MtnBikeRiders.com

As RL mentioned on the previous post, we had memorable times in 2008.  This year has certainly been a blast for me.  I can’t say it enough that it’s been great becoming part of MtnBikeRiders.com and off course riding my bikes throughout the year.  Rather than rehashing some of what RL has already posted I’ve put a video together, reflecting our good times on two wheels.

Below is a compilation of various pics and videos from month to month since I’ve joined MtnBikeRiders.com. Some of these I have never posted so enjoy…

Oh, Happy New Year!

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In 2008, black and white was big. In years that have passed, we’ve seen brown, grays, yellow, lime green and even a big push for pink as this whole Women Specific stuff came out. But for 2009, I can see that there could be a chance of “GREEN AND WHITE” that will hit the biking scene.

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2008 was a great year for MtnBikeRiders.com. Not only did we see some tremendous growth in our web traffic, but we also made some new friends along the way. I asked the Staff to let me know what were some of their favorite events, products and shennanigans of 2008 and here’s a list of the things they mentioned.

Joe Solancho talked about how he felt that joining the MtnBikeRiders.com Crew was like manna from heaven. He also mentioned how much fun he had at his first Interbike show.

Jeremy Yang mentioned that his most memorable moments for 2008 was mainly Sea Otter Classic in Monterey. Here’s Jeremy showing a Donkey who’s the man while we were enjoying a cup of BAD ASS Coffee
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Jeremy also wanted to give mad props to Raxter Racks for building one of the best hitch mount racks he’s ever used.

Priscilla Policar told me that her most memorable moments was racing in 2008. Now that the season is over, she and I reminisced about her adventures in mountain biking. What’s great about it is, even though she had a few mishaps during the events, she never gave up. Not only did she finish each race, but she placed too! But her main highlight of her racing season was winning the championship for the Triple Crown Series here in SoCal.

The Moe stated a few memorable moments for 2008, here they are:

Proghorn at Sea Otter, My first Super D race, my 5 laps at the Tour de Tryptophan, our group rides, Interbike, bike builds, testing bikes, the Team, the new trails we rode, new friends we met, being recognized as ‘celebs.’

As for me, I’d have to agree with what everyone has already mentioned. But if I were to add a few more things, I would say that starting the MtnBikeRiders.com Racing Team tops it off. We assembled a great team of riders that represented the various disciplines of mountain biking, and you know what, Eric Hunner, Kim and Tony Finch, Priscilla Policar, and Joe Solancho did a great job in making sure they rode with heart, style and professionalism while out on the trail.

I also wanted to reflect on what Moe was talking about how we’ve been recognized more so this year than any other time by our readers. There was one occasion in which we met one of our loyal readers at the Loop and when he saw Moe, Priscilla and I, he was…star struck…So just for that, I’d like to make a shout out to our boy, cALvIn (as I pump my fist to my chest and then turn it into a peace sign).

Ok going back to the memorable stuff…well honestly Moe and I couldn’t really do all that MtnBikeRiders.com does if it wasn’t for the staff. Priscilla Policar, as you know is my wife. She’s the bestest wife there is! Not only does she get excited about bike stuff, but she can ride like the wind! She’s fun to be with, she’s fast, she’s a great racer, great inspiration…basically I’m saying, I’m one lucky man! I must have done something right in this life time to deserve her.

Ok, I better start talking about Jeremy, cuz’ he might feel left out since I’m talk all that luv’ n’ stuff about Priscilla. Jeremy is one great guy. He is our Bicycle Encyclopedia. He’s usually my go to guy when it comes to technical stuff. The dude LOVES bikes. So that means he immerses himself in all that is MOUNTAIN BIKE and somehow is able to manage his career, family life and making sure Mrs. Yang is happy.

If you ever have a chance to meet him in person, don’t let his tall frame intimidate you. He really is a great guy. His height does come in handy when I go and pick fights…all I have to do is yell for Jeremy and once the bad guys see him, they all back down. Anyway, Jeremy is super cool!

Let me get into talking about Mr. Solancho. Joe and I actually met on the MTBR.com forums talking about Full Suspension Single Speeds. Fortunately he was locally and we hooked up a ride at Bonelli Park, and the rest, as they say is history.

Joe joined the staff sometime in the Spring of 08. We wanted him to help us out with the site because in our book he was super cool. By the way, being Filipino makes you automatically super cool. But if you’re a douche and you’re Filipino, then you’re not super cool. On the serious side, Joe is an accomplished action sports photographer and has done work for some of big names out there. Joe is also a pretty darn good racer that has participated in many XC and DH events in which he places in. With his combined MAD cat like abilities to handle a mountain bike and super smooth photo skills, plus he’s got this killer hair…it was a win win situation for both the site and for Joe. However, the promise of a fat salary was a great lure for Joe, yes we pay Joe with..tons of Moe and RL Sandwiches!

How can I forget about my partner Moe Ramirez. Um, that’s partner as in Business Partner, not life partner. But there’s nothing wrong with that, I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion. Ok now that we have that all clear, my business partner and awesome, super duper friend Moe, is one in a million. Moe and I have been friends for many years. Our kids play together, we’ve had meals in each other’s homes plus we’ve been riding since the days of “Team Zoom”…ask me about that later on…Anyhow, as I’ve mentioned this before, Moe is THE brains of the operations. He does all the programming and technical stuff. Basically what you see on the sites, its all him. He’s a very intelligent man and I’m lucky enough to have him as my partner.

So that covers just about everything that was memorable for the staff of MtnBikeRiders.com of 2008. We hope you’ve enjoyed visiting our site and we know that there are many choices for you to get mountain bike related information, but yet you still come to MtnBikeRiders.com. We thank you. That’s pretty super cool of you to do that. So to all of our readers, I’d like to say, You’re super cool! Remember, if you’re a douche, then you’re not super cool.

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On behalf of all of us at MtnBikeRiders.com, we’d wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! We hope that you get all the bike stuff you wanted!

Here’s what I’m having with my Christmas dinner…mmmm Balut!

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We recently received the Epic Stealth Camera from GSM.  We met the folks of GSM at Interbike in September and they had agreed to send us a unit for testing.  Since RL and I had planned on doing some practice downhill runs, I decided to put it to use.

        EPIC measuring approximately 3″ and weighs less than 3 oz. 

THE CAMERA:  

Basic features:

Technical Specs:

• Camera Lens:          5P Glass IR Coating, 47 degree view
• Camera Aperature:   2.8 mm
• Focus:                   Fixed or 1 Meter to Infinity
• AVI Resolution:        30 Frames Per Second, VGA 640×480, QVGA 320×240
• Still Image Res:        5 Mega Pixel (Hi), 3 Mega pixel (Lo), VGA (Base)
• Supported Formats:  Video: AVI Photos: JPG

I’ll be riding with the EPIC Stealth Cam in the next few months and will be posting follow-up reviews.  For more information visit their site at www.epicstealthcam.com .

THE RIDE:

On Saturday we headed to the famous Southridge in Fontana, CA.  RL and I were geared to ride the downhill course while Priscilla, Jeremy, Ner and Steve headed to the XC course.  (XC Ride Report to follow from one of the guys).  In the video I was able to capture good footage for my first use.  There’s room for adjustment with the camera placement but footage seems to be ok.

RL and I did two runs.  On the first run we lucked out as Lala from Incycles gave us a lift to the top. This saved us time and energy.  We rode the same course from the last race in November. I was still having issues navigating through the rocks however overall I felt much more confident than last month.  RL on the other hand seems to fly through the course. I’m confident he will do well in the 09 Winter Series.

Second run – we went down behind the water tower down to the singletrack that parallels the paved rode.  On the 2^nd run you’ll see two diggers.  First one RL slipping into a rut and the other is me going over the bars (OTB).  You can’t really tell from the video but basically my front wheel hit a rock and I didn’t have enough momentum.  I got bucked and I bailed out while trying to get my footing running down the hillside.  Fortunately RL’s fall was minor and mine resulted in a tweaked back.  Nothing that IcyHot cant fix. 

We had a good time despite having only two runs. We plan to come back in about a week.  We definitely learned a lot from this day… learned that the people in Fontana practices safe sex however litters… :)  

On Sunday – Val, Ner and I headed to Whiting Ranch in Lake Forest, CA.  Both Val and Ner have never ridden this trail before so they were looking forward to it.  While we were getting our gear together, a gentleman drove by and asked if he can tag along since he hasn’t ridden Whiting either; off course we said yes (I believe his name was Mark). After getting ready we all rode to the entrance of Whiting.   There to greet us was a CLOSED sign due to the recent rain.  This was a surprise as it had been four days since the last rain. Whiting Ranch must have received significant amount that many portions of the trail were still wet.

What to do…We were all geared up and no where to ride.  I then suggested that we head to Santiago Truck Trail (STT) / Luge, which was located behind Whiting Ranch.  Reaching our destination, we parked along the Modjeska Rd.  In the video below, our new friend Mark, got stuck on the side of the road while trying to park.  We tried to help him out but to no avail.  He ended up passing on the ride.

Off the three of us we went… up Modjeska Rd to the trailhead.  From here it would be a long 3 mile grind to the Flag.  There were many mountain bikers on the trail that day.  The ride up was refreshing however uneventful.  Reaching the Flag we stopped and rested for a few minutes. 

       Val touching the flag in honor of his recent US Citizenship.

At this point is a split – you can either continue climbing up to Old Camp or descend down the Luge.  We chose to go down the Luge.  Overall the trail was fun. It’s been quite some time since I have ridden here. Val and Ner had a great time as well. Below is a video documenting our ride. 

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