Ridin' in Yelm w/John

Long ride today, about 16 miles. We were both pretty beat. John put my new crankset on my bike and it was working well. That in combination with a tighter chain seemed to fix my issues with loosing my chain. Oh, and a straighter ring! Shimano LX by the way. Pretty snazzy. Testing Nikon SB800 w/Lumix DMC-LX3 and Pocket Wizard remotes.

Single in Yelm...Speed That Is.

Sloshy, sloggy, sloppy, hoppy. Thick leaves on mud and water, and lots of downed trees.

Syncline on the SS

Good day!

Solo Singlespeed Singletrack

Super Fall day at Black Diamond. Needed to blow off some stress from the week. Great trail and day.

Surly at North Fort

Sweet picture from my ride with Marcus.

Surly...Durty

After a couple of dry rides we had some rain. I discovered that I like my DH tires with a rigid fork. One word: Low-tire-pressure. Oh, I guess that is three.

Surly 1x1 - Orange!

"I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe."

Jake SS / One Light

Took the boys out to the road to Ipsut. We ride up the dirt road then make stops along the way to throw rocks and stuff. This is my Jake the Snake SS. I have some new stickers on my helmet from a photography lighting DVD that has inspired me lately - Zack Arias' One Light, "People are happier when they're lit."

55 Plus

This guy had 55+ on his race number...you gotta love that. Those Redline Monocog single speeds are the best bang for your buck you will ever find.

SSS

SSS=singlespeeds in show. John and I had our Singles out in the snow at North Fort, Brian had a full set of gears. The snow made for some heavy chugging and a bit of third gear (running that is).

Trail Building

I was out working on a trail this morning with my trusty Access.

Versions of Access

You have to love a bike with vertical drop-outs and perfect 32/18 spacing. I just can't get enough of the Access.

Access at State Patrol Trails

The State Patrol Trails in Kennewick are really great, smooth and fast, and full of curves. I did one ride on my own and one with my son. This trail set is highly recommended if you find your self in the Tri-Cities.

Carbon River Road

The boys and I tackled the Carbon River Road past the ranger station. We didn't make it all the way to Ipsut, we spent a lot of time in the creek along the trail.

Single Speeding at Growler's Gulch

Growler's Gulch in Castle Rock has some really great singletrack for singlespeeds. Juan Grande and I met up with some friends from Portland (a couple of '29er guys, and a multispeeder), and had a barn burner of a ride. I'm loving my White Industries Trials freewheel, it's instantaneous power-on makes other hubs feel sloppy, i.e. my XT hub and my DT Swiss 240. The 240 was my previous favorite, but the White Industries Trials thing absolutely rules.
-Adam

Memorial Day Access

My Access has had numerous make-overs, the latest takes the Fox Float off the front and goes back to the Marzocchi Atom Race. Also, beefy Rhyno-Lite XL's replace the Mavic Tubless set, bigger tires, super snazzy Phil hub and White Industries Trials Freewheel - retaining, of course the perfect 32/18 spacing! The Access rules in a serous way.
-Adam

Freewheels

My ACS CLAWS felt like it had a load of gravel in it after about 5 months of abuse in the Western Washington mud. I replaced it with a super slick White Industries Trials freewheel with 64 points of engagement. Yikes, no slop, power on, sounds like a fishing reel. The ACS was rebuilt by the guys at Black Diamond Bikes, I'll keep it for another wheel.
-Adam

Singlespeed? Three Gears Really.

I spend plenty of time in third gear, on my singlespeed! Top-cap by John PR. Keep them coming Johnny.
-Adam

Bike Nirvana

It took me a while to figure out that all my bike evolution as an adult, with it's ebbs at full sussers, and flows at the singlespeed mantra, where really a journey back to the bliss of being 9 years old on my bmx bike. Transportation, freedom and fun all wrapped into one. I still haven't found that summer day heading to the park, baseball mit on the bars, wet swim trunks sticking to my legs, the warm breeze, and sizing up a curb to jump...but I haven't forgotten it either.
-Adam
P.S. Here's the next-gen.

Skookum Mud

I took the Skookum with me to a Capitol Forest Sooper D race to take pictures. I rode the course to find the best photo locations and found some really great mud. Capitol has got to have the craziest mud in western Washington. The day could have been a lot sloppier too. It had been dry all day and all night.
In the pics above...I wiped some mud off the Phil logo. Phil has been put to some serious abuse while attached to the Skookum, mud like there is no tomorrow, tangled wire, jumps and lot's of singletrack.
-Adam

Riding with Jake 002

This morning was cloudy, with some fog, and I was wondering what the mood was like at my bridge. I took along a camera from school, a Canon Rebel xti w/28-135 IS 3.5-5.6. It's a new lens for my high school students and I wanted to test it. It's pretty smooth, focuses at a pretty close range (about a foot and a half) and the IS seemed pretty flawless on first use.
The scene at the bridge was not as good as I was hoping, no fog. Oh well. I'll try again on another day. I did muscle my way up Tubbs hill on the way back, which is always an accomplishment on a 42/18 cross bike, carrying two cameras and 4 lenses in a backpack!
-Adam

Riding with Jake 001 part B

Riding with Jake 001 began by heading straight for the bridge that is tucked into a less-traveled part of South Prairie soon to be more traveled in that it is part of the proposed new bike path route. From the bridge I headed down the Lower-Burnett loop and hopped off the bike, made my way down a slippery tangled slope and found this eerie little hut. I can't begin to think of what it was for or why it's there. After finding a cool little stream and building some singletrack in my head, I found myself running late and had to hustle home.
-Adam