I still remember the City Council meeting that started my engine and drive for local bicycle/walking advocacy, it was just after the opening of SBC in 2000. Previously, I was active in mountain bike advocacy. But that Tuesday evening in the City Council Chambers sparked my drive to help our City build a better transportation system for everyone!
My friend Len VanWyke asked me to attend that Council meeting to support a potential path to connect Thomas Harrison Middle School to Hillandale Park. The City had a grant for $90K to build the path. All the City needed to do was to kick in $10K and some support. I was very excited to attend this meeting. This opportunity is exactly why Tim and I started SBC, to support our City in building a better community.
I went into chambers that evening thinking I would say some obvious things about how a great path would be and we would all leave with smiles, never was I so wrong. City Council Chambers was packed that evening including a neighbor determined to block the building of this path. They succeeded. The persuasive, vocal and organized opposition to the path presented their concerns to Council. They feared the path would bring "drugs and prostitution", "crime", "unwanted individuals". At first, I was angered by these individuals who spoke about the evil things a path would bring to their neighborhood. Then, I just felt sorry for their misinformed beliefs of what a simple 10' wide path actually does for a neighborhood. Paths like these DO THE OPPOSITE! Paths bring our community together, making for a safer and more connected community!
Now it is time for round 2 and I believe a neighborhood and a City that once fought a path will now do the right thing and support building the trails that will connect our neighborhoods to our schools and to our parks.
For the past several months my good friends Charlie Chenault, Kyle Lawrence and I have been working to bring the "Connect our Schools" Campaign to the City and here it is! We need your support to show the City that the time to build these trails is now!
Please sign the support letter NOW! Share the link with your friends! Contact City Council members!
I ask you to help reverse what happened that Tuesday evening so long ago! Together we can be the persuasive, vocal and organized force that will CONNECT OUR SCHOOLS!
We will be closing today Friday January 22 at 4pm and will remain closed through the weekend due to the snow storm. We will reopen on Monday January 25 at 11am resuming regular hours.
Wootten went to the wonder filled Sierras last week to celebrate the magic of powder turns and the enduro lifestyle ride. He traded his dropper post for skins and a split board. Not only did it snow a ton while he was out there, but he got to reconnect with long time friends. Honored to receive proper southern hospitality in the north lake zone thanks to valley boys moved West: Jackson, Knorr and Allen!
Day 1 consisted of landing at Reno, picking up the turd wagon from Hertz and driving up the Mt. Rose Highway to skin up Galena Peak.
Day 2 consisted of riding the north sides of East and West Galena, only to find fresh dry bottomless powder turns, on the mountain closest to the road, over 5 days after the last storm!
Day 3 Wootten realized snow machines are more finicky than mountain bikes and witnessed some mechanical miracles, then flailed on said snow machines. The best part was riding down the back side of Watson Peak through steep trees on floaty fluff.
Day 4 Winds of up to 110 miles an hour were recorded on the crest. 8-16" of snow fell. Wootten and Jackson and Gague went touring around the xc center in tahoe city.
Day 5 & 6 Wootten rode SquawAlpine thanks to Knorr and his friends at the Adaptive Sports Learning Center! Eternal gratitude! Fresh, steep and deep blissful abandon! After 2 days of that, it was time for the healing waters of Sierraville Hot Springs. Wootten's neck flared up real bad after that tomahawk!
Day 7 Allen, Rocky and Wootten toured up to Tamarack Peak and rode Short & Sweet! Perfection crammed into a 3 hour hot lap!
The saddle, where conditions usually only get better!
SBC's roaming reporter, Thomas Jenkini, ventured to Flagpole with fellow reporter, Bart Czajkowski, to get your first Pre Super Bowl Sunday Ride report.
The final pitch to the knob with snow masking the layers of ice.
As we closer to the big day SBC will continue giving updates for this annual historic ride!
Date: Jan. 17th, 2016
Temperature at base camp (Hone Quarry) : 31degrees
Temperature at summit (Flagpole Knob): 26 degrees
Wind: Calm
Sky: Clouds with falling snow
Fire road conditions: Ground: Frozen dirt with fresh layer of snow falling (1/2" at 10am)
Water Holes: Thin ice layer that will such you only to give out!
Trail Conditions - Red Diamond: Tight singletrack, one ride around log at top, rolling faster and near perfect!
- Meadow and Pond Knob: Secret on foot report David Frazier and friend report good condition, 3 trees down.
The lines of exploration...Just like Lewis & Clark..not.
The greatest thing about dreams is that dreams have no boundaries. When I first start thinking about trails, it usually comes to me not out in the woods, not looking at maps but laying down dreaming about what can we do next.
Key your eyes open...the tape it out there!
My latest dreams are not about one trail or one section of trail, but deeper, much deeper. I keep asking myself is it time to cross the line?
Rich and Dusty asking "You mean here!?!?"
For as long as I can remember the ridge between the "Western Slope" and the "Resort" represented a line, similar to the Mason Dixon Line or set of railroad tracks that split a town. I always prided myself as coming from the west side of the tracks...pride is a joke! What side of the tracks you come from does not make a difference, just like what type of bike you ride does not mean a thing.
Standing on the line...can we break down?
Well the lines are being drawn (thanks David Lee) and the flags are starting to be waved (or hung). The scouts are out there (thanks Vince, Paul, Rich and Dusty). We are still a long way from reality, it will take years but the eyes are open.
Captain Jenkini!
Rocks are your friend...especially on the this fence line!
About ten days ago, I was tossing a few ideas around in my head for what I could make as my final welding project for class. As I was browsing the results on Google, I ran into a few pieces of furniture made from scrap metal. There was everything from coat racks to benches and tables. For my project I decided to made a coat rack out of nuts and bolts in the shape of a hand. Tacking all the bits and pieces proved to be a pretty quick job. I needed something else to do. I was excited that my project was comlpete yet I found myself with a void that only fusion welding could fill.
Needing to come up with a Christmas present for my older brother and deisel mechanic, I decided to make a coffee table out of an old International Scout tailgate. If I could find one. Finding the tailgate was as cumbersome and time consuming as actually welding the whole peice, if not more. After visiting three junkyards in our beautiful valley, I stumbled upon the perfect tailgate for my borther's Christmas present. Slightly rusted, originally green but now looking as though it belonged to the Earth itself, that tailgate had aged like bourbon in a barrel. I managed to make good enough purchase on the rusted bolts with a 13mm box wrench to release the tailgate from its original owner.
When I got the tailgate home, I realized that I knew what part of the table the tailgate was going to be but that I had not figured out what was going to serve as legs for this rustic and repurposed piece. After a bit of trial and error, I resorted to visiting the hardware store to see what they had that I thought might work. I wound up leaving with seventeen feet of heavy, thick-gage chain. After about four hours of welding, this was the final product:
Colder temps are finally here, many of us are fired up to ride at the local ski hills. Here we see Jeremy Cline getting creative at the CMB. Heres to all those hard working snowmakers out there, making our dreams come true!
I feel like a kid when it comes to this time of the year knowing that the winter is coming soon. I just drop everything else and focus on snowboarding while snow lasts. It's a good thing that it's a seasonal passion because it allows me to do something else during off-seasons and the passion stays fresh every year. Much thanks to Ian McAlexander for the photo.
PULP has a new tea supplier! Yunnan Sourcing is based in Bend, Oregon. They take pride in providing organic and authentic Yunnan Pu-Erh, Green and Black teas from the Yunnan Province of China. You can now try out one of these teas for $3.00. I have come up with a tea guide for those of you who are not familiar with some of these names.
Golden Monkey Black: If you are looking for a tea that is a close hit to coffee this one is the one you want. Very dark and rich in flavor.
Jinggu Old Arbor Black from Da Qing Village: This black tea has a lighter, more floral and sweet aroma and taste than the Golden Monkey.
Buddha's Hand Fo Shou Wu Yi Rock Oolong: The Rock Oolong has a delightful mixture between floral and rich flavor. The green tea leaves are lightly roasted, which gives this tea a unique twist.
Assamica Sundried Silver Needles White Pu-Erh: These tea leaves are air dried, not roasted. This gives the white pu-erh a smooth, sweet cinnamon and pear taste. The awesome thing about this type of tea is that it can go through several steeps before losing taste.
Premium Mao Feng Yunnan Green: This is the highest grade of Mao Feng you can get! There is a bold and nutty flavor to it and can be smooth and light if not over brewed!
Jasmine: The perfect mixture of white tea and jasmine flavor! This tea aroma is sooooo perfect.
Grab a seat on our PULP couch and sip on the Sundried Silver Needle White Pu-Erh tea. These types of small things gets us through the gloomy weeks of winter.
I must admit I was a skeptic. But really I am always a skeptic. After riding a 29er hard-tail for 5 plus years I had little interest in getting back on a full suspension bicycle. At least for the first few years of my 29er hard-tail, I was super excited to leave my old 26" full suspension behind (yes it had paddle shifters). I loved the simplicity of the hard-tail and how well the big wheels rolled over obstacles. The line I used for years at SBC was, "Twenty nine inch wheels don't make you a better rider but they do make your riding better." Inevitably, this means that eventually you do in fact become a better rider.
The confidence and momentum that the big wheels provide was an incredible feeling coming off of my 26" squishy bike. Over the years I had a number of Gary Fisher and Trek aluminum hardtail 29ers. Fro two years I even had an amazingly stiff and light Gary Fisher carbon 29er. Eventually, I jumped on the bigger and slacker bandwagon with the Trek Stache hard-tail before it was a plus bike. As the years passed, I started to think that the hard-tail wasn't what it once was. Certainly it wasn't doing my back any favors. As more and more of my friends and fellow riders made the switch from 26" wheels to 29" or 27.5" and were on more modern full suspension bikes I suddenly felt like I couldn't keep up through the rocks or on the downhills. Plus, it looked like they were having a whole lot more fun and taking less abuse when the trail got fast or rough.
So I went all in and took a big deep gulp of the Kool-aid and I am here to tell you that it is as sweet and as delicious as you may remember as a kid. I had a host of bike industry innovations to tryout as soon as I jumped on the Ibis Ripley not the least of which was the modern and exceptional frame design of the bike. Before I get to the bike itself, the very first improvements that I noticed were some of the very things that I was holding out against. For any number of reasons, I had resisted change and wrote it off as the industry trying to sell me things that I didn't need. I was quickly proved totally wrong and feel like my first few rides immediately validated the bike industry's progression.
First, wide handlebars are your friend. I had never ridden anything wider than a 690mm handle bar prior to the Ripley. I jumped onto the Ripley to a 740mm handlebar and while yes the width took a little getting accustomed to through the trees, it is worth its weight in gold on the downhills and even the climbs. I had a friend tell me before I got on the Ripely that if you aren't riding at least a 750mm bar then, "your bike shop doesn't love you" so good to see that 750 is now stock on many many new bicycles. I won't ever go back to narrow bars and I hope you won't either.
Second, short stems were always something I avoided for years my bike had a 110 or 120 stem on it. Well guess what I found when I jumped on the Ibis, a 70mm stem. While not super short it was a big change from what I had ridden. Turns out it matches up perfectly with the wide handlebars and is also now stock on many a mountain bike. Not only bike industry hype but also a better ride experience.
Third, dropper seat posts are a must. Ask anyone who has one and they will likely tell you that they are not sure how they rode their bikes without one. Before riding one I couldn't begin to fathom how much it would improve my riding. I think that I initially had a misconception that dropping the post was only for the steeps to make it easier to get my weight back over the rear wheel. Well it turns out that dropping the post even a little bit makes cornering way easier and lowers your center of gravity so that you are better able to weight the bike and steer with your hips and lower body rather than only the handlebars. If you haven't tried a dropper post yet then do yourself a favor and buy one ASAP. You won't EVER want to ride a mountain bike with a rigid post again. It just won't feel safe. Or as much fun.
As for the Ripley, I have to start with how good the bike looks. Ibis pays great attention to detail and always aims to produce aesthetically appealing bicycles. Whether it was the Mojo, Ripley, or the new HD3 I find all of the Ibis bikes to have clean lines and good looking curves. There is more tech in this bike than I can or will explain here. If you want to geek out on all the tech then look no further than the Ibis website: http://www.ibiscycles.com/bikes/ripley_29/
What I can tell you is that the design is unique, innovative, and a great pedaler in no small part thanks to the DW link. The eccentric pivot system consists of two small eccentrics, hidden inside the seat tube, which act as the suspension linkages. This means a short rear end for a quick and lively feel while keeping a lively rear suspension feel that never feels like it is sucking the pedaling power out of your legs.
I was fortunate enough to spend some quality time on the Ripley and found that it climbed better than my 29er hardtail. Not only did it feel faster in my head but I was quickly validated in the ever-so-important Strava KOM segments that I know you are all after. The Ripley was obviously faster downhill but it wasn't the pure speed that I appreciated most. It was the playfulness that I gained from the bike. The combination of big wheels, smart pedal-friendly squish, and a short rear end equals a really really good time that begs you to find every root, rock, bump and dirt ripple to try and get your wheels off the ground and look at how you may be able to setup for the next turn, move, or jump.
Any bike is the sum of its parts and I can't stress enough how impressed I am with wide handlebars, short stems, dropper seat posts and full suspension. Many of you have heard me tell you or others at SBC that, "the only reason not to buy a full suspension is price." That is it. Period. At least for the riding around Harrisonburg, you will have more fun, ride more stuff, ride more playfully and comfortably than on a hard-tail. That is if you aim to spend most of your time on the ruggedly beautiful single-track that we have in this area.
SBC has the Ripley in a medium and large for you to demo and stay tuned for a spring 2016 demo date out at Massanutten's Western Slope. Be sure to sign up for the SBC email list to be the first to know about and register for the demo day: http://www.shenandoahbicycle.com/
As for me, I am still working with bikes but no longer at SBC. I am the new Safe Routes to School coordinator for Rockingham County Public Schools. My job is to grow and encourage biking and walking to and in the county schools. I am looking for any suggestions or comments that you might have to help achieve that goal. Feel free to email me if you have a connection with a Rockingham County School that we should explore. Lawrence.kyle.d@gmail.com
Finally, there are now TWO geometry versions of the Ripley available. You can watch the video below to see the differences. One is longer and slacker than the other.
