Liven the Goodlife ! Good friends , family and full team support at the Hopper . Hell YES !!!

Feels Like Spring

California Sunshine has never felt so good! I traveled
home for Spring Break and it was absolutely beautiful.
Perfect riding weather.
I even got to drive to the Big Sur coast for a few days.
Unfortunately all trails are illegal to ride bikes on due
to it being a National Fores and all.

I decided at one point that it would be fun to film a section of trail
on the Inverness Ridge, riding with my left hand and using only the
front brake. The results are shown below.




After a nice road ride with my brother, which took us over the Bolinas-
Fairfax road over the side of Mt. Tam and back to West Marin,
we ran into George Hope and the three of us spent some time on
a much-loved singletrack. We pretty much toughed it up with
some TLC and a lot of satisfaction. The next day, I almost
made it to the portion of the trail the we had cleared when I got a flat tire.
Apparently Stans dries up faster than I wanted to admit.

Blacksocks redux

Happy birthday indeed, my friend. Photo #1 was at the Peppermill, Las Vegas, maybe 2000? When the Melvins walked in and Steve told them they were responsible for rock and roll as we know it and they looked at him like he was from Mars. Photo #2 is also at the Peppermill, but 2009, at the Soulcraft/AHTBM party. Funny to see how much we've matured in 10 years.

It's a shame we have to paint 'em.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Blacksocks

Or rather, happy 22nd anniversary of your 20th birthday. You can, as you always have, rip with the best of them.

a west county saturday

We had fun this time out. Always do,but some times chasing pros is just bonky and discouraging .This round was much better .Ms. Mary took the pic.Where do you ride?

Happy St. Pat's & Two (three) Soulcraft sightings

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I saw not one, but TWO Soulcraft bike & kit peeps around the Sausalito area! Well, THREE if you count my bike.

morning

Its difficult to get motivated and out the door when its dark, but I sure like a mid-ride sunrise.

tribute

I've enjoyed cycling all my life...blah blah. I’m sure you’ve all heard that one before…
Actually I really got into bikes a few times in life, so far. First time I was a suburban youth traveling around the neighborhood with the occasional jaunt downtown. I took a big break once I got a driver’s license but once in college I thought it would be wise to live more car free and since then I’ve been welded to a bike. Something I’ve noticed is I tend to always have a good buddy (or a few) that also enjoys cycling. And like all humans, some move away. When I look back for the good part of two decades, friends are like chapters in a book. Some are only a few pages and some are quite lengthy.
Anyways…I was recently feeling proud to know Cornbread. That MFer likes to ride bikes. I can barely hang on to his devastating pace, but he’s a friend and I know I’ll see him up ahead with a gentlemanly re-group. He also takes most of the pictures I post here, and I give him credit when I do. Not like I don’t have a camera with me all the time, but the dude takes a lot of pictures. He’s been a mainstay here in Lincoln for a while, and I hope he and I continues to call his hometown the same place I reside.
Last weekend a group of us ‘put on’ a town to town event. It was well attended and we kept to paved highway shoulder for the most part, since the gravel (our preferred medium) is soggy for a while due to the thaw. This cup of coffee saved my day. 110 miles and I took no food, duh. Plenty of water, but no food. Now, there’s plenty of food on the road in stores and stuff, but I really don’t need to learn that lesson again and again. Food is necessary for riding. And when you need it you need it. The Tom Tom in Dwight was a good stop and this is the best I could do for photog. Thanks in advance Cornbread.

Oi Gubna. You've got sumfin on yeh' chin.

Is it too late for an apology?

I don't know where you might reside, but in there parts, God has been crying by the gallon and the cabin fever is starting to get thick. Luckily I've been blessed periodic breaks between the sob storms and have blazed trails of glory for miles along baby butt smooth tarmac.
This lone Soulcraft soldier's training camp is in full swing and the meditation of the open road continues to beckon.

Winter is Almost Over...(I think)

Well, this has been my first colorado winter (you know, with snow and stuff).
It has been pretty brutal, as far as not being able to get on my bike without
leaning on the edge of frostbite. But I did learn how to ski, which is sweet. I
got to go on a hut trip in the San Juan Mountains. Probably the most
memorable part of the trip was finding this icicle...







And maybe crashing off this ski jump into some aspen trees...






But I had fun for sure, and managed to smile through frozen lips







But I'm getting psyched to go back home in a week
to climb some trees!!






















Trees in Colorado are simply too scary to climb...









And, of course, I'm stoked to ride my favorite trails (which,
fortunately do not have ice or snow on them).
Riding in the Bay Area is really quite nice
year round. Really, if I can change a flat
in the dead of winter without numbing
your hands thoroughly and putting myself at
risk of frostbite, then that qualifies as pure beauty
in my book.


I never realized how much I like a temperate climate until I
lived in a cold one? Hooray for the Bay!
P.S. I DID go riding today, but I had to
go back down the fire road I had climbed because
the singletrack was way too icy and sketchy!

How we roll.