MtnBikeRiders.com

Every so often we get people that recognize us on the trails or send us emails with kind words that basically says “you guys are great!” Our readers seem to love the fact that we’re regular guys and gal that have a passion for riding and that we still get ooh’d and ahh’d by cycling celebs like Gary Fisher ,Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze, Biker Fox and so on. All in all, we’re down to earth people…and our readers like that.

But as of today that will no longer exist! That’s right, we’re reinventing MtnBikeRiders.com and we’re kicking out the old ways of doing things and start becoming more arrogant, pretentious, and bad ass. That’s right no longer are the days where we wait for slower riders in our group rides…no! We’re leaving everyone behind! We’re also giving up smiling. Smiling is way over rated and as I write this, I’m not smiling. Smiling is for sissies, its for people that can’t wipe their own butts. We’re not smiling anymore on our ride photos, pictures at Interbike, Sea Otter or any other events. Nope, we’re just doing the no smile look…cuz it gives us the image that we’re too cool to smile.

Here’s Moe practicing the “No Smile” look…

What we’re going to do is become the Bad Boyz of Bicycle Blogging! Think of it as the Rock Racing of Blogs. We’re starting off this new campaign by providing MANDATORY Aviator Glasses for all MtnBikeRiders staff.

We’re also telling the staff to shave off any arm, leg and neck hair. Nothing says weak and slow than too much hair. Oh another thing we’re doing is getting a MANDATORY hair cut. All men on staff are now required to have no longer than a #1 hair cut. So that means everyone is buzzing it all off…plus they have to grow sideburns…just cuz its cool!

We’ve also bought each staffer a 6 pack of Wine Coolers to help them get accustomed to the hoity toity lifestyle we’re hoping to achieve.

We’re also in the process of purchasing our first company vehicle…a Unimog! Cuz a Unimog is all about “being all up in yo’ bidness!”This vehicle will only seat two, but that basically means that the I’ll be driving, Priscilla in the front seat and the rest of the staff will have to rough it in the back. That’s ok, they can handle it! The Unigmog will be used as our “go-to” vehicle…meaning Go To Sea Otter, Go To Crankworx, Go To Whistler, Go To Interbike and Go To get beer.

Since we’re not holding back on making all these changes, I’ve made arrangements with KHS Bicycles to provide the staff their newest 08 XC bikes…the XCT 555. This bike represents everything that we are all about…sexy, classy, and tough…

Oh and one last thing, all staff is required to grow a thick mustache, even Priscilla! Though my attempt last month didn’t go so well, I’ve implemented an incentive program that will pay each staffer $650 once start looking like this guy. Who is he? I dunno, I found his picture in Flickr, but he’ll be our mustache standard!

These changes or reinvention to the staff and sites have been implemented as of yesterday and we hope that you will enjoy the new and improved MtnBikeRiders.com. Even if you don’t…I don’t care! (shrugging my shoulders)

Ok ok,..you got me! I’m just messing around. I must have a man-crush on the whole Rock Racing look and attitude…Man those guys look mega-cool! Don’t worry, we’re not going to get a Unimog or not smile…but the mustache will stay…

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During a ride, nature will call on a few occasions and will let you know if you’ve got to pee or poo…or sometimes both!

Usually I’ll jump off my bike and run to the nearest bush and go #1. Now I’m, curious to know, would it be better to go further into the wilderness so fellow riders don’t see or hear you going potty? Or do just go a foot away from the trail and let it all flow…

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This whole week a few of us planned on riding a gnarly trail called San Juan. Its near San Juan Capistrano in South Orange County…beautiful place. So Jeremy was our tour guide, his friends Wayland, Dave and Dave along with Joe Solancho, Priscilla and I, drove about an hour to get to this trail head. Just to give you some background of this trail…its tough! 12 miles of switchback climbing and exposure…meaning if you were to fall, you could fall off the edge of the mountain, seriously.

The drive.

Here’s the last time I saw Dave and Dave…

Last time I saw Jeremy.

You see, Jeremy is a rather fast rider and sometimes lacks patience for us slower folk. I was tending to Priscilla who was having a hard time making it up the mountain because she felt scared of the exposure, so I let the 2 Dave’s and Jeremy ahead because I didn’t want to slow them down. Joe and I were on big bikes, we each had forks that has over 6 inches of travel and 35 lbs rigs, this meant that when we came to the narrow switch backs, we would sometimes get stuck and get off our bikes. Of course, doing all that slowed us down big time. On occasion we would see Jeremy and his pals traversing the mountain.

You can see Jeremy and the 2 Dave’s in the picture, just look at the red, white and blue specs.

Joe was cool enough to hang with Priscilla and I.

This is the why Priscilla didn’t like this trail…the trail was pretty narrow.

At mile 2…about an hour into the ride, my knee was starting to act up and Priscilla wasn’t feeling good about going up any further because the trail was getting more technical. We told Joe to go ahead and let the rest of the guys know that we turned back. We said our goodbyes and Priscilla and I got on our bikes to head back down. But all of a sudden, Joe showed up again. He decided to go down with us since he wasn’t having fun either.

Joe went ahead of us since I wanted to keep an eye out on Priscilla. But she knows how much I love descents so she said for me to ride ahead and get my thrills and if I hear her scream, that was her signal that she got hurt. I got a few shots of Joe riding down some of the switch backs…looks pretty cool.


You can see Joe on the top single track…he’s that itty bitty spec.

Once I got down the mountain, I get to my car, and Joe was already packing up. Then I noticed there was a forest ranger that was giving out tickets to all the cars that didn’t have an Adventure Pass. Since I didn’t have one, I quickly loaded up my car with my gear, threw the bike on top and drove away! Oh by the way, Priscilla was still up on the mountain making her way down. As I drive away, I yell out the window to Joe in Tagalog (Filipino talk) that I’ll be right back. I said it in our language because the ranger had just finished giving Joe a ticket.

I drove up the road and pulled over hoping that the ranger would leave. But since there were over 30 cars there, I figured he’d be busy for a while. As I sat in my car, Joe in his car and Priscilla on her bike roll up. Apparently Joe told Priscilla that I just got up and left her. But she didn’t realize that all I really wanted to do was avoid getting a ticket! Aye…that’s all I need…another expense.

Priscilla and I stopped at her favorite Messican Restaurant called Las Golindrinas for some tamales and a breakfast burrito. Once we were done we decided to drive out to the Fullerton Loop for a quick jaunt.

Here we are at the Loop.

Oh by the way, for those of you that don’t know, I have this fetish for eye wear. I LOVE SUNGLASSES! So I’ve been craving a pair of aviator glasses for a while and when I saw them at the dollar store, I scooped these up…how you like em?

One of the things I’ve learned in mountain biking is, when you see horses, you pull over and stop. Why? Well for one thing, they’re way bigger than me, they have big ole’ feet that can kick my face back to the Philippines…and its just courtesy. So I take this picture of Priscilla practicing proper trail etiquette, and as soon as I snap the photo, this chump behind us rides through and startles the horses…dork.

To cap off our ride, Priscilla wanted to play… so she had me turn around and then she ran into the mustard plants and hid. Can you guess where she is?

Anyhow that’s our ride report. It was a pretty neat day, we didn’t have fun at San Juan, it just wasn’t my kind of trail…I still hate climbing, but we did get a ride in at the Loop, so that was pretty cool. Oh by the way, Jeremy, I told the ranger that you left us behind and when he heard that, he asked me which was your car and when I pointed to your Pilot, he walked right over and started writing your ticket…sorry dude!

By the way, I’m not mad at Jeremy. I can’t get mad at my Boo!

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So this whole week I’ve been whining about doing this ride tomorrow at a trail called San Juan. Here’s why….the trail is about 12 miles of climbing…but that’s only if we can make it up to mile 7 of the climb. Then if we still have enough time, we’ll keep going. 7 miles of climbing….argh! (I’m clenching my fists and saying …OOOOOHH!)

I’ve been on part of this trail, yes its nice and pretty, but still…that’s a minimum of 7 miles on the granny gear. By the way, no way on earth I’ll be taking my singlespeed…

Ok ok…let me take a few minutes and remember that climbing is just a means to the fun stuff. I do love me some technical downhills and often I’ve been told I should get into DH racing. But once you start racing in something you think is fun, kinda takes the fun away. That’s a whole new subject that I’ll discuss later. So as long as I remember that all that grinding that I’ll be doing tomorrow is to get me to the top just so I can come down…well then, I guess I’ll be ok. But still that’s 7 miles of climbing!!!!!!!!!

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Last week I hosted a contest where you the reader had to guess what part of my body this photo was taken from…

As gross as it may look, it really isn’t. Well I guess it depends on how you look at it. But its basically my chin from this photo….

The only person that got the answer right was Chris, by the way, I sent you an email about it. So what did Chris win? Not really sure, I have to check the garage of goodies to see what it is I can send him. Could it be some stickers? Deodorant from The Crystal Stick? Some sand paper? A coat hanger made out of an old rim? Old tubes? Eh what ever it is, it should be pretty good!

Thanks again for those of you that sent in your responses. I’m sorry to disappoint the few of you that thought it was my landing strip…or my flavor saver….dirty

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