Reigning RSCT trophy winner Halldor hangs onto the cup for yet another ride....

So Mitch, Baker, Halldor and i all went for an impromptu night ride last night....a night ride that was full of people definitely NOT at a level one could call "fit" (that's NOT fit Claire! Myaha!So come out and play!) so the night was crisp and beeeeautiful, and i was able to take it all in, slowly, as my lungs attempted to cut my body off from that pesky gas called oxygen. We did a bit of a different route from usual, meandering up the fireroad to the top of jelly roll(where i achieved a bird-shaped bruise due to leg/frame interactions), then ran down to northridge, sidewinder, who's yer daddy, night shift, short cut(where upon Halldor had a mighty viking crash down the left side of the first rock roll and injured his wing...VIKING DOOOOWN!!!!) , shock treatment into the TTA....i have to say i'm becoming quite the fan of night riding. i don't know what i'm going to do when i can see more than a 3' circle of fuzzy light in front of me. Something about night riding makes you do stupider things that you'd usually bypass, makes you look up at the stars and breifly forget that irriatating burning-lung syndrome you picked up somewhere between the last vestiges of summer and the first chilly winds of winter (too wordy for you Jamie?...too bad!). in short...suck it up, buy a light and come join the silent masses....oh did i mention you rarely run into other riders on the mountain...oh yes...if your local hill is crowded during the day, then go by night and find a whole new mountain to play on!
that is all

Night Ride report...

Well, it's about time I got the Rock Star Crash Trophy (RSCT). I've had a couple of close seconds this year but, last Tuesday I took it fair and square. It happened at the first climb on Jelly Roll, and it happened in slow motion. Shayne and Nic where waiting at the top and I was making my way up the rock face when my front wheel started to lift of the ground... At this point I thought it was kind of funny but I did not think too much of it. I managed to blurb out the internationally recognized "uh oh," as my wheel kept creeping towards the sky. It was at that point that I remembered that I had tightened my spd's earlier that day. Yes, they are apparently a bit too tight. The result was a dead sailor over backwards. Or as some would describe it, a half a backflip. I landed on my camelbak and thank god for camelbaks, they've saved my bacon more times than any other "armor" except for helmets. The camelbak softened the blow, but it was still a pretty hard landing (as most back-landings are) and I felt rather unintelligent laying there on my back, still clipped in and looking up at the stars through my frame. I came out of that one with a sore back but no other injuries, except for the horribly bruised ego. The bike sustained a bent brake lever wich made the rest of the ride sort of interesting.
The ride was epic though and the conditions at the park are kick-ass these days. We rode all the way to the top and shayne was "laying ze powah dooown" (insert German accent). Apparently giving Shayne a gentle tire rub at the bottom of the hill is like giving him some "Boonen powder." He was pedaling like a mad man and the hills seemed easy compared to our hangover Zoo-ride on Sunday. Tyler and Chevy did great on their 34,5lbs (TJ) and 38lbs. (Chevrolet) beasts and soldiered up those climbs, kudos to them . It was great to have Nic back as well since the nightrides just don't feel the same without him. Sadly Ryan blew apart his Crap Brothers pedal (oops who said that? What what!?) just after the tta and had the world shortest nightride, at 1 minute and 53 seconds.
All in all a great ride...can't wait for next Tuesday.

The Crew at the top of Jelly roll...soon after this photo was taken the undersigned went down.

Shayne and Nic doing the Lumpy pants drop