That Geoladder track is absolutely awesome!

you know, looking back at the playback i realize why i was tired at the end of that. there were lots of steep climbs but there were no real descents. nowhere to really get your speed up either. it was just grinding away at the pedals the whole time.

that's one of the coolest things i've seen.

did you stay east of the powerline road?
i have never been out there before, but on MTBR they talk about closures west of the powerlines.
always wanted to go play around out there, but was worried about trail closures.

"you know, looking back at the playback i realize why i was tired at the end of that. there were lots of steep climbs but there were no real descents. nowhere to really get your speed up either. it was just grinding away at the pedals the whole time."

would you say you should have gone the other direction. for an easier ride/more downhill.

cool.
i don't mind all the climbing either, but it's nice to have a nice downhill to reward your climbing.

i did a fire road loop with my dad when i was 13-15 years old and i swear the loop was all uphill.
i don't remember coasting for more than a few feet at all on the ride.

i was just scanning through discussions looking for a spot to post pics of my new mtb, and now this has been posted:)
sorry for crummy pics






Frame: 2008 Orange Prestige L.E.
Fork: Rock Shox SID Race 100mm
Headset: Chris King No Thread-set
Crank Set:: Shimano SLX/32t Salsa Chainring/Truvativ STYLO Bash Guard
Bottom Bracke: Shimano XT External Bearing
Derailleur Front: N-Gear Jump Stop
Derailleur Rear: Shimano XTR Shadow Carbon
Freewheel: Shimano SLX 9-Speed 11-34
Chain: Shimano HG73
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy C
Handlebar: Ritchey Comp riser bar 25mm Rise; 630 Width; 31.8 clamp
Stem: Ritchey Pro mtn; 6 degree; 31.8 clamp
Grips: WTB Moto Grip
Derailleur Shifter: Shimano SLX RapidFire Plus 9-Speed
Saddle: WTB Speep V Crmo Rails
Seat Post: Thomson Elite 27.2 x 410mm
Seat Post Clamp: Only 30.0 clamp I could find today. Salsa on the way
Hubset: N/A
Rim: Mavic 2008 Crossride UB Wheelset Black
Spokes: N/A
Tires: Kenda Small Block Eight 2.1
Brakes: Shimano SLX Hydraulic Disc w/ Avid Roundagon Rotor - 160 mm
Brake Lever: Shimano SLX

i ride lake hodges mostly, daily ranch here n there, and black mountian now and then:face-smile:
if you ever want a riding partner, hit me up for sure! im always down for night, day, or morning rides when im free.

Brian needs a thread just for all his cool bikes! Do you ever get to take a paycheck home or do you owe the shop at the end of the week? LOL:face-smile:

My buddy Brandon has been MIA for the last year, and just started riding again about 3 weeks ago. So I talked him into doing this really easy ride in the cuyamaca's . . . http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22018431
.
Some how I managed to delete the pictures from the first half of the ride, and only have the pics from azalea spring area.

The temps were perfect, sunny with just a slight chill in the air. I will never stop being amazed at the leg strength that riding a road bike brings to the mountain bike realm. I rode all but the 3 b*tches in my middle ring up front, and stayed in the upper half of my rear chainring in the back all day. I was feeling really good. . . . Brandon however was not. . .


Mandatory "First Time at The Tree" Pic






We rested at the spring for a while, while Brandon let me know how much he was hurting, and how I have re-ignited his hatred for me, and then were on our way. While heading up the little climb after the rest area i could smell smoke really stong, I was a little worried. . . . Then out of the corner of my eye I see multiple trees cut down and smoking like crazy, I then remember that there was a sign back at the hollow tree that said something about controlled burn area :shock:
Looks like they burnt, and cut down a bunch of trees. There were 6 trees still smoldering.





We hit the usually fast and fun downhill back (fern flat to west mesa) to the sweet water staging area, It was hard to get up too much speed today, as every 1/2 mile there were trees knocked down and across the trail. I didn't get any pics because it was getting late and Brandon was really hurting, but that little storm we had a couple weeks ago seems to have wrecked allot of trees.

Various pics

I've got a SS 29er at home that I haven't ridden in months; either work or life, but mostly my laziness gets in the way.

And I live within riding distance of sweetwater bridge area.

Velo Cult:anyone doing the Elfin Forest bike race this weekend? if i can break away from work i'll try to do it to gauge just how out of shape i am in.

i will be there if i dont have to work.

wife and i went for a easy short ride in mission trails around the grassland loop 2x on tuesday.
i'm teaching her how to ride a mtn bike and this is her first bike that has gears so the grassland loop is perfect for her.
right now i'm trying to get her to ride a little faster down the small hills on that loop.
she's getting faster each time we ride it. wanted to go ride around it a few times this sunday, but i'm not sure about the rain.
trying to get up to big laguna trail, but every time we've planned to go it's rained. might just have to wait till after winter to go up there.

I'd be up for that. I might start at the bottom of the mountain, but I'd go.

i raced the Elfin Forest race this morning. if you weren't going strait up you were on rocky nasty descents. all in all a very technical and difficult course. glad it's over.

i was right around there.

2 miles from the finish i destroyed my front derailleur and it took a few minutes to get back together so that i could have at least the middle ring to work with. i put it back to it's original messed up position to take a photo of what it looked like.

<blockquote><cite> Velo Cult:</cite>2 miles from the finish i destroyed my front derailleur</blockquote>
i've killed 2 rear derailleur, but never a front.

not much mtn biking going on for the next few weeks :face-crying:

The desert during the winter is just plain awesome.

http://extremepixs.com/contents/en-us/image_viewer.html?lmd=40199.383333
http://extremepixs.com/contents/en-us/image_viewer.html?lmd=40199.383333

I've been snowboarding at Thredbo. It was so weird because as I recall the entire mountain was covered with Eucalyptus.

so as some of you may know i put on the vintage portion of the Keyesville Classic Mountain Bike Race.

this race is 22 years old and i have been doing it for 21 years now. about 5 years ago i worked with the promoters to add the vintage categories to this event. you can enter bikes which are from 1986 and older and 1987 to 1995. you race downhill, short track and cross country. of course there are all the normal race categories as well if you want to race modern bikes.

the race takes place near Lake Isabella in the Southern Sierra's which is about a 6 hour drive. the primitive camping is free and absolutely beautiful.

so anyone have a classic bike they may want to take out there?

i will be here racing. signed up already, still not sure how im getting there though.

man, i can't wait for out trails to dry out. i miss mountain biking. i had to drive to LA to ride today. it was sunny and beautiful while it was stormy down here.

OK, so now im thinking i did break my collar bone. not bad though. it was hurting yesterday but it was nothing like the previous two times i broke it so i thought it was sore but not busted, now i feel that it's got a hairline crack. the other two times i really destroyed my collar bones and it took a year to heal. this one seems minor. i commuted to work today which hurt a little but it was manageable. it should heal quickly. my left collar bone was so badly broken that it now looks like a "W". i always knew that even a small crash on it would break it.

yeah, same here. i have my once a year vintage mountain bike race that i put on in the Sierra's. for the third year in a row i'll be not racing because of injury. i gotta stop crashing.

DutchBurrito:sweet pic. sweet bike!

thanks!
liesure rode it and raced it with drop bars this weekend and had a blast! ive got alot of new parts for it on the way:)