Save the North Fork!

Amazing craftsmanship has gone into these trails. Literally thousands of man hours.

The best trails in the WORLD, yes world, are going to be decommissioned by DNR next Monday. The North Fork trail system is a mind blowing set of trails and an incredible display of great trail building. Read the info below and send your letters. We do not want to lose these trails.

The views up top are breathtaking, but stay focused on the trail!

What is Happening?

Beginning on April 2nd the Washington State Department of Resources (DNR) will be decommissioning all user-built bike trails on Slide Mountain at the North Fork Nooksack in Whatcom County.
The work, estimated to cost $23,000, will begin on April 2nd and will be done by the DNR and a crew from Washington Conservation Corps. Work will include closure signage, removal of larger structures, blocking and revegetating trail entrances, and a gate to block all motorized access to Slide Mountain.
Starting April 7th, DNR law enforcement will be patrolling the area and riders found on the trails will receive a ticket of $120 the first time, and will be subject to arrest for trespassing the second time.

Why is This Happening?

Whatcom Trails Co-op and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance were informed of the trail decommissioning two weeks ago by DNR. At that time the explanation for the closure was that an individual from a motorized user group was insisting that if motorized use wasn’t allowed on Slide Mountain, then all unauthorized trails must be closed down.
In an effort to learn more about DNR concerns and find a way to address them while keeping trails open, we arranged a meeting that was held Friday, March 23rd. What we heard from DNR was that there was no solution short of complete closure, a position which is made all the more difficult to accept given that much of this area is currently being logged – a scale of impact beyond anything non-motorized recreation could ever cause.
The DNR was represented at the meeting by Region and Division staff and by the statewide recreation manager. The primary concerns expressed by DNR, and our responses, were:
Unauthorized Trail Construction: Certainly it is true that there are mountain bike trails on the hill and DNR has difficulty managing unauthorized trail areas. However, it is also true that there are hundreds or thousands of miles of unauthorized, non-motorized trails on DNR forests across the state and very little effort is made to decommission or enforce closures on those trails, even those with clear environmental impacts. It is important to note that there are no authorized areas to recreate on DNR land in Whatcom County. Unauthorized areas like North Fork are reflections of the huge unmet need for recreational access.
Structures: Most "structures" are simple bridges, built to span wet zones or creeks that were constructed in accordance with industry-leading trail building standards. We offered to decommission any structure that wasn't built to address sediment or erosion concerns.
Sediment / Erosion: The North Fork was closed to motorized use roughly 7 years ago because of heavy sediment runoff from the trails and four-wheeling in or near the North Fork of the Nooksack.
Sediment transport is not a real issue for the trails constructed by mountain bikers because:

1. We have no trails near the river.
2. Our trails were specifically routed to avoid creeks and riparian zones wherever possible and were built sustainably to avoid erosion and reduce maintenance. 
3. When necessary, bridges were constructed from blowdown (not live trees) for spanning any small creeks or wet zones.
4. Put simply, it would be difficult and unenjoyable to ride a mountain bike in such overtly muddy areas, resulting in a low-quality recreational experience and an obvious detrimental effect on the environment. 

Popularity: Despite our attempts to keep the area from becoming widely known, it has become too popular. Riders are now coming not just from Bellingham but from across the state and even Canada – a testament to the quality of the trail network and the need for such human-powered recreational areas.

What Can You Do?

Whatcom County residents and business owners:
If you live in Whatcom County and access to outdoor recreation is a quality of life issue for you, please contact the people listed below to voice your displeasure about this decision and ask them for an interim solution which keeps trails open while working towards a formal Recreational plan for the North Fork area.
Seattle/Tacoma Mt. bikers: 
Contact DNR staff and Whatcom County Tourism and voice your displeasure with this decision and ask them for an interim solution to be determined while working towards a formal Recreational plan for the North Fork areas. Also, please let them know that you spend money at businesses in Bellingham and Whatcom County because of this trail network.
Canadian riders:
If you live in British Columbia and ride the North Fork, please email Whatcom County tourism, Whatcom County commissioner and Whatcom County council members letting them know that you ride the area and spend money at businesses in Bellingham and Whatcom County because of the trail network.

Contact Information

Legislators:
The area impacted is represented by legislators in the 40th and 42nd districts—if you are unsure which district you live in, you can look it up here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/.
40th District
Senator Kevin Ranker
kevin.ranker@leg.wa.gov
215 John A. Cherburg Building
PO Box 40440
Olympia, WA 98504-0442
(360) 786-7678

Rep. Kristine Lytton
kristine.lytton@leg.wa.gov
310 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7800
Rep. Jeff Morris
jeff.morris@leg.wa.gov
436A Legislative Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7970
42nd District
Senator Doug Ericksen
doug.ericksen@leg.wa.gov
414 Legislative Building
PO Box 40442
Olympia, WA 98504-0442
(360) 786-7682
Rep. Jason Overstreet
jason.overstreet@leg.wa.gov
422 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7980
Rep. Vincent Buys
vincent.buys@leg.wa.gov
470 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7854
DNR Staff:
Peter Goldmark – DNR commissioner  cpl@dnr.wa.gov or info@votepetergoldmark.com 
Mark Mauren – Head of Recreation - mark.mauren@dnr.wa.gov
Steve Jennison – Baker District Manager   - steve.jennison@dnr.wa.gov
Whatcom County Executive:
Jack Louws - JLouws@co.whatcom.wa.us
Whatcom County Council:
Bill Knutzen -   bknutzen@co.whatcom.wa.us
Kathy Kershner - kkershne@co.whatcom.wa.us
Ken Mann - kmann@co.whatcom.wa.us  
Sam Crawford - scrawfor@co.whatcom.wa.us
Carl Weimer  - cweimer@co.whatcom.wa.us
Barbara Brenner - bbrenner@co.whatcom.wa.us
Pete Kremen – pkremen@co.whatcom.wa.us
Whatcom County Tourism:
tourism@bellingham.org

Talking Points

We are intentionally not crafting a form letter because they do not make the same impact as personal letters. If you care enough about the trails and the area, please take 10 minutes to write something and send it to the appropriate folks above.
Your letter should state what you want and why, and should ask for a response. We've highlighted a set of goals below that you can use in your letter.
This issue is a passionate one for many of us but remember that the goal is to change the outcome not to vent our anger and frustration. Please be honest but civil in your communications.
IMPORTANT: To be even more effective, take an extra 5 minutes to also print out your emails, sign them and send a hard copy.
The Primary Issues:

1. There are NO legal areas to recreate on DNR land in Whatcom County
2. No planning process has begun to address recreation needs in Whatcom County despite our continued meetings with DNR over several years. We were the largest user group at all of the recreational planning meetings in Burlington.
3. Closing the trails doesn’t address the issue, rather it disperses the use and creates additional management and enforcement issues.
4. Trails will likely spring up in other areas.
5. Using $22k for closing trails when that money could be better spent on planning or other items.

Short-term Goals:

1. Continued access to the trail network.
2. Conduct a full site evaluation to determine any non-essential structures that could be removed.
3. Conduct a full site evaluation of any wetland or erosion issues. Sean Curran, a certified wetland delineator, has agreed to do a full site survey for Whatcom Trails Co-op pro bono.   http://www.curranenvironmental.com/home.htm
4. Within a few months, we’d like to determine the framework to begin the recreational planning process so ALL recreationalists can gain formal authorization for this (and potentially other) area.

Long-term Goals:

1. Complete the formal planning process for North Fork recreation for ALL users. This is the biggest issue and why there are user-built trails all over Whatcom County.
2. Establish the ability to rebuild trails post harvest.

Benefits:

1. Mountain bikers are good stewards of the areas in which we recreate. We've held annual clean-up days in the area and removed tons of trash left by other users. Additionally, the presence of mountain bikers and other responsible users keeps undesirable users away.

2. We’re a low maintenance user group.

a. We have built and continually maintained high-quality trails, using volunteer labor and private funds.
b. We close trails down if necessary during the wet season.
c. Our trails and activities do not interfere with timber harvests. In fact we are one of the few groups that would chose to recreate in a working forest environment.

3. Economic Benefit to local businesses

a. Seven bike shops in Bellingham
b. Two bike manufactures in Whatcom County (Transition and Kona).
c. Restaurants and other businesses in Bellingham and Whatcom County get increased business from riders who use our trail network.

4. Immediate access would provide a legitimate riding area and allow time for a larger planning process that could also address other areas and other user groups.

-KT

AGS #1 - Double Down Hoe Down 2012

Charlie's first race in the new team jersey!

It's finally here! The first race of 2012 at Beacon Hill! When I broke my hand, I was asked if I was still going to Beacon. I had to step back for a minute, the thought never crossed my mind to NOT go to the race.I still love the atmosphere and figured I could help my teammate Charlie Sponsel and promote my sponsors even if I wasn't on the bike. Charlie and I figured out all of the logistics and set up a game plan for the weekend.

1. Go to Spokane.
2. Help Charlie with practice as much as possible (line choice, tire selection etc).
3. Watch race and cheer until I lose my voice.
4. Congratulate Charlie for winning both days.

The race rig is back for another season!

That was the goal before we left Seattle and we were dead set on achieving it. We loaded up the van on Friday morning and as soon as Ruth got home, she and Rylie both hopped in and we hit the road. We burnt some fuel on the way there as we were trying to get to the hill before sundown on Friday for a course walk of the new section of trail for Saturday's race. 

Check your engine temp while going up the hills! Subaru burning just east of Ellensburg WA

We made record time and rolled into Beacon Hill at 7pm and ran up the hill just as the sun was setting. Looking at the new section, it was pretty obvious that it was really straight forward and nothing to worry about. We headed back into town and met up with Jeff and Jaime Reese, our awesome hosts (and local shredders!) for the weekend and went to sleep after some catching up with old friends.

This dialed rig was spotted in town.

I actually came back the next day to get better pictures.

Saturday morning arrived quickly. This isn't my first race and I know the value of getting to the hill early for practice and I hate having to drive through crowds of people to set up the pits. Practice started at 8am, so I figured we should get there at 7:00 to set up and get everything ready for the day. Because we are mountain bikers, we rolled into the pit area about 7:45, right on schedule! Not a soul was around! We set up the pits and got Charlie's bike ready for the days course.

The course looked in great shape. The conditions were perfect.

After a few hours of practice, the race was ready to get under way. Andy Knott and I made our way to the start of the new section to cheer on the racers. A few drinks to really loosen up the cheering squad was all that was needed to unleash some noise. I never get the chance to watch or cheer at a race. I'm always one of the last riders down the course and can speak from experience, that a loud crowd is always helpful to pushing you to go that little bit faster. I determined that I was going to try my hardest to cheer for everyone I possibly could as a thank you for the years of noise everyone has made all the times I've come down a course. I brought a vuvuzela horn and set out to be as loud as possible.

Andy and I in the calm before the storm. This isn't our first rodeo...

In full force.  Pic courtesy of Justin Miller.

Sometimes the vocal chords get the trick done.

By the end of the race, my lips were bleeding from the horns plastic mouthpiece, but it didn't matter. I watched Charlie come through the final section before heading down the hill to find the final results.

The carnage the next day from cheering. You're not doing it right if you aren't bleeding!

 As we planned, Charlie came out on top on day 1! He had a 2.5 second win over Bryan Crum, who is by far, the local to beat in Spokane. Congrats Chaz!

Charlie pretending this is the first time he's been on top of a podium.

After the race, most people start to practice for Saturday's race. Charlie, Bobby Stenson, and I ended up at the top of the course looking at the first rock roll. Bob is known for finding really dumb lines that never work out and pointed out another one. He said you could just jump the whole rock. After a bunch of us told him how dumb that idea was, he ignored all of our advice and hiked up the hill. Without warning, Bob came flying off the rock cliff and nailed the line PERFECTLY. We were in shock that it worked out well and all I could muster to say was "Now do it again." Bob said okay and sent the line perfectly again. Now that Bob was known for finding a bunch of horrible lines and one good one, Charlie decided to do it as well. It was immediately decided that line was far superior to the old way of riding down the rock. Its really neat to think about how many times, that rock has been raced down and this was the first time anyone has ever just jumped to whole thing. Sometimes old tracks just need a new set of eyes!

 Kevin Littlefield showing the old way of hitting the section.

And Bobby sending the new way for the first time.

 We ended the night with the Spokane Crew and watched as Ryan Villopoto decimated the 450 main in supercross again this weekend.

Sunday morning was almost an exact repeat of Saturday. We arrived at the track and Charlie did some practicing while I hung out at the bottom of the hill. I was answering questions all weekend about the Diamondback DH bike and all of our new sponsors for the year. The most commonly asked questions were about tire choice this weekend. Charlie ended up running a Kenda 2.35 Happy Medium RSR compound tire in the rear and a Nexcavator 2.5 RSR in the front. This was the same set up I raced at Silver Mt last season and I've been really impressed with how well it works. The new Kenda tires are amazing and were a contributing factor to the weekend for sure. Charlie didn't have a single bike issue all weekend long, which was really nice! Our sponsors make great products and we are really lucky to be able to run the gear we have. Thanks to everyone that is supporting our team, we couldn't do this without you!

Mike Lawless from FSA was at the race this weekend along with Diamondback's Billy Lewis!

I also spent most of the morning with a giant stack of FSA Gravity stickers sticker bombing everything I could find. At the end of the day there were stickers on almost every bike, body, animal, and vehicle in attendance.

The course got tagged...

Injuries got tagged...

Even Rylie got tagged (she didn't seem to mind).

Charlie ended up losing some skin while dirt jumping and demonstrates the proper way to clean and dress a wound.

A few last minute race line choices with Charlie were had before he went up for his final run and I headed over to the last rock garden to cheer for the day. I lost most of my voice from Saturday and due to my lips bleeding the day before, I decided to try a different method to make noise. Bobby, who is the undisputed king of cheering/heckling, had brought an old rim and a handlebar for noise maker. I grabbed some course tape and made a handle so it would reverberate a little louder and set out. It sounded like an old country dinner bell on steroids.

By the end of the day, this rim was broken into two pieces from hitting it with the bar. 

We watched everyone come through the final rock gardens at breakneck speeds before once again heading down to the bottom to find the results. Just like Saturday, Charlie was on top! He had a few mistakes up top, but still managed to edge out Bryan Crum again. Rob Crump put in a great ride for 3rd and even Bobby kept a race run upright for 4th.

Sunday Podium. It was little more "Relaxed"

I was really impressed with a ton of people this weekend, first off, the girls were killing it! Both Karen O'Connell and Michelle Benson hit Girthmore for the first time, which is a huge drop in the pro course. Jamie Reese looked like a guy when she was riding (trust me, that is a MAJOR compliment). Nik Clarke put in an amazing run on Saturday to win JrX and his time would have put him 4th in pro! Jason Sams blew my mind at how fast he flew down the Jetson's line and whoever the kid was on the Kona who hucked the end of the Seattle line into oblivion and rode it out was awesome.

Nik Clarke on top of the Jr X podium!

This is Girthmore. It's in the Pro course and the girls were even hitting it! Adam Ransavage demonstrating.

Chelsey, Karen, and Jamie keeping it real for the ladies.

Jason Sams flew down this section faster than anyone. No knee pads, so gnarly! 

Here is Bryan Crum pinning the Jetson's line.

Everyone rode really well this weekend and it was a great way to test out the race program for the season. The ultimate goal is to get out sponsors on top of the podium and provide maximum exposure every weekend and we managed to do that really well this weekend. Obviously, I'd much rather be on the other side of the course tape, but that will happen soon enough. I'm really excited about the our team for this year and I can't wait to be winning races again!

Taco Johns, the best part of any east side race!

Next weekend is Ruth's birthday and then the first round of the NW cup is April 8th. I should have my cast off around then as well. Lots of updates will be happening over the next few months, so tune in often to find out what I'm doing!

More of this will be happening this season.

-KT

St Patty's Day and hand update

After breaking my hand last week, I had a few days to wait for the swelling to go down before I could see a hand specialist. Our plan was to head to Spokane last weekend for a practice day before the first race of the season, the Beacon Hill Double Down Hoe Down. 

Some goodies arrived while to make me feel better!

Obviously, I can't ride now, so the plan was scrapped. Ruth and I awoke Saturday morning, realizing it was St Patrick's Day, and made some calls to set up some last minute plans. We ended up hosting a few friends over at our place to escape the amateurs going to the local bars. A few beers and some green dye later and we had a good old Irish party!

Rylie ready to party. Yup, I dress my dog up. I'm one of those people. Deal with it.

I've worn this shirt every March 17th since the 6th grade. My mom bought this while I was in the 6th grade. My mom is cooler than your mom.

I went to the doctor on Monday to get the final diagnosis. I did break my hand, but things are looking pretty good. I'll be getting my cast off in 3 weeks hopefully and should be good to race by Sea Otter next month. Luckily, this was just a minor injury and surgery won't be required.

The swelling has gone down and looks more normal.

Small cast for the next few weeks.

Charlie is coming up tomorrow and Billy Lewis will be joining us for the first race of the season this weekend. I'll have the first race report of the year next week! Until then, I'm going to Harbor Freight to buy a megaphone (they are on sale right now for $5.00) and I'll be on the sidelines cheering on my teammates until I can race again. See everyone this weekend!

-KT

Broken Hand

There are 8 days until the first race of the year. Usually I am getting really excited by this point, my bikes are ready to go, I'm mentally and physically prepared to go as fast as possible and I'm in the best shape of the year. All of the above is true right now, except one tiny detail. I can't hold a handlebar.

Parked at Starbucks before the ride. Trust me, the van is a compact car.

Adam Ransavage is back from school for spring break, so we decided to go for a morning moto ride at Tahuya State Forest yesterday.  I loaded my bike in the van and we headed out south west of Bremerton for the ride. We made our way through the rain to Adams lake cabin and got ready to ride.

Adam filling some gas for the day. Note the weather conditions.

If you've never been to Tahuya, all you need to know is that it doesn't drain well. I started the ride by following Adam, as he knew where he was going and I didn't. I was impressed by how fast Adam was riding. Its obvious where his bicycle skill comes from. The best part about watching him ride was that he wasn't afraid to get wet. He twisted the throttle through every puddle he could find! Some of the puddles/lakes were really deep. There were a few that were fender height! There were multiple times where I thought I was going to flood my bike, but luckily, that never happened.

Rylie enjoying the lake before we went for the ride.

We were part way into the ride when I came upon what seemed like the 10,000th puddle. I twisted the throttle into the murky water when all of a sudden, the front wheel of my bike hit a submerged root and sent me sideways off the trail. I came to a very quick stop wedged between to large trees with my left hand pinned between the bar and the tree. I pulled the bike back and took my glove off to assess the damage. Adrenaline is an amazing pain killer and beyond the strange bump and coloring, my hand was tingling a bit but seemed alright. My grip on the bars was pretty weak, but I had to go catch up to Adam. I caught up and we finished the loop before heading home. I figured I had just smashed my hand hard so I taped it up and went to work.

Normal hand on top, swollen one on bottom.

Throughout the day the swelling got worse and it started to hurt and get black and blue. I decided to leave work early and get it checked out. Ruth accompanied me to the hospital where I learned I broke my 5th metacarpal (again). The break was pretty small, but right on the knuckle. The ER doctor said it will be 6 weeks, but I'm seeing a hand specialist on Monday after the swelling goes down. I'm hoping I'll be 100% by the time Sea Otter rolls around April 19-22 (5 weeks).

The current set up.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has called, text-ed, Twitter-ed, sent emails, or Facebook messages. Its awesome to have that kind of support from my friends, family, and sponsors. It really does help and I'll try my best to get back as soon as possible.

Thanks a ton to everyone and I'll post another update after I talk to the doc on Monday.

-KT

This is downhill racing

If you ever want to explain to someone what downhill racing is to someone who hasn't seen it, this video will do all of the talking for you.

2011 World Cup finals - Val di Sole



More Mountain Biking Videos

-KT

New Teammate!

I know this hasn't been the best kept secret, but I'm finally stoked to announce my new teammate on Diamondback is PNW ripper Charlie Sponsel! Charlie hails from Portland and also runs one of the best websites on the internet. Check out www.TeamRobotKillsYourFace.com for some laughs.

Charlie and I, 1 and 2. Expect more of that this season!

Charlie and I will be racing together all season starting with the Beacon Double Down Hoe Down on the 24-25th. We are still waiting for the new DH bikes, but in the mean time, Charlie and Andy Tran put together this awesome video on the DB Mission.


DB Welcomes Charlie to the DF5 Team from Diamondback Bicycles on Vimeo.

Welcome to the team Chaz!

-KT

Commuting and being a tourist

I grabbed a ride with a friend to the bar and ended up leaving my truck at work. The next day I needed to get to work, so I ended up commuting on my road bike. I love riding the road bike and need to do it more often. It's amazing how efficient a super light carbon road bike can be. It's great to start your day off with a 40 mile ride! (I don't live 40 miles from work, but since I was riding, I took the long way).

Diamondback Podium 6. This is much nicer than my other vehicle options!

The PNW has some really nice areas for road riding. I like going mid week as the bike paths are empty and most of the side streets are dead. It was a little cold out, but some knee and arm warmers seemed to do the trick. I think the best part about riding my road bike is the only road jersey I have anymore is one from the shop I used to work at in North Dakota. I'm planning on heading back home in July and can't wait to go ride the Maah Daah Hey in Medora. If you're ever in the Midwest and want a great XC ride, check out Dakota Cyclery for guided tours and a rad little shop.

Proving I was there!

Traveling this summer is going to be expensive. I just put $100 dollars worth of Diesel in the van yesterday. It barely filled half a tank. Ouch. I did seal the windows on the rabbit though, so hopefully some of her electrical gremlins will go away now that water won't be gushing into the fuse block.

$4.50 a gallon is brutal.

The last part of this update is that my in-laws are here for a few days. It's been really fun having them out here. Everytime we have friends in town, we do a few more tourist things in the area. I've been to Pikes Place Market before, but we've never bought anything. We decided to buy some seafood from the fish throwers. $150 dollars worth of Alaskan King Crab and fresh salmon was brought home. It was by far the most expensive home cooked meal I've ever had, but it was worth every penny. Ruth and Liz prepared the food perfectly and my only complaint was that the meal ended.

The first Starbucks.

The fish market.

Delicious!

 I picked up some parts for the van, I'm excited to get a bed back in it along with some other cool things soon. A little practice time this weekend and then racing starts in a week and a half! Time to get the bikes ready for the season! 

-KT

Port Angeles

It's a little different at the bottom of Dry Hill without a race going on.

I started off my Sunday at 6 am cleaning and preparing my bike for a good days ride. The plan was to head to Port Angeles and meet up with Luke Strobel and Scott Tucker and film some pre-ride videos of the race courses for the season.

The weather seemed like it was going to be decent and I manged to get to PA without any difficulties. I met up with Luke at the bagel shop for a quick breakfast before heading out to Dry Hill.

Jalapeno bagel and pepper-jack cheese breakfast sandwich. Delicious!

Luke and I got to the hill and met up with Scott Tucker, the master of all things relating to Dry Hill. Scott puts in an insane amount of time, money, and effort into the trails and the race series hosted there every year. He is out working every weekend for months before the first race getting the trails in shape, building new ones to keep the courses interesting, and improving the facilities for when the bicycle party rolls into town.

Scott pulling a stump in a re-routed section before the first race.

You can believe that the trails will be dialed, the course will be full taped, the brush will be cut back, and the shuttles will start on time when you arrive at Port Angeles for the NW Cup. You get much more than you pay for at a NW cup. It's the best run race series I've ever been to and Scott deserves a ton of credit for why so many riders continue to come back. Next time you see him at the race, give him a big thank you. This is the amount of work that is required to put on a great race, and he does not get anywhere near enough credit.

Thank this guy next time you see him.

We helped Scott with a few little digging projects for a while and then got changed and ready to ride. Kevin Littlefield was out for the day as well and rocking a pretty sweet new rig for the season. Basically, it's not made of metal, and you can't buy it yet. I'm sure you'll see plenty of photos soon. Congrats on the new ride Kevin! Speaking of new rides, Luke was on a different bike as well. He seemed to be looking right at home and fast as always on it. He had a few major sponsor changes too! With the first round of the World Cup only a few weeks away, he is looking to do some international damage.

My rig. Same as she was at the end of last season and still going strong.

 I'm waiting for the new Diamondback downhill frame to arrive. We're still a few weeks out, but my current frame is working great, so I don't mind. The new one has a few minor refinements and some weight savings, which is always a good thing. I have a pile of new parts awaiting the new frame. It's hard not to put everything on the bike right now. I'm really excited to announce I'll be running Chris King hubs and Sun Rims for the season too!

We actually had more people than the trucks rack could hold, so we opted for the less safe version of just towing people up the hill. Hook a tow strap around your stem and don't fall over!

Hook the strap and hang on!

Luke and Kevin demonstrate the set up

Luckily, no one went down while being towed up! Actually, I rode terribly all day. I crashed 3 times! As I sit here today, I'm a little sore, cut-up, and bruised, but I feel good. It's a strange feeling, to know that you can be going that fast and hit a tree, a rock, or Luke (Crash 1, 2, and 3) and still be fine. It's a strange sensation to think of how easily you can trip and fall and get hurt, versus smashing down a mountain, then crash and be okay. Obviously, I don't like crashing, but the feeling of walking away from a crash virtually unscathed, is something that is good to experience now and again. It makes me want to push myself harder, knowing that even if I fail and crash, there is a good chance that I'll be fine. It's days like that when I am glad I run the parts I have. It's nice not having to worry about my bike being the weakest link!

Check out the tree imbedded in my stem bolts! 

Until next time, keep it upright more than I did!

PS, For anyone wondering, The NW Cup #1 track is in great shape, fast, rough, and steep.The ProGRT/US Gran Prix/NW Cup #2/AT&T/CNN/Additional Acronyms, track is going to be even better. It's completely different from last year and lots of fresh loam. Welcome to the Chunderdome! 

-KT