Absence

Time slips by when you're having fun! Haven't posted here in a while. Things have happened. Adventures have been had, life has moved on, beers have been drank. Bikes stolen and new bikes bought. Plans in the works, road trips and new trails.  Anyways, it is my goal to keep up with this blog more, so here it is starting again.

I am on a new (to me) bike now. 2013 Knolly Endorphin.  It's a ripper bike. Really fun and capable, so far, of everything I want.  Getting it set up now for a Reno to Nevada City ride for the first week of June.  I'll be going over that adventure and many more when the time comes. Get out and ride!

Shred with Friends Episode 1

Stoked to be able to say that the first episode of Shred with Friends-Tyrolean is finished!  It took two full days of filming for just over four minutes of footage.  The first day of filming was hot, dusty and loose summer holding strong in the Sierra Nevadas.  The second day the trail and conditions couldn't be more different.  Snow at the top of the mountain lessening with the elevation but just as cold.  The aspens are changing, the days are getting shorter and winter is coming so now it the time to get out there and ride.

The Tyrolean downhill is one of our favorite trails around, which is why we chose to showcase it first.  Anyone can have fun on the trail from pros to beginners. It is fast, loose and different every time we hit it. There are awesome xc trails that offer the best views of Lake Tahoe that surround it or you can shuttle it all day with your buddies.  Click the Vimeo link below the picture to check out the edit!

http://vimeo.com/77531928

Quincy and I have started on Episode 2 blasting through the fall aspens in south Reno. A ghetto GoPro zipline was produced in the wee hours of the morning and we spent the day battling hikers, dusting families, dodging horse shit, puggin PBRs and riding blown out trail to get the best footage. 

Saftey Third!

Drill the pulleys

Add a ziplock bag full of rocks
and you have a GoPro Zipline

Winter is on its way in, so get out and ride! 

Winter creepin

Winter has begun to show its face in the eastern Sierras.  In the past month we have had several dustings of snow in the higher elevations, daytime temperatures have gotten noticeably lower and the daylight hours have gotten shorter.  Soon, the trails around Tahoe will be snowed in and unridable. Quincy and I have been working hard lately to get enough footage collected from the Tyrolean before we have to wait for the spring thaw.

Getting the gear together. 

We were greeted with about 2-3 inches of snow at the top of Mt. Rose to start our day of filming.  Our goal was to refilm specific sections of the trail to juxtapose our footage from the previous week. With the snow up top and the rain in lower elevations the trailed turned out to be perfect.  We spent the day getting the finishing touches, fighting the cold and unpredictable light conditions.  As the sun dipped below the mountains to the west we were just finishing up.  Stoked on how this first video is going to turn out, setting the tone for the rest of the videos.  Having fun and shredding with your friends is the name of the game.  

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Cold day filming. Worth it when the first Shred with Friends edit is finished! #mtb #shredwithfriends #sierraklunker October 09, 2013 at 08:41PM

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/fRa09krSFY/

Just some good old fashioned mountain bike snake wranglin with @jessedreno #reno #mtb #sierraklunker October 06, 2013 at 03:45PM

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/fJKkaqLSEJ/

Mind the Video Man

Quincy and I have our first film day for the Shred With Friends video series in the books. We are showcasing one of our favorite trails and one of the most fun trails in north Lake Tahoe: the Tyrolean downhill.

Testing out the shot setup with the steady cam.

Lenses, tripods, helmet.

We got about half of the footage we needed yesterday before we ran out of light.  I'm hoping that next week we'll be able to get the rest of the shots we need and will have something put together soon.  I've never been part of such a legitimate filming process before and am stoked to see what we can get out of it. I'll keep updates coming through here. 

Sneaking in a ride before the storm #mtb #reno #nevada #sierraklunker September 25, 2013 at 05:54PM

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/etEnO5LSKv/

Surf Trippin

Apologies for the delay in posts my friends.  It has been a busy couple weeks and sadly they have been rideless for the most part...not to say I haven't been on my fair share of adventures during the time spent away from my two wheeled oasis.  From running around in the desert within a temporary city of 60,000, cruisin the wineries of Sonoma and surfing the California coast I've managed to keep myself occupied.  Now, however, I finally have time to recount my most recent endeavor: Surf Trip.

Four people, two surfboards, a dog, a Subaru, a full cup of trucker coffee and way too much camping gear.  We set out from Reno, NV at 8:30 on a Sunday night with our sights set on Half Moon Bay, CA.  Thoughts of foggy mornings and the salty air floated in and out of conversation on the ride down.  Living in the land locked state of Nevada the Sierras present a barrier that keep the desert folk on the eastern edge of the mountains.  It is easy to forget how close the Pacific lies to the West.

Any camping areas along the California coast are going to be inundated with middle aged weekend warriors stretching the limits of their RVs and satellite T.V. connections.  It is something I always forget until I arrive.  Nevadans get spoiled with wide open landscapes devoid of people.  There are places you can go and not see another soul for the duration of your stay.  However, being amongst the RVs is the name of the game when everyone is bottlenecked into these isolated campsites along the coast.  With that being said, there is nothing better than being a stones throw from some awesome surf spots.  Not to mention, Mavericks, the mother of all big balled surfing can be seen from the beach.

Half Moon Bay State Beach

Monday morning we marked a couple beaches on the map we wanted to hit up.  Since the tide was going to be good later in the day, we went to a good skimboard beach first.  Let the dog stretch her legs. 

Chasing ALL the Birds! 

After thoroughly blowing out my legs sprinting up and down the beach for a couple hours it was time to head south a few miles to check out Montara. The beach is super long and has plenty of breaks to spread out on and have a section to yourself.  Unfortunately, I don't own any surf equipment anymore but my buddy let me use a sweet spring suit. I like to try to blend in wherever I go, so, the spring suit coupled with the Bic (yes, the pen/lighter company) longboard allowed me to camouflage in amongst the California surfer locs. 

Sick Brah

Shore breaks can be a double edged sword.  On one hand there are usually way more waves to be had by all, however,the waves tend to break faster, close out more and thoroughly thrash you if you're not on point.  Long story short, caught a couple and got worked for a few sets. Montara was fun, but the quest for the perfect wave never ends.  

Searching for the Perfect Wave

Stupid Epic Sunset Always Getting in the Way 

(Mavericks breaks out by that point)

After a night of whiskey, wine, raucous retirees and rouge Chinese children that kept turning up by our campfire we were off to Santa Cruz.  Turns out the swell wasn't hitting our area of Santa Cruz we wanted to surf. The waves were small, but one of the points would send off a nice long right handers.  We were neck deep in kelp and ever watchful of Great Whites beyond the break as the seals barked at us from the rocks. We had the break to ourselves for a while. Then, all of the sudden emerging from out past the break our worst fear materialized upon the surface of the water. School was out and the little Santa Cruz groms were swarming the waters around us snaking every available wave. 

Chris Going Head to Head With the Oceans Deadliest Predator 

After attaining said mission and some burritos, we were Reno bound once again. Sad to leave the ocean, but glad to be back in the mountains.  You can feel winter starting to creep in. Old timers say it's going to be a good one. 

I'll be putting the wheels back to the dirt soon with my buddy Quincy.  We have a new development, "Shred with Friends," in the works along the mountain bike lines. The dude is a video and editing wizard. When I see what he does compared to my 1990's esque gopro videos I can't wait to see what we come up with when we put our brains together. As Quincy puts it, "Our goal is simple, there is no goal. We aren't out there to try and be the fastest person on a bike, nor are we inventing tricks and trying to push the sport where it has never been before. We are just riding our bikes and having fun, plain and simple. That is the reason we all started riding bikes in the first place and it's still what keeps us coming back." A little preview can be seen here.  Gonna be working on filming for the next couple months searching for that perfect trail, so hopefully I'll have some progress to put up here soon. 

Cheers, 

Brian 

Smoke, Fires, Filming and Biking

The smoke in Reno is ridiculous right now.  I made my way up to Tahoe to see if I could get above the haze in the valley. However, driving up Mt. Rose yesterday I could see that the smoke was not getting any better as I got closer to Tahoe. Unfortunately, west is inundated with a plume of orange smoke. The mist has taken over everything.  The mountains surrounding the city have disappeared along with anything farther than a half mile. Just the faint green glow of the Silver Legacy making its way through the smoke. Outdoor events have been cancelled and air quality warnings have been issued.  There is no escaping the smell of burnt pine.  It's in every house, car and store in the area.  Living in the high desert we are no strangers to smoke and fire, but in the last seven years of living here I've never seen it this bad for this long with no end in sight.

Anyways, on to the real reason for this post. I'm getting really good at making shitty GoPro videos!

I've been into photography ever since I can remember, but for some reason filming has always escaped me. Turns out making videos is pretty difficult. It's been a slow evolution for me. When I first got my GoPro I would attach it to either myself or my bike, turn it on then go home wand watch the footage. It has been a slow evolution: getting different angles, setting up shots, editing them together.  Most of the time I just want to ride, so setting up shots falls by the wayside.

Since the sierras are going up in flames, I decided to spend some time getting some footage on the Tyrolean downhill in Incline Village.  I've ridden this trail a million and it is one of my favorites close to home.  Fast, flowy single track with plenty of jumps and technical descents mixed in makes for a really fun trail. Still messing around with editing and getting a feel for putting together a cohesive story about the trail.  Trying to put together a real video soon.  Keep shredding

Whistler Whip-off

Every year the bike world drools over the happenings at Crankworx Whistler. I always find myself trolling the highlight videos that come out checking to see what the next big trick or new trend in the mountain bike world is. By far, my favorite part of the week has to be the Whip-off.  There is no trick better in my mind.  It's so simple it's difficult. Everyone has a different way of doing it and different style. 

Don't mind the dh bro in the middle of the video. He has never actually pedaled a bike.  "I only shuttle my downhill bike to the top of the 2 mile downhill near my house."  I've fun into a few people with this mindset around Tahoe.  They refuse to legitimize anything but the 8 inch travel one dimensional downhill bike. Don't get me wrong. The bikes look fun, but they really only provide one type of riding. If I hit  the lotto tomorrow, I'd definitely have a bad dh rig, but I'm poor so I have a bike that can perform in more than one category. People fear change and I guess there is resistance to change in any sport.

Truckee Dirt Jumps Grand Opening

I've been waiting for the new jumps to go in at the Truckee Pump Track ever since the first murmurs about a year ago.  This weekend was the grand opening and my buddy Quincy and I dusted off the dirtjumpers and headed up to check out the new addition.  

It's crazy to think that just a couple months ago the area the jumps were built on was completely flat.  The crew that built this park did an awesome job.  There are multiple lines that can be taken, transfers that can be sought out and progressive jumps to learn on.  Most of the jumps are pretty small, but there is a good sized sender in the middle of the park. 

Navigating through the packs of heckling preteen Truckee shredder kids we were able  to explore the park in it's entirety. It's always a little strange hopping on the dj after not riding it for a while.  The geometry is way different, lower and slacker.  If you mountain bike a lot and want to get more comfortable cornering fast, flying through the air and learning how to use the contours of the land to gain speed you won't regret an investment in an dirtjumper.  Now, the lines through the park aren't the longest ever but they are quick, flowy and fun.  It seemed like every time we hit the staging area someone else was stoked on pointing out a new transfer or line to hit. Even the Sun Valley dirt jump king himself "Hacksaw" showed up to show the kids a thing or two. 

I put together a couple clips I shot with my GoPro from the day.  Check it out and enjoy.  

Arc Dome

I've been really focused on mountain biking for a while now.  So focused in fact, that I almost forgot there are other ways in which to interact with the landscape.  A hike was in order.

A couple weeks ago, my girlfriend and I decided we wanted to hike a peak.  We wanted to push our limits, step outside our comfort zones, and get away from everything in the vastness of unending mountain ranges we call Nevada. The middle of Nevada has always interested me, so we decided to venture out to the Arc Dome Wilderness in the Toiyabe Mountain Range about 53 miles north of Tonopah, NV.  Our eyes and minds were set on the tallest peak in the range standing at 11,775 feet, Arc Dome.

The trail head is located 138 miles east of Reno. The remnants of the boom and bust mining operations litter the countryside along the way.  Berlin and Ione are the most notable ghost towns along the way with the towns frozen in time.  Ione claims to have 41 residents still residing there, but we didn't see a soul on our drive through.  After about 100 miles the pavement ends and it's nothing but dirt roads.  Nothing but dirt roads, the occasional herd of antelope, cowboy tending his herd of cattle and desolate Indian reservation.

Camp

As we camped the night before, we wondered what the next day's journey had in store for us.  The only thing we could see from our aspen coated home in the foothills were sagebrush coated jagged mountains poking up out of the valley floor from which we drove up.  Lightning flashed silently in the distance as the bats danced above the campfire.  After we had our fill of some cheap red wine we turned in to get an early start on the day.

Starting up through the Aspens

The first few miles of trail weave in and out of old aspen groves.  Graffiti from lonely basque sheepherders, hikers, stoners, kids and anyone willing to put a knife to the tree.  Dates ranging every decade from the 1920's to today were scrawled across tree trunks on the way up.

Basque Tree Carvings

After two miles getting up to the Toiyabe Crest Trail felt good, but we knew we had a trek in front of us.  Arc Dome was still shrouded by a plateau in front of us, but the though of a better view of the valley below pushed us on.

Heading up

After topping out on the Toiyabe Crest Trail and meandering along south towards our destination we fully noticed the stark beauty at which we were looking at.  Nothing but sagebrush and the endless mountain ranges in the distance,  Arc Dome rising out of the plateau  in the distance.

Arc Dome in the Background 

The climb from base of Arc Dome to the peak consists of one mile and a 1,000 feet  up a myriad of switchbacks.  All plant life is left behind at the base.  The only things that have grown on the mountain top are wind shelters crafted by wary travelers who walked the same steps to the top.  I can only imagine what waking up to watch the sunrise from above 11,000 feet would look like.  Unfortunately, for us time was working against us as we did not bring the provisions for an overnight trip.  A summit beer was in order at the top and Britt and I promptly put down our much deserved PBRs.  

View From the Top

Smokey, Windy and Awesome

Summit Brews

All in all, it was an awesome hike.  I know it isn't the craziest, gnarliest or tallest, but it was fun and that is what we were looking for.  The hike did exactly what we were hoping. It put us out in the middle of nowhere and pushed our limits. I look forward to exploring the Toiyabe mountain range in the future.  This trip was somewhat of a recon trip to see how possible it would be to bike pack through the tough  terrain.  I'm kickin around some ideas for my next adventure.  Have fun out there!

Cheers, 
Brian 

Stats

Stumpy is back

After what seemed like way too long my rig is back and looking fresh. I am so stoked to have my bike back. I bet my girlfriend and friends are stoked as well. Now they don't have to listen to me complain about how I cant ride. You never realize how much you use something until it's gone.  I don't know what it is but ever since I was a kid I've never been content sitting around wasting the day away. Whether it was mountain biking, snowboarding, hockey, swimming, jumping off rocks, catching snakes, or exploring the outdoors I have always been compelled to fill my time with activities.  In fact, for the past couple years I have adopted the motto "All the activities all the time."  Now that my bike is back in working order the summer shred can continue! Just in time too, because, come Sunday I'll be racing the "All Mountain Challenge" at the Kirkwood Mountain Classic.

After the initial parts confusion the guys at the Village Ski Loft dialed the stumpjumper up with a Sram X9 type 2 derailleur,  Raceface single ring, and the new MRP mini g2 (bottom bracket mount) chainguide.  I also threw on a new 10 speed chain and cassette I had bought a while ago for the upgrade.  

Everything came together pretty nicely.  I'm stoked to be back on the bike and have more adventures planned for the near future.  Arcdome, Genoa peak and other Nevada mountain tops are on the radar.  I'll be keeping you posted on the things to come.  The next post will  be about the Kirkwood race. 

Have Fun!

 MRP Chainguide with the Race Face Single Ring

New Cassette, Derailleur and Chain

Trial and Error

Failure is an inevitable part of life, and I for one am no stranger to the frustrations of the learning curve.  What is important, however, is what we learn from our experiences. 

I have been without my bike for about two weeks now.  The main reason for the wait was to order the parts and convert my 2011 Stumpjumper to a 1x10 set up. Seems like the cool thing to do theses days. Plus, I'm a big fan of simplifying and in theory less moving parts should equal a more simple drive train.  This is the theory, however, the process of converting my bike to a 1x10 has been anything but simple.  I was really looking forward to doing the project myself too! 

The conversion requires a new chainring for the front and a Sram type 2 derailleur  to replace the one I mangled.  I did my research online and talked to my bike nerd friends about what the slickest setup would be.  I went to go order my new goodies from my LBS and was somehow talked out of my original plan and into a cheaper way of doing things.  Long story short, they turned out to be the wrong parts for the job. Actually the rear derailleur was fine but the chainring and guide combo I ordered turned out to be wrong. Waiting all that time just to find out I need to start all over again. Bummer.

The whole situation was my fault and made me feel like a big dummy.  I knew what I needed and changed it at the last minute to something I was unfamiliar with.  Indecisiveness isn't new to me. Some people might even describe me as such. 

Anyways, I guess I just needed a put it out there.  Summer is here and the trails are calling. Thanks to The Village Ski Loft, I should be back out there in no time riding, building, hanging with buds and sluggin some brews on the tops of mountains.  

I leave you with this doc about an awesome adventure through central Asia. 

The Road from Karakol

Summer Days

Rippin Ash Canyon on my '85 Raleigh Elkhorn (Photo: Jonny Mandio)

About a week ago I managed to put my regular ride (2011 Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er) out of commission for a while.  Conditions were perfect up in Tahoe.  Rained the night before and cloud coverage during the day let the dry decomposed granite soak up the little amount of summer rain we see and stay tacky.  I'd never seen the trail so perfect and I couldn't wait to get to my favorite section, a perfect step up step down that flows effortlessly. Unfortunately, I carried more speed than usual into it and snapped my derailleur hangar which, sucked my derailleur into my rear wheel completely twisting it into a mangled expensive piece of scrap.  Bummed I couldn't ride for the rest of the day, I set out to gather the parts to fix my bike.

Since I was already plotting on converting the Stumpy from a 2x10 to a 1x10, I decided to order up the entire kit and get it over with.  As always, the boys at the Reno Bike Project helped me out and filled me in on what I needed.  Now, the waiting game begins as I sit here in Reno watching each summer day pass by.  The parts should be here soon, but I can't stand wasting perfectly good days.  In part, this "downtime" is what got me to finally start a blog.

After two days of waiting for parts and watching mountain bike videos I had to get out of the house. The phone rang, and thankfully it was my brother asking if I wanted to go ride Ash Canyon out in the foothills of Carson City.  Now the question became: what would I ride?  My choices were split between my single speed dirtjumper or my townie 1985 Raleigh Elkhorn.  The choice was obvious.  The Klunker, the grandfather of today's bikes would be perfect for the short smoothish single-track that sits on the verge of sagebrush desert and sierra mountain pine forest in the north end of Carson.

I had been wanting to take the Klunker for a while to see how trail worthy it was.  While my expectations weren't low, I wasn't expecting the amount of fun I had on a $70, full rigid, bull moose barred, cantilever braked bike; thus, the inspiration for the title of the blog hit me like a brick wall.  It was perfect.  What else can take you out of the newest, next, best,  pricey, useless, ridiculous frame of mind that not only mountain biking but sports and society in general induce.  We MUST have the most expensive components, frame, package, whatever to be cool when in reality you can pick up a $70 bike and rip up some trails with your buds, drink some beers and have some awesome stories to tell.

Here's to having fun, the inspiration for this blog and not wasting summer days.

Cheers,
Brian

Let the Rambling Begin

I guess I should start with a little bit about myself.  I am a 25 year old college graduate working as a bartender in Reno, Nevada.  I graduated with a bachelors degree in History with a minor in Museum Studies from the University of Nevada Reno and decided to stay. The Reno/Tahoe area and West coast in general have been my home for my entire life and constantly present new and amazing experiences, adventures and landscapes.  Reno offers up the perfect concoction of outdoor activities anyone can ask for.  As an avid mountain biker, snowboarder and doer of any and all activities the mountainous high desert has mad an everlasting impression on me (and I have yet to scratch the surface).

I'm not entirely sure why I started this blog.  I guess from all the years of going on adventures, they're starting to blend together. They are becoming one, which, in the end that is what they will be and what I hope they will become: a culmination of memories that will add up to one epic adventure.  However, as time stacks up I don't want to risk losing any of those memories.  Hopefully, this will be a way to recall all the good times I've had and maybe inspire new adventures in the future.  Retrospective and prospective.

Also, I wanted to dedicate a space to a sport that I love being a part of.  A place where the weight of your bike doesn't matter. A place where the only seconds you need to be worried about shaving are off of the time you chug a tall boy of PBR and blast down your favorite trail.  It doesn't matter if you ride a klunker or if you're sponsored and ride next year's rig.  The only thing that matters is how much fun you are having. Everyone has a different perception of the perfect ride and that is what makes mountain biking the best sport in the world. Whether you are spandexed up or doing hot laps with the homies on a local shuttle trail the only thing that you need to concerned with is what makes YOU happy. With that being said, I guess that is why I really wanted to start this blog.  I want to document, talk about, philosophize, get stoked on, dream about, tell stories and experience this think we call mountain biking. 

I am new to this, so bare with me.  Get outside and have some fun. 

Cheers, 

Brian Mandio