Nothing specific about this post, but there were a few things I wanted to share.

Bad landing from a jump. Hurt my nads that day, just look at the facial expression.


How to tighten a threadless headset.

2 Bike Companies that went kaput! Woodstock Bikes and Ibex Bikes. Too bad…they made some great products, reasonably priced. But I’m sure its hard to go against the big boys.

Lastly, the “actor” in this video reminds me of Joe’s son, Jared.

Oh one more thing, You’re awesome! Ya I’m talking to you! Yes you, the one reading this post. Yup, you’re awesome!

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Road rash? Bruises? Scrapes? If you mountain bike then you probably have a few good crash stories yourself. I’ve probably got more crash stories than the average lady out there. Some may say that perhaps I should work on my technical skills, but I’d like to think I just ride pretty dang hard and fast out there!

Injuries comes with the territory. I would consider mountain biking to be a pretty extreme sport. Cliffs, rocks, sharp branches..even an occasional mountain lion. Someone is bound to get hurt out on the trails! It’s part of the excitement though! Even all the accidents we avoid – each time we nearly miss an OTB or feel our back tire wiping out on us, our hearts pound, and our blood rushes. We give thanks and can’t wait to tell our buddy about the disaster we just avoided. It’s just part of the fun.

Then there’s those times we just can’t do anything to avoid our mishaps. Sometimes we don’t have time to think anything other than “Oh, this is not going to be good, oh SHHhhhhh” – Shoot. I was going to say shoot!
If you’re lucky you were able to bail on the bike and tuck and roll. Some of us aren’t so lucky though. I had a nasty spill at the Super D race myself this past weekend. I really don’t remember how it happened. Bike hit rock..bike didn’t roll over rock. Bike bounces off rock and then I was like a dead fish on the ground. This would be the latest in a long list of war wounds. What can I say, I like to document my body with all of my accomplishments. HA! Maybe I should just get a tattoo! ;D

I have to say I find boo boos and crashes quite entertaining. They are like car wrecks. I can’t help but want to look, and I think there’s something to be said about banging up your body like that and living to tell about it. You know you like to see the bruises and scrapes! When you’re buddy tells you about their injury, the first thing you say is “I wanna see!”

An oldie but goodie! Racing in Bonelli. March 2008

Now I don’t mean to take injuries lightly. I know there are some that are much worse than others. But if you’ve had a boo boo from a bad fall- and you took pics, then I’d like to see em!

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After years of seeing me struggle to wrench on my bike with a pathetic bike stand that simply lifts the rear of the bike a few inches off the ground, my better half surprised me with a new Workstand for our anniversary. With advise from our family friend and rider extraordinaire Jer, she bought me the Sette ST-7 Foldable Workstand. Man did I ever need this thing!

By the top tube...

The stand came well packaged and without a blemish. It unfolded perfectly without a hitch and set up quickly. The first thing that stood out was its robust look and understated scheme. The locking jaw has a big rubber clamp so it will not scratch the frame and it rotates 360 degrees. The height is adjustable from 38-59 inches as mountain bikers come in all shapes and sizes. It is made of steel tubing for longevity and can hold your bike either by the seat post or the top tube. When it folds up it is very compact for sliding under your bed like the AB machine info-mercials.

The Burly Clamp

I actually enjoy wrenching on my bike and this stand has really helped me. I feel like a “real” bike mechanic while in the garage wrenching on the bike. The price is right at $100 and is certainly a great value. I would recommend this stand to anyone looking for a very functional stand at a good price point. For $15 more you can get the same stand with a tool tray and tote bag, this is the deal I would do right now if I were in the market for a workstand. The tool tray can be bought separately (which I plan on doing) and is definitely a must. I am tired of setting my tools on the ground or trying to balance them on the bike while mounted in the stand. In the end, if your an Mtb’r and you enjoy wrenching on your bike, you gotta “take a stand”.

FTC Disclaimer

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If you weren’t sure what Super D is, its basically a mix of XC and DH racing. The last Super D course was designed by Eric Carter (PRO Everything), which meant it was pretty challenging. In fact, some of us were talking and agreed that it was more difficult than the DH course.

I would like to give Priscilla props. She went down hard at the last part of the race. Donny Jackson (race organizer) was behind her on his Moto and when I got to her, he was already calling for a medic. This was pretty scary for me because she was sprawled out on the ground and her bike was somewhere else. I quickly asked her if she was ok, and had her try to move her feet, legs, fingers, hands, shoulders and neck. Even though she was in pain, she quickly said, “I’m ok, I’m going to finish it.” Donny and I helped her up, I grabbed her bike, and off she went to finish Super D. Cool thing about that, the people who gathered around, started applauding her as she rode away…man what a woman, I’m in love all over again!

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With three children under 5 years old it has become exponentially more difficult to get out of the house for rides. Over the three day Valentine’s Day/Chinese New Year’s three day weekend, I was able to get out for about 40 miles which is quite a bit for me.

The weekend started when my office closed up a little early in celebration of Chinese New Year… the year of the Tiger, by the way. I was able to get in a short 4 mile ride by running a couple of errands my wife asked me to take care of. That half hour of riding was a little blessing as it was totally unexpected.

On Saturday morning, Dan and I met at 7th Avenue in Hacienda Heights to ride 7th Ave and Turnbull. The route I chose was 15 miles long with 3k feet of climbing. I printed out extensive directions (3 pages) for our ride but 4 miles in, I made a wrong turn and couldn’t back to the correct trail (mental note: keep eyes out for a gps system on the used market). Boo. I promptly started guessing how to get to the next section of singletrack, but to no avail.

After a mile or two of that Dan and I rerouted. We climbed up the wide fireroad leading in from the Whittier side of the trail and hit A-line. We then climbed back up that same fireroad to the colorful water tower and then returned back to the car on my favorite trail of 7th/Turnbull. This section consists of a sweet set of switchbacks under a beautiful canopy of trees. Its fast, flowy and a hoot to ride on. It turned out to be Dan’s favorite section as well. 12.5 miles with well nearly 2500 feet of climbing. Not a bad substitute for the original route.

Me and Dan up at the colorful water tower. Niner AIR9 & Giant Trance.

Sunday was a day of rest.

Monday was a bigger mileage ride. 23 total miles leaving from Mr. Scissor’s house to the Mills Loop and Marshall Canyon for about 2200 feet of climbing. My body was killing me on Monday as it usually is the 2nd day after experiencing cramps on a ride. But since the wife had approved of the ride (on Valentine’s Day no less!) I was there.

Me and Tim. Beautiful day of late afternoon riding with the setting sun and snow capped mountains in the background. Tim is rolling on the Trek Fuel EX

This ride lasted about 3 hours with a few much needed stops in between. Dan and I were pretty gassed for much of the ride but it was still a blast to hit Mills and Marshall Canyon especially since we were able to get up to the mid-30’s mph when coming back down Mills. The ride back to the house was an exercise in warding off cramps as we were at the three hour mark.

You can’t see it in either of the pictures but I am riding the Prologo Vertigo Nack. I find the saddle to be pretty comfortable, similar to the Rocket V in padding, and durable. A few days after Monday’s ride I got a chance to clean the bike and the Nack was still in pristine condition after over 100 miles of riding. I will keep you posted.

All pictures from Dan the Man

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Suspension tuning is as diverse as the disciplines of mountain biking.  Some people constantly tune and tweak while others are afraid to touch the settings on these magical little items.

Well, if you fall into the later camp Fox has developed a website to help you do an initial setup of your forks and shock.  This includes videos on sag, rebound, compression and finally bracketing your settings.  Bracketing is basically testing adjustments at the top and bottom end of the adjustment spectrum.    Unfortunately, Fox doesn’t take advantage of the site to provide baseline settings based on weight, riding style etc.  Fox does use the site as a massive advertisement for their Protune service.  Overall the videos are a useful introduction to suspension tuning.

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Last night I hosted “Shop Night.” This gave Moe the opportunity to finish up the final details on the Sette Vexx DH frame. We had planned on getting this bike completed at an earlier date, but due to injuries, and chain guide issues, it was pushed back. However, last night Moe got this thing dialed in and its ready to roll. Here’s a few snap shots. By the way, we were fortunate enough to get Team Racer, Wes Castro (Fidel’s nephew) to come down and give us a hand with the Vexx.

Here’s how things looked through Moe’s eyes after a few beers.

Wes going over the bike making sure things are dialed in.

I don’t have all the specs, but I love the whole black and white theme. Good job Moe!

Sette Vexx will make its racing debut this weekend at the Southridge DH races in Fontana, Ca. Wes Castro will be manning this awesome machine.

Pricepoint.com sells the Sette Vexx frame for only $849. But if you want something that’s already build, you’re in luck, they have a complete Sette Vexx for $2599.98.

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This past Sunday, Kim, Tony, Steve, Josh and myself met up at Aliso and Woods Canyon Wilderness park to ride what I consider one of the best Orange County All-Mountain rides.  We set out from the lower lot at 9am to pedal up Meadows to Top of the World park, descended and crossed Laguna Canyon Road to pedal up Willow Canyon Road, Descend T&A, cross Laguna Canyon Road again, ascend (walk mostly for me!) Stair steps and finally descend Rock-It to head back out to the car.

Tony entering the Trail

This was a maiden voyage for Tony’s new ride, a Pivot Firebird and he was diggin’ life until a pivot bolt for the upper rocker backed out and caused a failure of the upper rocker.  The bike performed well up to that point and we were able to rig a make-shift repair to avoid a long walk back to the car.

Joshua descending the last bit of T&A

Joshua is a newer rider, but did pretty amazing on this ride.  Not a whimper or complaint the entire way, no angry accusal of attempts to end his life by taking him to trails this challenging, instead he was a great riding partner, he realized if he really had to think about it, it probably would be better to walk down some sections and by the end of the day his skills had increased.  Way to push your riding Josh!

Steve leading Tony at T&A

Steve is always a hoot to ride with.  He’s got endurance to burn, a penchant for holding conversations uphill as my lungs burn and Steve’s always excited to hit new trails (this was his first ride here).

Kim near the bottom of T&A

Kim also was new to this trail and man she impressed me.  Kim will roll over or through most anything!  It’s funny that though I may look like I’m doing something faster or better than Kim…the reality is that I’m trying to jump over, hop or avoid the obstacles that Kim is riding on top of.

I took some video with the awesome Vholdr Contour HD 1080p camera, check it out below.  The camera has been awesome, however I’m disappointed in how much the vented helmet mount rattles around, though I think I can remedy that by adding some foam to the mounting surface.  Enjoy the vid!

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U.S. Mountain bike racer extraordinaire Pua Sawicki has a dream and is asking for the mountain bike communities help. Pua’s goal is to qualify for and race in the Olympics. The problem is that Pua needs to race the World Cup series races in Europe in order to earn enough points to qualify for a spot in the 2012 Olympics.

Image Courtesy of teammata.com

Well as you may or may not have heard, mountain biking doesn’t exactly pay well (particularly for women, but that’s a whole other discussion). So Pua and her husband Ron have decided to raffle off their home on wheels to raise much needed cash to send Pua to Europe! Raffle tickets are $40 per and the drawing will be held on April 3rd 2010.  Click on the image above for more info, Good Luck Pua!

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Well just like a bad husband, I forgot our special day, our anniversary. It was 3 year ago in January 2007 that Moe and I launched MtnBikeRiders.com.

Over the years we’ve expanded our staff by adding folks like Jeremy Yang and Joe Solancho.
RL, Jeremy, Gary Fisher and Moe

RL, Joe, RC of Mountain Bike Action Mag and Moe

Then Moe and I decided to start the MtnBikeRiders.com Race Team (all team racers kick butt!), with that in mind, we even threw our legs some DH bikes and tried our hand in racing. We found that we really liked it!

I’m also lucky enough that my wife Priscilla, got in to biking and eventually racing. Riding has done wonders for our marriage!

Through MtnBikeRiders.com, we’ve met tons of people and have ridden through trails all over the place. We’ve been able to test and review some of the coolest products made in the bike business and you know what the best part about this whole thing, we’re having fun while doing so. I LOVE MtnBikeRiders and all the little benefits that come with it. We appreciate all of our readers and friends that have been with us since the beginning. We look forward to many more years of fun and riding…well unless some big company buy us out, then at that time we’re retiring. Until that day happens, Keep Riding!

From all of us at MtnBikeRiders.com,

Thank you!

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