear. Ramona rocked and I remembered a night me and the Raptor descended in the dark without lights.
And then it happened the heat snuck up on me. Spinning back to Hurkey and energy is leaving at a fast pace. Ran into Dawne Harris at Hurkey and rode her wheel to May Valley. And guess what? I forgot to reup my water. So Dawne climbed Buena and I went up Cahuilla.
Bonking is what happened, walking a lil and stopped to cool off under a tree with about 5 oz of water.
Here comes Marry Collier, I haven't seen her in months but she offered up a lil goo and some water. This was just enough to get me up and over the saddle.
So I'm riding the road home and my wife drives by and saves me the last 3 mile climb home.

Many thanks go to the three ladies I crossed on this ride.

ONE LESS CAR

Tokyo Fixed

A Cruise with Frank

So Frank showed up for a ride sporting his Giant XTC converted singlespeed. Good looking bike Raptor did a good job.
Proposed route was leaving from my house to Isomata linking to May Valley,Hurkey Creek,Lil Thomas,Ramona and back to the house.
Well the ride went as planned all the way to Ramona trail. Just a good singletrack descent at the bottom the decision was made to take the road back. Made it all the way to the elementary school and Yumi picked us up. Frank started to cramp and wasn't to comfortable. Ended up being 45 miles and a real comfortable ride for me. Good riding Frank.

One less car every chance you get.

Rider down. My boy Raptor got hit by a truck he was on two wheels the moto kind. Heal quickly my friend.

Is this the same person?

Do they look alike?

Cats with a powerful STINK

Rode May Valley on the way home.
Ran into a couple of angry skunks. It's funny how something so small and cute could stop you in your tracks.
Overall a good day of dirt. Got a little moisture on the ground and the speeds were up.

A special thanks goes out to my wife for understanding my passion.Love Ya Honey.
















And a big congrats to the Queen of all Frogs and the Raptor man himself for solidifying an address in Flag.

Doubts

I always had in my head the Black Mountain climb had teeth. It just had a bark.

Climbed it this weekend from the house. The climb was downright comfortable. PCT drop will always include this climb now.
What this ride did was inspire a new route including the back roads and trails to Fulmer in combo with the Black mtn climb.
I guess judging to early held me back from a new route. I will combo the two this coming weekend.
Spent a good weekend with the family at Boulder Basin.
Felt like a power spot to me.
Reflection and meditation came natural and clear.
My kids Rock on their Singles.
Just a Kool pic with nothing to do with this Post.

Return to Bloggin

So it has been a while.

So this is the readers digest version.

Clouds to Cactus. The infamous and mystic downhill.

8000' of descent in 11 miles.

B.Long showed up for this ride and this kid has some serious skills.

Left the house at 2:30 am. This ride also had some serious hiking to get to the trailhead.

Under lights we hiked up Devil's Slide to the saddle actually got there quicker than I thought and I didn't feel that taxed. We then got to ride a fun singletrack for a couple of miles called Willow Creek.

Then another couple miles of hike a bike up Long Valley. This was a tough hike as Brian looks at me and says,"Man that was rough" coming from him that means a shitload.

A nice litlle techy descent to the trailhead. By now the sun was up and we rode quietly by a few rangers sleeping on the deck of the station. We've been super no no riding a poach by all means but we arer at the trailhead now and the trails is legal.

C to C is a serious downhill. Did I mention the heat yet. must be close to the high 80s at 6 in the am.

Downhill but techy as can be. Obstacle after obstacle. Ride ..walk..carry..

I was slowing B down to much so I let him go.

Damn feeling weak..hot..and probably not enough calories.

But heat exhaustion set in and I was in for some extreme suffering.

B finished a couple hours ahead of me but I finally finished.

Ride of a lifetime nothing comes close to this one in Socal.

So an old friend came back into my life Frank is his name.

We rode Idie on a friday and by next thurs we were driving to Brian Head.

4 days of riding in Brian Head. I always forget how scenic this area is.

Bla Bla Bla we all know the area so I won't bore you with stories but here is a list of trails ridden.

Bunker Left

Bunker right

Louders Pond

Dark Hollow

Navajo Lake

Virgin River Rim

Thunder Mtn

Where is Raptor if you see him tell him to pedal a bit.