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!

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

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?

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

http://freecaster.tv/1000006_1006286