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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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

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