2010 Ray’s Odd Couple 1st Place: Rocco Quintiliani and Brian Kachinsky

The Flaming Dog Poo gag sets the pace for a chase sequence throughout the park filled with tricks o’ plenty.

1st Place Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Rocco Quintiliani & Brian Kachinsky from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

2010 Rays Odd Couple 2nd Place: Adam Hauck and Kris Marcum

When I heard the soundtrack to this video, I got up and danced! Ok, no I didn’t. My cat was looking at me and mocking me and I was embarrassed.

2010 Rays Odd Couple 2nd Place: Adam Hauck and… – More Mountain Bike Videos

2010 Ray’s Odd Couple, Jeff Lenosky and Chris Aceto 3rd Place

2010 Ray’s Odd Couple 4th Place: Brian Miller and Adam Banton

All I have to say on this one is holy crap. Adam Banton has always been one of my fave riders to watch in videos like “Road Fools,” and he rips the place up with all his tech lines, including manualing though the pump track… but FAKIE!
Brian to his credit, was shredding harder than I’ve seen him go before- he transfers EVERYTHING, including up over to the second floor. This is my personal favorite of the group, and gets my vote for 1st.

4th Place Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Brian Miller & Adam Banton from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

2010 Ray’s Odd Couple 5th Place: Aaron Chase and Justin Simpson

Aaron Chase and Justin Simpson killing it to Danzig. “Nuff said.

5th Place Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Aaron Chase & Justin Simpson from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Andrew Taylor and Pat Laughln “Big Daddy”

AT and Big Daddy are rolling in the dough.

Music Video: Big Daddy Feat. Andrew Taylor “Let it Rock” from Vinylbmx on Vimeo.

Phil Sundbaum and Ronnie Napolitan- filmed by Cory Tepper

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Phil Sundbaum & Ronnie Napolitan from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Greg Watts and Steve Woodward- also filmed by Cory Tepper

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Greg Watts & Steve Woodward from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Sal Wood & Nick Bonner, filmed by Eric Kucinski

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Sal Wood & Nick Bonner from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Matt Macduff & Dillon Lloyd, filmed by Vincent Allard

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Matt Macduff & Dillon Lloyd from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Andrew Bigelow & Will Fisher

Ray’s Odd Couple 2010 – Andrew Bigelow & Will Fisher from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Related posts:

1. Ray’s Indoor Park is Rad
2. Backyard Blam Presents the Bridgetown Hustle
3. 2010 Black Rock Trail Work Days Posted

Friday starts with a bunny hop contest, roller sprints, some sort of trick comp, and the opening of a Bike Art Show at Nemo.

You should go to this event, cause it has a cool poster.

I’m stoked to say that although I just found out about this event last minute, I had a few bike related paintings ready to roll that I will be exhibiting as well.

List of artists showing at Studio Nemo- hey, that's my name.

Details on the event have been a bit vague, but I’ve managed to scape together some details. The activities include a DH Slalom, something with a pump track, and of course the Friday night Bike Art Show Opening.

If you like bikes, and hanging out with other people that like bikes, you should go. FYI, there is a beer sponsor. (uh oh.)

Here’s a video from September’s Blackyard Blam:

Backyard Blam!!! 9/13/09 from Justin Bailey on Vimeo.

More on the Bridge Town Hustle at their website.

Here’s where to go:

Nemo
1875 SE Belmont 6-10pm
Art show: Free
$5 to participate in the contests. Mad Prizes. Note the long list of sponsors- who doesn’t love cool bike swag?

Saturday meet for some Pump track actio at 528 N Ivy. Portland.

Who’s in for a huge game of foot down? I know I am!

pics of the Blam from September 2009y, m

No related posts.

Rocks. Lots of them.

The Tunnel Trail is a popular destination is southern California, and it isn’t uncommon to see full crews of DH riders on prototype bikes there, testing the latest gear. When we were scouting another trail, we saw a truck load of employees from Intense finishing up a ride. As it is an easy drive up to the top drop off point via a nicely paved road, you can imagine the trail gets a lot of use.

Jason Liebrecht from San Diego rocking a Demo 8 over lots of rock.

The trail is an intense ride down a rock strewn path that has so many baby heads that if you’re not careful, you will shake your fillings loose. It is the kind of trail where staying off the brakes and keeping your momentum is highly desired. A long travel DH bike with big tires in the ticket here, with a full complement of body armor.

It starts off humbly, but quickly become the intense trip it is known for. While is it definitely black diamond material, at slower paces, many sections are quite manageable on bikes with less travel. (but not at the speed we were going at)

Some sections are particularly gnar- especially sections with steeper grades combined with loose rock and narrow clearance. It can be disastrous if you loose your focus for even a second. I only had knee pads on at this point in our trip, and I seriously regretted it on my first run down.

Braaap. Photo by Jason Liebrecht

A bit of over confidence was a bad idea too, as I was loving it so much I decided to take the lead for a bit early on in the ride. After a particularly bumpy section, I started getting a bit fatigued, and instead of pausing for a bit, I ended up getting off-line for a second at at bad spot. In this second I ended up banging my shin solidly on a rock, and bouncing straight into the ground. That rock ended up leaving me with a nice sized lump on my shin as a souvenir.

ow. Before the swelling began.

Our buddy Chris joined us after he got off work, and as we needed to pick up the shuttle vehicle, I was able to get a second run down the trail. After I pounded a Red Bull, and dropped some Ibuprofin tablets and pumped myself back up, the second run was the highlight of my day, as I was able to get solidly in my groove and redeem myself. Chris showed me some lines I missed on the first run that made banging through some seriously burly sections way more flowy, and despite the massive throbbing shinner, we railed the second run of the day.

Point. Shoot. Hold on. Boom.

Needless to say, after two runs, I was beat. However, with my Session properly kitted out with a new Boxxer up front, I can’t wait to get back down there.

Watch for other users

Unfortunately, the close proximity to town, also means it is extremely popular with the local hikers. User conflict is a hot button issue in Santa Barbara which has been minimized by the work of the Santa Barbara Trail Volunteers, a local trail advocacy group. Bear bells are available at the top and bottom of the trail, and they ask that you put one on your bike before dropping into the trail to warn hikers of the progression of your descent. There is a drop off box at the bottom of the trail when you are done.

Pin it- brakes are bad on sections like this. Photo: Chris Orr

Trail Conditions

The trail was among the many that took a major hit from a serious fire last summer, and the fire rendered much of it unridable. Since then it has been closed. However, the local groups have been busy doing trail work, and that could change at any time. According to our buddy Chris Orr with SBTV, although the trail has been getting heavy use from bikers and hikers, the Forest Service is keeping it closed until the end of the “rainy” season.

For more information on the trail, click here.

Related posts:

1. Santa Cruz Session
2. Sneaking into 104 Bronson- home of Santa Cruz Bicycles

Bionicon bikes have a unique suspension design that allow riders to adapt the bike’s geometry on the fly to suit terrain.

Bionicon

Please RSVP (via Facebook) and post a comment to let them know what size bike you’d like to demo. Folks who RSVP will have first crack.

Sm Edison LTD
Sm SuperShuttle
Sm Golden Willow
Med Golden Willow Scandium 0
Med Edison
Med Ironwood
Large Edison
Large SuperShuttle
XL Edison LTD

This is not a big event. There will be no food, no coffee, no place to go poopy and NO Whiners. Bring your own Redbull. Come prepared to have fun and take care of your own needs.

Where it is and when it’s at

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Time: 10-2pm

Location: Syncline

Meet at the parking lot at Courtney Road & SR14

Click here for a map

rider marks the spot

for more about Bionicon, click here

for more on Syncline, click here

No related posts.

IMB issue #3

Click the pic, or check it out here.

Related posts:

1. 2010 Black Rock Trail Work Days Posted
2. Join IMBA for Two Great Events at the Sea Otter Classic

Ray and his crew have really set the bar with their park. For someone that has yet to ride it, what gets me is the scale of the riding environment. The space just looks huge. Many of the clips focus on the technical slow and skinny stuff, which is great, and will totally get beginner and those new to indoor park riding engaged. But take a look at this recent clip that was posted on Pink Bike:

That’s what I’m talking about.

Rad Jumps

This is one of the coolest clips I’ve seen to date- probably because it focuses on the stuff I would be riding if I were there. This is why Ray’s has the rep it has- there are lik, a million and two jumps to hit. Not to mention that when you actually see someone riding, it is apparent that there is plenty of space and room to breathe. The box jump section that comes up at 1:11 seriously just gets me stoked!

Small table line on the left, intermediate in the middle, expert on the right, with a million different transfer options to get through it. This is a park built for riding bikes and was designed for the riding experience we want. Jumps, and lots of them.

New jump line. Photo: Rays MTB

Note that while the jumps are tall, the distance between the lip and the landing aren’t that far, as the jumps are designed to maximize hang time and less about distance, which makes them a lot easier to do tricks on. The jumps in the expert line aren’t small either if you look closely. All the ramps are built to maximize the fun factor, and less about being “hard.”And since everything is made of wood, the maintenance is minimal, and every time you come to ride, all the lips are exactly the same, which means less time working on figuring out the way through the rhythm, and more time booting air.

so many options. When there are so many lines you are visually overwhelmed, you know you are in for a treat. Photo: Rays MTB

Ramps and Bowls

At 1:38 you see a rider on a quarterpipe line with a wedge in the middle. There is no better setup for learning legit wall rides than this one- this line is totally friendly whether you turn to the left or the right. This section of the park just gets me- if I ever win the lotto and build myself a private park, I’m bringing these guys in to help me with the layout and construction.

The park has something for everyone

Here’s a clip that gives more of an overview to the rest of the park.


Ray’s Indoor Park Edit from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

Small tabletop/ box jump that is perfect for beginner riders learning to jump. Photo: Rays MTB

Portland needs a park like this. Seriously. Until then, start planning your trip to Ohio.
Raysmtb.com

Related posts:

1. Oregon’s Rainy Day Destination: the Oregon State Expo Indoor Bike Park
2. The Gunbarrel Jumps (AKA Eaton Park)
3. Backyard bikepark project: Phase II begins

Inside the skatepark at NWSOF

They also are one of the only other places to ride your bike when the water is coming down. Windells has an indoor skatepark that is open for bicycle sessions. Held most Sundays in through winter, the entire campus is available for your pleasure. Since it’s Oregon, it will most likely be raining, so you’ll probably be stuck inside, but weather permitting, the dirt and cement lines will be open as well.

Can't wait for the dirt to dry and try this stuff out!

To top it all off, the indoor park has one of the only bike friendly foam pits currently available to the Oregon public. Unfortunately, the skatepark currently has a decidedly street skater friendly layout. Most of the features are wedges and grind boxes, without a box jump in sight. Since the kicker into the foam pit isn’t replicated anywhere else in the park,  you’ll have to wait until the dirt dries out to try out your new moves.

The launch point for the foam pit at the Windells indoor park offers two lips to choose from.

Unfortunately, the transition into the foam pit is one of the only ones in the park.

Get the scoop

It isn’t always open, so call ahead before making the trek.

Prices are $20 for all day. (9am-5pm)

Half-day is $10. (1pm-5pm)

For more info, call the main office at 503-622-3736 or drop them a note, info@nwsof.com
Windells Camp
59550 East Hwy 26
Sandy, OR 97055

Thanks to Tim Zimmerman for car pooling and showing me the goods.

Don’t forget, you should follow me on Twitter here.

Related posts:

1. Oregon’s Rainy Day Destination: the Oregon State Expo Indoor Bike Park
2. BRMBA’s Covered Dirt Jump Park in Salem, Oregon
3. Riding Seattle’s Colonnade Freeride MTB Park

Come build at Black Rock, and there will be that much more rad stuff to ride next time.

Black Rock Trail Work Days for 2009 / 2010

We are only having 4 major work days scheduled for this build season they are:

Sunday November 29th 9:00 am – 2:00 pm (DONE – 12 volunteers)
Saturday Jan 16th 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Sunday March 14th 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Saturday May 1st 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Trail Managers need help so if you can please come out to help.

If you come out to help and are just working please drive up to BT and someone will point you in the right direction or if we don’t have a lot of volunteers then there will be a table under the tent.  Please check in and then read the notice there on where to go to help.

If you are working and then plan to ride you can drive up for working but you will need to drive back down before riding since the gate will be closed by 4PM (we don’t want to lock anyone in).

Please come help if you can or if you can’t and want to help out other days please send an email to volunteer@brmba.org and we will get you in contact with a trail builder.

Related posts:

1. Trail Review: Black Rock Trails
2. Shuttle Day at Black Rock
3. IMB – International MountainBike Magazine issue #3 posted online

When we arrived in the early afternoon on a Saturday, there were about 15-20 kids on BMX bikes riding the jumps in the dark. The lights in every other part of the facility were on, except for over the jumps. I spent the next 20 minutes or so searching for the light switches. The men’s restroom had a box, and I managed to turn on all the lights on except for the overhead lights. After pedaling all over the fairgrounds, I found a State employee at the home show, and managed to get him to radio someone to turn the overhead lights on, as riding the jumps without the lights was a safety issue. For future reference, if this happens to you, here is the Main Fair Office phone: 503-947-3247 and the info line: 1-800-833-0011.

The view of the return line options from the berm

As the only indoor public bike park we’re aware of in Oregon, (currently open, Windells AKA NSoF also features a bike session night for their indoor skatepark, but public riding sessions are limited) the Salem Fairgrounds makes for a great rainy day destination. While we wished for more features, the jumps kept us entertained and challenged for the several hours we were there, and we rode until we were too tired to keep going. Adding elevated ladder skinnies and similar features would be a great addition, and a big draw for mountain bikers. The facility had a small pump track last year, but as it never was completely dialed in, (as far as I know- we only visited the park once, on our way through the NW) using the dirt to make the jump lines better seems to be a better call. Perhaps due to the BMX biased jump line, we only saw a few kids on 26″ wheels, although a few more 26″ riders showed up as we were packing up.

Inga takes off on the second jump in the beg/int line

There is room for additional features, and we would love to see more. There was an empty area with a wood quaterpipe that would be an great area to add to and build on. The addition of a wood box jump and grind boxes would spread the rider traffic out, and this area could have also housed a number of skinny technical challenge lines. I’m not sure the status of the park, but from what I understand,  it is all built by volunteers from the Black Rock Mountain Bike Association. As Oregon is notoriously rainy, we would love to see this facility open year-round. Even better would be an additional facility in the Metropoliton Portland area, but the fact there are covered jumps within an hours drive is not shabby either.

We have been unable to locate more info on the park, as the Oregon State Expo website doesn’t even mention. Details were lacking on the BRMBA website as well, but when we do, we’ll be sure to post it. As it is, it’s almost like it’s on the down low.

The beginner/ intermediate line features three table top jumps and a step up into a 180 berm. After the berm are four rollers and an intermediate table top jump. For more advanced riders, the three table tops are matched with three doubles. The first three sets are significantly larger than the table tops and have platforms built into the landings, which offer minimal penalty for casing.

BMX rider on the third set of the advanced line. Note the case friendly landing.

The fouth set is a rollable double into a big berm. After the berm, there are two large doubles. Although there was evidence of use, we didn’t see anyone hitting them, and as I personally was feeling rusty, didn’t try them either.

Second set of the advanced dirt jump line at the Salem Indoor BMX Dirt Jumps.

There is a considerable amount of rider traffic, as kids coming back on the return line and kids headed at the wood kicker/ mulch jump cross lines, so be aware of your surroundings. However, this is standard for bike parks, and hopefully everyone does that already.

While signs are not posted, helmets should be worn. About a third of the BMX riders weren’t wearing helmets, and as the area is unsupervised, this policy didn’t seem to be enforced.

26" rider kicks out the jams on the third set.

How to get there:

from Portland:

exit 258 toward N Salem/Fairgrounds/Amphitheatre

• right at Portland Rd NE
• Left on Lana Ave NE
• right on Silverton Rd NE

Website and contact information for the Oregon State Fair and Expo Center: http://www.oregonstateexpo.org
Black Rock Mountain Bike Association/ BRMBA website: http://brmba.org/

You should follow me on Twitter here.

Related posts:

1. BRMBA’s Covered Dirt Jump Park in Salem, Oregon
2. Ray’s Indoor Park is Rad
3. The backyard bike park project

Izaak VH, dropping in from Four Corners. Photo: JVH

I’ve been listening to the buzz on Facebook about some new stuff that has been showing up, and unlike a lot of the horrible outlaw stuff that was going on a few years ago, the new breed of “wood elves” have been building features that are solid. Stuff that not only enhances the trail and the mountain bike experience, but may actually become part of a legitimate trail system. As opposed to the old school stuff the old hacks were building- things like fall line trails straight down a 40+ percent grade, sketchy wood structures with no clear landing zone, lame kickers to flat landings- all types of rouge building that is sure to hurt access for mountain biking.

But that isn’t what this post is about. It’s about how much fun the stuff we rode was to ride.

Fun stuff. One of the new jumps.

The run from the Mt. Ashland Ski area or Timewarp to Four Corners, and down into Lithia park has been gaining quite a reputation as being a fun filled ride. And it is- how can one complain about a descent of 14miles or so in length that takes almost an hour, filled with fun swoopy turns and jibs along the way? The only problem with this descent is that it has quite a few stretches of, how do you say, “meh,” to connect a lot of the good stuff. In fact, while many ride DH bikes down from the ski area, for most of the trails, anything of 6″ of travel is bit over kill. In our opinion, a slopestyle bike is the steed of choice for the most trails here- it is just the most fun.

The second/ third set (depending on where you start counting) from the side

On this trip, I elected to bring my Trek Remedy, built up with a solid set of parts for a decidedly more mini-DH/ play bike/ heavy duty all mountain build. It was definitely the way to go. The new stuff is good, but Ashland trails are less about burly rock gardens, and more about pinning it down relatively smooth tread. My brother Izaak lives in the area, so trips to Ashland double as brother bonding time with a plus: we both ride at a similar level and prefer the exact same riding experience. (going fast and jumping stuff) And since we’ve been riding together since we both figured out how to balance a bike, that means training the lead down the hill, and monkey see, monkey do.

Still dialing the tabletop with 29" bars on the Remedy, but the Weir face is locked! Shutter by IVH

One of my personal dream trails is remarkably like Dirt Merchant in Whistler. But longer, with more jumps, wall rides, rollers, bermed turns, ect. I wouldn’t say this hits it yet, but for about 20 seconds we were pinning it, booting it, setting up for the next hit, and doing it again, and again. All with big grins affixed to faces. (see picture)

After the first few hits you come to this step up. You might throw in a pedal before this, or add a bit of "pop."

Followed of course by a step down

Same step down - pulled back view

This landing for a new step down took a lot of dirt to make happen. I’m stoked on this section because of the cheater line to the right, which is very Inga friendly, and good for our buddies still building up their confidence and dirt jump skills.

More step down action.

Last step down in the line- The landing has a short transition. Don't say I didn't warn you...

The last few jumps are step downs, but watch out for the last one- it is easy to over jump. This hit has been around for a while, but they did improve the lip and landing, although the landing is still easy to over shoot. Staying low and/ or break checking is recommended- my first run through left me with a bit of an ache in my ankles after I blasted it to flat.

You should follow me on Twitter here.

Related posts:

1. Salem Fairgrounds Covered Dirt Jump Spot Check
2. BRMBA’s Covered Dirt Jump Park in Salem, Oregon
3. Santa Cruz Session