I'm on a stunt bike!

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. Monday 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.

Playing Hooky

A couple Fridays ago the wife and I took to the hills of Mt. Tam for a day of solitary riding. It's been a long time since I played hooky to ride Tam. I grew up not too far from the mountain but as a kid it seemed so far away. It was a place my dad would take my brother and me fishing after school and by car took 40 minutes to get there. As a teenager I discovered that I could ride my bike there quicker than I could drive and exploring the mountain by bike consumed most of my free time. I don't get a chance to ride there as much now but when I do, I'm reminded how lucky I was, and am, to be able to ride in such a beautiful place. Marin gets a bad rap for its trail user conflicts but I can honestly say I've never had a bad day riding up there. Sure, you get a ticket every now and then for speeding or riding an illegal trail, but I just consider it a "user fee". It's just too nice a place to let crap like that ruin the experience. Anyway, there's no one up there on Fridays so you kinda have the place to yourself.

It's For the Kids Man!

Local bike advocacy nut-job and man of action, Scott Bowen, has organized some MTB skills classes coming up in Howarth Park in Santa Rosa. All the info is on the flier there (click on the flier to enlarge it) but if you want to e-mail someone for more info it's mtbclass@comcast.net or call Scott directly at 707 703 1392.

Bassmaster Nyiri

I often get asked the question, "What's Matt up to?" Well here you go, at least when he's not pressuring his Camelbak accounts into buying more stuff so he can spend his bonuses on belly boats and waders. He can be seen floating around Lake Ilsanjo up at Annadel shouting at fish. He usually wears a fake beard to disguise himself from his former riding buddies but we know it's him because when he's close to shore his flotation device sits a good two feet above the water, exposing Matt's trademark legs.

08 Howarth Park Dirt Crits

Once again it's time to put it all on the line for local bragging rights. The Wednesday Night Dirt Crits are returning to Howarth Park in Santa Rosa. Check it out y'all.

R.I.P Eastside

Some months ago we were saddened to hear that one of our sponsors, Eastside Cycles in Petaluma, closed its doors for good. Owner John Muela opened Eastside in 1999 and moved the shop to the heart of downtown in December of '06. If you were to take a tour of Petaluma's downtown you probably couldn't have found a better location than where Eastside ended up. As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, his landlord raised his already stiff rent about 100% and made keeping the shop afloat next to impossible.
"We gave it our all and made some great friends over the years. That is what I will miss most." John told me. I saw firsthand what John tried to do for the local scene; sponsoring his own team, planning a local crit (that the city squashed because of politics), helping out the Soulcraft Team with mechanical work, and just being an all around good guy. We just wanted to say, "Thank you John", for all your help and for having the balls to chase a dream.

The Thing That Should Not Be

I've been riding this trail (and through this gate) for a little over 20 years without incident. The trail winds its way above the hills between Fairfax and Terra Linda/Lucas Valley in Marin. On the other side of the fence is private land and the previous owner didn't care too much if you passed through as long as you closed the gate behind you. At one point I believe that the Open Space sign actually stated that the property had become Open Space or at least it was "officially" O.K. to roll through. On Saturday I see that it's been closed off with barbed wire and at least 10 "no trespassing" signs. You could tell that something (or someone) had drastically changed. Turns out that a few years back a celebrity type bought the property and hired an ex-policeman to manage the property, hence the not-so-subtle "keep the F out" vibe. Also turns out that said celebrity is none other than James Hetfield of Metallica. I really like Metallica, or I did in the early days, and I don't like to judge someone's work on what they do in their personal time but I think I've made up my mind on at least one point; James Hetfield is a paranoid shitbag.