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! 

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/

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