Belly-O-Beast

Same as it ever was

2009-07-05T22:05:00.002-04:00

Ah the 4th 'o July weekend wrap-up! Explosions in the sky. Suntan lotion. Funnel Cake. Harborfest. The tourist season is in now in high gear now. This kind of thing made me want to leave SE Virginia faster than dry wick burning on one of the thousands of cheap bottle rockets lit over the weekend when I was a kid. I have never really cared much for crowds. Mob mentalities and the descent of the collective IQ have no appeal for me.

Instead I celebrated by doing different stuff. I began the day with an early morning trail ride out at Ipswich which I have discussed here before. In the past I have stated that this trail is always different every time I go. I do not go there much. A couple of times around and that's about all there is. Not much to see. There are the basic trails which see little to no maintenance, random man made obstacles (bridges, A-frames, teeters, drop offs, log piles) strewn about and the dirt jump lines. New things spring up, things get torn down and life goes on. This time around most of the obvious man made stuff had been removed since the last time I was out. This was kind of bummer as some pretty nice bridgework was gone necessitating alternate routes to complete the loops. There was several different versions of bridges that spanned this creek pictured below since I returned to the area, but there was not even a trace of any of that left. I have a feeling someone may rebuild something here as it really kinda screws up the loop without it. Nonetheless, the "switch" still felt like it always had since I began riding out there nearly 20 years ago. It is still a chaotic mess that is fast, twisty and filled with naturally technical terrain that keeps you focused. The faster you ride it the better. I was cooking along pretty well so no complaints.

I then picked up the fam and went down to see a buddy and his family that I played with in a band in the early 90's down at the beach. It felt great to catch up and talk about all the crazy shit from back then. Good times.

Then it was off to my friends house who had left us run of his place while he was away for the weekend. He has a pool and it overlooks the cargo loading docks across the river. I had a neato floaty doo dad that I wanted to try out with the lil' man. He loved it and it was just nice and low key fun.
Tons of explosions in the sky rang out through the evening. We had no need to go get in the middle of any of that. We lucked out as our balcony afforded us a perfect view of the Harborfest show. Best of all I could sip wine w/o having to deal with any alcohol check points. Once in a lifetime...

Ritual and dividends

2009-06-28T11:17:00.002-04:00

I had pondered whether or not all of the commuting and "road" riding I was doing would pay off in the dirt for at least a few weeks. I have not driven my car to work in more than a month and have ridden nearly everyday, rain or shine. My basic commute is pretty short, but I always add extra mileage at the beginning, end or both by tacking on a wider loop with one of the multiple streets that parallel my route. I generally also ride the whole thing in intervals doing flat out sprints for a block or two every few blocks. I am a sweaty mess by the time I roll into the office, but it is not anything a whore's bath will not fix and I feel good so there. Still it had been nearly three weeks since I turned the cranks off road and even longer since I been out to my favorite haunt Freedom Park. I took off pretty early yesterday and there was only two cars in the large lot when I rolled in before eight AM. No problem I know this place well and have plenty of tunes to keep me company. The trails were mint, albeit kinda dry so some sliding was present; no big deal. It was easily the fastest I have ever rode out there and I did everything. It was the first I can remember when I was just scorching along lost in whatever song was wailing away that I don't recall even noticing any climbs. Granted there are not any big ones there, but there are a few short lung-busters and I did not even think about them or even feel like I was really exerting myself. Again, I ride a big ass bike too so I cannot imagine how fast I would have been on some svelte XC rig.

Screw that though; I wanted to go nutz and ride some craziness which there is nice amount to be had out there. One of the older technical features is the "5' gully drop" which is simply a half-pipe style roll-in that you can drop off if the mood takes you. It has about a foot of vertical off the top, but is real clean. If you gun it you can soar. Usually I do a slight wheelie drop and roll it out, but I threw caution to the wind and stepped on it. I cleared the entire transition landing in the base of the gully some five and half feet+ down . The Nomadizer sucked it up like was just a curb with narry a whimper. Big grins, keep on. No one around...

...well almost. I was moving along at pretty decent clip about a third of the way through when a guy on a titanium hard tail came up on my wheel. The single track was tight w/o any room to pass so as usual homeboy would catch me on the short ascents and I would lose him on the descents. We played this cat and mouse game for a few minutes. I was not going to pull over and let him by if he could hold it together on the descents. Finally we got to the the only really technical switchback in the park; a 180 degree off camber left hander that if you blow it will send off the side of a gully or into a tree at the turn's apex. Now albeit I am an advanced rider, this switchback can be handled by even novices if they are willing to slow down and pick their way through it. Unfortunately over the last couple of years a bypass line was cut in without permission and many people will use it to avoid dealing with the switchback which causes you to slow down. You already know what I am go to write...I took the switchback and ti boy took the "cheater line". Granted I really do not care what or how anyone rides, but in my adrenaline-induced state I had to scream Cheater Line!!! at him to provide an appropriate heckle. So I am fucking hater.

I tore through the rest of it and made every stunt I tried and even gunned it off the big A-frame for some big air and big fun. So, I will admit that the road riding has paid dividends and I will keep on keeping on. Any day turning the cranks is better than one when you do not be it on of off road. I will never get all the dirt out of my veins though. Enjoy some of the ritual pics below.

Notable Noise:

Guana Batz: "Speed Freak Peril"
Nekromantix: "Gargoyles Over Copenhagen"
Crystal Method: "10 Miles Back"
Poison 13: "Hellbound Train" indeed.
Mission of Burma: "Max Ernst"
Fu Manchu: "Grendel, Snowman" Stoopidly heavy!
Minutemen: "Jesus and Tequila"
Tales of Terror "13"
Monkeywrench: "Judgment Day"
Gun Club: "Shes like Heroin to Me" One of my top 5 songs. Ever.

Reaching down to the depths...

2009-06-23T14:54:00.006-04:00

...or I have been to the mountain. This past weekend Bobasaki and I traveled to Memphis to see the Oblivians and The Gories reunion shows Friday and Saturday night. Describing the weekend as nothing short of epic does no justice to what we experienced. I have probably forgotten more shows than most people will ever see and these were two of the best I can remember. However the entire trip beyond the shows was just as soul-shaking.

Most people have never heard of either of these bands. I kind of think that's too bad, but then I feel like most people are too stupid to get it anyway so who cares? Those in the know are aware that these 2 bands have become nothing short of legendary in their sphere of influence in the world of underground garage punk mayhem. They are revered worldwide and are generally far too real and brash for mainstream America's pasteurized tastes. Neither band has a bass player, they are not always in tune, their equipment is questionable and sometimes barely functional, they do not wear any sassy outfits and their sounds are far from clean or slick. Yet their raw energy, emotion and primal sound blows away just about anyone I can think of. While both groups certainly wear some of their influences on their ragged sleeves, they really do not sound like anyone else...a rare quality. Their songs are simple, catchy with no filler an designed to move you.

Move they did. The above video from the second night is a pretty good representation of how things were throughout both nights. The firebrand intensity from the bands that charged through the 400+ member audience never let up on either night. Everywhere I looked people were laughing, dancing screaming and jumping around and no fights either night. This is considering the fathoms of beer that was consumed and the temperature inside that seemed to be over 100 degrees. Sweat was dripping off of the ceiling. I am not a religious person at all, but this was as close as I have ever come to having a religious experience. It was as uplifting as it gets and I could not wipe the grin off my face the whole time.

There was so much more though...we met up with an old college buddy of mine whom I had not seen in nearly 15 years and we had a blast catching up and getting blasted. It was a non-stop alcohol-fueled ride with cheap beer and tequila providing a sunny glow to the spectacle. We actually only had tickets to the Saturday night show, but managed to impress a notoriously mean door man whom let us in anyway, despite both nights having been sold out for months. Saturday we went to very interesting places including Goner Records, The Brooks Museum, a Goodwill thrift store, Cafe Ole', Murphy's Bar and the Stax Museum. The Stax museum will floor you. We were speechless with big lumps in throats...the stories and the content will shake yr soul to its emotional core. It is very heavy, but a must see.

After we left Stax still shaking, we decided a libation was desperately needed and some nice tequila at Cafe Ole soothed our bruised souls. We then made it over to catch Cococoma at Murphy's afternoon band cook out party. They ripped with soaring vocal harmonies and high energy poppy garage punk nuggets that made you wanna dance. Their female lead guitar player was tearing it up and was fun to watch too.

All in all it was as good well actually better than I could have ever hoped for. I have been to the mountain and it is gonna feel real good!

Group Sex

2009-06-13T17:06:00.006-04:00

Actually just a "group ride", but probably some of the same elements of sloppiness and confusion were shared. Great album above BTW; go buy or copy it now. Y'all probably think I have gone totally ghey over road riding...I have not. I will never get all of the dirt outta my veins. However, since I started doing the bulk of my daily commuting aboard my urban deathryder (aka Schwinn Supersport DBX) I have grown fond of the speed and edge of yr seat thrill of ripping through traffic. I mentioned here b4 about having my bike start to disintegrate beneath me on a previous dawn patrol through town. My rims after several years have just gotten beat down; I was replacing spokes almost every other month...riding a "road" bike like a mountain bike is not very conducive to maintaining true wheels. Not to mention that the original wheelset that came on the bike was total crap; I destroyed the rear wheel on one of my first rides. Now even the rebuilt rear wheel was looking pretty beat. I had talked to Josh at Contes (Norfolk, the best boys and girls) several times about building a new wheelset and last week I finally pulled the trigger. I thought about fancy svelte wheels with blinged out ano hubs and decided that was a lot of overpriced crap I did not need and would likely rapidly demolish. I opted to go for durability over weight and figured I could get a unique look with painted Velocity Deep V's. I opted for red with non-machined sidewalls which would look way rad since I do not use rim brakes. I had Josh relace the new wheels to my old hubs which work fine and was completely stoked with the look upon picking it up yesterday.

It reminds me of a hot rod and looks like nothing anyone else was riding at the ride today; perfect. Why would I want to look like anyone else anyway? I am pretty sure that the wheelset may be heavier than it's predecessor, but damn it felt great. Like a steamroller, I felt like I could crush everything in my path. This is a good thing for me because in contrast to every other roadie I do not feel the need to avoid every pebble, crack, pothole, animal hair or whatever everyone of them would yell out to warn each other about throughout the ride. I know this is part of the etiquette, but I just will never get it. I guess if everyone riding with you had never ridden before and could not handle their bike for shit then I could understand it. Then again many roadies I have met are poor bike handlers so maybe that's the point...heaven forbid they learn to ride their bikes with some handling prowess. I am not complaining; I find it amusing and found myself giggling about it today.

I ran late this morning for the 7:30 wheels up time. Fat Frog's in Va Beach runs an AM ride every morning, but Saturdays obviously bring out the crowds of weekend warriors. I barreled into the parking lot at 7:32 to find the groups (A++, A, B, C) already lined up. The A++ bunch took off just as I turned my car off. I grabbed my shiz, threw on my shoes helmet and took off just as the C group pulled out. The C group is predominately newbies/hybrid riders and they generally go the least distance at the slowest pace. I was on a complete adrenaline overload and blew past them to chase down the B group. I got up behind the leaders and stayed put knowing I still was not even close to pushing it. Then I got a break as a group of riders from the back of the A group came in from another intersection to pass. I hopped in behind them and it was on. I do not know just how fast we were going, but these guys were working. I was riding in a fury; punk music from helmet blaring in my ears and feeling stoked about how the bike was feeling sent me into riding with a vengeance. My chance came to pull and I overcooked it and had to fall back and grab a gel. I know that I need these little packets of quickly digestible energy, but my loss of taste for sweets makes me almost gag on them. Off the back, I trudged on. A few more riders caught up to me at this point and I drafted in with them. We maintained a solid pace and I felt my second wind blow in thus I started towards the front again. I traded back and forth with a couple of cats and then found that we had once again caught the bunch from the A group that appeared to be hurting at this point. I felt good and took off after them. I caught all of them and finished with the lead guy back at the shop.

I am in no way gloating over any of this. The ride is maybe only 20-25 miles depending on yr route and is completely flat. The flat though makes the whole thing a drag race if you gun it. Still the ripping through the groups, careening around corners and using some strategy to come out solid was a blast. I managed to garner a few dirty looks likely stemming from my Cars-R-Coffins jersey, but no one really said much about my riding or behavior which consisted of my silly music and random hooting an hollering. One of the guys actually complemented me saying something about how I "make that bike move". Thats the point; if you wanna cruise stick to the boardwalk. I gotta move.

Random songs from the ride:

Fu Manchu: "Anodizer" a song about BMX, but I dug it here anyway.
The Buzzcocks: "Noise Annoys"
Beck: "Mixed Bizness"
Poison 13: "One Step Closer" I shout/sing along with the chorus on this one...whatever.
Zeke: "Now You Die"
The Dirtbombs: "Ever Lovin' Man" fucking amazing!
The Reverend Horton Heat: "The Devils Chasing Me" no shit.
The Cramps: "How Far Can Too Far Go?" I'm trying to rip the legs off everyone in front of me and this makes me wanna shake my ass.
Oblivians: "Drill"
Tenderloin: "Pawnshop"

Dance this Mess Around...

2009-06-07T17:07:00.003-04:00

I will never argue with any roadies about the intensity of going fast as hell down some smooth tarmac. However, I probably will never adhere to the code of conduct and unspoken rule book that seems to be religion in roadie circles. I ride my "road" bike like a mountain bike; I look for hole-shots through rough sections, jump curbs/potholes and take some iffy chances blasting through traffic. I realize this will never endear me to the road elite. I do not ride a traditional road bike either. Most serious roadies are pretty caught up in what feather-light aerospace trick bit you are running and if your kit matches. Heaven-forbid yr bike having any dings or dirt. I cannot recall any mountain bike I have ever owned that did not get filthy and seem to stay like that even after cleaning and lubing. Now I do not abuse my bikes, in fact I am pretty picky about maintaining them, but wear and tear are something I expect. Scuffs and a bit of grime here and there just add character.

I certainly do not fit into the roadie stereo-type look either. I never wear Lycra fitted jerseys or shorts. I almost wear the same get up as I do when I ride off road, sans the armor and pack. This consists of Swobo knickers,a pair of Dickies long shorts, maybe a cheap t-shirt or loose-cut jersey, full-fingered gloves that I've worn out off road and my Azonic surround sound helmet, which is basically a BMX lid with passive speakers built-in that you can plug an iPod into. The helmet itself is not that great; its hot, heavy and not well vented. The speakers though make it worth it which provide a nice soundtrack to all my riding sessions. I suppose I like the esthetic too as it is covered with stickers of questionable taste bordering on being offensive. My shoes are Specialized mountain shoes that are basically the same as a road shoe, but have lugs so you can walk around in them off the bike. I understand road shoes if you are racing and have no intentions of stopping for a very long time, but they make little sense for anyone else.

This morning I did stop for an espresso which I felt like I was above last time I talked about this sort of stuff. I think I managed to frighten a guy and his son as came to a sudden stop inches from them at the door of the coffee shop. They gave me the stink-eye and the father kinda tried to play it off nodding his head like some kind of hipster that its highly doubtful he ever was. I may be reading too much into it, but I kinda felt like a turd in swimming pool on the 4th of July. I gotta remind myself to either go somewhere else or just mentally tell everyone there to go fuck themselves. I will likely go with the later as the coffee hole is at a good stopping point on my loop.

I mixed it up a little on this AM loop adding streets through the downtown that I rarely take. Sketchier traffic patterns, shitty neighborhoods and unfamiliar terrain made it even more fun. I enjoyed the nastiness, the adventure and it made me almost not miss being off road for a second or two. I am not no Limberger...

Durability, performance, cost and a side of chaos.

2009-06-03T10:51:00.006-04:00

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Al really nailed it on this one and many others too. My mind tends to wander often much to the chagrin of those around me. I tend to think probably too much and I find myself qualifying and validating why I do things a certain way. My artistic proclivities lean towards the chaotic, confusing and are generally odd or at odds with those of the mainstream. I enjoy things that really do not make much sense nor have much use other than being eye-candy or have the ability to wrench a strong emotion from the audience. Indifference is the worst reaction I believe that anyone can have to anything. I would rather have my efforts hated than nothing. Thus I have always recoiled at the concept of decorative art. Art should not match yr couch. It should be provocative, maybe even scary and shake the viewer up. That is the way I prefer it.

In contrast when it comes to functional items in my repertoire I am mad for efficiency. I am with old Al above in that I like things simple. In my pantheon of values placed on the hardware of my life vocationally (dentistry) or leisurely (cycling) the three most important are durability, performance and value. Durability trumps all for me. I am a big guy; I play rough and my jobs/sports are brutal on equipment. I think warranties are dumb; use whatever yr gone use and take responsibility when you trash it. That is not say that I do not think manufacturers should not stand behind their work if there is a legit material/manufacturer's defect. Yet, warrantying (really insuring) some piece of equipment that is abused or pushed well beyond what it was designed for is just dumb. Everyone was "just riding along" (JRA) when their bike broke in half just like everyone in prison is innocent. I expect things to work as they are purported to, but I will not sweat when whatever it is goes out after I have worked it over.

In expecting things to work I want them to possess a high level of performance. I want my bikes to hold up, but I want them to perform the duties I bestow on them at the tops. Many people get weirded out by the fact that my bikes are not very light. They are not ridiculously heavy, but far more so than the magazines would have you believe is acceptable. Again durability is king, but I want them to handle the terrain I frequent like a surgeon's scalpel. (There is a bike called a Scalpel, but it never really turned me on...that's another topic though.). I want the drivetrain to pop off shifts with authority, the tires to grip like like a hungry pit bull then predictably break away and the suspension to swallow everything yet not flop around like a bed in cheap motel. At work, I want my instruments sharp, my handpieces powerful with lotsa torque and my burs or files new. I want to be able to move rapidly through whatever procedure I am faced with. Inefficiency wastes time and money. I want the best for these efforts for work or fun.

So what is the best worth and how do you assign a value to this? I am not cheap nor am I flashy so I do not need the latest flavor every other minute. Many people I know fall into this mentality. Many of their got-to-have-right-now items end up on eBay or collecting dust in a closet or garage. I don't care about bleeding edge stuff; it will be there tomorrow it if works. I have no problem spending for something that I believe will serve the above definitions well, but I do not just spend willy nilly. I was not always like this. Falsely I thought I could never execute the high quality of work I wanted to provide or really have a great ride without the best of the best. I met a dentist whom I talked to about working for awhile ago. He owned a pretty lavish practice in a very nice location. Lotsa bells buzzers and whistles filed his ops which I gushed over. He was quick to say that he could do the dentistry he does in a sewer if he had to. You only have to want to do good work; all the rest is just icing. I took this to heart and it changed my attitude. I try to minimize the amount I pay for the icing and focus on what I "the cake" can do better instead.

Random 10 songs in my soundtrack lately:

Hemlock 13: "Someone I Care About"
Tales of Terror: "Deathryder"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: "Took Out a Loan"
The Damned: "She"
TV on the Radio: "Wolf Like Me"
Mission of Burma: "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
Zeke: "Super Six"
The Cult: "Big Neon Glitter"
Sonic Youth: "Tom Violence'
The Dirtbombs: "Sun is Shining"

Team or...

2009-05-31T21:48:00.003-04:00

...just you? I have never given a shit about most organized sports. Even going back to when I played football from elementary community league through lettering in high school I never like to watch it. I did not like most of the other guys on the team off the field and a few I despised. I liked playing the game then, but that was it. When I graduated high school I walked away from the last of any team sports I would participate in again. All the while I had become far more immersed in individual athletic pursuits such as running, weights and more importantly skateboarding and eventually mountain biking.

Cycling in general is a purely individual sport. You plus bike. Thats it. Yes, I know about the basic mechanisms in road race strategy and how you must rely on yr team mates, drafting, yada, yada. However, in the end it just you and the bike. This holds true even on group rides like one I did today. Sure it was no race, but we all jockeyed for position on different sections of the trails. If you had to stop eventually the others would be waiting for yr (or my) sorry ass, but they cannot do anything for you. Its just you and the bike. You develop a continuous goal list throughout the ride. "Make that climb, hit that drop, jump that log, stick the landing, carve the turn, don't lock up the brakes, don't slide out, get in the right gear", etc. etc. One of the riders who joined us this morning had not rode the trails before and went missing not long after we started. We doubled back and forward yelled and looked all over for him. Eventually we continued on realizing that he could only help himself by either returning to the car or potentially riding a different section at his own pace. He choose the later option and we found him as we were nearly back to our cars. It was just him and his bike.

The James River Park System trails have been around for along time and I have mentioned them here before. I still love the original Buttermilk trail section the best as it is really virtually unchanged from when I first rode there in the early 90's. The trails were in great shape, nicely tacky from an early morning shower and the weather was sunny, but not miserably. We met up with Jay who runs the CCVA website and forums.
We played on many of the technical sections and lil' jumps along the way. I sucked wind up some of the climbs, but still did well overall and made up for it in the nasty sections.
Ten random songs from my ride playlist:

The Pretty Things: "Come See Me"
Zeke: "Chiva Knievel"
Ikara Colt: "Don't They Know"
Buzzcocks: Ever Fallen in Love"
Gang of Four: "Not Great Men"
X: "The Hungry Wolf"
The Dirtbombs: "The Sun is Shining"
The White Stripes: I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman"
Lars Fredricksen and the Bastards: "For You"
Dream Snydicate: " Definitely Clean"

It was just me and my bike.

Ride in Non Sequiturs

2009-05-24T19:56:00.003-04:00

Sunday, mid-morning. I grabbed a small amount of basic supplies. A 3-way wrench, tube, CO2 inflater, tire lever, a Gu pack, a water bottle, id, a 10 dollar bill, and my cell phone. Considered doing a legitimate tire air pressure check, but just gave 'em squeeze and took off. I should have added a lil' air. The churches that lace the main street were doing a lot of business. Their attendant's cars blocked the lane closest to the sidewalks making things a bit sketchier. Cut through a neighborhood to avoid a bad intersection. Couples walking dogs. A woman in a sweatsuit with headphones and a fanny pack with two goldens. My front wheel is outta true. Made wrong turns cutting through the naval base. Guys driving late model Mustangs. I enjoyed hearing Poison Idea's "Lifestyles" coming from my helmet speakers.

Sang along. Thought about the irony of getting a workout while listening to band that has had several members who weigh over 3 bills. Thought about how flat everything is here. The two bridges I climb during the loop do not count. My front wheel is even more outta true, but it does not matter since I have disc brakes. It looks like someone taking a licorice whip and flopping back and forth. Considered stopping for an espresso, but felt trendy and decided against it. One engine rattled down the tracks. Sounded like a cow mooing in the distance. A Hispanic man lie on the sidewalk at a bus stop bobbing his torso back in forth. Many potholes. Spokes are starting to make noise. Front wheel looks even worse. I hate waiting at lights. Five police cars went past in less than two minutes. Sat for the light then, but ran the next three. Made the left turn onto my street across three lanes of traffic going both directions without stopping.Took off my glasses. Rolled inside.

Guilty pleasures redux

2009-05-24T00:40:00.003-04:00

I cannot remember why as a silly junior high student who was trying like hell to be cool I ever bought the record Talk Talk Talk by The Psychedelic Furs. Most kids were still into what would later be known as Classic Rock and lord knows it was not cool to step out of the favoring crowd's tastes as you would be quickly labeled a social pariah, a fag or whatever stupid insult your peers could lob at you. I had already begun to embrace The Ramones, The B-52's and DeVo at this point, but as I have mentioned, those bands while quirky were not considered threatening to most. I really do not consider the Furs to be threatening, but rather haunting and moody. I feel like their sound always had a long standing influence on my tastes and no matter how hard, nasty and heavy any of the bands I came to like I always retained a soft spot for softer moody dark musical pieces.

Singer Richard Butler's gritty baritone and John Ashton's noisy guitar howl are the two elements that define the sound on Talk Talk Talk that I really feel that the Furs tried hard to capture again and again only with varying success after this record. Their later efforts become much smoother and pop-laden; losing the tension that this album is filled with. I put Richard Butler in my top five list of all-time favorite singers. I have tried to mimic his sound without adding a fake English accent as I am in the same register if not deeper. He has that scratchy sound first heard on blues records that scores of people have imitated over the years. Yet, his is laced with punk anger and his accent gives it a whole different level of claustrophobia.

John Ashton's guitar wailing is splattered all over this record. He created tons of texture with jagged soft/loud juxtaposition and clever use of effects without sounding over-done. I can draw a pretty direct line from his playing here and the cacophony of bands like Sonic Youth who mined similar territory albeit with far more brutality.

Talk Talk Talk is one of my go to albums for its melancholy feel. I do not think it is depressing; rather it becomes a foil for me when I am feeling down, insecure or confused. At the same time it has a very sexual feel too with the tension that abounds. It overall yells about issues, but more to a mirror than to everyone else. It is an inward-looking anger as opposed to the outward screaming that characterized the first punk efforts by bands like the The Sex Pistols and The Clash. Many Joy Division fans also seem to like the Furs, but the Furs were always more "poppy" and more accessible. So get mad, but keep it to yourself and give this a listen.

Oh Deer

2009-05-22T22:35:00.002-04:00

Today I rode at Freedom Park after a long day. As usual the traffic to and from sucked ass, but I was somewhere else so it did not seem to annoy as much as usual. I reflected on times past, good and bad, old friends and the path that lead me to driving in the sunny 80 degree weather to go sweat like a pig after a busy if not harrowing work week. I could have just as easily gone home or put my head down anywhere and fallen asleep. However, I needed to clear the cobwebs and reshuffle some of the resident demons in my head. I had not rode my trusty Nomad since doing shuttle runs with some of the nutty Richmond DH/Chainsmoke crew outside of H'burg a few weeks back. That did not really seem like my bike though as I had kitted it out for the trip with DH wheels and tires giving it a completely different and much "heavier" feel. I returned to its normal set-up with the addition of a ti-spring from DSP. I am not really sure why I did this, but I had made a little spare kale selling some bike stuff on eBay so I figured I would treat myself. The Nomadizer rode fantastic today. I stuck everything I tried save one large barrel roll I bailed on and the bike floated like never before. It did seem to feel different then when I had a steel spring; overall much smoother without feeling "gooey".

The ride while intense allowed for some much needed solitude. I rocked my usual soundtrack and everything just flowed. Lots of "Sweet Air" to rip off Napoleon Dynamite. I saw not another soul. I suppose they all were headed out of town, or to BBQ's or whatever the choads around here do. I did see at least a half a dozen deer over the almost two hours that I rode. Maybe they were "stimulated" by the nice spring day. Fortunately none of them attempted to bust any of the moves exhibited below on me nor was any French spoken.

I know that I have been working hard as my forearms are very sore. Kinda like "Tennis Elbow" except for dentists. Maybe "Dentists Elbow". Often I daydream of less complicated times with the intensity and demands of my days now. I see pictures that get posted of me from years ago on social network sites and it seems like it was yesterday. It is likely that I thought everything was "too" complicated back then too, but who knows? Pour yrself a strong cocktail and listen to one of my favorite hate-filled numbers.

In or On?

2009-05-20T13:44:00.002-04:00

I often ask myself this question. I am "in it or on it"? I cannot stand bicycles that you feel like you are riding "on" them. I want to feel like the bike is moving with me in concert responding to my input in a predictable way as if I am a part of it, in it. This is especially true for full suspension bicycles. A bike that you are "on" just bounces along willy nilly with little regard for the terrain or yr commands. I do not wanna be a passenger.

I apply this logic to most of my endeavors. I was recently a panel member for a salad taste testing for the culinary section in our local newspaper. Three salads from local eateries that received highest number of reader votes were chosen for our group to try and pick the "best of". My "in vs. on" theory worked here too. I found that the salad with dressing that sat atop the ingredients instead of integrating well was the least pleasant of the three. Although the other panel members may not share my same tastes, we all agreed on this issue with the particular salad. The article will be in Virginian Pilot on May 31st.

The only place that I can think of that might counter this approach would be with musical instruments. Sometimes I believe that an instrument's limitations in design and feel forces one to play in a way that the might not have been considered if it was too easy or comfortable. My favorite quote in regards to this comes from Southern Culture on the Skids guitar guru Rick Miller: "You can fake a lot of things, but you cannot fake sounding cheap." I have my work horse guitars; reliable, predictable, and easy to play. I try not to forget to bust out the freak show axes now and then for something weird.

Speaking of weird cheap music, I am going to Memphis to see the Gories/Oblivians reunion in June. This should be unreal. I saw the Oblivians back in the day and they were great. Neither band has played in over 10 years and my pal Bobasaki and I scored tickets to the Saturday night sold out show. No bass all night; treble melt-down.

What Rock and Roll is all about.

Life in the way...

2009-04-19T11:21:00.005-04:00

It has been quite awhile since I posted anything here, but I swear I have had a pretty busy schedule and have not just been a slack motherfucker.

Everyone is aware of the economic shithole America is in, however oddly my work has been busy or busier than ever. Dentistry was one of only two professions in 2008 that remained profitable. Our staff decreased in size, but our work load really has not. No complaints, but it means many long hours.

When I am not at work 5.5 days a week 9-10+hours a day, I try to spend some QT with my lil' guy who is now over 7 mos old. No, neither my wife or I have gotten much sleep since his arrival; yes, we are nutz about him and yes, we like being parents, but don't always like doing it. The PC-minions out there would likely feel such a statement means that we are bad parents b/c we aren't overjoyed by every aspect of having a new child. My wife and I have careers and want to work as well as many pastimes we are passionate about. I have never given a rat's ass about being PC, so a big fuck U to anyone who wants to point fingers. Usually, by the time we have gotten Sam off to sleep, fed ourselves, walked and fed the dogs and tried to clean up the place its getting into the 10-11 PM range. Sam wakes up b/t 5-6 AM and we have to get up to get ready for work around then too. Unfortunately Sam still occasionally wakes in the middle of the night and is not always easily coaxed back to sleep. I am not bitching here; just stating facts.

The above conditions have put our spare time at a minimum. I still try to at least get in one solid multi-hour trail ride each weekend and I ride to work 2-4 days a week, but the days of several weekend rides and after work rides seem a distant memory. My music endeavors went on hiatus as Sam's arrival loomed last year. I am looking into new possibilities now, but it is slow going. I did purchase a nice gizmo for cataloging the noises in my head, but I have yet to hunker down to really use it yet. I am trying to be optimistic, but that is a challenge being a generally cynical character.

There are somethings I have been pleased with regarding my avocations. As you can see I updated title photo and for the observant ones out you'll notice that all of the bikes are sporting Rock Shox forks. This is quite a change for me as less than 6 years ago I would not have run any Rock Shox fork if you paid me. However, I now believe that they make the best forks out there with the most reliable and efficient tuning system available. Rock Shox put out some real crap prior to bike mega-corp SRAM purchasing them, but the have turned around 180 degrees becoming industry leaders with top racers/riders the world over rocking their products. SRAM has something besides money that is huge...great customer service and this has allowed even a few miss steps to be overlooked.

Speaking of service, I used do my own fork repair and rebuild work, however the aforementioned time constraints have made me seek out a 3rd party to do this as I would rather ride than tinker. I came across Suspension EXperts out of Asheville, NC a few months back and cannot recommend them more highly. They know their stuff, they work on every brand of fork or shock out there and their customer service is fantastic. I had them do rebuilds and some minor tweaks on my Rock Shox Lyrik and Recon (on my Nomad and Spot respectively) and the ride is terrific. Check 'em out. Keep the rubber down and try not to let life get in the way.

The Bloody Gears of a Boppin' Machine

2009-02-23T20:42:00.005-05:00

The 1st couple of months of 2009 have been rough as 2 of the greats have checked out. 1st Ron Asheton passed away in January followed by the passing of Lux Interior this month. The music that these two individuals created has had a huge influence on my musical tastes, music creation and outlook on music in general. I will not waste any cyberspace on singing their praises; go look them up buy their music and get educated yourselves. Instead I just wanted to share a brief tale of my first encounter with the music of The Cramps.

I was somewhere around a whopping 14 years old and had recently been exposed to "different" music from what the local rock stations were cramming down everyone's throats. My friends and I had already found DeVo, The B-52's and The Ramones. While each of these bands are great in their own right none of them possessed the danger; the shock or the kind of sound that would really make adults around us cringe from the music we were soon to hear.
I was over at a friend's house one afternoon goofing around looking for trouble to get into. I remember it was raining so going out was not in the cards. My friend's older sister and her boyfriend came over and brought some records that for some reason the let us hang out and listen too. The boyfriend was already considered by most to be a neighborhood weirdo; he had a spiky haircut, wore torn up clothes and hand drawn t-shirts with lotsa safety pins. Keep in mind that this was nearly 30 years ago and you could not find this look pre-packaged at the mall; no Hot-Topics, no internet, nothing. The records he brought over were as follows: Black Flag: "Nervous Breakdown", The Dead Kennedys: "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", Angry Samoans: "Queer Pills" and The Cramps: "Gravest Hits". I could write several treatises on each of these records, however of the four I have continued to listen to The Cramps year after year. All at once The Cramps were loud, dangerous and in contrast to the other bands, sexy. While I loved the aggression of the other records The Cramps were darker more seething and made you wanna dance and not necessarily beat someone up doing so. I saw them play a half a dozen or more times over the years and they were always great. They turned me on to tons of music I would have never found through their endless covers of long lost garage, rock-a-billy, psychedelic and generally strange nuggets. Years later in college I would become a huge fan of The Stooges
which the late Mr Asheton provided the bludgeoning guitar work for, however I still owe it all to hearing that first Cramps record. RIP guys. I know you're now teaching Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix how to properly write a rock song.

I want to thank you for being a nice elf

2009-01-25T07:59:00.007-05:00

Well if you were able to read this yesterday lucky you. However, somehow it disappeared during some minor editing. It was about something I am thankful for. Right now I am thankful that I have the composure not to throw this POS computer at my ofc through the effin' window.

Happy "Nu?" year

2009-01-01T18:38:00.002-05:00

I know I am little late to the party as I believe this hit last summer, but a damn great tune and a great video. Kinda sweet and sick don'tcha think?

WARNING: SOME ANTI-CHRISTMAS SENTIMENT AHEAD

I did not observe, celebrate or really give a damn about Christmas this year. In the past it was always the day everyone was home from school or off work which made it a nice convenient day to exchange gifts and have brunch, but with no religious significance. Once again, it was a nice day off work but that was all. My mom-in-law who was staying with us since before Sam's arrival and whom is sorely missed flew back home and other than that nothing really remarkable occurred. Otherwise, we stopped at the one local Starbucks that was open and took a nice stroll around the neighborhood. This year we lit Chanukah candles almost every night, said the blessing, and gave lil' gifts. You know what? It was pretty nice, warm and relaxing. We had a small shindig here on X-mas eve, but it was all traditional Jew food such as brisket (would make you cry), fruit jello mold and potato latkes that ruled. I don't feel like we missed out on anything and we took some sweet photos of Sam watching us lighting the Chanukah candles. I guess it was nice not to feel like I had to be apart of any of the Christmas hoo-haa and instead stick with my roots.

I went on two cool rides this week. First I did a solo night ride over at Ipswich park that was similar to what I discussed here. The only real differences were the temperature (it was notably colder) and the mud (there was a lot). Night riding there is just too much fun and I hope to drag someone else out there with me soon. Today for New Years I did a group ride up at Freedom park and met up with a couple guys from Richmond. We hung back from the bulk of the group and played on the obstacles. I was pleased to hear my Richmond cohorts raving over and over about how awesome the trail is throughout the ride. The building of the larger and more challenging lines has finally brought out riders on bigger bikes including 2 other Nomad riders. A great way to begin 2009; happy nu year.

Bag-O-Beast

2008-12-21T17:21:00.008-05:00

I am going to confess right here and now so that this testament may exist in cyberspace for eternity. I love bags. I am a bag hag. Maybe a bag fag. Whatever. I cannot deny it. The bags in my life have followed two particular use trajectories. First is the simple "carry-all-of-yr-crap-around-in" bag. The guy's version of a pocketbook. These started simple enough as knapsack when I was kid. I carried my lunch, pencils, crayons, erasers and books to school with these. Although their complexity and size changed as time went on, they basically consisted of a large zippered inner compartment, usually a small outer compartment and two shoulder straps. I rarely ever used both shoulder straps to wear it as a proper backpack as it was too time consuming to wrestle in and out of to get to items quickly. I wore like a shoulder bag with one strap becoming a vestigial limb. Some of them had a handle or loop at the top to carry it with one hand like a suitcase, but this of course tied up a hand that you could be doing something else with. These bags served me all the way into college. My number one complaint with backpack-style bags was that if you had only one strap in use as was my proclivity, the damn thing invariably slide down yr arm either crippling you with imbalance or forcing you to stop re-adjust it. Totally annoying either way. I could still be convinced to possibly carry something as badass as one of these Star Wars packs. Perhaps the Force would keep it in place. Once I got to college I found out about the practicality of other bag styles. I went through different army duffles and Israeli paratrooper bags finally settling on what I still carry today the messenger bag. I have employed this style of bag for over twenty years through school, work and travel. It really has no downsides and there are zillions of different options. It alleviates my complaints with backpacks in that your stuff is much easier to access and the strap stays put over yr shoulder. A secondary stabilizer strap keeps it locked in place and the bag is very stable while cycling even on rough terrain. You can haul a ton of stuff one as well w/o it killing yr back or wrecking yr ballance. There are many great companies that make messenger bags like Timbuk 2, R.E. Load, Manhattan Portage, PAC Designs and my personal favorite Chrome. I have two Chrome bags and have one with me almost always. I love their functionality, but they look great too with a clever integration of a classic seat belt with the Chrome logo emblazoned on the button. Not to mention that these bags would likely survive a nuclear blast. Hellbelly sez "Hell Yeah!"

The second type of bag of which I utilize routinely is a hydration pack. I have always hated having/carrying things on my bike like computers, seat bags and water bottles. I jumped on the hydration pack idea as soon as they came out. Brilliant idea; never having to take yr hand really away from riding and you have everything else you need right in a neatly organized pack. Yes, I have tried carrying stuff in those silly roadie-style jerseys w/ the 3 rear pockets. Unfortunately the gear flopping around in the pockets never feels comfortable and I hate the way they fit. Its mountain biking dammit not the frickin' Tour. I am pretty sure CamelBak were the first hydration pack systems and while I still think their bladders are the best, their bags generally left a lot to be desired. Generally with the 4-5 of them I have had the straps would fray, seams would come apart, but most importantly they always felt like I was wearing a brick on my back. Terrible air flow and their stability was always iffy.

In '99 I did a group ride in North Georgia with the first IMBA trail care crew, Mike and Jan Ritter. It was hot and I was complaining about my Camel "brick" when I noticed the Ritters were running a pack I had never seen or heard of. They both swore by their Vaude Splash series packs. Vaude is a German company that made some very smartly designed packs. I scored one and it became my go-to pack for more than five years. It is the only hydration pack that I have ever seen that uses an adjustable internal suspension system which allows it to have only 4 small contact points on yr back vs. "the brick". The bag was absolutely bullet-proof; I have never had to replace anything and nothing has come apart. Keep in mind this was using this bag year 'round regardless of weather at least 2-3 times a week and often more. I still have this bag and it is in great shape for being nearly 9 years old. Towards the end of its tenure I started to feel that I did not to carry my whole life and a bike shop around with me on every ride. The Vaude although very comfortable is a big pack and just seemed like too much to lug around on my shorter 1.5-2 hr after work rides. Vaude since has ceased making hydration bags and several years ago when I checked out their smaller options I was unimpressed.

I picked up a cheap-o Roach pack off eBay for pennies. Roach had been bought out by Raceface and you could find many of their cool products for nothing. This little pack was nothing fancy and was certainly not anything I would want to take on a long ride, but it worked just fine for my post work jaunts. It was small enough that despite its "brick" feeling design it did not bug me too much. I was covered fro short or long rides b/t the Roach and my Vaude but bigger things loomed on my horizon.

In 2007 myself, Mike, and Mark did our trip to Switzerland as I have previously discussed here. In preparation we received a long list of items to bring including a hydration pack that had to have at least 1500 cu. in. of storage. My Vaude was big but not that big. Our guides recommended the Dakine Apex pack. Talk about carrying yr life w/ you, this thing was huge. I found a previous year model on closeout and decided to start riding with it all the time to get used to it. It looked heavy and cumbersome, but was quite the opposite. It stayed securely in place and surprisingly did not get that hot. It had pockets, compartments, tie-downs and storage for almost anything you could think of. It served me fantastically on the trip and has been terrific. I even rigged small speakers into the straps to plug my iPod into to rock and ride. I do not use it all the time though because it is just too much.

I really became quite enamored of having tunes playing during my rides as well as not being plugged into headphones. I wanted to rig my Vaude pack for speakers, but there was not the room to do it without major modifications. I came across a Skullcandy Link Hydropack which seemed to have everything I wanted with both tunes, hydration and gear storage. Although the speaker system was pretty clever the pack was a piece of junk. The zippers fell apart, the clasps broke and it brought back every back "brick" horror I could remember. Thankfully it was a cheap eBay score. I was able to salvage the speakers which was the best part anyway. I knew that the speakers would fit into Dakine bags as my homemade ones did so I went back to them to find a suitable pack.

Enter the Nomad. This bag has been fantastic in the short time I have run it. It has all of the features of the Apex, but not as big. The design is more steamlined and the straps are more secure. The internal layout blows away everything I have seen out there and the level of organization possible would please even the most anal-retentive cyclist. Its lines are clean and it is a nice looking pack as well. My lil' speaker system fit seamless into it and it shares its name with my bike. What more could I ask for? Maybe more time to ride, but that's life.

"Shaka bra dude, whats cracklin'?"

2008-12-07T09:48:00.005-05:00

I was rountinely greeted with the above question many years ago by the manager of the surf shop where I worked. I always thought it sounded stupid for several reasons. 1. We were in Virginia Beach not Hawaii. 2. I hated the laid back surfer mentality that pervaded the town. 3. Virginia Beach has no waves at least not during the summer. I could never figure out why the surfers and the zillion wannabe's in VB thought their shit did not stink because they had little to no surf to act so cocky about.

Compounding my misgivings about the aforemnetioned lifestyle was the zenith of my immersion into hardcore punk and specifically skateboarding. As skateboarding was breaking away from the surf culture that spawned it, it became way more aggressive and the pasttime of choice of punkers across the US when they weren't getting into other trouble. This was well documented in the film Dogtown and the Z-Boys . My friends and I who skated went out to travel around town to find interesting places to hit and tear up and give the finger to anyone who challenged us. We were tossed or run off many locations by owners and cops. Never deterred, we would just go look for the next place to wreak havoc.

Minor Threat: Great DC tunes to get fired up to and then go skate.

I came to really enjoy covering great distances whilst hitting places along the way to rip, fall on my ass, whatever. These epics became routine for me during my time in college in DC. My buddies and I would start up near Bethesda and skate all the way downtown to the mall. We'd stop and tear up curbs, transitions or walls and then tear down some of the amazing downhill streets through Georgetown. Sometimes we'd stop at book or record stores or bars and grab a brew for additional fuel. On multiple occasions after skating all day we'd creep back to Georgetown and get Sushi and Sake all the while filthy, reeking and usually bloody from playing in the street for hours. I found these epics and street skating far more enjoyable than ramp skating. I skated ramps and vert and was okay, but I just would get bored too quickly trying to the same tricks or lines over and over. Not to mention often waiting to get a run or having to snake someone to drop in. The "sessioning" never did it for me. Its like going through same door over and over and expecting something different on the inside. The 1st time is fun, but it gets old fast. The same is true for many things.

Now I ride. I do not "session" on my bike although there are many that do. It bored me back than and it still does. I love hitting nasty lines, jumps, stunts and obstacles while riding, but I want to do them within the course of a ride. I may stop and try a section once maybe twice, but then its time to move on. I don't like to "practice" on my bike and to me that is what "sessioning" feels like. My favorite rides are long flowing trails with many technical sections and opportunities to get nutty. I climb and descend and flow through all of it. If I do not make a section I might try it again or maybe not; its not that important or entertaining.

The most entertaining trail in my vicinity is Freedom Park in Williamsburg, VA. Over the last year+ a number of stunts have been very well incorporated into the trail and more are going in all the time. I am very pleased that the building and design has been top-notch as it becomes very easy for these kinds of things to look awfull or worse be unsafe. As much as I love hitting these spots throughout the trail I believe that they would suck if all clustered together w/o the trail. Sure you could "session" them but interest would be rapidly lost as it has on another local trail where all the stunts are in one small area that is not part of the system. I stopped to "session" a new spot that was finished yesterday out there and while fun, I found myself becoming agitated just sitting around after hitting it a few times. I did not get to ride the bulk of the trail as the sunlight was dwindling and we had spent more time talking than riding. I will try to avoid this during my future visits. The best thing about yesterday's ride for me was seeing and talking with a family who were riding with their young daughter. The mom said that she and her daughter mostly stuck to the fire roads, but they did get out onto one of the fast downhill sections. The daughter excitedly said that she went so fast that her face turned "pale". Now that little girl has an epic under her belt. Cool.

Build it and they will...

2008-11-24T12:37:00.013-05:00

...Ride! Yeah, how 'bout that? a 2-fer. Enough questionable music discussions for now. Yesterday I met up with G, a rider with similar proclivities as me and we headed up to the Mineral Virginia area which is about halfway between Richmond and Charlottesville right next to the middle of nowhere. According to the map in the above link its actually near the bustling metros of Bumpass, Trevilians and Beaverdam. Anyway, a rider who goes by the handle BCG (Bike Crazy Guy) owns a nice swath of property with a great house and nearly 4 miles of hand built trails peppered with stunts throughout the back portion of his land. There is something for any rider up there with great single track, man-made and natural jumps, bridge skinnies, drop-offs and two dirt jump rhthym lines. Everything has ride-arounds and the group of riders consisted of a pretty broad base of styles. Those in attendance included myself, G, Petrol, Trail Lummox, Chris and BCG with every kind of bike from a speed single 29-er to a DH/Freeride rig represented. BCG has mad riding skills and he makes all of the lines around his digs look easy...they aren't. Some of the lines are as nutty as anything this side of the northshore of Vancouver, BC including a double skinny drop step-down into a creek gap jump. There are elevated bridges and log rides that are all pretty impressive too. I stayed clear of the hairier stuff, but still had a blast on some of the more tame log rides and jumps. BCG's riding skills are only eclipsed by his hospitality as he whipped up grilled burgers and brats for the whole crew and we all enjoyed some tasty beverages to wash 'em down with. Sadly, BCG has the property for sale as with the arrival of his new baby boy modern ammenities like grocery stores, schools and medical care have become important. Maybe a right of passage could be written into their sales agreement to allow use of the trails ad infinitum for the previous owner. A great fall Sunday afternoon was had by all without a single minute of watching a football game.

Guilty Pleasures; part 2

2008-11-24T10:56:00.007-05:00

Some years back whilst I was still living in the ATL a friend of mine who was ridiculously hip, fashionable, my hair-stylist and gay in fact, turned me on to the band/music collective Gus Gus (myspace page). Dance and disco music have long been the butt of many jokes in the rock'n'roll world. Combine this with an electronic techno group from Iceland and it starts to seem like you are conjuring up an old SNL skit. Nonetheless, I recall being at this guy's salon listening to assorted songs from Gus Gus that blasted from his iPod (he was the first person I knew that had one) that he had wired into the stereo. I guess what caught my attention was that it did not seem like background music, but instead commanded yr attention with its heavy beats and in-yr-face sound. The first release that I heard by them was "Attention" . Its still my favorite although I also really like "This is Normal". The sound is pounding yet melodic with crystaline haunting vocals and it makes you wanna move yr ass even if you might be otherwised embarassed to do so. I began putting selections from it into playlists that I would bring to my office. I always received compliments from everyone including this statement from one of my assistants: "That music's gay, but I like it" as she sashayed around the office. Below are a few videos which are at least a representation of their sound. Esthetically, they are kinda obtuse, but what would you expect from an Icelandic techno group?

I guess it is kinda gay (whatever that means) but I too like it.

Can you hear the drums...

2008-11-10T16:55:00.009-05:00

...Sherando?!? Ah, how I love a hideous pun. The lowest form of humor. Oddly, even though I have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music and often have an iPod blaring out whatever noisy crap shows up in one of my playlists, I still fall victim to having some terrible pop song getting stuck in my noodle. Thus the mental audio pun of hearing the first few lines of Abba's Fernando rattled in my head intermittantly whilst riding up at Sherando Lake on Sunday.

I left my cozy environs before dawn (note my zombie-like palor) to head up to RVa to meet my old pal DJ and his pal Ross shown giving me the stinkeye.

DJ graciously offered to drive the rest of the way from Richmond which seemed like a pretty short drive maybe an hour or so. We met up with their friend from Snowshoe, Darrel who was a good rider and pretty amusing. Although Ross had rode here before and DJ had hiked it nobody was exactly sure of the route.

A few false starts and we finally got into the thick of the riding which consists of mostly bench cut ridge line single track up the mountain side. The first word for the day was rocks and the second was leaves; tons of both. There are very few sections of the ride that are smooth and did not require yr undivided attention. The bulk of it is rideable although a few really steep (up and down) or messy parts require a hike-a-bike. The fall colors are in full swing and that made the views rather nice. I found all of the climbs pretty mild and thats saying something since I was on the biggest bike and probably weigh more than anyone else.

Call me a sicko, but I do not think it becomes a real, epic or great ride until someone wipes out or bike parts break. We avoided the former but came away with my rear tire's sidewall getting slashed open early on one of the descents (not so bad) and Ross's front brake dying (not so good). I was able to change the tube and rig the inner sidewall with duck tape to finish the ride. Ross had to hang back and walk some of the hairy sections. Overall it was still a blast, even with our bike's getting a little banged up (its mountain biking, dammit, not bird watching).

I look forward to checking out more of the rides throughout the Blue Ridge corridor including Doughthat, Massanutten and of course Snowshoe. I leave you with another Swedish nugget that I hope gets caught in yr noodle. Ha!

Night Rider!!!

2008-10-22T10:45:00.005-04:00

Fall is certainly upon us as the temperatures and leaves have descended. I always try to get my weekday ride fixes in with my commutes to and from work, but its no substitute for the intensity of trail riding. My work and family commitments seem to become larger daily forcing me to creatively search for time to get out and burn it up. Shorter days make it even more challenging. I can get to my local haunt from my downtown office in about 15 minutes, but I still only might have a half an hour of decent light.

Undeterred, I dusted off my headlamp, a Niterider Flame Thrower HID their first series. I have used this light sporadically since I got it and have read some less than favorable reviews, but it has always been pretty bulletproof. It is blindingly bright and provides a daylight view of everything in front of you for about 20+feet. I suppose I could add a handlebar light for even better shadow definition, but I am able to see pretty well with this puppy. I have tackled technical rides and small jumps without too much fear whilst using it, but never any man made stunts. The 'switch has some fun stuff to play on so I decided to give'r a go.

I arrived a lil' before 6 PM and it was already dusk. There were some of the BMX'ers packing up, but not another soul around. I fired up my light within the first ten minutes. I was feeling pretty good, music playing through my pack and I had no trouble seeing anything. The Nomadizer felt great as usual. Hell, I could ride uphill through a manure pile on that bike and still enjoy myself. The platform ramp pictured below is about 8-10' up from the base of the exit and requires a slight right turn at the top before you descend the 45 degree incline ramp. I conquered this in the daylight, but it is pretty sketchy as there is little room to put a foot down at the top. I was not sure about trying it in the dark, but I was feeling good so I went for it.

I cleaned it perfectly and I cannot begin to express what a rush it was in the pitch black woods. I went on to ride for a little more than an hour. I never saw anyone else. I have always felt that night riding trails feels like you are in video game with darkness all around with the only light in front. I suppose in some open sections you can get some ambient light from the city or moon, but east coast woods are generally too dense to allow much if any light in. All totalled it was a blast and half. The only thing that would have made it any better would be to have some other like-minded riders to join in. Those are far fewer here than back in Georgia, sigh. I will be working at the EVMA booth at the 21st annual Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge this weekend. The course is fantastic; maybe the best XC course (read: not dumbed down to a street with dirt thrown on it) I have ridden. See y'all there.

Lets Go...

2008-10-02T19:26:00.003-04:00

...do it now.

I am far from a sycophant for any Hollywood elite, but now would be a good time to vote and make your voice heard. I cannot think of a more important election in my voting lifetime '85 to the present. Plus Sarah Silverman rocks. She is messhugah in a good way. Now go ride yr bike. My next ink:

Get your own knuckles at the knuckle tattoo gun.

Ready to Ride and the Nomadizer

2008-09-15T14:52:00.008-04:00

Depending on whom you ask Samuel Levi, our newest player, rider, pack member (according to our dogs) was born on Friday 9.12.08 at 10:23 PM. My wife is recovering well, the family is thrilled and lil' Sam should be ready to rock in no time. I must say he is pretty awesome, in great shape and I am psyched to be able to do everything for him from the feeding to cleaning to changing and entertaining (we stick out our tongues when discussing politics). Speaking of politics, Tina Fey should receive an Emmy for this performance. Funny stuff no matter how you swing. Yes, I already have his first bike picked out too.

The "Nomadizer" is my nick name for my new Santa Cruz Nomad. It is my cunning lingual blending of the name Nomad and one of my favorite Fu Manchu songs, "Anodizer". This is somebodies homemade video which is mediocre, but you can at least hear the tune.

I held out on getting a new frame for quite awhile. I had been aboard my Heckler for over 3 years and it had served me well. I never felt out-gunned on it and I rode it all over the place including on my trip to Switzerland last year. It was on that trip with its high burliness factor and relentless downhills where I felt I wanted more bike. I tried Nomads before, but I originally felt they were too stretched-out for my routine riding and that would not translate well on the tight east coast single track I frequent. I was not real concerned about weight, but I kinda wanted to stay around the 35 pound mark or less. My hope was to retain all the positives of the Heckler (razor-sharp handling, and acceleration) while adding improved climbing ability and stability in the nastiness. I was well aware of the Nomad's reputation and had listened to Mo-Fun Mike rave about his since day one. Still I held off.

Santa Cruz rolled out their updated Blur LT (long travel) this spring which I spoke about here. At first it would have seemed to be an ideal choice for me with its matching geometry to my Heckler despite having less travel. However, after being assured that I would be better off aboard a Nomad for my shenanigans I set out to locate a frame. I knew that pretty much everything off of the Heckler would transfer over except for the Cane Creek Double Barrel shock so I procured one from T2. Then SC debuted their revised Nomad which would be available later this fall. I am sure it will be a kick ass ride, but I figured I would rather have the pinnacle of the original design, and the updates were not really that big a deal to me. Also I liked the looks of the original better with its hump echoing the shape of a 50's hot-rod. Last but not least I knew I would be able to locate deals on this design as shops salivated to get the new one in.

Initially I was a bit concerned after building the Nomadizer up as I was not used to the geometry which felt noticeably different than the Heckler. My first ride out the bike felt sluggish and unbalanced not to mention heavy. The frame and shock are heavier than the Heckler and with the beefy build-kit I have the weight was close to 39 pounds. I decided to speak Malcolm at Cane Creek about dialing in the shock who promptly returned my call. I remembered when Mike first had his Nomad and then later purchased a Double Barrel that it took some trial and error to find the sweet spot for the bikes suspension balance b/t solid pedalling, a plush ride over the trail chop and the bottomless feel that the VPP design is known for. Malcolm said that it would take some experimentation, but once dialed the Nomad works great with a Double Barrel. He made several simple suggestions which worked like a snap and the sluggish unbalanced feel disappeared. I then took inventory of my componentry and looked for ways to drop some weight. First and foremost, would be my wheelset which although bombproof is on the heavy side of the fence being better suited to DH (which I will save them for) versus all mountain riding. I ended up going with a set of DT 340 Enduro Trail wheels and immediately lost a noticeable pound and a half of rolling weight. All of the other components did not have as big a weight savings, however I switched my bar/stem combo to an Easton Monkey Light DH/Raceface Atlas and down-sized my WTB DH seat to a more svelte WTB Pure V Race in Camo like Diamond Dave loves. Final score: 35.6 pounds with pedals; same as the Heckle-beast. I added my "HELLBELLY" sticker on the top tube and I was ready to ride. (Part 2 soon)

Guilty Pleasures

2008-09-02T21:40:00.003-04:00

I had a fantastic ride yesterday up at Freedom Park. I ran into some familiar riding acquaintances and met a new one. The weather was pretty much perfect, the trails in great shape having received a little rain during the previous days and I felt dialed in aboard the Nomadizer (detailed review and discussion forthcoming). One thing that riding there always re-enforces for me is my enjoyment of the kind of riding I probably should be "maturing" away from. In particular are my adorations for the sketchier technical-side of mountain bike riding versus my more efficient exercise-obsessed, light weight bike worshiping cross country riding brethren. Maybe one day I may find my way to measuring my riding enjoyment in miles covered, grams saved or faster lap times. This seems to be more acceptable to most as opposed to flying off drop-offs/jumps, careening down wheel-demolishing boulder fields or negotiating precariously narrow logs/bridges/ledges that span heights where falling comes with high consequences. They are all guilty pleasures that are just playing to me.

I felt I should share a couple other guilty pleasures that I have no real explanation for other than I am just fond of them. Feel free to judge/laugh at/condemn as you wish. The bands mentioned below have little if anything in common with most of the stuff I yap about here. "Everything She Wants" -Wham!

One of the reviews for this song says that it just rocks. I agree. It contains a stomping back beat and thumping bass with Michael Jackson-esque vocals (back when he did not suck) except with more soul. Powerful stuff. George Michael's personal antics have long overshadowed his musical output for many years, but he and Andrew hit a home run with this one. Yes, I do have this song in my iPod alongside Zeke and other aforementioned musical monsters.

"Good Thing" -Fine Young Cannibals

I loved The English Beat and I still rank "I Just Can't Stop it" as one of my all time favorite albums. After the Beat's short, but impressive career output the band splintered into General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. Although I was not really blown away by General Public I was always drawn to FYC's unique sound. I don't know why, but I love the retro-soul vocals and simple circular rhythm of the song. The video imagery which is reminiscent of Quadrophenia has a great look. Yes, I do sing these songs in the shower. Guilty as charged. We'll get back to the usual maelstrom soon enough.

Ride to Live

2008-08-05T14:37:00.004-04:00

I was sorting through piles of cds, tapes, records the other day and pulled out a cd I listen to (well the mp3 tracks, actually) all the time, Zeke's Til' the Livin' End. Inside the cover booklet it says "Ride to Live". I have no doubt that the members of Zeke were referring to motorcycles and not bicycles, but the sentiment works for me either way. This album hit sometime in '03-04 and is by far my favorite high intensity cycling soundtrack. The whole thing is a pretty brief affair with it only lasting maybe 30 minutes or so. However, it never lets up and even the slower tracks are driving as hell. This release has been in pretty much every playlist I have made since it came out. Unlike other tunes I never skip over any of these songs. I have other Zeke albums, but none of them sound like Til' the Livin' End. The production which was handled by Jack Endino screams of the best early Motorhead output. However, it is faster, heavier and more frantic. Zeke was once descibed in a review as sounding like the Dwarves if they snorted a bathtub of meth everyday. I think they are bit more focused than that, but whatever ya like is fine. I hope to catch Zeke live sometime as I can only imagine how their brand of sweaty rock'n'roll mayhem comes off live. Yikes!

I think these videos for the songs "Chinatown" and "Dolphenwulf" provides the vibe.

Maybe I will grow up one day. Maybe not. More bike fun soon.

A cat-shaped hole in our hearts

2008-07-22T12:02:00.003-04:00

The sweet lil' putty-tat, Beast for which this blog derives its name has passed on to the giant catnip-filled field beyond. She was 18 people years and 79 cat years old. The picture above is from a few years ago when she would nightly sleep/hang out on my neck and shoulders whilst I goofed on my computer. Beast was the runt of a litter that my girlfirend's cat had just before I went off to dental school. She was probably about six weeks old when I took her off to school with me. I will never forget our first bonding experience. She fit into the palm of my hand and as I headed up to Richmond in the sweltering August heat she was panting like crazy as my car had no AC. I pulled over and filled a bottle cap with water which she lapped up and then promptly fell asleep in my lap. Another cool thing she would do was to crawl onto my knee when I would play my acoustic guitar wrapping her front paws around my knee to hold on as I created various rackets over the years. We moved all over the place to different states, cities and homes. She took a few sabaticals over the years but always came back. Beast seemed to have a good sense about people too. Those that she did not care for I ended up eventually feeling the same about. Beast lived w/ my Mom who treated her like a queen for the last couple years of her life. We all will miss her. Rest in peace sweet kitty.

Jungle Hop

2008-07-13T17:57:00.003-04:00

Boy oh boy I sure had fun assembling the accoutrements for our lil' boy's room this weekend. Its seems like forever ago since we picked out the theme and the furniture finally arrived this weekend. Often you wonder when you buy something if you made a good choice. I now know that we did after seeing it all together in his future bedroom. Its nice stuff, super-cute and I hope that someday that if he ever reads this he'll be embarrassed-hahaha! I originally wanted to go with an outer space theme, however we were not able to readily find bedding and all the hoo-haa in that style. My wife was amused but not crazy about the idea of a wall mural that I would paint that would have among other images a UFO abducting our dogs. That did not fly (pun-intended). In the end the jungle theme Zoofari won out. I love it as I had a jungle themed room when I was a toddler and I turned out ok. I love and respect animals often more than most people. I hope our little guy will learn to love and respect animals too and deserving people.

I had a swell AM ride up at Freedom Park today. I ran into a patient and his friends and we all hit it together. I ride alone alot so this was a nice change of pace. Another thing that was great was that they were into big bikes (hell, one of 'em was on a Demo 7 with the crazy paint job like in the photo) and milking all of the technical features that the trail has to offer. Yeah man, bring it on! No offense to any of the more tame XC riders, but I just like throwing down more. Now we rode everything not just the places with jumps (although we did each of those a few times). Call it what you want; all-mountain/trail/freeriding whatever. Its just mountain biking to me and its fun. Jungle Hop as covered by my heros The Cramps. Lots of garabge, man.

Lay it on me

2008-07-06T06:48:00.004-04:00

Assorted tales/tails. Despite having many days here of temperatures in the 90's I have done a lot of riding. Mostly commutes to and from work. In fact I have not drove to work in over two weeks. I kind of feel guilty when I drive because my commutes to either office are brief (less than five miles). Sure there are times when I have to schlep something that I would rather not stuff into my messenger bag, but its only a minor inconvenience. Previously I relegated all of my commuting duties to my speedy cyclocross bike. This is a logical choice as I have slicks on it so its basically a heavy duty roadie and I can get to any destination faster aboard it than any of my other rides. However my instinct to play never seems to go away so I rebuilt my old Surly Instigator (old picture above/new and improved below) into an urban assault vehicle. I went with a 1x9 gearing, Maxxis Holy Roller tires, a Gravity Dropper, flat pedals and a nice beefy Z1 fork. Its perfect for riding down stairs, jumping curbs/planters, riding through ragged industrial yards and general urban mayhem. It may not be as fast as the 'cross bike, but like I always say "It makes the commute an adventure". I find myself scouting lines all the time now when I am in car not unlike when I was kid with my skateboard where I would see some embankment and think how I could ride it. Now I have to use broader strokes and a larger palate. Its fun.

Heres some more fun. Recently our local paper reported on a proposed "cycling loop" in Virginia Beach. I am very happy that that any effort is being made for the benefit of cyclists in this area, however I think this proposal is a poor choice. It will not be sustainable because at its core it will be boring. It will take even the most novice rider only a brief period of time to circle a 2.4 km paved path. Then what? Keep going around like a hamster in a treadmill? If thats the effect you want go spin at the multitude of gyms around. Paved path? How about the boardwalk? Its longer and far more interesting. No serious rider is going to go there for training because a. It will not provide any challenge and b. Aforementioned novices will be in the way. What really kills me is the cost to taxpayers of $3.9 million. I will not sit here and badmouth without a solution. I say take the 25 acres of land (or find another park or two) and allow a series of multi-use trails to be built for cyclists (mountain bikers), hikers and possibly equestrians. Does this seem self-serving? You bet it is, as there is a single city park on the south side of the bay that has legal mountain bike trails (First Landing does not count; the trails are too wide). However, there are amazing successful examples of this throughout the nation. Heres the black and white: It can be done at a fraction of the proposed sum. It will bring interest to the area, revenue to local vendors and provide a project that can be sustained for years by local groups (civic, cycling clubs, scouts, etc.) Amazing examples of these kind of projects be found in Fort Lauderdale (similarly flat), New York City, Seattle and Woodstock, Georgia (Atlanta suburb). The last one I have personally rode many times and help maintain at some their work parties. It is incredible that a community would come together to make something like this happen. It has drawn people to the area increased the local business revenues and given the area national recognition. Picnic Areas, Frisbee golf, dog parks, nature paths all could be included. Bottom line is that it could be fun.

My "punk" pages

2008-06-04T17:23:00.003-04:00

Yet another old crazy jew hit it right on head in summing up how I view these couple of nuggets that were recently sent to me.
Thats me on the far right hunched over my guitar some twenty-three years ago. I am kinda psyched seeing this not only for nostalgic reasons, but the crowd seem to dig it and we actually sounded pretty solid and thunderous for barely knowing how to play our instruments. Classic sounding metallic hardcore punk that was being pedaled around the US in 100's of shitty venues by 1000's of similar bands. I'm younger than that now.

HijinX!

2008-05-24T16:50:00.003-04:00

Damn, its been nearly a month since my last transmission, but I have been crazy-busy. I apologize to all 1.5 of you that have anxiously awaited my return to cyberspace with baited breath. Believe it or not I have not been sitting on my ass so here is a quick re-cap of the past several weeks activities: We purchased and moved into our new home; we opened our second office at work and my band moved into our new practice space. That is a lot of crap to go through, boxes to pack then unpack, and stuff to organize. My better half wisely anticipated that a break would be much needed and booked us a brief time away over the Memorial Day weekend so I am happily decompressing on our balcony over-looking a quiet beach in the outer banks of NC. The last time I was here was nearly five years ago, however that was a far less relaxing time for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed not having any schedule to adhere to and I have had a lot of fun cruising around the bike paths here on our cruisers and goofing on the beach.

I know a thing or two about goofing on the beach. As a kid I grew up only a block from the beach. Today that would seem pretty privileged, but my parents both worked and we were squarely in the middle class. We rented a downstairs apartment in a duplex that I do not think was zoned legally, but my mom knew that it would keep my brother and I around our group of friends whom were all from well-to-do-families and in a good school district. Although I know now that this was a tough decision for my folks financially, I am very thankful. It was around this time (6-7th grade) that I first started to become what I thought was "cool". This was being part of a group kids who were generally smart and well-mannered yet very mischievous. Surfing culture was king for us despite our beach not really being known for good waves. Spring, summer and early fall were all about checking surf for that one day there was something to ride. If we weren't surfing we were finding ways to get into trouble or find the next rush. This included a multitude of questionable activities from hassling tourists/neighbors, underage drinking, terrorizing country club golfers on our bikes and generally being lil' smartasses to anyone and everyone. Surfing as a sport was no where near as mainstream as it is today and skateboarding had taken a dive from its day in the seventies disco ball glow thus becoming the bastion of miscreants across the globe. Initially, I was drawn to these sports because thats what the "cool" kids did, however I came to realize that I liked the fact that I did not need a team, an opponent, or with skateboarding really anything other pavement. It was not football, baseball or basketball and there were no little leagues and my angry ass self was glad. Mountain biking fell under the same umbrella. It is intense, a huge rush and requires no teams, specific fields or rules. The same underground non-mainstream vibe.

Yesterday, I picked up a current issue of Surfer magazine. I was amazed at how huge it is. Pretty mainstream. It is part of the Action Sports media conglomerate that also publishes one of my favorite cycling magazines Bike. It is easily 3-4 times the size of Bike. I recently lamented the lack of riders out on my favorite local trail on a nice day. I realize that mountain biking will never reach the kind of appeal that surfing has. There are no hot chicks in bikinis chilling at the trailhead nor the nice smell of saltwater in yr hair at the end of the ride. Our tans are pretty goofy too. Most people will never get it. But ya know what? Good. Long before Oakleys made the glasses that adorn many a surfer they made bike grips. Love those kind of Hijinx.

Now get on yr knees and worship:

Cars Suck/Cars Rule Conundrum

2008-04-27T15:51:00.003-04:00

Riding in my car or on my bike in traffic has re-enforced my utter contempt for humanity countless times. Motorized transportation that you are responsible for seems to bring out the worst in just about everyone who drives, myself included. I hate it. You are hurtling along in yr self-contained internal combustion travesty generally paying attention to anything except actually driving said vehicle. Everyone that drives faster than you is a maniac and everyone that drives slower is an idiot. Whilst you are fiddling with yr radio/make-up (not me usually)/ ac/heater/phone/gps everyone behind you is subject to yr random swerving, speeding up and slowing down. Oh and heaven forbid someone is pulled to the side of the road with a breakdown or fender bender as this demands slowing down to a crawl so quality rubber-necking can ensue. The same ridiculous speed decreases apply in tunnels, on bridges and if a spritz of rain appears.

I do not live near any mountain biking trails. The closest mountains are at least three to four hours away. The closest park to my house that has legit single track is a fifteen to twenty minute drive. There are no subways or light rail (yet) anywhere nearby and taking a series of buses to get there would be too time prohibitive. I must drive to get to any real off road riding I wish to do. The best trail systems around here are all across the Chesapeake Bay scattered up the I64 corridor on the way to Richmond with the closest one to me being about twenty-five + minutes w/o any traffic. However, I must navigate one of the two bridge tunnel systems to get there and that invariably leads to those aforementioned ridiculous slow downs.

I would love for there to be an extensive public transportation system linking all points of this region and others, but I have my doubts that I will see anything like that in my lifetime. The MARTA lines in Atlanta, although limited at least let me take adventures with my bike around town to some of the small in town rides and bigger urban rides to play and shop. So my disdain for cars is tempered by my inherent dependence on them. It is nice to go shop, run errands, get meals, etc. whenever you want while be able to transport others, but I try to limit my use of my vehicle as much as I can. As the price of gas climbs nearly everyday, I know that I am very fortunate to be able to commute via bike to work and live close to my offices as such to minimize my fuel consumption. Fuel costs in Europe are already at least a dollar more than the US average cost per gallon. The shit is gonna hit the fan for many if we continue down our current path. I would love to see the US infrastructure become more like Europe with vast public transportation options and a plethora of energy efficient vehicles available. Maybe H2's could be melted down to rebuild the bridges that are failing around the country. I admit I am a junkie too thats gonna kick tomorrow.

I went to the PSP fest yesterday and had real cool time. I did a group ride that encompassed all of the Lakeview trails and was a blast. I got back to the staging area in time to catch the Huffy toss and run into DJ with whom I did a short loop with before I split. It seems that everyone had fun and there was a solid turnout. I understand that it started to rain up there later so the night activities and todays events were canceled, but at least yesterday was good. I must thank my car for getting me up there and back. I will get over it. I mean anything is possible and maybe world peace and understanding are not far off if a big monster truck bike riding creep and a skinny single speeding 29'er pilot can enjoy a ride together...

Total Passover!!!

2008-04-20T00:08:00.003-04:00

Total Passover indeed, but I will excuse Tom for not mentioning playing with moi on the page of his old band. Then again since we never released anything it doesn't really matter, but Thunderball 3 did manage to play some fun shows in our brief existence and I am glad it helped catapult those guys into other gigs.

Passover has always been my favorite Jewish holiday by a long shot. The meals are interesting, educational, and generally pretty dang tasty. It was always a great time with lots of family and usually some non-family guests with all kibitzing, noshing, wine drinking, and of course as kid having the potential to win cash for finding the Afikomen. Tonight was no different with great time had by all over at my uncle's house. This video sums up the fun and hilarity of the season.

I re-acquainted myself with some older recordings this week including The Fluid's Glue/Roadmouth The Mummies Never Been Caught and Jack O' Fire's The Destruction of Squaresville. All of this stuff kicks some serious butt and probably is not for the faint of heart. I never did see the later two, but I did catch The Fluid in Richmond around the time their album Purplemetalflakemusic came out. They rocked hard and have to be one of my favorite Denver exports musically along with the Hillbilly Hellcats. I was never blown away by The Mummies back when I first heard them in the early '90's. Their sound was ultra lo-fi and sounded primitive even by most simplistic garage bands' outputs at the time. However, listening to this stuff again has given me a new appreciation for their trashy style. There are some real gems in their musical toilet. Again, not for the faint of heart as they can be obscene and the music at times is pretty annoying in how shoddy it sounds, yet there is some bang-on playing in there. Jack O' Fire on the other hand were amazing and put a vast array of covers through their punk/blues meat grinder with stellar results. The harmonica playing and distorted vocals will cut you in half as you are pummeled by Tim Kerr's fuzzed-out guitar wailing and their stomping rhythm section. Their take on Joy Division's No Love Lost is other worldly. Remember to call yr Mummie! Mazel Tov! Don't forget to check out my new linkages. PSP festival is this coming weekend and its should be a blast. Lotsa potential there for some sweet air.

a deluxe apartment in the sky...

2008-04-06T20:23:00.003-04:00

...well actually a house by the Lafayette River. We'll be moved in the next month to our new pad which is maybe about 3/4 of a mile from our current digs. I am fired up 'bout it, but the packing and schlepping are never that fun. The new place has a really huge garage, a point that was important to us with all the bikes, tools and parts we have. I have enjoyed the house that we have called home for nearly two years, but I will be glad to be in our own place with everything brand new. We'll be settled in long before our new family member arrives in September which is a big plus for my wife, her comfort and my peace o' mind.

Speaking of keeping my sanity, the weather here lately has been typical of SE Virginia springtime with plenty of rain and wildly varying temperatures. I have not been out to ride any off road in a couple of weeks due to sloppy conditions and my berserk schedule. I am gonna try to make up for that this week and get back out to Ipswich after work and perhaps the rescheduled EVMA 1st annual Mountain bike festival that was moved to this coming Saturday due to the aforementioned shitty weather which is threatening to screw it up again. I have had only one real ride since I put new Avid Code 5 brakes on my bike and I am itching to go heat them up again. Their performance was very impressive, tons of power, smooth modulation and pleasantly quiet. I may eventually put the Dangerboy levers I had on my old Juicy's, but the standard levers are pretty dang comfortable. I am definitely jonesin' for a good ride; I have read the latest issues of Dirt Rag, Bike and Decline cover to cover. I love riding to work however even taking circuitous routes does not scratch that itch. I know, I know; patience grasshopper. "Time for you to leave."

Never change...

2008-03-30T10:44:00.008-04:00

..whatever you do. I like noisy, fucked up punk rock music. I have for a very long time. Last night I was a participant in providing such entertainment and I had a blast doing so. The show in question was The Points (wailing above), The Hydeouts, and my band jack leg (page coming soon upon us doing some long overdue recording). The venue Tanner's Creek is a little seafood restaurant just around the corner from my house that seems pretty popular with the Norfolk police. It is an extremely informal place to have a show which adds to its DIY punk aesthetic. Tables and chairs are piled up out of the way and bands set up in front of a non-functioning fireplace surrounded by assorted nautical art on the walls. A primitive PA takes care of vocals only (barely) and its otherwise its a "run what you brung" affair. The only reason we even played was cause Bob loves The Points and made the calls to the show promoter and The Hydeouts to get us on the bill only a week ago. Pretty dang punk to start out and reminded me of throwing together house parties years ago where bands would just kinda show up with their crap and play to a bunch of partying fools. Same deal last night, as Tanners feels like you are in someones dinning room doing something you are not supposed to. No hoopla, backstage, or attitudes; everybody helps set up/breakdown and does their thing without any real schedule or rules. The sound is pretty lousy, but no one really cares; the small crowds are predominately people from the bands and their close friends.

jack leg kicked off on our 10 PM start time promptly at 10:40 and tore through our set of reckless originals and covers. We added a cool kooky cat named John on bass since our last outtings and he has filled out our sound tremendously. Everybody seemed to dig it despite some technical difficulties and random squirrel tossing. The Hydeouts were up next and blasted a huge wall-o-guitar sound that for me was reminiscent of The Dead Boys and "Kick Out the Jams" era MC5

We all really liked them and look forward to doing some more shows with those guys.

The Points who came down from DC started their show with some silly tape loops of the Ghostbusters theme and Darth Vader's score from Star Wars. They then tore into their nitro-fueled sound that has a cool mix of screeching guitar, no wave keyboard droning and machine-gun drumming. They barely stopped for even a second between songs which made many of them tend to blur together, but their signature number "Rock N Roll, No Rules" was recognizable and ripped. The Points shear intensity made up for any lack of dynamics; they were mesmerizing not unlike watching a car crash. They were all very cool to boot.

Overall it was a great show. It was not crowded, but everyone there seemed to be into it. Every band sounded very different too. I am not going get nostalgic for my days of youth; fuck that. This is the new deal now; yeah Rock N Roll No Rules!

Well, I bet you like...

2008-03-15T22:03:00.012-04:00

...whatever band that seems edgy to those in the mainstream. In reality these selections by those who try in some way to relate to my pantheon of musical tastes are usually so far off base its hard for me to not come off as a complete ass and not laugh, berate, or belittle the offenders. Those who do not know me often have thought that I might be a fan of stuff like Guns'N'Roses for whom I have never really liked. When they first hit in 86'-87' they just came off way too contrived and totally steeped in the rockstar bullshit I so rallied against as a young hardcore punk fan. I am reading Slash's autobiography and he comes off as I kinda expected. Predictable, just like the bloated riffage squealing from his Les Paul/Marshall combo. Jimmy Page and many others did a better and more interesting job with that set up. Maybe this will achieve some good hate mail here.

So just where do I find the music that sparks my interest you might ask? Back in the day before this internet thingy, local, regional, and a few national fanzines were my source for what was going on. There is some great coverage about this early underground media source in the DVD and book American Hardcore. It snowballed from there as one band would turn you on to some other band that was cool and so on. Independent labels would also lead you to other acts on their roster that you might like. In the late 80's early 90's you could join the Sub Pop singles club and others like it to get their select 7" record releases of many of the most happening acts at the time. Today you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some source of music, scenes, art or events. I love listening to podcasts from Garagepunk.com and checking out Pitchfork for an endless supply of music that no one has heard of. Fuck Slash. Ha!Lately a couple of bands have been hogging ear time for me. An oldie but absolutely timeless record is the Modern Lovers self-titled album. This might be some of the most catchy collection of tunes that I have ever heard. Simple and smart, it blends well with just about any play list I put together. Most people's only familiarity with their brilliant leader Jonathan Richman will have been his cameos in the movie Something About Mary where he popped as a troubadour in the background singing songs about portions of the film. I could write tons about this album, but just check it out.

The other band No Age I read about in and article covering this years South by Southwest music festival. Their release Weirdo Rippers came out late last summer and is primitive and dynamic simultaneously. Its noisy as hell which I love and at least a few of the tracks make me wanna go nuts. They list Squeeze, Crass, The Ramones, and The Urinals among their influences. Weirdo rippers for sure!

Now to change it up. Lotsa bike stuff happening in the near future. I would have never believed we would have an alleycat right here in lil' old Norfolk, but here ya go.

On the same day there is some biking and bbq action in Surry as noted on the Cycling Central Virginia site. In just a few weeks EVMA is hosting their first annual York River State Park mountain bike festival. I will definitely check that one out. I haven't been up there in awhile so it should be fun.

The big prize pig is the second annual HIP/VIP ride down in Pisgah in May. Technically, its for Turner or Ventana bike owners, but you could likely sweet talk your way in for that one. Check out T2 Bikes for raffle info and the Turner Forum on Empty Beer.com for the scoop. I will soon be doing some sweet pimping with these super-dope bar end caps. I could not resist the enduring allure of the mud flap siren. Yeeeeeeoooooow!!!!

Random acts of beauty and insanity...

2008-02-29T22:37:00.013-05:00

Oh my pretty... One of the hot new rigs that people are hootin about on various forums and yonder is the new Blur LT from one of my fave bike companies Santa Cruz. There is a very cool write up on nsmb.com about the behind the scenes development of the bike and its prototypes. My pal Bobasaki (rockin' his Mustang below) bought the original Blur LT last year and it is a smoking ride. The new one is something I might consider even though it has less travel than what I am running now. Those VPP's sure do ride nice though and the geometry is almost identical to my beloved Heckle-beast. The new BLT's shape is very similar to the Nomad which my pal Mike rides and swears by. The Nomads I have rode all felt a bit too stretched out for me since the coresponding size has a longer top tube, wheel base, and slacker head angle. If I was going to hook up with one it would not be for awhile and I would likely buy the whole bike as opposed to cannibalizing parts off of something else. The closest SC dealer is in Richmond so I would either buy online or sweet-talk my lbs into hooking up an order. We'll see. I am going to ride tomorrow w/ the EVMA for the Sunday morning group ride up in Williamsburg. Despite my lust over the new BLT its highly likely one ride aboard Heckle-beast will dissuade me from such impure thoughts. Its hard to argue with a rig that has held up to my endless abuse for nearly three years, has never held me back from any kind craziness I attempted and always felt dialed throught multiple component and suspension changes. Its always looked bitchin' in flat black too.

Another black thing I have always been drawn to is Black Sabbath. They are currently revisiting their "Dio" days a period for which I was not a fan of 'cept maybe the title track to Mob Rules but I digress. One of my very first albums (not counting assorted Disney story records) was Paranoid. No matter how important, influential or whatever anything is you can't take anything too seriously. I nearly pee-ed myself when I saw this ultra-sweet Cindy and Bert video. Whats up with the dog? Check out the blistering original first then put on yr dancing shoes for Cindy and Bert's version.

1000 Homo DJ's did a cool dance remix of the song "Supernaut" a few years ago, but this takes the cake. Now lets ride.

Getting the "Sweet Down" in Pisgah Part 2

2008-02-24T17:35:00.003-05:00

So Friday at Bent Creek I had just about everything go awry that could and decided that it only could get better from there. Fortunately, it did. Friday evening the bulk of our group crashed at Mark's swingin' Saluda cabin, which is just about perfect (throw in a hot tub, a go-cart track, suana, steam room, etc. and it will be perfect-HA!). A nice pot-luck dinner with spagetti, lasagna, cup cakes, brownies, assorted deli-meats, cheeses and tons of beer helped me forget about my less than great luck during the afternoon's ride. We watched bike videos like The Collective the Earthed series, talked bikes, looked at bike magazines, and could not have done more bike-related stuff save taking baths in chain lube. BTW, being the music nut/snob that I am I could not help but notice how impressive the soundtracks that accompany the Earthed videos are. I certainly would never expect to hear Fang and Television in a bike video, but needless to say it rocked. A few more brews, my earplugs (buncha snoring creeps!), a lil' reading and I was out.

The next morning we were up early for our rendevous with the rest of the group at a Whole Foods-like market closer to the trail. After some milling around we caravaned off to the trail parking area. Our guides Marty and Christian, Asheville locals from Pro-Bikes http://www.pro-bikes.com/ felt that we would all prefer to end the ride with a descent back to the vehicles rather than a five mile fire road climb and we all agreed. Thus we began the ride up to the Heartbreak Ridge trail head with the aforementioned climb. I will characterize the ride overall as a death march as the bulk of it is climbing; up to an elevation of close to 5200' with over 4000' of climbing during the 20-some odd miles of riding. It was easily the most climbing I have encountered since last summer's rides in Switzerland with the two characters in masthead picture. I was hurting something fierce but managed to climb and descend all of it, albeit slowly. The last 5-6 miles of the climb was nothing but rocks. It was like climbing up poorly made steps which maybe would have been easier aboard smaller lighter-weight bikes, but I was thankful to have that extra stability when we began bombing down the sketchy descent. Heading down was pretty damn fun and included some gnarly rock sections, rooty off-camber exposure and some hectic switchbacks. Overall, and I am not complaining, I thought it was a bit too much work for the descent, which was fun but not as mind-blowing as the climb was heart-breaking. I am glad to have taken part and pleased I kept the rubber down, but I do not have any burning desire to do that one again anytime soon. I love the idea of big epic all-day rides so in that sense it fit the bill. I guess I just prefer more downhill or at least close to equal with the uphill. I learned a long time ago that I will never be a great climber or all that fast, so I have set up my bikes to maximize the parts of the ride I enjoy the most (the technical and the downhill) and tolerate (survive?) the rest. We all finished the ride together and cruised back into town for some pizza and beer. We then bid farewell to Marty and Christian (y'all kicked ass, thanx!) and retreated to Che-Mark. I took off the next morn after some breakfast and got home in time to chill followed by a nice dinner with my honey. I look forward to getting back soon if not for the Homers in Pisgah ride coming up in May. I will likely get back before that maybe for just a day blast with the fellas.

Afterword: I thought a lot about how I was feeling weak during both rides, as if nothing I could do gave me any energy. It is highly possible that my bloodsugars were outta wack and I was having insulin pump problems. I did some research and found some websites that deal with type 1 diabetics and exercise concerns including some specific info on mountain biking diabetics. Granted I may not have a great atheletic make-up, but I know I can at least not have any diabetic side-effects slow me down. See ya out there.

Totally unrelated and f#%*d up: The all-time most weird ink I have ever seen was a tattoo of Priscilla Presley riding a unicycle nude, juggling pills. I wish I had a picture, but you can use yr noodle on that. This is a close second in pure wrongness. Yuck.

Getting the "Sweet Down" in Pisgah Part 1

2008-02-20T22:28:00.007-05:00

Wow, whew, wee!!! There was some whoop ass riding that went down this past weekend in honor of Mr Maleski's 38 years on this planet. He is the guy just to the right of center in the above photo with the groovy gray camo shorts on grinnin' like a Cheshire cat. The group in attendance was gathered from all points as near as the Asheville vicinity where the rides took place and as far away as Whitehorse in the Yukon Territories. All in all it was just about as perfect a weekend of riding as anyone could have asked for.

It was cool to see some different cats out on the ride. Pro photographer and all around bike maniac Bill Freeman came out from Los Angeles, rode like a beast and regaled us with tales of various pro riders. Daniel, a NORBA pro/expert from Whitehorse and friend of Ray and Elaine (great couple we met during last summers Swiss blitz) came down dealt with the ATL airport misplacing his bike and still rode like a fiend on one of Mark's rigs. Good folks all around.

I started out early Friday in order to make it down in time for the 1 PM Bent Creek ride. Six plus hours later after getting slightly lost, I blazed into the parking lot to find the gang already suited up, itching to go. I have gained a reputation for making everyone wait and rolling in at the last minute was not going to help improve matters. I am not proud of this but, oh well. We took off up the miserable climb up to Green's Lick trail which was steep, muddy and slick. My blood sugar was fucked up, my adrenaline was in the red, and I went terribly hypoglycemic 3/4's of the way up to where I felt I was going to pass out from becoming so winded and dizzy. This was calamity number one. I stopped and caught my breath, ate some energy goop and finally made it up to the trail head. I took off down the run that is a whoop-de-doo plastered, bermed and rocky roller coaster. Less than a minute into the craziness I flat on some rocks so mishap number two ensues. I get down to the bottom and was starting to feel pretty good and then followed the gang around to the next climb. As I was bringing up the rear a nice glob of mud flew into my left eye and blinded me long enough to lose the entourage and go up the wrong trail before I turned around and found everyone. Goof up number three was on me. At this point I was just biding my time I figured before I wrecked. I would not have wait long as ditched the bike off a small jump and caught a branch on my face giving me a small scrape that looked like some kind of retarded war paint next to my left eye. I guess four is a charm. It may sound like I had a bad time, however quite the opposite is true. It was all still fun and I would and will do it again in the future. Big thanks goes out to Malcolm from http://canecreek.com/ for showing us around and working with the cats who put out the best shock in the biz http://www.canecreek.com/double-barrel-shock.html . Stay tunned for Part 2.

Poppin' my musical cherry

2008-02-09T22:38:00.000-05:00

My very first real hardcore punk show I went to was sometime in the winter of 1982-83. I was a fifteen yr old high school sophomore and one of the few other kids that I managed to befriend was a senior who saw that I was into punk & hardcore. He asked if I wanted to go up to Richmond to see DC's Void play an all-ages matinée. I was floored and jumped at the chance to go to "the big city" and see a band that had a real record out. I had only watched my friends bands practice and saw them play with other fledgling local acts at parties until then. I had been to a bunch of arena concerts already by this point, but never in a small scuzzy club and never to see such adrenaline-filled, intense music that was on my level. The clip above that was taken about the same time was pretty representative. The openings acts that afternoon were great, but Void was ferocious, even downright scary. They really even differentiated themselves from their peers at the time by incorporating a more metallic and blistering sound than the usually somewhat tinny sounding hardcore bands of the day. Their music seriously made you wanna go violently insane (again check out the video). Void had a huge impact on my taste for aggressive music; their songs weren't just some backdrop to garden variety teenage delinquency, but shook you to your core. I have continued to go back and listen to their meager output over the years which only consisted of 1/2 an LP http://www.dischord.com/release/8 and a couple singles. It was sloppy, but their intensity set a benchmark as far as I am concerned. Their best stuff can still shine and often surpass many more modern bands influenced by this kind of thing. I understand their drummer recently passed away; wherever you are thanks for kicking my ass.

Fast forward a handful of years and I like many kids who had gotten into hardcore were getting fed up, bored, more educated, or whatever and was in search of new sounds. I had discovered more arty offerings through various people in college, assorted post punk, indie pop and what have you, but I wanted to have fun. I was tired of the negativity and the more male-dominated audiences at shows I went to in college in DC that had become too much like high school jocks trying to start fights at every turn with racist BS, or other redneck-like attitudes. So one rather dreary night during my spring break me and a friend who was visiting me went down to small yet infamous dive of a rock club on the recommendation of a roommate to check out The Cynics from Pittsburgh. I really knew nothing about them other than they notoriously put on a good show. This was my first live introduction to what would become one of my continued musical passions: Garage Rock/Punk. All of the intensity was there that I saw and heard earlier with Void yet now you could hum along to it and girls liked to dance to it. I was hooked. The singer that night danced around in the crowd, wailed on his harmonica, and got the whole room moving. This time, however it was not an effort to clobber everyone around you, but to actually dance with them...fun. Who would have thunk it? I saw The Cynics many times after and even opened for them once, but it was that first show that blew me away forever. The irony of these two events is that I now play in a band with both guys from back then. More tales of cycling and music madness to come.

It all seems to come back around

2008-02-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

There have been many times that events or experiences I have had come back to influence me days, months or years later. It is weird how little things can have an impact on you or come out in a way that can only come from yr subconscious. The very first two records I really remember listening to a lot were Black Sabbath's Paranoid and ZZ Top's Tres Hombres. I was in 1st grade when one of my Mom's boyfriends left Paranoid at our apartment. I pretty much wore that record out on my little red and white Disney viewmaster record player. ZZ Top came around a few years later after I saw them at Tulane stadium for my 1st concert ever around 1975-76. Many years later when I picked up the guitar at the height of my hardcore punk rock infatuation my playing echoed of Billy Gibbons and Tony Iommi albeit more primitive and sloppy. In high school I took a two-day speed reading course that at the time I thought very little of. However, over the years I found myself employing it w/o thinking about it. I read tons of stuff including usually 3-4 books at a time, half a dozen magazines, the most sections of the daily newspaper and piles of articles online.

Last fall I was in Boulder, Colorado and met up w/Lee McCormack (see pic) the co-author of the book Mastering Mountain Bike Skills. I enjoyed the book even though some of it was kinda corny. I found out that Lee offers skills clinics http://www.leelikesbikes.com/skills-clinics and figured "what the hell?" I met Lee at The Fix bike shop, a totally hardcore shop dedicated to Freeride, DH, All-Mountain, and Dirt Jump pursuits. They have their own set of dirt jumps and a pump track behind the shop and their neighbors are Maverick American bikes. As I said these guys are hardcore all the way. He spent 2 hours going over bike handling drills, theory, and balance techniques all very jedi-esque. It was very informative and a lot of fun, however I really did not think about it all that much with my riding immediately thereafter. Yet as recent as my ride today I found myself flowing lines and new sections with ease including some new jumps, drops, and skinnies that have just been constructed on what is IMHO the best trail around here at Freedom Park. http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-virginia/trail/PRD_170743_4585crx.aspx I started to realize that I was incorporating many of the techniques I had gleaned from Lee w/o even thinking about it. I went off a new drop there that depending on where you land sends you 3-5' airborne as calm as I could be and landed very smoothly. Needless to say I highly recomend checking out one of his clinics or writings. A big pat on the back goes out the EVMA who really has stepped their efforts with this new trail and its nicely challenging features. http://www.evma.org/.

As write this I am enjoying a nice post home made chicken nacho and beer buzz in honor the Super Bowl. I really don't give a rat's ass about the game or any pro sports for that matter. My friends in college used to say the only thing worse than pro sports are the fans. As gay as I am about cycling I really do not care to watch the Tour or much of anything else on TV. I would rather be involved. To paraphrase Yoda (speaking of Jedis): "no try; just do."

When I was your age Satan still ruled the airwaves

2008-02-01T20:15:00.000-05:00

As long as I can recall EVERYONE has made fun of the music (muzak?) played in dental offices. This for good reason as the majority of dentists are pretty conservative and certainly do not need to do anything that could make their patients anymore uptight than they already are. Easy listening, album oriented rock (at least the most tame examples of the genre), and light pop have always been dental office staples. I grew up around dentists and I am actually one of fourteen in my extended family. My grandfather was my dentist as a kid and to say he was a character is putting it lightly. He was very well liked, hilarious, and talented and had a way of putting patients at ease with his often silly and occasionally non-PC antics. One of his most memorable and daily rituals was his incredible singing. He would sing along with all the clasic crooners (Perry Como, Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, etc.) and entertain nervous patients as he often made up his own lyrics to suit the situation. He would not just sing for just the patient, but rather the whole office with his loud booming baritone. This certainly set him apart fom his peers w/ their more standard bland music selections. My uncle with whom I work does this as well, however he does it to our cable radio solid gold oldies staion most often. Sometime, last week when he was out the station was changed to the swinging selections of the 70's. This stuff is almost as mild as the oldies, but now and then some cool nuggets like the above pop up. I mean come on, the slease in this song is terrific. Amisdt the schlock and roll trash I also managed to hear Alice Cooper's Schools Out, ZZ Top's La Grange and Sweet's Fox on the Run all fun stuff to do dental work to, thank you.

One of my patients today who is a regular bike commuter backed me up today in my feelings that the drivers in this area are the most rude, self-absorbed, and downright dangerous I have ever come into contact with. I am going to get one of those hideous saftey vests, because despite having lights on my bike that rival some discoteques I still have way to many people get too damn close, cut me off and generally not have a clue. Although I dream of having an RPG mounted to my bike I will try to just stay cool, listen to podcasts from http://www.garagepunk.com and happily get my ride on.

Thieves and Magpies

2008-01-25T13:43:00.000-05:00

I love the quote that goes something like: "All the worlds greatest artists are theives and magpies." I do not know who said it, but it applies here and to many blogs for sure. I lifted the above from another of my favorites www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com. Kick ass site and kick ass clothing.

I was totally tweaked and pissed yesterday upon getting in from my morning commute from the morons that give me about 2 inches of space when they pass me. Granted a miss is as good as a mile, but it sure can be un-nerving. My more angry rebellious side wants to catch up to these a-holes and throw something at them or scathe them with some choice salty discourse. However, I actually realise that is pointless and likely will bring more harm my way, which as a family character that I have become is not such a good idea. I found lotsa good stuff on this site that made me feel better; check it out www.commutebybike.com.

I hope to check out some local noise this weekend at the Taphouse http://www.myspace.com/thetaphouse w/ hometown heroes The Candysnatchers and NY band The Electric Shadows. Maybe do some schmoozing for jack leg too. Ten quidado la mano cornuda!

Hey Sometimes I Just Wanna Dance

2008-01-17T23:52:00.001-05:00

I love this stuff; crazy fresh moves. I like all kinds of tunes. It usually has to be something that grabs me or suits a certain mood. I am a huge fan of trashy garage rock stuff like The Sonics and the zillions of other bands in this fashion. I love a good pounding rhythm and this kind of music always has it in spades. Its fun, primitive, catchy and a 'lil messed up. Perfect.

However, I can groove on Deep House like St Germain or Chill stuff like Thievery Corporation too. A couple of my favorite bands to listen to before or during a ride are Fu Manchu
and Zeke. This stuff is super heavy, over the top
and just makes you wanna go berzerk.

Mostly I listen to podcasts from http://garagepunk.com/ . These are a blast always nutty and have tons of great stuff. I hope to get my band jack leg on there soon. Go find something that makes you wanna shake yr thang. Something that has a funky beat and you can bug out to it. I'm scattered! HA!

Everything Falls Apart or Name Thee Destroyer

2008-01-14T18:54:00.001-05:00

It is crazy for me to think that this record came out just over 25 years ago. I was a spiky-haired high school creep that loved hardcore punk and skateboarding and these guys were amongst the pantheon of bands that blasted out the soundtrack to my surly world. At that time you were pretty much hated for liking this kind of music; many of my pals back then got hassled and occasionally beat up for going down this path. I had plenty of people talk shit to me, but I was already a pretty big guy so rarely did anyone try to fight me. I could have never have guessed how much influence the music and scene would have on me however I still do my own thing be it musically, vocationally, or with sporting interests.

The title of this album has always rung true for me; nothing lasts forever. I once heard a saying regarding my profession and health care in general that states that any procedure or service performed has only two outcomes. It fails or the patient dies. While that seems morbid, it is so true. It amazing to me how well most medical and dental work does do considering just how harsh an environment (your body) it is subjected to. Routine wear and tear should never be covered by warranties. There are many situations that are way beyond that and somehow they manage to hold up.

This brings me to tonight's point. As long I have been into aggressive sports such as skateboarding and the mountain biking I have taxed the tools of the trade to early failures. I have been on the Clydesdale side of the spectrum since high school so just my weight alone puts more than average fatigue on any given item. I have and always will ride aggressively; now I am not a total flying brick, but I am no ballerina either. I usually do not choose the smoothest of options, lines or landings mostly because its fun; sometimes because I just am sketchy. I broke tons of skateboards and then every bike part under the sun. I was very happy with influx of freeride-based components in mountain biking simply because I was not demolishing parts as rapidly as before. I still manage to burn up plenty of stuff yearly; I consider bottom brackets, and drivetrains disposable. Last year I went through two bottom brackets, two drivetrains (chainrings, chain and cassette), around a dozen sets of brake pads (worn to the metal, thank you), two and a half tire sets, a set of shifter cables, two sets of grips, two saddles, one crankset, one set of blown fork seals, and a pile of tubes. This is pretty normal for me and I have had many years that possessed higher tallies. Now and then I break something that most say is "indestructible" or "the most bullet-proof/bomb-proof". Unfortunately this has happened to me on three occasions with the same company. I am disappointed mostly because I think they are a good company and they make nice "Made-in-the-USA" stuff. Hell, they are from Georgia and I really would otherwise want to run their parts. I speak of L.H.Thomson whose seatposts and stems are in many peoples eyes right up there with Chris King headsets in their design and durability. I of course like everything else found away to destroy their stuff too. I stopped running their seatposts awhile back after cracking two of them and bending a third. They warrantied the first two; I did not bother with the third and just chose to run something else. Today as I was getting ready to ride home I found that my face plate of my Thomson stem had a crack. (see picture)
I am not mad as this stem is probably four years old purchased used and has been seriously thrashed. I will likely procure a replacement and laugh it off. Everything Falls Apart. No kidding!

White Devils, Poop and Squirrels

2008-01-12T17:58:00.001-05:00

Richmond today was a BLAST! The weather was ideal riding weather (partly sunny, mid-50's) and the trails were in fantastic shape. I love when it has rained just more than 24 hours prior to a ride. The slop is usually dried up by that point and the traction is perfect. Met up with DJ and his friends D and A. We did the whole shebang at the James River State Park. This has to be one of the best city located rides in the nation; it was featured in Dirt Rag maybe a couple years ago. It is both a good work out with some short, but lung-burning climbs and plenty of technical trail features or "TTF's" as the hipsters say (the PC way of referring to stunts or obstacles that could cause bodily harm). I stopped and snapped this nice shot of DJ blazing down one of the many TTF's to be found.

The first thing I noticed upon getting out my camera in parking lot was this boxcar perched above on the trestle with this prophetic graffiti. Each item was represented during the ride. Talk amongst yourselves if you think there is any deeper meanings here. Not likely, but you make the call.

The fact that this trail system is in the middle of the city to me is badazz. It just goes to show whats possible when a group that many might think are miscreants, kids, or both get together and make something like this happen. The local chapter of MORE http://www.richmond-more.org/home/ works on this and other trails in the region all the time. They are seriously dedicated to keeping mountain biking on the map. This a dream for me to have a user group like this in southeast Hampton Roads. We have the EVMA, but their focus is across the bay in Hampton Williamsburg and Newport News. Granted we have very little in elevation down here, but that never stopped anyone especially those groups in Florida. I will keep commuting up across the bay to those places and RVa for now. Phew, I am beat.

Insomnia-maniac!

2008-01-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

I have never been one to get many hours of sleep at one time. If I get more than 5 hrs at clip that's usually good. I was up what seemed like every 1.5-2 hrs last night. I dunno why perhaps having to pee, having the hounds walk on me and asking to go out or just not being able to turn off my brain. Today I felt like a zombie/automaton. Everything I did went fine, but I felt disconnected. My band (jack leg-more on this to come) has practice for the first time in what seems like forever. We are gonna try a bass player out as it may allow us to loosen up some. I like being a three-piece, but you really gotta be on or not give a crap to pull it off. I guess we care a little bit despite our monumental slackness. Maybe I will get a wink or two after my ears get destroyed. Going to ride up in RVa on Saturday. Proabably will be sloppy, but fun.

Welcome y'all!

2008-01-06T17:49:00.000-05:00

So here it goes. I will write about bikes, music, work whatever. Its my damn blog so there. Feel free to stop by say howdy, send love or hate and anything in between.

I just got in from doing a few rounds over at the only trails on the Toadwater south side collectively known as Ipswitch. Although the actual trails are in Indian River Park they have been known as "Ipswitch" forever since the sign for the surrounding neighborhood subdivision is at the main trail head. I probably first rode the 'Switch nearly twenty years ago sometime around the end of college or just as I finished. The trails have not changed all that much as a whole, however every time I ride there, which is like maybe once a month I find something new added. Read all about it here: http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-virginia/trail/PRD_170767_4585crx.aspx Today Bobasaki and myself really grooved on several way cool bridge sections that have been added on the west side of the park. These are in the vein of most elevated sections that were made popular originally on the North Shore of Vancouver, BC over ten years ago and have become routine additions on trails world wide. I spoke to the cat who put them up and thanked him profusely for his efforts. Maybe I will make an attempt to help out. This could be interesting as like most of those of my heritage I am not so terrific with tools. We'll see.