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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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.

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