Sunday, May 25, 2008

how to piss off a bear.




yep, it happened finally.


i almost was bear food. and it was all my fault.


story- i like to go on pisgah rides by myself. its relaxing and i don't really know anybody in brevard to ride with yet, so it is the way things are for me right now. i also like singlespeeds. single speeds are quiet, solo rides are quiet. you can get the picture, i see a lot of animals on my rides, especially bears. they don't really bother me, i used to be scared of them but now they just are big clumsy squirrels to me. or so i thought. i was climbing into the top of bennetts gap the other day and when i got to feild i see a big ol bear lumbering around eating shrubs and stuff. i thought cool and waited for it to get off the trail a little bit and headed on my merry (ignorant) way across the field. i get about halfway, watching big bear bear the whole time when on the other side of me i hear a rustling. i look over and see two cubs about 5 feet from me playing. oh shit. i turn back around an momma bear is in full on sprint headed towards me. oh shit. i quickly backed my self out of the way of her cubs and got my bike in between me and her just as she stops about 15 or so feet from me. she was freakin huge!! how do i know? cause she stood up and made all these crazy noises that in bear talk mean "fuck off, im going to eat you, bearblasting aint doing shit for you now huh bitch?" i quickly got back to the edge of the field and watched her watching me for a few minutes. it was pretty obvious she wasnt about to let me by, so i had to abandon the ride and go back to the car. i was ok with it though because i still have all my body parts in one piece.


and thats how you piss off a bear.


dano out.

Monday, May 19, 2008

its a hard knock life

good weekend. well, good sunday at least. sat was a bit of a waste, lazed around camp and then went to the movies, but i guess we all need those days once and a while. sunday i wooke up, said im getting motivated and headed out to play on the big rig. a few thrift cove loops to start things off, such a fun little loop, great if your on a time squeeze, need an easy day, or just like a really fun downhill with a kicker over the creek at the end. so so fun. afterwards i decided i was gonna sniff out the brevard college slalom course that i've been told about. i knew the general area where it was and after a little snooping (and outright asking the person at the gate) i was at it. i cant say where it is cause i don't want people pissed at me, but holy shit is that thing fun, and steep. it was the hardest dual course ive ridden in the south id have to say. i dont think many colleigate riders are gonna be able to ride that thing with any confidence, but just my opinion. lets just say i'd laugh in your face if you told me to drop in on an xc rig on that thing. it was damn fun. after that i took a break to head to a little party at a friends house, also good, and then continued on to the skatepark with my little bmx bike. they got an awesome little mini ramp with a spine that i got to have pretty much to myself. there where about 10 guys there that could tailwhip the box, but nobody could ride the spine right or do a decent table. weird, i guess being old has some benifits though. the night ended with meeting an old friend at the bar in town. good times were had by all i do believe.

dano out.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

  1. i woke up with terrible beer farts today, so i went and ate onion rings and now i've got terrible farts and terrible breath. they cancel each other out right?
  2. im not sure why the computer is putting numbers next to my sentences, but i like it.
  3. camp is too fun.
  4. joe melvin is a sissy pants. no particular reason right now, but it should be known anyways.
  5. i got hit on by a really really old lady at the bar last night. it sucked and she wouldnt leave me alone.
  6. you need to fess up. i know, just tell me the truth.
  7. im going to ride my bike in the mtns some more now.
  8. goodbye.

dano out.

p.s.- current jams in the ears- Dio. playing air guitar makes inventorying things go sooo much faster.

Monday, May 12, 2008

new places, new faces

this will be a quick one.

maybe it up to nc yesterday (barely) in the old clampett. i had to first gear some of those climbs at the end, but im sitting in mike V's house now so its ok. it kinda cold out and really windy, but im headed over to dupont to do what pretty has termed "the dh loop". mine mtn to airstrip and out. quick and dirty and two hot laps on the big sled will make you smile for days. i start the new job tomm, ill throw up a post on the trail thats being built by the same people who brought you dupont. private pro built rail, oh lawdy lawd!!

listen to slayer.

dano out.

Monday, May 5, 2008

welcome to our town

so on the way to the shop today i had two separate incidents with people in cars, furthering my belief that jax is truly the armpit of cycling, and florida in general. The ride from my folks house to champion is 2, maybe 3 miles at most and i rode up ther at 8:30 this morning. don't you people have something better to do than try to run me off the road and call me a queer? guess not..

whatever, i'll get the last laugh when you all die of cancer. wait i just heard nalgene bottles cause cancer. shit.

we can't win.

fun day today. worked a bit at the shop where i cut my teeth on this bike thing, got a free quart of natty ice for mowing the shop lawn (took 10 minutes tops, def worth it), and then went out to dinner with some family thats in town from austin, tx. good time crew, and we sucked the bar dry. gotta love your family!

tomm im gonna hit up one of the faster road rides in town on my mtb, being that i don't actually own a road bike anymore. im looking forward to it a little but what im really looking forward to is sunday afternoon and the drive to western carolina. thurs night might be a little fun though with Pretty Useless turning 21 and all. get swasted pretty! do it for jesus!

dano out.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Bury Your Bike



I'm hanging out in the land of republican stickers, urban sprawl, and angry drunks this week. thats right, jacksonville. just cause your from a place doesn't mean you have to particularly love it. thats def the case for me and dirty duval. i did have a good time today though, even with some issues. I headed downtown today for the Bury Your Bike alleycat put on by Zombie bikes, a nonprofit coop bike shop on main st.





There it is.


Anyway, i'm heading out to the start in my truck (yes, this was annoying, but jax is so sprawled you can't just ride to an alleycat. the traffic is also horrendous.) and i'm about half way there when i hear a ping and some pops come out of the clampett and then she shuts off.


Explaination- this is pretty common for the clampett to do, shut off randomly, so its not something that really stresses me out. i carry a bike in the bed nearly everywhere and i paid $200 dollars for the beast. it is what is is.


so, i pilot the old girl to the side of the road and crawl under the hood to see whats up. belt gone. nnot really all gone, a good bit is wrapped up in the various pulley wheels and whatnot of the engine. nice. it takes me a while to cut all the crap out of the engine and splice the battery cables bac together, but i get it done. i also have a new belt in the truck but i dont like to replace things until they fall off, so this worked out perfectly. new belt installed, she cranks right up and off i go. like i said, this sort of thing happens every two weeks or so, no big deal. shes old and can be fixed cheaply, unlike all the new shit rolling around.


i get to the race in time for the start and quickly realize what i forgot to do. change my gear! im still running 32-17 on the mtb, and am quickly spit out the back of the lead group, dangling in no mans land for the rest of the race. 10 place i think. it doesn't matter. the jumps alex built on the side of the building were more fun anyways. check out the wallride/hip.


im tired.
dano out.