And with Fall comes...

The Furnace Creek 508.

10 Days.

Getting nervous.

A good way to begin my thirties?

More soon.

love,
Desert Locust (my 508 totem/alter-ego)

Tahoe Sierra 100 mountain bike race

Another hundred miler! (the veterans call them 'hundies'):

Tahoe Sierra 100
results (google doc)
12hr 35min
35th out of 84 in Open Men
Cycling News coverage

Scene: Zeno's bar in State College, PA. A live band is playing and we have to almost yell to be heard.
Characters: Matt, Steevo, Steevo's bike racer friend Straub, Straub's roommate Rich

Straub: Matt and Steevo are racing the Shenandoah 100 this weekend and Matt is racing the Tahoe-Sierra 100 the weekend after that.
Rich: I'll be at both of those too. Sweet.
Matt: You are going out to CA for the 100?
Rich: I work for Giant Bicycles, so I fly back and forth between CA and PA a lot.
Matt: Maybe you can help solve my dilemma. I need to get my bike from one to the other and it is going to cost me a ton. Any ideas?
Rich: Hmmnn. I've got a trailer full of 2009 demo bikes in CA. You can ride one of those, unless you have to ride a rigid single-speed.
Matt: Whoa, really? I'd hate to be responsible for one of those bikes.
Rich: No man, it's what they are for.
(Steevo nudges Matt's leg under the table)
Matt: Okay. You sure?
Rich: Yeah man. I'll have a 2009 Anthem in your size waiting.
Matt: Sweet!

So three days after getting back from the PA trip, I am flying to Sacramento with Sufiya. We stay at my Uncle Bob's house, the same awesome Uncle I stay with for the Auburn Triathlon (2006, 2007, 2008), the first night. On Friday we drive out to the campground start/finish which 45 miles on one windy mountain road from the nearest town.

This is what a lot of the course looks like

Definitely in a beautiful area

more

Friday night we camp, which is Sufiya's first time camping. Ever. It went well. The stars were amazing and it didn't get too cold. She asks me where I am meeting Rich in the morning. When I tell her we just said that we'd see each other she expresses concern that we have no plan. You didn't set up a meeting point? Oops.

In the morning, after walking over to registration for some coffee, I notice a black SUV parked next to our car. It's Rich and his crew. Who needs a plan? He hands me the bike. We roll over to the start and at the gun I take my first pedal on a bike I've never ridden.

Stole this photo that I am in from a forum on mtbr.com.

This is getting long so here are my notes from the course:
zero single track
super dusty
hot as hell all day!
5-mile climb twice in first 25 miles- brutal
undulating sections, lots of climbing
gravel, rock, dirt, double track
big rocks on dirt road downhills hidden by thick dust
not as fun as Virginia, course and riders
finished strong: passed about 12 people on the last two climbs and descents
no veggie burgers at BBQ. Only thing I could eat was corn
a rigid single-speed 29er is a lot different than a 26inch full-suspension cross-country bike

Stories and a good blog:
teamdicky.blog.com

Thanks for the bike Rich. And congratulations on finishing 7th overall!

stop 6- Shenandoah 100 mtb race

The best way to describe the Shenandoah 100 is as a 24-hour party with a 100-mile mountain bike race in the middle. The race has beautiful views, long climbs and fun, fast technical single-track. An awesome awesome first mountain bike race.

Saturday afternoon we hung out at the group campground and pavilion where the race starts/end with hundreds of other riders (and there partners, kids and dogs). Ate, kicked it with the Dirt Rag magazine guys, went for a short cruise, scoped the observatory and settled in for an early night. Then there was a huge thunderstorm! I was dry in a bivy sac, but it was raining so hard it was hitting me through the material. Lots of lightening and thunder. Man, I dislike rain when I have to deal with it, but a thunderstorm in the summer is such a beautiful thing. It stormed about an hour. Then within minutes fireworks went off. Ah, the east coast. Apparently some West Virginia kids think the ride only counts if you party the entire night before. Love it.

Here is the recap in Cycling News and Steevo's account of the day.

Race starts at day break

500 people signed up for the race. How would they corral that? Well, they didn't. They said go and everyone rode away. I stayed way in the back, unsure of where I'd end up, riding rigid single speed and all. With that many riders the first 15 or so miles were tight.

Virginia woods

As I have never raced mountain bikes or ridden one 100 miles, I had no plan. Just ride and stay safe. I love riding single speed. On long dirt or gravel sections packs would form and I was able to stay with the faster geared guys by just tucking and pumping or riding a wheel really tightly, both skills acquired from BMX and road riding, respectively that apparently carry over. Sweet.

Luckily only a few short sections early on were like this

The course had awesome downhill single track. Miles at a time. Nothing like cresting a hill out of breath and cross-eyed and then navigating rocks, ruts, roots, turns, trees and wet leaves at 15 MPH. It was scary and amazing at the same time. Again, I thought I would be passed on these types of sections, but it rarely happened.

During the really fun sections
I didn't want to stop so this is what you get

37th/71 in single speed and somewhere in the top third overall at 10hr 55min. It was a long day, but so much fun. Will road riding seem boring?

At the post-race meal I ran into an old BMX friend I have not seen in many years. That's always fun. Jamie had also just seen Steph Surch another former BMX at a mountain bike race and the same friend I ran into at the Philadelphia marathon in 2006. Crazy.

Then Steevo and I drove 5 hrs to Pittsburgh, I packed, slept a few hours then flew 4 hours back to Los Angeles. Totally worth it. Thanks Steevo and Amy!

stop 5- Virginia (it's in the south)

In Harrisonburg, Virginia we ate at a Workers Collective called The Little Grill, after barely getting in the door before closing (at the odd hour of 3pm on a Saturday). Kids who look like they are in all of the bands I went to see as a teenager served us average vegan food for decent prices. But how often do you get to eat at a worker-owned spot? Exactly.

In the south people take dogs for rides in convertible 3-wheeled vehicles

At the campground where the Shenandoah 100 starts/ends:

I was trying to shoot the dogs playing. Really, I was!

Pasta with marinara the night before the race? Yes. Thank you.

What's distracting me this morning

Reading bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com is something I look forward to every day. Like my friend Stephen says, 'His writing is better than what multiple cycling magazines with editors can produce.' I agree. Yesterday's post discusses death and how cyclists occupy a middle ground,
'...the death membrane has extraordinary wicking properties, so sometimes all you need to do is touch it in order to wind up on the other side of it in a puff of vapor like an evaporating bead of sweat.'

On one hand we use every bit of caution available riding to and from where we need to go to avoid death. Then I watch something like the video below (ripped from Trackstar(r) they should put two r's on there Gangstarr style) and I see how others walk right up to it and say, 'I don't give a shit, I'll tailwhip out of a manual and 360 both ways down stairs.'

HooDoo 500 this weekend

The HooDoo 500 ultra-distance cycling race is this weekend. For a variety of reasons Nicolas, Brian, Jack and myself, our team that raced last year,will not be making the trip to Utah. I am really bummed! It's a great race on a beautiful course. Our hope was to race for 1st this year in the 4-person team division, but that will have to wait. Check out the webcast and think about how nice it would be to spend the weekend road riding in Utah.

Last year's finish line photo

stop 4- Philadelphia, PA

An amazing thing happened here. I was in Philly and ate none of the following:

soft pretzels from the pretzel factory
vegan chinese
govinda's

Our total time there was probably only 12 hours. We saw my good friend Mary who recently collaborated with her husband on a project to produce a new person called Jayna. She is a combination of both their genes. When Jayna is the same age as Mary was when I met her the year will be 2029. Will one of the Bush twins be President? I hope Jayna has a couch I can crash on when I am in town.

Hipster Fixster Mixer

I tend to find most 'anti-hipster' rants as annoying as what is being ranted against. Yes, everyone hates to have their particular obscure sub-culture invaded and exploited by those who are deemed 'less committed', but the term 'hipster' is thrown around with such reckless abandon that you seemingly cannot ride a bike, listen to music, wear fitting clothes or glasses, eat at outside restaurants or have a beard without being labeled a hipster. It's like Trotskyists arguing with Anarcho-Syndicalists: the differences are so obscure and open to debate that arguing, instead of working with the 99% of the population who doesn't give a shit about any of it, is a waste of time.

But (there is always a 'but'), I love this article: Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization in Adbuster's Magazine.

This quote says it best:
'An amalgamation of its own history, the youth of the West are left with consuming cool rather that creating it.'

Has everything new already been created and turned inside out? Is this it? I doubt it.

Thanks to Joshua at Discerning Brute for pointing me toward this article.

stop 3- Bethlehem, PA

The obligatory Vegan Treats photo (peanut butter cup cheesecake!)

trip playlist:
Chokehold, Content With Dying
Ignite, Call on My Brothers
Morcheeba
Morissey
Embrace
The Get Up Kids

Wed night- Attempted to ride Jordan Woods with my long-time BMXer turned flat-track racer friend Mark, but had some mechanicals and darkness. Rode through Allentown in the dark sort of street riding.

One of Mark's bikes

Thursday- Salsibury Mountain in am with John from Action Wheels and John from Steel City Tattoo. Fuuuuuuun. Some BMX-y sections with berms and drops, fast parts, tight turns and packed dirt. Good times. Thanks Johns!

Attempt to ride trails behind Lehigh in pm, but Steevo hit a grey chain over a grey road that should not of been there. He kept all of his teeth, but we still had to fix his face. See his post (with photos) about it or my previous post.

Friday- Jacobsburg Park in am. This is where I rode when I was in High School, also on a rigid! Really fast-packed over-maintained trails. Got a little lost in the rain. Didn't matter. In the parking lot a kid in a Audi recognizes me from BMX. Small world.

State College continued

After the dumb pipeline cut our ride short we got back to the prius and into town for food. Burritos? My favorite joint- Burritos as Big as Your Head- is long gone, but we spied another taqueria. We park right in front, surprisingly, and an older guy comes out and says, 'How've you been? Welcome back.' I don't know this dude. His taco shop wasn't there last I was in State College, let alone 7 years ago when I lived there. wtf?
Mediocre burritos made by the slowest, stoned white boy who has ever made a burrito. And I think it was his first. We spent the rest of the night looking at girls discussing if being thin and wearing black-rimmed glasses made us look gay.

Tuesday: After a long chill session at the local coffee shop, Webster's, we decided to ride bikes.

Rode about 4 hours on the Stoopid 50 course.

Our 56.2 MPG whip. 1300 miles on less than $100

4 hours of single track with no overlap

All the technical riding would set me up for the Shenandoah 1oo course

Back in State College we jumped on the '530 ride' which leaves from the Atherton Bridge and heads to some woods a few miles from campus. Was a fast ride. Inside it was technical and what I would call, using a new-to-me term, 'rake and ride'. I hadn't refilled water and was pretty burned out after one lap. The fast people did three. I jumped on with another single speeder to get two in. He'd later take us to the local cool shop, Freeze Thaw.

Later we hit up my favorite Indian restaurant of all-time, India Pavilion. Then we looked at girls some more, went a bar that is now smoke-free and hung out with Steevo's bike racer friends.

30th birthday mountain bike trip stop 2- State College

Left Pittsburgh for State College and after scoring a map at Mt. Nittany Wheelworks we rode Nittany Trail in Rothrock State Forest. The trail was rocky and technical, the way I remember, but now there is a giant pipeline project right in the middle of the area. It does lend itself to great contrast for photos though.

30th birthday mountain bike trip stop 1 - Pittsburgh

I wanted to go away and mountain bike for a whole week. I thought of Moab or somewhere in Colorado or going back to Vancouver, but ultimately I chose Pennsylvania because there so many spots there I already know about and plenty of friends to ride with. When Steevo sent me an email that said, 'Let's go on a trip!' it sealed the deal.
Loose plan: Fly into Pittsburgh on a Friday, ride there all weekend, spend the rest of the trip driving a rented hybrid across the state hitting up good spots, drinking coffee, hanging out (not looking at girls) and then ultimately ending in Virginia for the 10th anniversary Shenandoah 100.
My amazing girlfriend helped out a bunch as a birthday gift- sending me away.

Nickel -A Boilmaker- navigates rock to logs in Apollo

Saturday rode Apollo, PA with 8 dudes. I think all of which are ex-BMXers or current/ex-messengers or a combination of the two. Really fun. Perfect PA woods- fast pack, tons of turns and ups and downs along with logs, rocks and roots to navigate.

chillin.

I know it is blurry, but this is a rock bridge.

After a few hours of good riding we came across a waterfall with a good swim area and a rope swing. I was glazed from the humidity and ready to jump in. The first guy in exclaims how cold it is and then, on his way out, just as Steevo is jumping in, yells, 'Snake! I think it's poisonous!'

Steevo shimmied up the rope in no time. Who says bike racers are all legs? Ends up it was only a water snake.

Green. Tight. Fun.

Apollo, PA has one place to eat. We spent $50 and there was food left over. Eight of us. Been riding and swimming all day. $50. Below is my $4.50 vegetable hoagie. Stoked.


Sunday- Rode Bavington, PA with Steevo and an ex-Pro mountain biker named John. It's tight and twisty, but drier and less fast than Apollo. I was struggling to keep up, but it wasn't miserable. We rode fewer than two hours and covered a lot of distance. On the way home Steevo said they were 'testing each other out'. I guess that's what happens when a semi-pro and an ex-pro ride together.

In the afternoon I rode Frick Park with Justin and Steevo. Fast and fun with technical parts that included a seesaw and berms. Was great to follow the same guys I rode BMX with ten years ago. Some things never change?
Did I say ten? I mean fifteen. Wow.

Republican Convention protesters charged as terrorists

insane.

* for immediate release*

Ramsey County Charges RNC 8 Under State Patriot Act, Alleges Acts of Terrorism

In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County Prosecutors have formally charged 8 alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty.

Affidavits released by law enforcement which were filed in support of the search warrants used in raids over the weekend, and used to support probable cause for the arrest warrants, are based on paid, confidential informants who infiltrated the RNCWC on behalf of law enforcement. They allege that members of the group sought to kidnap delegates to the RNC, assault police officers with firebombs and explosives, and sabotage airports in St. Paul. Evidence released to date does not corroborate these allegations with physical evidence or provide any other evidence for these allegations than the claims of the informants. Based on past abuses of such informants by law enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild is concerned that such police informants have incentives to lie and exaggerate threats of violence and to also act as provacateurs in raising and urging support for acts of violence.

"These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated political views of the Defendants on trial," said Bruce Nestor, President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "The charges represent an abuse of the criminal justice system and seek to intimidate any person organizing large scale public demonstrations potentially involving civil disobedience, he said."

The criminal complaints filed by the Ramsey County Attorney do not allege that any of the defendants personally have engaged in any act of violence or damage to property. The complaints list all of alleged violations of law during the last few days of the RNC -- other than violations of human rights carried out by law enforcement -- and seeks to hold the 8 defendants responsible for acts committed by other individuals. None of the defendants have any prior criminal history involving acts of violence.

Searches conducted in connection with the raids failed to turn up any physical evidence to support the allegations of organized attacks on law enforcement. Although claiming probable cause to believe that gunpowder, acids, and assembled incendiary devices would be found, no such items were seized by police. As a result, police sought to claim that the seizure of common household items such as glass bottles, charcoal lighter, nails, a rusty machete, and two hatchets, supported the allegations of the confidential informants. "Police found what they claim was a single plastic shield, a rusty machete, and two hatchets used in Minnesota to split wood. This doesn't amount to evidence of an organized insurrection, particularly when over 3,500 police are present in the Twin Cities, armed with assault rifles, concussion grenades, chemical weapons and full riot gear," said Nestor. In addition, the National Lawyers Guild has previously pointed out how law enforcement has fabricated evidence such as the claims that urine was seized which demonstrators intended to throw at police.

The last time such charges were brought under Minnesota law was in 1918, when Matt Moilen and others organizing labor unions for the International Workers of the World on the Iron Range were charged with "criminal syndicalism." The convictions, based on allegations that workers had advocated or taught acts of violence, including acts only damaging to property, were upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court. In the light of history, these convictions are widely seen as unjust and a product of political trials. The National Lawyers Guild condemns the charges filed in this case against the above 8 defendants and urges the Ramsey County Attorney to drop all charges of conspiracy in this matter.

Bruce Nestor, President
Minnesota Chapter of National Lawyers Guild
3547 Cedar Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Republican National Convention Protests

I got the above video from the LAist.com post about the police violence. The person being arrested has press credentials.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Republican National Convention protests in 2000 in Philadelphia and in 2004 in NYC (where I was arrested while delivering food to protesters by bike and spent 24 hours in jail). Eight years later and the pattern is the same:

1. The police and FBI deem anyone and everyone who is in the hosting city and is thinking/planning beyond the permitted liberal march 'terrorists'.
2. The media regurgitates false messages spread by the police/fbi about potential violence and criminal activity.
3. They presumptively arrest hundreds of people on false charges in order to keep them off of the street.
4. Everyone to the right of radical leftists (including those spineless liberals) dismisses any tactics outside of a permitted march (these are the people who locked arms to protect the Nike store in Seattle in 1999. Way to go liberals!). Without any evidence outside of the police's made up stories, protesters are criminalized and everyone plays into the 'lock up the bad ones' mentality without questioning anything.
5. When the convention closes up, they let almost everyone out of jail with no charges and the city, police and FBI fail to produce any real evidence of criminal activity.
6. No one who criticized those arrested or using other tactics bothers to realize this and continue to fall victim to the divide and conquer tactics of the ruling class.

Democracy Now! has some more footage up. You may not agree with the tactics or message of the people on the streets, but I think one would be hard-pressed to be able to defend the police. How long will this continue?

Shenandoah 100

Mountain bike racing 100 miles is hard. Got in under 11 hours, I think in the top third somewhere overall, not sure where I ended up in the single-speed category. Beautiful course, though wet rocks and roots are not what I am used to riding! I struggled, but had a blast. Steevo is a faster blogger than I so check him out for a report. I'm on like 10 hours sleep since Friday and back to the grind manana. Photos soon.

When BMXers grow up...

Our trip is amazing, we've ridden a ton in spots all over Pennsylvania and have hung out with great people. Computer time is limited, which is a good thing, but not posting photos and stories is an unfortunate part of that. Here's one story:
Last night Steevo fell and his tooth went through his lip (teeth are fine). What would you do if you had no insurance? We went back to where we are staying, looked it up on the internet, found that liquid stitch stuff in hospitals is basically super glue (cyanoacrylate) and then glued it shut. Done. It looks good and we hope for a quick recovery.
Are going out for a quick ride shortly. Photos soon!

Like skateboarding, but with mountain bikes

Today I leave for Pittsburgh for a 10-day mountain bike trip in Pennsylvania and Virginia with Steevo. But we are not riding! I mean, we are riding spots, but we are driving to them. Totally lame, right? I keep having to explain that our purpose is to ride good mountain bike trails not travel by bicycle. It's an easy assumption for people to make considering him and I probably have close to 20,000 combined bike touring miles. This is like when we were BMX kids, like he says on his post about our trip.

The trip wraps up with the Shenandoah 100 near Harrisonburg, VA. You know, the race that Floyd Landis got 3rd in last year.

Can't stop, won't have an extra $381

I got a red light ticket today! On Boyle and Olympic right in front of the Sears Building. Bummer.
It's such an easy light to go right on red because:

1. You have a clear line of cross traffic, 2. You are going slightly downhill, 3. the Westbound lane of Olympic is really wide.

It's totally safe!

I don't know what is worse: The usual jerk cop or the one that is super friendly and almost apologetic. There was not much disagreement about what happened (unlike my taking the lane ticket three years ago) and he said because I was in such a rush he would write quickly so that I'd be on my way. His biggest concern seemed to be about the 'danger' of splitting lanes (riding in the space between two lanes of traffic) and hitting the intersection at about 15 MPH. I guess a warning was not a possibility.

1950's Disney Goofy short about driving

I stole this right from www.commutebybike.com. If you ride bikes this makes so much sense. The seemingly nicest people will scream obscenities at you. Sometimes it is so out of place that you have to just laugh at it.

New Swarm! slogan

After some criticism that 'Can't Stop Won't Stop' is actually our stop sign policy, we've reached consensus that our new slogan, inspired by the restaurant below, is 'Can't Stop, Naan Stop'.