Photo Bomb!

For some reason I have the Runaway's Cherry Bomb in my head as I write this...instead of Cherry Bomb it's "Photo Bomb"...If there is a better jersey design in existence I can't think of it. Mickey at Spooky Bikes has many talents. And his ability to conjure up imagery is almost shaman-like. Is this a shot across the bow (or was it as its an old kit) at Speedvagen and the cult of Unicorns and Rainbows? Probably. Kind of like Punk rock rising from the ashes of Haight and Ashbury and peace love and hippies. Give me a decapitated unicorn with a rainbow pouring out of it any day and I am a happy man. Chasing Matt Green (well chasing is a overstatement as he was JRA as I was killing myself to even keep him in sight) while looking at that jersey made it impossible to dwell on the suffering and pain I was enduring. How could you even worry about your own pain while looking at that? You just laugh and get stoked each time you look at it. At least I do.

The crew at Spooky get it. You don't need me telling you that. A spy ops visit a couple of weeks ago to Eastho, Noho and the lower corner of VT just put an exclamation point on what I already knew about them. But spending a day with them, riding with, talking bikes with them just hammered home how much these guys rock. You think the spirit of mtn biking is dead? Spend a day with these guys and there is no way you will say that at the end of the day. These guys may singlehandedly save mtn biking from itself.

We rolled up to Spooky HQ and we talked shop for a bit. $3,000 edge rims may or may not have been used as a frisbee. I cannot confirm or deny this rumor. Then we all piled into cars and headed to some fresh trails. These boys not only can ride their brains out, I saw Garson do a move over a hip high downed tree that still boggles the mind, they embrace what used to embody the spirit of mtn biking. Mtn biking used to be about adventure. Hanging out with your friends. Not caring about what bike you rode or how cool you were. Although the Spooky guys are wicked cool no doubt about that. But they welcomed us, shared trails they had built with their own hands, and were such great hosts it wasn't even funny. I seriously need to spend a lot more time with those boys. Not to (once again) show my age but they reminded me a lot of the Retrotech crew in Chico, California back in the glory days of mtn biking.

Is there a more beautiful thing than the 666 number plate? I don't think so. I have only been lucky enough to rock a 666 # plate once in my life. It was a Surf City CX on Halloween. Can't even make that up. It was a jungle cross course and I suffered my ass off but rocking 666 on Halloween? Priceless. I will never forget that day...

Start ramp of the Pedros "trike" race. No pressure there. Matty B, Richard Fries, Tim Johnson et al telling me how to not die and go fast. How is a 45 year old man supposed to go fast on a clown bike without dying? Seriously. I lived but I did not go fast. I might have had the slowest time of the night. Mickey from Spooky had a great QOTD "BMX riders will always win a 28 second race" Yes they will and yes they did.

Right before my Cape vaca this appeared. I say appeared because that is exactly how it showed up at my door. Basically it would have seemed less weird if Fairy Boots showed up at my doorstep and did an irish jig and dropped the new All Hail the Black Market kit in my lap. I had spent all morning packing the van. Just as we are about to leave I go out to the van and sitting on the driver's seat is a white tyvek envelope. Inside was that bit of goodness plus a crazy ass button and a nice AHTBM sticker that will either go on the team van or on the Rock Lobster. Not sure which. The kit is amazing. One of the sharpest designs ever. I rode it every ride down the cape and it gave me wings!
I think cross is ruining my mtn bike riding! Ha what a reversal. But it is true that it is pretty hard going between the two bikes. I will say that after 3 solid months of trying to become a mtn biker and with some serious help from my friends I am getting better at it. I was actually able to roll right over that and a bunch of other logs etc on my rides through Nickerson State Forest on my cross bike. I left my chainring tag on that a bunch of times!

One huge shout out from vaca. You know how everyone thinks twitter and fb is a huge waste of time? Well my headset was rocking so bad it was ridiculous. I tweeted how I could not figure it out for the life of me. Matt Roy, the king of all bike mechanics, hits me back and then gives me a call. My god he is amazing. He walked me through it and voila! No more creaky headset! Thank you Matt you are my hero!

So Pedro's has this raffle (www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=11181) going on right now. It is for a really good cause. IMBA has a new initiative that will help us keep the trails open. I get that here in New England we are sooo lucky to have NEMBA. We have tons of trails to ride on. We get to build trails! Do you have any idea how unusual that is? I lived in Norcal for 12 years and being a mtn biker was akin to being a criminal. I am not kidding. So just cause we live in dirt paradise doesn't mean the rest of our brothers and sisters are so lucky. If you can please buy a raffle ticket. It will do a ton of good and you may just win some super sweet swag. At least you will win knowing the good folks at IMBA are fighting for our right to ride!