Crashing and hockey

I never really work on my Mission. It's a do-it-all bike that gets ridden hard and put away wet. All it usually takes is a little chain lube every now and then and she's good to go. I finally got to the point this weekend where I had to do some maintenance. I'd broken enough spokes that the wheel was hitting the frame, so it was time to build a new wheel.

New rim, fresh logos! 

After the wheel build, I changed up the suspension, lubed everything, checked tire pressures, etc. The bike was feeling ready to roll! As with all the rides lately, I headed back to Tokul. I met up with some of the guys from Evil-bikes and we went up the trail. Dropping in for the first run, I told myself I was going to hit this awkward gap in the trail. I came around the corner, hit the lip, and just cased the landing enough to get bucked off the trail right into a big hole. Luckily, my face stopped my helmet from getting scratched.

Right after the crash. I wasn't quite sure what I had done at this point.

Getting cleaned up about 30 minutes later.

So now I feel concussed, sore, etc, but we had plans tonight. We were going to watch a hockey game with some of Ruth's coworkers. One of her coworkers parents own the Kelowna Rockets, so we went along to cheer then on. I didn't realize they were playing the local team, the Seattle Thunderbirds. I felt like a traitor for cheering for a Canadian team! But in the true spirit of this country, the Americans won!

Having a black eye and a fat lip made me fit right in at the hockey game.

I'm probably off the bike for a day or two to let my face heal up. It's cleaned up pretty well. I have a big gash in my lip and a black eye, but that's about it. I'll post an updated photo if the black eye looks nasty in the morning. Hopefully the next ride goes a little better!

More Tokul, Sport, Firewood

I feel like I'm a broken record. All I've been riding lately is Tokul. It's just running so well right now that it's hard to ride anywhere else. I was able to ride most of the day on Saturday and Ruth, Rylie, and I went out for a ride on Sunday. We ran into Jim, Zach, Tim, and Ethan and had a great ride!

Riding up through the fog

Sport wasn't able to come with us on Sunday. He's had a growth on one of his paws that we had removed. He has to wear the cone of shame for the next two weeks.

Sport had other plans for his cone. 

A few months ago, we had a huge wind storm. Our next door neighbor had a huge tree branch come down in her yard. Today, the rest of the actual tree was cut down and she said I could take the firewood if I wanted it. I now have enough firewood to last through the end of the next millennium.

I was standing outside, about 20 feet away when this came down. It was crazy! The rest of the tree is just out of the photo. 

Note the size of the log rounds compared to the 2x4's in the back. They're HUGE.  

Well, I'll be splitting wood until next time...

Night rides, 12th Man, Gym time

I've been wondering how to post about night rides. Since it is winter time, the available hours of sunlight are minimal. By the time work is over, it's almost dark out. A headlamp makes it possible to ride in the dark, but Iphone photos after the sun sets are useless.

Iphone photo of night riding.

The night machine right now. Last few rides before the 2014 bikes arrive!

The magic shine lights work great and are the best bang for the buck. The Bell Super is also a new addition to my gear this year!

Lately, I've been riding Tokul a lot because it's running great right now. I'll have to get some good daytime photos and video soon. I also went back to Burlington and am starting to feel comfortable on all of the jump lines. I can't wait to go back and start trying some tricks!

Life has calmed down enough that Seattle is starting to feel like home. Ruth and I are finally living in place where we are able to settle down and have a hometown. We've taken our new found home in stride and even started rooting for the local teams. This is the year we've become true Seahawk fans. We've been watching all of the games this year and will be glued to the TV this weekend when they dominate the 49'ers! Go Hawks!

The best looking cheerleader! 

Since I can't ride every day, I've been going to the gym again. I have a membership and have even done some personal training. The first time I met the personal trainer, I tried to keep a straight face. He looked just like Me'shell from Dodgeball. The gym does seems to be paying off. I'm getting back in race shape and can't wait for the season to start!

This guy yelling at you is a lot of motivation.

Thinking about this movie makes being in the gym more enjoyable.

Until next time...

-KT

Burlington

The first trip I took to Seattle was for a riding contest in 2005. I had my mind blown by an event called "The Gathering." The Gathering was a two part contest. The first part was and indoor dirt jump contest. The second part was a skatepark contest. Now that I live here, those places are gone. The indoor DJ area is now a car dealership and the indoor skatepark is now a warehouse. A few weeks ago however, a new indoor dirt jump area opened up north of Seattle in Burlington WA.

At the Gathering back in the day with Aaron Chase. It's crazy to think where my riding has taken me since this photo! 

Watching Cam Mccaul do one of the first MTB flip/drops

I've been wanting to get up to Burlington for a while, but haven't been able to make it happen. Tonight I was able to sneak away for a few hours and check it out. It was awesome! 

Jay and Stella surveying the park

Jay tried to get an action shot of me, but Iphones aren't the greatest at that. 

I met up with Billy Lewis and Jay Trautman and we had a Diamondback session. We arrived pretty late and the place was starting to clear out. By the end of the night we had it all to ourselves. 

Billy Lewis everyone. 

The night ended with Joe Prisel (The owner/builder, and shredder!) showing us the changes that are planned. The nice thing with making the park out of dirt is that changes can happen frequently to keep it interesting. 

Joe explaining the changes to Billy.

The park is amazing and I can't wait to go back! Maybe we can have another "Gathering" soon! Check out www.BurlingtonBikePark.com for more info/directions.

I'm back!!!

Welcome back everyone! I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry. Racing, injuries, jobs changes and life have been all new lately. One of my new years resolutions is to update my blog regularly again. I also just picked up a Google Chromebook, so I now have a way to update my blog other than my phone.

The new blogging machine!

Last season was a bust for me. I dislocated my shoulder too many times and had surgery last May. That was the end of my race season.

Post surgery scar. 

Since then, I've done a lot of hiking, hunting, working on my house, adopting a new dog, traveling, etc, but there was still a big part of me missing. I missed riding my bike. The shoulder is all healed up and it's time to ride again. We were lucky enough to have Ruth's family come visit us for the holidays which was a lot of fun. Now that the house is empty again, I've been glued to my bike.

The house is a "little" project

This was a few weeks ago. It's looking a little more complete now. I'll post an updated photo when it's done. 

Today Billy Lewis and I decided to go exploring Tokul West. Tokul is a large hill that has two different sides, east and west. I've ridden the east side for years and it's always a good time. I've only ever ridden the west side once about 5 years ago. The east side is a little easier to access, which is why it gets ridden more frequently. However, it is currently being logged, so it was time to go exploring. Billy and I loaded up the dogs and set out to go get lost in the woods!

The parking lot at Tokul is busy as always, but the trails are usually empty.

Rylie enjoying the sunshine peaking through the forest

Stopping at the top of the last climb of the day...

... for a beer!

Sport (our new adopted Springer Spaniel) wondering why we are stopped

And cooling off at the end of the ride.

Leaving the parking lot with tired dogs!

After a long day of climbing fire roads, singletrack, hiking unnamed trails, and ripping sweet loamy trails back down, we called it a day. Time to go watch the Supercross season opener from Anaheim tonight!

Until next time...

-KT

Hey guys,


Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few weeks. My life has been crazy lately. Big news is that I just started a new job. I'm working as a Structural Design Engineer at Boeing. Changing jobs was a lot of stress and time, plus I've been going full tilt trying to finish up the landscaping in our yard before the rains start. Anyways, I'll get some more regular updates on here again soon.

Thanks

-KT

All Gravity Series #3 - Schweitzer

Cruising to another All Gravity Series win!

Threading the needle.

Below is the write up from Paris Gore about the Schweitzer race. Thanks for all the photos Paris!


The All Gravity Series Round 3 put on by Wheel Sport East wrapped up last weekend with Diamondback's Kyle Thomas taking his second win of the Eastern Washington DH Race Series. There are four more races left in the series and if you live anywhere close to the Pacific North West, make it over for some classic DH racing and good times with the locals.

Schweitzer Mt., Idaho used to be home of one of the NORBA Nationals Races back in the day. Respectable racers still talk about how gnarly the Schweitzer course is to this day.

Start of the course is a kamikaze down the ridge line into the DH track. 

A heavy night of lighting storms left the morning with dense fog on the upper mountain. The sun popped out around noon and left everyone with a beautiful day up on Schweitzer.

Steve Bafus rallys down the kamikaze ridge that leads into the start gate. A course generally stacked with moon dust, rain from the night prior left the course in perfect conditions.

Kyle Thomas rides into his second win in the All Gravity Series. 

Who wouldn't want to race against these two? 

Pro men's podium containing Kyle Thomas, Willie Hobbs, and Charlie Sponsel.

North Dakota!

I grew up in Bismarck North Dakota. All I wanted to do my entire life was leave that state. Now that I've done it, I can't wait to go back home. I haven't been home for 3 years, so when the opportunity came for Ruth and I to head home for the 4th of July, we jumped on it!

Looking out the van window on the drive home. Flat fields and lots of bugs!

I spent most of the week at Ruth's lake cabin soaking up the sun and the water with a beer in my hand. There is no cell service and it's AMAZING! I had such a great time!

I managed to sneak away for one afternoon and head to Bismarck to hang out with my best friend Tyler Fode. I got to town while he was still working, so I headed over to my old local XC trail, Pioneer Park. I just did one lap, but was laughing at how much fun it was. The last time I rode that trail was 8 years ago. I've improved a little on a bike since then. I had a great time smashing corners and just ripping the old trail!

The view from the top of Pioneer Park looking south

and looking north.

 The views of the Missouri are beautiful and the weather was perfect. I grabbed dinner and a few beers with Tyler before heading back to the lake for the rest of the week.

On the way back west, we decided to stop in Medora North Dakota and meet up with the bike shop I used to work at, Dakota Cyclery. It's always a pleasure to see Jennifer and Loren, who are like a second family to me. We were able to get Jen and Loren away from the shop for a few minutes to grab some food. It was great to catch up with old friends and hopefully it won't be long until we can get back there!

We had a great time!

Full XC mode!

Ruthie sweltering in the heat! Surprisingly, a desert in July is hot!

It's open range here and we had to share the trail.

 Ruth and I rode a new section of the Maah Daah Hey trail. The MDH is a 100 mile singletrack trail connecting the north and south units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the Badlands of North Dakota. Most of the state is prairie fields, but there is this amazing area in the western part with beautiful sandstone butte formations formed by the Little Missouri river. They just opened a new trail segment south of the south unit that extends the trail even further and we were told we had to check it out.

Map of the MDH. The section we rode, starts at Sully Creek and heads south.

Loren shuttled us to the south end and we rode back to town. It was a great ride! The trail was fun and flowy with lots of neat exposure sections. Nothing technical, but just a great ride! If you are ever in the area, make time to ride there and check out www.DakotaCyclery.com for more info and guided and supported tours!

Most people wouldn't believe this is North Dakota, but it is!

 
-KT