Ride With Smudgemo Report

Now that I've had a day to rest, I'm ready to share the Ride with Smudgemo Report. The day started pretty early. But not too early. It's already down in the 30's in the mountains in the early morning. I loaded up the car and headed for the Tahoe Rim Trail. I had planned to erect a 20 foot tall sign, complete with Christmas lights, that read, "Welcome to Nevada, Smudgemo!"; however, I had difficulty acquiring the materials, and couldn't figure out a way to harness it to my car. Plan B was to bring some hand crafted beer, something that Smudgemo might appreciate far more than a Las Vegas style welcome.

We all met at the Tahoe Rim Trail trailhead located in the Mount Rose Meadows. It was 10:00, and just starting to warm up. The first order of business was to figure out Smudgemo's real name. As it turns out, Smudgemo is the son of immigrants, spleen merchants from northern Romania. His full name is Smudgemore Fidatov Vladimirescu, or just Smudgemo for short. There was no way in hell I was going to be saying that the whole day, so I asked if I could just call him Ryan. He reluctantly, but thankfully agreed. This ended up working out just fine, because coincidentally, the other two riders were also named Jeff and Ryan.

The other Jeff and Ryan were a bit faster than us, so we would see them from time to time throughout the day. We'd finally arrive at an intersection, and they'd be relaxing in the shade talking shop with other riders. We all agreed to have lunch atop Marlette Peak, quite possibly one of the most beautiful locations on planet earth. We had worked pretty hard to get to this spot, but miles of fast, smooth, downhill singletrack lay ahead of us. The decomposed granite was slightly damp from last week's rain, and provided insane traction. My tires didn't break loose once all day! Taking the many bermed corners at high speed kept me grinning to the end.

Lunch Time on Marlette Peak

At Marlette Lake we met a guy name Joe. He talked kind of funny, so I suspected he wasn't from around here. To me the dialect sounded North Reno or maybe even Sparks, but I was way off...Joe was from England. The guys all traded stories of trails in far away lands. I just sat back and enjoyed the tales. It's cool how mountain biking seems to make instant friends out of people. Too bad the beer was 16 miles away in a locked car!

We decided it was time to ride again, and the five of us headed down to the Flume Trail. It was good to ride some flat trail for a while and just enjoy the scenery. But then tragedy struck. The old wooden flume has been gone for decades, but somehow there happened to be an original square nail sitting in the middle of the trail. Thousands of riders a year, and I'm the one who gets it in my tire! The bike started riding really funny, and I thought for sure my derailleur was busted. I had found a crack in the pulley wheel before the ride, and just figured it had finally fallen apart. I was pretty shocked to see this huge nail sticking out of my tire! Remarkably, the hole in the tube was quite small, and will be easily repaired with a simple patch. The tire seemed to close itself up pretty well too. I swapped the tube, gave the new one 2,000 pumps with the mini-pump, and off we rode.

View From The Flume Trail

Once we got to Tunnel Creek, it was just over 9.5 miles of rolling uphill singletrack back to the cars (The trail profile can be viewed HERE). Since the riding was more slow going from here on out, Smudgemo and I got to talking about blogging. We talked about a lot of you that are probably reading this, and how it'd be cool to get more bloggers together for a ride. We also discussed how some outsiders may think it's a bit strange talking about all this stuff on the internet, but what they don't understand, is that most of would probably hang out together if not for the fact that we're spread out all around the country (or even world). It's an online tribe of sorts. We also traded stories of simplifying our lifestyles, eating great food, bicycle commuting, and many other things that are common in our daily writings.

Saying Good-Bye to Lake Tahoe

The other Jeff and Ryan were long gone by this point. From what I understand, they left the parking lot about 15 minutes before we returned. They didn't even get any beer! Smudgemo and I made the final climb to the car, and tore into the ice chest. I had one of the Chocolate Stouts from the Bison Brewing Company in Berkeley, and Ryan had a Sierra Nevada 2007 Anniversary Ale...beers we had brought for each other. Smudgemo carefully hand-picked his beer from his hometown in Berkeley. I got lucky and found my beer at an emergency stop at the Chevron convenience store in Incline Village. The beer distributor was unloading the Sierra Nevada as I was paying for my gas. In the end, the results were the same. Great beer!

We enjoyed our brews, but then it was time to go. Smudgemo headed back to his cabin at Donner Lake, and I headed back to the Carson Valley. Hopefully we'll get to hook up again sometime soon!

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my tale! If you still need more, the complete photoset of this fantastic journey can be viewed HERE.

Bear Update

Here's a follow up on the bear that was in my yard. It looks like they caught him later in the day not far from my house.

Here's the article from the Record Courier, a Carson Valley newspaper.

The good news is that it was a 300 lb bear. Good news for me at least. I thought it looked pretty big when it ran across my yard, but so do most large carnivorous animals running around in your yard at 5:00 in the morning viewed with a flashlight in your pajamas. I was afraid to estimate too high, because if it turned out to be 100 lbs, I'd feel like a sissy. This poor bear had two bullet wounds in it it too!

The bear was tranquilized at returned to the mountains. Still I will sleep with my windows closed for the rest of the year!

Mexican Fighting Dog

This here is a Mexican Fighting Dog. This is the dog to have if you have bears in your yard. This is the same dog that treed the bear the other night. I don't know you people sleep at night without one of these guarding the house.

This summer I bought a head sweat. I was skeptical...could putting something extra on my head be cooler than my naked bald head? As it turns out it works out pretty well for us bald guys. It may be a little warmer getting started, but it works absolutely fabulous at keeping the sweat out of my eyes and glasses. It does a pretty good job at cooling once it gets wet too.

As it turns out, the head sweat also acts as a barrier against creepy things. Today I was leading the charge along the V&T Rail Road Grade, laying down a pretty good pace. A big juicy dragonfly flew into my vision and hit my helmet. I wasn't sure if it bounced off or entered the helmet vents. I rode for a bit more and then felt something crawling and flapping between my skull and the helmet. If it wasn't for the head sweat barrier, I almost certainly would have had a psychotic episode, causing erratic swerving, possibly sending myself and others off a cliff. Thanks to the head sweat, I was able to intrepidly come to a controlled stop, remove my helmet, and release the large insect back into the environment unharmed.

The Ride With Smudgemo is on for Wednesday. So far it's just me and Smudgemo. Everyone else had bulletproof excuses. I'm going to Canada, I'm getting two crowns on my teeth, I just started a new job, I have a meeting, etc.

This is the planned ride:

We'll start and finish at the Tahoe Rim Trail trailhead near the summit on the Mt. Rose HWY (SR431). We'll ride the TRT to Marlette Lake, ride around the south end of Marlette Lake, take the Flume Trail to Tunnel Creek, and finish on the TRT back to the cars. About 32 miles. If anyone reconsiders, this is where we'll be!

Cops Riding Bicycles 'Too Risky'

I found this article this morning via Drew Curtis' FARK. Here is an excerpt:

Its latest health-and-safety ruling was yesterday branded “loony” by MPs. Three hundred cops and police community support officers (PCSOs) have been banned by Greater Manchester Police from patrolling on their mountain bikes.

They have had huge success chasing criminals. And police bikes have acted as a deterrent across Britain for decades. But GMP fears officers are not trained enough — following the tragic death of Christopher Maclure, 21.

The rookie PCSO was on a bicycle when he was hit by a truck in an accident in Wigan earlier this month.

You can read the full article here at the Sun.

Clearly the bike was the problem with the officer who was struck by a truck.

Ride With Smudgemo

Sometime this week I'll be taking a day off to go ride with Smudgemo, author of You Just Don't Want To and resident of Berkeley, CA. The trail will include The Flume Trail and the Tahoe Rim Trail, but I'm not sure of the start and end points yet. More details as they develop...

If anyone would like to go with us, just let me know!

Cycling Carson City

I’ve been writing for the Facility Bike Club blog for a few years now, but I feel that it has started to overfill its rim. The subject matter focuses on our lunch time riding group, and doesn’t give enough attention to all that is going on in Carson City. It also excludes many writing riders that may want to contribute.

From what I’ve seen, there are many cyclists in the area, but no real sense of a cycling community. I wanted to create a place to share local bicycling news, information, pictures, stories, art, and whatever else we can think of down the road.

My idea was to create a new blog, Cycling Carson City. The timing on this seems to be perfect, since I should be moving to Carson City within a month. I've always felt like an impostor of sorts, writing about all this stuff about Carson City, but not actually living there. I'll have a sense of legitimacy now!

As for the FBC blog, I think I'll keep it going. It's a bit less formal and silly than I expect this new blog to be. There will most likely be material cross linked and duplicated though. We'll see how it goes, and how much energy/creativity I have. This blog may become that blog...don't know yet!

If you are interested in contributing to Cycling Carson City, or just have some news or ideas you’d like to share, please send me an email. This new blog is just getting started, so expect some changes and growing pains as it finds its rhythm and style!

TRAILS UPDATE

I thought I would let everyone know about the progress we are making on getting trails built(with permission)on the west side of Carson City. For anyone who isn't familiar with C.C.'s Unified Pathways Master Plan (UPMP)you can download the pdf file here. The trail we will be focusing on is the middle trail, which connects Kings Canyon Road to Ash Canyon Road.
After talking with Parks and Recreation director Roger Moellendorf and Open Space manager Juan Guzman, I'm confident a trail network will be constructed on the west side in the near future. Both gentlemen were positive and enthusiastic that someone was willing to step up to the plate and build the proposed trails.
This past week I also met with the board of directors of Muscle Powered, a Carson City organization that has been on the scene for ten years and is dedicated to creating a walkable and bicycle friendly community. You can find some of their accomplishments here. After giving my nervous sales pitch, the board voted unanimously in support of the construction of trails on the west side of C.C. President Ann Maqueary has graciously offered to do the environmental assessment report that will be required by the Forest Service before we're allowed to break ground(the proposed trail crosses through C.C. & F.S. land). Thank you Ann, and thank you board of directors of Muscle Powered. If you are not already a member of Muscle Powered, please consider it. I don't believe this project would succeed, or at least it would be more difficult, without their help. And to leave you with an even more positive note, Max Jones will be designing the sweet singletrack.
HAPPY TRAILS!

Bears in the Backyard

Bear
Originally uploaded by Facility Bike Club.

We got a call at 5:00 AM from Kristy's mom telling us that there were was a bear in her yard. She lives over on the next street, so we thought we'd have time to let the dogs go the bathroom before we shut up the house. This wasn't the case though! The 4lb Chihuahua ran to the corner of the yard, and then our apple tree started shaking violently! Sugar just treed her first bear! We got the big dog in, but I couldn't catch the little one. I was running laps around the picnic table trying to scoop her up.

I got the camera and wanted to see what I could see. I figured it had to be pretty small to be in our tree. I got the flashlight and the camera and went to the tree. A huge head was peering out of the leaves looking at me! I got my picture and ran back in the house. Not a cub!

Pretty soon the cops arrived and wanted to see the bear. He asked me if I had any food in the house. Uh....is this a trick question? At first I thought he might have been fish and game because of his gun. I thought he was getting ready to shoot the bear out of the tree. He was just using the flashlight though. Good thing. It wasn't a tranq gun...it was a shotgun.

After about a 45 minute standoff, the bear jumped out of the tree, and ran across the yard. Man...it was pretty big! I couldn't get a good picture, because opening the door would let the dogs out. I finally jumped out and got a blurry picture of him hopping the fence to the neighbor's yard.

What a rush! More pictures by following the picture link...

Hooray for Fall!

As I was going to bed last night the wind started picking up, and a little bit later it started to rain. It pretty much rained all night. My first thought upon waking was that the trails were going to be in prime shape today. Ok scratch that. My first thought was probably, "I have to pee". And then perhaps, "Where's my coffee?". But after that, I was totally thinking about packed, wet sand. On the way into work we were shocked to see SNOW in the mountains! Getting started early this year!

I got Kristy's Stumpjumper prepped this morning, actually lowering the tire pressure. I knew Jeff P was working today, but he has ways of finding out how much air is in those tires. I took the Weirwolf 2.5 down to 28, and the Rear Specialized Resolution 2.1 down to 30. Pretty much the setup I've been running this week. Kristy seemed to like the lower pressure, commenting that she bounced around a bit less. For myself, I might boost the rear up a couple PSI to 32, and take the front down to 25 PSI. I hit a rock with the rear tire that gave me some concern, but the front tire was fine to go even lower.

Scott and I left our subterranean lair and hooked up with Kristy and Amy on the other side of Main Street. As we approached the girls from a block away I actually saw Jeff P squeezing my wife's tires! We ride through Jeff P's "office" everyday, and I was glad that I had lowered the pressure in Kristy's tires. I'm still not sure if he approved though. I couldn't read the look on his face.

A bit later we hooked up with Kathy and Jon and headed for the dirt. The wet, packed sand was as expected...awesome. We easily climbed up a trail that was too sandy just yesterday! When we got to the top, the girls went and played on the creek trail, and the boys headed back to work.

Hooray for Fall!

Shiver Me Timbers

Apparently today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Well shiver me timbers! And speaking of shivering, today was the first cold day going in to Fall. You know, the day when it's in the 60's, but you think it's really cold because you're used to the 90's from only a week ago? Scott had on a long sleeve, Marcus was donning his arm warmers, and I had on my wind vest. And of course we stopped before we even started climbing to strip all those clothes off.

While we were disrobing, I spotted a varicolored neon yellow character approaching through the bushes. And fast. I thought for sure we had pissed off a crossing guard somewhere back in town, and we were on the fast track to the Principal's Office. I was already coming up with a story about how it was all Marcus's idea to ride wheelies through the cross walk, and how I didn't even see her stop sign, when I realized it was only Jeff P!

It's always a pleasure and honor to ride with the Grand Panjandrum of Ash Canyon. We certainly appreciate his craft; sweet singletrack is his métier.

At the top of the climb, Jeff P revealed that he is in discussions with the city for building a new trail network on Carson's west side. This is exciting news for cyclists and hikers alike. We'll keep you posted as this develops...

We finished the ride by flying down the Creek Trail with no care of bears. There has been so much talk of bears in the local media, that they're not even scary anymore!

So there you have today's potboiler. Good night!

Open Letter to the A-hole in the Red Subaru

Today on our regular lunch ride (which commences every single day at about the same time) we had a run in with a car at an intersection that had a 4 ways stop. They were turning right and we were going straight. The car could not have been behind us for more than one block and I have to say this is the first time a car has been behind us on this residential street in MONTHS. Did I mention we ride this street every day at the same time?

The nice lady in the passenger seat yelled at us as we were riding through the intersection and she was turning "why don't you ride single file like you are supposed to!"

Well my dear short tempered Subaru passenger, I do apologize for making you have to stop one millisecond before your right hand turn but Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 484.509 (2) states:

NRS 484.509 Operating bicycle on roadway.
2. Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two [emphasis added] abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

Be-yatch!

Reno Mojo

PIC-0056
Originally uploaded by i am indisposed.

FBC Mojo Bag on Mike's Raleigh Technium Townie.

Clouds

"Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way"

...sang Judy Collins as I rode under the clouds today. Thirty years later and I can still hear that song playing on my parents' turntable.



I had predicted that September would be long and hot, but to my surprise, Fall is already in the air. We're close enough to October now that I think the real hot stuff is behind us. For about a month now, we'll have some of the most perfect weather of the year! Temperatures this week will peak in the 60's and 70's.



We could still use some rain though. The sand is deep and choppy. Coming down off Lakeview was perilous to say the least.



To satisfy Jeff P's pinching fingers, I ran my Weirwolf 2.5 at 28 psi up front. Handling the rear tire duty was the Specialized Resolution 2.1 at 30 psi. So far so good. I shall play the tire pressure limbo this week. How low can I go? La la laa, laa la laa, la la, laa la laa la laa...

Live Free or Drive

I was over reading The MinusCar Project tonight, and saw the following quote:

"Live free or drive."

MinusCar has been an inspiration to many people for driving their cars less, including me. Here I am back in 2006 sporting my MinusCar Project t-shirt.

Snakebite, another Sioux Falls, South Dakota cyclist has went as far as selling his car! This means he no longer owns a car, but will still use public transportation, and even rent a car for longer trips such as vacations. This is going to be a great experiment!

Snakebite is going to keep track of the money he would have spent on a car payment, insurance, maintenance, and gas costs. To compare, he'll keep track of how much he spends on bus fares, taxi fares, and car rentals as they occur. He also plans to do a monthly post of the results.

Keep track of his progress over at Life Bikin'.

There are certainly many more blogger/cyclists worth mentioning, but I don't want to overwhelm this post. Instead I think I'll do a "spotlight" post every once in a while for our inspiration.

Since I like posts with pictures, I'll finish today's post with a picture from this week. This is Scott J. (also a bicycle commuter) shreddin' down the bunny trail. This is a newer trail named Jackrabbit. When riding Ash Canyon, it's the last section of single track we hit before returning to civilization on our lunch time rides. It's fast and skinny, and takes some skill to take the turns at speed. It's a great way to end the ride!

Mojo Shots

I found these cool Mojo shots while browsing the blue colnago. The pictures are from the gravel back roads of Iowa.

Apparently Mojo attracts flutterbies.

I'm Moving!

If everything goes according to plan, I should be moving to Carson City soon. Right now I live in Gardnerville, which is a 16 mile drive from work (32 mile round trip). Due to changing weather conditions, safety, and time with the family, this route is not practical for bicycle commuting...especially year round. A house in Carson City will allow me to ride to work year round no matter what the weather, as I'll be living within one mile of work. Shoot, I could X-Country ski to work if I needed to if the snow gets real deep!

As you can see from the picture, Carson City is very close to all sorts of recreational potential. And if the Sierras were to split apart, I'd be swimming in enough water to cover the entire state of California. Yeah, Lake Tahoe is that deep!

It will be a dream come true to use a bicycle for most of my transportation, and ridicule those who choose not to! True bicycle snobbery awaits me...



Thanks, Jerome for the video tip!

My Current Monthly Commute Statistics:
Miles Driven: 600
Hours in the car: 20 (almost one full day!)
Fuel Costs: $54
Probability of Death Commuting at 70 mph next to people with NASCAR numbers in their windows: High
My Sanity: Priceless

Note: I borrowed this picture from the Carson City Nevada Convention and Visitors Bureau website.

Missing Pump

Looking for something to do? Go for a ride and look for a bicycle pump!

Muscle Powered president, Anne Macquarie, lost her pump in the vicinity of the Ash Canyon creek trail. Let me know if anyone finds it so we can return it to her!

Carson Pass

This weekend my family met up with fellow blogsmith Mike and his wife Danielle. I got to know Mike through blogging before I had a chance to meet him in person. When I finally got to meet him, I felt like I already knew him a bit. It was kind of like meeting a character from a book you've been reading. Mike likes to write a lot, so there was lots of material to base my preconceived character on!

We met at the top of Carson Pass and hiked into the Mokelumne Wilderness, south of Lake Tahoe. It's up pretty high, and you get the feeling like you're walking on top of the world. Part of the trail is shared with the Pacific Crest Trail, but then heads off towards Winnemucca Lake shortly after leaving Frog Lake. The first picture is looking across Frog Lake to the South (you need to click on that picture and view it big!).

Along the hike we spoke of bicycles, endurance racing, potted meats, back country skiing, microwavable spotted dick, and extra large nipples. Our dogs were having a good time too. Even our dogs seemed to act as if they'd met previously.

Early into the hike my dog took an enormous dump right next the trail. I was a little embarrassed at the copious amount he left right in front of our new friends. Danielle started reaching for her pack and said, "Here...I have some plastic dog bags you can use." Now there's a fine line between being environmentally conscious and simply carrying around a colossal bag of poo. Quickly I grabbed two large slabs of bark and carried the freshly laid steamers to their final resting spot behind a downed tree. We hiked on.

I know some of you are looking at that singletrack thinking it'd be sweet to ride. You'd be right. If they allowed mechanized travel in these parts. Since it's the PCT and a wilderness area to boot, you'll only see foot traffic on this trail. Which is fine by me. Some places are meant to be seen at a slower pace.

This was also a very special trip for me, because I just got my camera back from the shop. You may have noticed a lack of original pictures here lately. I borrowed Kristy's camera while mine was in the shop, but that camera and I just don't get along. I couldn't seem to get good pictures out of it, and ended up not taking too many. But I'm back in action now, tormenting everyone with my camera! Hey it's worth it though, right?

We had a great time hanging out with Mike and Danielle. We parted ways at Winnemucca Lake. They headed on to 4th of July Lake to spend the night, and Kristy and I took the boy (who never complained once over the course of 4 miles) and tired dogs back to the car. We hope to have another adventure with them soon!

More pictures of the trip can be found HERE and also HERE!

Air Mail

Mokelumne Wilderness Mojo 2

Carson Pass Hike
Originally uploaded by i am indisposed.

On Saturday we hand delivered two mojo bags to Mike and Danielle in the Mokelumne Wilderness.

Complete writeup and photos coming soon!

Mokelumne Wilderness Mojo

Carson Pass Hike
Originally uploaded by i am indisposed.

On Saturday we hand delivered two mojo bags to Mike and Danielle in the Mokelumne Wilderness.

Complete writeup and photos coming soon!

FBC Market Place

Haro for Sale
Originally uploaded by Facility Bike Club.

Attention Local Readers! For Sale: 15.5 inch Haro Mountain Bike for $75!

Although this bike is from 1993-1994, it only has about 50 miles on it! It has been garaged at my mom's house the rest of the time.

This steel framed bicycle would be great for a first time rider (light trail use) or someone looking for cheap transportation around town. I just washed and tuned it up today. It shifts flawlessly! Feels like a new bike.

It also has mounts for a rear rack. Great for commuters!

The 15.5 inch frame would fit a person on the plus or minus side of 5'6" tall.

Send me an email if you're interested.

Mojo in Maryland

Moto Mojo
Originally uploaded by Facility Bike Club.

The Sarge sent this mojo picture from Maryland. He says, "I think i might have broken a rule here...but i suppose if there is anyplace
i need good mojo its on the motorcycle...". I'd have to agree with him!

Two more mojo bags were delivered yesterday. They spent the night with two backpackers up in the Sierras. Pictures soon...

Facility Bike Club

One day last week, we had six riders on the lunch time ride. There was Kristy, Kathy, and the usual cast of characters too...myself, Sandie, Jon, and Scott. I was looking around during the ride, and it occurred to me that none of the riders were from "The Facility"...the place where this blog was born. It also got me thinking that most people that visit this blog have no idea what the heck "The Facility" refers to.


Me on my Haro Escape - January 2002

It started back in 2001 when I worked at a place known as "The Computer Facility". I found myself getting a bit unhealthy, and was at my heaviest weight ever. There was a water club and a coffee club, so I thought I'd start a walking club. After a few weeks of doing that, I was getting bored and thought riding bicycles would be way more fun. Could we ride at lunch, and still make it back in time to start work again? Todd, Robert, and I brought in our neglected bicycles in an attempt to answer this question. And so it began on our rusty 10 speeds, Huffy's, and old hard tails. We were having a bunch of fun. Others soon joined...Bill, Dennis, Casey, and Patrick. A few others joined periodically, but never stuck with it.



Todd - January 2002 (This is where the bike path now runs)



Watching the carnage on "Hamburger Hill" - January 2002

There were a lot of injuries when we were first getting started. Our courage and testosterone were out of balance with our skill level and equipment. Slowly, we all started updating our bikes with updated models. Many of us have bought several bikes since then.



Patrick, Todd, Scott (aka The Sarge) - April 2002

We started off doing some easy road loops with a hint of dirt. The "top" back then is what we consider the beginning of the trails now. We were pretty proud just to get to this point though. That all changed when The Sarge showed up. He pushed us up into the hills further and faster then we've ever been. In fact, we are at the same limits of our domain as when he left several years ago. You just can't ride much further in the lunch hour. I believe Scott was the first non-facility rider we had.



Patrick and Scott(Sarge) on the Creek Trail - May 2002

In 2002, we started getting together for some group rides up at Tahoe on the weekends.



Robert, Casey, Me, Scott, Amy - November 2002



Casey, Robert, Scott - November 2002


Scott (The Sarge), Todd, Me, Bill - May 2003



Bill and Todd @ Hole in the Ground - September 2003

Bill is known for his crazy stories.



Dennis, Robert, Me, Todd - December 2003



Robert, Todd, Me - December 2003

Standing next to this tree (above) is a popular place for a photo shoot!)



Scott (The Sarge) - June 2004

The Sarge left us in the summer of 2004 for the East Coast. This is one of the last rides we did with him, an after work ride. It rained on the climb, but it felt good in the summer heat.

We hope that he may be back someday. He's an awesome rider and an even better friend.



Waterfall Fire - July 2004



Todd - Waterfall Fire 2004

In the spring of 2004, many of us were getting bored of the trails. In July the Waterfall Fire struck, and we were closed out of trails for a long time while the restoration of the mountains was underway. We had taken the trails for granted, and were taught a lesson in appreciation. We slowly crept back into the mountain before it was legal to do so though. We couldn't take it anymore! Casey even made the front page of the paper. It showed him riding one of the trails with the caption, "Keep Out!". I started writing this blog in the Fall of 2004.



Patrick, Todd, Ryan - December 2004

Ryan joined us in November of 2004. His racer skills humbled us quickly. We always enjoy his stories of adventure racing and X-Terra events. Most of us think he's nuts.



The Bike Path - January 2005

The winter of 2004-2005 was rough. It snowed a ton and stayed cold, entombing the trails for a couple months. We had very little to ride. Mostly asphalt loops.



Ash Canyon - May 2005

Spring of 2005 was like a re-birth. A new appreciation was found for the great trails we had. Beauty was coming back to the mountains after the fire.

In June of 2005 we acquired our first female rider, Barbara...also a non Facility worker. I remember everyone being skeptical when she showed up. Could she hang with the guys? She quickly showed us she could, and us guys made sure we were in good shape so we didn't get "beaten by a girl". Barbara is known for her climbing skills.



Patrick and Barbara - November 2005

Sandie joined us in the Fall of 2005. She was a beginning mountain biker, but quickly gained her fitness and skills. It wasn't too long before she was riding all the same trails we were.



Sandie - January 2006

2006 was definitely the year of the girl rider. On any given day in the summer, there'd be more girls than guys on the ride. Sandie joined us full time, while Kristy and Kathy joined as their schedules allowed. The original Facility guys were starting to disappear. People found new jobs, quit riding, or retired.



Dennis, Sandie, and Todd - June 2006



Barbara and Kristy - August 2006

Kristy, my wife, started riding with us periodically beginning in 2006. Our son's new school schedule, and her updated equipment enabled her to get into town to ride with us more often. Her full suspension Stump Jumper opened up a whole new world of riding for her. Kristy has skills and courage from years of riding dirt bikes. It's been my dream come true to start doing some serious cycling with her too.

Sandie met Kathy through soccer, and invited her to join us at lunch. Kathy has been riding for years and has racer fitness and skills. She'll put you into max heart rate on the climbs if you let her. She's also a very skilled downhill and technical rider.



Barbara and Kathy - December 2006



Kristy, Ryan, Sandie, Barbara - January 2007

Sandie broke her ankle at the end of 2006, and rejoined us in January of 07 after a brief hiatus. The picture above is from her first ride back.



Amy and Jeff P, Barbara, Sandie - January 2007

We met the Potter's in the Fall of 2006. We ride with them primarily on the weekends, but they join us at lunch when they can. The Potters are responsible for exposing us to all sorts of new trails and places to ride. They also make the best cup of coffee in Carson City.

In the Fall of 2006, I quit working at the Facility and left for a different agency. Todd, Patrick, and Ryan remained.



Kristy and Kathy - February 2007

By the beginning of 2007 many of us were starting to buy road bikes. We've been adding road rides to the weekly schedule on occasion.



Sandie, Kristy, Barbara, Todd - February 2007

The winter of 2007 was cold, but mild in the amount of snow that we got. We were able to ride almost every day of the winter. When it comes to the cold weather, the girls are just as tough as the guys.



Marcus - May 2007

Marcus found us in the Spring of 2007. He was doing a google search for trails in the Ash Canyon area and found our blog. Since then, Marcus has helped out with lots of cool blog pictures and posts.



Jon - June 2007

We met Jon while riding at lunch this summer. He was a runner that was just getting into cycling. This guy has some natural talent, and was immediately riding our trails with no prior single track skills. He also came with fitness too, thanks to his running.



Scott J. - June 2007

In early 2007 I recruited my new co-worker Scott J. to join us. Scott has been riding for years, and adapted quickly to our trails.

Facility Bike Club - Present Day. Only Todd and Ryan remain as riders from the place where it all started. The Facility doesn't even allow bikes on the property anymore! It's almost silly to even call ourselves by this name, but the history is there, and nobody has really thought about changing the name.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip through FBC history!