Just Some Stuff

Today is my last day here for the week.  Tomorrow, I’m heading down to Savannah, GA for a little getaway.  I’m sure there will be adventures involving bikes, beer, and other shit, and I’ll probably talk about it when I get back…

On Tuesday.

For now, I’ll talk about the present.  Like, some new shit that arrived here at the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters.  Since I can’t find a way to gently ease into the first item, I’ll just go right for it.

Yes.  The folks at Ride A Fucking Bike dot com have more than just stickers these days.  The pair of beer coozies pictured above show what’s on each side, and that pretty much sums up what we’re all about here at B-43.  Well, aside from trail building, which I don’t need to get into anymore this week.  Everything they sell is reasonably priced, so you should get your ass over there to show everyone how you feel about life on two wheels.

In a separate, unrelated shipment, I got some cool new stuff from DeFeet.  I know I don’t have to remind you that they make the best socks in the world and that they are made right here in North Carolina, so I won’t.  The socks are no bullshit, made for tons of use and abuse, and anytime I can get my hands on a new pair I jump up and down like a fat girl at an ice cream parlor. 

The first two pairs I got will most likely be used for racing, so I made to sure get uh, racing stripes.

The next pair are pretty special, because they benefit an organization that every mountain biker should be a part of…

The International Mountain Bicycling Association.

I’m glad that DeFeet is making socks for IMBA now, because now no one has to wear the ones from that “other guy.”  You can show your support by picking up a pair or two for yourself. 

Click here

Anyway, that’s pretty much it.  I gotta get ready to go on my trip.

See y’all Tuesday.

A Little Bird Told Me

That I’ve been spending a lot of time out in the woods building trail.  I can’t remember if I mentioned this before (and I’m too lazy to look), but I made a friend out there a while back.  One day, I went out to build some trail all by my lonesome (a little over a month ago) and I noticed that a little bird was following me around.  As I moved along the trail, he (or she, but he from now on) followed me.  Every time I looked up, he was sitting on a tree right next to me, watching my every move.

I found it odd that he was so friendly, so I started talking to him.

“Hey buddy.  How are you?”

No response.

I know birds can’t talk, but the way he was watching me I hoped that he would at least try to get a few words out.  Instead, he looked on as I dug in the dirt.  When the day was over, I said goodbye and went home.  I’ve been out there quite a bit since then, and there’s been no sign of him.  Well, that is until last Saturday.

He was back, and followed me around again.  This time though, there were quite a few of us on the trail working, but he seemed to just be following me for some reason.  It was obviously the same little fat bird, and he was just as friendly.  Even when Irish Luke rode up, he didn’t fly away.

This time, we realized why he was taking such an interest in our trail building.  When we would dig up some dirt, he would swoop down and grab a big juicy worm.  We were doing the hard work for him, and he was rolling up like it was a McDonalds Drive Thru.

Bastard.

Anyway, the next day I was back out on the trail, and the only other person out there was TomTom.  I helped him finish a section that we had neglected.

When we went back to the top of the hill to cut in some more trail, we noticed another bird watching us. 

This wasn’t our friend from before, because he was a lot thinner.  However, he was doing the same thing:  watching us dig, then flying in for the quick meal.  The other bird must have told him what was going on, and that he could get a fast, easy meal.

No wonder the other one was fat.  The lazy bastard probably ate too much and couldn’t leave his birdhouse.

This new bird was a little more aggressive, following TomTom and I all over the woods and even running into us when we weren’t digging.  I hope they don’t bring anymore friends out there for the buffet, because I sure as shit don’t want to be attacked by a flock of angry birds.

You know, because they can stir up some serious shit.

Damn, I’m really desperate for shit to talk about, huh?

More Work = More Fun

We built trail.  We rode trail.  We pretty much spent the whole weekend adding to our little fun spot, and the things is growing way beyond our expectations.  Aside from a fast trail with difficult climbs, multiple rock gardens, and long descents, we figured that it was time to start adding some fun stuff.

Like jumps.

It’s nothing more than a small kicker jump, but it’s still pretty fun.  We have plenty of places to put things like this, and now that we realize how easy it is, we’re gonna do it a little more.  They won’t all be tiny little bumps though.

On Saturday (the first work day of the weekend), Jumpin’ Joe came out and said he wanted to build some fun stuff (i.e. big jumps.)  After TomTom and I built the one picture above, Jumpin’ Joe and I flagged some new trail, and he got busy building a monster.

 Not completed...yet.

Right now there isn’t a landing spot, so we haven’t been able to test it.  We need another work day to get there, but it won’t be long.  That jump is on a very long, fast downhill, and this thing will launch you pretty far.  By the way, this is the first of three planned for this section.

I can’t wait.

I don’t know exactly where we are mileage wise just yet, but for now it’s actually a pretty good ride and worth the trip out there.  While we’re not ready to advertise to the general public just yet, those of us that are in the know can have a little fun until the first loop is complete.  You want in?  Shoot me an e-mail or talk to me in person.  

You can come out and put some fresh tire tracks on some freshly built singletrack.

There’s no better reward for all of this hard work.

This Kind Of Work Is Fun

I’ll try to stop complaining about my day job, because well, it won’t do any good.  Change is coming I think, and from now on I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t affect what’s going on in my bike world.  And right now, what’s going on is more work…

Trail work of course.

We had a “scheduled” work day at “The Trail”, and when I headed out of the house we were getting hit with another bout of winter weather.  Unlike the last time though, the snow wasn’t really sticking to the ground.  It still kept coming down though.

It wasn’t like we were having a blizzard or anything like that, so the work day was still a go.  TomTom suggested that everyone bring a bike this time, because we should actually try to enjoy what we have built so far.  I dusted off my little-wheeled squishy bike that hasn’t been out of the house in over two years.

With five inches of travel, little wheels, and flat pedals, I thought that it would be fun out there.  It wasn’t going to be a serious ride anyway, so I brought the least serious bike I own.

TomTom and I were the first ones there, and we discussed our plan for the day.  Even Steven showed up and we eventually got to work.  After cutting in some new trail that we flagged a few weeks ago, we felt like we were once again making progress.  When we stopped to admire our handy work, out of nowhere we heard a scream…

Followed by some crazy European flying down the trail.

Yes folks, Irish Luke made his grand entrance, and he was having a blast.  When he finally reached where we were working, he said that he was worn out.  We knew we were building a tough trail, but to hear it from someone that rode it all at once made us feel pretty damn proud.

I rode a couple of sections here and there, and aside form the fact that I’m not used to tiny little wheels and flat pedals I had a great time.  This trail is turning out to be way better than any of us thought it would be.

We still have a ton of work to do though, but it’s the kind of work that doesn’t suck so bad.

Like a real job.

I Had To Get Away

Work has been kicking my ass lately, so much that I’m starting contemplate a big change.  I won’t get into that now, but I guess it’s a pretty big deal.  Anyway, yesterday I decided to go to the mountains.  And for the first time in a few years, I didn’t bring a bike.

We went to a local ski resort, because I hadn’t been snowboarding in a few years.  Last year the conditions kinda sucked, so we skipped it.  The year before, well, I guess I was just too busy.  Little Miss Sunshine hadn’t been in a while either, so of course she joined me.

She doesn’t ride a snowboard though, but she does ride little tiny skis.

Growing up riding skateboards, being on a snowboard is pretty natural to me.  Well, as long as I do it regularly.  It took a couple of runs to get my snow legs back, and after that I was having a good time.

I even got to see my favorite number on the chair lift.

It was just what I needed.  My job sucks pretty bad these days, so going up to the mountains was just what I needed.  Being from Florida and all, seeing snow is still a pretty big deal to me.

Speaking of work, I’m on call this weekend.  This means that I can’t plan a damn thing, and it also means that there is a possibility that Iwon’t be able to ride my bike at all.

That just sucks.

Maybe I’ll be back here Monday.

Maybe not.

Get Away

You know what?


Screw this shit.


I'm going to the mountains today.


Not to ride bikes though.


It's time to dust off the snowboard and get radical (or whatever the hell the kids say these days.)

The cat is not going.


See y'all tomorrow sometime.

Expo Part 2

At the Southeast Bike Expo, we didn’t just look at cool-looking shit.

Or pretend to ride shit.

But, I did ride the same shit as last year.

Let me explain.  Last year, I was the first person in the southeast to ride the Niner Air9 RDO.  It was pretty rad, but not rad enough for me to drop money on one (plus I was riding for another brand at the time.)  This year, when we visited the Niner tent, I only had two choices (in an extra large size):  The Air9 RDO and the Jet9 RDO.  The plan was to ride the Jet9, but the large version wasn’t available when we wanted to ride.  That meant that TomTom wouldn’t get to try one. 

Being the good guy that I am (and the fact that TomTom is between sizes and could ride a large or extra large) I decided to make a sacrifice and ride the Air9.  That meant that my pal TomTom could enjoy the squishy carbon goodness while I rode something somewhat familiar.  I didn’t mind at all, because I’m all about making people happy.

I know, he doesn’t look very happy in that photo.  I assure you that he was.

Anyway, since we saw people coming off the trail all sloppy, muddy, and gross, we decided to ride the other side of the 1996 Olympic mountain Bike course.

You know, the cool, rocky side.

TomTom seemed to enjoy it.

Even though you can’t see his face, he’s smiling this time.

The best part of our test ride was that we had a tour guide…

Yup, Faster Mustache’s own Evil Ginger happened to be there, and he was kind enough to ride with us.

We had a lot of fun, got a little dirty, and got the bikes even dirtier.  So dirty that Niner Mike had to clean them off after we were done.

That wasn’t all we rode though.  We ran into the Pinarello rep (who was from Charlotte), and took a spin on their new carbon 29er.

It was pretty cool, although I’m not sure I would want to see the price tag.  It was kinda meh, other than the weirdo seat post clamp thingy…

It was a long, long day.  After leaving the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters at the crack of dark, looking at, touching, and even trying fancy bike stuff, we grabbed some dinner and drove back to the Queen City.

It was worth every second.  I can’t wait for next year.