more, more, more

Yo. Is you certain your shit is enduro enough? Be your post mounts as flush as they will have to be? Do you have the latest in thru axle technahlogy? Can you an early adopter of the most modern of electrical plastisized drive train freAK OUTS?

Then you might want to consider what you wanna to do with your life.

You do what you do because you want to. We do what we do because: A) Bob fucking told us to B) it seemed like a good idea at the time 3) wut? D) the terrain in these yere parts is rolly and sandy with some sections of rolly sand. You can ride whatever you want wherever you want, so long as you ride to the ride. What ride?

The FULL MOON FUCK YOU, FUTURE FREAKOUT. Wednesday night, October 8th, on account of that's when the moon is full. Meet at the graveyard at 6:30PM for sunset beer(s) (look for the kooks drinking beer(s) by bicycle(s) if you are uncertain as to which specific gravesite) and we will roll- by S___'s in Cside to pick him up cuz he is lazy- on to the place where the trails begin.

I am riding a singlespeed, because they are cool. You ride whatever your wrong choice happens to be. Bring some good hooch, because the only stuff out there is that awful Crown Royal.

DRUNK and fast. No babysitting, no submitting.

Word is out.

immunity from ridicule

Beyond whatever pale you got. There's a good spot out there, somewheres. My roommates and I went looking, and we found one. Nowadays we know right where it is- about 15 miles from HQ. We take the back ways whenever possible, on account of they are less trafficky and more quiet.

Everybody fusses before we leave. The boys fuss because they know what kind of effort they have in front of them, and I fuss because the this and the that aren't where they "should be" and a strap pulled off, and this part needs adjusting and that one needs lubing, etc. I am a crabby packer when I am trying to concentrate and answer questions and give directions all at once. I have realized I am not great at multitasking (mul tit asking?) At all. Eventually we get all sorted and roll out. On the road, all these irritants blow away. It is time to settle in.





D is in a growth spurt, so he's a hard fit on his bike(s) right now. And he is extremely reluctant to adopt an efficient/aggressive bike stance- he wants to sit upright and slouch with his giant flipper feet square over the pedal. He test rode his mama's Xcheck and didn't want to ride it because of (half foot)toe overlap. After some (more) instruction (again) he got it and that bike fits him best and is quick rolling. It is hard to talk to him about riding because I get frustrated that he can't remember basic instructions (like how to take a front wheel off). He doesn't care to learn is the issue. I try not to flip a switch (it should be fun) and I succeed maybe half the time. So he pouts and I say "too bad. You're doing it." Hopefully the fun is enough to overcome the "this is hard." Time will tell.



This route is the same as the last route. J was sad that we juuuuust missed the fruit stand hours of operation. We rolled over to the taqueria and they know us and our order and how we like our burritos in foil, not the cardboard to-go box because they're more packable that way. We stopped at the sundries store and got a glass jar to stash some candy out there. We learned to store sweets in glass after the ants crawled under the wrappers of the Tootsie pops that one time and all that was left was an empty balloon of wrapper and stick. We crossed the street and picked up some tall boys of Modelo (gettin' fancy) and some Skittles.

Stopping at a high point to drink a nice cold beer, I put my jacket on straight away. There was a good on shore breeze, and being sweaty- that'll chill you quick. J followed my lead and then D. After a few more minutes standing around speculating, they had theirselves a yard sale:



I laughed and laughed. Off with the shorts and on with the pants...



and the ninja.






I ordered this handlebar setup from Revelate a while back, and am only now getting it out for a shakedown. Well, I been so complacent with the (already installed) porteur rack. Anyways, it's a process. It does mess with cable placement, and I now know you gotta pack a smaller bag in closer to the bars or your brake finger action is impeded. I reckon I'll use the bag on my sporty bikes and slap the rack on this Big Dummy because cargo bike. I carried all the boys' stuff in order to make hard effort as fun as possible. Also, I really, really like the big front end, but I feel like I'm wearing that ($pendy) tyre out too quickly by rolling around on so much pave on the get to and from, so I'll switch back to regular and save that for the real trail rides.


When we arrived at the place, the light was fading and we had to get our set-up set up. The boys were hongry, so they began eating whilst I set up the tarp. Which, that is a time suck. I asked/told  D to set up the hammock meanwhile...and he sucked his teeth and threw up his hands (the irritants all come rushing back in!) indicating that he was busy eating his burrito and what the F. Oh man, does that put me in a tailspin. I explained the importance of helping your family/team and how that helping will be appreciated by anyone he ever hangs out with for his whole life versus how laying back and expecting things to be done for him will not be appreciated, etc. Also, if the hands get thrown up again, ever, there will be some hands being thrown. Some new attitudes (freshman in high school) are being taken out for a test drive and I will see that shit STOP. Generally he's a great kid.

Moving on from parent rant. Check this out:







I picked up some ENO party lights (your LBS can get you some) and, wow, are they neat. There was plenty of light for Risk-the game of world domination.



Fog will drop a lot of water when it does, so we all slept under the tarp.






You already been knowing how the Kelly Kettle boils water for coffee and for oatmeal...



and how to fashion a bowl from a used tallboy.

emerge unscathed

The trails are dry. Dried out. Tracks from days and days and days and days are right there, in the trail, for all to see. This is concerning when certain trails are (supposedly, hopefully, as much as possible) secret. Well, because entrances are getting blown out. Too much exposure, you understand.

On the other hand, I don't know if it's the extended drought or just timing, but a lot (a lot) of the deadfalls are rotted and dry enough to move off trail. A couple of those log cuts where the trail crew (sucks) didn't do more than just cut out the section blocking trail, and the log is at a diagonal so the cut is an awkward corner- yep, cleaned up. That emergency exit trail is going to be a lot (a lot) faster now.

Meat Life? Meat Life Volunteerism? I'll do some on a trail, in the woods.









>break<









J and I put some new meat on the (other) trails. His buddy, _____y, joined us for some kid stuff.



_____y has a clapped out "excitor" 20" dually which needed more love than I could give it then. We did what we could without new cables/housing/long enough seat post. He's got a Xmas request in, and since it's August he just danced with the one that brung him. I can respect that.



His folks don't ride, so he doesn't do this sort of thing. I reckon all children are made of rubber and boundless (OK, easily replenished short burst after easily replenished short burst's worth of) energy, so I don't coddle. We got snacks and we got drinks (sodas, even!) so we got going. He caved mildly about 7.6/8 of the way and was told that he was crazy, which he took in stride, and we rode the rest of the way out.



If you are tired of your usual, I recommend toting a 9 year old's idea of fun out to a rope swing. Shoot some BB gun/soda can skeet and live it up.

in the future

Summer has ended over here. Summer is sticking around, and will likely last through to nearly October, but Summer is done with the first day of school. Schedules and likes being what they are, J and I saw Summer off with a little, small bike camp out.



It is interesting to see the progression. Last week's attempt had him huffing and puffing up the dirt climb pretty quickly. Not so this time. You know how it is, when the route is known it takes some pressure off. You can gauge the required effort better, if nothing else. He was gauging pretty good. He told me it wasn't so hard this time.

We got to the top and he asked if we were going to take the extra dirt climb. I typically skip that with their camping rides, as it is extra effort for not a whole lot of pay-off, and there are currently 2 downed trees and it has lots of poison oak plus those thorny brambly vines.

"This is fun!"

We dropped the bike path connector, with it's buckled root-strewn pave and took the side streets. We stopped at the fruit stand for snacks and a rest. We chilled in the shade at the park. Pretty much a repeat of attempted weeklies past (this is #5 for this version, according to my partner), with small refinements.

An OK sunset preceded a glorious moonrise, some Secret Boys nighttime getting around, burritos, and sleeping in the dirt. Early roll-out for extraction and doughnuts.



Summer is done, but we are not.

a smooth get away

The time is right for riding in the _____s. You picks your lines and you takes your chances. What with the warmth and the extra  evening hours, it's a bonanza. I got the boys' bicycles all dialed and lubed, and we went riding. Out to the New Stairs for some Brown Lunch...

 ...tofu dogs. J gathered miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliota) for a salad, as it is going ca-razy all over right now. While waiting on the nice, quiet twig fired Kelly Kettle to do it's work, we set up the hammock and did some lounging, and some tree climbing. Those fellas are agitating to bring the rope swang back out there, and that is prolly a good idea since it is getting frayed at the contact spot with the horse bridge and should be retired from that use. D says we shoulda brought the BB guns and he is correct.

After, it was a short pedal over to Rattlesnake to check under the board...




...and there were 2! The second is just up and to the left of the obvious snake. This board is far enough off the trail that they are seldom bothered by dilettantes; it is some singularly focused hasslers only. We employed the Snakecharmer 9000 to induce some tail wagging. You can feel the fat-bodied menace. After an exciting lunge or 3, the boys were very ready to get back to bikes.

This is training for life and happiness. We are thinking of big ideas, and one of them is the notion of camping out once a week. That is a idea with which we can roll.

beauty and decay blend and contrast

Friend B___ (yes, as in "Imaginary Friend B___") slithered out from under his rock in the SW Utah desert for some West Coastal type ill shit. On bikes.




Day 1: In which an out-of town-guest arrives and plans fall apart. The lesson, already etched on our black hearts yet learned anew, is: adapt and overcome.

When Life delivers a series of knocks, the best course is to load up whatever bike you happen to have running and head for the hills. Undisclosed locations are key. Wilderness is where you find it. Etc.

The next morning found us up the ridge, in the haar. The coastal thick of it, the "sea fret". Like it does, that fog settles so thick on the pines that they drip as though it were actively raining and your improvised hobo bivy is for naught...

but it doesn't bother us chickens. Neither did the forgetting (and thus, lack) of utensils and bowls. We eat our oatmeal watery- out of the bottle and with gulps.

The only thing that can rightfully follow is the ripping singletrack...

A few on-course gear shuffles later, and it is time for a break. Pop the top, drain the can, plink away at the empties.

Tough cans!

Then we rode home and

pitilessly exposing the depravity of the true addict

 These are not my pictures, and (sadly) not my adventure:

 Atop a high point on the CA coast.

 _ick and Kam_on made an inspiring loop, which afforded the collective "us" an opportunity to ride a little ride to the familiar swimmin hole. Our little small adventure was to meet them at a certain point and then to hang out and swim and drink beers and eat snacks and swang off ropes and jump off low cliffs and catch lizards and run our mouths.

We arrived separately, 1sy 2sy. Each new arrival was met with rousing boos.

The boys and I were there, at the parking lot, making last minute adjustments to our bicycles when I heard a weirdo stop to say "Nice bikes". Being busy and not wanting to engage in small talk with The Public, I kept head down working and said "Thanks". So I missed the big return of The Skipper. Witness him above; head down working.

 I was bummed to see alla these bikes at the turn-off. Well, because I was concerned that they would all be at the swimmin hole. Crowdin it up.

No worries. We never saw them.

J was a true jackass on this one. He was excited and showing off in the worst ways. I lost some parental cool a couple times. Sorry y'all had to see that. And I'm not talking about the BB gun.

 It's the worlds' smallest lizard.




Eventually, we left:

I had a great time with you all.

I always know where you are

You might think it's crazy.



My brother and niece visited. We took them on a little bike camping trip...






T_____, the niece, flat out hated the ride out. It's (only) 3 miles to the shady trail to camp, but they are a hot, up and down 3 miles. Apparently, I forget that this little camping trip is more than most kids are prepared to get up off the couch and enjoy. It is hard work.



I forget that because I enjoy the hateful parts of a ride. Eh...it's a gift we share, you and I.




Turtle spotting. J saw 2.








I took my phone for a swim and it didn't work out well. If you've been trying to reach me with no success, that's why. Get at me via some computer based text.





That shot there? That is T_____ forgetting entirely the work it took to get to that point. Get it while you can.






Masks and snorkels continue to please.













Breakfast with the propane stove. No fires right now...













2 days worth of living by the water's edge. Floating, swanging, jumping, swimming, lounging, etc.


Loaded with camping gear for 7, the Big Dummy was...more awkwardly laden than ever before. Not at it's heaviest, but certainly at it's top-heaviest. Weird sensations of flex...






Everything (all of it) made it on board, but it required a little more thinkering than usual. Give thanks for long straps! The xtracycle platform (represented here by Surly's Big Dummy) continues to haul much ass on kickass adventures.


That is: bike left/ green drybag with one 2man tent, one 3man tent, and one 4man tent; bike right/ kitchen bag with 2burner propane stove, two propane bottles, fry pan, pot, coffee press, plates/bowls/cups/silverware, spatula(!), dishwashing tub,etc; on top/3 folding chairs, 1 folding stool (with the cooler bag underneath); on topper/ gray dry bag filled with sleeping bags for 7, and pads for 5 (some folks carried they own pads)...what you don't see up front is the panniers containing the (not much) left over food and various deflated float toys.

Help getting up the steep singletrack from campo to Indians Road was required.




I should mention: J rode the big boy 20" wheeled bike with hand brakes and gears! I set the gears to "easy" for him, but he worked the brakes all by his lonesome. And yes, that is a single speed cruiser with a loaded basket...D is a stud, and he has no idea. Perfect.


We took a little time out to watch Black Dynamite, which I can wholeheartedly recommend to those who enjoy films in that genre. It was clear the filmmakers really loved what they were doing. They even left the boom mike in several scenes so you'd know they know you know.








I'ma have to change the name of this blog to "Look at us at Arroyo Seco!" if I don't get some new content...






July in Monterey...






It was sure swell hanging out with those 2.