Spark by John Twelve Hawks

just finished Spark by John Twelve Hawks.  I liked it.

i had read his whole The Traveler series and really really love it.  i am a sucker for a dystopian, rage against the machine, fuck the man kind of story, and The Traveler  was that and then some.

this book, however, was a bit different.  it still had the "we need to fight for our freedom, the banks and government are controlling us and treating us like sheep" message, but it was wrapped in a cool hitman story.

it was written well, i thought, the action moved along nicely, the story was interesting enough,

i'm not sure it was completely amazing and awesome though.  world class amazing literature?  nope.

it was fluff.  bubblegum.  and i enjoy bubblegum and fluff, so i liked it.  it had some parts that make you think, i had some parts that could make you wonder and perhaps entice you to be just a bit paranoid, but overall.....it was a good  book.  that's it.  not great, not OH MY GOD YOU GOTTA READ THIS, but very fun and enjoyable, if you like that sort of thing.

i like that sort of thing.  not sure i would recommend it to anyone though, unless they are the types of folks to have a few months of beans and rice and powdered water in their basement, and only deal in cash.

good fun story.  glad i read it.  i was entertained.

a great ride

i feel sort of like shit would feel if shit felt like it was coming down with a sickness, and not down with a sickness like Disturbed sang about.   Today the weather was cold and shitty, it was as if nature flipped the "arctic desert" switch.   it was gray and windy and it felt like a landscape i would see Conan the Barbarian riding along in to slay some Frost Giants.

so we decided to ride.   possibly not the best idea.

the thing is...even though i felt crappy, i rode really really well.  i think it was the magical bike, which i am still madly in love with.  i climbed super strong, and rode better than i have ridden in a while, all the time hacking and coughing and feeling like i am coming down with the 24 hour Ebola.

as i followed Captain Lowballs up a steep rocky hill, on his tail even though he usually drops me like 3rd grade Calculus, i had a strange thought....what if climbing is my strength?  what if i'm built to be a climber?  i fucking HATE climbing.   how ironic would that be?  my strength is something i avoid at all times and despise, yet i'm really really good at it.   i have tried countless times to trick myself into liking climbing.  I have played endless games with my mind.  i honestly thought about going to a hypnotist to hypnotize me into enjoying riding a bike uphill.  

god, what a hilarious joke on me that would be.

no matter, i will drink a hot tea with honey, lemon, and whiskey in it and go to sleep and hopefully sweat out whatever is coming on.   i hope i'm not sick, we have a shop ride next week that should be super awesome and i don't want to miss it.

i love my bike and had a great day on it despite feeling like crap.  now i sleep.

i'm in love again

i got a new bike.   i got the Ibis Mojo HD-R and i fucking love love love LOVE it.  it fits me so well, feels amazing, does everything amazing and makes me a better rider.   i had liked my Santa Cruz Solo, but i was never emotionally attached to it.   Santa Cruz sent it to me and charged my card, so i sort of "had" to have it, and i'm glad i did, it turned out to be a better bike than i expected.  i really enjoyed it and felt kind of bad after i sold it.

but at that time, i got sick of biking.  i didn't want to ride a mountain bike anymore, i was burnt out.  then i got this Mojo and holy fucking shit i love riding again.  the bike makes me want to ride.  and when i do ride, i ride better than i had before.    The Ibis makes me feel the way i felt with my Rocky Mountain Slayer.  i still love my Slayer, but this Ibis has my full attention right now.

i don't know if i just have "new bike syndrome" or if this feeling will wear off in a week or two, but right now, i'm in the honeymoon stage and i don't want to leave.  i am madly in love with my bike and with riding again.

Thank you Ibis for making a bike that was made for me.

I LOVE MY BIKE.

are product reviews worth it?

how can i trust reviews of things?  if it's a magazine or popular website, there are advertisers paying money to keep that magazine or website running.  people are often stoooopid with four Os but they aren't going to say "This topcap is the shittiest topcap we've ever seen and breaks all the time and has to be warrantied constantly" when that topcap company is buying adds.  Hence why there were no bad reviews of the Crank Bros Kronolog.  Emphasis on the LOG.

so i can read reviews by regular joes on forums or their blogs.   but does that guy know what he's talking about?  is he a guy who rides a bike two or three times a week for six months out of the year? does he know how to ride a bike and what to look for and how something should feel?  is he reviewing a 160mm bike that he only rides on fire roads and his local trail which is slightly less gnarly than a road in afghanistan (which can be pretty fucking gnarly)?   a guy says he's never had a problem with his dropper post, how many hours and under what conditions has he ridden it?

then there is confirmation bias.   how objective can someone be after they've spent a whole bunch of money on something and know they are stuck with it?

so many factors are involved in the reviewer.  is he motivated by money, or loyalty, or friendship?  let's say he is completely unbiased....then there is the knowledge and ability of the rider, the type of rider he is,

most stuff today is pretty darn good, there aren't that many crappy products out there.   i can find so many bad reviews of stuff i love and use daily.  i can find great reviews on products that i think are complete shit, or i know fail with consistency.    other than my own experience, and the guys i work with who i trust and know, whose reviews can i trust?

Mountain Biking isn't for everyone

After reading Access Action piece in Dirt Rag #167, I thought about it for quite some time. I learned from it, Mr. Maguire made some excellent points, and I realized some things I hadn't thought about before. However, I have to disagree with what I perceive was the intent of the piece, which is the defense of making easier trails. The part that really bothered me was:



On page 68, 2^nd paragraph, He says “But according to a 2010 National Sporting Goods Association survey, more than half of those people fall into the “occasional rider” category, meaning they only get out 6-24 times a year.”



Mr. Maguire then goes on to say “If we want more trails, then we need more riders. And if we want more riders, then trails, or at least new trails, need to be less about penalties for failure and more about guaranteed fun.”



These statements really bothered me, I believe this kind of thinking is incorrect and ultimately weakens and hurts the sport overall.



First off...if more than half of the people who rode last year only get out 6-24 times a year, why should they dictate and guide what our trails are like? Why should those of us who ride almost daily all year long have to ride trails meant for someone who gets out maybe once a month? Those of us who ride almost daily all year long are the ones who actually maintain and care for the trails, the stewards of the trails that the “occasional rider” come to enjoy (and sometimes ruin due to lack of skill), and you propose we cater to them?



There are no other sports, hobbies, or interests that would do that.



(want to talk about the business side of it? How much money does the occasional rider pump into the industry? Mr. “I rode my bike twenty times this year!” doesn't ride enough to need new brake pads, much less buy a new bike or upgrade what he has, but that is another conversation.)



The claim “If we want more trails, then we need more riders,” is a convincing battle cry, but is just not true, it's a logical fallacy. One is not conditional upon the other. The amount of trails are not directly proportional to the amount of riders. Also, the claim “if we want more riders, then trails, or at least new trails, need to be less about penalties for failure and more about guaranteed fun,” while sounding plausible, also just isn't true. Another logical fallacy.



I am not saying make mountain biking an elitist, locals only, closed sport. Not at all. Instead of lowering the bar and making trails super easy, and boring, to attract and accommodate people who may ride their bike ten times a year and don't really care one way or another, and have no real interest in it, what if trails were not dumbed down, and people had to rise to the challenge? Then you can weed out the “tourists,” those who dabble and don't have respect for the trails, those who ride off trails, cause damage, and sanitize trails. Then, those who truly like mountain biking will stay with it. You would then end up with a higher caliber of rider, and more people who actually care about the land and the trails, and people who will take better care of what we have.



Again, I'm not trying to be an elitist, I just don't subscribe to the entitlement attitude that seems pervasive nowadays, where everyone is entitled to everything, and it's their “right” to be allowed to do things they aren't capable of just because “they want to.” There are many things I would love to do, but I know my limits and I know I don't care enough to put the time and effort into learning to do them, so I don't, and I don't complain about standards being too high for me.



When I first started mountain biking back in 1994, I was the occasional once a week, once every other week rider, I was the guy you are trying to attract and appease. The trails were difficult for me. I fell and walked more than rode, but it was fun, it was something I wanted to do, and I kept coming back to ride and learn and improve. I didn't complain that the trails were too difficult, I got better to ride the trails. I did have friends who tried riding with me, it was too difficult for them and they didn't like biking enough to pursue, so they went on and did other things. No hard feelings on anyone's side. I know for a fact I am not the only one with that story, and now we are the ones who ride all the time and are quite active in trail access action. Imagine that, harder trails made people appreciate what they have and made a group of people who actually care about the sport.



Also, I am not saying every trail needs to be a super difficult techy “double black diamond” (as I hear the occasional rider call them, because they know the term from skiing, not cycling). We have one of the easiest and simultaneously most fun trails I have ever seen. I have seen kids on Striders riding it as well as guys on six plus inch travel bikes, and everyone enjoys it. Trails can be both fun and easy, but there is no need to make all new trails “accessible for everyone.” How does the occasional rider improve? How do they learn to huck, or do step-ups, or gap, or whatever, if they don't have the trails to learn them on? What if you put the occasional drop or obstacle on a “easy” trail? People who can't ride it can dismount, walk the six steps past it, and keep on riding. They can then either 1) learn the skills to ride it and improve and get more joy out of riding or 2) just keep walking over/around the obstacle, and know they are in a sport that requires that. If it makes them stop riding, then perhaps they were never really into mountain biking to begin with, and perhaps it's best for everyone involved.



I guess I just default to the philosophy of you have to put forth some effort to get a reward, and anything easily gained is not appreciated or worth it. That is how I feel about your sentiments towards trails and trail building. Making trails easy so they are accessible to everyone, making them easy to pander to people who wouldn't otherwise ride a mountain bike attracts and creates riders who don't appreciate the trails, take the trails for granted, and don't really care about them. How many occasional riders are doing trail maintenance, or work for trail advocacy? They ride six times a year, how invested are they really? And you are worried about scaring them off with difficult trails?



What if the easy trails are what's keeping many riders from getting into the sport? What if people want a challenge, but they ride a boring trail and it turns them off? What if a more difficult challenging trail is what would spark their interest and keep them coming back for more, much like it did me and others I know? Is there a chance you have it backward?
Do you honestly want to see hundreds of people who don't have the skills to keep their bike on a trail crowding and damaging existing trails so you can build more lackluster milquetoast trails for those hoards to ruin? I would rather see a lower number of cyclists who are skilled and who actually care about mountain biking and trails than a higher number of people who have a mountain bike and ride it sometimes. I would also rather have ten fun trails that are worth riding than fifty boring soulless trails that aren't worth one pedal stroke.
How about this - Mountain Biking ISN'T for everyone. And that is Ok, there is nothing wrong with that. People can try it, and if they don't like it, no harm, no foul. Pandering to them in hopes of getting them to like it just seems sad and pathetic. By all means, build easy fun trails for those who want and enjoy them. But build challenging fun trails, and don't be afraid to put a drop or ledge or step up or some challenging obstacle in an “easy” trail to give it spice, and add something interesting to it. Just do not make all the trails easy, and don't take a fun trail and make it “accessible” for the person who will ride it once.

Trails should be fun.  Make trails too easy and they aren't fun.  Give people more credit, build fun trails, let people rise to the challenge.  

The Group Ride

fuck, i just don't know.  perhaps i'm becoming the grouchy old guy, perhaps it's not just me, i'm having problems with group rides.

i don't always like to ride alone, i prefer to ride with others, to me, mountain biking is a social event.  tonight, however, i pulled a Cartman, said "screw you guys i'm going home" and left.

The energy of the group was just too much for me.  It was an after work ride, i was a bit tired, but i was looking forward to the ride.  There would have been four of us, but then one guy's wife showed up, and another dude showed up, and usually it would be awesome, however, the guy's wife was wired like a poodle and people were feeding off each other's weird energy and it just became irritating and annoying.

so we started off on the ride, going up a hill on singletrack, the guy's wife said something to the other dude who showed up and he stopped short and took off, causing everyone to stop, then start again, i was at the tail and there was the accordion effect.  so i'm riding, have to stop, then have to sprint to catch up, then i have to stop, spring to catch up, and this repeated about three times until i said fuck it, turned around, and left.   Granted i wasn't in a great mood when we started the ride either, anticipating shit like this.

Whenever there is a large group, people seem to need to compete and a fun after work ride becomes some "i will rip your legs off" race to show who is the dominant monkey in the jungle with the biggest dick.  I personally don't give a fuck, i just want to ride and have a good time.   perhaps they are having a good time doing that, i am not, i don't want to be part of it.

so i left.  i really don't like the after work group rides much anymore.  we have to wait for people who knew we were riding, but now have to "get ready," then we have to rush, and it's a gigantic clusterfuck.

and now i feel like i sort of got robbed a ride.  i also feel a bit upset at myself, i should have just let it go and pedaled and had fun on the bike, which i wasn't, and i think it's because i didn't want to ride there with those folks at that time.    The problem is...i don't much like ANY group rides anymore.

meh, i'm just being a whiny bitch, and i think i'm just tired.  it's my friday, i should relax, which i'm about to do.

i need to learn to enjoy group rides again.  or i need to find a group i enjoy riding with.  one of these things must happen.

Just ride the damn bike

"So is this an all mountain bike, or a trail bike, is it more enduro or more cross country?"   I am really getting sick of these questions.  

 What the fuck is a "Trail Bike?"  Wouldn't that be a bike you ride on trails? Aren't all mountain bikes "Trail Bikes" by their nature?  

I'm not gonna ride ALL the mountain, can i get a "most of the mountain" bike? 

Enduro is riding a bike up a hill, and then riding down the hill as fast as you can, which sounds like every bike ride just about every person has done since they've been riding bicycles.

Seriously, stop it. The industry, the magazines, all the forums, are filled with people trying to categorize, and sub categorize, down to genus and species, each goddamn bicycle out there. It's a fucking bicycle.  Ride it.  ride it up the hill, across the hill, and down the hill.  

Average Joe Consumer thinks there is a difference, and as a human, is subject to the human weakness of not wanting to be "behind" or "left out," he wants to be most informed to make the best purchasing decisions. He thinks it matters if the wheel size is one inch larger in diameter, or if the travel is 10 millimeters longer or shorter.  Average Joe Consumer thinks he now needs a bike to climb, then a different bike to ride across the trail, then a third bike to descend.   He thinks "Enduro" is something different than what he's already doing.  

My friend rides his 33 pound 160mm travel bike up a hill, and then down, on the same rides our other friend rides his 27 pound 130mm travel bike, and we all ride together and all have the same amount of fun.  

I know a lady who did the Leadville 100, finished 9th.  She did it on a 26" wheeled bike with flat pedals.  It's the motor, not the bike.  Strong legs and lungs will beat out most technological advantages.  

It's insidious.  The industry knows most people can't have fun doing what they've been doing if they think there is "something better" out there, if there is some advantage that makes climbing easier or bike handling better.  Average Joe Consumer can ride his bike for months and have a great time, but as soon as he hears enough people saying X is better, he starts to doubt his fun, and thinks he needs X.  

Some bikes are better equipped to do certain things better.  I wouldn't ride a hardtail down Porcupine Rim (although i've seen it done), I wouldn't ride a Santa Cruz Superlight 29er downhill in Whistler, and I wouldn't ride a Giant Reign in Bend Oregon.  I wouldn't do any of those things, but they can be done, and have, and it's ok.  

Stop worrying about what kind of bike it is.  Know what you want and need in a bike, find the bike that fits you best and meets your criteria (how much travel, slack or steep geometry, etc) and that is the bike for you.  If you ride it downhill, it's your downhill bike.  If you ride it cross country, it's your cross country bike, and if