Pump Track Update: Ground breaking, and first ride...

So, I wake up Sunday morning feeling rough. The night before I played in a poker tournament for like 5 hours, finishing of course at the final table.

The plan for Sunday was to go Mt Biking at Post Canyon in Hood River. But when I got the call, and was told the car was full and I would be driving myself, I decided to go riding Monday morning instead. I mean, after all it is Sunday, and I am slowly playing Bike Polo again.

With a few hours to spare, I putz around in the garage for a while, finishing the work on the Redline 24" cruiser.

Still bored, so I finish the Schwinn SS 24" cruiser. it really needs a new rear wheel, but as I have the original wheel set, it means I need to rebuild around the hub. So that s gonna be a while. it rolls good, but the hop makes the braking feel funny.

This morning is dragging on too long, I should have slept in.

I recall saying fuck this, grabbing a shovel and a 11 foot length of twine, and heading into the backyard. I looked at the major obstacle in the yard, a huge Douglas Fir tree, and started envisioning berms around it.

Once I got the radius's laid out for a few berms, I realized that my original plan would not work.

I did however see a new line around the tree, and put the first pile on.

A hour later and I had a full berm up against one side of the tree, and a nice little booter on the other side of it.



I moved west from the booter, and built two pumps. This is a slight downhill, and heads towards the fenceline.

I put the dirt for a third westward pump in place, without shaping it. Ok, here we go.

Time for a test ride. Only problem is that I would have to test ride it backwards. A proper pump track is pumpable either direction, but mine will only be pumpable the right direction when it is done, as it goes up and down the slight hill.



There will be a line of 11 pump bumps south along the fence, which will build enough speed to jump right next to the tree and into a berm.

With rain on the way, I am going to spend this afternoon making pump bumps. By this evening I should be able to ride most of the fence line, maybe the tree, and the two berms.

If anyone wants to to dig and ride some, next weekend is going to be pretty nice...

If my first day digging is any measure, the track should be done within the month.

My kingdom for a dump truck....

So, I have found quite a bit of dirt. it is not too close, but not too far.

I am still holding out for the dirt that can be dumped into a dump truck, then dumped once again in the backyard.

Step 1. Pile dirt.

Step 2.

Step 3. Profit.

As it is simply laid out above in 3 steps, I am virtually fully on top of step 1. While I have no in fact piled any dirt yet, I have located plenty of it.

Let me know if you have a dump truck. I do have the hookup on a dump trailer though..... Might just have to work.

Went to Home depot today for nails. So many different nails. Too many. I went for the shiny yellow labeled ones.

Luckily they were the framing nails, so it was a good choice.

I am building some ladders. First on is so far going to be 38 feet or so. Then probably drop two feet to another ladder.
The house is on a cul-de-sac, so I can set them up in the street or the yard. I am making them in sectional peices that screw together, and easily come apart to store. I don't want to be one of those people with one of those yards..........
So while at home depot I grabbed another 12' 2' x 4',. This matches the one I already have.

When I moved in the landlord was talking about getting rid of this pile of wood. Most of it was useable, and it had this creampuff 12 footer.

Didn't take long to talk him into leaving it.

Pump Post 3: Proper Spacing.

If there is one thing I have learned about carving pumpable dirt, is that it is a lot like baking, only with shovels.

When baking, exact measurements are what does the trick.
The same is true for making a pump track.

I have spent some hours in Ryan's woods looking at the pumps, then scraping and reshaping the pumps.
Then once again looking at them for a while. Now, maybe a test ride. Oh, go back and move that bump 6 inches forward.
Look at it for a while. Scrape it again.

Now another test ride.
On and on it goes.

You may ask why, if it is like baking, do I have to continually shape and reshape the BOE pump track?

Because we did not start with proper measurements for the get go. The Berms Of Endearment was started as a loop off of another trail, therefore was not laid out as a pump track. We were following a line.

This line turned into a pump track that is really great. Fast, fun, smooth. Berm options, little jumps, 283 feet of fun in 10 seconds.

But the space between two of the berms is a bit long, and it throws the whole flow off. It is about 6 feet too long, which is half the space between pumps.

I have learned that 11 feet is the secret. 22 foot berms, which means a 11 foot constant radius, and pump bumps are 11 feet top to top.

Using this measurement from the get go on the new track will produce a flowy, fast track.
The 11 foot radius berms down on the farm are fast enough to pop you out of them, but this is because we do not have the tops of the berms high enough yet.

I have some helped lined up to move dirt into my yard, so making the berms tall should be no problem.
The real issue down on the farm was moving the dirt. Being older does not speed up the manual labor.

Back to my search for dirt.......

I am thinking a couple signs on telephone poles.
The key is to be responsible and take them down when you are done.
IMO.

Pump Track Post 2: The Master Plan

So, I have measured the yard, and walked it out.

And this is the master plan.


I actually have more space than needed. That is a good thing as I will be able to adapt as I go.

As you can see the length of the yard is 150 feet, with the width being 85 on one side and 45 on the other.
It will be a long lap. At least twice as long as the "Berms Of Endearment" loop. Which has a lap time of around 10 seconds.

Yesterday I proccured shovels.

Today I search for dirt!!

If anyone out there has a source for good clean dirt let me know...

Soon, it is sunny outside.

My Kingdom for a Pump Track

The title says it all. There is not much that I want more than to go into my backyard and ride my bike. Get in some training (though I recently wonder for what I might be actually training), get sweaty, and have some fun.

Well folks, that dream has arrived. This week I break ground on my own pump track, nestled in good ole Vancouver.

The yard is 150 ft. by 85 ft., by 42 ft. My preliminary walk through, conducted this afternoon, shows room for at least 9 full berms. 3 or 4 of these wood be on the 42 ft section, with a run of 80 to 100ft. of fast pumps towards the other side of the yard, where at least six more berms and many more pumps will whip you around.

The long stretch of berms will be multi directional, allowing for a full circuit of the back yard. I am guessing the pump track will be around 500ft long when done.

The digging?

Well, that starts any day now. Tomorrow I am putting together some agility stunts, long, thin rails couple feet up, teeters, and beggining my search for clean, fill dirt.

Because if there is one thing I have learned, it is that it is easier to dig up than to dig in.

But at least I do know how to earn my turns...

Come on by and dig a few.

Rollin' Retro...

I traded for this old school 24. It is what they called a Schwinn super stock cruiser, or pro stock cruiser.

I immediately found some chrome GT cruiser bars at city bikes for 5 bucks. They are 30 inches wide!

They are great for cruising around town with the seat post up, but for riding trails it will be another deal. I do have some sweet gold anodized v bars I may set up with levers and grips to swap out. They will match the gold anodized spyder well.

I saw a set of sealed titanium hubs and spokes, 24"wheels, for sale 180 bucks. They are laced to narrower sun rims. I think the hubs are Nukeproofs. Very fast wheels if you ask me. I didn't buy them of course, but I want them.

This bike really rides well. I was riding it at the skate park this evening, nosing it over some hips, and it floated well even.

The wheelset is the original one. It has some cool red line cranks, but they need to be swapped out for some 3 pieces.

Hiatus revisited......

I tend to, in life, disappear in strange ways, in even stranger descernable cycles, from things.

Hence the blog not having a new post since the snow days before Christmas.

But I have done many fun things, and have many fine pics to share.

My computer is almost ready to let me share them.

I need to get a hard drive, dump everything onto it, and reformat back to the old operating system.

I hope to have that handled soon, as it is heavily affecting photo editing possibilities.

For now, I will be posting some unedited.

I have great shots from the Oregon Bike Polo Championships.

Great Rickreal dirt riding footage.

More partying.

Witty commentary. Rambling memories. And more.

Snowssenger

Scapoose

While I agree that wood features should not be built, and no one else's private property should be damage by any on other than the owners, I must add the irony of them being so concerned about land that they are just eventually going to strip of trees and ruin through logging.

Go figure!

2+2=6?

Bike Moguls

I was chatting with my friend online, and was trying to explain what a pump track is.

 Once I had gotten it across, which didn't take very long, I sent her a link to a You Tube video.

 She came back and said" Oh, like bike moguls!". 

 And I could do nothing but agree with her on that note.

 So I have regained a slight fascination with the pump track principle. Ryan and I were talking about them some this evening, and I spent some time online watching videos and looking at plans.

 Somewhere I have a pic of a pump track that is very huge, like a big horse corral. I think there must have around a hundred berms. I might be exaggerating,  but when I find it you will be amazed to.

 After working on some jumps and pump sections with Ryan in Rickreall, I will be ready to work on a little one here on the compound if all goes well.

 Of course I would still have to talk  my brother and sister into it. 

 I think the safest thing about the pump track on the compound would be that it is really fun, without really having jumps for the kids to get hurt on. And one could be made in an area smaller than 60' by 30'.

 The future will tell.

Reminds me of playing pool with my brother in the 'Couv in the early 90's

I was looking around on the big book, and came across this gem. $729 frame and fork...

Photo jacked, with love, from Bikehugger.com

When your 5 seconds of fame show you puking....

I came across a video of last year's Rally of the Dead in Durango, Colorado.

I was thoroughly enjoying it, and then....

Part way into it, came a still of me puking.

So, it doesn't show my face, and it doesn't show the puke. But it is obviously my bike, and obviously my back. And obviously me puking. Actually turned out to be a big deal that I was the first one to puke if I remember correctly.

"If Dabby pukes in the woods, and no one is there to see it, does it make him faster?"

More Alpenrose pics

Once again, some of these are a little blurry due to mositure, or a over used camera.
But blurry or not, they show the determination of those racing.


Slackjaw on the run up

Brian

The great Joel Metz



Timmy! Yeah, ummm, Timmmmy. racing with the A's on a fixed gear. I guess we all make a statement somehow, don't we?













Page. He won his class at the Rickreall Rampage.
I spoke with him and his girl for a while, they are very nice people.

Team Beer.
They gave me a hot dog that snapped like a knockwurst ( I love Gartner's too) and gave me props for my ability to spin like a MoFo.

Big Al's Ball!!!

Before I post more Cross pics, I must let you know about an important event happening Friday, October 10th at 9:30.

I hear that Al has lost one of his little buddies to cancer recently. In about the same breathe I was told of a benefit for him featuring none other than "Moxy Love Crux", an old Portland messenger band. I recall seeing them play a number of times, one of them opening for Dick Dale. It is said that even Chris McDermott, legendary messenger himself, is flying in to play.

Also the Punk Group, and the Kenny Roger's Experience are playing.

It is Friday, Oct. 10 at 9:30. $13 dollars at the door.

This should prove to be an experience that no one should miss, and due to the fact that no large city can run properly without the hard work of the bike messenger, is your opportunity to give a little back to one of Portland's veteran ex- messengers.

Love them or hate them, we all need messengers.

And love them or hate them, all messengers want to keep their balls. I know I do.

I love Big Al, and I will be there for sure.

Will You?

Alpenrose Cyclo Cross

I went to the Alpenrose CycloCross race today. I made the mistake of not racing. The weather turned out to be my favorite type to race in. Grey, gross, kinda cold, and dammed rainy. For some reason I excel when others are miserable. This has been proven in races past.

I did manage to snap a bunch of pictures. I have been using the same camera for a solid two years + now. It is a Sony DSCT-9.
Considering where it has been, what I have put it through, and the huge amount of pictures I have taken with it, it deserves a break.

So it appears to be giving itself one, by taking lesser quality shots now. This is not me complaining, as it is a fine piece of electronics, and I would buy another one in a heartbeat. But it is time to move on to a new camera somehow, and a DSLR at that.

If Sony would just send me a nice one, maybe for product review, that would be great......

Here are the pics. I apologize once more for the lower quality of some of them. Not to mention the fact that everything was getting fogged up by the weather.

This first one happens to be my favorite. I have heard a number of times that good ole Joel Metz was coming out of the woodwork and racing cyclocross again, after an 8 year hiatus. If only that bike would get painted and built he says.
Well, here it is......... What a sweet shot!





Drew on the run up.

The run up this year was considerably mellower than when I have raced at Alpenrose. My first time racing there was Single Speed on my polo bike (rear brake only) Of course it didn't hurt that that Polo bike was custom made by 3D in Durango, Co. for a great Mt. Biker. (no, I am not talking about myself, I think his name is Pat Bauer)

I placed like 9th or 10th that year, with Dr. Doom and Molly taking 1st and 2nd.







Dan "Chevil" on the run-up.




"Mustache" Milkshake on the run-up.

Too late to keep uploading, so I am going to download my body into the recliner and cease functioning much. The rest of the pics from Alpenrose, and many more from the Rickreall Rampage, will be up tomorrow.


C'YA!

Rickreall Rampage

 Here are some more pics from the Rickreall Rampage. I ran out of memory after the first few races, so I have no pics of the A's racing though.

 I got to Rickreall on Wed. afternoon, and after a safety meeting or two, we got right to work. 

 We, as in Ryan and I, attacked the long list that Kenji (OBRA exec.) had given us for course improvements.

The Over-Under was in danger of being X'ed from the race entirely, so we boxed in the top a little, in order to make the platform bigger. Quite a bit of time was spent working on it that day, and the mental strain of it all made for more required safety meetings than ever before, and it seemed more beer for that matter. 

We also fixed the run around in the woods, since it was decided that if a beginner woman couldn't make it over it, it needed work. This was quickly done with a 2' x 10" board. 

 The joy of the flat edged shovel was soon discovered, as Kenji had some crazy idea that we were going to flatten out the gopher mounds on both sides of the woods.

 We came up with the alternative that involved making one mostly flat, single track line down both sides of the woods. If a person couldn't ride that, or wanted to pass, they had to get out into the shit (gopher fields). 

 Finally we got around to the ditch. The plan Tad had was to use an earlier line I had dug out. I am all for encouraging progression, and had made a line to air out of the ditch, and possibly bonk a telephone pole on the way by.

 While walking down to it, carrying shovels, I turned to Ryan and asked why we were only using one little part of this big beautiful ditch? I think he responded with an "I don't know?"

 So, we stopped right there and started digging. What developed were two more very fine spots to ride the ditch.

The winner of a race goes through the ditch. I think this is the "B" race.

 In case you don't know, Ditch Style is part of our regular late night fun in Rickreall. The fun aspect of the ditch was discovered one night, under a full moon, when we were looking for the spot where Mace rode straight into it, breaking his collarbone. (One of three broken that weekend I think) Since that night this ditch has been exploited for fun purposes, and has caused many more injuries. It seems riding a ditch at night, without really lights even, is not so safe after all.

 The race seemed to go off without a hitch. (Well, there was one big hitch that came up named Timothy Mason, but was dealt with expeditiously by R. Kelley)

 I spent most of the time maintaining the Over Under, but it was worth it, especially when during the last couple of laps, Tony Kic bunny hopped the barrier and rode up the hill, barely dabbing at the top. he of course put his foot back in, and rolled down the other side.

 It would be great to have another Obra Cross Race next year there, but I suspect we will just throw our own instead.

 This will mean more stunts, more obstacles, more trails, more ditch style, more fun, and more beer

 Hope to see you there. Photos to follow very soon.