i've been in austin, texass for the last few days. it feels like i'm still in washington though. minus the mountains. cool and rainy. what the hell? how am i supposed to shred the bmx in this weather? well, i went to the ramp ranch yesterday. super bmx friendly indoor park. fun. but i can tell i haven't ridden since before the sswc in durango. rusty and sketchy. go pack go!!

it's been damn wet around here lately. lots of good mud racing. the one downside to spectacular cross conditions is loads of double wash laundry, and bike maintenance. sscxwc was completely off the hook. epic weekend. we had a rental house for a large portion of the washington/hodala crew. needless to say, no deposit was returned. lots of rain, mud, beer, bikes, and mayhem. if you weren't there, you really missed out. off camber, muddy downhills, a pond to ride through, stripper shortcut, thunderdome, a sabbath cover band called "rat salad", and a metal rock out with this cat nick and his freakin' sweet long bike w/sound system!! hell yeah, now i'm motivated to build something like that. oh, and the washington crew brought the sscxwc 2010 to seattle!! so start makin' plans now. it'll be good. this past weekend was the last mfg series race at woodland park. right in seattle. killer course and turnout. then an after party at brouwer's. one of my fave drinking establishments. man fall rules.

it's finally here, sscxwc!! should be an unbelievable time. flag...check, cowbell...check, brews...check, bike...check. ready for some cross action. if you're not going, you are definitely missing out. but there will be lots of internet jive keeping everyone up to date with the carnage. i will also be picking up the oregon manifest bike i built/raced for that event. it's the last weekend of the celebration. so now everyone up here can check it out. next weekend is a cross double header north of seattle. saturday there's a race at squalicom park. new venue, so it should be good. then sunday is a scx series race in sedro woolley. so come on out and make some noise at some good events in our backyard.

fall really is here, finally. lots of wetness = good cross conditions. wednesday night was cross practice at lake padden. perfect conditions, lots of wet mud, no water in the sky. there was a good turnout, and everyone looked like they were having a fun time playing in the mud. saturday there is a race at civic field. so go there and get muddy, or cheer on the racers. other news, sscxwc is on the horizon. guaranteed good times! plus, where will it be next year? seattle? CROSSing my fingers for that(c'mon sally). though it would be nice to check out a different scene. at the same time, it's hard to leave the northwest cross scene. we've got the weather, and the crowds! fu manchu has a new album out, and is playing at neumos sat night in seattle. and is one of the best live bands. i've had my tix for weeks. hell yeah!! i don't believe i've posted these shots. this is moe's 29er. moe owns kulshan cycles downtown, and is tall. that is a big bike.

whew! it's been a crazy last couple of months. where to start? we've had some really awesome weather around here lately. too bad i've been too busy to really enjoy it. the mt baker hill climb was a great time, again. fantastic weather, and the fact that no one was really trying to break the record, made for a sweet ride up to artist point. of course the ride down with no cars is what it's all about. for me anyway. three days after that, we loaded up to go to durango, for sswc 09. wow, the local crew did a hell of a job puting on a rad event. too much fun to list. you should've been there, for real. they had a little handmade bike show(the pics are the ride i brought to the party), group rides in and around durango, lots of parties with yummy brews, and the weather held out. the race course was brutal. and left me with a couple of injuries i won't soon forget. good times. back to washington to get ready for the oregon manifest. what a project that was. i didn't get as much on the bike as i would've liked to. but it turned out good, and everybody seemed to like it. instead of me ranting on about it, check the link. lots of coverage by bikeportland.org. and the only photos of the bike at the moment. the judges liked it enough to have it displayed with 11 other bikes at the union for 6 weeks! sweet. the race was hard as hell, but spectacular. i rode half of the race with tony pereira, who won the constructor's challenge. congrats tony! you'll be pimpin' in that suit. thanks to rapha, chris king, and everyone else who helped on that event. it's now cross season full on. so that's what i'll be up to. looking forward to sscxwc. oh yeah. i love fall.

tonight was the Bike In at the Pickford outdoor cinema. there was a beer garden, mt bakery, bike trivia for free stuff, and a show & shine contest. there were some cool rides to look at. an old peugeot tandem was very nice. jill entered the "jill", and ended up with the award for "best of show"! that was exciting. you know you're in a good place when people get together to close down a street downtown to show an animated bike movie on a huge screen. lots and lots of bikes and people. in not so exciting news, i received my box of goodies from king for the manifest bike. i think the UPS gorillas got a bit to rough with the package. if you look closely, you can see a dent in the hub shell. that means i have to wait that much longer to get that wheel built. oh well.

whew, it's been awhile. we had a sweet june around here. last year it was cool and rainy. pretty much the opposite this time around. the trails have been dry and fast!! here are some pics of a 29er fork. i'll get some more pics soon. there are 2 frames and 3 forks at the painter. happy birthday america! nothing like celebrating our independence by buying tons and tons of imported fireworks from china. anyway, the padden mountain pedal is next weekend. this race is part of the indie series. great course and atmosphere, so come on over! word.