Back to NH times now. Where was I? Ah yes, Highland!
As mentioned, the place is like MTB dreamland. Bri’s-Bro “Mo’-gun” and I headed over for some drizzly day riding that was SO good that, well we were late for dinner that day. (And dinner in New England ain’t something you want to be late for)
We arrived when the place opened. I rented me a bicycle, hopped on the lift and we rode non-stop until the place closed. Quickly forgetting about the chill, the day flew by… literally!
Earlier in the week, I had zip-tied the camera to the bars for a video (see below), and busted the LCD viewer during that run. So the Highland pics are a mess since we couldn’t see what we were shootin’. But here’s what we got.
MOgun went for a ladder run and was abruptly stopped when his front rotor met the immovable “log”. He didn’t seem to mind though. And some bending with a Leatherman got the disc rideable again… kind of.
My rental Trek was cool. It might have been the DHX Coil and the Totem that made it ride so well though. Kinda, just add linkage to those and and yer good, eh?
Highland also had a huge pumptrack… and we all know how much I love a good pumptrack.
We did ride it as much as the 8″ of travel would allow. It just wasn’t the same. Oh, what I would have given to have my Nummers there!
Now, we didn’t just ride at Highland. Bri’s parents live on about 90 acres of beautiful NH mountainside. So besides the four-wheelin’ there, several great trails were to be explored right outside the patio door.
Here’s a little look at the yaahhd:
So there you have it… our North East family. Who knows, perhaps someday you’ll witness the bi-costal expansion of The Empire!
We recently headed up to central Cali for another trip to the StumpGrinder series (this was the series final)… and as such, have yet another superb race weekend to recap.
It seemed like we had just unpacked from the last Lompoc adventure, when we found ourselves loading up the car for the next. Turns out, these “series” races tend to be like that.
So it was looking like deja vu all over again, only the now XC’d-out Misfit was about a POUND lighter thanks to a new wheelbuild I was trying. (Light, SS, and as I’d find out in the next days, highly race worthy)… More about this build in the next post. For now, let’s just say it’s yummy! Here’s a peek:
Anyhoo, usual arrival into Poc-town around 10:30 pm. Usual visiting with Jana, Marshall, and the boys ’til about 02:00, usual rush to the registration tent by 08:40, and usual start of the exp SS class solo run. Come on people! This is a good race to support. The course is fun, the atmosphere is casual, and the people are cool as hell.
Here’s some pic-pics: (Mouse over for the what’s-what)
After Saturday’s XC stuff, we all headed back to the ranch for some good times at the Hotel Wilcox (Not only were Bri and I staying there, but Lindsey, Daniel and their dog, Tucker were camping out as well). We all picnicked on some of the local Thai cuisine… which was tasty, once we figured out where to park for the picking-up and taking-out part.
Next morning, after getting beat-up by some HUGE Jalama surf (sorry, no pics this time), we headed back to Chamberlin for the DH races.
L’B’ DH racers were on course. And Brenda was on her new Banshee Rune (supplied by your favorite shop).
Also racing were L’B’ friends Ed, Doc, and Daniel. Pics!
And quite probably the best photo to come out of the weekend…. Was this pumptrack shot of young Canyon.
It’s not just that he’s only 5, or that he’s somehow taught himself this perfect riding position and form… it’s the face. We’ve not seen that kind of focus in seasoned racers 4, 5, or 6 x his age… Look out Jana & Marshall.
Oh, and it seems he knows he’s good…
Filed under: Rides
As any couple of Misfits should, we… er, I mean our diSSents, have been gettin’ some good old SingleSpeedin’ family fun!
A couple weeks ago, Bri and I headed over to Bonelli Park for a rainy loop around Puddingstone Lake. This would actually be Bri’s first ride on her SS. And she took to it like a baby to algebra!
Just kidding. She loved it, of course! Wow, who knew? Just put that girl on a Misfit, give’r some hills to climb, and she grins (and continues grinnin’) all day long!
It was SO cool, her enthusiasm and post-ride, adrenaline-fed, rapid-chatter. Like a kid just off a rollercoaster, “did you see the turn where I…” and “I can’t wait to go again, next time I’m gonna…” and so on. Just awesome.
Pics day one:
Next up, a Sunday mornin’ cruise through the Santiago Oaks flats.
Oh no! Another poorly made L’B’ Productions video!
(Note, the Hoss Kiva jersey Bri is sportin’ in this vid. Nice! Want one?)
All-in-all, I’d say this Misfit really likes her bike.
Filed under: Rides
Soon after we returned from the big Durango adventure, we were packing up the utility vehicle for some tent-camping in Kernville, at the 17th annual Fat Tire Festival up there. How cool it was to go from the Rockies to the Sierras in a day!
Let’s stop here. If you’ve not attended a mountain bike gathering, like a ”Fat Tire Fest” stop reading, go here, and find one near you. It’s important! Email me if you can’t find one. I’ll help you look. Why? Read-on…
Now, races are cool too, and both are similar in that ‘bunch-of-like-minded-cyclists-there-to-have-fun’ kinda way. But at these non-race focused gatherings, the vibe is completely different. At the festivals, things are a bit slipshod, relaxed, and social. (Yeah, I used “slipshod”) No race strategies, agendas, competitive scheming, start times, finish times… you get the idea.
The Kernville sort of these gatherings is a shining example of this vibe. You get:
- 3 days of shuttle serviced rides on some of California’s best singletrack.
- Atmosphere o’plenty! Camping right there in the middle of it, with your fellow bicyclistas!
- Guides and festaval directors who are passionate about the sport.
- Fun-n-game competitions… like limbo and wheel bowling <– brought to you by Likin’ Bikin’
- Food!
- Camaraderie… Who understands you better than other cyclists?
- Schwag! These things are sponsored by loving, generous, good looking shop owners.
…and what better way to extend a honeymoon for another few days?
So, we rolled into Kernville on Thursday afternoon. Set up the campsite, which included inflating a huge air mattress via an A/C outlet in the trunk of our car, a new 4 person tent for 2, a doublewide sleeping bag (which was NICE!), and a few other luxury items which were requirements of Bri’s before she’d agree to not being in a hotel (We drove past the Keyesville hotel on the way in).
After a great night sleep, thanks to Bri for making the 5-star campsite, it was Friday morning and time to start the rides! Time for pics:
Friday: (Pre-ride talk; fellow SHARE guys; I can’t NOT jump off rocks-n-stuff on group rides <– Keith with the premature picture taking… my lo-tech camera tho)
(Mr. ride guide Jim Scarry; planned water refilling spot on the Kern Canyon ride; one banner strikingly more lovely than the others 
(SS legend Keith was limbo bikin’ on the L’B’ BlkMrkt Mob; Sheryl came by and joined us for dinner – nice placemats!; Bri sneaking up on the JetBoil tea)
Saturday = Cannell Plunge day: (Emily taking the pro-line thru the rocks; Ray and James on a PB&J break – these guys are hilarious… and fast!; Emily, Em’s friend, a cabin in the woods, and a butt)
Dan’s Cannell Trail helmet cam… and quite possibly the poorest quality video on the Tube today! I had the camera pointed too far down most of the weekend, so if you get motion sickness from watching this, I appologize.
(Mike attacking the Hill Climb Contest; Bri getting lots of attention (undoubtedly due to the BlkMrkt Mob she’s on); Workin’ on the Foes with the help of an especially helpful Hoss canopy)
Sunday: (As sponsors of this event, we added loads of stuff to the big raffle.. including one of these DT Swiss wheelsets; MRA owner, event creator, and hellofa a good rider, John Stallone… with a bicycle pancake; Back of the event t-shirt… Likin’ Bikin’ will happily be there next year!)
Thanks to John Stallone, Jason, Emily, Scarry, and Mike for the great time and all the laughs. We’re looking forward to seeing y’all again reall soon!
Filed under: Rides
That’s right, Bri and I (along with 12 family/friends) headed off to Durango, CO last week to finally get hitched!
Needless to say, I’m one lucky SOB! So without further delay, I loaded her onto the cart and checked into the General Palmer Hotel See? There we go!
We didn’t just get married in Durango though, we also hung out for a week, enjoying the town, the Rockies, and the outdoors that are such a huge part of life there. And yes, the mtb’ing was amaizing!
On the first day, I hit up a shop in town for a rental bike and some local knowledge. These guys hooked me up with a Felt Redemption and more trails than I could write down!… seriously. Check out this handy box-flap map the shop owner made for us of some trails right there in town.
For the first ride though, they sent me to the Hermosa Creek/Jones Creek trailhead which was about 10 miles out of town, for a 27 mile loop ride. When I got there the sky was looking kinda stormy. But I was there so I took the rental out of the rental and took off up Jones.
It started to rain pretty hard, so I changed the plan to out-and-backs on both trails. Who knew there were so many cows on these trails tho? Sheesh! I really had to watch my speed as I kept having to stop for ‘em around several corners… like surprise roadblocks. Here are a few shots from that morning:
After dealing with more bovine traffic on the way out of Hermosa, I returned to Durango to meet up with Mark. He picked up a rental Kona Dawg and we rode over to Horse Gulch, a trail system right there in town. As such, I was expecting a small, park’ish ride. Nope, huge mountain views, miles of singletrack with terrain ranging from shale to slick-rock to DG. Big climbs, techie descents, hi ridgelines… here’s the shots:
The next day was wedding day. However, the wedding was set for 5:30, so we went for a ride! <– The bike shop owner told me that I was marrying the right girl as she wanted me to ride the day of.
So Mark and I were off to “Test Tracks”. These were some trails across the Animas River, also within riding distance of downtown. The most fun trail of the day was “Star Wars”. A long DH with tons of high berms… left, right, left, right… for days! Often with natural rock jumps in between. So much fun!… like attacking the Death Star! We rode until it started to hail and thought we should get back to see what was going on with the outdoor wedding plans. – Sorry, no pics of Star Wars… way too much fun for stopping. Here are the trails around it tho. And some hail.
That afternoon, the storm kicked up. No problem tho, we’ll just get married in the hotel.
The next few days included trains, hangin’ around town, finding a shop that had an MTB museum thing going on, and Tree Top Soaring!
After the tree soaring, it was time to pack up and head back to Calif. What a great adventure Durango was. And a perfect setting for the start of our married life together. We are already looking forward to visiting again soon!
