Love is in the air. A love of bikes that is..

The Heartbreaker will soon be here. Hope some of the snow and ice melts up top or else this years race will provide some very interesting race conditions. For the most part the details are on the poster. Check back for updates but know that the race will happen unless some very harsh weather conditions keep us from being able to make it to the trail head or the freeze thaw cycle makes the trail conditions so horrible that we would cause permanent damage. The party will happen regardless and we are working on a getting a band that will rock as hard as the top section Heartbreak Ridge. Thanks to BradO for the awesome poster. See you boys and girls soon!

Jut

Holidaze and the Blitz-ard of 2009

Happy New Year from the Brew Crew! The Holidays were a nice wrap up to 2009. Good friends, great beers, fun times on bikes and a fun event to finish it off. Below are some pictures from the week before Christmas and the Holidaze Alleycat race. As you can tell we had fun.

As we all head into 2010 together look for more of the same from the Crew. Pisgah Brewing Company will once again support us in our efforts to provide Asheville with our unique style of bike racing events. In 2010 look for the upcoming bike movie nights at the Brewery, Heartbreaker, Enduro, and a springtime reggae themed alleycat coming your way.

We made some good friends and had some good times in 2009. Thanks to everyone who attended our events and or helped out by volunteering and making some good stuff happen.

See you on the trail in 2010,

The Brew Crew

Snow what..

You can't stop the Holidaze from coming. Snow or no snow, it's on at the moment. If it gets absolutely insane we'll just have a party and ride snowboards in the streets. There is a keg of Pisgah Pale Ale on my front porch and it's snowing like crazy so whatever happens it's going to be a fun weekend. See you at Fuddruckers at 1:00 on Sunday, we roll out at 1:15.

Jut Rut

The Holidaze is coming..

It's happening again. Hope to see you there.. The minor details are on paper and in my head and will be on the blog soon.

Well WTF is an alleycat scavenger hunt you ask, please allow me to explain. We will converge on a soon to be announced location in Downtown Asheville at 1:00 on Sunday December 20th for an urban ride in which there will be a few mandatory checkpoints combined with a search for Asheville landmarks and other objectives, clues, and challenges along the route. If you take a shortest route possible you will ride approx. 7-9 miles so bring a bike or costume that can handle a few miles of pedaling.The ride will end at the home of one of the Brew Crew where snacks and various drinks will be served. A keg or two of Pisgah Brewing’s finest will of course be in the house so get ready to party and dance into the night after riding your bike around the city for a few hours.The ride is meant to be fun but speed and knowledge of downtown Asheville will certainly help and prizes will be awarded for fastest time and most points as well as other awards. The entry will cost you 5 cans of food that will be donated to a local charity.

Same rules apply as last year.. But teams must stay together (Bonnie and Tavis).

You need to bring the following.

A bicycle and light.

A messenger bag or backpack.

Bike Lock.Pen and paper.

Digital Camera or camera phone.

A few bucks for drinks along the way, if you choose.

A map of the city might help if you don’t know your way around very well.

A cell phone.

5 cans of food for donation.

Again, the event will take place in the downtown Asheville Area on Sunday December 20th 2009 and start at 1:00. Prizes of all types will be awarded for a variety of accomplishments.

More info to come next week.

It will be family friendly as long as your kids are cool and there will of course there will be a party at the finish with a keg of Pisgah Pale Ale to quench your thirst.

The start location will be announced in the next few days so pay attention.

Hope to see you.

The Brew Crew

Wow..

The last few weeks have been a blur of good times, colorful rodo tunnels and dead leaf drift. If you like to shread then you know there is a point in your ride when you are going so fast that all you can think about is what is right in front of you. Well, that's how life has been lately. Ride, ride, work, work, party, then repeat. There has been no shortage of good times and trails lately and if I were more diligent about updating this blog you would have detailed descriptions of the Skank 69, Paris Mountain DH race, Windrock Festival, The Pumpkin Peddaler, Nightmare on Shaft Street, The Swank 65 Pre and Post parties but instead I have been living in the moment and going from one amazing event to another.

Documenting the good times, takes time. But I do it because one day I will be to old to burn it at both ends like I do now. The housing market will rally and my schedule will be filled with more adult obligations and I will be unable to fathom having this much free time. So as a reminder to myself during those times and to remind myself where the month of October 2009 went I figured I should touch on few highlights from the last four weeks.

The Skank 69 rocked and rolled through Pisgah for three days. Festive people on bikes, a keg of beer and some amazing ladies made for three days that I will not soon forget. The lovely ladies of the Pisgah Brew Crew stepped up and designed a ride/party that would take us from Downtown Asheville to other side of Brevard utilzing 95% single track over the course of three days. The car shuttle was carefully planned out, food was ready when we reached camp each day and there was a cold keg of Pisgah Pale Ale ready to help us rehydrate. The ride went something like this..

Downtown Asheville >151 > Bent Creek neighborhood trails > Ingles Field > 5 Points > Lower Sidehill > Upper Sidehill > 5000 > Parkway > Trace > Spencer Branch > Big Creek > Sassafras > Laurel > Yellow Gap > Bradly Creek > Squirrel > Buckhorn > Buckwheat > Club > Cove Creek > Longbranch > Butter > Cat Gap > Davidson River > Cove Creek > Daniels Ridge.

Of course I left out a lot of the trails there were necessary to do a ride of this fashion but this is all from memory and you get the idea. We covered some ground and didn't set foot in a car or a shower for three days. We ate like kings / queens and drank only the finest beer. Men wore skirts and the ladies looked their skankiest. Thanks to Beth, Laura, Kyley C, and Shanna for all the good times and the laughs and to everyone else who came out to play with the crew. Also, a big thanks to our sponsors for the sweet wheels that kept us rolling smooth for three days of rocks and roots and the beers that smoothed the aches and pains from three days of beating up my body.

After three days of riding up mountains it's was time to get down and take advantage of a thing called gravity. Downhill is alive and well in two places most people would not think of when they are wondering where to put big bikes to the test.

Paris Mountain was one of the first rides for me back on the DH bike. Not feeling overly confident on a bike with a 1,000 moving parts I decided to hit Paris for some practice then help out with the race on Sunday. Friday's festivities offered shuttles, big wheels for big kids, a bad ass party and late night bonfire in the rain. I got in about 16 shuttle runs (photo above brado), drank free beer at Barleys with over 100 DH dudes and ladies, had a sick big wheel session thanks to Micheal Mooney on a painted parking deck where I learned how to do 360 degree drifts on a big wheel, and hung out in the rain for the best late night bonfire that never should have happened. Thanks to the Tomato, Brad O (get well dude), and Big J for all the hospitality and good times. You guys know how to throw one bad ass event. See you boys next year with a number plate on my bars..

The next week offer yet another feast of adrenaline. The Knoxville boys threw quite a party at Wind Rock. You can't find a better testing ground for a DH bike or body armor in the Southeast. Hugh descents, big rocks, and easy shuttling make for a long day of going downhill fast. T Gaines got the event sponsored by a brewery and Tyson so the tall boys and burgers were on the house. Big props for putting the event together boys, see you again this weekend..

windrock photos by TGaines.

On to my favorite holiday of the year, Halloween. This year I spent the better part of two weekends in Costume thanks to the Pumpkin Peddler, Nightmare on Shaft Street and Pretty Lights at the Orange Peel. Dr Phil Goode (seen above - photo cred Zimmerman) kept the party going and dispersed his elixirs and baked goods to many people who were getting ill. Si and Becky's was amazing as always. Dancing till 3am, jello shots, and some great costumes wow! Hugh props to Asheville on Bikes! The Pumpkin Peddler was a major success and not even the cold rains could dampen the spirit of the ride or the late night outdoor dance party. Doctor Phil Goode and the Jambalance where there to warm people up with some good medicine and the Jambalance won the best bike costume. Pretty Lights won the best dance party of the year (and that's saying a lot!). Damn, it was fun but I am glad Halloween only comes once a year.

After a week of rest it was time for the Swank 65. Unfortunately I had to work on the day of the race but I did get to ride and party with some of the regions finest bike peeps during the course of the weekend. Beth Roberts invited a few dozen people to party and camp at her pad in Pisgah Forest for a weekend and Pisgah Brewing sponsored the good times with keg of Pale Ale. The Farlow preride put some of my favorite people on one of my favorite trails and for the party post ride at BC we hit more trails just because we could. The weekend at Beth's was awesome and her house was packed with good bike peeps, musicians, and racer types all weekend. Big props to our Brew Crew rider Shanna P who took home a third place women's finish in a tutu on a Single Speed. You freaking rock!

So that wraps up the past four weeks. Now it's time to take it on the road once more with a trip to Knoxville for the "Brew Race" on Friday night then for big bike radness at Windrock on Saturday. And since I am still young enough to burn it at both ends I will be back in Asheville just in time to get ready for "Fuck it, Fry it" on Sunday afternoon.

Life is short. Ride it, fry it.

Jut

SUPA - D Funraiser

Ever wondered how fast you could ride Kitsuma from top to bottom? At 11:30 on Sunday morning you have the chance to find out. Come ride it with a few fast people and see how you match up (meet at the upper Kitsuma Trail Head 11:30). After a little ride we will be heading to Pisgah Brewing Company at 2:00 for field games, grilled food and baked goods.

Bring and appetite and some money because we will be selling Pisgah Burgers made from all natural beef that was raised on the organic grains used to make Pisgah Beer. Marshal will be showing off his culinary expertise and preparing these in a variety of ways while Denny will be grilling them to perfection. We have some pro bakers who will bring some amazing treats for those of you that may need a sugar fix after a good ride to get ready for a sack race or ultimate frisbee.

We will also have Pisgah Jerseys, Leather Oowee Cozies, Endless Cogs, Cadence Coffee Beans, and other random goodies up from sale as well so you can pick up a few items made by the Brew Crew themselves. Come support your local mountain bikers and help us represent Asheville NC at the Single Speed World Championships in Durango CO.

Thanks,

Jut Rut

Can you come out to play?

Remember how summer felt when you were a kid? If you are anything like me you spent summer playing outside all day with your friends. Maybe ride bikes ride in the morning at the backyard bmx track, hit a neighborhood kick ball game in the afternoon, throw some frisbee at sunset then hangout with your friends in the evening.

There is going to be a good ride happening next Sunday morning in Black Mountain Area of Pisgah Forest. At 2:00 p.m. we will be heading over to Pisgah Brewing Company for some field games and grillin'. Pisgah Brewing Company has been gracious enough to allow us to throw a little funraiser next Sunday at the Brewery. It's a private shindig for the Brew Crew and friends so bring the kids, the dogs, all your friends and support a good cause while you have a good time.
What the cause you ask? SSWC09 or the 2009 Single Speed World Championships in Durango CO. This may be the largest gathering of Single Speed Mountain Bikers ever and where there are single speeders there are good times. As a mountain bike team consisting of a motley crew of bike shop employees, small time coffee roaster, a local clothing company owner, a Realtor, a single speed component company owner and an out of work science teacher . None of these jobs seem to be in a field that is thriving and with the current economic climate we are running a little low on race funds. So, in order to make it out to the race and win the ss world championship for Asheville we need to raise a few bucks by doing what we do best, showing people a good time.
We will kick things off with some bike race / bike ride in the Black Mountain area around 11:30. The location will be announced at a later date and as always this will be more of a ride than a race but of course feel free to go fast. After working up a thirst we will descend into Pisgah Brewing Company for tasty beers, field games, music, a variety of baked goods, grilled meat products and veggie-meat products.

The Brew Crew will be selling a variety of hotdogs and baked goods to raise some money for the long haul to Durango, CO. We will also have a silent auction featuring items from our wonderful sponsors and other random goodies we have laying around. So come on out and play with us on Sunday August 30th and celebrate summer before it's gone.


Field Day Schedule Coming Soon.


Jut