Community Forest Trail #19

Was inspired by an old friends new album, so I took a break and went out to shoot some video in the local Community Forest. There's not a ton of riding there, but some very beautiful and flowy single track that I can't complain about. I mean, who can complain when there's riding right outside your door? Not me.



Thanks Travis from Leave Let Be for letting me use "Cold House" for the soundtrack and for James for letting me borrow the Sony Cam. Sorry, I'll get it back to you soon.

2011 Ridge Trail Festival Coming Soon

Back for the second year the Ridge Trail Festival mountain bike event will prove to be another awesome event. Both a collegiate points race and an open community race, the Festival will offer a grueling XC route, a fast flowy Super D route, a stomach churning short track route, and even a full on Downhill event. Photos from last year can be seen and purchased here. I'm still undecided on whether I'll race the XC again, but I'll definitely be photographing all other events I'm not racing.

Check out information about the 2011 Ridge Trail Festival here. The event will again be in the community forest in Redwood Park in Arcata on October 8-9. Direct your questions toward Kirk Cohune at kcohune AT gmail.com.

Stomach Churn 2010

The annual Stomach Churn cross/mtb race has came upon and left us. There was a great turn out again this year with over 20 riders in each race. Since I've been chained to the computer trying to get something accomplished on my thesis and absolutely no time on my bike I opted to just go shoot some photographs and watch everyone else suffer. I know, lame excuse, but I'm really much better at taking photos than bike racing anyway.

The 30 minute race started around 11am. It was good to see woman in the field as well.

The traditional Stomach Churn puke bucket made it's appearance on top of Cardiac Arrest hill as usual.

Dan from Adventure's Edge made a quick jump on the lead right off the bat, and despite burping his tubeless tire manged to keep his lead with a pretty nice gap at the finish. Don't let those downhillers trick you - they've apparently got some skillz on the cross country terrain as well.

The 60 minute race takes off. Chris Johnson pulled away for for a quick lead...

Until Graves turned on the burners and practically lapped everyone on the field by the time 60 minutes was done with.

Some brave souls actually did ride cross bikes including Jennifer. (Although Jennifer was screaming the whole time wishing she had her mtb.)

Evan took the cross dress competition home with his sexy Daphne ensemble.

While others wanted to take a little something home of their own. The gallery can be seen here (for now). I'd like to personally give a shout out to Vic for his continuous hard work putting this race together, Adventures Edge for their continuous support, and Revolution Bicycles.

Bogstomp 2010

Well it's been awhile since I've transcribed any thoughts into digital format, well at least here. Damn facebook has probably taken over. So much has happened since we last talked. I'll cut to the chase.

Last weekend was the annual Bogstomp, BogStomp, Bog Stomp (however it's spelled) mountain bike/cyclocross race held out near headwaters. Revolution Cycles puts on the race and they sure do a great job of it. For some reason I couldn't pull it together to get much riding in so I went out to shoot a few photos and just generally have a good time with some friends.

This was only my 2nd year as an attendee, so I don't really have much to compare. There were a few more racers on the field suffering this year which was great to see. Last year I raced the 30 minute sufferfest and actually did better than I would have guessed going into it. It was actually nice getting to shoot some photos of the guys I usually race with and sort of felt guilty taking the easy way out. Well I didn't hear anyone complaining, at least not to my face.

The track was a bit muddier than last year and I think it had something to do with Sean tearing things up with his moto - race organizers always like the racers to suffer as much as possible. There was even a "pit' that everyone kept talking about, but in my oblivion didn't discover it until the 3pm kids race. That would have made for some nice sloppy shots.

I did get a chance to try out my new flash unit. I managed somehow to scrape up a little cash and get the nikon sb-600 strobe. This thing has the ability to run as a slave from my SLR body so I can mount it on my tripod and run around snapping shots while it distracts and scares the hell out of the riders. I've got some learning ahead of me, but overall I was pleased with the results - much better than not having i-TTL with the Sunpak powerzoom I've been using.

Congrats to Andrew "Potter" McAfee for taking the 50 minute race and Justin Brown with the 30 minute race win. Looks like it was a setup from the revo guys. Race results will be posted here.

I'd like to close it with this photo and remind everyone that sometimes it's not ok to be childish, but never get so old to lose your childlike qualities. Have fun out there.

Red Gate

Some shots from Jacoby Creek ride last week. Just like most of the single track around here, it was super wet and muddy. Still a great time with great folks. This forest is magical, filled with moss covered trees. Not a bad place to spend a wet afternoon.

More Paradise Royale

It seems as though I can't stay away from this trail, or at least try and get down there whenever I possibly can. My buddy Matt came down from Portland, after family activities in Eugene, to come hang out for a few days and get on some dirt after a long hiatus. We first had some wrenchin' to do on his steed before making tracks, and all but the wavy rotor we got it rolling. The community forest chanted only a few blocks away where we got a training ride in, but the real mission was to head south to the King Range.

This was the first time actually staying down at the Tolkan Campground, which is literally a spit's distance from the trail. We left camp setup for our return, ate a bagel sandwhich, a apple cinnamon hammer gel and hit the trail.

This was Matt's first time on Paradise Royale. The ascent can always be a bit frustrating but Matt kept a positive attitude. The weather was perfect which made the riding that much more enjoyable.
The crazy Tanoak grove heading back up to the trail head is always a delight. My buddy Scott calls it the octopus forest for good reason. The second day of riding was quite brutal. The moment we departed the trail head it started raining hard and didn't let up the whole ride. The ridge up top was fiercely cold and windy. I lost feeling in my hands and feet for most of the ride and could barely enjoy the downhill section. I realized then how as minimalist as v-brakes may be, only having about 5% stopping power that day was a little scary. My hands and wrists were sore from squeezing what little friction I could create. Once I figure out how I'm going to pay for school this semester it looks like some disc brake research is bumped up on the priority list.

The fungus photo is the only shot I took on day two. With the rain coming down I kept the camera holstered safely in the Camel Bak, putting most of my energy toward getting out of the woods alive.

Paradise Royale Video

Section from Paradise Royale trail.

T-day Break Riding

Although the weather wasn't ideal for riding during break, we did get some nice pedaling in. On friday we went down to Redwood State Park with the intention of riding for the day and heading south from there to sleep in tents and hit some more single track the next day. Unfortunately (or not so unfortunately) my chain broke and not a one of us brought a chain breaker. Because of the cold and rain I think we were all secretly stoked to load up the bikes and head back north for some dinner and great beer at Eel River Brewery. We decided over dinner to go home, warm up, fix our bikes and head out early with Don's Donuts in hand. But not before heading to Scott's for another round of great homebrew and viewing of "Seasons" by the Collective. The next day turned out to be magnificant, and Kevin decided to be a macho man and take along Scott's 7 inch travel Iron Horse. We all got to sesh out some sections of single track with the steel horse while Kevin got the honors of lugging the 40 lb. tank up the climb. Thanks Kevin.
Click on the pic for a slideshow.

Wet ride

It was a wet and muddy one out there today.

12 Hours of Humboldt

Today I realized what an amazing place I have in my backyard, and how that amazing place made an amazing backdrop for a cool event like the 12 Hours of Humboldt. Although I should have been suffering with the rest of them, I chose to head into the woods with my camera and take a few shots. Click on the pic to view the gallery.