36 degrees this AM

Oliver's been asking to ride his bike to school several times lately,
hard to say no to that

the school is just up the hill a few blocks from this

leaving a Mark

Sounds like Jake's celebration was big time. Sounds like most of the 'cakes got a hold of a bad batch of Makers Mark, cuz it didn't sound like it stayed down much. Phunky heads and bellies gave me a rare chance to see something other than the back for a change.

a nice run

Have had 3 Michaux rides in the past 5 days. I feel like a logstar. I didn't get that much in during any part of the prep season. I got to ride with some kids from the BOPR that I've never ridden with before. Have known them all, but never ridden with them. They were pretty tolerant of my chattyness and alternate line choices.

Another qwality loop, this one pretty concentrated for 2 hours before dark. There are some worthy lines in the Caledonia area. Some nice logs in that sector.

qwality

Hofelt ramps up for the Gate

A great weekend, starting with a visit by Barry 1 for a 5-hour Friday ride. Quality trail, totally smacked. Barry 2 came to town for a Sunday show and jaunt in SouthChaux w/ the 'cakes.
I miss riding with the Barrys and the old GWNF crew. Solid riders, no bitching', no bullshit, no blogging, no t-shirts. Just strong boys and girls there.

Quigley bypasses the ramp. Saving himself for later?

No more takers on this section after the first 3 riders smoovely rolled the high line

skooch leg

Some peeps may have already seen this,
damn funny

ramp fairies

Got out for a real shorty this afternoon before a Ship show with Kim. Climbed Green Ridge to the Teaberry lot, and dropped on down the twisty. Passed the snowmobile descent and onto the buff. Swung close to the 'biler trail again, and then twisted down gradually for another couple miles.

Wrap the mind around the silent solo flow. Dial it back a notch knowing no one knows where you're at and you have tickets for a 7:30 show. Off the back a few times, looking for playful hits. Tuck that elbow, swing around an almost bermy curve, and get ready for the log. Over the wheel, stretch out the legs, loosen the elbows, line it up, and and SEE A PHUKKING RAMP!!!!! On a 24", old, stripped hardwood. This wouldn't even garner a photo in the RNR.

Ramp fairies, endemic to Virginia, have made their way to Michaux.
This anomalous trail. Twisty, not rocky. gradual downhill. Some would definitely call it "flowy". I don't know its name. I call it that moto trail off the snowmobile trail. It parallels this road and then that road. I wonder if the motos are making these ramps? Are there moto fairies out there?


I don't know how people define flow. Could have 20 different definitions.
I think near the top of the list has to be "no need to tap the brakes". Going downhill for a mile or two, and barely having to brake or pedal is what I call flow. This moto trail near the snowmbile trail was buff, but they ain't gotta be that way. Huckleberry Trail at Spruce Knob has flow, and you sure as hell can't call that buff. Parts of Massanutten ridge, Douthat, Lawnmower Trail. Fishermens trails often have flow. Rocky ridge trails usually have flow. Abigail has it. Those science projects off Ridge road. Connect the dots, make the best of what geology provides. How do you make flow when you have to get from up there on the ridge to down here at the creek?

TAKMBD

TAKMBD

moving pictures of that line on that trail yesterday

#2 w/ Wonderboy
thanks Todd for the motion pixels

the money loop

a content rich loop
an ass kicker,
felt like it took us 4 hours to go 8 miles or so
RockyVAMackeyRattleSidePunch
lots of features to keep you entertained
loved those logs on SW
some pics here from Travis Has A Blog
Mackey got the better of me once again; that trail is the hardest concentrated 2 miles I've ever tried to ride. Like being under attack, just one punch after another coming your way. Look out for this, but don't miss that either...

somewhere along the ride on the next couple trails I may have lost my motivation to race Teaberry. After Spruce Knob-Wild 100-Shenandoah 100, I may be satiated for a while. Rich may have gained an extra worker for next week... we'll see..

Master Mule

Tomi no fixy
workin it hard and
showing that there was something going on before his road racing VT days

if I ever grow up, I want to be like Potts the Legend,
ran into him, M. Eatough, and Morningstar and they jumped in with our group.
Potts happily sessioned the more entertaining lines. Also ran into Kent shepherding a pair around, and I know that an MBM splinter group was also in the area, plus the regular ride heading southy from Caledonia.
With last week's 75-person pre-ride, the woods seem popular these days

Shen. Mtn 100

What a change the cool temps of this week compared to the brutal UV exposure of last week in Hatteras. It's hard to put the surf buzz behind and the 100 is looming. Bike is ready, rear brake seems fixed, and I'm well rested after not riding since the Wild 100. Finally went to a doctor today to x-ray my hand from that stupid-ass log ride crash at the entrance to Camp 1 Trail about 6 weeks ago. He thinks it was fractured, but it's healing up just the way he'd want it to. So, nothing more to really worry about other than the 18 months it'll take for the pain to go all away. My hands/fingers/wrists take quite a beating in this sport, and riding rigid has little to do with it. It's the interface with the ground that does me.

a couple more iconic shots of S-Turns. credit here again
those who know this spot understand what all the fuss is about,
those who don't know it either as the setting for a recent romance movie or an unusual place for a traffic jam

it's kind of funny seeing the surfers juxtaposed with all the romance novel tourists coming to have their pictures taken at this house. the house won't be there for long, so at least some of the crowd will drop off
BTW, that house was built in 1988, and was the second house from the beach at that time

somewhere in New England last weekend,
swiped as usual from here

TS Danny

interesting rule

all these kids got many long bodyboard rides, and incessant ridiculous pummeling in the shorebreak day after day. by the end of the week, Hayes was fearlessly paddling the shorebreak on his bodyboard and getting thrashed on a building day at the lighthouse (yeah, we know we're not the most responsible parents...).

S-turns, on our way off the island,
there were lots of long lenses, and a few surfers out,
great pics will show up soon
it looked cleaner than anything from Bill

time to clean my bike from WV, remember which parts need to be replaced, cram some SM-100 training into this week.
after what feels like a week of cobra-pose, I'm heady to hunch over my handlebars all day next weekend.

Fri morning, not looking too good at the house, east winds at 5mph. We'll head up to the lighthouse again. Gusty 25-39 mph winds later, but, tomorrow says west winds at 12mph. That could make for some good stuff, so we may stick around another day.

Broke a fin on my way in from the lighthouse yesterday. Luckily, that was an easy $16 fix. As I paddled in yesterday, a tall, tanned, frantic woman came up to me saying something about "the worst fear a mother can have". She got a call from the school (which started here on Monday) that her kid and his friend were not at school. She was afraid, and she checked the lighthouse straightaway. Her son and his buds were some of the crew dominating the peak and throwing the airs. She said she didn't know what to do, that these were "honors kids" who never skipped school. She asked me to paddle back out and tell them to come in. I couldn't help but laugh, and suggested she walk out on the jetty as far as she could and glare at them a while, and embarrass them in front of their crew. "...Yea dude, and then your mom walked out on the jetty and jerked your ass.....". I couldn't help but laugh when she needed help. I mean, this was not the first time at the peak for these kids. They knew what they were doing. Mom may have to get used to a new routine here....

thursday

still no photos from me
this one was taken north of here, but we had the same conditions this morning,
wasn't breaking at home, so Todd and I drove up to Buxton early again,
it was glassy, and looked pretty good, bigger than home, but not too much
there was a tight pack at the peak on the jetty
then a big open gap, then another another bigger pack off to the south,
I paddled out pretty easily in the gap, which I figured must be a channel, otherwise, why wouldn't guys be sitting in it catching waves.

the guys on the peak were pretty much getting tubed on every drop-in, then whipping off 2 or 3 off the tops, and an occasional air to end it. an older, bald longboarder was catching them way outside and riding them all the way in for about 100 yards.
the waves weren't as good off to the south for the big pack, and not too much was coming through the channel
still, I stayed in the gap, content to just sit there and wait as I drifted closer to the peak and jetty.
after a few unremarkable rides, a beauty comes right to me. no one else was close enough to chase it, sort of a peaky A-frame just for me. A niice long right, toward the jetty with a small turn or two on the open face. I couldn't believe I caught a good wave in that crowd. As I paddled back out, Todd just shook his head, laughed, and said, "....man, that thing came right at you....". The end of that wave put me much closer to the peak, so I kinda just hung out there for a while to see if something else would come my way and tried to stay outtta the way of the more skilled crew.

nice ones were being ridden all around me and I chased a few and got in the way a couple times too. I found myself sitting inside some of the shortboarders, which usually isn't smart, especially close to the peak.
then another beaut comes right at me, too far inside for several other guys who chased it, and it was all me again. another nice long right, as I headed toward the jetty and started to kick out, I saw the wave hit some backwash and jack up into a small tube. If I hadn't kicked out, I'd have been in that tube and woulda kicked out real close to the jetty. oh well, no barrels this year..... only a few good rides to keep the hook set....

swell from Danny was supposed to start filling in today, but we haven't seen it yet. unfortunately. the winds from Danny will arrive too. so, Friday will probably be blown out, and we may head out of here a day earlier.