Bike Hero - Where do I sign?

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!