A Year in the Life: Week 9

March 24: Downhilling at Big Creek!

March 25: high of 72... Beautiful Sunday afternoon for a ride!

March 26: riding my DH bike on XC trails... Can't wait until my 29er is out of the shop!

March 27: Out for a hike on this beautiful spring afternoon!

March 28: New blog post published on Singletracks.com! http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/the-mountain-bike-trails-i-didnt-ride/

March 29: if this isn't creepy I don't know what is. (Art display at the library.)

March 30: It's spring in North Georgia: the trees are all beginning to leaf out. Beautiful morning for a 21 mile ride!

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Riding Five Points Trail System with Jeff

Jeff on Torino Hill. Photo: Yours Truly.

I met up with Jeff in mid March to check out the brand-new Five Points trail system in far northwest Georgia. If you're interested, you can read his ride report here. It was quite an eventful day!

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Niterider Pro 1500 LED DIY Review

Daylight savings time is upon us, and with it comes progressively more afternoon and evening sunlight. But that doesn’t mean night riding season is over! Nope, now’s the time for dawn patrol and 24 Hour races.

And for that, you need a dependable light. I give you the Niterider Pro 1500 LED.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full-length review!

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My First Article in a Print MTB Magazine

This past Friday marked a new personal milestone: I had my first article published in a print mountain bike magazine! While I love writing for the internet, and specifically for Singletracks.com, there's just something special about seeing my work published in such a venerable mountain bike publication.

The article in question was a short news piece about the Southeast Bike Expo, and if you're interested in reading it you can find it in Dirt Rag issue #162, page 18--check it out!!!

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A Year in the Life: Week 8

March 17: hanging out at the Dahlonega trail festival in the rain this morning.

March 18: out for a mountain bike ride with my sweetheart!

March 19: what a beautiful evening to be sitting in my lawn chair doing some writing! So blessed to have this as my back yard!

March 20: First day of Spring! North Georgia Campus.

March 21: found my first geocache ever! I've heard about this sport before, but just tried it today for the first time thanks to a conversation with Rion Spurlock. Did some research and there are tons of geocaches out on the mountain bike trails. I think I might be hooked!

March 22: My iPhone. It's amazing how many things this little device can do! A week ago I lost it on the trail for about 2 hours--thankfully we found it!

March 23: Today marks a new milestone: I have had my first article published in a print mountain bike magazine!!! Dirt Rag issue #162, page 18--check it out!!!

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Jamis Dakar Sixfifty B Pro: Thoughts About 650b Wheels

There’s been a lot of hubub around the interwebs of late about the potential explosion of the 650b wheel size. Much of the commotion is around the very substantial rumor that Fox and Rock Shox are both developing 650b forks, leading many to believe that several major bike brands will be rolling out 650b-specific rigs.

I’m not much into hype, but if something new is going to work, then it’s going to work. If it’s not… well, then it isn’t. Regardless, I want to make my own decision. The recent Southeast Bike Expo provided the perfect opportunity to get some hands-on experience with the 27.5″ wheel size.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full article!

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Video: Ibex Asta Pro Test Ride

You can find out more about the Ibex Asta Pro here.

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Sunset In the Mountains

Taken on a long 4.5 hour ride in February

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A Year in the Life: Week 7

March 10: hiking Desoto Falls with Summer!

March 11: running the projector at church. I'm just glad to be able to serve even if it's in this small capacity!

March 12: getting in plenty of hours working on http://tripleblaze.com/ today.

March 13: building trail!

March 14: Highs topped 80 here in Georgia today. So we're just skipping spring this year?

March 15: 39 mile ride at the amazing Five Points trails with Jeff. I think this is probably the best trail system in the state of Georgia.

March 16: I like stickers.

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Free Stuff: Singletracks Stickers Giveaway

Who wants free stickers?

OK, maybe that’s a dumb question. A better one would be, “Who doesn’t want free stickers?”

That’s right, we’re giving away free packs of official Singletracks.com stickers for a limited time–no strings attached! If you want some (and we know you do), just click on this link and enter your information so we can hook you up!

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the rest of the announcement.

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Yeti ASR-5 Alloy Test Ride

The ASR-5 is a trail bike with 5+” of travel and 26″ wheels. It’s compatible with either a 120 or a 140 mm fork, depending on how aggressive of a ride you want.

The Yeti was blinged out with Fox suspension front and rear, a full Shimano Deore XT drivetrain, XT brakes, and tubeless XT rims.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full article!

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Video: Testing Rock Shox Domain (Short)

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Guest-Starring in a Tech Tuesday Video on BikeShopGirl.com

I recently guest-starred in a Tech Tuesday video on BikeShopGirl.com. If you've ever wondered if there were any tricks to putting your pedals on easily, I explain them in this video! Be sure to check out the original posting on bikeshopgirl.com, and to follow her blog--it's pretty sweet!

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2 Photos from Time-Change Sunday

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Calling all MTB Bloggers: Get Eyeballs on Your Articles

Mountain bike bloggers: when you hit the publish button, do you ever feel like you’re just throwing your carefully-crafted articles out into the wilderness of the world wide web where no one will ever read them?

Despite the fact that Singletracks.com is the #1 mountain bike blog on the internet, we know how you feel, because we have all been there at one point or another.

Enter the “Readings” forum.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full article!

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A Year in the Life: Week 6

March 3: Crossing the finish line of The Snake Creek Gap Time Trial! 34 miles of the toughest trails in North Georgia in 4 hours, 22 minutes, and 18 seconds.

March 4: Summer making some delicious chicken teriyaki with fried rice for supper!

March 5: interviewing architect Julio Canseco about the progress of the construction on campus.

March 6: hanging out in the library and finishing up a story for The Saint.

March 7: Zombie Highway is the most addictive iPhone game I have found yet! If you haven't tried it yet, go check it out!

March 8: doing the Dew

March 9: Summer sitting at her new desk!

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Sterilized Singletrack: A Spreading Epidemic

Bull Mountain has been castrated. What used to be one of the last remaining bastions of technical mountain biking in the state of Georgia has been cut and bled of its virility. What was once a true man’s trail (or a true woman’s trail ) for those who wished to challenge themselves is now a trail fit only for eunuchs.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full article (and the long list of in-depth comments).

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A Year in the Life: Week 5

Day 25: Ran live social media coverage of Southern Cross 2012 at Montaluce Winery. Busy, but fun, day!

Day 26: Reporting on the Southeast Bike Expo for Dirt Rag Magazine. Beautiful day for this inaugural event!

Day 27: My home office. Homework, Singletracks work, internship work, it's all done here.

Day 28: outside enjoying the beautiful weather by sitting in my lawn chair and reading philosophy.

Day 29: drinking mountain dew and burning the midnight oil while working on a paper on leap day.

March 1: commuting is so much more convenient with these spd compatible shoes from five ten. Look for a review of the Maltese falcons on singletracks.com in a few weeks.

March 2: this wonderful lady was manning the race registration table at the Depot bar and grill on friday night. The town of Dalton provided a free meal for all the racers. Score!

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Southern Cross UltraCX Race Grows, Offers Double Points

Photo Credit: Drew Graham

Southern Cross is one of a growing series of events that features a style of racing that has been christened “UltraCross,” or UltraCX for short. UltraCX is a wonderful mash up of the fast-paced action of normal cyclocross and the quad-burning endurance challenge of a gravel-grinder.

The February 25 race is organized and directed by 55nine Performance, the people behind the popular Fool’s Gold 100 NUE mountain bike race.

Click on over to Singletracks.com to read the full story!

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