WARNING! from TEAM ROBOT

There is no escape.

Life isn't hard enough for some people, so they do... this

This is sort of in the same category as "the worst person in the world." Click play and prepare to be frustrated, confused, horrified, and deeply disturbed:



If you thought talking to your vegan friends about eating hamburgers was a pain in the rear ass, imagine the condescension and disapproving glances you'll be subjected to while sharing a meal with the self proclaimed "healthiest man in the world."

I say "self proclaimed" because in his 2-year attempt to try every fitness tip in the world, he didn't bother trying the craaaazy fitness fad called "not being fat, out of shape, and lethargic for your entire life prior to your 2-year infatuation with fitness fads." I've heard that fad actually works really well.

Fortunately for the robots, we didn't have to listen to the video to know he was on the kill list. The DO NOT KILL LIST is very short, and "the healthiest man in the world" is not on it.

kill list/do not kill list

Definitely on the KILL LIST, near the top:



Yes, what you just watched was an atrocity committed against bikes, music, and reason. I only made it 50 seconds in. How far did you make it?






Here's someone who's definitely on the DO NOT KILL LIST: Scott Tucker of the Olympic Dirt Society and the NW Cup. Scott makes the Port Angeles races happen, and he's a huge part of why our racing scene in the Pacific Northwest is better than your racing scene. Subsequently, out team is also better than your team. And if you think that's a coincidence, robots don't believe in coincidences.



Scott's the one on the left, by the way. The other two guys are still on the kill list. Sorry.

braaaaaaaapppp

Joe Nation of New Zealand at Champery, circa 2010. Old news, but gnarly mud never goes out of style. I think because Sam Hill did so well at Champery in 2007, Joe wanted to imitate Mr. Hill's style. See for yourself how similar their nac-nac turns are:

DH Maribor, world cup - Sam Hill crash on pinkbike.com

Okay, so obviously Joe is doing his nac nac to the right of the bike and Sam is doing his to the left, but otherwise, pretty similar.

1998

Don't ask me how or where, but I found John Kircaldie's website from 1998. Yes, it's still up. Robots have secret search methods:

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/hg/cubast/john_kirkcaldie.htm




If you still had any doubts that '98 was totally bitchin or that Big Bear or Norbas were sweet back in the day, you need to watch the Big Bear scene from Transcontinental, via Littermag:

Video Vault: Big Bear World Cup, 1999 from Transcontinental Headliners 2 - More Mountain Bike Videos

Once you're done watching the Palm crush all the freedom hating funny talkers at Big Bear, you're probably going to want to buy Transcontinental right away. I know I did:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005AXJC/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=





You're welcome.
That is all for now, robots out.

The dog pisser

Never goes out of style. Neither do moto pants that are 15+ years old. This photo gem comes from Poland, courtesy of Pinkbike's endless supply of awesome photos taken the world over.

Mega Huck

Ben Townley mega huck:




Another rider on the mega huck:





Let's not even pretend here, dirt bikes are way radder than mountain bikes. Fact. It's like World Cup racing in the age of Nico- we're all sort of racing for second place here.

Let's be reasonable

I've been reading all about the North Fork downhill trails up in Bellingham, Washington getting closed. Apparently this is a pretty big deal to a lot of people, and they keep making it sound like such a big deal that the place is closing:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/north-fork-trails-whatcom-county-closures-2012.html

People keep tossing around phrases like "best trails ever," best riding spot ever," "the premier gravity spot south of the Canadian border," "a big source of revenue for the state of Washington," "the sort of thing that makes Washington a destination for tens of thousands of money-spending people every year," "almost no measurable environmental impact whatsoever," "a terrible mistake on the part of the Department of Natural Resources," "a really, really bad idea," "short-sighted," "not a solution to anything" and other general platitudes. Heck, Team Krunkshox even drove five hours up there to ride them in the pissing rain one more time:






But there's two sides to every coin. Check out what this news article has to say:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/State-removes-illegal-biking-trails-jumps-from-state-land-146035485.html#idc-cover

"Even though the state's taking down the trail network, mountain bikers are still welcome to ride the forest service roads. "


See, the DNR's trying to be reasonable. You can still ride the gravel roads at North Fork, after all. Doesn't that count as meeting you in the middle?

Party time

Me next Sunday afternoon after the first NW Cup in Port Angeles.