Pleasanton and Demonstration Forest

3 day weekend for me. Saturday I pretty much did nothing but sleep. So tired for no reason.

Sunday I went to Pleasanton because a bunch of people were going. Mike F, Jimmy, Mike G, Quasi, Jerrot and some guy named Gideon were there. No little kids just us and a few others. Nice. I had a lot of fun and Jimmy absolutely rules. I mean RULES. I did all right. had trouble with the big straight pack but I did jump the 3 pack on the right for the first time. A lot easier than I thought it would be.

Elizabeth and I went to Demo on Monday which was Memorial Day.
The drive there wasn't as bad as I though it would be but i should have taken a picture of the road where it is about to slide down the mt. lots of cars on the side of the road. we park. it looks nice. take some before shots and we ride up the road. go on some dirt road and go on the dirt road and keep going uphill for a long time. We come across a banana slug. E was grossed out by it.

we get passed by some girl and some dude and then some other dude. we pass them aways up where they had stopped. e said the dude puked. we keep going uphill. not knowing where we are going too much. get to a gate and ask some seatpost guy and he says to keep going. then a big group of xc pro types come and go. then some more. we finally get to ridge trail.

i think 5 miles up? take some pictures. more people come and go down. we go down. trail is fun. i wait for e. psss. she was all confused. then she realized she had a flat. and there was some big twig sticking out of her tire. how did that happen.

she fixes it. people keep coming by. including the fast xc guys. ??? we go down. it is pretty cool trail. get to corral. go down corral and it has a bunch of little ghetto man made jumps. rocks and trees for lips with dirt. pretty crappy really but something different. i turn around and do the top section a couple times. there is a nice right hand berm that i hit several times and we eventually ride down. it then becomes fireroad. we go down the fireroad which was actually pretty cool because it has some natural jumps. there are also a bunch of side stuff that looks kind of sketchy. i hit 32 and e hit 17. i wasn't trying to go fast though. we get to some fork in the road and keep going to a picnic bench and then turn left and go to the heli pad. took a picture of a turkey. saw two turkey babies. turn around and head back to the bench and then to hihns trail and ride that back to the parking lot. a little over 10 miles but i swear we did more uphill than downhill. we rode like 5 miles mostly uphill and then 2 on hihns. i had fun though. not super bad ass fun but fun. nice area to ride but it is pretty tough. i was on the planet x and had to stand to climb all the uphills. e did all right. i did all right. i did go flying off the trail after some crappy loose left hand berm that kinda stops. went off the trail into a bunch of brush. no big deal.



we got home, ate, showered and then headed out the door for a ride around town. i was on the fmf with the seatpost all jacked up and e on her rockhopper. it was cool.



i order 200 bucks worth of bike parts and it is like 5 items. bars for the nomad (hee hee), seatpost for the px, two computers (nomad, cheeta), 5 tubes, and something else.



simon cat is totally sleeping by me. i even covered him in a blanket and he just kinda looked at me and stretched out. cute little guy.



i was thinking a little earlier that i am happy. just happy. nice happy.

MYSPACE

My friend has a myspace account and he said he usually posts where he is going riding on there instead of msdhw usually so i got an account. I actually had an account before to see a video. so i got on there and it is so addicting. i was listening to all this music and there are all these videos of everything. it is great. i did nothing today but sleep and eventually i read a bit. sat in the sun. ate. and got on this computer. okay i am bored so later.

Gap, Jump Trail, Insomnia

We started today off with some geochaching. E got a thing and we (she) found the first cache

and we rode to the 2nd spot but couldn't find anything. Then we drove up to Saratoga Gap and tried to find a cache in the parking lot but couldn't

and then we rode. I was on her Nomad and her on her Juliana Rode to the sign at charcoal and e found another cache.

we rode more and more until we got to the rock bench with a nice view.

took a couple pictures and then went down ? longridge? singletrack trail.

I stop at a y and i hear e call my name and look up the trail and she is waiting on the side of the trail so i go back up. she went off a "jump" and went off the trail a teeny bit and ended up in a small hole and her foot got stuck in another hole. So of course I got the camera out of her camelbak first to take some pictures and then she got out with minimal help from me.

we keep riding and come up to the peace of mind cache area.

the gps said 90 more feet or something so we just keep going up the singletrack and it gets farther away and we hit a switchback and get closer but eventually we just get farther away and higher too.

we stop. go back or not??? we just keep riding. Uphill. get to the fireroad and go uphill.

Pretty much we just ride until we get back to the parking lot. It was a little over 10 miles on dirt. I was a little hungry and didn't drink enough water. Nothing too exciting but it was a nice ride. I ride down 9 and we get back to her place at 4. Shower with tecnu. eat. call isaac.

Isaac and I are going to ride jump trail. He is going to get there first and go through fremont older and i will meet him on the jump trail. I get there at 6 and two sheriff cars go by. i ride up and when i get to the trailhead there is a new sign saying no bikes special patrol by sheriffs or something like that. damn. i decide i will try and find Isaac at fremont older. ride up the fireroad and it is hot. and i am tired. get at a junction and wait and then after awhile head back down. get back to the jump trail. see a guy come out and ask him and he says isaac is up there. then 3 more guys come out. and i go in. two more new sighns. push up. another guy goes by. push up and then i see isaac. we push up ride down. push up. two more guys come down. we go down. two more guys come down. we push up and i am tired! we go down and then keep going and ride back to isaacs truck. talk and then i leave and do some decent manuals down the road.

i am hungry and i go to carls jr to get a sirloin burger again and more importantly free refills on coke. i was so thirsty. get inside and i don't see a sign for a sirloin burger. hmm. i get some teriyaki burger that has pineapple on it. it tasted good. drank two cokes.

insomnia. yep. it is 4:21. i fell asleep early at 1030 though but woke up at 1 and watched tv for a bit and then got on the internet.

Wilder and Pleasanton

Elizabeth and I went to Wilder on Saturday and rode the trails there.

Cowboy loop was the first "trail" we rode. What a piece of crap. It sucked. Then we rode some fireroad up and turned left on some singletrack trail which was all right. There was all this tall grass rubbing against my legs and I kept wondering is there poison oak in there? Rode that trail for awhile. Oh yeah I was on the Nomad which was different. Bars are too narrow, pedals don't feel right. But other than that it was nice to ride. Nothing too exciting about the ride really. It was nice to get out and nice views and nice to ride with e but the trails aren't badass like everyone makes them out to be.

Hopefully I am missing all of the cool trails and will find them later. I guess that is about it for that ride.

Today, Sunday, I went to Pleasanton because east bay rich, mike f, phil, jerrot and maybe mike g said they would be there at noon.

Lot of kids there. One annoying little kid who later on fell down and started crying. ha ha. his dad was as clueless as the kid. had fun riding and it wasn't as windy so i was able to do the bigger jumps. i didn't do a lot of stuff but i did hit the bigger main line and the berm and then the kinda sketchy table.

The thing that made the day was riding with cool people that I know. And jumping the cool jumps.

They said i looked good going through the pack but i was thinking how i could've done better. oh well i had fun and even did some one handers on the 2nd and 3rd jumps. ebr got it on video too. looked kinda cool.

i brought the cheeta also and rode that on the bmx track and 6 pack. sure is light! easier to ride the px though.
Gas is $3.40 a gallon and it takes 45 minutes to get there from e's place.

I feel a bit tired and my legs are cramping because simon cat is on my lap. what a cute little guy.

I should lift weights but not sure if i will. my right elbow doesn't hurt but there is a sharp pain in it when i bend it.

135.2 lbs.----135.8 lbs. after i drink some water. what a boring drink.

Elizabeths revised goals

To spend as much time this summer on my bike as i want, riding and having fun. And no stressing about racing or skills or what I can and can't do.

Elizabeth's Goals a few months ago.

Goals for 2007 season: Improve my bike skills; bunny hopping, manualing, drops,and riding switchbacks. Become stronger on the bike, build endurance, and work on my climbing skills. Get comfortable being clipped into my mountain bike. Race downhill at Sea Otter. Successfully complete a 24 hour race. And podium at least once this season

Grizzly Flat

I went over to my moms but she wasn't there. jon came over right when i was about to leave so istayed for a bit. then my mom showed up and i had to stay longer. i put my old fox fork on jons redline singlespeed which he seemed to like. it was getting late, only 1 but i wanted to go to demo but i decided it would be better to go somewhere closer so i headed back up 9 to grizzly flat parking. quite a few hikers. more hikers than bikers by far today. i was going to go up peters creek but a lady was in my way so i turned right on ridge? trail. rode that for awhile. the grasses were tall and encroaching the trail. i was afraid of ticks but i never got one today. i checked several times. right after that road where the shack is the trail gets super good. it was great. came out at the xmas tree farm. a couple was walking down the steep fireroad so i had to go real slow. bummer. there was a detour from the singletracky trail and i followed the road for a bit and eventually got bored and decided it was better to turn around. i had to push up the steep xmas tree fireroad. there was some big dude on an old proflex with toeclips looking at a map. i stop and talk and he is some australian or english guy. we go up the cool trail, not together. cool trail seemed pretty short even going uphill. end up back at the junction and he is there, talk for a second and he says cheers mate when i leave. that was cool. go up the trail and there are 3 hikers taking up the whole trail so i turn around and go up some wide trail that i haven't gone up in years. i don't remember it at all. i get on some singletrack going uphill and it is really good. end up on some fireroad with a nice rock bench and a view. I sit down. it is so peaceful. i lie down. ahh this is the life. what's that on my arm. how cute, it is a baby cricket. never seen one before. so tiny. some hikers kept coming by and going down the cool singletrack trail. damn. i end up going down some fireroad and come to the top of peters creek trail and go down that again. and just go back to my truck. my legs are super itchy from the grass. i hope it is just the grasses. get home and wash with tecnu and then soap. eat. now i am about to watch the warriors play in the playoffs and then the 3 hours of survivor.

i need to ride more. get in better shape.

Maywood two months ago when it was okay

Saratoga Gap and crappy Maywood

I worked half a day because Calabazas Grand Opening was supposed to be today but it had been postponed until they make it safer. I decided I would drive up 9 and then either stop at the gap or go along skyline until I saw something I wanted to ride. I saw a spot at gap so i stopped and parked. i didn't feel like driving for who knows how long. It was sunny but kind of cold. I had only my shorts and red shirt. I started riding up the trail and was tired really quickly which I was afraid of and also my knees were hurting after dirt biking last weekend too. But after I got up that first initial hill and started cruising down i had so much fun. i wasn't going fast at all. just cruising. it was great. a few people on the trail but since i was going so slow it didn't matter. felt fine except it was cold. the trail right before skyline was so nice. got to skyline and there were cars everywhere. where is all the people? cross the road and climb up some more which was tougher than it used to be. not riding so much really has an effect. rode up the fireroad and down just cruising, enjoying being out there. so nice. oh i was pretty cold though. it was breezy andi sure wished i had some more clothing. went down peters creek which was cool. it was nice going so slow. peaceful. i really love the bicycle is what i thought. cruised some more and wow the area was so beautiful in this one spot wiht the creek and all the plants and ferns. i wish i had my camera several times because i just had a smile of happiness on my face for almost the whole ride. eventually i had to start to climb to skyline again. kinda tired. got to skyline and wanted to ride more but didn't want to get to carried away so i just rode back on skyline to the first parking lot which was so crappy. i mean really crappy. got back on the trail and all was good again. i had to walk at 2 spots for a short distance. my legs were tired and i couldn't get over some rocks in the trail. got back to my truck and went home. i drove slow down 9 too.i sure wasn't in any rush today. I drove by calabazas and they had a park ranger there and maybe a cop to keep us out. i was hungry and ended up at the drive through at carls jr. i got a siroin something burger. it came in this big bag and then some big ass container. I got home and watched a movie and ate the burger which was actually really good. surprising good. all sorts of junk on it. i like the bread whatever it was.

Oh yeah I went to Maywood yesterday more to see how my knees felt more than anything. there were some dirtbag punk kids there. 4 on bikes and 3 sitting on the berm in the back. leader of the group gave me attitude right from the start. he goes up to his buddies and says he has a 2 thousand dollar bike and won't jump anything. whatever. i go to the front and jump the crappy jump after the berm and the kids come over and i jump it some more. the leader says something like didn't you used to ride here before. yeah. didn't you and some other guy build all these jumps. yeah...all these jumps are shit now though. i ride off to hit the new crappy jump and then leave.

Morgan Hill Dirt Jump Park

Last Saturday on the way home from Wildflower we stopped at the MHJP and rode around a bit. E found a little mound to jump off and then moved on to a real jump. She did pretty good and I even got some footage of it which is pretty cool. It was super windy though so I didn't do to much. Had fun though messing around. She wanted to back like the next day.

Wildflower, Pleasanton, Metcalf

I watched survivor and a bunch of UFC stuff and other tv stuff until 4 am and woke up at 7 am on Friday. It was drizzly so I did not go to Metcalf to ride my dirt bike. We left for wildflower around 11 or something and drove to King City. Drive wasn't as long as I thought it would be. We got gas and then kept going to Wildflower so E could pick up her race packet. That took longer than expected. Finally get there and park and then she walks down some trail and i sit on my bike with both brakes on for a long time. No bike riding on this trail. Found out later that there is a road we could have just ridden down instead. Get to the festival area and it is all right. bunch of people walking around. walking. not riding. weird. nothing too exciting. i want to ride the course, she wants to go back? we end up going back to the car which is up some long ass hill so she can get her shoes and helmet and we ride down the road back to where we were. begin to ride the course i guess and some official isn't letting people down the road to the mountain bike course. lame. so we have to turn around and go back up the long ass hill and leave. we stop at the exit to get her parking pass and i have to pay 12 bucks for a spectator fee. what the fuck??? i give her a 20 and i get back 7 dollars. so now i paid 13 dollars to spectate a triathlon? that is the crappiest thing i have ever heard of. we leave and get back to the days inn. e isn't feeling that well, i want to ride, she comes with me and we go look for the skatepark. we don't find it but then we cross the street from the motel and there is some campground park area and then a trail. a trail. out of dirt. we ride the trail and it is actually quite fun. proabaly a lot of the reason is that we weren't expecting anything. rode for a little bit and messed around in some sand dunes. went back to the motel and then to safeway where i got a crummy "meal" of ben and jerrys ice cream and other garbage. elizabeth went out to eat with elaine and wes. i wasn't feeling that great either but felt better after eating all that ice cream. the whole thing. i then proceeded to fall asleep. e came back. we slept she snored i couldn't get back to sleep and was uncomfortable for some reason. bed or cold or something i can't remember.

Saturday morning e isn't feeling good so we don't go wildflower and just go home i think. I don't remember.

Sunday- we go to Pleasanton. It was really windy. It is all redone with a bunch of new jumps. the wind really bummed me out because i was so afraid of crashing. i didn't jump anything big at all. just stayed with the smaller jumps and had fun. we did some filming. not enough though. Tony and some other dude showed up so that was cool. e had to work at 2 so we lefet at noon. we got back and then i went over to my moms for maybe my dirt bike or maybe i can't remember but my brother was there and said i should i go ride so i went.

Got to Metcalf at 3 or so and there weren't very many people there at all. It was nice. I rode the beginner oval for awhile and then rode the beginner mx track. i was the slowest one there. had fun except my knees began to hurt so i stopped.

Wednesday- today i change my oil on my new truck which was a complete pain in the ass. everything seemed to not go right. so frustrating. went to aaa. went to the eye doctor. went to shoreline where it was windy. we tried riding but my knees were bothering me. not really painful but they weren't feeling good. i would walk up the smallest incline. not much fun but walking with my bike wasn't too bad. we didn't get to far and turned around and hung out by the food area where the wind was blocked. that was nice. went home to get my truck. mom came home and had a fit about oil sitting in the container and the workbench being a mess.
i came over to elizabeth's place and edited my pleasanton movie which took up 4 hours of time to make a 2 and a half minute movie. i had a lot of fun doing it though. now it is 1 30 am and i am typing this in the living room. fozzy is alseep in here. e in her room and simon cat on the dresser last i saw.

Aptos post office