Mendocino Mobbin'

Last week I took a trip to Mendocino to enjoy the ocean, kayak, hike, ride bikes, and be around my buddies/classmates. This trip was mega rad and one of the more enjoyable trips I have had.

Day 1.

The first day started out with a flat tire on the van. and with 4 more hours to go on the road, a flat tire didn't help. After fixing the flat and grabbing some In-n-out, we were back on the road. Finally we arrived in Fort Bragg and camped close to the beach in a State park. The beach was great the first night and the sunset was pretty amazing. We cooked up some pasta and garlic bread and kicked back to a fire with S'mores and Jiffy Pop.

Shendo puts on the donut

Enjoying the sunset

Day 2.

On day two we had a few activities planned, kayaking and some hiking near the waters edge. The kayak rentals were right near a cove that was connected to the ocean. Some picked single kayaks, and some chose 6 person skiffs. We kayaked down the river for a few miles and turned back. The water was green and blue and really beautiful. Most people got some decent amount of sun and looked pretty red.

Midway down the river

After the Kayaking we returned to the campsite and relaxed. Shendo and I went riding by the beach for a little bit before we went on a beach hike.

 Shendo getting some tricks on the bike

After dinner in downtown Mendocino most of us were exhausted and chilled by the fire before retiring to our tents (or the van)

Day 3.

When I woke up on Thursday morning, it was apparent that we had received some rain in the night.

Most of our clothes were pretty wet, so a trip to the laundrymat was needed. After a few ours of waiting in a coffee shop, our clothes were fresh and dry. Those of us who went into town returned to the campsite. Dave, Shendo and I went riding on an amazing trail called "Manly Gulch" the terrain resembled a rain forrest. It was some of the best riding I have experienced. After the 3 of us returned to the camp, all of us went to ride horses on the beach. I hadn't ridden a horse in years, but I enjoyed it. after an hour of horsin' around, we headed back for the last night at camp.

Riding on the beach

Day 4.

We packed up in the morning pretty quickly and were back on the road home in no time. The trip was a super good experience for me and I am stoked for next year. 

Here's a link to the video I made from the trip; http://www.pinkbike.com/video/379770/

Bike Swag

There are many different fashion statements you can make while on a bicycle. This post will go over some of the many styles you can achieve, on or off the trail.

Road Bicyclists
To look like you're a serious road rider, you need to achieve this look. First, shave your whole body, even your head. Wear spandex shorts and shirt, preferably with beer logos on them. Ductape electrolyte packets to your bike and be sure to wear clip in shoes. Yell at mountain bikers and drink coffee nonstop. If you don't own an expresso machine you're a fake.

BMX
If you wanna look like you tear up the skate park and look real hood, you must follow these steps. Don't wear a helmet, wear a beanie or a trucker hat. Wear the tightest skinny jeans possible, and gauge your ears as big as you can. Wear skate shoes and baggy t shirts. Ride in front of cars and piss people off.

Mountain Bikers
Lastly, if you want to be the coolest of bike riders, you must dress like a mountain biker. Flannel shirts are a must. Goggles and a helmet with a long visor are also needed. Designer shorts that cost $200 and socks with beer logos on them. Wear gloves and a camelbak.

Choose your fashion wisely, you want to fit in the scene. These fashion statements can be costly, painful, and sometimes you might look like You're in a Halloween costume.

Why UCI sucks

UCI (Union cyclists international) has made bike racing so much less cooler. They have put their restricting,lame, and un-rad hands all over bicyclists.

Let's start out with where UCI comes in. In order for any race to be official in any way, UCI has to approve the race, and the race vendors have to pay loads to make their race official. A UCI official must come to the race and oversee the whole event. This costs money and is a hassle.

Not only must you get UCI involved to make your race official, but you must obey "official sanctioned UCI rules". For example in California, the UCI rules state your tires cannot leave the ground during cross country practice. How restricting is that? Not only is it bad for vendors,but if racers want to race in most races they must have a UCI license, which can cost 70 bucks a year. That doesn't seem like much, but for the average rider, it can add up. The more professional you are, the more you have to pay.

Basically UCI is a mega corporate company that is out to steal every racers money and make stuff complicated. Their moto is "cycling is our passion", if they actually were passionate maybe they wouldn't be such Nazis about the basic fun of riding/racing your bike.

The best races are local,non official races where there are no limits on how fun you can make your race. UCI races doesn't involve alcohol, nudity, or huge parties on the track. And that's part of the bike scene, sanctioned or not.

Helmet Cameras

In this day and age, you can relive pretty much anything by capturing it on camera, so why not relive riding your bike? Thankfully a few companies have created just the thing, cameras that fit on your helmet, chest, or bike, so you can record your ride.

GoPros
The most popular POV (point of view) camera on the market is the GoPro. I have owned two GoPros and I have to say its the most versitile camera out there.

This is the GoPro Hero 3, It captures full HD video and even 4K resolutions, it can take 30 high quality photos in one second. 

What I like about the GoPro is the wide variety of angles you can get from it, my favorites are the chest mount, and the unicorn mount, The chest mount gets your handlebars, your arms, part of the bike and the trail ahead. It captures it all. The unicorn mount is a pole that extends from your helmet and faces you. This angle can get really cool because it can capture everything you do.

                                   This is an picture taken from my unicorn mount ^

      This was taken from a helmet on the gopro

I also have many videos from the GoPro that I really like, heres a link to one of my favorites 

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/371226/   This was taken at northstar with a buddy of mine.

The Dirty Sanchez Enduro

The Dirty Sanchez Enduro (TDS) is a local Grass Valley bike race. This race is located on an old mine, so the terrain is steep and rocky. 40 men and 10 women raced this event this year, and many spectators came and were supportive of the racers. This year was the 3rd annual race, and this year was the best by far! Enduro mountain bike racing has stages, each stage involves riding down the course as fast as you can, and then riding back up to the top for the next stage. Only the downhill is timed, but climbing up really wears you out, so your downhill times will be slower. TDS has 12 stages that take place over 2 days, The riders did 7 stages on the first day and 5 on the second.

One thing that makes this race cool is the trails. The owner of the land has spent hundreds of hours building and sculpting berms, jums, drops and wooden features. The courses are really  fun to ride, and its cool to see proffesional racers shred trails that I ride every weekend.

Marco Osbourne rides the wooden feature

All the riders were personally invited from all around California, including some local riders as well. Some of the riders are famous who ride TDS. Practice was on Friday, and the race was held on Saturday and Sunday. There was also two afterparties on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, where riders and spectators could relax, have a drink, and enjoy a beautiful view of the sierras.

Women's Shuttle

All in all the weekend was such a great time, with cool people, trails, and lots of high fives. I will return for next year for sure

The World of Wheels

When we see bikes on the street or on the trail,  It seems like they all have the same size wheels. Truth is there are many different wheel sizes that fit certain bikes and riding styles. 

26 Inch wheels.

This wheel size is most common, and most bikes have this wheel size. This size has been proven to be the perfect size for most riding, whether it be on the street or on the mountain. Most riders prefer 26 inch wheels over the other size wheels.

29 Inch wheels

This wheel size started a few years ago and has really caught on since. Also known as "Niners" or "Wagon Wheels", these wheels get more traction on the trail and more power output per pedal stroke. A lot of riders hoping to ride uphill fast ride 29ers. This may seem like a win-win for riders but it has its pitfalls as well. The bigger the wheel is, the stronger it has to be, and the size makes it heavier then a 26 inch wheel. Also weaving through tight trails or through the urban jungle is more difficult with big wheels. Some people are die hard 29 people, while others hate on them.

27.5 Inch wheels

The newest inovation in the world of wheels is 27.5 inch wheels. These wheels are more commonly known as "650b" wheels, because the rims are measured in millimeters, and in this case, 27.5 inch rims are 650 millimeters. The idea behind these wheels are to mix the bennefits of 26 and 29 inch wheels into one wheel. The traction and torque of a 29er with the weight and maneuverabitly of a 26 inch wheel. 

here we see 26, 27.5, and 29 inch wheels

700cc Wheels

These wheels are built for road bikes and street bikes, and have thin rims for slick, fast rolling tires. 700cc wheels are not actually one strict size, and these wheels usually have a little number after the "cc" that describes the size of the wheel. These wheels can range anywhere from 26.5-29 inches. The main reason 700cc isn't called 650b or 29er is because they are made for road bikes and not mountain bikes.

20 Inch wheels

Twenty inch wheels are made for kids bikes, and BMX bikes. Kids bikes are for small children to ride, and kids bikes wheels can range from 18inches to 24inches in size. BMX bikes have 20inch wheels because these bikes are built for tricks and stylish riding. A smaller bike is needed for riding stylish and doing lots of tricks, so the wheels have to be smaller as well. 

I have ridden all of these wheels sizes and I think I'm gonna stick with my 26 inch wheels. While I like 27.5, I think the originals are the best.

Sea Otter Classic

Over the spring break I traveled to Monterey to go to the biggest bike event/race in America. After a long drive down to the coast, we arrived at the campsite. Everyone there had a bike of some sort, everyone was stoked and happy to be there. Its pretty unreal to ride with strangers from all parts of the world and have a great time. The vibe there was like no other place, everyone was connected by the love of bikes. The bike show was pretty awesome, a lot of the pros were there and bike parts were on sale. I spent 175 bucks on new parts and I don't regret it. The actual race part of it was cool as well. Although I did not race myself, I watched a lot of the racing and events. I plan on racing next year for sure. It felt like this was the mekka of the bike community all in one place.

Another aspect of Sea Otter was the crowd, so many people were super rowdy, cheering, blowing airhorns, waving flags while screaming, downing beers at lightning speeds, and doing whatever they could to be crazy. Sleep in the campsites was pretty much impossible because of the noise of surrounding parties, but after a long day of riding the second day, and some melatonin, sleep was a lot easier. There were random bands of people running through the campsites at night screaming and waving flags, there was for sure some patriotism

involved over the weekend.

I made a video from the weekend of my experience. watch it below....


http://www.pinkbike.com/video/358725/