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

We got your National Champ right here..

We are soooo much more than a bunch of party people racing bikes. We are bike racers who know how to party. Ok for the quick round up, the Pisgah Brew Crew has been kicking ass and forgetting names as usual. As the last post showed, we rocked out one serious race a few weeks back. We went thru the post-enduro depression that hits every year then once we sobered up we started wondering, what do we do next? Well, only two short weeks following the Enduro we headed North for the first installment of the Beech Triple Crown.




The B.T.C. is a real deal downhill race thrown by the Shredi Knight, aka Ryan Taylor at Beech Mtn Ski Resort. With a gnarly course and chairlifts in effect, the Brew Crew headed out leaving the lycra and 85mm of travel at home. We ventured into somewhat new territory with Beth stepping it way up and me leaving both my comfort zone and the ground a little more than I am use to. The course may not be super gnar but when you are sporting a 69 degree head tube and 5 inches of travel it feels a little steep and the gaps feel big.





The usual suspects came out with Beth, Bruce, and I making the trip to see what the DH scene was all out. We also brought along our new crew member, Jeff Zimmerman who we met at the Enduro. Jeff takes some amazing photos and he captured the Enduro in a way that makes me smile every time I look at the photos. We piled four bikes, a ton of camera equipment, a cooler and our DH gear and hit the road for Saturday practice. Bruce and Jeff worked all day to get the perfect shot while Beth and I worked on sorting out a few lines with our limited suspension on trails that only point down and send you over boulders and gaps. Beth and I had fun, she crashed a few times and I let the step down torment my mind. Beth was on a borrowed 1990's DH bike and it was not helping her confidence level. This girl will rock out some steep stuff on her 29's with tad of travel up front but the super squish was getting in the way. She hung in there and rode before putting in some volunteer time while I tried unsuccessfully to throw myself the mini-cliff at the bottom of the course.

After a good night at an anonymous sponsors house in Boone we were back at it on Sunday morning for a few practice runs then time for your one shot at glory. I stared at the step up once more as I went up the ski lift and like clock work witnessed another dude come up short on the step down and eat it upon reconnecting with the ground. I knew if I wanted any chance at a mid-pack finish I had to hit it since taking the line around was a 3 second penalty at least. One run to warm up and one to test my skills was all I would have so on the second run I didn't let myself turn away and launched the step down. Feeling good it was time to race so Beth and I headed up to wait for our runs. Beth had ridden three different bikes over the course of about 5 runs and bravely took her race run on Kevin Booths Maverick which she had never ridden.



I managed to let go of the brakes enough to pull of a 4th place finish out of 19 racers. Beth got on the podium with a third place finish. No bad for the first DH race for the Brew Crew. We are ready looking for to the next B.T.C Race on August 8-9 and this time the Pisgah Brew will be there with a keg of the good stuff and maybe a few more inches of travel.



We already had the SSUSA Champion on the team (Go Shanna!) and now we have a USA Cycling National Champion on the Brew Crew. Big props to Beth Roberts again for heading up to Louisville KY last week and bringing home a star and stripes jersey and a giant gold metal. Beth went to the national road racing championships and brought home the masters tandem championship gold metal THAT SHE WON WITH HER MOM! Like mother like daughter they say and her mom has been riding hard for years (just ask ryan taylor). Beth's mom rides her bike harder than most of you reading this blog so no "your momma" jokes please. Beth took the bars and turned some mean speed on a tandem with her mom in toe to take the title. Way to go ladies.


As for what's next. It's more downhill action in August, Single Speed World Championships in September and we are planning on a the next Brew Crew Event to happen in late August so keep yourself in the loop.

One quick shout out to our great sponsors who have made the first half of this year such a good time.


Industry Nine, you guys rock and I can not believe how much punishment the wheels have taken this year and just come back for more. Between 7 cross country races, two downhill races, wind rock, the ED9, countless street and Pisgah rides and they are still true. Awesome product, great peeps, thanks.


Pisgah Brewing, I can't believe what a difference a year makes. From pouring beers 2 ft from the tanks last year to trying to select what beer I will have next from nine or more taps while Everton Blender plays 10 ft away from a sweet sound system. Your beer is the best and the brewery feels like home. All you guys and girls are wonderful and we thank for your support.


Suspension Experts, you guys inspire me to go bigger and give me the confidence in my bike to back it up. Great to have you in the community and thanks for all that you do. The new shop looks great and I owe all of my limited knowledge of suspension to you guys.

I also can't forget to thank Pisgah Works, Endless Bikes, and my company who understands when I go riding instead of doing open houses. It means a lot to have sponsors that I consider my best friends.


That's it for now.. See you on the trail.


Jut Rut

ED9 - Sunday Sunday Sunday

The following post is day 2 of the ED9, day one is below.

Sunday Morning, just like Saturday morning, I sleepily emerged from my room around 7 am to find Eric Nicoletti beaming in the hall. Drinking coffee and hanging out with his 5 year old before another big day of events. Just another test of the Most Bad Ass Mountain Biker in the World - Who can get their ass out of bed after a late and long night of dancing, dodge ball, derby and drinking.

Arriving only a little late, we found the folks who didn’t hang the night before were at the trailhead doing laps getting ready to throw down on this uphill. This trail’s a favorite downhill ride - fast, straight and steep. As a climb it was steady, rideable and painful, yet short. At 12:26:00 riders started the climb. Finishing the climb at 12:49:03, Marshall came in just ahead of Will Black, who, word on the street has it, that either he let Marshall win, or he didn’t really know where he was going. Either way, these are the finishing times we got.

Uphill Race (start 12:26:00)
1. Marshall 12:49:03
2. Will Black 12:49:06
3. Denny MF Stevenson 12:50:27
4. Adam Winston 12:51:02
5. Ian Baldwin 12:51:41


Two bikes allowed each this year meant more bikes to carry.

Kyley and Laura had sprinted up the hill ahead of racers, to set up for timing. I cruised with first aid kit, watch and Jesse to the finish of the downhill. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Marshall pops out of the woods to report on how intense the trail felt, “it felt like my bike was flexing all over underneath me, but it was really the trail moving.” A scary downhill, but oh so much fun! Suddenly rider number 2 pops out – Otto. Marshall knew instantly that Otto had gone faster by only a few seconds. No surprise that Justin came in third on his Maverick, he definitely wanted it enough. But then wait.. It’s Eric Nicoletti!, who had NEVER ridden this trail, EVER. Wow! It’s not an easy descent, and he really nailed it.

Downhill
1. Otto 3:52
2. Marshall 3:59
3. Jut 4:17
4. Eric Nicoletti 4:18
5. Ian Baldwin 4:19

From here we emerged from the woods and were on our way to the finale at John Caldwell’s Compound. Just days before, I.R.L. Construction Cooperative had secured the lake jump, but still more work had to be done to make it safe.

We needed to line it with shingles, test the water depth, then test the jump. Callum Robertson, of I.R.L. Construction, didn’t hesitate for a second before jumping in the algae covered lake to confirm that it was definitely safe. And before we chopped off the top foot of the jump, Callum was the first to launch off. Meanwhile, I am sucked in to a computer, compiling times and places, and converting them to scores.

It was time to get the short track downhill started, but the scene was just not safe. Friends and riders helped fix that. Lines were set up, areas cleared, and the 30+ second short track downhill formed. It ran through garden dirt jumps, huge step-downs, through a small clan of folks barbecuing, road gap, mega monster log pile, to a sprint finish by the lake where I recorded the stop time. With a crude walkie-talkie and stop watch timing mechanism, Laura and I attempted to properly record, very short times that came down to the hundredths. Everyone had two runs, and after the first run it looked like John Caldwell might take it with the home court advantage. However, seriously amazing bad ass Kevin Burkehead was clearing the road gap and saving seconds with mad skills. Otto, winner of the mornings downhill race, nabbed second, with Caldwell barley beating Mike Mooney on a Tall Bike or really, what we might call a Monster Bike.

Short Track Downhill
1. Kevin Burkhead 0:30.34
2. Otto 0:30.83
3. Caldwell 0:31.02
4. Mooney 0:31.87
5. Jut 0:31.91

It was time for the event I had been dreading the most and was the moat excited about – The Lake Jump. Knowing that it was going to be safe really eased minds and then it was just a matter of who was going to hit this thing. 7 people stepped up to the competition: Callum, Kevin Burkhead, Mooney, Winston, Denny MF Stevenson, Eric Nicoletti, and Justin. With hound dog Walter yelping his heart out with every lake jump, the crowd cheered and the judges judged, from the banks of the lake to the bass fishing boat. Three or four judges averaged their scores on a 1-10 scale based on wow factor, style, effort and other things that I don’t know at all because I wasn’t judging. I was running the downhill course over and over again, having missed out on all the spectation of this event, it was nice to at least get some runs in.







As Dunn and Massey caught fish and Bryan Bloebaum made history with his wicked shots of lake jumpers. Pictures tell many more words here.

What was likely the winning jump - #1 Callum Robertson launched off in a cork screw rotation with serious speed and awesome overall enthusiasm.


Second place lake jumper Kevin hit the top of the ramp so hard the front wheel tacoed and shot the tube out of the tire (look closely).
3rd - Mike Mooney with absolute showmanship

Adam Winton

Denny Muthafckin’ Stevenson



Eric Nicoletti


Justin Mitchell

After the last lake jump, we commenced to the lawn and enjoyed a classic southern home cooked bbq. Points were added, and the final winners were announced.

Eric Nicoletti with 119 points, stood out at the MBAMBW. A total stranger to the area, finds our totally cryptic blog post, gets in touch with us and shows up to crash on my Flint St. floor with his very pregnant wife, her friend and their kid. Wow. With full participation, his event placing broke down as follows: XC (5th), Skinnies (6th), Trials (3rd), Wheelie (2nd), Dirt Sprint (6th), Pumptrack (2nd), derby (5th), Party (4th), Uphill (7th), downhill (4th), Short Track DH (6th), Lake Jump (6th). Never winning any one event, but having so much overall talent and tenacity. If we had been as lax with passing out bonus points as we were last year, or as arbitrary with how they added up, he would have surely received serious bonus points for showing up and pulling it all off in all of the ways that he did. Thank You Eric Nicoleti. Hope we can do it all again next year.

Final Scores (number of events participated in)

1 eric nicoletti 119 (12)
2 Winston 102 (12)
3 Jut 100 (12)
4 Denny MF Stevenson 87 (12)
5 John Massey 77 (11)
6 Otto Meinert 74 (7)
7 Marshall 72 (5)
8 Greg Dunn 71 (9)
9 Kevin Burkhead 67 (6)
10 Gabe 56 (8)
11 Travis Nevill 54 (6)
12 Ryan Taylor 52 (4)
13 Callum 44 (5)
14 Matt Johnson 35 (4)
15 Mike Brown 34 (6)
16 Troy Foster 31 (11)
17 Mac 28 (6)

Major thanks to - All of the rest of the people that raced and played along.

Justin Mitchell for coming up with the whole idea, for his determination in seeing the lake jump come to fruition and for graciously passing the title.

Kyley Cross for racing to the top of trace ridge Sunday morning, dragging multiple racers around from point to point, taking pictures, record keeping, having fun and a bunch of other things.

Jeff Zimmerman and Bryan Bloebaum, Phil Shaw for catching mad air and classic bicycle shots.

John Caldwell and Nicole for hosting the afternoon’s festivities. Your place was beautiful and the bbq was unreal!

Lela Stephens and everyone else that I didn’t notice because my head was in a computer, who brought and cooked other excellent food. It was a long weekend, we were hungry.

Pisgah Brewing for providing a Keg of James Brown and Lori Diehl for her love for us at Pisgah.


Industry Nine and Jeff for letting us create a huge liability in your back yard while we do amazing things on your wheels.

Jeff Moredith for the Kenilworth Pumptrack.

Lara Lustig, Laura Goetz, and Kelly Cowan for hanging and helping and general shenanigans! And Lara you will be more in charge of scoring next year, fyi.

Chris Bennett for his incredible cookies and help at Industry Nine.

And to Ian and Melissa for not kicking us to the curb after the party.

I hope we can make it all happen again next year. The sooner you let us know that you are interested in participation, the sooner you will find out the ever so important "Save the Date". Otherwise you might not hear about it at all.

-- Beth Roberts

ED9 - Saturday

The Second annual Enduro from Crow’s Next Productions consumed the lives of a few dedicated riders this past June 13^th and 14th. Known as the ED9 or Enduro De Nueve, this race awards the title - Most Bad Ass Mountain Biker in the World, to the rider that accumulates the most points over the course of the weekend. The weekend consisted of the following events:

· Cross-Country Race

· Skinnies

· Wheelies

· Speed Trials

· Night Time Pump Track Time Trial

· Dodge Ball (non-biking)

· Derby

· Uphill Race

· Downhill

· Short Track Downhill

· Lake Jump

The Enduro is really just an opportunity for a few people with mad skills to get together, show off these skills, push their skills and have an unbelievably fun time doing it. Last year it was thrown together at the last minute, on a shoe string, underground, and sketchy, and turned out amazing. And the all the same goes for how it came together this year. Points were awarded a little bit differently this year. Last year the only people scored were those that were there for pretty much the entire weekend. This year we gave anyone, even random passers by, the opportunity for points in this event. The number of people participating in any one event equaled the max points awarded and it went down from there. In addition the first, second and third place winners of each event received bonus points (3, 2, 1 respectively). The above events were 11 of the 12 events of the weekend. The 12^th event was “Winning the Party”, which is determined by, the main score keeper at the commencement of the party, which of course is when the Party Winner is done. And finally, additional participation points were awarded - the number of events participated in was added to the total (1-12 points).

It all began at a local trailhead Saturday morning. Marshall Hance pops out at the end of his ride just as people begin gather. He had just completed the course in 47:30, so that was the time to beat. Marshall came and raced before everyone since he had to work all day and miss out on many events which he would have certainly dominated in. Eventually everyone racing made it and was ready to go. Chief Volunteer Kylee Cross and Organizer Beth, lead the racers out down the road to the official start. Special guests to this ride included Adam Ray, pro road racer, hill climber extraordinaire, and Adam Engell - a totally random guy to us who had just finished riding this trail. Adam Engell was training for an up and coming race that covers the same ground and seemed pretty stoked to hop on to this little group ride, for a cool down maybe? The race began and Adam Ray kills it up the climb, dropping everyone but Adam Engell and they kill it till the end. Also on this trail were people who had never seen this technical challenging fast hard trail before. This included Eric Nicoletti, from Georgia, who arrived the day before with his pregnant wife of 8 months, her friend and their 4? year old child. Eric, who got turned around on the course, still managed to come in top 5, setting the tone for the weekend of subtlety killing it across the board.

Results for the Cross Country Race:

1. Adam Ray - 45:45
2. A. Engell - 46:52
3. Marshall - 47:30
4. Dunn - 51:03
5. Nicoletti - 51:05

From here we traveled to Industry Nine, where the afternoon events took place. Snacking on fresh pasta salad and Pisgah Brew riders spent the next few hours preparing for the Skininies, speed trials, wheelie competition, and a dirt sprint with jumps. We were sad to have to bail on the Bunny Hop and Dirt Jumping competition, but a lot had already happened and a lot still needed to happen to finish this day of events and it was a sacrifice, benefiting some in the end, hurting others.

As photographers Jeff Zimmerman and Bryan Bloebaum began to catch air on camera, Johney Massey dominated the skinny ride, Travis and Justin killed the speed trials, and Ryan Taylor showed everyone how to ride wheelies.

Skinnies

1. Massey

2. Travis

3. Jut

4. R. Taylor

5. Denny MF Stevenson

Speed Trials

1. Travis

2. Jut

3. Nicoletti

4. Winston

5. R. Taylor

Wheelie

1. R. Taylor
2. Nicoletti
3. Dunn
4. Massey
5. Gabe

Before heading out to take a break and grab dinner, we fit one more quick race in. A “dirt sprint” through part of the jumps and pump track of Industry Nine’s back yard. Our youngest rider began his participation here in this quick ride through the yard. Ian, Otto’s son, laid down an amazing time it just like his dad.

Dirt Sprint

1. Kevin Burkhead
2. Otto
3. Denny MF Stevenson
   
4. R. Taylor
5. A. Winston

While dusk set in, ferries descended upon the Kenilworth pump track and set up tea lights throughout the dirt and grass. Around 9 something it was dark enough to start the time trial, and Otto and Ian went out for the first runs so that Ian (4 yrs old) could make bed time. This event was nearly impossible to score as each “pedal stroke” was a 7 second penalty and with it being dark we had to go on the rider’s honest opinion as to how many pedal strokes they had or had not needed. I do feel confident that the top riders nailed the whole course without penalty, and therefore got the points that they deserve. Otherwise, sorry, ya know… its really just a bunch of people hanging out so it doesn’t really matter.

Jeff Moreadith (1^st) and 3^rd place Marshall Hance are two people who know every curve of this track so well they could ride blindly and then there is the out-a-towner-Eric Nicoletti, 2^nd place, never been here before, dropping jaws. We did find out later that Eric rides a lot at night.

Night Time Pump Track Time Trial

1. Jeff Moreadith
2. Nicoletti
3. Marshall
4. Callum
5. A. Winston

From the pump track those that were still in it to win it, cruised on to the ole flint street bike house to continue to work on the keg from Pisgah Brewing Company.

A killer party ensued and once ready we took off for the local park where we separated in to 4 teams of 5 and had a quick dodge ball tourney where we had our second major injury of the weekend – Travis seriously rolled an already bunk ankle in a heated match on the old fenced in basketball court. Again this year, Justin brought his team in to the final match and dominated to be the last man standing.

It was getting late.. was it 1.. 2..? Participant numbers were getting low but we still had to have a derby. The derby happens fast. Everyone gets on their bikes and as soon as your foot goes down you are out. Adam, the local favorite, dominated again.

Derby

1. Winston
2. Denny MF Stevenson
3. Troy
4. Jut
5. Nicoletti

We began to loose more and more participants to the lateness of the evening. This is when the “winning the party” competition begins. A posse of seriously ready to dance ladies and a few key dancing participants, Callum, Justin and Massey tore up the rug and bounced the bass under our roommates room (SORRY!). I battled the majority with respect to the volume. It was too hard to fight for a low volume as the Enduro is a once a year, unprecedented, history making event and this was all part of the competition. Eventually (around 4 am) I finally seized on a dancing break and killed the music. Up until this point Eric Nicoletti was still hanging out (!!!), with a 4 year old and pregnant wife sleeping above. He eventually caved as the last 4 chatted it up on the front porch. Adam, Callum, Justin and Massey and I had one last laugh and said good night and see ya in a few hours at the next trail head for the uphill/downhill battle.

Party Winning

1. (Tie) Adam, Callum, Justin, Massey
5. Nicoletti

However, I actually won the party.. its part of my job on this weekend.

Photo credits to: Bryan Bloebaum's Blue Tree Images and Jeff Zimmerman Photography
More pictures here

If rock stars raced bicycles..

This is how it started..

This is how it ended..

In between partying to the point that we were burning money on Friday night and jumping 3,000 dollar bikes into a pond on Sunday we covered ALOT of ground. We rode our bikes as though we were rock stars for two days for nothing more than a t-shirt for the winner and the title of MBAMBW. To me, the Enduro is what riding bikes is all about, hanging out with your friends, making new ones, testing your comfort zone, forgeting about all of life's worries and getting rad time after time. Here is the quick run down of events..

Saturday's events - XC race at Kitsuma > dirt jumps, skinnies, speed trials, pump track time trial, wheelie contest at I9 > night time pumptrack time trial at Kenelworth > nighttime dodge ball Monford Park> derby on Flint St> dance party till 4:30 am at the bike house.

After 3.5 hours of sleep it was once again time to rally. Sunday we met up at N. Mills for a crushing hill climb XC race up Trace Ridge > Downhill time trial Spencer > then it was on to camp Caldwell for the final events, Short Track Downhill race and then the finale, Lake jumping.

It took me a day just to recover enough to get this post up. My body still feels the effects of the weekend (as it should) and even though I gave it my all it was Atlanta's very own Eric Nicoletti that is now officially the Most Bad Ass Mountain Biker in the World. It was great to pass the MBAMBW title to someone who not only rode his bike with stamina, style, and speed all weekend but also who was still on the dance floor at 4 am AND had the courage to bring his wife who is 7 months pregnant, his son who was 5 years old and his wife's friend who had no idea what to expect and stay at the flint street house where we were bumping hip hop till 4:30 am. For all you boys who didn't show because you had some excuse, well, you should take a lesson from Eric. My boy lives it and I could not feel better about handing the title off to someone of his caliber. Just so you know I still made the podium and picked up a third place. Adam Winton, took second beating me be by only two points. Final results and some amazing photos will be on the Brew Crew Blog in the next day or two for each event.

Overall the weekend could not have been better, with all recklessness that took place only three people got hurt to the point they could not continue, and no injuries were serious enough to make a trip to the hospital. We were also very pleased that no one went to jail as bailing someone out on Sunday morning would have increased the 20.00 race donation considerably.

Big thanks to our sponsors Pisgah Brewing for the keg and to Industry Nine for the pimp wheels and letting us take over the facilities on Sunday. Jeff Moreadith and John & Nichole Caldwell were incredible hosts and I thank them for allowing us the use of their properties to make my ideas come to life. To all the people who cooked awesome food, timed the races, helped with scoring, took amazing photos, drove several hours to ride all weekend or just hung out and contributed to the good vibes of the weekend I thank you all! This event could not and would not happen without all the wonderful people who came out to play and are a part of an incredible bike scene.

Rock on..

Jut Rut

photo credit goes to Bryan Bloebaum, he rocks..