BCBR

  

 
Howdy all,

The BC Bike Race has just finished and we are winding down after a long week on the road. The traveling circus that we've grown to love is splitting up and we're all left to think of our own ways to spend the day. Gone are the days of waking, eating, pedaling, eating, pedaling, sleeping. (Repeat) We finished up the event last night in the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler. The final banquet with video, slide show and DJ were in an incredibly elegant hall in the far end of one of the most prestigious hotels in Whistler. To say the motley group of mountain bikers filling the hall were out of the norm for this establishment would be a stretch. The party began around 7 with fine food and wonderful desserts. It was a real pleasure to be part of BCBR again this year and I greatly appreciated everything that Dave, Dean, and Dre did this year to make sure I was taken care of. This event is one that will be remembered by all participants but, they really hooked me up with another level of rad! From the float plane flight to the fun nights at The Executive, and needless to say, the unreal riding. Unfortunately, my relaxation time isn't quite here yet, I'll be headed up to Whistler Bike Park shortly to dust off the big bike and do some DH runs. I'll get some more up here shortly. For now, enjoy the pics and check Declinemagazine.com they are posting daily uploads with full stories.

FTW

The Saga Continues

Well, internet connection has been a bit rough this year at the BCBR. At this point tonight is the first real time I've had a comfy place to get online and do anything. Guess, what, tonight I am far to worn out to even get into the riding and awesomeness that has been my life for the last several days. For now I will put up a few more pics and hope you enjoy. Stories still to come. 

FTW

PS Because I'm big pimpin with a media pass, I now fly in float planes!

VIP

BCBR

More to come when time and internet connection permits...

Check Declinemagazine.com for updates. All should be up tomorrow or following day.

FTW

Drew

20+ hours in the van that can

Canada, oh how I've missed you. After 20 some odd hours on the road, the "Man Van" arrived at the Canadian border. Full of 3 riders and more bikes, waiting to get in, take a nap, and let the good times begin. No big deal right? Wrong, Apparently large conspicuous vans don't pass through the border too easily. On the positive side, while we were forced to sit in the border inspection office while my vehicle was searched, we got to watch some World Cup soccer. The whole ride wasn't a bummer however. Plenty of good tunes were heard and pretty vistas viewed. We were lucky enough to come across an old rail road bridge with a rope swing over the Shasta river. What better spot to stop and make some peanut butter sandwiches. After putting on our best swimming attire we made our way past the interesting locals and showed them how we rope swing down in So. Cal. They were quite impressed. A couple flying squirrels and a torn callus later, we dried off and set back out on Interstate 5 for the great white north. 

Our next big stop was in Portland at Voodoo Donut. We arrived in Portland around 12:30 and made our way to the spookiest and hippest donut shop this side of the Mississippi. After waiting in line with an assortment of people varying from vagrant teenaged skate bums, to punk rockers, and even a group finishing off their night of celebration for a bachelor party, we made our way into the tiny little hole of a shop. After perusing the menu of equally interestingly named donuts, I decided on a Maple blazer blunt, and a Portland cream, (their signature donut). Though the Butterfingering and triple chocolate penetration were close choices.Though, I do always have the way home to try them as well. After our sugar buzz started to wear down we had made our way just past Seattle and decided to cash in the chips just south of Ferndale. After a few hours of rest we got back on it and were on the road again. After a brief stop by the Kona Bikes office in Ferndale we finished up the drive to North Vancouver, our first destination in this week of cycling migration across B.C. 

After settling into the hotel we checked in with Andreas Hestler and Dave Howell, we were invited over to Dave's for a BBQ and hang out while discussing the coming weeks daily epic rides. Dave is involved with the BC Bike Race and was a wealth of knowledge. After spending a few hours hanging out at Dave's we left stoked more than we were just hours before, excited and nervous about the trials and tribulations the trails would be soon putting us through, all in search of the most epic and fulfilling single track experience we can find. Now, we rest. Tomorrow is just the beginning. 

Ride Free

http://declinemagazine.com/#

Photos

www.sgtoepfer.com

sgtoepfer.tumblr.com 

Cool people

Who doesn't love cool people. I mean, check this guy out!

And speaking of cool people. Gotta respect the forefathers of mountain biking. Look at some of the first Klunkers back there. Motorcycle forks, drum brakes, and wide bars on WW II era Excelsior frames. Awesome. Go ride

One day, I will

 

  So, I've done a real good job of not keeping my word and updating this thing. The days have been going by too fast and I don't have enough hours to keep everything on track. Training for BC Bike Race has pretty much all but consumed any free time I have outside of work. Apologies to all who have been flaked on or forget what it feels like to be made fun of by me. Speaking of, be sure to check out itsbetterinthewind.com My good buddies have continued on making some killer trips on the motorbikes the last few weeks and left me here bummed and jealous while I spin circles for hours wishing I could just be havin fun roamin the desert. Ah, enough self pity I did sign up for this. Anyhow, I have mixed some good times in with the training, as naturally one should. This weekend hoping to get up to Mt Pinos with some guys from work and do some altitude single track work! Anybody who wants to come up is more than welcome. Last weekend was the Tour of California. What a blast that was. With the exception of being way to easily talked into climbing that infamous section of Mulholland on my tall bike. Think I should check the record books as it may be the first ascent by such a cycle in all of history! I digress, to those of you who made it out to the TOC, you already know the partyin that went down and for those that didn't, I'm much too tired to tell you. You blew it. I'm a bit tired this evening and it's time to grab another bag of ice for my knee. Enjoy the pics. More to come... Once I'm not lazy and upload my own not everyone else's

Bonzai

  

Brap

Well, I've been a bit lazy and more than a bit busy to keep on top of this thing lately... I've definitely been slacking on taking pictures while out on the latest exploits. This weekend was no different. Although I don't have much proof, Idyllwild put on a great event and the Spring Challenge was a total success.  After Map Quest had some fun with me, I ended up meeting some local hill folk who offered to lead me back up the mountain to where Hurkey Creek camp ground was. It was like a run down moonshine highway following these people. Had the van power sliding corners shifting bikes and gear all around keeping up with our wife beater wearing tour guide and his race truck. We got to the camp ground around midnight and after cruising through the park found our group's campsite. We shifted some gear around in the back and and passed out for a few hours. After Colby pounded on my window I rolled outta the van and finished dialing in the new Jet9 I was going to be racing. With about 15 seconds to spare I rolled up to the start line and set out for the 30 mile adventure I had signed up for. I'll spare the details of my next few hours of emotions, though I will say it was a roller coaster. Several hours later I rolled into the finish area and felt like dog shit. It was a rude wake up call to my state of physical fitness and the weeks ahead to BC. The rest of the weekend was full of good times and bonfires. It's nice to get out see some new scenery and and hang with some friends. Nature is here to enjoy it, get out and see something new!

FTW

Sea Slotter

 Gettin rad in the man van! Corkscrew was seriously scary


I know I'm behind... Stay tuned for the full Sea Otter story soon. 

Party time

Windy and Windy

 
So, am I wrong or is that how 2 totally different words are spelled. The weekend was filled with meandering back country roads that wound throughout the central California coast. Adrian met up with us in Ventura and too us on some pretty epic roads up through the lovely towns of Taft and Maricopa. The petroleum highway was quite a site to see. After several hours of remote curvy roads we ended up in SLO. It's amazing that a relatively short trip to San Luis can be turned into a couple hundred mile one way trip. 

 After getting into downtown SLO we took a little stroll through bubble gum alley. I'm not a total germophobe but seriously!? That shit is unsanitary and disgusting to say the least. We next made our way to the visitors center where Brandon befriended a wonderful civil servant who was very interested to know that we ride motorcycles. We took a look at the local map and decided to head towards Moro Bay and look for a nice spot to lay our sleeping bags under the eucalyptus trees. We were successful. After one failed attempt we ended up at a pretty epic site right on the quiet bay. Quiet until we go there anyways. After finding some firewood we headed to town to take a walkabout. Moro is a sleepy little town with a lot of character and I was pretty impressed with the little Embarcadero they had, lots of cool shops and restaurants. I just remembered I did NOT get my salt water taffy! 

 We headed back to the campsite shortly after dark and set to makin our fire. What ensued was an experience that can not really be experienced unless you were there to witness and observe. I will say that the ranger did come to visit us a couple times and as usual, I was left amazed at people and their actions. It really is quite amazing, life, and how people live it. 

 After wearing ourselves out I dusted off a spot of dirt and laid out my new Big Agnes sleeping bag next to the fire. As I laid down staring up through the tall trees I could barely see the sky and reflected on a great day on the road, riding with friends. It's a great day when you spend the day coming around corners smiling from ear to ear and going over roller coaster type dips and rises on back highways at 100mph. Every time we got off after a fun section it was quite hard to resist high fiving each other and reliving our favorite g-out, or corner facing a beautiful vista on a sharp cliff. I went to sleep with ears ringing, lips chapped and burning, and a smile on my face.

We awoke early to the rising sun and decided to get a move on since shivering in our sleeping bags wasn't helping us see many new sights. We packed up and hit the road, hoping to beat the rain and stay dry we got on the 101 south and made haste. Aside from Scott's minor crash just outside of Pismo, the ride home was more of a challenge of will power and determination than anything. The wind was unyielding, and it seemed no matter which way the highway turned it was always a head wind. If we were lucky it would switch to an angled head wind which meant we had to fight getting blown into the next lane, or off the side of the freeway. (Scott's crash)

Oh how I wish a video camera was rolling for that one. After some minor road side first aid and prying on bent parts, we were on the road again with only a couple more technical stops on the way. Scott, we're all glad you're ok and it is a reminder in how quick things can go from happy and carefree, to disastrous. Which I guess is as good a spot as any to wrap it up. Although my weekend has spun past faster than I can realize, I feel completely satisfied knowing that while most sat around watching TV or surfing the web thinking of things to do, we were doing. Although we set out with no set destination or plan for a place to sleep. We had open minds, open hearts, and open roads to guide us. It is truly a blessing that many of us take for granted, the ability to just do. So many people are in positions they physically can't get out and do. They spend days wishing or dreaming of going outside to feel the wind, see blossoming flowers, smell new smells as the road blurs underfoot. Yet how many people, including myself, take that for granted. Sitting inside wasting beautiful sunlight, the world is one big adventure. It's little trips like this that stir that adventurous spirit around and shake the complacency of compliance. My ass is sore, and my hands hurt, but not like they do after sitting in a seat in front of a computer all day, this is a good sore, the type that reminds a person they have accomplished something, pushed themselves; and for that we are stronger, better, and happier.

Ride On

      

Random Ramblings

http://www.itsbetterinthewind.com/
  Well, once again I have fallen behind in what was once my vigilant attempt to join the tech revolution. I have found that taking time to do "real" life activities is more important and far too time consuming to stay on top of. However, that being said, I will be making a good effort to stay on top of this more. Training is ramping up SLOWLY for BC and as that picks up I'm sure I will have less time out running around bullshitting and more time working, riding, and relaxing (which may mean I'll be on the interweb) Anyhow, I'm going to blast a quick update on here and just upload a bunch of pictures of what's been happening and where I've been. First off, the link attached is for my friend Scott Toepfer's website. The site is for a project he's been working very hard on and I am lucky enough to be a part of, which naturally means it's going to kick ass. We went out a couple weekends ago and rode all around the high desert and into the mountains for some snow play. Be sure to check out the cool video.

  Onto other 2 wheeled activities. Been doing a good amount of riding lately. Gettin out for some road rides in the new hood. Riding with Sammy has led to a few good adventures through the Chevy Chase Estates below La Canada. We've found some pristine low traffic roads that put us out to the Rose Bowl. Aside from that, the Niner company rides have been a blast lately too.

Feel free to join us on Tuesday nights. This week we rode Caballero Canyon off Reseda up to the top of dirt Mulholland. After cresting the top of the Santa Monicas, we headed east on the dirt highway towards the old Nike missile sight, remnants from the Cold War, what a trip! After that we cruised around some more rode MG motorway/ Broken Arrow and headed down Cookies. I've got no possible guess or even a clever thought as to why a trail that gnarly would be given such a name. I will say, by the time I reached the bottom I had a half clueless, shocked grin on my face that may have resembled that of a kid after puking up a batch of cookie dough.

  Well, I think that'll about do'er for the ol' jibba jabba as MR. T liked to call it. Enjoy the pics and stay tuned for more soon... FTW

       Happy trails friends