Curtis Inglis called me yesterday to tell me there has been a slight change in plans for the pre-worlds festivities. Here's the new lowdown:
Jason Holmes bought a bike from us last year and he stopped by recently with his daughter Ava to get some schwag. I noticed his new custom saddle which was a prize for winning the Sport class at Downieville. Pretty cool. Only a select few got these things, and winning your class at that race on a hardtail definitely says something about your fitness and bike handling skills. By the way, all his friends who said he couldn't get away racing a hardtail there do not have this saddle.
On Saturday I met Curtis and crew for a little re-con at Skyline before the SSWC. I've ridden and raced up there before but I guess my memory ain't so good because the ride was a bit of an eye-opener. Hot, dusty, steep, lotsa rocks, but really fun. Just like a mountain bike race should be.
Ever the gracious host, Jeff Hantman provided us with some sort of Chinese pastry/cake deal that conveniently did not have a nutrition label attached. All we know is one of the ingredients was "green".
Stinkbomb
Monday, July 21, 2008
Escaping on a Thursday, chauffeuring my dentist and a doctor, we made our way to Downieville to suck some smoke. Despite the air quality, Friday's pre - race run was flattening. Wrong tire choice.Used tires of mysterious origin.Too thin skinned.Beer resulted in salvation. Next concern was morning deposits. As our campsite was a complete poach we had to scout blue rooms and wait for neighbors to mosey on to other adventures. Thank you fox forks. The Frenchman arrived with buckets of food and promises of buying my old bike. Early Saturday morning, the usual dawn scury/furry/ hurry for breakfast, deposits, bike preping, loading, etc.Off to Sierra City for the start. A mob of faces old and new in a sold out show. Larry Hibberd parted the waters, helping my start go smoothly in an otherwise cluster*uc*. 3000 feet up no conversations. Cresting the hill never felt so good. Rarely have I ever had the opportunity to watch such down hill talent, inspiring me to ride beyond my tires capacity.They lasted two-thirds of the way down the hill before the rear gave it up.In the mean time I caught Mr. Hibberd on the down hill, staying with him over the crest to third divide where he allowed the pass. 5 minutes later I flatted.Many went by (including Mr. Hibberd).Rolling again, regaining the groove, not long before spotting Larry with similar tire issues I went by and flatted again one minute later. To close to the finnish to bother with any repairs period. No supplies left anyway. I rode the flat tire out of the woods to the pavement where it finally became unridable. Fan on sideline with sharp knife sliced off tire and tube and sent me onto Master's Glory. Too bad about the rim. Drank many pain killers.Received fat crome bag of swag.Edibles,Wearables and Inspirationals via SOULCRAFT are huge and appreciated. Thanks for keeping it real. - George
Posted by stinkbomb at 8:01
Last weekend I had the opportunity to run a kids MTB camp sponsored by Nova Youth Cycling. I had 7 kids, mostly from Phoenix, who were the top finishers in their age groups in the state series. It was so cool to see kids who are super-competent riders, hav
e good trail manners, and are so eager to learn new skills.
The old crew from San Luis made it up for a ride a few weeks ago. Hams, Food Boy, and the BOM. Chris and Adam from Formula joined us. Usually it's a ride, eat, ride, eat, program but we only had time for eat, ride, eat, eat, this time. A 20 mi loop on Tam on the singles in 100' heat was enough for two rides anyhow.
You can see from the photo Dave hadn't got the memo that this wasn't a formal affair. In the middle of a particularly nasty stretch of singletrack, he was heard yelling, "Doesn't Sean know I have a tie on?", implying that his attire had everything to do with him pitching it into the weeds.
Being the hard chargers we are, as soon as we hit the couch it was lights out for the old men.
I’m lucky to be alive, let alone walking, and now riding (“racing” – ha!) bicycles again. Once the doctor rebuilt my busted spine with some custom ti bits I was rolling on the road to recovery and what I hoped would be a return to normal life.
“Normal life” being able to get out of/into bed, walk, go to the bathroom, and eventually, ride a bike without help from anyone else.
It’s been a tough journey, but thanks to my wife, family and friends, I have blown away any limited recovery apprehension my doctor and myself might have had. 
He's 65, he wears whitey tighties under his chamois, and he adores his handlebar rear-view mirror, but the guy can ride farther than you: he's my dad. It was exactly this guy who invited me to join him in riding the Tour of Colorado this summer,which boasts over 30,000 feet of overall elevation gain in some of the most spectacular country in America. So, I bought the largest rear cluster I could find and slapped it on my pink Soulcraft road bike, lubed the chain and hoped for the best. 
The Tour of Colorado turned out to provide some of the most epic high altitude road riding I have ever done, and of course, the time with my dad one of the highlights of my life. In the sea of generic, mass-produced, overly gadgetized titanium and carbon fiber bikes, my steel bike was quite the anomaly. In fact, maybe it was the moment when I crested the top of my third 10,000 foot summit of the day and was greeted by a random cyclist with, "I love you woman of steel" that I realized how lucky I am to ride such a unique and beautifully crafted bike in a world where most bikes are stamped out in a factory overseas.
On my way to work I thought saw John Milner from American Graffiti cruising in his '32 Ford Deuce Coupe. Turns out it was David DiFalco, former Bruce Gordon Cycles shop rat-turned hot rod guru. With a Chevy smallblock pushing 750 hp, it cost dave $1.32 in gas to stop and let me take this picture.
Our local superdad, Scott Bowen, organized a mountain bike clinic for kids this past week up at Howarth Park. He wrangled a bunch of us local riders and racers to be "instructors", which all of us were more than happy to do. Mo
nday was basic training with various obstacle courses they had to navigate. You could see the fear in some of their eyes as they approached the "super-see-saw" but they all did it. One of the girls in my group of 5-7 year olds, Madison, said it was, "Scary and Fun!". That's always a great combo. Wednesday was graduation day with a 2 mile trail ride and a race. For half the trail ride all I heard was, "Let's go faster!". I tried to teach the kids to pace themselves and the reply I got from Sam was, "I can't pace myself, I'm on a stunt bike!" Fair enough. 
After the trail ride they all received "diplomas". I was not allowed to give a commencement speech. These kids are way more skilled than I was at their age. They are going to rule when they get older, assuming they stick with riding. The way things are going, by the time they turn 16 bikes might be their only choice. There will be another class on July 7 and 9th (see earlier post for details). For more pics go here.
