MtnBikeRiders.com

On Wednesday Cuz’n Joe and I hit up a trail that I haven’t ridden in more than 5 years. I remember riding there, but I can’t find any evidence of us doing so…weird. Any how, I really wasn’t looking forward to riding because I felt so tired that day. I ended up getting at the trail head early, this allowed me to take a quick nap in the limo…my mini van. What you see there would be my lower half and Burt Reynolds anxiously waiting to hit the trail.

Notice how Cuz’n Joe and I are matching with our Orange? I’m giving a thumbs up for our colors, not so much for his butt.

Nice view of LA County. Cuz’n was checking into Facebook. You know what they say, “if its not on Facebook, it never happened!”

During our ride we saw 2 snakes! The first one had Cuz and I screaming like little girls. The second one, Cuz actually ran over. But it was fine. Notice how the snake is going towards Cuz…I’m sure it was pissed at him. I’m sure if someone ran me over, I’d be mad too. Fortunately the snake slithered off the trail.

Cuz and I ended up riding nearly 2 hours on a Tuesday afternoon…ya I know I’m sure you’re jealous and you’re also thinking about what you were doing between 2-4pm on Tuesday. I bet you were sitting at your desk working on those TPS reports…

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OK this being one of the biggest cycling festivals in the US and on the west coast this is a time to see the bikes that will possibly be out for 2014, so the cameras are poised and on the ready, also you will see the oddities, or cool crazy bikes, ideas that may never be main stream, but has a segment of some kind.
The bottom line is this is Sea Otter and were here to sea all things cycling, so with that said it time for photo spotlight time and at the end of this article I’m going to have a “Best in Show” bike, where I will spotlight the bike that got the most attention while I was walking around.

So here we go!!

COMMENCAL SUPREME DH

I SPOTTED THIS SPECIALIZED FACTORY RIDER SCOOTEN AROUND ON HIS S-WORKS HOT WALK AND GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION.

CARBON TURNER 29

INTENSE 650b

PROTOTYPE GT DH BIKE

THE COOL THING ABOUT SEA OTTER IS THE BIKES YOU GET TO SEE THAT WE CAN’T GET HERE LIKE THE MONDRAKER DH

OK I HAD TO PUT THIS IN.
BMW 650 DAKAR

THIS MOUNTAIN BIKE WAS PRETTY INTERESTING IN THAT IT HAD INFLATABLE/DEFLATABLE TIRES WITH A FLICK OF A SWITCH.

SO MUCH AND SO LITTLE TIME

Well there you have it just a look at some of the many bike I saw while at Sea Otter. These were so of my favorites in one way or another.
As I said I will spot light “Best in show” and I will give a brief look at some like the Devise Cycles you see above with it’s tire inflation system.

Until then,” Go out and ride!!”

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Last week’s winners are Aimee D and Amanda K. This particular cache was hard to find because we placed it under and I mean UNDER a bridge behind the tunnels. Congrats to the two of them for finding it. Apparently they had help from other folks who were happy to be part of the contest. I love how this is helping build camaraderie amongst the people who enjoy the Fullerton Loop

This week we’re giving away a his and her cycling package. 2 pairs of gloves and 2 cycling jerseys by Canari. They are all together in this one box.

Here are the coordinates. You’ll be looking around this area. Remember, a GPS signal can put you around the item by as much as 20-50ft. So make sure you keep an eye out!

33.880211, -117.926190‎
+33° 52′ 48.76″, -117° 55′ 34.28″

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While At Sea Otter I ran across the Atlas Brace Technologies booth and legendary motocross, mountain bike racer Sue Fish and she was kind enough to go over the full range of neck braces from Atlas.
All four in the cycling line are all CE rated for safety. Atlas has a carbon fiber brace, high-strength hi impact PBT/PC or PP construction ( type of plastic ) brace. The adult brace sizes come in small to large while the teen/Sm women comes in one size as well as the kids size. All sizes are based on chest size and you can go to Atlasbrace.com to find your size.

ATLAS CRANK CARBON

A NECKBRACE THAT’S NOT THE SAME AS THE OTHERS

Atlas did their homework when they made their cycling line of neck brace’s for the market and some of these changes don’t conform to the designs that others do. Key features of the Atlas neck brace’s are dual pivoting chest and back supports that self adjust to body and fold for storage.
Easy on easy off, a flexible leaf spring design, adjustable shoulder pads, and an Emergency Release System (aka ERS).

The Atlas neck brace line looks very nice and I like the fact that they make a kids and teen specific brace, more then anything I feel companies should invest in protection for kids, after all they are the future of our sport and we want them all around for a long time.
Thanks to Sue and her time explaining the ATLAS line of braces.

PIVOTING CHEST SUPPORTS WITH ERS SYSTEM

ATLAS TYKE FOR KIDS

ATLAS PRODIGY FOR TEENS AND SMALLER WOMEN

DUAL PIVOTING BACK SUPPORTS WITH A FLEXIBLE LEAF SPRING DESIGN

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This guest article is provided by one of our readers from the UK! Sally S. talks about your legs and how to get the most out of them.

Mountain bike riding is a great way to lose weight and shape up as it provides both a cardiovascular workout and muscle training. Although biking actually works on a surprising amount of muscles, including the abdominals, it is the toned shapely leg muscles we most associate with mountain bikers.

Biking is particularly effective for exercising the quads and the calves; bending the knee to pedal a mountain bike requires the use of the semitendinosus, which is located behind the thigh, and this works together with the gluteus maximus and quads each time the pedaling motion is carried out. Additionally, in the calf muscle, the gastrocnemius, which goes down from the knee to the ankle is used for cycling and can become painful during contractions.

However, it is unfortunately, wishful thinking if you believe that you’re going to start cycling and your leg muscles will become the envy of everyone at the gym; during biking, carbohydrates are converted from glucose into glycogen which is stored in the body’s muscles. But the amount of glycogen that the body can store is limited so when a person starts to engage in strenuous activity, such as mountain biking, the glycogen is quick to be used up. If a mountain biker does not adopt a new diet regime that includes enough carbohydrates then the protein in the muscles will be used to provide energy and as a result the muscles would actually break down; the opposite effect you were hoping for.

As muscles are made of protein, to get the most out of your legs and build some impressive muscles, it is recommended that those in training should ingest protein after each workout to counteract the protein used. This is why many athletes and weight trainers often use supplements and whey protein powders that provide the recommended ratios of protein, carbohydrates and fat that will improve performance.

The Maximuscle Promax Extreme protein shake is currently the British exercising elite’s favourite for repleshing proteins lost during sports such as mountain biking. The promax protein range also comes in capsules, powders, bars and milk drinks so you can pick and choose which best suits your sport type and lifestyle. All are available from maxishop.com.

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First step to gaining 3lbs on your bike is to get a wild hair up your butt like I did and somehow convince yourself that going from a 3×9 drive train to a 2×10 would be “upgrading.”

Second step is to procure yourself a slightly used SRAM X7 2×10 drive train.

Step three, install said drive train and watch the pounds add up!

Once you do this, you’ll visibly and physically notice the weight difference.

Before the 2×10 drive train swap, Burt Reynolds weighed in at 27lbs. After the swap, you can see he gained a bit over 3lbs…Hmm, not sure if this 2×10 stuff is worth the excess poundage. I can tell you this, that dinner plate sized cassette would be one of the culprits of this weight gain. But I’m willing to give it a try tomorrow and see if the weight will be over shadowed by the benefits of the new drive train. If at any time I don’t like it, I’m taking that stuff off and putting back my 3×9 drive train.

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Look at what I just procured for my dear friend Burt Reynolds…a SRAM X7 2×10 drive train!

I just need about 30 minutes and this shiztnitz would be installed on Burt Reynolds! Ooooh I’m so excited to see how Burt Reynolds the 29er is turning out!!!

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AIRBORNE TOXIN’S HIT SEA OTTER

As all you fans know we at MtnBikeRiders.com have been running the Airborne TAKA’s for the last two seasons with great effect on the local downhill circuit and I know all you fans of the site who fallow our FaceBook fan page (if your not like it now) as well as the Airborne fan page.  You have seen many teaser pics of the new TOXIN, well I was fortunate enough to run into Trevor Gay of Airborne Bicycles who was out here to race the Toxin along with Airborne’s Carolina Buchanan.

Now what Trevor has told me the Toxin’s are very close to release with the new DH bike to come soon ( not giving a date yet). Now as you may not know Sea Otter has always been the test bed for last minute changes to upcoming designs or testing for things to come for in fallowing year and there has been many a new bike out. ( see Sea Otter bike post soon).

So here is a look at the new Airborne Toxin and the Toxin in action in the hands of Trevor Gay.

AIRBORNE TOXIN AND AIRBORNE’S TREVOR GAY

THE TOXIN IS STILL AT PRE-PRODUCTION STAGE, BUT THE LAYOUT LOOKS VERY SOLID. SPECS ARE NOT SET YET AND CAN CHANGE, SO SAVE THAT MONEY BECAUSE AIRBORNE IS GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER HIT ON THERE HANDS.

BEEFY LINK AND SOUND FRAME DESIGN WILL MAKE THIS 7″ TRAVEL BIKE THE PERFECT SEA OTTER WEAPON.

TREVOR WITH A LITTLE AIR TIME ON THE TOXIN.

THE TOXIN AIR SHOCK SEEMED TO HANDLE THE SEA OTTER JUMP SECTION WITH EASE.

FINAL NOTES

It would have been great to get a pre-ride on the Toxin to give you some basic feed back on how it handles, Trevor informed me that changes may happen prior to the Toxin’s release, one things for sure the new Airborne TOXIN will be a hit amongst Airborne fans, so stay tuned all you Airborne fanatics the TOXIN is coming soon.

We just want to say thanks Trevor for taking the time to give us a minute.

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FOR FUN AND LOVE
I know we don’t do pro race coverage and we do cover our MtnBikeRiders.com’s team racing. We do believe in the amateur riders and racers. These are the guys and gals who go form race to race or just do one race they have saved for all year. The younger kids and teens that have mom and dad take them from race to race. I like to see them push it to the limit and when their on the race course the crowd here at Sea Otter will give them the biggest cheers ever as they pass, it’s there moment to shine and feel like a pro.

CAT 2 AND 3 RACER ACTION

Cat 3 & 2 racers getting ready to race.

TIME TO PUSH IT

CROWD ACTION LINE THE JUMP SECTION TO CHEER ON ALL THE RIDERS

LETTING IT ALL HANG OUT FOR THE CAMERAS AND THE CROWD

A CROWD WITH SPIRIT

The amateur crowd goes crazy for the racers and there is no amount of enthusiasm left on checked here. If you crash you here the AHHH, ohhhhh!!! And then its a mass cheer to get up and “Go, go, go!!!” You will also here the “pedal, pedal, pedal!!!”

THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA IS ALIVE AND WELL HERE

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KIDS ON THEIR BIKES

Sea Otter is one of the biggest bicycle festivals in the US let alone the the west coast and every time I attend whether it be as a athlete, vendor, or media person it never fails to amaze me that Sea Otter is also about family.

All the athletes that race are here with their family’s as they cheer them on, family’s that cycle come to be a fan and watch the racing whatever that may be. Its about being together, but the one thing I like the most is see the look on the kids faces as they ride there bike around the whole venue, it really is cool to see the excitement in their faces, so with that being said here is a look at kids in action around Sea Otter.

THIS IS LUCA, HE HAS IS OWN CUSTOM SPECIALIZED S-WORKS BIKE

THESE ARE THE BELLA’S. PRO WOMEN RIDERS SHARE THEIR TIME WITH YOUNG GIRLS TO SHOW THEM A GOOD TIME AND RIDER AWARENESS

KIDS WITH NO FEAR
OK lets talk about no fear. I was just blown away at the air bag jump by kids taking a leap of faith by knocking out some tricks that make even some of the pro guys look lame. Take a look at some of these kids that couldn’t be older then ten or twelve.

A LOOK IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Now all around around The Otter kids are riding their bikes with a look of determination, pure joy, and just plain wiped out from a long day of sensory over load. Here are kids in the moment .

There is no doubt in my mind that kids will be the future of cycling for us. It is a sport that the whole family can enjoy together and this day and age of troubles in the world you can cycle anywhere.

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