Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Video Interneting

Watching bike videos has always been one of my first choices when comes to wasting time. All these are good and if you have a few minutes to waste, watch all of them.
Maybe waste is a little too harsh. Over the years watching videos has fulfilled my need to ride when the weather, injuries, mechanical or geographical limitations were in the way.
So who cares if you have the time to watch these. They'll get your heart rate up and you can put down your cup off coffee and feel like you just did some gnarly shit.


 
Volt BMX Ross Head edit from VOLT BMX on Vimeo.
These trails are banging! Hope to have something like this one day.

Nico is silky smooth and has been my hero for the last decade.

Alex kills it 100%. Riding with him makes me better and chilling with him makes me cooler.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Mangia!

Earlier this week Bailey called me on a break from work. She was working late and I was at home. On the nights that she closes, there are a variety of activities I may get into. Maybe go out with the boys, clean the house, waste time on the internet, go ride at the park, tinker with bikes, etc, etc. I was about to dive into one of these tasks, until Bailey told me that she really wanted something good to eat when she came home from work.
I had about two and a half until she would be home. I started looking through the kitchen trying to think of something that would be good to make. As I was putting together the menu I kept running into missing ingredients. It was kind of like this minus the weed.
I eventually made up my mind on what I would make. I had even less time so I had to move. With a flash light and scissors, I went out to the garden for basil and tomatoes.

Pesto is one of my favorite thing to make and I hadn't made any yet this year so I thought it would be a good dish to make. My next challenge came in the form of starch. The only noodles we had were whole wheat penne, gross. I guess they are ok for a pasta salad, but not this.

Down came the pasta maker. Eggs and flour a little bit of water and salt. I called my pops to double check on the ratios of ingredients. My dad always comes through on those phone calls. I have called him from the grocery store or kitchen for advice so many times. My dad didn't hand down the typical bundle of fatherly skills. I think by all accounts our home life was less than conventional. But, I am infinitely thankful he taught me how to cook. Years ago he told me that the next best thing to sleeping with a woman is cooking for her!

Back to dinner. Water was boiling on the stove and the oven was on broil. Pasta was hanging off of the braces on a stool flipped upside down and the tomatoes were sliced. Bailey was fifteen minutes away.

If this were an item on a menu it could read like this:
Seared Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon with fresh Pesto Linguine tossed with local heirloom tomatoes.

It ended up tasting pretty good. Bailey liked it and so did I. 

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

bikes are bikes

If you are reading this, you probably know me pretty well. You probably know how much I like to ride bikes. You may have some understanding, but you don't know how much I love it.

Trail Boss: Derek. photo: Seth
Riding a bike is the best damn thing in the world. I can't imagine how different my life would be without it. I have met so many of my friends through riding. We've gone on countless road trips and shared many wild times on and off the bike. Friendships and stories that last a lifetime.

Black bike: Seth. Photar: Erik
One Foot: Erik. Cant figure out a flash: Seth
I like to think that I still have a youthful attitude and will forever. Maybe I am just embracing and not letting go of my immaturity. My riding has been a good gauge of how I have grown up. So much of my early riding was driven by teenage angst. I would try to ride away from my problems. Whatever the issue happened to be, I imagined it was right behind me. The faster I went, the further away I got. That line of thought is the same way I hyped myself to do something I was uneasy about. That thought process never goes through my mind anymore. I'm so happy with my life. I got a hot wife that loves me unconditionally.  We have a kid on the way. After that there are some many other positive aspects of my life. Now if I am ever in a situation that requires some mental assistance, I think about how much I love my life and I smile.
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Berm Slider: Derek. Lens: Seth
Stylist: Tyler. Life Coach: Derek
The trails have been giving me lots of good times lately. These pictures were from last weekend. It was one of those days you don't want to end. It would have been one those afternoons that no one wants to quit riding and we ride until you can barely see the trail.

It wasn't one of those afternoons. We were caught in a tropical storm. It dumped on us. Within a few minutes the ditch had 6" of water rushing through it. None of us left. We grabbed shovels and put in work.The water was much needed. Water is an incredibly important element of trails. We filled up all the buckets to stock up on our water supply.



Duplicated Style: Seth. Photo: Owner/Team Manager Last Ditch Bmx
Everyone was soaked, but that didn't stop the good times. We stayed digging and hanging out until dark. 

Loose: Dave. Viben': Rambo

End of the trail: Tyler. Poison oak: Derek
We got plenty in before it rained. All of the photos were taken on Derek's camera. He is usually the man shooting photos, but he did some riding that day. The rest of us just passed around the camera and got some pretty fun pictures of each other.

Dave is going for it on the other hip line. Which is no surprise, Dave always goes full throttle. We are still figuring out the logistics of this line. It's going to be working good soon.

For now, this is the last of the line. Right now we are having a pretty big surge of motivation so there is a good chance the line will be extended sooner than we thought.


All of this has been built since February. It is pretty impressive. So much work has been put in by only a handful of guys. Theses pictures are of us reaping the rewards of our efforts.