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There’s an old joke. How do you know if a firefighter is at your party? He’ll tell you. So how do you know when a firefighter is writing your bike blog? Well, I’ll explain. See, I was mountain biking one day...and I had an epiphany. Something about hucking a carbon 29er at an awesome bike park with an awesome trick jump has allowed me to keep progressing as a fifty year-old dirt jumper. 2025 kicked off strong and I was starting to think about tricks I could dial in this year. I remembered that I used to have a decent bar spin, but I haven't done those since I had a bike with a Gyro. I stopped by my LBS and talked it over with the owner. To allow my bars to spin around he picked out an extra long brake line and added in a new extra long cable and housing. The parts would be about $75 and I could bring my bike in and he'd help me do the swap. I said I'd be back. That's when the epiphany happened, I thought, "Do I NEED to do bar spins?" I know I would get them. ...

 Yesterday I joined a birthday ride to celebrate a good friend's 45th. He rallied six of us into an epic day that went off perfectly. The local dropped expert trail knowledge. Every rider stepped up to new and intimidating challenges, and the guy who always crashes had a spectacular OTB right in front of me! Back at the trailhead beers and hotdogs galore were waiting for us. For the next several hours the hotdogs glistened and biking stories were told. Everyone crushed the techy ten mile ride so I was surprised to learn that most of the crew had started mountain biking during or just before Covid. Me and the other Gen Xer were the only lifetime riders.  A few hotdogs in, one mustached millennial posed the question, "So when did mountain biking get good?" It's a great question. Especially if your first bike is a carbon 29er with a dropper and a 1x drivetrain.  The other old guy started describing a specific point in full suspension development but I disagreed.  I decl...

 I was fortunate enough to meet some friends for a Valmont riding session the other day. I've known Jesse since the pre-child days and now both of us are fathers. My girls are both skilled bike riders but they really accell at the sportsball activities. They have inherited the gene for team ball sports from their mother. Jesse's son on the other hand is a cycling prodigy. He flows with incredible style over the biggest jump lines or across the finish line. At one point Jesse and another dad split for the slopestyle line and I went with the boys over to the trick jump. I may have mentioned before that I believe tricks are an important aspect of jumping bikes. I just think if you're going to jump bikes, why not do some tricks? The alternative route for progression is to just keep jumping bigger and bigger jumps and this can lead to a plateau with severe consequences. To me a cool trick on a medium size jump is more impressive than a dead sailor over a massive jump. Basically,...

 The first time I saw a brake rotor draw blood was with my old dog Seamus . Seamus loved to chase bikes, he was a great dog.  A black and white border collie lab, he was born in Crested Butte and later honed his bike dog skills on the singletrack trails of Bend, Oregon.   I wouldn't say he was cuddly and loving, he was more like a heroin junkie jonzing for a fix. As soon as he saw me or any other human he would find some item to drop at your feet and begin begging you to throw it. He would lift the stick or slimy tennis ball up and try to spit it into your hand. If you hid the ball he would find a stick. If you hid the stick he'd find a rock. He was relentless. His lower teeth were chipped and broken from his fetching habit and he kept himself in constant motion, desperate to chase or retrieve. He was a dock jumper, frisbee catcher and bike chaser. The first bike he learned to chase had Vee brakes. So neither of us were expecting what happened when he chased me on my...

 I was in the middle section of a long climb when another rider slowly closed the gap behind me. As he started to crank past me I heard a slight swiping sound in the cadence of his pedal strokes. Vip,vip,vip,vip. He didn't say anything as he rode past, but I looked over at his rig and saw the cause of the swiping sound. He had his knee pads on the wrong knees and the straps were on the inside. With each rotation of the pedals the nylon straps rubbed against his frame and shock. I try to be a helpful mountain biker. I'm always willing to give trail directions or help change a flat. And I try not to be judgmental, everyone was a beginner at once. I remember someone pointing out a tire I had mounted backwards, the little rotation arrow going the wrong way. I also wore a women's ski jacket for several seasons. I never would have known if someone didn't notice the buttons on the opposite side. It's also possible to be a bike rider for a long time, yet not be very familia...

 I realized it as soon as I parked my car at the trailhead and stepped out. I mentally facepalmed myself. I had forgotten to grab my helmet. I know we used to ride bikes without helmets. Even the first mountain bikers. But nowadays I don't even cruise the side walk without a helmet. I'm definitely not riding a sick day at Left Hand without a brain bucket. At least I was by myself so I wasn't ruining anyone else's day. I accepted the fact that I wouldn't be doing any hardcore riding and resigned myself to some trail maintenance. It was still a beautiful day and I was in my favorite place, so I headed up. I thought about the judgement I would receive from other mountain bikers, but no one lectured me about head trauma. Then I stashed my bike and became a hiker anyway.  The last time I rode Indy I did notice lots of loose rocks. In my thirty-plus years on a mountain I've realized that loose rocks on a trail are just as sketchy then as they are now. I've also re...