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Mike's 2010 Bike Ride Log Blog

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Mike's 2010 Bike Ride Log Blog
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flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Mar 30, 2010 at 22:59 Quote
45th ride
Vedder Mtn. Hidden Pleasures, Terd Ferg, Ditch Chicken, Electric Lettuce, Femur
7c? Rain, then hail, then snow. And a lot of wind...


I woke up this morning with only a single thing on my mind: riding. I'm not exactly sure why, although for the first time in a long while I managed to have proper deep sleep that lasted throughout the night. The last few days have brought us in Fraser Valley nothing but rain and heavier rain, which I'm okay with as I've had a very good Winter and early Spring season. I actually can't remember such a dry early season, I think I only had 20 or so days on the bike at this point last year. More importantly, nearly all the rides have been great. So when the rains came, I thought "bring it on, bitch!". I very much enjoy riding in the wettest of wet conditions, there is something about it that feels so full-on.

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I've found that these little contraptions are ideal this time of the year. An old tube and four zip ties is all you need


When the trails get so wet that they can't possibly get any wetter, is when I have a lot of fun. Even when I'm getting my ass handed to me on those same days, I usually have a stupid grin on my face as the bike is getting loose under me. I think thats why I'm such a fan of riding in the rain, or at least shortly after. Obviously, it's much easier to get the bike moving sideways when the ground does a lot of the work for you. And I do have the most fun, like I'm sure a lot of you guys do, when the bike is going sideways! Besides that, such heavy rain amplifies everything. The cold is a little colder, the small mistakes you make while on the trail end up not being so small, and the green leaves are even greener. I love it when it's cold and rainy and I think my nose is running, but I can't be sure because my face is soaked from the rain hitting it sideways, and I love it when I'm pedaling noticeably slower because my water logged shoes weigh about 10 lbs each.

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A short and wide bridge that I'd never even pause over on a dry day took me down. Old and slimy, I could see my reflection in it!


The loop was a lot of fun. The climb up was great and the rain was coming down in sheets at the mid point. It would collect on my visor and then pour off in a mini waterfall, making it look like it was raining even harder than it actually was. Shortly after the halfway point it started to hail. Then the wind picked up and I felt like I was in a cheap snowglobe being shook around violently. Shortly after that it started snow. It didn't feel that cold and the flakes were disappearing as soon as they hit the ground, but it was very cool nonetheless. The run down was cautious, but I had lots of proper "oh shit" moments and a few close calls, just like it should be.

Quick Snow Clip

by mikelevy
Views: 179    Faves: 0    Comments: 0


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Cold, content, and ready for some Corona



So I only have five more rides until I hit fifty. Like I said a long time ago, I'm not trying to simply rack up as many rides as possible, just riding when I want and how I want, but I'm very happy to see five-o. I'd like to something special for this ride, but I'm not sure what. I could go and ride somewhere I've not yet been to, or do a monster epic that I'm always looking for excuses to do, we'll see. In 11 days the entire Pinkbike crew will be hitting the road to drive down to Sea Otter, I'd like to hit 50 before I leave for that!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Mar 31, 2010 at 22:46 Quote
46th ride

Vedder Mtn. Duck Farm loop from Vedder bridge
10c? Mixed wet and dry conditions.


Good afterwork loop today on the Duck Farm. The morning was quite overcast and the clouds looked very threatening, but it as it turned out they were just bluffing. By noon they had parted and it was sunny enough that I could dry my wet shoes (from yesterdays gong show) on the deck at work. Today was fun because I was taking a friend on her first ride on Duck Farm. Karla is a ripper who can make most dudes look like newbs and she was a great sport during the somewhat muddy and portage filled climb. Our timing turned out to be excellent today as we enjoyed awesome orange sunlight coming through the trees during our climb combined with clear skies and great views. If we had reached the trailhead 10 minutes later the light would have been low enough to hinder the oncoming shredding, but the trail was painted in the days last light enough for us to have a blast while coming back down.

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As you can see from this picture, Karla liked Duck Farm so much that she peed her pants


Yesterday I put my trusty Kenda Excavator back on and wether it is all in my head or not, I instantly felt a load of confidence return. Karla was a trooper while riding a trail she's never seen on a borrowed and unfamiliar bike. I'd stop, expecting to have to wait for a minute or two, only to discover her nearly right on my ass. I had a load of fun today playing about and generally being a trail fool, seems like I'm getting good at that. Ride number 46 was a good one!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 2, 2010 at 20:29 Quote
47th ride.

Vedder Mtn. Two Cents, Hidden Pleasures, Terd Ferg, Ditch Chicken, Luge, Femur
7c? Not raining, but wet trails and a bit muddy.


Today I had made plans with Oli, a buddy I used to ride with quite a bit back when we used to huck our meat, who hasn't been able to get on his two wheeler too often over the last few years. I think we worked it out that his last rip was at least in the early part of last summer, if not even further ago. He was pumped to see some dirt under his trusty .243 hardtail, as was I to show him some of the new trails that he hasn't seen yet.

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Just like back in the good 'ol days, we picked up some beer for the ride. It was pretty slick in spots and I think we were both feeling the effects of earning our turns and a few beer, but a lot of fun was had. Hoping to get the O-show back out more often on his bicycle!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 3, 2010 at 22:58 Quote
48th ride

Galbraith Mountain, Bellingham. Trails: A whole shit load!
10c? Not raining, but a mix of overcast with sunny bits. Trails were super wet, big holes full water. Roots were slick!


Time for a change! I decided to go international today and cross the border into the U.S. to ride some new-to-me trails. The destination was Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham, and my tour guide was Fraser. Fraser himself is pretty new to the area so it was quite an interesting ride! Up and out the door before 10 am, which is pushing it for me unless there is some good shredding promised. No issues crossing the border, the usually serious american border guard had a sense of humor and poked a bit of fun at my right hand drive Delica van. Total driving time to Fraser's place ended up being only about 40 minutes, a lot quicker than I thought.

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View from about halfway up the hill


After waiting for some heavy rain to pass, we hit the trails. Galbraith is a fairly low but spread mountain and the climb up isn't really all that long, but it does start with a good pitch of singletrack to get the heart racing. The ground had a lot of traction, but any root that you passed over needed special attention.

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Fraser and Chilli pause to take in the view


We rode so many damn trails today that I couldn't possibly keep track. They were all very fun, but it sure is a maze up there! Most of the trails are short, only a couple of minutes long, but a ton of fun. I think that this place, or at least the many trails we rode, are best ridden on a short travel play bike. The grade is quite shallow in most places and there is a ton of pumping that needs to be done to keep a good pace.

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Fraser was rocking some questionable tires that were not hooking up in the slightest, which was super fun for me to watch from behind! Lots of foot out counter steering and his rear wheel pointing in another direction than the front. I think he was having fun as well as the speeds were pretty safe, but it must have felt like he was doing 100 mph. While my rubber was performing quite well, nothing was really going to work well on the wet and abrupt roots. Picture fast smooth trail for 40 feet that leads you straight into a nest of off angle 2" tall shiny roots... loose! The really neat thing is that the root patches were only a few feet long so the bike would get off angle but then catch again, really too much fun.

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Fraser and his GPS iPhone trying to take us home


What was going to be a 2+ hour ride turned out to be a 4.5 hour ride! I love these accidental semi-epic type rides. While Fraser has ridden there before, it had only been a few times and the mountain really is a maze. We climbed up and rode back down countless times. Great thing was that the climbs weren't overly steep and the trails were overly fun, good combo. I had so much fun that I thought we were only out there for a few hours. We ended up getting so lost that even when we got off the mountain proper, we were still lost! I think we spent the last 35 minutes riding around the town of Bellingham trying to get back to Fraser's house. We were both pretty damn cold, but happy.

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Take me to the beer and burrito


We actually accidently ended up back at the van instead of Fraser's place which was great. Chilli the Aussie cattle dog who has limitless energy was immediately passed out on the rear seats! Both me and Fraser were pretty beat and the only thing that could help was beer and mexican food, so thats what we did!

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Great day on the bike! I really really needed some fresh trails under me and these did the trick. I had loads of fun on Galbraith and would recommend it to anyone. It's a place where you could have fun on nearly any type of bike, although I'd rather not ride a full on DH bike on most of the trails.
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 4, 2010 at 23:08 Quote
49th ride

Sumas Mtn. Noah Fear, Time Killer
Cold as tits! But not raining and reasonably dry trails.


Not going to lie, I was a lot more tired from Saturdays adventure than I expected. I felt damn good yesterday night and had planned on doing a big 'ol double mountain day today, but I awoke feeling like ass! I'm fine with that as yesterdays ride was awesome, but I just wasn't expecting to wake up feeling like I got hit by a dump truck. The previous night I had made some loose plans with Cori at about 1 am to meet up and head over to Sumas for a mellow lower loop, but at about 2 am I realized that we should push it back an hour so I can make up for lost sleep.

I'm a fan of riding with Cori because even though he is one of the most skilled riders I've ever ridden with, he rarely pushes hard. We do entire laps where we won't pedal and try to take the absolute dumbest lines possible, all while trying to have our rear tires in front of us while coming into corners. It makes for some interesting times!

Cori on Time Killer

by mikelevy
Views: 666    Faves: 0    Comments: 6

Cori on Time killer... Hucker!


We worked our way up to Noah Fear which is only about half way up, but I was more than ok with that. For those who havn't read my blogy before, Noah Fear is a special trail. NF is just perfect on a mid travel pedal bike, it has a bit of up, lots of level and down, and the perfect corners. It's just a trail builder asked me exactly what kind of trail I wanted and then built. Thats obviously not the case, but it feels that way. Run down was lazy and fun, just what I needed. I was a bit hesitant as I was seriously lacking energy/motivation. Instead of working for some trail speed, I was content to plod along and relax.


Friday is departure day for Sea Otter... Looking forward to shredding some fresh trails on our drive down!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 5, 2010 at 9:23 Quote
Here is the video that Jordan filmed and edited of me on the green machine. Had a lot of fun filming, hope you like it!


Turner 5.Spot feature video!

Mike Levy on the Turner 5.Spot

by spoiledgoods
Views: 32,661    Faves: 155    Comments: 75




You can find the entire Turner 5.spot review on the main page.
flag crazygeorge
Posted: Apr 6, 2010 at 5:03 Quote
"Just pop over to the US for a ride". Damn, wish I could do that...
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 6, 2010 at 22:21 Quote
50th ride

Vedder Mtn. Two Cents and the the usual...
10c? Not raining, but the trails couldn't have been any wetter. Lots of fun!


Tuesday night XC ride tonight, which I was pumped on despite the crazy rain and hail that we had throughout the day. I didn't hold out much hope of anyone else showing up as no ones been around lately and it was going to be a dirty one. As it turned out John was there waiting for me when I pulled up, nice! We just did a quick lap up to Two Cents and then hit the single track.

Just a quick XC clip near the end of the ride

Quick XC clip on Femur

by mikelevy
Views: 261    Faves: 0    Comments: 0



The trails were crazy wet and slick. Lots of standing water which meant wet feet only a few minutes into the ride. We had a ton of fun though!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 10, 2010 at 20:31 Quote
51st ride

Hood River, Oregon. Triple Bypass ect...
7c? Trails were a mix of mostly dry singletrack with a few slick spots


So here we are on the road to Sea Otter in Montery, California. We were the first to depart from PB HQ yesterday at around 6 pm, which was pretty good given the amount of bikes, bike parts, and electronic bits that we needed to be sure we had. In truck #1 is Tyler, Casey Groves, and myself. After a pleasant border crossing that surprisingly didn't involve any of us getting fingers in our bums or the borrowed truck being torn apart, we were on I5 and heading South. At about 1 am Tyler decided enough was enough and we found a good spot to pull over to catch an hour or twos worth of nap time before we pushed on to Hood River. After being on the side of the road for only 5 minutes a cop pulled up and looked worried to see Tyler in the truck on the side of the road with two young looking boys asleep inside with him... We arrived in Hood River in a haze of energy drinks and stale nacho chips sometime around 4:30 am. The goal: sleep for a few hours and then get our shred on with Chico and Dave from Dakine.


On to the riding...

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Nice and green!


The hill is only about 5 minutes worth of driving time from the town of Hood River, Oregon. But when you cross the river to begin the climb up the mountain you are actually back in Washington. The terrain is totally different from what I'm used to back home. During the climb up, which was a great mix of singletrack and doubletrack, you could really see how open the forest is. A lot of low green brush and sparse trees, while the mountain itself is crisscrossed with smooth brown ribbons of singletrack. There were a few steep bits on the way up, but nothing that would make ones eyes pop out from effort. There was one sort of tricky switchback near the bottom that I didn't clean... despite trying it twice.

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Our guides, Chico and Dave from Dakine


Our tour guides for today were Chico and Dave from Dakine, who certainly look like they 'live the life' in Hood River. Both were super sick and strong riders! When we finally reached the top we were rewarded with an amazing view of the river and the town of Hood River, so cool.

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Hood River from the top of the hill

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Mt. Adams from near the summit/B]



Quick video click of some singletrack. Dave, myself, and Chico.
Hood River Single Track

by brule
Views: 4,747    Faves: 0    Comments: 3



The descent was simply amazing. It seemed like the corners were at just the right radius and the dirt had just a touch of moisture in it to make it fun. There wasn't really anything that was technically challenging, but the speed and openness of the trail is what made it difficult. It was quite easy to come into any of the corners too hot and turn it ugly, but with just the right amount of speed everything flow beautifully. The run down was broken up with a few short climbs to keep you honest, but nothing major.

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Tyler on the way up while on the way down

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Tyler again on the Norco Fluid 6.1

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Yet again, Tyler on some prime singletrack

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I was on cloud nine by the time we returned to the trucks. A bit tuckered, but I think I could have done a second lap despite that, super stoked on the local scene! My and Tyler sat around for a bit and killed couple of beers, as you should after any great ride, and then it was off to find Casey who we left to wander the streets of Hood River on his own. We'll be sticking around tonight and plan on doing another ride in Hood before we hit the highway towards California after tomorrows ride.
flag barnz0rz
Posted: Apr 10, 2010 at 20:49 Quote
Keep an eye on that pesky Groves kid.... One day you'll turn around and he'll garbage own you!
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 0:47 Quote
52nd ride.
Post Canyon, Hood River. Too many trails to remember...
12c? Dry and fast trails


Nothing like waking up to country music and drunk NASCAR fans outside your motel door at 7:30 in the morning. At first I think we were all bit annoyed, but then we realized that the earlier we got our tired asses up and out the door, the more riding time we'd be able to squeeze in before hitting the highway again. After a slow and far too big breakfast at Bette's, we slowly wandered through town towards the hills of Post Canyon.

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Casey killing time in Hood River


Even as tired and bloated from breakfast as we were, we were all stoked to get back on our bikes and into the bush. After completely abandoning Casey for nearly five hours yesterday while Tyler and I got our XC shred on, we thought it'd be a good idea to get him some jumps and hits that would bring a smile to his face. Post Canyon is certainly full of those! Tyler had been to this zone before and was sorta-kinda familiar with the layout so he offered to be shuttle bitch for the morning and drop us off where the goods were. Thanks Ty!


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Mike happy to have his bike under him instead of a truck seat


First up was a neat split line that gave you a choice of either a bunch of mini, but fun, hits that brought you back down into the staging area, or two medium sized moves with more air time. While I was simply happy to have a little bit of air under my wheels, Casey tee'd up the wood booter and the step down that followed it multiple times until I decided to man up and at least hit the second dirt lip. It didn't take too long until Casey was making noises to move on to the FMX jumps a bit lower down the hill.

center>Another Day To Play

Another Day To Play - Post Canyon

by cgroves
Views: 11,223    Faves: 172    Comments: 26

/center>


While the FMX gaps have been in a number of movies over the years, I was still impressed by the size of them. There are much bigger moves out there, but there is something about a big massive wooden lip that will always be more intimidating than a dirt version. They just looked like big wooden walls to me! Both Tyler and I were more than content to sit about and shoot pictures of Casey getting rad on these super booters! After one run through to get comfortable with the unfamiliar jumps it was go time. Flips, tail whips, and pretty tables were all on tap, although I felt a bit guilty as my camera skills clearly were not up to par with Casey's riding skills! Have a look below to see Groves in action!

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Thanks for risking life and limb for me, Casey!


After Casey made us feel like sissies it was time to hit some good old fashioned trails. While there are certainly a number of built features on the Post Canyon trails, there is also an amazing amount of beautiful singletrack between each stunt. Hood River has seen some rain recently, but we timed it just right as the trails were made of hero dirt and were nearly mistake proof!

Our second day in Hood River was just as good as the first, but time was up and we had to hit the road to head further South towards California. It was easy to see that none of us were too eager to leave as we took our sweet time getting changed and loading the bikes. A quick stop to pick up fizzy pop and munchies and we gone. Thanks for the good times, Hood River!

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On the road again...
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 16, 2010 at 0:11 Quote
53rd ride

Watsonville, California. Some mountains with some trails...
15c? Mostly dry trails with a few slick spots.


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Yesterday I hit up the Fox media ride which gave me the chance to spend some time on the new 36 forks with the Kashima stanchion coating, pretty neat stuff. The group was huge and included a number of rad riders including Adam Craig, Mark Weir, Cam McCaul, and Darren Berrecloth. The bikes with new '11 Mojo HD's with some fancy Fox bits bolted to them. Yes, life is tough...


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The ride was pretty cool. The terrain was completely different than what I'm used to, which makes sense since I'm not at home. Super fast trails, nothing too technical, but lots of flow and cheater inside lines. The lap was reverse to what I'm used to, with a long climb at the end instead of the start. Food and bevy's were catered by the good crew at Western Spirit, thanks! It was pretty cool to see some of the big names shred in front of me (in front - obviously), but what was really rad was how nice and outgoing they all were. Cam did the entire 2+ hour loop on his slopestyle bike with his seat slammed and had plenty of gas left at the end to play around.


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On a side note, while visiting the Bell HQ I managed to finagle a hold of one Jenson Button's F1 lid from last season. Without getting carried away, this was the highlight of my life so far. It's hard to tell in the picture, but I do have a boner.... and I think Button is a clown!
flag crazygeorge
Posted: Apr 19, 2010 at 9:05 Quote
photo

You missed the pic out! I do see a small (VERY small) bulge...
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 21, 2010 at 23:54 Quote
crazygeorge wrote:

You missed the pic out! I do see a small (VERY small) bulge...


Thanks! I was to pinned at 'Otter to even notice Smile It was crazy how light the helmet was, waaaaay lighter than the lightest MTB fullface. Obviously a million times as safe as well. Pretty crazy what they can do these days.
flag mikelevy
Mod
Posted: Apr 22, 2010 at 0:07 Quote
54th ride

Vedder Mtn. Two Cents and the usual
10c? Insanely slippery trails with a bit of standing water.


Had a great time down south at Sea Otter, but pumped to be home. We ended up being away for only 12 days which isn't that long at all, but I managed to get on my bike only three times... A bit disappointed, but the three rides I did while gone were amazing! I was a bit of a glutton while away from home, consumed way too much Monster, beer, and overall terrible road food. Both me and Tyler also managed to get a bit of the food poisoning on the way home, Tyler a lot worse than myself. Not sure what caused it, but between that and the terrible diet, I really wasn't expecting much today. Rolled into town at about 4 pm and was on the bike by 5 pm, I was eager regardless!

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This is why I love home!


Climb was good considering I was not feeling all that great. Didn't exactly light the stopwatch on fire, but it's all good. The run down was gnarly though. There had been some heavy rains before we got home and I think my timing was just perfect to get it at the slipperiest time. It wasn't raining while I was out, but the trails were like ice. I'm usually pumped on these conditions but I wasn't feeling it today - too much car seat time and not enough bike seat time! I was riding stiff and hesitant, on the brakes way too hard and often which is never good when it's this slick. The result was me looking like a goof, but I had fun regardless. Kept it upright, although I'm not sure how...

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Glad to be home and ready to ride as much as possible! I'm out to the Magura press camp on four weeks and there is some pretty long heavy duty rides that o down there, as well as some very fit magazine type people, I'd like to be able to perform a bit better than two years ago when I got my doors blown off! Time to get on it!

 


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