More Jedapalooza Action

Bike Sumo - Again...

It's hard to turn down the cheap thrills of bike sumo. I hope you guys don't get tired of the photos. Bike sumo is super fun to watch, but I declined the opportunity to participate. Might have been the lack of alcohol in my system. I wonder if it's actually possible to compete without beer?

In these two photos, OGDHr battles the evil Jilm (I think), and OGDHr goes down hard.

Action Heroes

Bike Sumo superstars, Francois, the evil Jilm, and overall instigator, Zonic the RAMM.

Obligatory Pete Photo

Pete, suffering his 60 lb Foes Fly w. 4.0 tires, up to the beginning of Pauley Creek.

Incidentally, to all of you people who say you don't need a downhill bike for Downieville, you're right. But a downhill bike is more fun - especially on the the top, jeep road part of Pauley Creek/Gold Valley Road

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that part of the ride because I was having too much fun to stop.

The Pauley Creek Bridge

I've been trying to take a decent picture of this bridge for a few years. I think I finally did it. Thanks to Francis and Pete for riding back and forth while I tuned this one up.

DH Action!

Sweet, rocky singletrack. This is one of my favorite sections of the Butcher Ranch trail. Riders are, Eric (I think), Pete, and Derek. Thanks for sessioning this for me, boys!

Second Goddamn Divide

I'm not a big fan of second divide. It's got cliffs and a bunch of lame climbing. But the group made the decision we were going to ride it even though I was on a 45 lb bike and carrying 10 lbs of camera gear. Oh well. Gotta take my medicine. This photo is the result of that ride. It's not so great, but I gotta post it because something useful has to come from that suffering.

Screw you guys!

Sweet, sweet Second Divide!!!!

Hey John,

First off, thanks for the pics because they all suck to high Heaven and don't evening come close to capturing the scenery, the people, the atmosphere, etc...

Also, as I have been pretty out of touch with all my mtb peeps this year, it was great to reconnect with you and all those other mtb goofballs. I know this sounds cornball, but without any of my usual cynicism or sarcasm, I can honestly say that you meet the nicest people in the whole, wide world at these gatherings.

As for the 'goddam' Second Divide trail, it just goes to show that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I rode Second Divide for the first time on Saturday and yes, there was some spooky exposure and some short, steep sections that I had to walk; but man, those buff sections through the forest were fan-f**kin-tastic!!! Not steep, not technical, but the kind of trail where you can spin up in the big ring and get your groove on, zooming down the sinuously winding path, quietly but quickly floating over the loamy soil and thick bed of pine needles on the trail. I mean, how cool is that? Pretty damn cool.

Muchas gracias to Jed and Suzy for the great time, I had a blast!!! You guys rock!!!

Adios muchachos,

gary

PJ at work: Slartibartfast's ('99?) Tahoe Gathering