The Life of THE Butch

NEW YEAR

2012-01-10T10:13:00.002-05:00

Now...what do I do with it? Win!!! Yeah...at everything. Play every game, every day and every moment to win it. Gonna lose some, but I'm gonna play to win.

NC State Downhill Championships

2011-09-02T11:41:00.001-04:00

Had a blast. Won my age group & finished 5th overall behind 4 guys 15 years younger! Excited to race Nationals at the end of the month!!!!

Why so serious

2010-11-15T13:51:00.002-05:00

Mountain bikers....you are not awesome. You are dorks, nerds, geeks and oddballs. Stop pretending you're awesome, tough, cool, gnarly, etc. What we do is a blast...a fringe sport. Tell everybody else that you enjoy riding, but don't tell them what kind of ride, bike, trail, place, secret, gnar, long, steep, shallow, rolly ride.

Just go have fun. Say hello to others on the trail...and keep on rolling. It's fun and that's all we should care about.

Moving on. hah hah!

2010-10-11T23:32:00.001-04:00

The doldrums of fall....FIGHT IT!!!!

2010-10-05T17:24:00.002-04:00

I just have to say that with the weather turning suddenly with temps in the 30's overnight and me still dealing with a 90 degree day's sunburn, I'm baffled. My mind and body are in a tailspin and yawns come out all day.

But I've gotta fight the dreariness and flow with the change. Adapt. Overcome. Everyday ho-hum must me laid to the wayside and think ahead.

This morning's ride cleared a little of the mental fog out. If only you could read the sticker:

Lots to catch up on

2010-07-30T09:44:00.003-04:00

Busted out the DH bike for an 8th in Pro class at Beech. Stoked for my result but at the same time I think I can do top 5. Got a few purty pics snapped too.

The home life is fun too. Girls have been in swim lessons for 2 weeks and boy do they learn fast!

And then of course, there is the nightmare that was replacing the hinge bushings in my drivers side door. I cannot explain the sheer blessing I had in Bud Dotson and Cecil Jenkins. Bud offered to help, took one look at my door and suggested we get Cecil.

Long story short, he's a master welder who basicly recreated my door, modified a short drill bit into a super long one, broke out the welder, sawzall, drills, grinders, blow torches, etc and put on an auto body show you've never seen!
God bless them BOTH!!!

Epic Anniversary weekend

2010-07-08T13:11:00.002-04:00

The weekend started with Ryane lettimg me have a "day of riding with the guys". Wound up hitting the big Black Mountain ride with Jeremy, Matt and Dave and we all had a blast. I had a flat twice in 30 seconds only to be saved by Dave. It apparently cursed Matt though as he proceeded to flat on the most fun part of the trail. Bummed for him, but stoked for the rest of us.

Sunday, the 'rents picked up the girls for a 3 day stay and Ryane and I busted out "Get him to the Greek", P.F. Changs for the first time (the place is awesome)& finished Coldstone Creamery.

But the best day of all was Monday. Ryane and I ventured out for some waterfall action in Brevard and stumbled on a very private, crystal clear deephole. It was easily 20 feet deep and you could see big brown trout swimming all in it, down deep and striking. We dove in and cooled off.

Then headed to Hendersonville to "street walk", play tennis back home and knock out some dirt cheap sushi to go from Asiana Buffet. Awesome anniversary!!!!

Softball District II Champions

2010-06-30T13:37:00.004-04:00

It's been an awesome season for our little girls, Cassidy and Charisma. Both have really taken a shine to softball and done well. Cassidy in 6u softball and Charisma in instructional league/T-ball. Cassidy was picked for All-Stars and after only 1 game was moved to short stop. It snapped her to attention and she got the hang of roaming the infield.

She's the fastest kid on her squad and when she learns to field better, she'll make a fierce infielder. The coaches were AMAZING in All-Stars. Jason & Tara Alexander have done it for 5 years and are great people too. This summer she'll need to work on hitting, as next year they go to the machine pitch in 8U and she'll be pretty young.

Charisma has blossomed and all signs point to her being MORE aggressive than big sis and we were told that she'll be in 6u for THREE YEARS! That's kind of hard to swallow, b/c 2 years of this have been so busy. But that means she'll be one of the oldest on the field her last 2 seasons. Good for her, b/c she's petite.

For a laugh, notice the girl on the bottom left in the pic:

The coach said she was part of the team and insisted she get a trophy. She carried it into the grocery store and Ryane found it hidden in her bag at the POOL the next day. hah!!!

Super late post - Dirty Bird DH

2010-06-22T13:15:00.005-04:00

Been neglecting the blog for a while, but have been getting tons of things done and hustling after Cassidy's All Star softball games! Be sure to click the pics for full size.

It was time to kick off the local race season back at the Bird. I had to stop by Grandfather campground to set up camp for Ryane and the girls before the race. High winds and no help made it almost impossible to set up a borrowed, massive, poorly designed tent. So I got there late.

Late, as it would seem, was perfect. The rain dumped as soon as I hit the parking lot and stopped as soon as I got registered. Track was slick and snotty, but a blast. I had to ditch my clipless b/c of a shot cleat and go flats. Fun no matter what. I nailed down 12th with a couple bobbles and riding the brakes too much, but landed among the big dawgs still. I don't feel 37.

I even appear at 1:33 in two different vidoes. Same time slot...can't beat that.
Click Here:

Dirty Bird Dh--June 2010 from Alex Boyd on Vimeo.

Dirty Bird race #1 2010 from TJ Kearns on Vimeo.

There are no more bees...and it sickens me!

2010-05-24T14:03:00.003-04:00

I'm not a doom and gloom guy when it comes to nature. I believe we can teach the kids and they'll know more and do more to help nature than we have done. And we've done 10 times what our parents did. That's a good thing.

But this weekend, I saw something that seemed to me a harbinger of bad things to come. Since I was little, I used to walk bare foot to my grandmothers house through the clover. I'd get a honey bee in the foot about once a summer, no matter how hard I tried. But now, they're all gone. All of the honey bees, bumblebees, black & white faced hornets are absent.

I don't think it's a weather cycle. Something isn't right. What happens to our natural world when something that blanketed the grass all day every day simply disappears? That's a massive link in the chain of nature and I really worry about it's repercussions elsewhere.

My father mentioned that honey bees aren't even native to the US. So what bee was? And what will play their part now that bees are gone?

Bent Creek-Silent and Wonderful

2010-05-11T14:48:00.003-04:00

You have got to love it when you haven't ridden trail in weeks and it starts to rain as you leave work. But all was not lost. Rule #1 of a trail ride is go. If you abandon it, the rain stops.

I got Bent Creek all to myself yesterday. It looked nasty out but since the trails have been so parched, the rain just soaked in and made the trails fantastic!!! I didn't even get gunk on the bike until I hit the parking lot exit. Flat out fast as snot, quiet, peaceful and serene!!

God Bless!

Massanutten Yee Ha - GES #1 - Podium town

2010-05-04T13:36:00.003-04:00

I haven't been on the podium in a while. Been way too lazy too early in the season or on a bike of my own for too, too long. It was great being back on a familiar bike and a familiar trail (even if it is never the same weather).

Huge drifty turns and techy, straight forward rock baby heads mean full on moto style riding, something I live for.

Anyway, I landed on the Open class podium in 3rd behind a Pro and a buddy, Matt Griffin of SEI Racing. http://seiracing.blogspot.com/

See you on the trails soon. Oh, and my Turner 5pack is back up and running with some cranks finally. Yeah!!!

Downhill shuttles at Windrock

2010-03-22T16:27:00.002-04:00

Just an absolutely beautiful weekend of riding at an incredible bike park. If you've never been, it's on par with the greatest riding areas in the U.S. Since no one is making money off it, it's doesn't get the traffic of a Snowshoe, but the terrain is among the best.

Short clip with me leading out Jason from SickLines.tv :

Out with the negativity

2010-02-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

I saw some sunlight yesterday and felt a breeze that lit my spirits. I think God reached down and breathed new life into me this week. I'm enjoying it. May even do a ride in the gooey woods one morning this week!

Til then,

That Butch

Intervals make me feel alive

2010-01-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

Is it wrong to actually enjoy intervals for the first time in a long time? Somehow I was actually looking forward to pushing myself. That's got to be a good sign for the rest of the week!

It helped that a free 30 minute DH video was online for the watching too. Cured the boredom!

More Mountain Biking >>

Listen to me. NEVER buy a home that doesn't have a garage

2009-12-29T10:31:00.001-05:00

I'm kicking myself for it right now. If I had a garage, I'm positive I could get both of our cars back up and running. But as it sits, the wife's '04 Altima sits immobile in the driveway with no way to get it to a buddy's garage. Wind chills in the single digits are condusive to 7pm tune-up and diagnostic sessions.

But thanks to computers and the internet, I am actually gaining more confidence in working on my own vehicles. Apparently, all newer vehicles have really simple, metal pieces and really complex computer pieces. The metal pieces tell you they're done with noises. Computer pieces tell you they're done when the car does NOTHING. Going to the auto parts store to buy a code reader today.

Anybody got a tractor?

2009-12-21T14:04:00.002-05:00

Every one of my neighbors has a tractor with a scrape blade on it. The neighbor who illegaly cuts across my neighbors property line to access his property was even so arrogant as to scrape the 40 feet from his access to the main road. He apparently built a garage on the end of his house and started using it when the previous owner was very sick. He never got a right of way, so it's not on a deed and my neighbor hasn't pursued getting him blocked legally yet (don't think she's got the money). Absurd!

Anyway, our driveway is about 150 yards long and there's no way the wife can get her car out. My 4x4 gets in and out fine, but not without alot of technique. It's times like this that I'd love to own a little garden tractor to not have to depend on others. But that's not the case, so it looks like I'll be approaching a random neighbor (not the one mentioned) and begging an assist.

I really hate inconveniencing others in times like this, but it's not something a shovel will take care of. Say a little prayer. Weee!

Cassidy's birthday party tonight!!!

2009-12-17T14:02:00.002-05:00

Banged out a little trail play/exercise at lunch today and had one of those hilarious, awkward moments with a trail runner. He had his headphones on and head down, then looks at me with a big rock in my right hand that I've been tossing for "core" strength. He looked back down.

After work, I'm headed to Little Crappy pizza for some $5.00 larges for the party. I then hope to hide anonymously in the background as my daughter relishes her special time with a "Dinner & a Movie" them. We are using our churches Family Life Center to view UP on the big screen and dish out pizza, cupcakes and popcorn. The wife is a little genius!

Time to get the tiller

2009-12-11T11:28:00.002-05:00

Wanting to play in the yard now that my first little turn "turned" out fun. I'm up to my neck in ground cover and bittersweet though, so the shovel is not cutting it. I'm going with the earth eater tiller to get the ground right. Feel free to join me.

Getting the itch to dig

2009-11-23T14:26:00.001-05:00

All this fall weather and soft ground makes me want to dig. But is it worth it to make a little play area at my own house? If I had a couple buds who lived nearby we could have an awesome little pump track. Any takers out there?

Lunchtime HiJinx

2009-11-05T13:58:00.003-05:00

For 3-4 days a week, I go to the Mountains to Sea Trail to do a little "play" at lunch. I work right next to the Parkway and it's a good 20-25 minutes of monkeying around in the woods. I started doing it back in the spring when I read about a guy in Men's Health who trained athletes in South America to use their bodies they way they were meant to.

It's called MovNat http://movnat.com/ and you can google it, YouTube it or whatever. The great thing is that you can do the movements anywhere, anytime. It's great for me because the foundation is to NOT have a structure. Just find things to climb, crawl under, jump and sprint. The guy's name is LeCorre and the videos don't do it justice. I'd recommend reading the Men's Health article more than any other on him because it gives you a better grasp of the concept.

So today I spent 20 minutes "playing". I started by jogging down the trail for a second, then trying to climb a pretty big tree with really deep grooved bark. It was hard to hold onto..more of a bear hug. But it leans a little, so you can hook onto it. I realized I could use my feet on both sides to inch up it and man did it work me. Suddenly I was 9 feet or so up and just hopped down and sprinted down the trail.

I charge up a steep little incline and grab this big, flat, triangular rock that I leave laying off the side of trail and do a squat then launch it in front of me like a 2 handed shotput a bunch of times. Then get on the ground and do crab walks and switch into a spiderman crawl. Hop up. Grab the big rock over my head and walk with it about 40 yards and go back. Chuck it off the trail.

Next is my favorite...a skinny, angled tree that I can hang on for chin ups, pull ups, hang upside down on no handed, even jump off of. Then climb onto a 6 foot high angled boulder on the side of the trail and do offset push ups to help my balance. Jump to the ground. Jog up the trail back to the entrance, climb two tall skinny trees (one with a great limb to hang on) and drop from about 10 feet to the ground.

Stretch. Eat a sandwich. Work.

Cassidy, 5 yrs old, stomped the VA Creeper Trail!

2009-10-05T10:27:00.003-04:00

That's right. Saturday, we went with a large group from our church, Trinity of Fairview, and drove 2 hours to do the VA Creeper Trail. Apparently it's pretty long, as in epicly long, and we did the most trafficed section. It runs from Whitetop to Damascus and finishes out in the town right behind all the bike shops. http://www.adventuredamascus.com/CREEPER.HTM

You pay $11.00 for a shuttle to the top and are unsupported for 18 miles on a converted railroad bed. It's such a gradual grade that you don't ever use your brakes. Ryane pulled Charisma in a buggy behind her and took off at her own pace. I followed Cassidy and cheered her on.

Event highlights include Cassidy slipping off her bike and Ryane running into her with the wheel of the buggy, Cassidy doing tricks with daddy and wrecking, Charisma being relaxed, stopping at the river and eating lunch on these fantastic little docks and incredible scenery the whole way.

Just go do it. It beats a lame cruise on the parkway in a car any day! Any bike can do it.

Up the mountain at 7:30am!!

2009-09-29T10:35:00.002-04:00

Now that our 5 year old, Cassidy, is getting up at 6:30am every morning for school, it makes it simpler to be on the bike for a trail ride before work. But, boy did mother nature have a say in it. I hit a private gravel road near the house and did a quick 40 minute ride this morning on the DH bike. Climbing on a 40lb bike standing up for 20+ minutes wakes you up!

Hardest part was the last 100 yards uphill to the blazer. DH tires and tubes into a 15+ mile an hour head wind. Had a blast...now to wake up again after the caffeine has run it's course. Don't forget to look up at that crystal blue sky today. It's amazing.

Caveman Mechanics Institute

2009-09-23T23:21:00.002-04:00

So I backed into my own DH bike, had to jack my Blazer up to get it out and figure out what was bent. One spare handlebar, one direct mount stem swapped out for a Thomson that was going on anyway...and swapping a upper crown on my fork out for a spare old parts fork.

Only problem was that apparently for a week now, I've not realized I swapped out the upper crown, but didn't really. I got confused and had just slid the same one back on. I'd been banging my noggin trying to figure out what was bent still. I brought the bike in the house to look under the bright lights and noticed what I thought was the old one was way too clean to have come off a bike. So now....I want to ride.

7am it is!

End Game.

2009-09-10T16:31:00.005-04:00

This has been a week full of highs and lows. Starting last weekend, I raced the last reace of the Triple Crown www.triplecrowndh.com guilt free while the girls were with the grandparents getting spoiled and the wife studied in peace for tests.

I did great in practice, although I don't think I won practice in the slightest. I ran a decent qualifying run and came in 10th, dropping 7 seconds off my race 1 time, which had been my first race of the year and on a borrowed bike at that time.

I had a clean, smooth run taking all the biggest, fastest lines on course and was home free. Except my front wheel slid on the last 5 feet of slick and my front wheel went straight between the last 2 trees on course. It went in like a quarter slot, but I couldn't figure out how to pull the bike out b/c the wheel turned at an angle to the ground. After a long time, I got it. But I just gave up and hucked the last step down and coasted home mad as snot. But I got over it since being back on the DH bike is wonderful.

But then Monday, the very next day, I backed my Blazer into it and messed a bunch of parts up. Most are just damaged, not destroyed and the bike is OK. But I had to jack my truck up to get it out from under the rear bumper. My rear tire spun against the down tube and ate the sticker right off!!!

Just blinking awesome video!!!

2009-09-03T10:09:00.002-04:00

Sometimes adrenaline oozes out of your pores when you watch something like this!

Pump Track World Championships:

http://dirtmag.co.uk/news/category/events/hannah-wins-2009-pumptrack-worlds/dirt-1235650.html

http://video.mpora.com/p/r4fSeEklw" />http://video.mpora.com/p/r4fSeEklw" width="480" height="315" allowfullscreen="true">

Today is a Big, BIG DAY!!!

2009-08-25T12:16:00.003-04:00

This morning Ryane and I took our 5 year old Cassidy to her first day of school and what a difference it is from pre-school at church. The list of things to do was huge and I even found myself at the store last night buying her a pair of shoes as we realized all she has that fit are flip flops.

But it wasn't as throat swelling as I pictured. We saw so many people we know in the community and from church as well. Cassidy has a few friends in her class too to ease the transition, so she was nervous but excited all the same. Such a bright smile on her face waiting to take on kindergarten. If anyone out there ever wants to feel like you've done something in life, get your kid to this point and feel pride like no other.

God Bless!

Triple Crown DH Race Report on the new bike

2009-08-13T15:35:00.004-04:00

Man,

I had some kind of fun this weekend getting back on a bike that is all my own. I've been riding borrowed bikes from time to time when buddies are able and time allows. But I've not been able to truly pin it and feel comfortable on someone else's rig.

I got the Turner built up thanks to oh so many good friends help and literally finished building it in the parking lot Saturday morning. Maiden voyage went well thanks to the fact that DH bikes these days are getting closer to being idiot proof. Geometry, suspension, drivetrain...they all bolt on and go these days.

Saturday the track was twice as tacky as the first race, with grass off the slope and the soil down to the underlying hardpack, instead of loose mulch, topsoil, sod and goo. Even the bog at the bottom, although wet, was fast and rock solid. Since I was back on a Turner, I wanted to clip in again for the first time in 2 years. It was fantastic being able to float over roots and hold the rear wheel in place.

I even wound out sprints with no issues and didn't feel blown up for the first time in a long time. Maybe just the excitement of having my own bike again gave me the mental edge I needed to race hard again, or the comradarie and excitement of racing locally again.

Qualifying seemed kinda silly at first so I just sprinted around the corner, sat down and rode no handed, went around the first double, rode no handed on the lower straight..and clowned for the crown by doing an aero tuck into the finish. Popped off a 2:32, 3 seconds faster than my clean race run from race run and 8th fastest qualifier. But now I regret not doing a full speed run!

Race day came and I'd been dodging the top double jump thinking it wasn't costing me. Followed a buddy into it to see if I was right but got dropped by going around...a good 3 seconds!!! So next run, I went for it behind Greg and got it with a pedal crank. After that I didn't even pedal, just pump over it. So nice and so much faster.

My race run, I felt great. Charged it and then just fell down in a flat right hand grass turn. Took forever to get up, get back on and go around the rock under the slope...even saw a shrew turning into the woods, which was weird. But I finished the rest of my run trying to salvage some dignity for the crowd. I honestly had my name shouted top to bottom, so that cheered me up and some nutty guys chased me ON BOTH SIDES down the straightaway...so awesome!

Finished with a cruddy time, 1 second slower than the previous race at 2:36. Between gapping the double (2-3 seconds) and picking myself up off the ground, there was roughly 10-12 seconds to be had by staying upright, but that just doesn't count in a race run. The clock does not care what you "could" have done.

But I feel confident again in my riding and that I can maintain a great race pace again. The Dirty Bird is coming up and not the kind of course I shine on, but on the new bike, I like my chances for a good result. It's gonna be tight times and a clean run will mean everything. Should be a blast!!!

Bike parts floating around

2009-07-28T14:12:00.004-04:00

It's like I'm in a dream and there are bits and pieces of other people's pasts running around me. I call a buddy, ask for their parts run down, and then pick a piece worth using or that's compatible with my setup. Then I float onto the next guy's stash and pluck a part. Almost there and getting so very, very close. Need a good rear wheel and to save the last of my money up for the fork my buddy has stashed away and then I may be done.

I've been selling every oddball part I've had lying around and all the back up pieces from my days of serious racing that I "thought" might come in handy. I'm coming out OK thanks to people out there having so many extra parts off old bikes. It's a good day when your stuff converts into someone else's so easily. Used to, a used DH bike part was more useful as a paperweight.

Wish me luck.

So it begins

2009-07-14T11:54:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of the greatest guys to ever have a bike company, I present to you a frame made from ALL U.S. made parts. Now the hard part will be finding all the various bits and pieces durable enough to handle my riding style. Anyone interested in selling/barter/trading, drop me a line and we'll work something out. www.turnerbikes.com

Sanity and hope return

2009-06-25T11:13:00.002-04:00

It's official. My mental status is directly tied to gravity and adrenaline. I don't think my brain can function without getting pumped like some gorilla from the movie Point Break! I rode shuttles last night with some great riding buddies and all is now well. I had to earn it though.

I pulled up for the ride with a leaking radiator and a flat rear tire. The borrowed bike in question has presta valve DH tubes and tubeless rims. It was almost impossible to get the tire off. Once off, I couldn't even patch it because the leak was directly where the metal valve stem goes into the tube. I dumped a boat load of Parks rubber cement on it, dropped it in the wheel. Then got Matt to finesse the tire back on. I then proceeded to squeeze more rubber cement down in the valve hole as a back up.

We get to the top and the tire is flat in less than 5 minutes. We pump it up to try to get a run in or something and it just hisses at us. I bailed and take up driver duties. At the bottom, a strange thing happens. The tire never lost all it's air????

SERIOUSLY...it hissed air like it was drilled and I never looked twice and neither did anybody else...but there it was holding air. Maybe my magic glue job wound up sealing off??? Rubber cement and the good graces of God above gave me my sanity and we banged out run after run til it was pitch black in the woods...Whoooo Hoooooo!!!!

Next news....my frame ships out today!

Just a crummy week

2009-06-22T13:50:00.002-04:00

Tried to have fun on Fathers Day weekend but it refused to work out. All was well that my parents kept the girls, which is fun for the girls and a blessing for me and Ryane, so no complaints there.

We were even lucky enough to stay in a B&B for the night to unwind and get fed the next day, comped no less. But bills, car problems and stress just have me buried in a pile of anxiety and anger. I'm doing my best to snap out of the funk, but the bottom line is that money issues are trying to crush me under their weight.

I don't need money to be happy. I'm blessed with a fantastic family and church, but being in debt and struggling to survive is just taking a tremendous toll on me. I'll be so glad when we can work our way out of this debt and get back to just enjoying our girls.

God bless

I am not an NFL safety

2009-05-26T10:56:00.004-04:00

I learned this Friday morning. We stayed in a hotel on Thursday and I met the manager, a former semi-pro linebacker. Get this, his last name was Blocker! Great guy and in sick shape. I got antsy and football made me think of running stairs.

So I did what any other 36 year old former "athlete" would do....put in my time. I did all 7 flights in combos of single stair speed drills to the top, then back down, every other stair for power. Then I went for my final set of 3 step explosive stairs. I made it 6 of the 7 flights and was cooked. I kept at it doing a few plyometric jumps with both legs, 3 steps at a time.

I felt wobbly, but so excited to kick my own butt. The next morning is when reality stepped in and my legs refused to work. It's Tuesday and they're still sore to the touch, but I'd love to do it again. To loosen my legs up, SundayI did a quick climb up to Pinners Cove and down Merrells Cove on the road bike. Man, I wish I could find a DH trail down one of those two ridges to shuttle!!!

Later,
Butch

Crack the seal on the season

2009-05-14T12:44:00.003-04:00

Probably should have written this earlier, but I find no joy in telling the world (all 1 of you reading this) that I sucked bad at the first real DH of the season. In the past, I've always had more natural ability on burlier courses, but this time was way different.

Massanutten is all about the first straight pull. I lolly gagged off the start, then threw down the power on the gravel road that is this race's defining element. Crank it and then flow your run and you post a good time, plain and simple.

But was I in for it! I cranked it out and laid down the power, popped up the little bank and then from there on it was a nightmare. My arms were rigid like after a 30 minute moto on a KX125. Legs were fine but I could not hold a line in any of the straight forward turns or keep it tracking straight on the bumpy straight aways. I'd turn a few cranks of the pedals and then plow like a 2.5" wide bulldozer, kill my speed and use a good 2 different lines in a turn....just awful.

My body didn't loosen up until I hit the speed trap and I was able to blast the last section. It was almost anti-climatic to see Mueller. I knew it meant he'd thrown it all on the line and either blown off course bad or flatted. You just never want to see a racer put it all out there and not be able to finish strong.

I had a fun time though and met lots of riders new to the sport. My retinas got burned a few times by guys who suddenly are OK wearing full moto kits again (thank you World Cuppers for that trend). Bleach is the order of the day. I just don't get how guys can dig pedaling around in 80 degree heat and a jumpsuit. In BMX, long pants are required. In moto, they're necessary. In DH, it's just silly.

Anyway, I'm headed to the Turner demo this weekend and a date with the new DHR I've got reserved. More on that later!

God Bless!

Rainy Day shuttles

2009-05-04T10:59:00.002-04:00

After a fun filled evening of Cassidy's team whalloping the ball (4,5,6 yr old coach pitch) Friday, they headed off to grandma's house Saturday. Ryan had studying to do and I got a last minute call in to latch onto a shuttle.

And, oooooh what a shuttle it was. I've gotten to ride so many trails since I started back in '93. To be shown a new shuttle in a place I should have tried out years ago is a shame in one way and a total thrill in another. Complacency breeds boredom and new trails are more exciting than any other kind of riding there is.

We rode all morning (early start was awesome) and I rode my trail bike with XC tires. That was a little bit of a mistake since I flatted twice, but both came at the bottom of the trail, so it was all good. I should have put DH tires on, but see above note about the early start as to why I forgot. All in all, I rode with 4 guys I've never met before, saw one MASSIVE pile of bear poo, fell on my head on flat ground once and got 3-4 pounds of mother earth in my gear in a steady, jungle type drizzle on great trails.

Topped it off by showering up, taking Ryane to dinner at Stir Fry Cafe www.stirfrycafe.com and some awesome green curry Thai chicken and possible the worst movie I've seen in a long, long time Personal Effects (dramatic staring movie). Hah hah!!

Just an awesome day! God Bless!

Easy pedal up...LAME ride down!

2009-05-01T09:39:00.002-04:00

Got to Bent Creek around 6pm last night, parked at Hardtimes and headed straight for 5 Points. I took my time, planning on really mashing and sprinting on the way back down either Greens Lick or SideHill to Wolf Branch. I debated hitting Greens Lick, but I missed dinner with my little girls the other night, so I took the short route down Side Hill.

Straight out the gate from 5 Points, I got some really good hang time in the air and kept my speed checked. It's REALLY grown up and narrow up top. At the last piece of the steep, I pulled up and cleared the last little hump to backside and transitioned all the way down the bank clean. I was so excited and stood up to sprint out of the first dip and around the curve.

PLINK!!! My pedal just snapped the spindle like it was made by Willy Wonka in the candy cane kingdom....bummer. I had to coast straight back down to the car. Had some dangerous one footed drifts on the gravel was all.

I was kinda bummed and said hello to Van Rogers of SORBA, got to hear a guy's little girl snoring like a chainsaw in her bike cart and helped re-direct a guy who's not ridden in 4 years directions up to his "favorite" ride....5 Points. Plus, the guy with the little girl pointed out that at least I didn't get hurt when it broke.

So, all in all, I lost out on my ride, but I helped a guy and got reminded of the positives of my pedal breaking at an opportune time, rather than if I'd decided to make my girls wait and hit the dozens of high speed jumps on that same pedal.

24 Hours of Bliss

2009-04-17T11:16:00.001-04:00

It's been seven days of restraint from "activities" and the waiting period is OVER!

I'm proud to say that I resumed all activities, both social and physical. Man, that was easier than I thought. The bike ride at 7:30am this morning wasn't bad at all either!!!

Time off the bike! Native Trout Beware!

2009-04-16T14:13:00.003-04:00

I've announced it to anyone who would listen in the days leading up to and after that I was getting neutered. I had a vasectomy Friday April 10th, a very meaningful day in history, Good Friday, the day Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice.

April 10th was also my dog's 10th birthday (who's neutered too) and to celebrate, he's molting. Lucky for me, the procedure still leaves me with twig and berries intact. They took his juevos, but left mine intact.

Anyway, since I'm not able to copulate for 7 days or do strenuous things like riding, it's off to Fontana and the Great Smoky Mountains with my dad and a big group from church. Dad and I are branching off and hitting the cool, shaded streams of Hazel Creek, deep inside the forest where no cars may go. It's particularly sentimental because my grandmother was borned and spent her childhood at the mouth of this blessed river!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Creek_%28Great_Smoky_Mountains%29

Unfortunately, thanks to the war effort, the TVA booted my family from their birth right and built the lake. But that is another story. Look up the mountain town of Proctor sometime to learn what a real hard life was like! Here's one man's account of his "MAMAW", just like mine:
http://www.westernncattractions.com/hazelcr.htm

The fishing is second to none because these fish are wild, not stocked...and not stupid. I could care less about the fish. I just want to go back to my roots.

Good times at the Clemson DH race

2009-04-08T10:28:00.006-04:00

Well, the old man has lost a step but on a tiny course like this it seems almost insignificant. Herndon with a time just under 1:25 with a cluster of buddies seperated by 10ths of seconds on a manual stopwatch between 1:30 and 1:34. With the hesitation of a thumb, you could be 5th or 15th. Fun, fun time!

The course was just a luge run for a bicycle with tons of high speed, packed berms with some being over waist high! It's put on by a group of college students at the university with such a passion for speed and fun. Once oyu got into the turns, you didn't want to stop or touch the brakes for right, left, right, left action like no other.

There were several photographers who snapped fantastic pictures that give great perspective. Check 'em out:

Brado's Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/brado1/sets/72157616309567619/
Zach Suggs Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/zsuggs/sets/72157616436467596/

Picking up my helmet tonight

2009-04-03T14:02:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Clemson. Got sent a teaser pic of it with just base coat, no clear yet. Looking clean and simple, just like I like it!!!

paint courtesy of Shayne Jordan! More pics to come tonight with my cheapo camera!!

A ride in the morning muck...and wild horses attack!!

2009-04-02T11:24:00.002-04:00

It was nice and warm thsi morning and I was jonesing to ride, so I hit a trail nearby and as I climbed a section of pavement, 4 horses came FLYING out of the woods at full sprint up onto the road 10 feet in front of me in the pouring rain. A red truck locked up brakes and nearly mangled one.

After several minutes of pretending to be a cowboy, I had the gate of the field they had stopped at the edge of open, but they wanted no part of it. I don't know if they were at the right pasture, but I knew the road was death. They ran from me up a hill and I started to close the gate.

Next thing I know, all 4 come bearing back down the hill at me and I whip the gate back open and wave them toward it (have no idea what I'm doing). They dash away from me toward the open gate....and there sits my bike!!!! SNOT! They all hurdle it like it's nothing and the day is saved and on with my ride. Yayyy!

Top that!!!

A great start to a BAD weekend

2009-03-23T10:51:00.002-04:00

Saturday, my parents came over and I got to run out for a ride on Kitsuma. Before leaving, I felt like I hadn't slept good and kinda weary. The trail was in fantastic shape and devoid of any other riders. Tacky, smooth, fast...oh, the joy! At the gate to old Hwy 70, I saw a sign that just made me shake my head in frustration: "Downhill skaters, please use caution!"

Wow! I hate that they paved old 70. It made no sense to me why you would run an ugly strip of black top up an existing concrete road bed and call it a "trail". Just a joke. It takes a 15 foot wide, old concrete road that was perfectly fine and narrows it to an 8 foot wide piece of black, blistering hot eye soar. And now cyclists FLY down it while people with baby strollers push up it in half the corridor at twice the speeds. And now skateboarders are ripping it up. Stupidity and narrow mindedness!

Anyway, the whole ride was so much fun and when I got back to the truck, I felt a little woozy from the effort. At first I thought it was the heat and my hard effort. But when I got home, I hit the shower and everything went downhill. My head, shoulders, eyeballs, neck, back, even my brain ached. I spent the next 36 hours sleeping, tossing and turning, sivering, hurting, showering some more...and sleeping! Just a wicked virus of epic hostility. I'm just starting to feel a little better this morning, even though my eyeballs feel like they're gonna pop. Ick!!

Countdown to Clemson - A borrowed pic says it all

2009-03-18T13:05:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty sure this pic was pilfered from Brado, but it explains what's so darn fun about that wonderfully manicured hill that is Clemson's DH Track. 3 berms, 1 pic....nothing else you can say!

www.clemsonfreeride.com and click on EVENTS.

Horse trails are 'sorta' fun to ride in the morning!

2009-03-17T13:30:00.002-04:00

Nothing much to report today. I woke up in time to take a short ride near the house this morning. It was a steam bath of gorilla mist and cool breezes and a little sanity on the climb. Plus I got the hook-up on a set of brakes from a casual friend and for the first time in 9 months, no brake drag. That might sound trivial to some, but I've had ghetto brakes front & rear with 2 bent rotors and non-functional pads forever that make my bike a noisy drag on climbs and pathetic to stop.

Anyway, the trail back down was well used by the horses, no doubt doing just like me and hitting the trails hard in the good weather. Damp horse trails are like riding in wet beach sand and poo...challenging, rewarding, filthy, slow! hah hah. But I'm happy to be riding!!!!

Heartbreak Ridge with Matt Griffin

2009-03-10T22:13:00.002-04:00

Saturday was play day for me. Ryane was at the Biltmore house with her friend and the girls were with grandma for the night. The plan was to do some DH runs with Mueller & crew, then meet Ryane at 5:30 to get in an awesome date night.

1pm rolled around with no call from Mueller, so I assumed they were MIA and sleeping in like college dudes do. No biggie since Matt was ready at the drop of a hat to check out the brutal old toll road to Heartbreak Ridge. We even set up a mini-shuttle at the bottom of Mill Creek to cut out the climb up to Ridgecrest.

I wasn't my fittest ever, but felt fine and had plenty of food. But at the 2nd hunting cabin my thighs cramped so bad, I couldn't even walk the bike. Called out for Matt, but he was rolling on like an animal. It kept up for the rest of the ride and I was in MISERY. I wasn't dehydrated or hungry with plenty of food and water. Then the hamstrings hit within 2 miles of the top, forcing me off the bike for good.

Up top, we were running SO late. We ran into 3 latino males (cop speak) walking in seperate directions with huge army duffells on their backs, one headed toward a closed parkway alone? On the DH, I was in for much worse. My quads seized, forcing me to sit down for about 80% of the descent. On the flat pedaling, my inner thighs cramped forcing me off and to the ground again!

We made it to the bottom at dark and I locked us out of my truck. Matt was forced to hammer the climb up Mill Creek Rd in the pitch black while I stood there shivering like an idiot.

In the end, I was 3 hours late to meet my wife, who was scared I had become a statistic. She's still upset, but glad I was safe. Now I remember why I've always done that ride in the morning...with a GROUP!!

Dragging along

2009-03-06T13:51:00.002-05:00

Lost a little motivation during that brutal cold snap and fighting to get it back this week. Wish me luck!

Haven't been so mopey in a long time. I just keep seeing everyone else riding their DH bikes, showing off their new builds and it kills me that I'm sitting here without my buddy of 15 years, a DH rig.

I've gotten to the point where I contemplated last week selling my road bike and my trail bike to start amassing money for a DH bike. The wife smacked some sanity back in me on that one though. Gotta work harder!!!

My DH bikes and race kits through the years! Wow.

2009-02-17T21:05:00.011-05:00

My First ever National. Borrowed the goggles from Toby Henderson, bought a billet 46 tooth big ring that day, the helmet was free. Spandex and a t-shirt. Airwalk clipless BMX style shoes (first of their kind).

Year Two. Top of the line helmet with visor, riding glasses, White Bros coil springs(no MCU) and damper, BMX flats, moto pants, shop sponsor jersey, moto gloves, V brakes!

Year Three. Mt. Snow 1997. Full face helmet w/ detachable chin piece. Tinted lens (useless), Shimano DH shoes & pedals, Intense DH/FR Uzzi (4.5" front/6" rear). Magura Hydro Rim Brakes! Free Maxxis Mobsters, Sun Rhyno rims. Thought I was the stuff w/ the grassroots Intense XC jersey. Answer DH armor underneath. No chain!

Year Four. Mt. Snow 1998. Same frame, upgrade to 6" Boxxer. First gen. Hayes disc brakes, DH shorts & DH knee/shin pads. New Shop...still an XC jersey. Legit DH helmet.

Fast Forward. Plattekill 2001. My first LEGIT DH bike. Big course...high speeds! Flimsiest rear end ever made!! But FAST in a straight line.

Sugar Mtn AMBC 2002. Sponsors galore. Free stuff. Pro deal stuff. Custom jersey. Team only colored frames. Mr. Dirt self seizing chainguide! A first year production upside down fork that seizes at the sight of mud! A reasonable 7.5" of rear travel! Light, fast, tech! Best year of racing EVER!

Skip 2003 til I can find the lost pics! Move on to 2004 and the most beautiful frame Turner ever made. Retired the ancient helmet and went to a full on matching kit w/ gloves, goggles, helmet, jersey and shorts. Finally broke down and bought upper body armor! Technology of suspension is ALMOST there. It's now the time of boat anchor 8" travel forks (top crowns that chopper the bike to the sky) and oil bath shocks that dials that often actually work. That is when they aren't breaking shock shafts. And the wonderful new frustration of 1.5" to 1 1/8" reducer headsets. Flush mount or not to flush mount? E13 saves the drivetrain...HOOOORAY!!!

Year of the Stormtrooper: 2005 Not just any old DH bike. Remote reservoir, custom designed rear shock specific to the frame. Works 888 with flat crowns...finally. Full on, fully adjustable and completely tuneable front and rear suspension. A bike worthy of being called a race bike. Not one broken part all year long. Geometry that is perfect. Unfortunately, bearing for ISIS BB's still shat themselves monthly even if steel pedal inserts don't allow the pedals to flake off on contact.

Vanity! 2006 and all it's excess. The bike and kit that reflects the excesses of my life. A Demo8 decked out to 11! Industry Nine wheels, Fox DH40, Cane Creek Double Barrel, externall BB's and bombproof cranks, fully adjustable brakes, gaudy kit, shiny white gloves and a love of the camera. The bike that could go faster than I ever could. What a shame...

2007 - The year it all came around. The kit goes from 1 extreme to the other, gaudy to subtle. And so does the bike. Not much to say really. The bike is sorted from the factory with great geometry, no pivot issues, shifting, braking and suspension are no brainers. Amazingly it took 13 years to get DH bikes to the point where thy simply work and do their job EVERY DAY!

Quit the process!!!

Looking back on old pics

2009-01-27T15:33:00.002-05:00

I found several pictures from over the years and now that I've got a scanner, I'll be posting them as one. It should show a progression of me the rider, the equipment and the riding over time if I piece it together right.

In the meantime, here's a pic I spotted on my hard drive that sums up why I love racing.

I think everyone can relate to moments like this with your good friends....

Why I did what I did

2009-01-26T21:30:00.003-05:00

This weekend, my parents kept the girls so Ryane and I hit the road exploring. We went to Hot Springs http://www.hotspringsnc.org/ to see what it's all about. 45 minutes on the road and now we know. The town straddles the French Broad river and the Appalachian Trail passes right down the main street. The actual hot springs are piped up and the tubs. Naturally heated mineral water straight out of the springs is said to revive the spirit and senses.

It looked like the perfect treat for AT weary hikers so we're thinking we'll try to do a day hike into town, drop in the hot springs, eat and hike back out.

After poking our noses around, we hit the road to Waynesville on Hwy 209. The old guy at the gas station said "It takes 1 hour on really curvy roads and farm country." I'm used to being quoted Cadillac clock time, but he quoted me local boy time. I've driven so many crazy roads in my life, but none topped this one for remoteness. To think people choose to live on such steep, remote terrain is odd. Everything is so steep and gorge like, there's no room for gardens. Just some rugged, worn down old houses and nothing else.

We checked out downtown Waynesville and ate at an awesome little jazz bar/coffee lounge/wine bar/sandwich place on Main Street. It was great, the food was cheap and the place was just classy. No arrogant waiters, snobby trust funders...just warmth, romance and delicious wraps! Go figure.

Needless to say, our marriage got an awesome jolt of energy and helped recharge both of our batteries. Staring into your wifes eyes really does do wonders to calm the soul! I just wanted quiet, relaxing time with no itenerary with my babe and I'm so LUCKY!

View Larger Map

When gadgets become artwork

2009-01-12T23:42:00.005-05:00

This awesome weapon came in the brown Santa's sleigh today and I am just in awe. Gone are the days when I was amazed at how a Salsa QR seatpost was able to actually hold my seatpost as tight as a single bolt. We're past that now!

Everyone who knows me and rides with me can attest that I'm the king of raising and lowering my seatpost. I can't stand riding fun and fast descents with a seatpost in my brat & potatos! I drop that bad boy at every decline. To get to use this thing is a dream!!!! What makes it all the more exciting is that it's built solid. You know there are things that you get out of the box and just smile.

It's the feeling of a guy who's spent 15 years riding hard, breaking gimmicky crap and has finally reached the point in the sport where his parts are built to handle what he can dish out!!

Random bits from the holidays

2009-01-06T22:59:00.006-05:00

It's going on Wednesday and the holidays have lulled my brain into slumber. BUT....it's always fun to reflect when you've got a pic of Kenan doing this at the "end" of a ride:

Never one to be outdone on a ride...I had to go bigger:

Anyway, back to the holidays. Apparently I was given this bad boy as my present and boy did I go to town on the Hersheys brown:

Is it possible to have too much chocolate?

To top off the sinful weekend, we loaded up the girls for what was supposed to be a quick hike to a little scenic overlook. Not having had a nap, Charisma immediately transformed into a human backpack until the summit. But upon the mention of ice cream at the bottom, she ran almost the whole way back down from the summit! If you've never eaten at the Hershey's ice cream parlor in Chimney Rock...you are missing out.

Oh, and last but not least, Drexel...a.k.a. D-Rex has a pinched nerve from a slipped disc and spent the greater part of the holidays in a whimpering ball of pain, but is doing much better for now. We can only hope it doesn't continue to recur.

Since a blog is random and the title of this is...random bits from the holidays...it's time to mention the best part. My sweet cousin Cynthia Mayo and I planned a surprise visit for my mom's birthday. It played out perfectly and I finally got my mom a present that mattered.

Merry Christmas. Most of all....Happy Birthday to Jesus Christ.

Bike Hero - Where do I sign?

2008-12-30T21:47:00.002-05:00

What happens when your buddy gets a new toy? He films you frog hopping rocks. I'm in front by the way:

Butch Greene, Downhill Clip from matt griffin on Vimeo.

First there was Excitebike.

Then came Ricky Carmichael's Motocross....2002 Version!

It came to fruition with Downhill Domination.

Now in 3D we get - Bike Hero:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlMYWuGUZlM

The secret lives of downhillers

2008-12-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

I got to thinking this morning as I was scrolling through Google Maps terrain feature. And it came to me that DH'ers are maniacal in their obsession and dedicated beyond reason. We own rigs that can't be ridden out the front door to anywhere unless you live on the slopes of Whistler, Vars or Snowshoe! We scan topo maps to find ridgelines and fire roads.

I've been driving home on backroads, poking my nose in private communities and pouring over "Trail Centres" in the UK and how the access has been negotiated with landowners and the Forestry Commission. It's inspired me to make a go of it here in my area.

I've been cherry picking secret shuttles for years now, getting permission to access private land, but never giving away the locations to the masses. But I really yearn to disclose one of these gems, get us all access to share it, shape it and grow it. Wish me luck in my obsession.

I figure that the worst case scenario is I find a place that will allow me to lease the property for a weekend like a farmer leases a field and go from there. Anyone with ideas or resource materials for me to read on how to get it done, please shoot me links, mail me books, or have an interested land owner call me.

Now...for some riding inspiration head over to http://www.damianbreach.com/ and check the photos of one of bikings greats!

Good shades are hard to come by

2008-12-10T11:10:00.002-05:00

I'm a sunglasses guy. I've always had to squint in the bright sun and when i finally got a job in high school, people thought I was nuts for buying $90.00 Arnette polarized shades. I used to lose cheap sunglasses and get headaches. Then the Arnette's made that all change. Since then, I've always bought high quality shades and never broke the $100.00 threshold. Almost 20 years have gone by and $90.00 is still the magic threshold.

Why mention it? Because NoFear Spy Sale is blowing out $80-$130 Spy sunglasses (my favorite brand) for $10-50. Do your eyes a favor and drop some money on good optics and feel your headaches go away. And while you're at it, pick me up a pair!

WNC weather is awesome. Weather.com STINKS!

2008-12-01T10:44:00.003-05:00

Thursday meant 2 dinners in 2 counties 50 miles apart. I got an awesome pic of Cassidy zonked out in the blazer. It also meant Kitsuma. My wife dropped me off at the top and I climbed and descended it and got picked up at the bottom. Nothing like a 10am quick descent, a noon dinner with family and 6pm dinner with the in law, all in 1 day.

Saturday's forecast called for rain all day. No rain. I rode Bent Creek and had the whole place all to myself all morning long. I only saw 2 riders!!! I know I'm an aging descender, but Greens Lick is getting more and more tricky. Each day, the lines are changing and the leaves have made it crazy technical these days for such a straight forward trail. But I had a blast. We really have it great here in NC. Ride the same trail for 6 months. Memorize it. Get bored. Leaves fall and the trail disappears under a canopy of leaves. New trail. Rains come and pack the leaves and slick it up. They move around and some spots are bare adding even more variation. I LOVE IT!!!

Thought of riding this morning and weather.com & WLOS both said snow. I woke up to blue skies!!! Sure, clouds on the horizon, but no snow, no rain in Fairview!!! Missed an opportunity this morning. No more listening to the weather fear mongers. I'll ride from now on in the AM!

One heck of a shuttle

2008-11-18T11:37:00.003-05:00

So Saturday was "me" day. Ryan had time away last weekend so I got all day bike day. Was all set to go to the Windrock jam, but my travel companion Greg's dad got put in the hospital so I stayed local. Hooked up wtih Matt Griffin & Zack for some local shuttling. We did a bomb run down the big nasty Shumont, but it was near terrifying b/c leaves were so deep and speeds so high, it was random.

One second a pile of leaves, the next a pile of rocks behind a thin sheet of leaves, the next...leaves piled in a 2 foot gully. It made for a lot of fun, switchy lines that made you fight to stay smooth. Me & Matt had hella fun but setting the shuttle didn't appeal to us to do another.

I talked them into doing a run down my secret stash. Cleared a downed tree (props for the assist by Matthew)and showed them the flowy, tech lines and it was on. We did over a dozen runs until it was too dark to see!!! On my final run, I was on the edge of control. Why? My fork was randomly locking out mid-run!! Then POW goes a flat.

All in all, the timing couldn't have been better! Did every run I could all day long and finished with good food at home. I gave the boys directions to Blue Sky Cafe

Maiden Voyage on the Franken Turner

2008-11-13T14:40:00.003-05:00

Here's a pic of the Turner "5 Pack" after my first little ride and all I can say is YAYYY!!! I feel like I've got a supermodel dressed in a burlap sack. My parts a little haggard, but attached to this machine, they can't hide the beauty within the beast.

I can't explain how nice it is to ride trails on full suspension again. I'm just NOT a hardtail guy. I hate the sensation of popping a root section on the front tire only to have the rear go scatter everywhere behind. The worst is trying to throw the bike in a turn and get it to grip. The front tracking and the rear trying to just throw you off the side of the mountain!!!!

2 Reasons to get out of the bed!

2008-11-12T16:52:00.003-05:00

Because if you don't, you have to walk around all morning long with these things stuck to your head. And believe me, getting up is a way better option than the knee kicks to ribs they drop to open you up for head shots. They've been watching way too much UFC Fighter!

Pisgah...you're all mine NOW!!!!

2008-11-10T11:38:00.003-05:00

Like a warrior with a new, perfectly sharpened and balanced sword, I stand ready! Greg at Turner Bikes sent me a franken-Turner! White 6-Pack used front triangle mated to a used 5-spot rear end..all joined and sent into action by the power of a brand new Fox DHX 5.0!!! Now...to rip off every single part from my trusted hardtail, bolt them up to it...and shred some singletrack for hours on end. Numb hands no more. And no more smacking a rock with front suspension, only to fly off trail or flatten a tire thanks to that rigid and unforgiving rear rigid tail!!!!

Next time you see me in Pisgah...wave fast. I'm going deep!

Butch

How much do you love to ride?

2008-11-07T19:37:00.003-05:00

Watch this video and then tell me you love riding more than the guys that built all that:

http://freecaster.tv/1000006_1006286

How to ride in the Cold?

2008-10-29T10:03:00.003-04:00

I forgot!!! Can't do it. Mind block. Fear. Numb toes. I haven't ridden in almost a week since it's been so blasted cold. I wanted to ride my road bike to work Monday but there were 30mph gusts. NO WAY! I was gonna ride yesterday before work, but it was 28 degrees and snowing 2 inches. WHAT?

Then this morning I chickened out again. I have got to man up and get back at it. Tonight I break out the stationery trainer. Oh the humiliation. If anyone's got a copy of Earthed 5 or NWD 9 or F1rst, please...PLEASE burn me a copy. The thought of hearing "It seperates the men from the boys" one more time is too much.

Thieves

2008-10-16T11:12:00.002-04:00

My dad called me yesterday. He was pretty upset. He lives in a remote part of McDowell County on family land. My grandparents gifted him 33 acres of springs and gullies and quiet, peaceful solitude. Somebody stole an inexpensive canopy and a $10.00 grill off the property. The worst part is there is only one way in past other family members homes. So they had to drive right by and haul it all out in a truck. Pathetic. I have a relative hooked on drugs who we think took it and will probably try to sell it for pawn.

Pathetic. They will have to answer to God though, not us. But life goes on and thieves will always fail in the end. Forgive the them for they know not what they do!

The roots of Mountain Biking

2008-10-14T12:31:00.002-04:00

Sometimes...all you need to tell a story is a picture. Whoever took this should really tell the rest of the story.

Click to see the full size image:

Exploring the Hickory Nut Gorge

2008-10-13T22:23:00.003-04:00

Been putting in some meander miles in Gerton and talking alot to the locals there about trails. I'm finding out about more and more good riding that is new, fun and silent. Descents like nothing else around, views that are just insane and trails all to myself. Wanna check 'em out, just drop me a line.

It's all going to be a state park soon anyway and we want MTB to be part of it. If bikes get in, I'll be the first to tell you...I TOLD YOU SO!

Oh...and if wanna see some old school DH from 94-95. I'm at 00:52 seconds:

Windrock Carnage from Doug Ferguson on Vimeo.

It's All about HOW You Look at It

2008-10-09T10:10:00.004-04:00

I've been guilty of being a negative nancy and playing the blame game. My wife even called me out on it last night. And it really does play out in your daily life if you take that kind of attitude. You defeat yourself. I've always had some family say "You'll turn your liver." "You'll put your eye out"(dad really did put his eye out so he's got me on that one). My mom and dad have been great though because they always back my decisions, so I've always managed to move forward despite my outlook.

Lately, I've been taking the mentality of "You get out of it what you put in" and it really helps keep me motivated. It's hard sometimes to not make excuses. That's my own self taught diversionary tool. But having kids and a wife who trust you changes your mindset. Plus kids just don't know you can't do things. They just think stuff happens. They're positive, upbeat, energetic and keep you pumped up every day.

This whole economy has people running in fear but it's had the opposite effect on me. It's made me realize that we are in a bind because we blame it all on something else. There is a credit crisis because we got greedy. People want stuff so they get it on credit. We spoil ourselves with cars, gadgets, computers, power tools, hybrids, carbon fiber, titanium, granite, cedar, performance, turbo, designer, brand name and custom fit.

Our whole economy has been about buying stuff. George Carlin talked about it 20 years ago that we had too much stuff in our boxes. Now, we've gotten bigger, more massive boxes with all the latest gadgetry and filled them full of 3-4 times what we did 20 years ago, yet no one is really working harder. Nobody's producing something the rest of us actually NEED. Americans are the middleman to the world, distributors of WANTS. What do humans NEED?

It's simple. Food. Water. Shelter. Utilities. Clothes. Safety. Energy. America used to supply almost all of these. Now, we merely distribute for the world. We don't make products, we have shipped here then mailed to the world. Clothes, supplies, housing, energy and food are all SUPPLIED by everyone else in the world. Soon, the world will not need the middleman, just like Wal-Mart didn't.

But the simple answer to all our problems is for Americans to work hard. Supply the world things it MUST have, not luxuries. We must become important and vital. That means getting out of the gadget business and providing the world the basic necessities of life. We are all starting to realize broadband wireless phones with internet and $4.00 Starbucks coffees and in home wired control panels, surround sound theatre plasma electronics are useless for success or happiness.

Get out. Do, not buy....STUFF!

I got hit by an F250 on my road bike!

2008-09-25T11:31:00.003-04:00

Yep! Yesterday I rode my bike to work and with all the insanity on Hwy 74 in Fairview, I decided to take a back route and climb across Merrills Cove to Rose Hill Rd to play it safe. Merrills Cove is a beautiful, gradual grade then Rose Hill is a butt puckering 4 minute descent right into the parking lot of work at . I had a shiny commuter pack on my back with reflective material galore on it. I had a bright 3 buld LED light on my bike and a single red clip on LED on my pack all going.

On the way home, I was climbing & less than 100 yards from the crest of the hill on Rose Hill and cars had been grazing by. It's the steepest road I ride..ever! Granny ring on the road bike standing up in the tiniest gear!!! The very last gradual right hander, the sun was shining right at me as I came out of the shadow of the trees. I thought to myself...this could be bad. 10 seconds later I heard a silent whistling sound and suddenly WHACK!!!!!! My arm was on fire but I was still on the bike. I immediately screamed in fear and hit the grass and laid there.

The truck backs up and pulls over to check on me. He apologized profusely and said he drives it every day watching out for the cyclists that climb the hill. He saw me at the last second, but was blinded by the sun. His passenger had yelled to him or it would have been worse. Luckily, the hill was so damn steep he was going slow enough. The giant plastic, foldable mirror left me with a mild spanking like the ones from my 6th grade English teacher!

God is watching over me today!!

Bike Commuting to Work - YEAH!

2008-09-17T11:05:00.002-04:00

I did it again today. Hadn't ridden the road bike to work in a while and can't honestly remember why I haven't. The route to work is pretty easy and not near as scary as Hendersonville Rd.

I take Emmas Grove Rd to Hwy 74 in Fairview down the mountain through Minehole Gap and coast into the parking lot of State Farm only 19 minutes later without breaking a sweat. I've been keeping some spare clothes at work and I feel so much better walking in the door.

If you've never ridden your MTB or road bike to work...DO IT! You walk in happy, confident and awake. I also recommend a blinking LED light on the back of the bike. I have one that I usually only turn on in the late afternoon shadows until I noticed a roadie on Emmas Grove who had his on in broad daylight and I could REALLY spot him from far off. Then when he rode under some shadows on the road, he disappeared but the light was so BRIGHT! I run mine on every ride now.

Oh...and when you ride, DO NOT ride the edge. It only encourages cars from behind to cut tight on you, even with oncoming traffic. You MUST ride in the right wheel track of the pavement about a 1/3 of the way out from the white line. It forces cars to follow you until they can pass you with NO ONCOMING TRAFFIC! I started doing this on road rides 3 weeks ago and haven't been buzzed. It feels much safer now.

My golden rule of rain riding ALWAYS pays off!!!

2008-09-11T09:53:00.003-04:00

Many years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about mountain biking. It's an outdoor sport, which means you have to go outside to do it. No way around it. If you take the time to plan a ride and it rains, you better go ride!

I told my wife several years ago that if it's pouring rain on the way to the trail, it's guaranteed to either sprinkle or not rain at all at the trail! Every time I test my theory, it pays off. Yesterday was no different. It had rained off and on all day lightly.

Sure enough, come 5pm it started pouring outside my office. I kept my head high and aimed for Bent Creek. On the drive, the parkway was empty. Bent Creek Road was vacant. The parking lot of Hard Times had 1 other car. This at 5:30 on a weekday and says alot about how ahrd it was raining. But sure enough, I got out of the car and the only water was on on the trees. The trails were packed hard & no standing water anywhere.

After a few fun routes down low I went up Side Hill to check out the FS logging at 5 points. No logging yet, but still the signs. 10 minutes later I hit Greens Lick. Dust free and packed like pavement!! It was a great ride in utter silence and I saw but one set of tire tracks that looked to be from early in the day.

I did smell a bear or hawk scent lingering near the powerline trail. When I've caught that scent before in that area, twice I've got off my bike to listen & watch. Both times I spotted a beautiful Coopers Hawk, once with a small pheasant/grouse in it's claws watching me from a limb 15 feet away in the underbrush. This time, it was a bear. I couldn't find it, but it was there and staying very close to the trail the whole time.

To this day, I have not once in 16 years of MTB, seen a single bear in the woods!!!

WHITE KNIGHT: Defender of Downhillers

2008-09-03T12:21:00.005-04:00

Got to go to Snowshoe this weekend thanks to 2 logistic blessings. Greg's parents offered a spot in the family mini-van and Brian Quillen offered his GT DHi to ride. It's been murder, the first in 10 years of not owning a DH bike!

Trip started with bike loading logistics, with 1 gettings trapped to the roof! Once loaded, I learned the back seat is the place to be. Leg room, wide seat, big storage bin, my laptop & MP3 player and BOOM! 6 hours later, we're in Snowshoe.

Our room was comical...tiny, the mattress for Greg & his gf was from 1982, the jacuzzi didn't work until Sunday afternoon when we turned on the light in the kitchen? The downstairs toilet leaked & the dishwasher poured water all over the kitchen. I wound up wedged in a 6 foot long by 3 foot wide corner, feet firmly on a fireplace. Slept good though. His mom fed us like kings though!!!

Snowshoe has a new trail that is a downhill berm filled roller coaster that is a work of art and LOVE. Rode it and the DH course for the most part. Dropped a glove on the lift Sunday b4 my race, rode down the hill to get it and took some insane, near impossible trail to the bottom. It was the 1st trail in a while that had me walking for fear of getting hurt b4 my run!!!

Race time came & there was more comedy than competition. The course was a BLAST and I hit 2 monster gaps, the second one blind & for the first time in my race run. After that..I was just excited & virtually forgot about racing. Finished poorly for Elite, but better than most anybody who was in AM...so I still belong? hah!

4000 Feet Elevation...no Descent?

2008-08-25T23:39:00.004-04:00

Ever have your wife concoct a ride with her friend for you that ties into an outing? Me and 2 other husbands fell victim to this evil plot on Sunday. "Why don't you guys ride your road bikes to the Craggy Gardens picnic area & we'll meet you guys there with a delicious picnic with the kids?"

Part of our conversation on the road was like this:
"So your wife thought this up?"
"Nope. Mine said it was your wife!"

Regardless, we started in Fairview, climbed across Merrills Cove to the Blue Ridge Parkway & headed North. 3 miles on the Parkway, it dawned on me. Sign reads 15 Miles to Craggy Gardens!! 2 1/2 hours of non-stop gradual climbing behind a life long 50 year old roadie with not so much as a pee break later, we got to 1 mile long silly steep finish at 5225 feet elevation in the parking lot at Bearpen Gap.

View Larger Map

I've always ridden MTB on long rides with breaks to chat, snack & shed/add clothes If it's road, 1 1/2 hours rides tops. I've never sat in the saddle nonstop for 4000 feet of vertical, unending climbing. You become a machine of efficiency. Walking became foreign!!

And for some dang reason...I want to do it again...but this time, I'll get the descent in!!!

Bent Creek will be Destroyed

2008-08-21T15:38:00.003-04:00

There are around half of the original trails in Bent Creek as there were when I first rode it over 15 years ago. Now I find out the fire road that became singletrack will be GUTTED NEXT WEEK!! North Boundary Rd aka Tony Michaels Parkway is being logged by the forest service. It's the second time in less than 5 years. The irony being that MTB volunteers built Greenslick at the top of the road they're gutting, meaning riders won't have access to a trail we donated to the FS!!!

And the FS never even followed through in converting Ingles Field back from a road to a trail per their original agreement with the public. Time to call Bent Creek Experimentail Forest and complain...LOUDLY! Join Pisgah Area SORBA

I saw the signs on a really fun ride last night. Easily over 100 riders out there and I hit the one route where I saw 1 single rider...a good day in my book..with a sad footnote.

Blacksnake Moan

2008-08-14T01:31:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what a blacksnake eats? Me too!!! I really wanted to cut this guy open to see just how big his meal was, but hoped it was one of many rodents it will eat in it's lifetime.

My house was a epi-center of wildlife 2 days ago. First this guy showed up & my dog went postal on it. Then that night I heard something I heard months ago....coyotes! To say they were viscious sounding is an understatement. This wasn't a pack of dogs fighting over a female in heat. It was feral animals on the hunt snapping, snarling & howling furiously only a few 100 feet from my back door. I ran them off but never saw one. Conservative estimate...8? Next morning, a Coopers Hawk dug around in my backyard like a robin looking for worms. Hawks are my favorite creature on God's green earth, bar none!

Anyway, been riding a ton and Ryane (wifey) has been helping me eat right and this morning I hit 188.4lbs! Less is more for me. If you've ever wanted to lose weight and not get bored...search for the Bodyweight 200 or Spartan 300. On YouTube, look up Turbulence Training exercises & routines. Call me when you can do 10 1 legged squats!
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=turbulence+training&search_type=&aq=0&oq=turbulence+train">

Last of all, I got some real inspiration from an awesome DH video on Dirt Mag's website. Check out the tractors lined up at 6 seconds & 25 seconds, not to mention the AWESOME step ups & step downs:

More Mountain Biking Videos >>

Kitsuma & a Set of Loppers

2008-08-04T11:12:00.000-04:00

Kitsuma in Black Mountain is my favorite trail bar none because there is no where else you can get 4.5 miles of high speed, twisty DH singletrack & a gated, paved, shallow grade road climb that is a piece of cake back to the top. If I had to break out that much climbing on singletrack, I'd still think it was my fav...but it would double the time to ride. As is, you can't beat 1hr 30 minute rides that have that much DH built in!!!

Anyway, it's my baby but neglected for years now. The rhodos have made impossible to lean into the bank of rail turns & link sweepers. Just one long blind scraping tunnel that pushes you off the track. On a climb, no big woop...but on descents it's a bloody, itchy mess & dangerous when you add the random uphill hiker.

I gutted every tight mess I could find & Todd Branham & crew took out 2 head high trees and groomed the sides the length of the whole trail to give breathing room the length of it. My approach was to take an S turn area and cut out a visual line of sight down trail. I'd park my bike down trail and walk back up to spot my bike..then cut a view path all the way back to my bike. It made a HUGE difference. On the very last left hand switchback uphill turn on the 3rd climb, I cut really deep into the uphill side of the trail. Brush had grown into what was the original trailbed & a new line had formed down low that was almost vapor. Threw brush in the old line and magicly after 30-40 minutes, out of the underbrush popped the original. Felt like a pro...heh. Pretty neat.

In the end, Kitsuma is now epicly fun again and alot of the original flow came back now that you can see where you're linking things up again. Todd has another work day for the end of the month to repair eroded sections where the trail itself is just GONE. I'm going to campaign my fellow gravity junkies to come help and hope they will join in the dig.

My back is a complete knot & I suffered a heat stroke almost on the climb out..but am pretty proud of the attention given to my old friend.

To ride Little Pisgah

2008-07-29T11:25:00.000-04:00

In my quest to ride a boatload more & eat a buttload less, I'm riding Little Pisgah tonight. The Florence Preserve is part of the park & has beautiful paths, rhodos & laurel...and my own silent peaceful ride alone to the best view in WNC!

If you've never been, Little Pisgah is gated part of the way up, but the Florence Preserve (bike/hike allowed) is part of it. The landowners at the top don't mind people hiking above the preserve area to the pinnacle. 360 degree views to Pisgah Mtn, Mt. Mitchell, Rumbling Bald, World Edge...the entire chain of the Blue Ridge visible. Simply my favorite view period!
http://www.carolinamtnclub.com//Hiking/google/511.htm

Weight update - 191lbs (hovering after a horrible weekend of crappy pizza) but not lost. Waist was 39.5", now 38.5". While I snuck back up a hair, I've eaten WAY better this week. Wife even noticed. If you want to lose weight & have fun iwth it, bodyweight exercises are awesome. Just google any of these:
Bodyweight 100
Bodyweight 200
Spartan 300

Which reminds me...eat more veggies says Cassidy:

189.8 lbs!

2008-07-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

Yup...got under 190lbs this morning. Doesn't sound like much to be proud of, but it's been a wall for me. Get down to 190, then pop off a weekend of bad eating and go back up to 197 or some ridiculous amount.

I read that you should measure & not weigh oneself to gauge true successes so I'm starting that tomorrow morning. I'll do typical waist/chest/bicep/thigh/calf and see what I can make happen. My goal is to get down to 180 by the end of August. That is 10 more pounds in 35 days. That means I have to lose 3/10 of a pound every day for 35 days & I can do that. Protein/green veggies/oatmeal/eggs/grilled/no AM chocolate.

Interesting fact...SOBE Green Tea has 14 cubes of sugar in it. A Venti Mocha from Starbucks that I stupidly drank yesterday had 650 calories or 90+ grams of sugar. I even had a Sun Drop that morning as my caffeine jolt.....33 grams of sugar!! Changing my evil ways.

First Strike

2008-07-22T13:06:00.001-04:00

Time to give this blog thing a try. Should be interesting. Going to start documenting life in general...kids, family, events, riding, work & maybe adventure. HAH!