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  Monday morning I walked into work with a pep in my step. I had ridden my bike to work, and on Sunday I had kicked off my first dirt jump sesh of '23. I was feeling good. I said hi to my coworker. He asked how my weekend was.  I said it was fantastic, I went dirt jumping. I asked how his was. He explained that he had bought a bunch of ammo on Saturday and he got a "plate." My good vibe started to falter, I said, " You got a plate carrier?" He explained, "No I already had the carrier, but now I have a plate for it. " And just like that I was dragged down off my cloud and into the foul, shitty reality that is our country. To quote the great band Len, he stole my sunshine. He did not want to hear about my dirt jumping, but he did want to talk more about his plate armor. "I've been watching tons of youtube testing and haven't seen anything that can penetrate this brand." I said, " Sounds like you're ready for combat, now all yo

I know I bag on mountain bikers who only ride for PR's, it's not because I dislike speed. I just think they have no style. But I do like speed. I love driving fast, especially over winding mountain passes and twisting canyon roads. I like riding a road bike fast, especially on the Copper Triangle . When I was a Summit Stage driver I even drove a bus fast. Too fast. As a bus driver I received several speed warnings. The police don't stop a bus, but they flash their lights at you and they might call into dispatch. If you're caught you can't deny it because there is only one bus going from each location at any given time. But for me, the most thrilling sensation of speed comes with skiing. The feeling of the cold wind blowing past you. The sound of P-Tex chattering across hardpack. It is truly breathtaking. And it takes a special technique to go really fast. In a car you stay on the gas to go fast. On a mountain bike you stay off the brakes to go fast. But on skis, you