Crankin' Up The A Line!

So, it turns out my little Tahoe tumble fractured my feckin' ankle. So no riding for me for a short while. My downhill season began and ended with Whistler..... Speaking of which! All this extra time on my hands has allowed me to finish editing, cropping, colour correcting and after effectsing the GoPro footage from our trip. It's on The Facetube, right.....

......HERE!!.....

Define "Sucks"

1. Swap the Nomad's pedals for big, fat, flats
2. Pack armor and full face helmet and downhill shit
3. Get up at early o'clock on a weekend and pick up Dave
4. Spend 3 hours driving to Tahoe, buy lift pass
5. Ride lift, get excited about the day's riding ahead
6. Get off lift and walk down stairs to trail head
7. Fumble last step and badly roll ankle. Collapse into ball of pain
8. Get back on lift, ride back to the base and spend the rest of the day with ankle raised and iced

= Sucks.
Fuking sucks.

:o(

September Shizzle

Not much in the way of bloggage recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't been riding. Far from it. Me and Dave have got a regular Wednesday night ride going at Tamarancho. Zach usually comes too, and we're always trying to drag more people out for a moonlit spin around the spooky woods. My Maxx D fat boy light is doing a cracking job of blinding the wildlife, and the extra ride mid week is a great way to set up for the weekend's shredding.

Chris is back in the saddle too which is fantastic. Picking up where he left off 4 months (and a broken collar bone) ago, he's super strong and super keen. I've missed having Chris as a riding buddy so it's been awesome welcoming him back to the dirt. Especially as some of the regular lads have fallen by the wayside, which is a shame. But there are always people up for a spin. Today me, Adam, Sam, Eric and Chris took in the sights from Mount Tam. It's a ride I've done before and, whilst daunting in it's length and climbing, is hugely rewarding in it's descents. We climbed up Tenderfoot to the West Point Inn. From there, a fire road descent to the Coastal trail. Coastal is so much fun.... So. Much. Fun. It's the sort of trail you rip down and wonder why you don't ride it every week. Not steep, but fast, flowy and, at times, really narrow. But the deep ruts quickly give way to bermed corners which encourage you to hit with abandon and reward with an epic descent.

After a tactical refuel at the Pelican Inn, it was time to climb Dias. Tight switchbacks add to the fun, but for the most part it's a steady ascent with great views. I was pleasantly suprised at my climbing pace. The last time I did this ride (the very last ride before I went to NYC) I'd struggled to keep the other lads in sight. Today I (more or less) kept up with Sam and Ad..... and I've still got my big, heavy 2.5 inch Whistler wheels (including downhill tubes) on the Nomad. After Dias, we hit Miwok. A cracking trail, but you have to keep your wits about you. The cool little jumps give way to endo inducing divots if you're not careful. Hikers and dog walkers are also thrown in to keep you alert and hitting the brakes more often than you like. But it's a great trail and adds to the awesome variety this ride provides.

We're into September now. Its officially Summer in San Francisco. We'll be hitting Tam more as the weather turns sour. Until then, there's a Tahoe Lake Rim trail trip planned. Plus I want to hit Northstar before the downhill season ends. Speaking of DH.... the Whistler video has been AfterFX'd and should be online soon.