Free Your Mind, And Your Legs Will Follow

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Brooks C15











Got to demo one of Brook's C15 Cambium saddles for a while. The shop got one of the first saddles to test out and get some feed back on. The saddle was initially a lot stiffer than my normal swift. It took a few miles to get used to this feeling but the width and general shape was about the same. The saddle eventually kind of disappeared beneath me and I didn't worry about it too much more. I think the cambium line from Brooks make a great synthetic alternative for the vegan lifestyle.....what? do people honestly purchase saddles for those reasons?!? Anyhow, the saddle is great....but not as great as my leather swift. On the plus side, there is no break in, no proofide, and no need to carry a cover with you because this thing is water proof. Another great offering from Brook's England. Cheers.

- JB

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Mt. Pinos Bike Packing






























Chris and I took off from the last paved parking lot at Mt. Pinos Wednesday evening around 10pm. We knew we had 3-4 miles to ride and figured we could easily do it with some headlights....wrong. This was a long and hard 3-4 mile ride with very rugged trail and steep up and downhillls. We wondered if we would ever make it to our campsite with our fully loaded bikes. I was borrowing a Jones Diamond frame bike and Chris was riding his fully loaded Salsa Fargo. We made it to the site around midnight and were full of energy and exhausted at the same time. We set up camp and didn't even bother with a fire. 

In the morning we awoke to a beautiful campsite and some sunshine coming through the huge pine trees. It was an amazing spot. We explored a little and had breakfast after. Initially we thought of spending another night at this site but we realized we were going to have to leave around 7am on Thursday morning and it wasn't going to be do-able with that ride that we came in on last night. So, we came up with a plan to ride back to the car and find a site close to the road but still had some cool features. So, we drove to the Marian site on the north side of Mt. Pinos and set up camp in a bullet riddled site. Looks like there were some people shooting traps and practicing with targets. It also looked like these people enjoyed lots of cigarettes and alcohol. All good. Chris and I rode up a steep trail to the local summit where we experienced a spectacular view. We chilled and chatted for a while and headed back down to make some dinner and rest up for the following day. 

My first time bike packing was a success. I am planning a ECR build very soon upon the sale of my beloved pugsley. More and more adventures to be had. Love this terrain. 

- JB

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Weird Wednesday






We started our "UnPredict Your Wednesday" (where we take Wednesdays off and go on adventures) out by heading to Cheeseboro State Park to take some under privileged youth in group homes out mountain biking. It was a great way to give back to the local community and help out some troubled teens. We then made a house call and dropped of a Father's Day $10,000 Niner off at a mansion in the hills of Malibu, then proceeded to take the dogs for a walk and asked if we were in a band. Weird. This place is weird.

- JB