Here is my story. I started riding about 5 years ago after my divorce. My roommate (never had a roommate till I was 32) leant my his old Proflex. You know the ones with the rubber gommet suspension. Anyway, I cut my teeth on Ventura Co. trails. Mainly Sycamore Canyon just north of Malibu. Not a bad palce to learn to ride.
Soon I bought my own bike, A Gaint VT1. Gaint is based in Ventura Co Ca. and you can getting smoking deals on closeouts at Wheel World. I quicky began to do yearly trips to Moab and have ridden Tahoe, Brain head, Sedona, National, Flag (I moved to Az two years ago) and many other locs. The VT has also morphed to a custom Reign. I used to patrol around Rocky Point in Simi Valley. near the LA county line. (For those of you who don't know where that is, just look at any MTB Action mag. They do all there test and photo shots there. I met some Zoch reps and got a great deal on a ALL MT fork. I also added a TCR to my stable and the new wiffy has joined the game and has her own Reign and TCR.
I had found my passion!! I had the bikes, tons of gear now, clothing, tools etc.. I made weekly stops at new Preformance Bike by my house on way way home for work. (Just for gear!! no wrenching.) It would get harder and harder to find things I needed.
Then it happened! I didn't see it coming at first. Last year I fullfilled a life long dream. I bought an old Toyota Land Crusier. (Dont worry I'm still green. I drive a 35mpg car 95% of the time. I was going to just get an Outback, but wiffy forbade me driving a wagon.) Growing up in So Cal. I had always wanted one the iconic Land Cruiser. And its the type of truck that the older it is, the cooler it is. And weither brand new or all beat up, it's still classy.
So I bought a 92 with almost 200,000 miles. My orginal goal was for a truck I can do my Mt biking trips in and not worry about getting it dirty, or full of dog hair, and it would take me anywhere.
I found a Land Crusier web site. Same format as this one. Forums. blogs, pics, videos, mods, upgrades, stories, etc. I was suddenly spending more time searching Land Cruisier stuff then I was MTB stuff. The truck had some things break, so I orginally started to search for tech help. Then I wanted to add this, and do that, etc. All the time not paying any attention to my bike.
Part of the problem was I was fullfilling another life long goal. After almost 14 years of Law Enforcement I was finally able to start working on my dream of also becoming a Paramedic. I was so busy with school and work, I wasn't able to since Sept.
But this week I finally got the Crusier running. And I did used it for what I bought it for. I loaded up the bike and the dog. Took the tag off the new Camel Back M.U.L.E I got for Christmas. (I finally got one!!!) How do you ride for five years and not have a M.U.L.E?
I hit the trail for the first time in months. The bike was recently tuned and riding perfect. I hit Trail 100 ,for you AZ guys. I wanted something mostly flat. I soon as I started to pedal it came back to me. This is my real passion!!! The sun was shinny. I passed about 10 hikers. "Hello there, great day isn't it? Enjoy your hike." "You too, enjoy your ride." was the reply.
The dog was happy, (One year old Assuie, perfect trail dog) I was happy. The bike was happy. All was good. I was back! Never to stray again. Do I love my cruiser? You bet. But, I know its place. To get my to my ride destinations.
Soon I bought my own bike, A Gaint VT1. Gaint is based in Ventura Co Ca. and you can getting smoking deals on closeouts at Wheel World. I quicky began to do yearly trips to Moab and have ridden Tahoe, Brain head, Sedona, National, Flag (I moved to Az two years ago) and many other locs. The VT has also morphed to a custom Reign. I used to patrol around Rocky Point in Simi Valley. near the LA county line. (For those of you who don't know where that is, just look at any MTB Action mag. They do all there test and photo shots there. I met some Zoch reps and got a great deal on a ALL MT fork. I also added a TCR to my stable and the new wiffy has joined the game and has her own Reign and TCR.
I had found my passion!! I had the bikes, tons of gear now, clothing, tools etc.. I made weekly stops at new Preformance Bike by my house on way way home for work. (Just for gear!! no wrenching.) It would get harder and harder to find things I needed.
Then it happened! I didn't see it coming at first. Last year I fullfilled a life long dream. I bought an old Toyota Land Crusier. (Dont worry I'm still green. I drive a 35mpg car 95% of the time. I was going to just get an Outback, but wiffy forbade me driving a wagon.) Growing up in So Cal. I had always wanted one the iconic Land Cruiser. And its the type of truck that the older it is, the cooler it is. And weither brand new or all beat up, it's still classy.
So I bought a 92 with almost 200,000 miles. My orginal goal was for a truck I can do my Mt biking trips in and not worry about getting it dirty, or full of dog hair, and it would take me anywhere.
I found a Land Crusier web site. Same format as this one. Forums. blogs, pics, videos, mods, upgrades, stories, etc. I was suddenly spending more time searching Land Cruisier stuff then I was MTB stuff. The truck had some things break, so I orginally started to search for tech help. Then I wanted to add this, and do that, etc. All the time not paying any attention to my bike.
Part of the problem was I was fullfilling another life long goal. After almost 14 years of Law Enforcement I was finally able to start working on my dream of also becoming a Paramedic. I was so busy with school and work, I wasn't able to since Sept.
But this week I finally got the Crusier running. And I did used it for what I bought it for. I loaded up the bike and the dog. Took the tag off the new Camel Back M.U.L.E I got for Christmas. (I finally got one!!!) How do you ride for five years and not have a M.U.L.E?
I hit the trail for the first time in months. The bike was recently tuned and riding perfect. I hit Trail 100 ,for you AZ guys. I wanted something mostly flat. I soon as I started to pedal it came back to me. This is my real passion!!! The sun was shinny. I passed about 10 hikers. "Hello there, great day isn't it? Enjoy your hike." "You too, enjoy your ride." was the reply.
The dog was happy, (One year old Assuie, perfect trail dog) I was happy. The bike was happy. All was good. I was back! Never to stray again. Do I love my cruiser? You bet. But, I know its place. To get my to my ride destinations.