i h8 bikes - Bay Area, Portland, Ashland/Southern Oregon Downhill, Freeriding, All Mountain, Dirt Jump, Freestyle Mountain Biking » Features

The Conclusion to the Vandeman Saga… on Newstands Now

jasonvh — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:14:03 +0000

We reported on the trial and arrest of Mike Vandeman, the extremist anti-mountain bike crusader earlier this spring. Shortly after that, I made the acquaintance of Peter Frick-Wright, a writer from Portland that treked down to the Bay Area to follow the story. Peter had dedicated himself to covering the saga of Mr. Vandeman’s trial, and was on a mission to try to understand the motives behind his actions and beliefs. Peter is a thorough writer and researcher, and he spent a considerable amount of time gathering information and interviewing the principles involved in the trial as well as people that knew Vandeman. He even *attempted to interviewed Vandeman himself. (though he didn’t respond) Peter had pitched his story idea to Bike Magazine, and we began talking about a lot of things, including riding bikes, advocacy, trail building (a few things I’ve had some experience in my time as an former employee of the International Mountain Biking Association) and the state of trails in the Bay Area as well as Portland, Oregon. It led to us collaborating on the piece.

James Lanham on the trail.

I haven’t been on the trail for several years, so I met up with Peter and we dropped a car at the bottom and did a quick shuttle run. Afterwards I began talking with Justin Bruss and James Lanham, two of the riders involved in the trial, and started the process of photographing them in the hopes of creating a visual narrative that would match the details of Peter’s story.

Justin rocked his rigid steel hardtail harder than anyone I've seen in quite some time.

This month, the story was published in Bike, on newstands now. (You can also preview some of it online here.) I put some time into these shoots, and while I hoped to spend a bit more time on the trail shooting, (Ian Richards declined at the last minute to be photographed for the article) I think it came out pretty solid. Quite a few of the images we shot ended up being run- which admittedly stoked me out.

Since it was unlikely I'd be able to get Vandeman to pose for a photo, I ended up "playing" him in our reenactments.

Interestingly enough, none of the actual encounters the riders had with Vandeman happened on actual single track. Instead it was on the fire road sections that riders use to connect the single track sections. It was enough to make me wonder if there would be user conflict if a single track route was possible all the way down? It’s unlikely we’ll ever know, as the trails are on private land owned by the University.

We tried a number of different concepts for the shoots before settling on a direction. Ironically, we did reenactments of James’s encounter with Justin, instead of with James. Whoops.

The fog on the day James and I went out shooting made for some great lighting, although we ran out of time while on the trail.

James Lanham puts his serious face on.

You've come a long way, baby. How's this for some b-roll?

Heh. I promised not to publish this shot... we've all had a clip-in pedal fail, it's never worse than when someone is holding a camera.

The issue has been out for a few weeks, so if you want to read the full story, I recommend you pick it up. (You can also preview some of it online here.) Hope you enjoyed the behind the scenes b-roll.

*Updated 11/29/11

The Trial of Mike Vandeman

SF Bike Expo: Pedal Savvy Fashion Show

jasonvh — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:31:47 +0000

It used to be that if you were planning to ride around town on the bike, you were limited to your regular clothes or mountain biking clothing. Or maybe you’re one of those people: dressed in spandex (when you probably shouldn’t be dressed in skin tight clothing) with horrible neon windbreakers that were extremely noticeable, but visually offensive. Wearing your regular clothing around town meant arriving at your destination sweaty, and wearing the right gear meant bring a change of clothing with you. Fortunately, today there are a growing number of options for those that want functional clothing that work for a lifestyle on the bike, while looking sharp all at the same bike.

Gwen Lutz put together 35 different looks for men and women for this years SF Bike Expo Pedal Savvy Fashion show. I’m not sure what to say about some of the women’s outfits, but there were a lot of great options to choose from for guy, whether you wanted to roll business casual or full bike guy.

I’m not quite sure what to think of women’s cycling wear – like the typical “performance” options you see in your typical bike shops, there were a few garish colors and styles. I don’t know any women that would or could rock these looks to work very often here in SF. I’m surprised that women’s lines haven’t presented more classic pieces that could be mixed and matched more. Compare that to the men’s options that focused a bit more on the staples: pants, shoes, jackets and bags. Makes sense to me; I have four pairs of bike specific jeans now that I rotate though. Black riding jeans look a bit dressier and can hang with sneakers or dress shoes. I own a few different blue jeans (I’m rotating between Betabrand, Levi’s and Swrve jeans) that go with everything, and a pair of khakis (Levi’s) and chinos (Betabrand) for days I’m going for more of an office look. Shirts are definitely a harder choice- high performance fabrics are available, but a nice fitting shirt made from these materials are on the pricey side, which is tough to justify for something you can only get away with wearing once or twice a week.

My camera was offering me technical issues all weekend, so we weren’t able to document all the looks, (said camera is now at Canon getting rebuilt) but there are lots of great options presenting themselves these days for riding gear, both casual and performance. Our favorites marry functionality with style — the best part is that we have a lot of great options presenting themselves for active wear clothing that doesn’t have to always look the part.

Looking to change out your “meh” clothing for some bike friendly duds? Check out a few choice links:

Betabrand Bike to Work Pants and Jeans
Chrome Knickers and Bags
DZR Shoes
Levi’s Commuter Jeans and Jacket
LuluLemon Work to Play Pants
Rickshaw Bags
Swrve Jeans and Jackets

SF Bike Expo: AT’s Showdown

jasonvh — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:59:33 +0000

The big event of the San Francisco Bike Expo is Andrew Taylor’s freestyle MTB comp, known as AT’s Showdown. This year, the emphasis on slopestyle was taken down a notch and in it’s place, the focus was on a head-to-head dirt jump format. Or, as I was calling it, “watchin’ dudes on bikes hitting big-ass jumps, going really-really f*cking big.” The jumps were huge, and tricks were being thrown down left and right. And the crashes were even bigger.

How's this for perspective? The jumps were rather large, with nice big dirt landings.

No write up this time, check Pinkbike for Tim Zimmerman’s coverage and photo documentation as well as video edits that just hit.

View from the top of the hill.

Andreu Lacondeguy flies like superman. He got a lot more stretched out with his feet much higher than his head, but I personally liked the frames I had before that, and the look of the classic man in flight.

I know more than a few dudes in the NW that would talk shit about the stem and bar set up on Benny Phillip's bike, but I think he would tear them up and piss all over what was left over. Seriously, this new arrival on the slopestyle scene has tiger blood.

Benny ate shit over and over trying to stick this inverted flip-tail-whip-I-don't-know-what-the-f*ck-he's-doing.

Seriously, this kid is a tough mo-fo. Just one of many hard hits to the ground he took. And he kept trying to stick it. If he had, he probably would have taken best trick.

All of the riders were throwing down, and there was a significant amount of carnage witnessed.

"I got this, I got this.... nope." And yes, my camera totally missed the focus on this shot. Which is why it is currently on it's way back to Canon for a serious tune-up.

The riders pushed back up this hill dozens of times. I imagine many of them were feeling it come Monday morning.

AT shredding at his name sake event. As is the norm with so many mountain bike events, you couldn't take a photo without 2 to 3 photographers and videographers getting in the composition. I even had a few people step right in front of me and block my view. Politeness is not always a trait found amongst MTB photographers.

I'm not even sure what this guys trying to take a photo of.

A rider whose name currently is escaping me, whipping with some seriously rad style. James Visser?

And one more of the local slopestyle hero from Santa Rosa, Andrew Taylor; Super-flip.

If you were curious about who won the comp, here’s the top 6 line up copied and pasted from Zim’s write up on PinkBike:

1st Greg Watts
2nd Ryan Howard
3rd Andreu Lacondeguy
4th Linus Sjöholm
5th Martin Söderström
6th James Visser

for best trick:

1st – Andreu Lacondeguy – Double Backflip
2nd – Anthony Messere – Tuck No Hander Frontflip

Eichler Bike Park Rebuild: Day 2

jasonvh — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:45:56 +0000

Things are seriously moving along with the Eichler Bike Park Project. If you haven’t been following the story of the Eichler Park Jumps, click here for a recap. It’s been pretty exciting to see progress on this site finally happening, with a legit Bobcat on site moving earth.

It was just over a year ago when we posted an article on the dilapidated BMX Park spotted in Beaverton, Oregon. (A suburb of Portland, we actually rediscovered it taking a test drive while car shopping nearby) We were going stir crazy while living in Portland about the lack of local riding spots, and spent a lot of time riding around scouting for a spot where the barriers to getting something legal to happen were the lowest. We found sweet secret and shuttle friendly trails, (albeit on private property) a few secret dirt jump spots created for pro level riding, and more. However, none of this stuff was sustainable, and none of them were spots that were likely to be around for long. Several were in danger of being dozed at the time as well. This location was different, as it already was technically a public BMX park. It just needed a serious reboot.

Shaping the starting mound.

It is amazing to see how a simple blog post could be a catalyst and generate so much energy from the riding community. In an area where all the riders share the same frustration with local riding opportunities, momentum quickly built, and all the key players were able to leverage their contacts to make progress in record time. Park officials were open to the idea that the area would get more use and be a bigger assets to the community as well. Times being what they are, they were ready to offer the go ahead with the right partners, but lacked funding to participate directly. This is where the local advocacy group, the Northwest Trail Alliance stepped in to make things happen.

A lot of mountain bikers I know could care less about the advocacy work groups like the NWTA do. However, without the backing and full support of the NWTA, (thanks Joe and Tom- they really were the ones that made this project happen) a legitimate non-profit organization complete with insurance, this project wouldn’t have moved forward. The timing couldn’t be better either. Many gravity/DH/FR members were unhappy about their lack of representation in the groups overall efforts, and it resulted in the timely formation of a FR-specific gravity committee to focus on efforts in creating opportunities for this style of riding. With a project ready to go, riders hungry for the opportunity seized it, and once the insurance issues were worked out, an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with parks was signed, making the NWTA a steward of the park, and officially green lighting the project.

Put it over.. there.

This project really demonstrates the get-’er-done ability of a tightly knit riding (freeriding) community, something that Portland has in spades. (I just wish the Bay Area freeride community was as strong- we’d have a lot more legal stuff to ride already) All we did was point out the opportunity, and the riders grabbed the ball, and have made it happen.

If you’ve never worked towards getting a new trail built, or legal dirt jumps, a year to get something from a dream to in the ground is amazing. Most often, the kids that ask for the parks have grown up and moved away by the time progress has been made. (in our case, we moved back to the Bay Area for financial reasons, and can only report on the progress remotely) As we’ve been discovering, getting a bike park built is only half the fight. Having permission and motivation to keep it maintained is just as important.

Moving earth.

Enough already with the backstory, and on to the build report from Raul:

Jason- We had over 20 volunteers thru out the day. We worked from 9:00am to 4:00pm, and the park is coming along great. The next big build day will be June 11th.

Here are some pics !!!!! Also Tim Zimmerman took pictures all day.

Raul D. Atencio

NWTA Gravity Group

Shovels at work

Big thanks go out to Tim Zimmerman for documenting the work of the volunteers and lending the use of his images for this story. Enjoy the gallery.

A day at the Sea Otter Classic

jasonvh — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:41:45 +0000

If you’re a hard core 29er fan, you would have been stoked at this year’s Sea Otter. In the expo area the emphasis was heavy on the big wheels, and just about every manufacturer has jumped on the big wheel band wagon with newly launched offerings. Even SRAM was into it, with SID 29er shirts identifying employees in town from the ‘Springs.

This was the first year in a while I’ve been to Sea Otter without a specific agenda, other than to just hang out check things out. Other than to hobnob and touch base with friends I haven’t seen for a while, I didn’t come rolling in with any specific goals. Which meant I was also free to wander around drinking beers on a sunny day. Nice.

RideSFO Boys (and AT) as usual, in the house and up to their usual shenanigans.

The weather in Monterey was sunny, in contrast to many a Sea Otter of seasons past. Unencumbered with shotlists, or specific events I felt required to shoot, (there are always a million and one photographers running around anyway) Inga and I walked the pits looking for the latest and greatest offerings from the industry. Out of everything we saw, it seemed that the emphasis which so often is on the downhill side of things to swing back to the trail riding side of the spectrum. And of course the whole 29 thing. It seemed that everyone had a new bike featuring the big wheels on display, with lots of carbon frames and even more carbon bits everywhere.

The stoker elected not to go along for the ride on this box jump to airbag attempt. The crowd of course, booed- chicken!

Amongst the usual Sea Otter releases was Shimano and a new XT gruppo. For the typical rider it doesn’t mean as much these days, since the only time you’re upgrading groups is during a new bike purchase. Although if you bought a new bike this year, your stuff is dated now. (sorry) If you haven’t been paying attention, there is currently a shift going on to move from a 3×9 drive train to a 2 or 3 x 10 drive train. Personally, I hate front derailleurs, so I consider less gears up front a good thing. (It’s isn’t the front derailleur I really dislike as much as loosing the chain constantly. We have a 2×10 SRAM X-9 drive train on hand that we’re planning to use on an upcoming trail bike build- review coming down the pipeline)

Ibis has another Mojo out, and it still has a steep as hell head angle, but now features a tapered head tube so you can slack it out to a proper geo with a Cane Creek AngleSet. Santa Cruz also re-released their popular staple, the original Blur, which also received the tapered head tube treatment. (our money is on the new Blur TR, which would be money with a 150mm fork, and in fact is how some of the SRAM guys are testing it)

It was probably for the best, as the long wheel base and lack of momentum didn't quite have what it took to take off.

Carbon fiber continued its proliferation as well, as Easton had their newest offering in plastic hoops, the EC90 on display.

We checked out the Titus booth and said hi to Shiggy (he kinda is out there, but is a super nice guy) to get the scoop on the ailing brand. Last we heard, Titus was chapter 11, and had been purchased by UK brand Planet X/ On-One. Titus looks to be going consumer direct from here on out. More than a few small manufacturers are going that route; should be interesting to see how that works for them.

This guy's helmet was sweet... in 1990!

In the demo/ play area, things were changed up a bit. College Cyclery made the pump track and jump area again, but there was a shift towards wood features over dirt.

Little and big jumps for kids of all ages.

It makes perfect sense to me though- I never understood why so much labor was put into creating a mini bike park setup that would last less than a week. If all this effort went into the existing bike parks we already have, they’d be pretty sweet. (take the poorly designed Calibasas Park and the Pleasanton BMX Park, that is over due for some love)

Wood ramps are consistent and don’t require constant maintenance. The best line at Post Canyon (in Hood River, OR) has wood take offs, and it’s one of the best big bike jump lines in the northwest.

Pump line at Sea Otter.

The drop in start for the jump line

In addition to a jump line for the jump jam, there was also a new hybrid event that took place Saturday afternoon, the Speed and Style event. Part pump track race, and part jump comp, participants started down a ramp to a wood kicker, busted their best moves, and ripped though a pump line.

That's what an X-up is supposed to look like! Brandon Seminuk, fully x'd, mid- 360.

The speed portion of the course

Defining flow for the masses

jasonvh — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:51:56 +0000

Ask a die-hard mountain biker what “flow” is and you’ll likely get an enthusiastic response. Compare the answers though, and odds are you’ll find them to be very different. Ask a random person off the street what flow is in context to the mountain biking experience, and who knows what kind of response you’ll receive. And yet, flow is one of the hottest words in terms of mountain biking and trail design today. What’s strange to me is how loosely this term is used in describing trail experiences. But is this a good thing, or bad?

I’ve heard the term “flow” used to describe trails, or sections of trail I didn’t find flowy at all. This leads me to believe that the term has been done an injustice, and it doesn’t seem to be helping our cause. (getting more and better trails) Assuming that to be the case, what the hell does flow really refer to, and what does it really mean? Looking at the dictionary, flow is generally used as a verb, referencing the movement of water or other fluids. As a noun, it’s a term describing “the act of flowing,” or describing fluid movement.

The Sandy Ridge Trail in Sandy, Oregon

That seems to sound about right. One thing that bothered me about the IMBA Trail Building School program is the usage of the term “flow.” Flow is defined in the Trail Solutions Manual as the rhythm or “feel” of a trail, with two basic types presented: “open and flowing,” and “tight and technical.”

Can the lack of flow be used to describe flow? If flow is being used to describe a type of movement, how to we go from using the term to describe fluidity to a stop and go type motion? Instead of using Flow as the blanket term for the “feel” of a trail, the term Tempo seems to me to be much more accurate. I’ll accept Rhythm as well. (Tempo, or Rhythm? sound off on what seems more appropriate in the comments below)

Let’s look at that again. Now in describing the trail experiences we want to design, we have open and flowing trails, (ie, FLOW) and tight and technical tempo, or rhythm.

Since flow is a term we’re using to market the mountain bike experience, I believe it is important we define it properly, and in the right context. If we’re knocking on doors and asking land managers for a specific trail experience that provides “flow,” it is probably best that we’re all talking about the same thing.

Flow generally is associated with momentum. I've ridden some incredible uphill sections of trail that flowed so well I kept up with a friend with a minimal amount of pedaling, instead using the rollers to maintain and increase speed.

In the Pacific Northwest, there is a major trail renaissance going on at present time. Several new trail systems have been designed and constructed in recent years, with even more happening right now. These new trails offer riding experiences far above the typical mountain bike ride of the past— trails that are designed by mountain bikers for mountain bikers, and managed by other mountain bikers in key positions in local land agencies. More than just contemporary or progressive trail design, these trails are incredible models of what flow is in the MTB context. Not only are the trails designed and constructed to be sustainable, but they feature a minimal number of switchbacks, instead incorporating insloped turns whenever possible. Water bars have already been discontinued as a method of water control and drainage by the forest service, replaced by rolling grade dips, knicks, and grade reversals. These trails take up a notch by incorporating rollers all over the place, and bringing the pump track into the trail riding experience.

One of the most notable new trail systems in the NW is the Sandy Ridge Trail System. A shining new example of the new trail revolution, the trail was designed and constructed by Jason Wells and Joey Klein of IMBA Trail Solutions in conjunction with the BLM. The new trail projects undertaken by these trail building teams are possibly some of the most relevant contributions IMBA is bringing to the sport today. Mr. Klein is considered by many at Bike Magazine as an absolute wizard of trail design, and having ridden several new trails he’s had a hand in designing, I’m inclined to agree.

Welcome to Flow Country. Riding the 338 Trail at Sandy Ridge.

The Sandy Ridge Trail has been built in several phases, and is one of the first one-way trails of its kind in the Portland area. While it is permissible to ride both up and down the trail, the new trail has been so successful that riding up the trail on weekends is discouraged, with downhill riders receiving the right of way. (The trailhead is easily accessed via a paved road climb that is only open to non-motorized use)

After riding a trail like this, one’s definition a killer trail simply change. In fact, while the rest of the trail was under construction, the first 4 miles of open trail received so much buzz that 300+ riders a weekend showed up to ride them, doing lap after lap. Mountain Bikers regularly driving over an hour to ride a 4 mile section of trail—the trail is that good. The amazing thing was that riders of every discipline were making this trek— from hard core XC single speeders to freeriders on their gravity sleds.

It seems that we as mountain bikers finally have something in common. We all love flow, whether we can define it clearly or not.

In order to spread flow from place to place like a trail building Johnny Appleseed, first we have to define it. Without a clear definition of the term, there is no way to sell it to others. Fortunately for us, this is a problem that has already been solved.

Flow Country: Flow, defined

A new term has been recently been coined to describe the new trail experience: Flow Country Trails. Brought to us by Freeride Pioneer and MTB legend Hans Rey, the term gives this new progressive trail design not only a name, but a definition to go along with it.

Flow Country trails are flowy, purpose-built singletrails for mountain bikers of any skill level or for any kind of mountain bike, no matter whether beginner or expert or on a hardtail XC or downhill bike; and especially for the ever growing section of All Mountain/ Enduro riders. This mountain bike specific trail will provide a common playground for both worlds of riders, the endurance driven riders and the Freeriders. The tracks shall neither be extreme, nor too steep or dangerous, small berms and rollers shall provide the addicting rollercoaster feeling and sensation.

A mix between a Bike Park, a Cross Country trail and a long pumptrack.

Flow Country is a new term I have coined, for a purpose built mountain bike trail with lots of flow. Nothing steep nor dangerous, with small berms and rollers, predominantly downhill. This trail is designed to accommodate all skill levels and all styles of mountain bikes. In my opinion it bridges the gap between freeride and cross country. Every town or resort worldwide should offer Flow Country trails.

-Hans Rey

Bringing the Flow Country to us

We recently moved back to the Bay Area, a land where our access as mountain bikers to trails is extremely limited. Forced to share multi-use hiking trails and fire-roads, the trail experiences are shared with other users that often have no sense of trail etiquette. Many of the “trails” are dirt routes that lead from point “A” to point “B,” with no regards to grade, and wide enough to drive a tank on. As a mountain biker, these dirt road experiences are the furthest from what I desire in my riding experience. Now that the “flow riding” experience has been coined and defined, it is time to work towards creating these types of trails a reality. Multi-use trails, while often the solution, are not at all satisfying the growing mountain biker demographic.

We have to start somewhere. We don’t have mountain bikers in decision making positions here, but if we can build just 4 miles of incredible flowy trail somewhere close to the population, the masses will come to ride it. And once we have this model trail, where riders of all disciplines can gather and bridge the gap between freeride and XC, maybe we can give this revolution a solid start. Legal access to dirt roads is simply not enough, it is time to get things moving. However, the question remains: where in the Bay Area is the easiest place to get a project like this in the ground?

A day riding the Auburn, CA Trails

jasonvh — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:40:22 +0000

Until this weekend, the Auburn area has mostly been a pit stop on our way to Northstar or Downieville. We’ve heard the area contains some good riding, but until now, it was like a secret whispered about but not shared. It is easy to get into habits with our riding spots, and ride many of the same trails over and over again. The drawback to getting stuck in these ruts is that it can be easy to miss out on good stuff that’s relatively close to home, not far from the beaten path.

The snake-like flow of the Connector Trail. The entire trail looks much like this.

It’s been my goal in the last few years to ride as many new trails as possible. It is definitely taking some time, but I’m a big fan of social networking using the power of Twitter and Facebook to connect with other riders, and I’m finally starting to get out more— definitely a good thing. Since we’ve relocated back to the Bay Area, I’ve been keeping an ear out for new spots to ride. I don’t want to get bored or jaded with the local park riding, so any chance I get to tag along to check out a new spot I jump on.

This weekend I hit paydirt. The riding in Auburn is definitely no secret, in fact, the trail head was quite packed with riders of all types, from DHers setting up to drop some shuttles, to rigid single speeders pedaling the flowy Connector Trail. We started off on the Connector Trail, a flowy green/ blue level trail that twists along the contour in a snake-like manner. The trail surface is pretty mellow, making it extremely appealing to shorter travel bikes, hardtails, singlespeeds, and newer riders. The ease of the tread, with its dips and frequent grade reversals, makes for a great time, and is a great example of an “easy” trail that appeals to more advanced riders as well. The Bay Area could definitely use more trails with this kind of layout.

While Connector is fairly easy, the faster you attack this trail, the better it gets. If this trail had rolling grade dips that you could double, and insloped (bermed) turns it would rule. As it is, the “easy” flat turns can get you if you’re hauling down the trail like we were. Justin here got off-line for a second, resulting in a sudden meeting with dirt. Fortunately for our group, that was the worst of it for the day. Jesse also had an encounter with the ground, and got away light as well. Unlike a rider we all watched stack hard right in front of us, slicing his forearm up pretty good. That guy’s afternoon was most likely spent in the ER getting quite a few stitches.

Although the tread on Connector is super buffed, you still have to pay attention as Justin demonstrated.

We followed that with a trail called Fuel Break, and another called Culvert. Culvert was pretty much all downhill, and was considerably more fun, with technical features, including some small jumps. I even put together a “quick” edit of some footage shot on my GoPro HD using the chesty mount. Obviously the Culvert trail is named after the large culvert, which was pretty cool to have in the middle of a ride.

To finish up our first all mountain shuttle, we rolled down Confluence. Another all downhill trail, Confluence features a rockier, more technical tread with some tighter sections and more features. This trail was super fun too. It gets pretty fun by the time you get to the river, although at that point the hiker population starts to show up frequently.

An XC rider (not in our group) enjoys the last section of trail that features a great view of the river.

We then headed back up for more shuttle action. This time heading down a popular route with the local DH riders, Stonewall to Rocky. Stonewall was another fun section of trail, with a more interesting surface that was perfect for our all mountain steeds. Rocky on the other hand, was as boulder-filled as its namesake. Banging over the rock gardens here at speed, I found myself wishing for heavier tires. We followed it with a shuttle and did Murders to Rocky.

Trail Resources:

www.fatrac.org/trails

Rockville Park- Fairfield, California

jasonvh — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:05:12 +0000

Believe it or not, there is a decent amount of riding fairly close by for mountain bikers that reside in the Bay Area. The drawback to the stuff in near proximity to the population centers, is that much of it is overrun with park users. (said population) Its a situation ripe for user conflict. There are only so many bike friendly green spaces close by, and millions of people that all want to use them. But hey, at least there is riding, right?

Because of this, I haven’t been as excited to get back to a few of the parks to ride the trails. I first rode the Rockville Park years ago, and haven’t been back since. However, a few friends pointed out that due to the abundance of rock, the trails drain extremely well, making it a great destination for the wet parts of the year. It turns out that it is an extremely photogenic area as well.

The fog makes for calendar like scenery.

Having spent a considerable amount of time designing, building and riding trails in the last few years, I have a new eye for terrain I never had before. With this comes a new perspective and appreciation for trails. While the Rockville park occupies a geographically small area, its well laid out for the small amount of space and utilizes it well. There aren’t any jumps or jump-like features to speak of, (highly desirable for me personally) but many of the trails feature good old school flow. There are also some nice rock gardens in the area that are quite fun to negotiate, and are good for riders that wish to advance their skill levels or test their suspension by riding more difficult terrain. Because the area is relatively small with interconnecting loops, it’s a good destination for large groups & group rides, especially for groups with varying skill levels.

This section of trail was pretty sweet; by far my favorite on the hill.

The drawback to riding all the stacked loops is that you never feel like you’ve gone any where. Still, it is a fun destination, and a great asset to have for riders that live close by. As its about 40minutes away, it probably won’t become a regular spot for me, but during the wet season, it makes for a good go-to spot.

There is some weirdness going on though; cattle and sheep are used to keep the grass down and you’ll want to keep an eye out for cow pies. The barbed wire used to limit the cattle is everywhere, and is rather unsightly. The prominent powerlines are lame too.

Yays:

Signage is good. (supposedly bad in the past)
Decent parking spot
Easy to find
Great resource for the locals.
Some great scenery
Fun on flat pedals
Some really fun sections of trail
Some good tech spots

Nays

$3.00 a person to ride
Some really lousy scenery
Cow pies
Circles and circles again
No contemporary trail features like grade dips, rollers, or jumps

For more info on the park, click here.

A bike park project that failed— what happened to the Ashland BMX Park?

jasonvh — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:24:46 +0000

Ashland, Oregon is known best in mountain biking circles for the riding in the water shed on you guessed it- Mt. Ashland. Its now the site of a Super D race that is growing in popularity every year. The Rogue Valley has a variety of other trail options as well, making the area a great place to be for off road adventures. There are even a number of bike friendly concrete parks, as well as a BMX track, located just several exits up the freeway. Add to that all the additional recreational options like ORV areas and skiing/ snowboarding in the winter, and the local rider has a pretty full plate year-round.

We can only imagine that this is the main reason for their neglected bicycle skills park. According to the original site, things first started moving in 1997, when local riders lobbied the city of Ashland for a sanctioned space to have to ride. It wasn’t until the last part of 2004 that the permanent site was established, following the construction of the water treatment plant. I personally recall days spent digging and riding in the previous site with my brother and a nearby lot that was apparently an official temporary jump park site.

Riders shaping the faces during the construction in 2005. Photo: Alex

Eventually – almost 7 years later, the city finally gave the thumbs up to go ahead with the project. Unfortunately, many of the original riders that had lobbied for the park had moved on, and out of the area. Like others, my time in Southern Oregon came and went, and by the time construction had begun, I was already a Bay Area resident.

Sadly, rider support fell apart at this critical time. Whether it was a conflict of personalities, or lack of a clear design and plan for the park layout, only half of the dirt placed at the site (upwards of 80 dump truck loads or more) was moved and shaped enough to be ridable. However, a small group of riders continued working on the project, establishing a website complete with a timeline a documented history of the efforts made to create the park. Like the park, the site is still available for viewing. (AshlandJumpPark.org)

The second half of the jump park, which was never completed, taken November of 2009

Inga rolls through the beginner table top line while an epic sunset lights the background. (photo taken November 2008.)

Several years later, the park still remains only half completed. Numerous reasons have been cited by local riders on why this is, with the close proximity to the local sewage treatment plant and the resulting odor being number one. According to Clifford with the Southern Oregon Freeride Association, the main reasons their group don’t have anything to do with the park are as follows:

The city pretty much gave us land they knew nobody wanted, and no shade. I think people’s interest would be piqued with good dirt, a water source, shade, and location location location… My 2 cents.

Airing the jump line. Photo taken November 2008.

This may possibly change now that Mr. Roberts, one of the initial parties has joined the group as a board member. Many of the locals also complain of the dirt provided, much of which was left over from other city construction projects. 75% decomposed granite / 20% clay / 5% rock, the dirt is definitely not crash friendly. That said, we’ve seen dirt jump parks in other areas, especially the southwest, where the local dirt jump scene is thriving, with the same soil mix.

The pump track area before a build session. Shot November 2009.

We stop in on the site from time to time to see if any progress has been made, but short of the main line, little has changed. The intermediate section becomes more like a spine jump line every year as the lips are reshaved, but never added to. Although the dirt is actually very workable in the off season, the local riding community seems to remain apathetic about this site.

In fall of 2009, my brother and I stopped by for a session, and decided to take a stab at getting the pump track line to work. The line was never completed to the point where it flowed, or was fully ridable without pedaling. Our friend Koa came out to join us, and two days of work later, we had a ridable pump track. It still needed work, but we hoped a bit of progress might inspire others to pitch in. If this pump track or the jumps were built up to its potential, it would be a sweet spot to gather after local bike races, and you could even hold a pump track comp.

Izaak, Koa and myself work to make the pump track pump-able. Taken November 2009

Only time will tell whether the local riding scene will adopt the park, or convince the city to offer them a more idealized location.

Not all bike parks work. Whether it is a weak design, or flow that just isn’t there, it takes a community of supporters with hands willing to get dirty combined with individuals with a strong vision to achieve the dream lines heavily commented on the forums of PinkBike and the like.

What do you think? Are Ashland riders simply spoiled? Are you an Ashland resident, do you think this project was a success? What do you think happened here, and what would you do if this was your local park? Clearly there are some motivated riders in the area, based on this news clip by local TV station. They are willing to risk citations driving earth movers into the watershed to build jumps, why don’t they want to build here? Is the site really that bad? If this site was located in a dense population area like where we currently are in Oakland, I’d like to think I’d be here all the time and I believe others would too, making sure it was an awesome place to ride. However, we have two local parks here in the bay area, Calibasas and Pleasanton that also could have significantly more potential. Remember, its only dirt, it can be changed.

What does it take?

Building up the Wolfhound Retrosled 29″ Mountain Cruiser

jasonvh — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:48:26 +0000

It has been a while since I’ve spent time on a hardtail. A few buddies and myself put in a number of rides last winter on the NW Oregon coast rolling fully rigid single speeds, and it was a pretty good time. Sandy trails with short climbs and zero bike maintenance equals lots of fun and little work. Not ever having to worry about shifting, or doing anything other than pedaling and navigating the trail can equal a fun and simplified trail experience. Since then I’ve sold the bike I was previously riding on and patiently waited for my latest project to arrive- a custom Wolfhound rigid 29er.

The Wolfhound RetroSled

Those who know me will know that I’m a die hard 26″ rider- I love swoopy, jump filled slalom-like trails more than anything, and the larger 29″ wheels aren’t known for their handling in the turns. However, for this project, I wasn’t looking for a bike to replace my favorite all mountain steed. Instead the goal was create a versatile bike set up for getting around during the wet season and putting miles on in style. In essence, a low maintenance machine that would always be ready to be ridden. It needed to be single speed compatible, but offer options for a rear derailleur as well. Single speed is super fun, but ditching the front derailleur is a nice compromise between simplicity and having the option to change gears. Since I don’t have a road bike or a cross bike, this bike might be called into that role as well. The 700c rims that 29″ tires roll on can easily mount up slicks- with the correct size rim. Oh, and it had to be pretty. Really, really pretty. Isn’t that the point of a custom one-off? In my eyes, the hardtail never died, it just became delegated to filling a niche role. I already had a hardtail with 26″ wheels specifically for dirt jumping and straight abuse, so for XC and distance duties, 29″ wheels made perfect sense. They move quickly in a straight line, keep their momentum, and are fast on the road.

Fully rigid with a 20mm through axle: stiff.

For this project I turned to Fred Cuthbert of Wolfhound Cycles. Fred is a frame builder out of Talent, Oregon, that specializes in the big wheeled hardtails. As he’s tall in statue himself, the big wheels actually make sense for the kinds of riding he likes to do. He fits into the aggressive trail rider category, and builds gorgeous 29″ wheeled bikes that are designed to take a serious thrashing. Fred has been creating bikes with curved seat stays for some time now, as he like the ride quality it bestows on the ride. He is also known for his split seat tube design that allows him to move the rear wheel closer to the bottom bracket and avoid the “long haul trucker” feel inherent in many 29″ frame designs. I wanted a Wolfhound from Fred, but I gave him an additional challenge as well- I had a specific retro aesthetic I wanted to fulfill. Could he do it? My challenge to him was to create his version of the mountain cruiser in his own style, no holds barred. Lots of frame builders have done their own take on the newsboy style cruiser. How would the Wolfhound be different?

It has been a long time in coming, but the final product is finally here.

Close up of the top tube/ seat tube junction

Originally we dubbed this bike the RetroHound, but saying “hound” over and over again became redundant, so Fred came up with the “Retrosled.” With the rigid fork, I’m inclined to agree, especially when I’m banging down rough trails. Normally I have six inches of plush suspension between me and the trail. With a fully rigid, you feel every bump you roll over. Pinning it on a fully rigid ride reminds me of being slightly out of control on a sled, so the name works for me. She’s a stiff ride too- a 20mm through axle from fork leaves no question of that. Fred builds his 29ers burly. Some of them go through a massive amount of abuse, and that’s the way he likes it. This ride doesn’t get confused with a svelte carbon racer in the slightest, and that’s Fred’s style. The free floating seat tube splits near the wide (note: this has been corrected, as I initially listed it at 83mm) 95mm bottom bracket shell which contains four pressed in sealed cartridge bearings, and it results in a massively stiff interface. When you stand up to pedal, all your effort goes into creating forward momentum, and the bike goes. I asked Fred to go crazy with this build, and he complied in a major way- creating an innovative interrupted top tube. The top tube ends several inches from the seat post, and is connected to the seat tube via struts that come up from the chainstays. The curve of the top tube continues all the way to the drop outs in a flowing manner, accentuated by the brazing process Fred uses to construct his creations.

By the numbers

She doesn’t come in light though- all the tubing, as well as the brass used to hold her all together come with a major weight penalty. Interestingly enough, with light weight tires and rims mounted up, I have yet to complain. I’ve spent time time climbing steep stuff in the hills, and she just goes. When it came to the geometry, I had Fred tweak a few of his normal numbers, as I wanted a ride that would focus on going up hill. He likes a slacker seat angle, since he stands alot. Coming from riding fully sussed trail bikes, I’ve become accustomed to sitting more, and being more over the BB. I wanted the cockpit laid out around a 70mm stem as well- although this is my XC bike, I absolutely hate long stems and the lack of handling characteristics that come with them. Combine a short stem with a low and wide bar, and you end up with a riding position with your weight forward and low, with your hands spread out. With the correct top tube reach, and you can climb anything the geek with his long stem can get up, and even better, your bike will shred on the descents. (when the guy with the long stem goes over the bars, you could laugh, but you’ll be way too far in front to have seen it) Fred runs a 50mm stem on his personal Wolfhounds, but this is my XC bike, so the 70mm stem was the way to go. I also hate the look of short top tubes found on a lot of 29″ bikes. Personally I think they look stupid; there are a lot of 29″ bikes out there with tall stack heights and short stumpy headtubes. The long steerers of these bikes look like a lever for snapping the headtube off the top tube to me. Since I know where I want my bars in relation to the seat, and wanted a lot of negative space in the front triangle, a flat bar with minimal spacers was chosen. Based on this, Fred came up with the frame drawing below. Game on.

The build

The cables are all internally routed, and it results in an extremely clean looking frame. While it adds additional weight, I’m hot on the aesthetic, and the cables don’t make a sound. The Wolfhound signature fork, painted to match the frame, also has an integrated internal cable line, with a 8″ rotor specific post mount. Stiff and gorgeous, it’s bike porn at its best, with a beautiful “root beer float” paint scheme by Keith Anderson. When it came to discussing the paint, I chose a general direction for the craftsman, asked for his best, and let him go. Like Fred, Keith delivered.

The cables just flow into the tubing.

Wheels

While pedaling down the trail, this bike is silent, until you start to coast, and you hear the loud buzzing of the ratcheting Hadley 36″ hubs provided by Fred. He happened to have a set of silver Hadleys floating around, and although the original plan was to go all black on parts, I decided silver would add to the classic look I was gunning for. The rear hub uses a bolt on axle complimenting the front. I chose relatively narrow Salsa CX rims so that I would have the option to run smaller tires, and went with straight gauge 3x spokes with brass spoke nipples to minimize flex and maintenance. As opposed to using all black disc brake specific rims, I chose rims with silver machined sidewalls. If I really wanted to change things up with this bike, I could easily pull the geared drive train and brakes and add a fixed rear wheel. Since I have yet to see a fixie with the cruiser look, that concept sounds appealing. Not that I’m going to, but I love keeping my options open. For tires I originally chose Panaracer 29x 2.35″ Rampages. However, after reassessing the kinds of riding I actually plan to do on this bike, I went with fast rolling Kenda Small Block 8s in a 2.10 width. These tires feel killer on pavement, and since I’m using this bike to ride to the dirt, it has been a major win. To keep things simple, I’m running basic tubes with a presta valve.

Cockpit

In the cock pit there was no question that we were going to use a Thomson stem. For other than the most abusive riding, this is one of the most dialed pieces in the industry. A King headset I had lying around was originally slated for bearing duties, but Cane Creek graciously supplied one of their new 110.TR headsets for the build. More on this headset to come in a future post, but in the last few seasons, Cane Creek has really shot to the front of the line in the headset game with their innovative designs, and I’m stoked to have it on the bike. With a 110 year warranty, I’m never going to have to worry about it, and unlike Kings, I don’t have to tighten it repeatedly while it “sets” in.

the cockpit

For grips I wanted something special. I didn’t actually have to go far to source grips thanks to PDW, a local company based in Portland, Oregon. Their product, the Dapper Dan Ergo Grips were created for the job. Made of a durable full grain leather in a bolt-on design, these grip perfectly match the classic meets contemporary theme that we were shooting for. I’ve never tried ergo grips before, and since I plan to log some miles on this ride, the ergo shape looked like a great option and would keep me from wanting to try (sudder) bar ends. First impressions of this grip are pretty amazing. I’ve never owned a pair of grips that actually feel better when you’re not wearing gloves. They feel great, and match my brown newsboy theme perfectly. Thanks and shouts to the PDW guys for supplying the grips. Again with this one, a full review is to follow.

Dapper Dan Ergo Grips from PDW

Seat/ post/ handlebars

For the seat and post I originally chose a Brooks saddle B68 saddle, as it was the only Brooks model that matched the brown hue (and the grips) I was shooting for. Unfortunately for me, simply picking a saddle from a photo in the QBP catalog wasn’t the best plan; the B68 is intended to be a city or trekking model, and is rather wide. After the first ride, I was forced to swap it out, and it was just too wide to be functional in actual trail riding. I’m still looking for a replacement that will match the overall theme, with a brown Specialized model filling in nicely in the meantime. For the post, we chose an inexpensive Truvativ model for the time being. I have a Gravity Dropper I was planning to use on “real” trail rides, but can’t stomach the thought of the extra cable. The Gravity Dropper Classic is known as one of the most “ugly” adjustable height posts on the market as well, and to kill the style of this bike at the very end would be an insult to all the hard work that went into it. At the moment I’m eying the new Hilo adjustable height seatposts from X-Fusion. With clean lines and an all black model, it looks minimal with heaps of riding performance. Their design converts from lever actuation to remote handlebar actuation. With this build, cables=bad, so lever good.

Bars are Salsa Pro Moto Flat bars. 28″ wide.

Cranks, bottom bracket and chain guide

Crank duties are being handled by the Truvativ Stylo OCT 1.1G. Nothing too fancy here- just the best XC crankset for the money with a nice clean aesthetic, and a light package featuring the hollow OCT tech from SRAM. We yanked the bash guard for an ulta clean look, and went with a 180mm length for extra leverage up steep inclines. As mentioned previously, Fred has been using an integrated BB shell with four Phil Wood bearings pressed in.

1x Guide from MRP

The press in bottom bracket and the split seat post design created some issues with mounting a chain guide. For this we were lucky to source the 1x Guide from MRP. MRP makes the best guides in the business, and the 1x is a super clean design that does exactly as promised- retain the chain. After I received the guide, I handed it to Fred and waited. And waited. Custom bike builders are often on their own timeline, and it never is fast. However, Fred’s solution to mounting the 1x is clean, and the guide looks and works incredible. Apologies to MRP, Fred has an aversion to logos and removed the branding. The end result though is a minimal solution to the chain retention issue that to date has worked flawlessly. Full review on the 1x to follow. The only drawback to the ultra wide BB width has been with the chain line in low gears. However, this only becomes apparent when pedaling backwards. For long term pedals I’ve settled on some basic XT SPD models I had lying around for riding the trails. Good and reliable.

A peek at the bottom bracket area.

Drivetrain and brakes

For braking and drive train duties, I turned to SRAM. I had a set of X.0 shifters set aside for this build. They shift great, and are clean looking and light. For the 9 speed build, a short cage derailleur offers clean shifts, and the drive train is not far off from my trail bike. I had some Avid Juicy Carbon brakes lying around that are doing the job; initially I had issues with air in the lines, but I’m unsure whether it is from the installation (which I didn’t do) or the brakes. Bleeding the brake has resolved the issue, and to date, they more than do the job. Especially with the Formula rotors Fred had lying around. (running an 8″ in the front, 7″ in the rear) They look great, and are a nice upgrade from the stock Avids. I’ve just received some SRAM Matchmaker clamps(not pictured) that combine that consolidate the shifter/ brake mount and give the bar a super clean feel.

Hitting the dirt

Finally hitting the dirt

It seems like it’s been forever since this project was started, but I’ve finally hit the trail and gotten the tires dirty. So far it has been really, really fun. Riding a fully rigid bike is not the same riding experience as riding a contemporary trail bike, even with the high performance components we’ve hung on it. The rocky technical stuff feels a lot more rocky and technical, but the climbs all feel way shorter.

On the trail

I had some solid opinions on how I wanted this bike to ride, and it hasn’t disappointed. First impressions have been great, and it has been a fun tool for cranking out miles in the hills. It is strange to be on a fully rigid ride again, but this bike is a blast for rides where I just want to keep it simple- a waterbottle in the cage, and a tool in my pocket, and I’m out the door and heading up into the local park trails. It’s funny, I don’t really think of the big wheels when I’m riding as much as I think, “damn, no suspension.” When I’m banging down a rock strewn trail, I’m not thinking, “it’s nice that my wheels have a slightly larger diameter for rolling over shit,” instead I’m usually thinking, “damn, my seat’s high.” I’m sure I’ll have formulated quite a few opinions after spending more time on the bike, but right now I’m just enjoying being on a bike that cranks fast up hills, and is fun to roll through the dirt and over grassy hills. I’m having a blast, and with this bike that was the goal. Did I mention it looks good? Mission accomplished.

Thanks to everyone that made this build happen: Fred @Wolfhound Cycles, Keith Anderson, Cane Creek, PDW, MRP, and Jon @SRAM.