Monday, August 5, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Van life: 5 day old update
Deer Valley to Moab to Taos. Angel Fire awaits. I rode a 29er today and it didn't suck. Kinda.
Deer Valley, Utah. Some of the trails really suck, some of them suck a little less. The old NCS course is the one amazing trail there, and it's still as real as it gets. Pure death the whole way down, the way downhill was meant to be before all the girls took over and paved everything.
It was awesome, because we were there for an IMBA event, and all the crappy trails had horrible, awkward IMBA-spec 180 degree, 3-foot radius switchbacks every 10 seconds. I assume the IMBA people felt right at home.
The dream of the nineties is alive in Moab.
RV camouflage.
Honda RN01 sighting in Taos. I thought they all got crushed, but Greg Minnaar won the World Cup at Angel Fire in '05, so I guess the winning bike got left behind as a gift. Crazy.
Bikes.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Team Transition Enduro update
Lars and Bars and Team Krunkshox were on hand at the World Enduro Freeride Festival Series at Winter Park, and they delivered some A-grade reporting. No idea what the results were, but here's what I do know:
Solid work guys.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
The most anticipated World Cup round in a long time
If Sam Hill takes it, people will lose their minds. I'll have to eat my words (again), because a few years back I predicted no one would ever win a World Cup on flat pedals going forward.
If Aaron Gwin wins, people will lose their minds, and a whole lot of people will have to eat their words.
It's pretty rad that qualifying was on Friday, because now we get to sit around and guess. Racing is sweet.
The above video should also put a lot of things in perspective. If that video doesn't clearly spell out the tension and conflict between building and riding "sustainable trail" versus building and riding trail that actually prepares you for World Cups or any serious races, you probably need a coloring book or an episode of Blue's Clues to walk you through this dilemma.
Whenever you hear sustainability come up in trail building conversations, understand that sustainability will *almost* certainly come at the cost of fun. Not always, but almost always. Because as absolutely horrendous as that trail in France drains, everyone at the race seems to agree that it's the best, funnest course in a long time. Nine times out of ten, people using the word sustainability will ruin fun and make horrible trail.
If Aaron Gwin wins, people will lose their minds, and a whole lot of people will have to eat their words.
It's pretty rad that qualifying was on Friday, because now we get to sit around and guess. Racing is sweet.
The above video should also put a lot of things in perspective. If that video doesn't clearly spell out the tension and conflict between building and riding "sustainable trail" versus building and riding trail that actually prepares you for World Cups or any serious races, you probably need a coloring book or an episode of Blue's Clues to walk you through this dilemma.
Whenever you hear sustainability come up in trail building conversations, understand that sustainability will *almost* certainly come at the cost of fun. Not always, but almost always. Because as absolutely horrendous as that trail in France drains, everyone at the race seems to agree that it's the best, funnest course in a long time. Nine times out of ten, people using the word sustainability will ruin fun and make horrible trail.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Chris King Buzz
Aaron Radford.
Alex McGuinness.
Carson Storch.
The Syndicate.
This guy:
Experiments in Speed from SpindleProductions on Vimeo.
Bikes are rad. The guys at Chris King get that.
Five tens
If you have a pair of Five Tens that you call your "trail building shoes," you're an idiot.
"Oh, but they're so grippy and stout." Find me a single trail-building crew on the planet that chooses to wear Impacts or Freeriders or Spitfires over, I don't know, hiking boots or work boots. And when I say "trail building crew" I don't mean all your bros and you who built half a shitty "flow trail" one time five years ago.
I mean the prison-crew kind that lays down miles of single track a day waaaay out in the boonies, where every guy could rip your arms off and looks like Jesse Ventura or The Rock or Michael Clark Duncan from the Green Mile, where they have to forage for food and weather out lightning storms and fight off bears and mosquitos the size of baseballs everyday. AKA profoundly not you. Find me that trail crew that's all "shah bro, Impacts are so practical."
Your know what shoes make great "trail building shoes"?
Shoes.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Why Euros are faster than us
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/9873429/
No, this was not taken at Winter Park or Northstar or Mountain Creek. This is freaking Yugoslavia, people. So while you're patting yourselves on the back for building your spoiled nine year old who failed out of karate class the ultimate dual suspension Jackson Goldstone Lil' Shredder™ bike with a full color-matched TLD kit and carbon D3, Sergei and Tatania over in Yugoslavia have Sergei Jr. on a POS walmart edition crushing out laps in kneepads over sweatpants.
Sergei Jr. doesn't give two shits. That's the eye of the tiger right there: no hesitation, no fear. This kid will be faster than all of us in three years. No, he'll probably never be world champ, but he and all his comrades will be owning 40th-80th place at every world cup you or I will ever go to, which is fast enough to bump most of the disappointing field of American riders out of qualifying position. At the end of the day, Americans are all afraid of their kids skinning their knee or *gasp* finding out that they suck at 99% of the stuff they do. Participation medals don't win championships.
Look at the helmet. Deep in your heart we both know you're more of a pussy than Sergei Jr.. And he probably loves freedom more than you do.
No, this was not taken at Winter Park or Northstar or Mountain Creek. This is freaking Yugoslavia, people. So while you're patting yourselves on the back for building your spoiled nine year old who failed out of karate class the ultimate dual suspension Jackson Goldstone Lil' Shredder™ bike with a full color-matched TLD kit and carbon D3, Sergei and Tatania over in Yugoslavia have Sergei Jr. on a POS walmart edition crushing out laps in kneepads over sweatpants.
Sergei Jr. doesn't give two shits. That's the eye of the tiger right there: no hesitation, no fear. This kid will be faster than all of us in three years. No, he'll probably never be world champ, but he and all his comrades will be owning 40th-80th place at every world cup you or I will ever go to, which is fast enough to bump most of the disappointing field of American riders out of qualifying position. At the end of the day, Americans are all afraid of their kids skinning their knee or *gasp* finding out that they suck at 99% of the stuff they do. Participation medals don't win championships.
Look at the helmet. Deep in your heart we both know you're more of a pussy than Sergei Jr.. And he probably loves freedom more than you do.
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