Double Walk Out

Friday's Team Wreck ride was fraught with challenges but we overcame most of them. We had intended to get an early start and make it out to the Wilson or Washougal rivers. To that end I got up early, packed up and schlepped two backpacks, a Zo bag, my IF and an anxious dog 2 blocks uphill to the car. Wait...didn't I park here 3 days ago?...Why are the streets all wet? Fuck. Apparently in NW they clean the streets 3 times a year and if you don't move your car it gets towed. The nice woman at the neighborhhod association explained that fliers were sent out at the beginning of the year. Not much help for me as I moved in 3 weeks ago. The nice woman with the police dept. explained that it's against the law not to move your vehicle every 24 hours. I asked if it wasn't in the city's best interests for me to park my car during the week and ride a bike instead? But of course she doesn't make the rules she only blah blah fucking blah. Riding down to the impound yard I got a flat and had to walk back to get another bike. Anyway 2 hours and $189 later we were on our way. Or I thought we were. I collected Dabby fairly easily. The delay gave him a chance to pull it together. (he is slow...It took him close to 3 hours on Sunday to make pancakes...but they were worth it). Mary Lou wasn't quite as prepared. Having just fallen asleep after a night of heavy drinking and petty crime he needed a little persuading and his (my) bike needed a new chainring and shorter chain. Only one of the bolts was stripped out, so after some futile wrenching, some bloody knuckles, and a trip to NoPo bike works we finally gave up and drove back to NW to get another set of cranks and a crank puller. Mary Lou was worried about sobering up so we went to the Lucky Lab to swap the cranks. That proved to be a good choice as we all relaxed a bit after an imperial pint.

By this time a long drive was out of the question so we went to Scappoose again. The trails were in perfect condition, dry and fast. There were quite a few other riders out there which is weird for a weekday but I guess it's spring now. We got on the trail around 1:45, right on schedule!
We got in some good riding before I got my second flat. All the trails are signed now so it's easier to navigate. We climbed on the road up to Purple Haze, took it to CT3 then down Kamikaze, which we formerly knew as the bottom of the Nettle trail, and which Dabby once bombed on a polo bike.

He couldn't make the switchbacks with only a rear brake so he just went straight down. I still think his blog should be called "the fall line" or "a huge pit of irony" or really anything that doesn't conjure a mental image of Dabby defecating. Anyway I got a second flat (a valve stem tear) and had to walk out, having already used my extra tube.


We made it back to the parking lot and Dabby bummed a tube off someone and we went back out. We got in some more great riding, and I cleaned the hill up to the North Shore for the second time ever. Dabby took a good video of Mary Lou jumping a gap, maybe he'll post it some day. Then, as predicted, my tire blew out again and I had the rare double walk out. Personal Record!
Dabby thinks the Ritchey rim strip that came with my wheels is to blame, it lets a little bit of metal show, so now I have another reason to hate Tom Ritchey.

Chaos on the court

Here are some photos from Brian's birthday/polo night on Wednesday. I'll add desciptions and stories later, right now I've got to put the brakes back on my IF and go meet the rest of Team Wreck (in this case just Mary Lou and Dabby) for an excursion to the hinterland.


These guys were cool, the one on the right said his name was Ghetto Ghost. I didn't get a name for the dude on the left but I like his style. Notice he's decked out in Budweiser gear but drinking Tecate. I guess Tecate is like the Budweiser of Mexico...maybe it's a subtle commentary on the effects of NAFTA.



Happy Birthday Brian




Dabby knows how to have a good time.





Don't ride too close to these two, they'll take you out.





Heather took this one




Heather took this one of Chakra, Erica and Bjorn.






I took a bunch of long exposure shots, none of them turned out great but these are two of my favorites.





Heather took this one of us.







Bjorn and Dabby got into a fight. It was short and ugly, nobody got hurt but Dabby's glasses were mangled. Please note I took pictures instead of interceding only because I could see that Ringer, C Murder and Jerry had the situation well in hand.

Team WRECK mountain bike bus schedule

Most rides will leave from Belmont Stumptown, meet at 8:30 for a 9:00 departure. RSVP to guarantee a seat.

April 22nd - 21st annual Mudslinger
May 12-13 - Peaches and Lucky P. lead a ride to SF stopping at Rickreall the first night
May 19-20 - Falls City Firecracker plus a trip to Black Rock
May 25-28 - NACCC in SF
June 10th - NW Single Speed Championships
June 22-23 - Mackenzie River camping trip
July 20-22 - Rickreall Open 2007
mid August - Team WRECK road trip to Utah and Colorado
August 31- Sept. 3 - Westside Invite 7
?TBA? - Beefa's Death March 07

Bold SUV drivers take on an icy hill

I ride up and down this hill at least once a weekday, it's very steep. I'm not surprised a few jackasses would try it in the ice but so many?
Once again this video has been out for a while (1.2 million views!) but I hadn't seen it so maybe you haven't either.

video update

A camera inside the polo mallet, that is awesome.







I happened upon this commercial on youtube and had to watch it several times. I have a real thing for cute girls riding bikes down hills...maybe I should become a zoobomber.

The Battle in Seattle

I guess this video has been out for a while but I've never seen it. I barely appear, which is OK, as Team Wreck didn't play that well that day. The star is the lovely Divebomb, who scores 3 goals including a game winner from an impossible angle.

a day in the life

This is just wrong.

It's a good thing project DAYGLO never made it to Tanner Springs. I watched these guys for a while, they were picking up one rock at a time for individual scrubbing. I guess the natural biofilter didn't work.

On the sidewalk at 14th and Lovejoy.

I guess Scottie got tired of getting hassled by Barnum and Balzer on the no brakes ordinance.

T-Bone gets another 15 minutes

T-Bone, a valued member of the Team Wreck bike polo team and a sometimes member of the moutain bike team (she has to work weekends) is profiled in the Oregonian today.

Tori Bortman

Age: 32

Job: Bicycle mechanic, downtown Bike Gallery

Pay: $20,000

Background: Behind her bee-girl glasses, Bortman finds a sort of serenity in the gears and grease of the Bike Gallery's back shop. "My mental health is better with this kind of job," says the former substitute teacher and janitor who studied theater and creative writing at Western Illinois University. The job's importance in Bike City USA belies the $10-an-hour paycheck, she says. "I love bicycles. And I love keeping people on their bikes." She has the best job in the city, she says. Plus, she has a 401(k) and health insurance. "Those aren't things bike mechanics usually have access to." The worst part of the job: "The chapped skin. I have to wash my hands so many times a day."

Quote: "People come in and apologize that they don't know how to fix their bikes. I tell them, 'If you knew how to fix bikes, I wouldn't have a job.' "

a day in the life

Plum tree at sunset.



Closeup of the new carpet outside Voodoo Donuts.

Geese taking off from the grass field. I had hoped to get closer.


Crazy light just before sunset.


Sunset through the plum tree.





Magnolia blossoms.

a day in the life

Grasshopper looking up at a giant Redwood


One of my favorite trees, on SW Prospect Dr.


self portrait

Mount Saint Helens and the Fremont bridge

a day in the life

J sets up for a jump of the fire pit
and sticks it
Fruit spurs on the hybrid apple tree


Still life with red ryder and oak log


J and an old oak tree that fell across the path, Icounted 115 rings


the pond


Operation Dayglo project Mud Branch. 12 fish remain out of 21 and they're about three times their original size

a day in the life

I like the improvised fenders on this bike that always parks at 1001 sw 5th aka Orbanco aka the speedboat



A cryptic message outside Voodoo Donuts






my fixed gear mountain bike


Mary Lou contemplates the jump Dabby has called the "biggest hit in Columbia County"

video from the poose

Here's Mary Lou hitting one of the smaller jumps



Cowboy washed out and banged his knee pretty hard but he walked it off and we kept riding


Mary Lou bailing out on a steep section

The 'Poose is loose!

Mace reports heavy snow in Hood River so it looks like the Bingen trip is off. Instead we'll vote (with our gas money) on whether to head to Scappoose Natural Forest or out Highway 6. I'm interested inthese sections of the Wilson River Trail. It seems like they're at a lower elevation than the trails we normally ride at Brown's Camp and Gale's Creek and therefore possibly snow free.

Also next Saturday PUMP is having a work party/trail ride at Scappoose. Perhaps Team WRECK should attend. It would be good karma and we would get to know the trails much better.

FREE CHIPS

The ride this Sunday is on regardless of the weather. If there is snow at Bingen we will go to Scappoose or Brown's Camp.

I bought a little camera for $99 and have been carrying it on my shoulder strap. Here are some of the photos I took today.

Team Wreck mountain bike bus

The next Team Wreck trail ride is Sunday Feb. 25. Meet at 8:30 AM at Belmont Stumptown/Cowboy's Crib. The destination is Bingen, aka Syncline aka Hospital Hill.