Jun
18
Boyz on the Yuba
Photo courtesy of Emily!
Jun
04
RBW SF HQ: The Sub-240-Hour-Storefront
If you haven’t heard already, Rivendell Bicycle Works (RBW) is setting up a temporary headquarters (HQ) in San Francisco (SF). I’ve been to the Walnut Creek flagship store many times already and it’s great place to test ride bikes or just shoot the breeze with some cool dudes. The SF shop is a mix between a show room, art gallery and an eclectic variety store. They’re only there until June 9th, so make sure to stop by and stock up on some pine tar soap or any other knick-knacks you need. Photos courtesy of Nancy, 1/2 of in(still)life (not a girl group, but photo blog), and you can check out some more photos from our friend Manny.
Jun
03
How to Talk Dirty
Many times while riding with the Boyz on the Hoods crew as well as the Box Dog Bikes crew, I catch myself saying some dirt riding specific slang that I’ve picked up through mountain biking and riding with kids. Most of all they’re for fun, but some are useful. Here is a list of some that I use most often:
- Stoken [s-toh-kuh
n] noun: A combination of getting stoked (or excited) and token. One may receive stokens from another riding member or even a stranger for doing a daring act on a bicycle. Ian just earned some stokens for riding through that tough singletrack.
- Shred [shred] verb: to plow through or ride hard on a bicycle. Often times shredding occurs during a trail that is harder to navigate; however, can also be synonymously used with riding on dirt. Note: this word can also be appropriated as a noun by adding a ‘z’ at the end. Bro, that was some sick shredz back there.
- Gnar [nahr] adjective: a way to describe a hard section of trail due to bumps, holes, ruts and/or debris. This is often used in conjunction with the verb shred: shredding the gnar. If the trail has multiple difficulties within a short section, one can accentuate the meaning by repeating the word. (maximum of 2 times) With the wind AND the mud, Mt. Sutro was a little gnar gnar today.
- Rad [rad] adjective: originally an abbreviated term for radical, this term means to do jumps, to do tricks or to just add a lot of flair to your riding style. Irving got so rad on that jump back there.
- Body English [bod-ee ing-glish] noun: refers to the posture of a rider and his bike.
- Superman Position [soo-per-man puh-zish-uhn] noun: riding with your butt behind the saddle with your body stretched out in order to prevent an endo.
- Endo [en-doh] noun: when a bike rider hits the front brake too hard or hits an object with his front wheel and falls forward. Originates from end over end.
Trail features
- Extra Credit [ek-struh kred-it] noun: this term refers to an optional piece of trail that will lead back to the original trail. Often times the extra credit will have a jump or a berm or just sick single track.
- Flow [floh] noun: a way to describe a design of a trail. A cyclist on a trail with good flow will mean that he can keep his momentum high without having to pedal or brake too hard.
- Kicker [kik-er] noun: a small jump that often doesn’t have a landing ramp.
- Whoop-de-doo [hwoop dee doo] noun: this refers to a camel style hump or dip in a trail that can be pumped and fun to ride.
- Berm [burm] noun: refers to a ramped sidewall of a trail to help maintain speed through the turn, similar to an embanked turn on a velodrome.
- Switch back [swich bak] noun: a part of a trail that negotiates a steep climb with a tight turns.
May
20
MADMANdeville Dirt Ramble
When my buddy Adam told me he was moving to LA from Brooklyn, I was stoked. Not only is he a rad dude that’s married to an equally rad lady, but he RIDES BIKES. The GOOD is he’s here in LA, the BAD (for me) is he’s in Venice (45 mins away)…or so I thought. This Saturday I got up bright and early to head over to Venice and go explore the Westside with Adam and his Surly Cross-Check.
We had a loose route planned that was going to Mandeville Canyon Rd, Will Rogers State Park and a visit to the Eames House. After mapping this route out on ridewithgps.com, I noticed something…fire roads. I silently tossed the planned route out the window and set my sights on some gravel grinding. The rest is history. We discovered a very sweet loop which is somewhat easily accomplished with a CX bike. We still rode Mandeville afterward, just to do it, because we’re men. Men on bikes. MADMEN ON BIKES.
Chin Up, Kid.
Eventually we landed at San Vicente Mountain Park, and saw some old Cold War Nike missile stuff.
Where Da Nukes At?!
I’m Pooping. Push.
By noon it was a 40 mile day with 4000ft of elevation. Plenty of dirt and plenty of smiles. I will be back.
My take away for the weekend: EXPLO YO CITY.
Check the route and do it yourself here: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2532605
Be a good one.
May
18
Box Dog Friday Night Lights Ride
Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, our friends at Box Dog Bikes host an awesome night ride. Anywhere from 5-20 riders have shown up and there are different variations on the route to keep it fresh. One thing for sure, it’s nice to get out of the city and across the bridge on a Friday night.
May
17
Everybody’s Working For The Weekend
Did a quick ride this morning to Twin Peaks, Mt. Sutro, Golden Gate Park and then went to Trouble Coffee, where we ran into a fellow randonneur.
He chatted with us for a few minutes, then he asked “did you guys take the day off or something?”.
Noah, Brian and I just looked at each other, shrugged and responded that we were just going into our respective workplaces later than usual. We then asked him what his deal was.
“I’m on call, so I can do whatever the hell I want”, he said matter of factly.
Brian with the look back (sorry Manny, I just had to)
Twin Peaks, a.k.a. Cloud City
Noah enjoying the California weather
Gettin’ them stokens!
Required viewing for everyone!
May
14
Mt. Tamalpancakes Ride
This is the second year in a row where it seems like I’ve gone into rando-sabbatical after the SFR Flèche. It’s nice to go on some shorter rides and even ride with some friends you haven’t ridden with in years.
Carlin found out about this awesome event which acts as a fundraiser for the maintenance and preservation of a historic inn that is a great rest station for hikers and bikers. Here are some photos from the day of sun-filled fun:
Ian with his custom painted Oakley Radars, and someone’s matching Serotta Colorado in the background
Riding with new friends and old friends up Old Railroad Grade
This is Matt on his Riv Atlantis, which he biked across the country on
Bike pile up at West Point Inn
Admittedly, the pancakes were okay but the trip and scenery was amazing
You can see San Francisco off in the distance
Carlin and Kevin enjoying the sunlight
Ian picked up some electric green bibs (MUSA!) on sale at Bike Odyssey on the way home
May
09
Mudfoot Hump Hundo
So there are these cool dudes in LA called Mudfoot. I think they’re a team, at the very least they have their own cycling kit, and it is fresh. They’re very stylish, net savvy dudes and apparently they have some relationship to Golden Saddle Cyclery, a very hip bike shop in LA. Sometime last week, a Facebook event (thank you to Mark Y. of the Bicykillers for adding me) was created and was titled the Mudfoot Hump Hundo. It basically consists of a hundred mile loop encompassing the San Gabriel Mountains found north east of LA with about 10,000 feet of elevation gain.
The route includes State Route 39, which is closed to cars for the last 4 miles because of damages sustained some years ago, and the Angeles Crest Highway which is also known as the 2. The ride also features a summit at Cloudburst, which sounds cool but it’s just a spot with a rinky dink sign and no view, and then a 30 mile descent with a few rollers ending just north of LA in La Canada.
We started from the Golden Saddle Cyclery headquarters someplace in LA/Echo Park/Silverlake/I don’t know, and the ride headed east into the heart of the SGV towards Azusa where I was waiting for them at the base of the 39. As I saw the group roll up, I couldn’t help but admire the spectacle. It was a spectrum of the LA “hip to it” bicycle scene. There were tons of kits that I had seen on blogs and websites and cool LAfixed threads featured in videos and all that jazz. It was like a rainbow of the LA bike scene literally and figuratively.
A kaleidoscope of characters, also known as the LA cycling community — Photo Credit: Jances Certeza
As soon as the ride started the climb, the group broke up and the weather began to turn ominous but in the distance at points you could see an assortment of colorful cycling kits spanning the climb. There was the Mudfoot kit (a mixture of light and baby blue, and their team vest, a bright orange), the VCR kit (an assortment of blues, blacks and highlighter green), the Team Dream kit (a green and white prison striped kit), there was half of an LAfixed kit, a couple sexy SGV kits, some classy Rapha kits, and of course, the Rainbow Coalition itself, Ritte. It appeared almost as a rainbow bridge consisting of cyclists ascending into the heavens. Near Crystal Lake, the topography of the climb became more rugged and the mist started to move in and as we entered into the closed section of the 39 it donned on me that I was entering Valhalla.
The ominous conditions — Photo Credit: Max Duck
The road itself is cracked, covered in fallen rocks from the cliffs above and patched in certain sections, but still better than most of the roads in LA. It began to get really cold at the end of the 39 just before the 2. There was a water station set up right at the 2, but more importantly there was newspaper to stuff our kits with and cars with heaters, it was like stepping into a perfectly preheated oven. Big props to the Mudfoot guys for letting a bunch of sweaty strangers warm up in their cars before making their way back home, back to LA.
(Left) The author and his pain face, (Right) Re-uppin’ on water — Photo Credit: Max DuckAs I sat in one of the trucks, I saw the conditions getting worse. The fog was so dense that you could see it being pushed away by gusts of wind, along with the occasional a rider who ventured out. I gathered my things, taking my gloves off the vent in a successful scheme to dry them, put on my helmet and then stepped out into the cold. The rest is a frozen, exhilarating, blur with the occasional dose of fear as the wind would push me from one side of the road to the other. I had a blast. Thank you Mudfoot dudes, plate tectonics, inventor of asphalt, the wheel, the shovel, the heater, trees for paper, etc… If everything you read up above doesn’t make sense, just watch the video below.
May
07
Fanboy Or Expert Brake Selector?
Last night I installed a set of Paul MiniMoto’s on my secret CX bike. This morning I took it for a quick spin to test ’em out. Jamming down my street, riding on my neighbors lawns I targeted a stopping point and squeezed the hell out of my brake levers. The result? I nearly went over the handlebars because I hadn’t prepared for the stopping power that these brakes put in the palm of my hands. With the provided Kool-Stop Salmon (all weather) pads, these brakes stop on a dime. They also look awesome, are easy to install/adjust and are made in ‘Merca (my adoptive state of California, specifically).
Orange brakes are cool
When I got home and threw my CX bike into my bike pile, it just happened to land on top of two other bikes I’ve got equipped with Paul brakes. Something clicked. I felt dizzy and the room started to spin. It all started to come together like the revelation of Keyser Soze at the end of The Usual Suspects. I am Paul fanboy.
If you don’t know what this means you should watch The Usual Suspects.
What does this mean?! Should I be ashamed? Proud?
Paul all up on my bikes
After calling out of work to spend the entire day dissecting my epiphany I came to the following conclusion. I am not a fanboy, but an EXPERT BRAKE SELECTOR. Just like a dancehall selector picks the next jam to keep the crowd moving, I choose the best brake for my builds to keep my bike…stopping. More importantly looking sweet and being totally awesome. Paul does it right. The products are quality and do exactly what they should do, they look good and are built to last. To top it off, once you’ve worked on a Paul brake you’re lined up perfectly to work on and adjust any brake in the portfolio with the same equipment and tools. They make me feel like a master mechanic slash genius.
I’ve heard some complain about the looks, more often I hear complaints about the cost. I’m reminded of old sayings like “It only hurts once.”, “You get what you pay for.” and Filson’s ”Might as well have the best.” I think they all stand true in this case.