PDX JRA

Holiday Break Adventure Guide

2010-01-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't finish up my finals and think I was going on an adventure. I thought I was just going to make a fairly boring drive to Seattle. My car's starter had other ideas. So I made some great friends at Carl's towing and United Battery and got home. I brought my mountain bike and my trials bike home for the month figuring that would keep me busy. Buckle your seatbelt and read on...

Some extra pretty trail in Black Diamond

For adventure number one my roomie, Chris, and I went to scope out the riding situation in Black Diamond. I got there a bit early and rocked some cross country while I waited for Chris to show. "Rocked" being the operative word" The trails around Lake Sawyer are full of them. I would go as far as to say there were more rocks than dirt. Basically I got my XXC (Xtreme Cross Country) for an hour.

XXC example A. This stuff was rad and gnar all at once.

When Chris showed we rocked up to the Summit Ridge Freeride Park to see how the work was going there. I have to say my mind was blown wide open and the pieces were scattered everywhere. These guys took the remains of a poorly built, then poorly destroyed, illegal jump spot and have turned it into one of the best riding spots in the Seattle area. I know this is going out on a limb but it may even be up to par with the late SST (rip). The landowners are super cool folks from a church and let they crew use an excavator to build some solid lines. Anyway, bottom line is that this place is rad for getting better as a rider. Tons of challenging xc, a great slalom line, two progressive jump lines (meaning they make you progress as a rider in order to do both of them).

Brian both built and rips this trail

A few days later it was back to the same spot to hook up with the crew from NW Certified to see what these kids could do. There was a throw down of epic proportions until Garret decided it would be a much better day if he cracked his head open. Seriously though, Garret took a gnar spill and gave himself a huge gash in the head so we called local number for 911 and got him taken care of. I almost feel bad about the 'blowing my mind' bit in that last paragraph now. Anyway, the guys had been going huge all day, only problem (besides Garret's head) was that I got a little excited, tried to pull out a whip and busted my rear wheel. That sort of sucked and began to suck more when I realised I was done riding for the duration of the break.

Damien put some style in it

Mountain biking: the next great family sport. Seriously though, they all were ripping, including the dog.

With riding out of the question and itching to get outside and be a mountain man I went for a little xc ski trip with my mom and my lady. We went up I-90 to exit 63 and rocked out on the Cabin Creek trails for a while. Considering she had not been before, my girlfriend did great. She only planted it twice and got right back up. As we headed home I couldn't help but look up at the terrain park on Snoqualmie and wish I had an smx or something like that to get rad on. Mission accomplished time for cocoa.

Ya that's a ragwool hat. And yes, those are specialized gloves. So what?

As you may or may not have already read, depending on if you are bored enough to actually read my blog, I have resorted to working out until I can get rolling again. I guess its good to stay in shape but I really can't wait to get my bike back working. In other random news I have ordered a GoPro HD and I got a copy of Final Cut for x-mas so maybe you can watch videos of me doing gnar things in the future.

Sweet Workout Without a Fashionable Gym

2009-12-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

At school we have a minimal gym. A few dumbbells, a couple benches, and a climbing rope, all under the oldest basketball floor in Oregon. Home for the holidays, the only thing around are chain gyms that want to sell me protein powder and crap like that. Today I ran over to the local elementary school to see what I could find. I was lucky enough to come across a waterlogged 4x6 that was five feet long. Read on for the best workout without going further than your closest spare piece of lumber...

Right now my main goal is to build functional strength I can use for mountain biking and cardio fitness for my Air Force fitness test. Here is my forty minute workout:

- 1 mile run at warm up pace

- Three sets of:
- Throw log as far as possible five times (away from starting line)
- Sprint back to starting line
- Jog back to log

- Walking Lunge back to starting line carrying log

- Three sets of:
- 20 sit ups
- 5 pull ups
- 20 push ups

- 1 mile run at moderate pace

The goal of the log throw is to get as far as possible and complete the set as quickly as possible. Good form is a must for lifting the log. I like to dead lift the log off the ground and then clean it to shoulder height. Then I use a front squad/shoulder press combo to throw it.

Merry Christmas

An Extremely Rad Adventure: Part I

2009-12-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Because I go to a school that is not controlled by the government, I get a sweet, week-long break in the middle of October. Same idea as spring break, just in the fall. Since the only beaches within reach were cold, rainy, and distinctly lacking fun things to do, my bro Chris and I decided to head out for a road trip. On the hit list were Hood River, Leavenworth, and Bellingham. This rad trip ended up being just like a big ole bite of gnar bar...

With the car loaded we rocked the I-84 out to our first stop, Hood River, Oregon. It is only about an hour drive out of Portland so we had plenty of ride time for the day. Instead of stopping in town we crossed the toll bridge to the Washington side and headed out to Bingen and the Syncline trails. Syncline is a giant plateu that is tilted over at a 30 degree angle. There are a few mellow xc lines and some pretty hairy downhill rock moves that are precariously close to a 200 ft cliff.

The View of Syncline from across the river. Note the extra large cliff on the left.

Just being the two of us, there was no way we could set up a shuttle. Instead we strapped our pads to our packs and started the long pedal up. We stopped climbing the old, switchbacking jeep track about half way up. This was far enough for us on a day that had proved to be sunny and warm instead of the promised pouring rain, it was time to rip. We took it easy on the first run, railing down the buff singletrack on the rider's left. After pedalling back up we decided to rock the rocks next to the cliff. Before decending we had the good fortune of meeting Landon, the owner of Tonic Fabrications. We chatted for a bit and then he showed us how it was done going down.

Chris handles a rock roller with ease

Next up we decided to go have a rip on the Coyote Canyon trail. This bad boy snakes its way along the bottom of the cliff, through some sweet looking trees and copious amounts of nettles. This time of year the stingers were all gone so we just had a fun rip and took some great shots.

Chris pinning it through the fall colors

Me getting rad around a corner

Pretty cool lighting as the sun worked its way down

After ripping through the fallen leaves we headed back across the toll bridge to find some food and make camp for the night. We found a prime spot near the head of some trails close to Hood River and made our selves some custom cedar roasted ham and cheese sammiches with fixings we picked up for around $5.00 at Safeway. We headed to bed early so we could get rad again early the next morning.

To be continued...

A Brief History of the Bicycle: Intro

2009-12-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

The one thing that both endears and makes me hate other bikers is their incessant shop talk. I have never ridden or talked with another cyclist who didn't know (or think they knew) enough about their bike and why it is better than yours to carry on a brain-melting conversation. Here is my solution...

I used to be one of these people. I could quote to you the exact price of every component imaginable and debate the merits of each like so many mechanized interpretations of the Bible. To avoid becoming this person again, this series will discuss the various bicycles I have owned, how I view the industry, and the sport of cycling. This way you won't have to deal with this sort of thing while you are trying to read about a perfectly good trip to one of those places you have always wanted to ride. Right now I have lined up the following categories according to my own progression:

- The Cheap Hardtail

- The Mountain Bike

- The Street Bike Special: Trials and Trails

- The Cyclocross Bike

- The Manufacturer

- The Shop

- The Sport Special: A tale of Glory

I will always include lots of pictures of bikes and I hope you will find these entertaining. Feel free to suggest other categories if you feel I missed something.

Overture

2009-12-24T00:47:00.000-08:00

I have had the bittersweet pleasure of experiencing flight. I have been there, and there I long to return.

My bicycle is a training tool as much as a stress ball. I ride because I must. Being on a bicycle blocks out everything unnecessary and creates focus. I love coming face to face with myself just shy of peaking out a tough climb and learning to trust my instinct flying back down. I am addicted to the feeling of carving a beautiful line out of fern and loam. Riding a bicycle has taught me about more than adjusting gears and tuning suspension.

I am lucky enough to live in a gorgeous corner of the world known as the Pacific Northwest. Here we see rain as often as we do sun. Pursuing a degree in engineering is just that, a pursuit. Even after hours of trying to catch the heavy concepts of vector calculus or dynamics, they often get away. I am also determined to join the ranks of the world's best aviators. Some day I hope to skim over trail-laden mountains in an F-22 Raptor. There are very few who succeed down this road and fewer who think it possible for me to. Here you can fulfill your vicarious internet bike needs by keeping up with my epic adventures and misadventures as while I JRA...