"There I was back in the wild again."

"I felt right at home, where I belong. I had the feeling, coming over me again. Just like it happened so many times before. The Spirit of the Woods is like an old good friend. Makes me feel warm and good inside."

-Ted Nugent

So summer is freaking awesome. good long rides followed by swimming in mountain lakes, can't really complain about that. i got a new wireless powertap on my dh bike and my personal coach is really helping me work on my frontflips into creeks. I'm sure with some more steadystate opener and closers ill be able to pull off a perfect double gainer into courthouse falls by mid-july.

pinned.

we're heading out to work on adventure village this afternoon, so hopefully that place will be functional shortly.

I've also moved out of the old haunted house and into jo's old house, which is now my new house. it sweet- come by and drink a beer with me.

enjoy the chill life,

dano out.

SNAP CRACKLE POP (Tsali 2009)

Oh yeah!!! you can put win #1 of the year in the books for the TSALI DOMINATION SQUAD. shall we continue? naw, i think that's good. its offical, TDS is done. it was fun while it lasted, but always go out on top right? or a least a distant 4th place....

haha so yep SYCAMORE CYCLES showed up in force at the 12 hr with 7 teams and a solo roller. 3 class wins on the day and a 3rd in pro class aint to shabby. congrats to all who rocked out with their cocks out, or jammed out with their clams out, as julia likes to say. good fucking job team.

As for the not so good, or maybe it was good, i discovered that i am possibly in the worst shape of my life, and rolled a 50 minute lap to prove it. At the level i like to think i can race you should not be granny ringing climbs, period. I think i know why this happened, and changes will be made for the better. that might have been the swift kick in the ass i needed.

oh i also broke my bike, the frame, not some little part like a wheel or fork, but the frame. its done. hopefully Kona will help me out. Anyone wanna flow a mid-pack sport class rider a frame? i used to be fast, i swear...

speaking of fast, i got to roll out for a while with a childhood hero of mine too. Chris "the cat" Brown is from my neck of the woods down in Jacksonville, FL. he worked at the same shop i did growing up, but before me. I've heard stories about the guy my whole life, so getting to ride out with him for a while was really cool for me. its too bad his team didn't win, but at least they had those little bastards shitting their pants until the 11th hour. good job to them.

and one last thing, a huge thanks to WES D for letting me roll out on his S-WORKS hardtail after i cavemanned my bike. that thing is fast, and then i looked up the price when i got home and almost shit my pants. good god, why the hell did he let me ride that? thanks a bunch man.

that'll do,

DANO OUT.

ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN.

TDS.

"You know I'm born to lose,

and gambling's for fools, But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live for ever...."

-Motorhead

The crashing continues. I'm not talking about of darn i slid out crashes either. I'm talking about high speed explosion, face full of dirt crashes. ones with blood, and broken parts. But hey you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs right? I'm not really sure whats going on, but I'm feeling pretty fast right now so i guess crashings no big deal.

the last time i was crashing so hard so often i learned a bunch of shit, so maybe that'll happen again. or maybe I'll wind up with 2 broken wrists again. who knows?

I've started working out at the camp again a bit, just early in the mornings. its sweet- i drive my truck back into the woods an blast ghetto rap at 7 am every morning. oh and i work on some bikes too. regardless its a good way to start the day.

i just ate taco bell too, and it feels like i might shit my pants any second. Mitch would be proud.

everyday I'm hustling,

Dano out.

mmmm tequila.

OK, you win.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER.

thank god. this is gonna be sweet.

so, i feel like now that everything is finalized for the year with my little racing/riding hobby its time for some shout outs/gentle ball fondling (thanks Chris).

First off, a big thanks to Wes and Sycamore Cycles for letting me say I'm on his pedal scooter racing team. its a hell of a pickup line at the bars, man. Also thank you to Specialized tires for their big box of rubber that I'll rip apart on the rocks of Pisgah all summer. And last thank you to Cane Creek for their 110 headset, its very pretty. it doesn't fit on my bike, but we'll work that out soon. until then I'll be wearing it on a string around my neck at all times. gotta rep the products eh?

In other news its been confirmed that I'll be rolling out at ORAMM once again this year with my Florida boys. bets will be made, women will be groped, beers will be consumed heavily. remember, power wheelies make women's pants fall off...

Its nice out, go break something on your bike... i know i will.

Dano out.

it was good while it lasted.

Less than one month.

That's how long the World Cup fork lasted. some people just can't have nice things.

Oh well, at least it wasn't expensive as hell....


I'll be drinking heavily tonight, oh wait no i won't, i spent all my money on that fork.

dammit.

dano out.

you spin me right round baby, right round...

ch ch ch check it...



another devastating blow to the world of electronical training. turns out you can get top twenty at world cups by having fun on your bike. who knew?






in other news,






i just watched NOTORIOUS, which tells the story of Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace. that guy did what he had to do to get where he wanted to be, hell yeah.



check it out when you get the chance.







also, school is (almost) over for the summer. all that's left is a few finals tests, the last class was Monday, and now I'm looking into the mouth of a summer in pisgah, which couldn't make me happier. school was good though, I'm proud of myself for sticking with it finally. next year will be even better, just you wait....







one more thing about school that has been bothering me, and it really doesn't affect me at all but its been on my mind. brevard just had their athlete awards ceremony for the year where the various sports coaches all stand up and spin their stats for the season to make it look like they didn't suck and every one pats themselves on the back for "trying real hard". anyways, there is an athlete of the year award for the top male and top female athletes based on what they accomplished over the year. evidently winning two natl championships each isn't enough to win this award. that's all I'm saying about that.





so I've been having a hell of a good time this week riding in the woods, been crashing a lot, which bothers some people but i don't really mind as long as i don't get real wrecked in the process. i did annihilate my front wheel thurs night heading down thrift, but you can only jump into so many berms on an ultralite xc rig before its time to pay the price. eh, I've been storing up on trashcan rims all winter like a squirrel hides nuts so no big deal.





its raining today anyway so nows the time to deal with bike problems before tsali in two weeks.





one last thing TDS has been supercharged. we've got a ringer.....





uh oh,





Dano out.






Go smash a table wwf style.

PMBAR 2009

It all started innocently enough, Sycamore was sponsoring the race and Wes was able to get a few free entries out of the deal. Justin and i said sure months ago, not really thinking about it. little did we know...

5:30 am- Wake up to my alarm blaring before the sun, wonder what the hell is going on for about 10 seconds before the brain starts working and i remember I'm racing my bike today. Crawl toward the shower, flipping the coffee maker on as i pass.

6:00 am- Arrive at sweet lady friends house for breakfast, as discussed the night before. the house is pitch black, and phone calls are not answered. proceed to window and throw empty beer cans at it until she wakes up too. misery loves company, right? Breakfast feast is prepared, truckstop style, and consumed till point of sickness. many thanks are given.

7:10 am- Arrive at race start. Justin is nowhere to be found.

7:26 am- still no Justin, mandatory gear check ends at 7:30. begin to worry.

7:29.6 am- Justin arrives at gear check. sigh of relief is heard.

8:00 am- GO! start out with a peak at the map and then head up black mtn trail, following the KOP and Pinnett, picking off teams the whole way.

8:45 am- Hit turkey pen trail with Wes and Chris, followed by a super serial team proudly rocking flatbars, v-brakes, and ultralite hardtails.

9:15 am- watch hardtail goomba go ass over teakettle on a steep piece of trail. i giggle to myself as i pass. I'm having fun.

9:45 am- hit first checkpoint down in turkey pen. Justin and i decide to take our own route and pickup the squirrel checkpoint later in the day. this may be the start of bad decision making that will haunt us later.

10:15 am- begin the climb up yellow gap to get to the climb up laurel mtn, not realizing we've lined up over 10 continuous miles of climbing at once. complain about ass hurting for the first time.

12:00 pm- get to the top of laurel mtn, run in to Wes and Pinnett. they've just climbed straight up pilot rock and horse cove, two trails that i want to go down. we head down pilot as a group, blasting by rigid 29er riders the whole way. I'm having a lot of fun right now, because we are losing elevation fast.

12:38 pm- climb up funnel top, begin to wonder why everyone is going the opposite direction. stop for food and ponder this.

1:15 pm- head down horse cove. i pretend my 2.5 inch travel kona is a dh bike until Justin yells at me. he says I'm gonna break it. he's probably right. i continue to pretend I'm Sam Hill.

1:45 pm- get to the squirrel checkpoint, after riding the sweetest singletrack of the day. I'm still happy, because the trail is fun. we head towards Daniel ridge, thinking we're almost done. little do we know...

3:00 pm- finally get to club gap and the gravel roads to Daniel. I'm tired, and my knees hurt.

3:45 pm- over it.

4:15 pm- get to Daniel ridge checkpoint. i want to give up and take 276 home, but don't because i don't want to climb up the hill after the turnoff to the horse stables. my mind is cooked at this point. we head towards home on the fire roads.

5:15 pm- begin climbing up Maxwell. Justin is strong, and rides off the front quickly. i get a slow leak in my front tire, but am too tired to stop and fix it so i just slide as far back on my saddle as i can and pedal almost all of Maxwell with a flat front tire. we change it at the top.

6:00 pm- reach the top of hickory knob. its all down to the finish. i take the lead and let it ride down the mtn.

6:15 pm- finish. i will never do this again.

and that's all.

dano out.