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I love mountain bike culture. I love our tribe, I love all the different characters I get to meet. On a recent trip to Left Hand I met up with some fun riders, each at different stages in their cycling career. The first rider I met that day was my friend Matt. I knew he was out there because his car was in the usual spot. All summer, me, him and this dude with a Jeep Wrangler had been vying for the first tracks of the day. There is something special about being the first one to enter the trail system. Matt has known this feeling many times, including that morning.  This summer I learned to stop hating Strava and enjoy it as a way to see that my friends are out riding. So, I started to notice that Matt had been riding Left Hand consistently for many weeks. Matt has been on a streak. Starting At the end of August he rode, 26,28, Sept 2,9,11,13,16,18,20,22,23,25,27,29, Oct 1,2,4,5,7,9,11,13,14.  I love that he is doing this. I think it will forever affect the way he rides. When I was in h

     I limped into work on a Monday and my buddy asked what I did. I said, I slipped my pedals doing an ET. He said, The kids at BMX are always doing those. Why’s it called that? Doesn’t it stand for something?        Well,  dear readers, ET does in fact stand for Extra Terrestrial. Today I’ll tell the tale of how the cute little alien may be unknowingly referenced at your local dirt jump spot or bike park. First I’ll describe the trick. This is a pretty easy trick and I encourage every rider to try this for themselves. You ride off the lip of the jump and then once you are in the air you start pedaling again,  as you begin to drop, stop pedaling, set your feet level and stomp the landing        For me a good one is two or three pedal strokes. Blake from GMBN   says his record is six full cranks. That's a pretty big jump. I can also do a half a crank on a really little jump or roller. I think these are a fun, under rated jump. This is a trick impossible to capture in a still photo

     When I go to the doctors office I try to give them something to talk about. I’m sure they deal with a lot of people who neglect their health, I want to give them something out of the ordinary. I see the same thing at my job as a diesel mechanic. A driver will pull up complaining about the a/c in a truck and as I open the hood I’ll see leaks and loose bolts. I can see no effort was taken in maintaining the truck. Other times I can see that a truck has been very well maintained. The damage comes from a component that has simply exceeded its physical limits. That’s what I do with my body. I maintain it, but sometimes I exceed its physical limits.     That’s why it’s fun when a Doctor in the ER calls out to a co-worker, “Hey Dave, you gotta come check this out.” This happened when I scalped myself with the bottom edge of a loader arm. Doctors were coming in from other parts of the hospital to see the injury they had heard about. My wife was working at the hospital that day, she was no

     I was on an early morning ride and had just completed the climb to the top of The Grind. I leaned my bike where I always do and started my pre-descent preparations. This includes sipping some water, a little stretching, then putting on helmet and gloves. I heard a frantic buzzing sound and noticed a black and yellow bee had become fascinated by my bike. I considered taking a picture, but then I figured most people could picture this scene.      The bee started climbing along the spare tube, then the frame buzzing and buzzing. I looked close and it appeared the bee had bundles of pollen already hanging from it’s back legs. What was causing this bee to get sidetracked from it’s job to freak out over my bike?       I shooed the bee off and it came right back. This lasted several minutes, and finally I had to grab the bike, run it a few paces and quickly jump on to leave the bee behind. This was my first ride of the week, so I thought I was feeling a little rusty. The jumps felt a lit

     I think my problem is that I keep trying to write a post with a bunch of opinion, like, why I hate Strava. But, I always run out of steam because I’m just starting a one sided argument that no one really cares about.      Instead I’ll just tell true stories, the way they happened. I’ve been riding a bunch at Left Hand Canyon. This makes the fourth year I’ve been indoctrinated into the cult of Left Hand. Being in the cult means a day of riding elsewhere is a day wasted. I know the front range has lots of options, and people invite me to go try new places. I just smile and say, “ Yeah we should totally go ride that other place.” But, I know I’m lying. Riding someplace else local would be a betrayal of the dark powers I worship. The demon gods of Left Hand would know, and they would strike down upon me with great vengeance and horrible anger. And I want nothing to do with that.      Me and the demon gods of Left Hand have been really tight lately. We had a nice wet  spring season. I

   a tabletop   I still make dirt jumping part of my life.  There’s really nothing like it. I've been doing it for twenty years now and I kind of feel like I've earned my place. I love pushing my bike into the line-up.  I always greet the other riders just to check the attitude. A dirt  jump session should be an inclusive and positive scene. It’s one of the few times in life that you are really putting yourself out there. It’s not like a party or work or any situation where people can talk about how good they are. Nobody fakes their way through a dirt jump line.      I have a mantra I use at the park. You only have to be the best until the best show up.   And I love it when the best show up! Kickass riders are awesome to watch. I can usually spot one in the drop-in line as I roll up. They won’t wear any gear except a helmet.       It’s great when the best riders are fun and friendly. Sometimes they’re not. That’s fine. If a guy is throwing down sick tricks he  can be withdrawn

 Obviously Strava is the worst thing to happen to mountain biking. This one app has convinced an entire generation of riders that speed is the only metric they should use to judge success. Strava does not measure style, creativity, jumps, wheelies or anything cool. The app teaches riders that, if you are faced with one line that is fun or challenging, and another line that is just faster, always choose the fast line. It does have one redeeming feature though, you can use it as a human Etch a Sketch. I messed around with Strava for a year and it took me a while to get into doodling. I would have a 40 minute ride at lunch time each day. This gave me about 5 minutes to find a location with a a 5 minute ride back, and 30 minutes to create something. That's the same time limit Bob Ross would use! I'll try to break down some tips I learned so you can try to do something creative with the otherwise stupid Strava app. First off... Location,  a nice big parking lot is a great place to s

       I'm a mechanic, so by my nature I like to know how things work. I get a feeling of joy when I see how the magic happens. When you first get the itch to try repairs yourself there are many magical obstacles before you. For example, look at changing gears on a bike. You are pedaling a bike, you move the lever on the bar *POOF* magic happens! and now the bike is pedaling easier up the hill.       But then you spend a few minutes with your bike up on a stand. You spin the crank and it's hard to turn, so you you click the lever. Then the funky arm moves, the chain jumps to a bigger gear in back and it becomes easier to pedal. Your brain absorbs the idea of what is happening and suddenly the magic is gone. You see the little wire that pulled the funky arm and there's really no magic at all.      Most people are happy as long as the magic happens when they want it. Everyone faces their own challenges everyday and everyone is a magician for their own specific magic. I send m