Dropping N

Thursdays afternoons have been a blast lately as the boy and I have been able to make it to the indoor after work and school.. 

It has worked out that Thursday is the day being the only night of the week that he does not have karate and the only day that we can be in the car heading there by four o'clock.

Yesterday he was extra motivated due to the fact that his first issue of Thrasher Mag had shown up in the mail.

This was one of his christmas gifts that yielded him a tshirt and some pages of sk8 inspiration. 

Now I don't want to sound like the old stick up the ass guy that is always writing to Bike Mag and complaining about words used and the content of the magazine. But I do have to say that twenty five years later reading the mag again the content sure has changed. 

I think that a lot of it is that the world has changed and for the most part there is nothing in the pages that is going to be some kind of crazy corruption to a young mind, but it for a moment made me feel like an old man. 

Regardless of all of that the session at the park was super good,,, I was rocking some new bearings that were smooth and fast which was nice for a change.

All the Pro kids were there throwing down and raising the stoke level..

New lines and tricks were being thrown down the old man body bounced more than went thud,,

and the boy was letting it loose,, trying some new stuff and getting 

cheers from all in the building.

As Stevil has mentioned a few times at this age it is tough to not be in pain all the 

time as us middle lifers get back on four wheels and try to keep up with the rad ones.

It is all about keeping the fire glowing and the passion flowing..

After scouring the internets I was able to find a new pair of TNT's for the boy..

Wanted the new ones but hard to find in his size... This has to be one of the best shoes that I have skated in all the way back to my youth,,  My better half shutters at how many pairs of shoes me and the boy are going through.. Skate and Destroy!! 

My goal for this weekend is to get out and ride in the woods,, I will be pedaling in solidarity for all my brothers up in the 612... They will be Ice Racing tomorrow then racing the City of the Lakes Loppet on Saturday. The numbers for the loppet race will be huge as the Twin Cities is drunk on all things Fat Bike. 

For me it will be the Blackbuck and some two inch tires,,which with the snow pack being what it is here should be fine. 

One for the weekend!

Hang Around a While

Cleaning bikes in winter is one of my least favorite things to do.. I don't mind making them all sloppy gross it is just the aftermath in the garage that brings me down. As of now one of the two bikes that I have been riding is cleanish.

My main goal,,when cleaning this time of year  is to get all the salt and crap off and make sure that things are rolling about and clean.

The Blackbuck took a beating on Sunday as the crushed gravel trails were a mix of frozen dirt,,, soft dirt,, wet dirt,,, and snow..

All the water that spit up on me and the frame froze in the 32degree air.

After letting the ice thaw while hanging in the stand I got after it with my doctor Browners cleaning spray. Wiping down and polishing making the bits and pieces shine takes time but oh so worth it.

I spent some time on the phone with Mr Slate the owner of WTB and Of Spirit "Blackbuck".
It was good to catch up we have not chatted since November,,
The conversation started with healing as we are both coming back from injury,, and how
when you can't do what you want to it can take you to some dark places..
Then we talked about single speed riding and the why and how it can really break up
the mundane of everyday riding and add new challenges and new opportunity's  line and ride selection.
And we finished up with the power of steel and 

how when used properly can make for one real enjoyable bike riding experience.
I don't have as many miles on my Blackbuck as I would like due to my untimely fall,, but I have to say that all the miles that I do have in have been quality through and though.
This is my sixth steel single speed bike not counting my cross, and each and everyone had their own personalty.  So far what I am feeling from this one is that it is an all day machine,, as happy with going out exploring and it is pinning down some crazy single track.
I think back to the weekend that I broke it in up at SSUSA... from the first pedal stroke to the last all the bike did was want to go... I just had to tell it where and how fast.
Long and short pretty stoked on the ride of the bike.
And seeing as it is buy far the most affordable one yet that makes the smile grow even bigger..
Mark was not messing around when he designed this rig.
If you are looking for a snappy ride this is the one for you..

Ok back to the torture chamber for a some more circles to no where... Weather man said that it was going to be 40+ out today and he lied,,, so Inside it is and dreaming about

summer..  

Looking out the Ear Hole

The monday morning stiffie is in full effect this AM..

Come on now not talking about morning wood,, It is that full body tightness that 

comes from throwing you sack of bones around all weekend long. 

Top that off with the inability to sleep last night and that leaves this old 

man tired and sore.

But what this does mean is that it was a good weekend of 

stuff...

And it was needed after a tough friday of broken things. 

I had two repairs that just did not want to be fixed and the sucked the life and hours out of my day, and at this time I don't think that either is fixed yet due to bad parts sent from the manufacture. 

Anyway we ended up at dinner the Three that live here and after the first beer was down and 

the urge to kill was lowered the Rocket Boy asked "when are we going to Sk8 this weekend"?

He was still all fired up from the night before and wanted some more glory.

Mom proposed for us to head to the 612 and ride at the 3rd Lair.

So that we did.

We got there and the place was empty,, like I had never seen before.

The boy found a bunch of other young ones to ride with and the session was

on.

Two and a half hours later tired ,, sweaty.. and hungry we walked away with new trick and stories to 

tell at the local park here at home. 

Home 

that is where the next stop of the loaded weekend was.  We hit up the local indoor yet again and 

again for us the park as empty as it normally is on a sunday.

Both of us tired and worked from previous sessions but still eager to work on new and old tricks.

The old guy here finally got him self to front side 50/50 on the mini which then turned into a

front smith and Rocket just kept pushing it up and up to the coping again and again. 

The two of us can't wait for outside skateboarding to come back. 

I topped off the day with a quick but good ride out on the Blackbuck,, temp was around 32 so on the edge of tolerable. I pushed the summer like gear up the paved road then down through the quarry and pretended to be a Phat biker as I floated above the snow on my WTB 9line tires. 

It is easy for me to say that by the time I was done and working on making dinner 

I was good and cooked from all the movement.

So it is funny that I could not sleep.

Oh well I'll have to catch up on that sleep as my day goes on..   

Step Off

A solid session at the Indoor last night was just what I needed and a great break from 

the inside torture chamber and riding rollers. 

It was good,, I stayed up right while dialing in some tricks that I have been working on along with learning some new moves,, but it was the boy who was on fire. 

I am not sure if it was the Dew or the cheers from all the guys on the 

deck but he was pushing it. 

He started off the night working on some flat land and managed to learn 

some backside 180 ollies then took him self to the 

mini and started working on his 50-50 stalls. 

After the first two were close he nailed on and the smile across his face was crazy. 

This guy here explains how to do the trick but I can't understand a thing that he says.. 

Regardless as the evening went on the Rocket was able to 

grind a few and even had a few good diggers off the lip.

He was on fire so much he took him self to the 5 footer and rode with the big dogs.. 

Here is a clip of the big dogs from their trip to Creme City..

It is great that he has guys like this to look up to as 

they skate in ways that this old guy just can't yet..

I am working on it but at the same time as I still heal I need

to remember that I need to be able to walk the next day..

And I need to be able to hide in the basement and try to 

ride like this guy..

As this Friday rolls on time to drink more and more coffee...

I have a tough fix today,, a Evap Compressor and Heat Exchanger all

going into an under the counter Sub Zero..

By Far the toughest thing that I will

do all Spring.

#fuckyeafriday

Bring on the weekend.

#Sk8orDie

Fist full of Nada

I don't have much in the way of words today that will 

mean much of anything so I give you 

this. 

Something old some thing Gnarly

Something Loud

And something for the rest of us..

Keys in my hand

I hate watching weekends go by so fast but they always seem to fly by.

I really enjoyed my self this weekend starting off 

with a Friday afternoon session with 

the boy at the indoor

then straight into 

What can you make for dinner with these three ingredients. 

And all I did was win.

After getting all jazzed up saturday morning with this new coffee contraption 

I was off to the Garage workshop to get 

bikes ready for some riding.

Got the New Time pedals installed on the Nature Boy and fiddled 

with my old set of race blade fenders making it so I would not get all muddy with road slime.

Bike was set supersuit was on and out the door I went. 

Now I know that no one cares that you singlespeed and nor do I 

so  the fact that I was out riding on one really means nothing to you just me. 

But I really find that this time of the year it is such a good way to squeeze in every inch of 

work that you can into a ride. 

This one was no different,,, quite roads and a hill and a half to wake up the 

soul. 

Still for what ever reason not riding with music in my ears just in my head. 

Not sure if or when this may change.. I have been riding with out ever since 

my digger at the shitwamogen. 

All said and done the fenders were not needed and if not the 

grumble in my gut probably would have kept on going. 

I felt so good to be out of the dungeon and pedaling and really getting somewhere.

Sunday was super mellow as I waited for the garage to dry out. 

I wanted to go back to the indoor but the boy

had other ideas..

So it was back to one-hitter-box working on smith grinds

and tail slides which just keep beating the crap out of me..  I better figure it 

out soon or just live in constant pain. 

All of this was followed up with a 

football game that left us wondering what if.

But that is that and it is over so back to more important things

like riding on Two and Four wheels. 

D-Boon is my Co-pilot

I love GOOD music and like to listen to it loud and get all pumped up and move around and jump and shout..  I can even handle a bit of hip hop... I am not talking about the classic ... The Bboys,, RUN DMC ,, Grand Master Flash etc.. 

Ok so the story goes the boy and I headed over to the inside Sk8 Park to squeeze in the last few hours of the day.. The place was ours for the most part,, so I hooked up my phone to the small fender speaker to crank out some old school punk rock to help with the skate session. 

About a half hour into the riding a few other guys show up,, now these are some of the rad youngster,, the switch-nollie-crooked-to-fakie...flipping..spinning.. variety.. Full on respect for their 

ability's,, even if they look at me as some weird old guy trying to relive his past.

Well the leader of the cool guy vaping crew unplugs my phone and in 

goes his and on comes some shitshow hip hop.

Nothing but Bitch Ass Nword Fbomb Nword bitch ass etc,,, and not just one 

song but over and over and over and over.

So much that the boy comes to me as says dad can we go I don't like the music,,

At this point they all head out to smoke a cig and take their crap with them so 

after a few moments of silence I get some music cranking again..

This time some Bad Religion,, No Control,,, This once again helps push out the bad and in with the good.

I cost 5 bucks a head every time me and the boy go and ride,, and this park is owned by the

guy who I used to work for at the bike shop,, where I was coined with the DarkHeart nickname

by one of ultra religious friends for listing to Jane's Addiction. 

While working at this bike shop we had strict restrictions of the music that could be played over the speaker system in the place. 

I am pretty sure that if  Mr Johnson knew of the music being played or ever stepped foot into the park his brain may explode.  

All that being said it was a good session,, I made some progress and even

tested gravity a few times and walked away to tell the story.

Both the boy and my self are looking forward to skating outside and exploring the parks down in the valley of the sun.

Sunshine is a good thing and being outofdoors is even better.

I need to get into the garage and start getting bikes set up for riding on pavement and dirt.

Yesterday a box from a French company 

showed and bikes need to be Prepped.

It has been a long time since I have been on Time Pedals I was religious 

about them for years and years,, my first big bike deal with the Wily Team 

we all got Time and smiles were had all around. 

So need to do some switching around and get out and do some riding today.

This old sk8 beaten body could use some pedal time.. 

And the whole time I will be rocking out to good tunes in my head..