What Is/Was Your Favorite Bike?

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Jeff Potter

What is/was your favorite bike?

Like most bike geeks I have a few bikes. I can’t seem to part ways with them. Even the Kona road frame with the bent top tube. It just sits outside my shop collecting dust, waiting to be turned into wind chimes.

I got to thinking recently, what is my favorite bike? Though I like them all, and it is a tough choice, I think my old ’88 Bridgestone MB1 is my favorite. From the very first ride I fell in love with her. I was riding an ’85 Fuji (which I still have), but the MB1 was a whole different ride. It was quick, stable and seemed to steer itself.

Before

I think the reason the MB1 means so much to me, and the reason I’ll never get rid of her, is all the adventures we shared. The Mammoth Mountain Kamikazi, The Ultimate Kamikaze in Bishop, CA, where upon closing in on the finish line I heard the announcer say, “here comes the first female rider across the finish line!” Another proud moment for my parents ( I had long hair back then too ).

We also rode trails that would eventually be closed to mountain biking. Pine Ridge Trail in Big Sur, the PCT in the Angeles National Forest, and all the singletrack in the Santa Monica Mountains between Sullivan Canyon and Sycamore Canyon. So please forgive my Al Bundy moment, but when I look at my MB1 I relive all the beautiful trails that I’ll never see again on a bike.

As I mentioned earlier I still have her. She’s now my commuter bike. I scrounged for old parts and threw in a few new ones to make her rideable. The best thing is she still rides like I remember, quick, stable and.. well… she’s getting older so I have to do the steering.

After

What is/was your favorite bike? It could be your first bike or your current steed, the one that got away in a lapse of judgement, or even your childhood Big Wheel (the one with the plastic wheels we learned how to perform a power skid on).

Fighting Predator

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Jeff Moser

Everyone was busy yesterday, but I decided to head up to Ash Canyon for some singletrack anyhow. I knew there would be a bit of a struggle to get to the top of the climb, but little did I know the fight for my life had just begun.

Do you ever get that feeling that you’re being watched while out riding? I had the feeling that someone was watching me, although there was nobody in sight. It was also a bit too quiet. There isn’t that much wildlife out this time of year, but yet it seemed odd.

As I got higher into the trees, the feelings of not being alone intensified. That’s when I heard the snap of branches. Something big was following me, possibly even closing in. I still couldn’t see any other signs of life, so I dismounted the bike, and tried to use all my senses for detection. Yes, there was something definitely nearby.

There was a loud crack as if something had fallen from a tree. Footsteps approached me, yet I could still see nothing. And then silence…

I desperately started looking around, even squinting my eyes.

And then all at once, I felt hot putrid breath on my face. A smell so vile that it almost knocked me down.

Suddenly there was an otherworldly clicking noise, and a shape appeared before me. Although I could see through the shape. Almost like looking through water. I yelled, but could not move.

When my paralyzing fear broke, I grabbed a branch off the ground and started swinging at the shape. I thought I heard laughter. But then my branch hit something solidly, and I heard a gasp. And then a yell of pain and anger. I dropped my branch, jumped on my bike, and rode down the singletrack like I have never done before, not once looking back.

Well that’s my story… Who’s riding today?

Lumpy Gravy – A Ride in the Pine Nuts

Posted on March 10, 2008 by xdscott

Saturday, my buddy Scott (the one working on the Bike Carson logo) and I met at the Pine Nuts for a ride. It was sunny and clear with a decent breeze; perfect riding weather. We headed out from the main parking area where they stage the races and followed the road for about a mile before splitting off for some single track. In no time, we hit snowy sections and mud. Lots of it. Recent motorcycle traffic meant it was muddy and rutted. The undulating terrain was such that even non-north facing areas had snow and mud and just when it seemed we were on a good section, we’d turn a corner and be staring at snowfields and mud. It was very distraughtening.

A mile or two of this and no improvement in the conditions, we took the next jeep road which was dry and rode up that for awhile on a slight climb. After a lot of slogging and stop and plops thru snow, this was nice and it cleared the tires. We followed the road uphill for a mile or two and tried to figure out where some drier single track might be. Where the road split we found an impromptu landfill and stopped to consider the route options.

Unfortunately, the rear bumper on this old Ford was missing/was buried in trash, otherwise I might have found a Keep Nevada Rural bumper sticker. You could however catch up on the Febrary ’05 issue of Mountain Bike Action if you missed it.

Scott knows the trails out here quite well and thought if we continued on either fork of the road, up into the canyon, we’d likely run into more snow and mud, even on the road. So we turned around and backtracked until we reached Pine Nut road, hung a right and about a half mile up, crossed to the other side and picked up a narrow double track that segued into a good long, dry section of single track with great flow. This was a fun section, fast and packed with tight turns, rollers, whoop-de-doos, short climbs and some fast downhills.

We followed this all the way back to Pine Nut road, directly across from the parking area. By now, the bikes were mostly mud-free and put away when a heavy thirst set it. This was slaked by a brace of Dale’s Pale Ale and a Frank Zappa’s Lumpy Gravy ale from the Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Help Wanted at Veltec Sports

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Jeff Moser

James from Veltec Sports sent me the following:

I’m in need of someone to help out my bike builder full-time, for the next couple of weeks. Tasks would be mounting tires and cassettes, organizing the builds, packing the complete bikes in boxes, etc. I’d like them to be full time for the next couple of weeks, working out of our bike build facility here in our warehouse.

If you are interested in this position, contact James at james@veltecsports.com.

Baldy Green Trail Report

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Jeff Moser

Here’s a brief overview of why my legs feel like mush…

Wednesday was going to be a rest day, but Scott (aka XD) contacted me and said he wanted to ride at lunch. So of course I said yes, and I rounded up Jeff P and Marcus to come along. Jeff P said the Baldy Green Trail was open, so that’s where we headed.

After a bit of climbing we got to the hill climb above that I have known for years as “Russel’s Revenge”. My friend Scott Russel got us to start climbing it, and we used to almost puke at the top. There would be guys rolling around on the ground gasping for air. It’s not quite as bad these days, but it’s still always a challenge. Right near the top when you’re almost out of gas, there is an off camber section followed directly by a whooped out gravelly section. You have to give it a little sprint to clear it, and it pretty much does you in. Scott Russel is moving back to town this month, and I plan to take him on this hill as soon as he gets his bike unpacked.

The Baldy Green Trail is in near perfect shape with only a couple snow crossings. This trail has some of the best views in the whole Ash Canyon trail system due to it’s elevation. We dropped down onto Deer Run, and there were just a couple of snow crossings there too. Jeff P warned us to go slow through the snow crossings. Scott, a bit curious, or perhaps just a tad temerarious, had to see for himself just how slippery they were, and tested the limits of tire traction while leaned over in a turn. It was a nice slow motion crash, almost a denial of succumbing to gravity. In the end gravity pulled Scott down, but he got up quickly and pressed on. We had a killer downhill run, and then one by one peeled off to our own destinations once back in the city.

Thursday will be rest day for sure….

V&T Rail Road Grade

Posted on March 5, 2008 by Jeff Moser

Yesterday we explored the V&T Rail Road Grade to check out the conditions. We were certain we couldn’t drop in from Lakeview, so we made this trip an out-and-back.

We saw this hawk along the way. I started taking pictures from a distance, but he just sat there as I got closer! I finally had to spook him, so I could get a shot of him flying away. They’re a lot bigger close up.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the trail is open all the way to the end. There were just two little snow crossings that made us put a foot down. The ground is still a bit soggy, so it was a pretty good workout going up this gentle grade. Also, the sand isn’t really packed down yet, and is kind of churned up. We need more riders to come through here! Get on it.

As suspected, the drop in to the upper side of the grade is still snowbound. It would be a long hike-a-bike if you were to make the whole loop. Maybe this section will be open by next week.

Trails Report

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Jeff Moser

Centennial Singletrack

As March started, I was starting to wonder when I’d get to ride singletrack again. The Iron Mountain ride from a few weeks ago was pretty much my only taste of dirt trails this year!

Kristy had been out hiking the Centennial Trails, and had said they should be ready to ride. Using Kristy’s recon intel, Jeff P and I planned a ride Sunday morning. Here’s what we found…

Dry dirt. Centennial is ready to ride! The rocky intro was a horrible reintroduction to trail riding. I was bouncing all over the place like a pinball, and it made me feel like a rookie. Once past the rocks, I started getting my balance back and began really enjoying the trail.

Numerous megafauna were encountered on the lower sections of the trail. They kept an eye on us, but didn’t seem to mind our presence. They allowed us safe passage.

The views were great as usual, and there are little green sprouts coming out of the ground everywhere. It should actually be green around Carson this year!

There were only a couple sections at the highest point of the trail that were muddy. They were just little patches though, and it was easy enough to ride through.

Ash Canyon

On the west side of the valley, things are improving, but are not all the way there yet. There is enough open to make fun loops or out-and-backs. On Monday, Jon, Sandie, and I rode up Ash Canyon as far as we could go, and checked out all the trails. Here’s what we found…

Trails that are shielded from direct sun still have snow on them, but luckily there are roads that parallel the trails. Although in some cases, “roads” is a bit of an overstatement. This particular road (above) is mostly washed out, and has turned into a singletrack. This will either keep cars out, or cause them to make a new trail. Hopefully the first option!

Higher up, things started to get squishy. We were finally stopped by deep snow, so we turned up the hill to go check out the Deer Run singletrack.

Looking to the west, Deer Run is still pretty soft with numerous patches of snow.

Looking to the east from this point though, it is all open. We had an uninterrupted downhill the rest of the way down, making choices at intersections to pick routes around the snowy sections.

Get out there and ride, but please stay on the trails that are open. There are a lot of new lines forming from people taking shortcuts around snow banks (ATV’s and Bicycles!). As this area becomes more popular, it’s important that we take care of the land and create minimal impact. Tread lightly as they say…

Bike Carson

Bicycle News, Culture, and Lifestyle in Carson City, Nevada

Monthly Archives: March 2008