Back up in this mutha! - The List - Wilson Lake Recap

BACK UP IN THIS MUTHA! 

Ayooo! It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but I'm putting it back on on my list of things to do. The current plan is to update it every Sunday with the previous weeks happenings and the music I'm currently listening to or intrigued by, or whatever. Bookmark this site and check back. I promise you'll f*cking love it.

THE LIST

Also on my list, was to stop buying so many things (bikes and otherwise) and to start riding more and riding new trails at new locations. I've got some of that down already as the Singlespeed Pirate, the Pirate Posse and myself just completed the Cedar Cross... all 115 miles of it. Fred power! A week or so ago I rode Wyco (a local KC trail) for the first time and today I rode Landahl (first time there as well) with a group of friends and acquaintances. All were amazing. All have refreshed me and at the same time made my mundane job seem like a pit stop in between adventures. That is the way it should be. Work to live, not the other way around.

WILSON LAKE

My trip with Handleballs aka Corbin Dioxide to Wilson Lake, KS was epic. With our tired legs from Cedar Cross, C-Diddy and I decided to go to Wilson and ride the mountain bikes instead of spending 3 days in the rain on the Katy Trail. Great call!

We rolled out around 9:30 on Wednesday and putted around KC as I looked for parts to adjust my improperly tuned suspension fork. After we located some gum and some JB Weld we rolled out. The landscape was the typical midwest/Kansas affair. The scenery that everyone thinks ALL of Kansas/Missouri looks like... which it doesn't. Whatever. The massive wind turbines and cows and horses are pretty good scenery for the 4 hour-ish drive from KCMO.

Roadie!

We finally got to Wilson Lake, located the trail head, claimed our spot and wasted no time getting down to business. We clipped in and rode around 17 miles before heading back to take a post drive/ride nap. After that, we went back out for a quick 8 mile jaunt before coming back and setting up camp before dark. Also before the rain and the flash flood of wind and sh!tty weather showed up. Day 1 was a wrap.

Waaay in the background.

  

 

 When I woke up, it was super cold and sh!tty and I remembered I didn't pack pants or anything warm. It was the worst and uhhhh, never again. I eat some oatmeal Corbeezy had cooked up and went back to lay in the tent until it got warm again because I'm a big pussy. The sun finally made an appearance and we were feeling it's energy. We clipped in and rode the whole trail system in all of it's awesomeness. We took another quick break before heading out for a little bit more trail action. The weather was starting to get bad again and we decided to jet back to KC and wrap up  the adventure.

 

Putting in work. HTFU.

 

This trip was awesome. It was only a small distance away from KC, MO but the scenery and trail is so completely different that it was well worth it. Highly recommended. I'm still stoked.

MUSIC

Earl Sweatshirt. This dude is the best out of Odd Future minus Frank Ocean. Sort of horrorcore, shock rap and I don't bump this on the regular, but Chum has been popping on my Slacker radio channel and I dig it every time I hear it. Second video posted purely for the craziness.

 

MOOG 4 LIFE!

Black Hippy

For some reason this is my jam the past few days. Part of the Black Hippy collective, Ab Soul is always on some other sh!t and that's why I dig it.

Shout out to Danny Brown in the Patagonia hoody too! Haha...

And Bohemian Grove just because the beat is sick and it's my favorite song on the album. "I coexist in places you would never know existed"..yes. "she's on my jock...that's reasonable"..also, yes.

Totally stoked brah!

Come down selectaaaaaaa!

This whole album is killer, but Snow Beast is my jam. The dub at the end is so sick and the whole song is just recorded and  executed perfectly. Sick riddims braaaa! 

I don't like!

Riding on a trainer in the winter...THAT"S THAT SH!T I DON"T LIKE!

Days like this make me want to call up the homies and dance around shirt less, talking about all the sh!t I don't liiiiike!

Lake Perry (demands your respect)

Yesterday the stress of my move and recent car trouble ($$$) caught up to me and I needed an outlet. I dug through my things and gathered my mountain bike gear. I loaded up the VW with it's bent rear/right suspension arm and drove the white beast with it's rubbing tire on a trip out to the Lake Perry mountain bike trails. What a day! The weather was perfect for a ride and there was hardly a hint of wind, which is strange for Kansas.

I have a long history with Perry Lake. I think I've probably ridden out there for 9 years or so in total. It started on a Klein Attitude, super stiff aluminum hardtail. I had my hair long in a pony tail and was racing a lot for East Carolina University.

A couple years later I sold the jarring aluminum of the Klein in favor of a  sweet Reynolds 853 steel Gunnar Rockhound. I had that bike for several years and eventually converted it to singlespeed using a White Industries ENO rear wheel. After that I briefly rode a Cannondale hard tail that was too big for me and reminded me that I love steel framed bikes, but also introduced me to the Lefty suspension fork which I enjoyed. Next I picked up one of the original Surly Karate Monkey frame and forks after being intrigued by one at Bonktoberfest. The KM introduced me (and countless others) to 29 inch wheels. s

I soon grew tired of the fork end drop outs and wanted something a bit lighter and livelier. I had Eric Baar of Ground Up Cycles weld me up a custom frame built on the dimensions of the Karate Monkey with a few changes. Eric was welding for Wily Cycles at the time. It was a beautiful bike that I still regret selling to this day. Filet brazed wonderfulness with a Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket and all the good parts. It had some super nice Jeff Jones titanium "H bars" which he had just introduced to the world. Brooks Swift seat, Moots post, King hubs and headset etc. 

Fast forward many moons. So many things have changed in my life. I came full circle from selling off everything cycling related in my life to owning enough tools to run my own bike shop. Having zero bikes to owning the two titanium bikes of my dreams. Living at the beach in South Carolina working on a parasail boat with my lifelong friends to living back in Kansas with only my family and a few close friends that I met along the way. It only seemed right to revisit Perry Lake and give it another go. 

Perry is (to me) the ultimate test. It tests your patience and your fitness. It tests your bike. The fit. The pressure in your tires. The settings on your suspension (if you have it). Your technique on climbs and your technique on descents. It's fast in parts and extremely rocky and slow in others. It's completely beginner in certain aspects and unbelievably chunky and sometimes scary in others. If you ever slack off and stop respecting the trail, it'll bounce you off your path and you'll be wishing you didn't second guess it. If you're not in the right mental state to deal with it, it can be very frustrating. Some of the switchbacks are so steep and rocky you just have to laugh. I walked a few sections. I dabbed. I racked myself on the top tube. I crashed. I hit my knee on the stem so hard I let out an extremely loud F*CK! I rode past all the spots on the trail that I remembered and also rode through some new sections that weren't there the last time I rode. I smiled and laughed a lot. Then I finished and had a sense of complete calm and accomplishment.

Overall it was a perfect day weather-wise and a perfect ride. My hats off to Lyle for the excellent work on the trail. If you get the chance, take the trip out to the Perry Lake mountain bike trails and test yourself

Bling! Bling!

I decided to surprise my baby today with a little something special. She's always been there for me so I had a friend whip up some custom headbadgery to show my appreciation. Copper and silver go together like ebony and ivory and I thought it would compliment the titanium and anodized orange parts well, as did my cohort who made the head badge. Indeed it does looks good and my beautiful titanium lady has never looked better. You know what they say, a happy bike makes a happy life.

s

BTW the iPhone 5 takes great pictures, don't you agree!? Es muy bueno con amigos.

Si seenore. I leave you with Kool Keith, Black Elvis