busy busy busy, no time to blog much. Had the big thor trail meeting yesterday. Gotta say, i left this meeting amped for this season. Got permission for the progressive skills park @ tranquilty. Kent is going to help me set up meetings with the city and work on grants for funding the project. Best part, is that the design and assist with building the park will be done by Mr Pump Track Nation, Lee McCormack. I've been chatting with him most of the winter and the guy is amazing. He also gave me ideas for my bermed section and how to set up french drains for some areas that are always damp.

On the family end of things, the spaces blog we have is getting moved over to wordpress. Still working on getting all the pics swapped over from the old site. I guess microsoft is killing off spaces, so that is what we get to use. It will auto redirect you to the new spot for now. I'll keep playing with it as time allows.

Otherwise, thats aboot it. Dev, Kaylie and I have been hitting the gym. She is talking about racing this year, so she wants to do some cardio and leg work to get ready. Such a silly kid. Dev is planning on touring this summer, so he wants to get in shape to play every night. I need to drop back down to 170 or my doc is gonna shoot me. weeee...

Anyone else sick of Lance in the news? What are we exactly gaining buy crucifying LA? How much is our cash strapped govt spending to prosecute him for things he did a decade ago if he ever did anything to begin with? What does Landis get out all of this if Lance turns up dirty? Who's next on the list?

I really don't get any of this. This will be nothing but a total loss for everyone involved.

New song from At War With Giants is up on their facebook page. Gotta check it out even if you aren't into the screamo stuff. Very different sound from the Gravecandy days. Give it a listen and tell us what ya think...

Not as sweet as my dad's by a long shot but i'd take it...

Bah, winter is no fun. No sweet biking related stuff to post about. With any luck, we will have some reasonable weather to go out and put in the last section of the new singletrack @ Tranq. Then come spring it will just be some weedeating and it will be good to go!

Both bands are gearing up for shows soon. Prisoners of War (ex-lars) has shows next tues and sat. At War with Giants has a show mid feb. Totally different sounds from two very different groups of guys. Ought to be sweet... Add some digital pads and a module to WikiD's kit. Been fun playing around with it. Looks like we have to add another i/o box to use our own sounds. Good thing the punk has a job now!

Neighbor drug his 70 Challenger R/T 440/4spd out of the garage for the first time in a decade yesterday. Had to boogie out to chat with him to make sure he wasn't selling it. He isn't now but may be in the near future. I get first shot...woohoo! Hope he does something fairly soon or the car may not be worth saving for someone with my budget. As it sits now it will need fenders, 1 door and both quarters. The rear deck around the window is also starting to go. Amazing that a car that is that rusty on the outside had really nice floors and trunk pans. Someone added a T/A spoiler to the deck and front chin spoilers sometime before he bought it back in the 80's. Could be really nice car redone. Red with black r/t side stripe and a black gut.

That's about it. Knees are still randomly fubared. Going to start hitting the gym in a couple weeks when i get back from chi-town. Hope to drop a few pounds and get my cardio up for learning how to spin...

opinion time...Been helping my ex's dad restore a 65 gto for the better part of 20 years. We are finally down to putting the guts in it. Car was originally full red interior. During the body resto, he had a ivory headliner put in it. Car is tor red w a red dash/console and all the painted interior is red. So, here are the options...

Full red interior w a white headliner yuk personally
red carpet/door panels white seats
red carpet white door panels and seats
black carpet white door panels and seats
or the circus version black carpet red door panels white seats

Really want to finish this next summer. Even if i have to dump my own money into it. Still needs exhaust and bumpers as well. and wheels/tires and and and yeesh

Not much new to post about. Life has been busy with trail work and kid stuff. WikiD has been busy with LARS shows and practicing at AWWG. He also scored a job at Gamers and starts Friday. Crash is starting at Goodwill soon as well. Can't believe how hard it is to get a part time job in this town. I've been shot down for quite a few seasonal jobs. Guess i shouldn't have given the kids so much grief about not being able to get a job. Hopefully with them working, i won't have to do the night job thing.

I guess i'm in with the big bro with the knee problems. Might aren't near as severe as his but it still sucks. Been fighting with the left one for awhile, doc told me to sell the single speeds and learn how to spin. He said that should get me a few more years. Now the right one is swollen and clicking. That one has been perfect sense the last overhaul, don't even know what i did. Doc said to give it a week and come in if it still hurts.

So, the singles need to go, along with a few others...

17" Redline monocog 26" ss. 27.5"/650b wheels, X-fusion Velvet fork, pacenti quasi-motos, raceface headset, crankset, seatpost, carbon bars and stem, avid bb7's, handspun wheels with surly ss hubs. Spec ti railed seat and pedals are negotiable. maybe 30 miles on this bike sense built from all new parts... $1500 obo

56cm Redline 925 ss/fixie. Black to charcoal fade, planet bike fenders, rear rack, headlight and blinky taillight, computer, goofy hipster bars. Love this bike, it has been an awesome commuter. Again cb pedals are negotiable... $425 obo

Redline Pro Flight XL Bubba Harris Sig Series bmx'er. Mostly stock. Have a pile of sprockets for it as well as an answer carbon full face helmet, pants and vans spd shoes. Have flat and spd pedals for it. Ridden 3 times at most... $250 obo

Mirra Co Shorty bmx'er. All stock, flat pedals. Perfect for the shorter kid getting started. $125 obo

Gary Fisher Tarpon. Think it is a 14". Sublime green, comes with short 60mm stem and stock stem. Great starter bike to take on the trails. $150 obo

Think that's it. Gotta get everything cleaned up and put on craigslist. Then to ebay if nothing moves. Really wrong time of the year to do this...

weird...3 days of consecutive riding, 3 days of no health issues...hmmm...Guess i need to ride more!

Other weirdness. Swapped the cockpit from the Sycip to the Monocog. Decided to do some measuring. top tube = same, seat tube = same. Which doesn't make sense. Both bikes side by side, the monocog is a bigger frame. Looking at the amount of seatpost out of the frame it is obvious. Downtube is 1 1/2" shorter on the Sycip. The Sycip is also 1" longer in the chainstays. I'd pretty much say setting these bikes up with the same cockpit is not going to yield the same results.

Either way, hope to test it out tomorrow on the wnr depending where they go. Should probably ride tranq as it is what i know best and a good gauge to how the Sycip handles compared to the 'cog. Who knows, as usual i am over thinking all of it and just need to ride...

hmm, i really need to post more on here but really nothing too exciting going on...

School has begun and with my 2 youngest both in high school, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Wiki-d starts college at Metro tues. Got a late start on sign up due to switching schools, so he only got into 2 classes. He will hit full time next semester once financial aid kicks in. I think this is a good way to get him started in college.

The beetle has been back in action for almost 3 weeks. Sense then she has hit a curb and knocked the grill off. It then overheated because it knocked the lower rad hose loose at the same time. Got that all fixed and her car got hit at school and scuffed the new bumper cover. Then she got keyed this weekend at the mall. I really think this car is cursed! At least most of it should buff out...

Been riding a bit more. Got to hit the grand opening at Calvin Crest. The trail is sweet and Craig did a great job getting it ready. Been trying to ride more and work on the setup on the single speed. My body is kicking back and the doc isn't quite sure what to do with it. Been having massive leg cramps at night in my left leg. An ache in my right rotator cuff that hurts all the way to the front bottom of my ribcage, daily headaches and i puke after i eat about 70% of the time. Go in to get re-check for blood clots and a stress test next week. Fun...

Riding cc with Dale today and Swanson tomorrow with the Bike Way guys. Hope to see some of ya out there!

Wow, been a crazy month of no posting. Guess the facebook thing is easier but not much for novels.

The last month has been a whirlwind of trailwork/race prep at tranq, driving lessons and getting college/school stuff lined up. I even got to ride my bike a bit. Hopefully going to be more of that!

Tranq race went really well even with a 115 heat index. I decided to do the "south hill oasis" on the open climb. Did gatoraide/water handups for the racers. Also had some coke shots to get people over the long, hot climb. Feedback has been good, I'll have to figure out how to do it and race next year. Trail was in premo shape thanks to the hard work of alot of people. Thanks guys!

We are getting close to getting the big D his license. He is getting more comfortable in the car. Next we work on traffic. The beetle should be done this weekend. Finally got it painted after waiting a month for the painter to get to it. Just in time for school monday. Lots of school shopping left to do....

Gravecandy is no more but the side project "Lars" is doing well. Three tracks recorded and three more coming. Should have the ep done in early sept. Have a grip of shows lined up already to boot. Evidently their stage show involves people in panda and banana costumes hardcore dancing in the pit. This i have to see or partake in. I wanna be the banana! Also looks like the new project "At War With Giants" will be starting up next month after college gets rolling. He is gonna be a busy kid...

That's aboot it. Temps are dropping soon and hopefully that means commuting/riding will resume. Oh yea, grand opening for Calvin Crest mtb trail coming soon. Check thor blog for details. Hope to see ya there!

Rain, rain, go away! Jeez, enough already....

Good weekend! Got to see some family at the pap crit. Big bro won his class and worked the pro race for his team. Played some soccer with Curly and Pinky and just hung out and talked with some friends.

Worked tranq yesterday. Got the new section trimmed up but it was too wet to cut the berms in. Hope it drys up enough to finish the berms wed night. Ended up fixing the water bars and cleaning the drains on the north hill/fort st loop. Alot of standing water on the trail. Saw some people trying to ride, lucky for them, i didn't catch them. I had some major rage going on seeing the cars in the lot with bike racks. They were tearing the trail up pretty bad. I just don't see the fun in it...

Sitting here waiting for the ac guy. Wonder what this round is gonna cost me...

Oy yea, took the kiddies to Despicable Me. Great movie, gotta a lil too sweet at the end but the minions were worth it...

Good things today, got alot done. Beetle got the frame and little bits pulled as well the dents in the roof done. Got the headlamp brackets and all installed. Now if the painter was ready....

Then i headed out to tranq and got the last few berms done as good as they are going to get for now. Going to head out this weekend and cut the faces in, do a lil weed wackin and some benching and it should be good to go for now. I'm going to let it get ridden in a bit before adding the humps...

Some kids in an integra were sitting in the bottom lot surrounded by cops as i was leaving. 4 police cars seems a little much for a mip, wonder what they did. They were all cuffed on the ground and the cops were talking to a couple adults i assume were the parents. Weird...

Lots of baby turkeys out playing on the trail. Be careful, momma turkey is pretty mean...

Just got one thing to say to all the people that told me that i'd never finish the new section by hand....you were right.

Finished back building berm 3 and dumped another layer on berm 2 wed night. Got to chat with some friends that i haven't seen forever. My new bike is done, i wanna ride again...

So my current decision is to dump another load of dirt on berms 3 to 6 and do a little shaping, then open the section. I'd like to add the bumps the next weekend when i've got some people to flow the bumps in. If enough people like the section, i will then petition thor for a bobcat to finish the section the way i originally visioned. If response is not favorable, i can cut my losses now without putting another 100 hours into the section.

i thought about things while playing in the dirt the other night. I'm kinda being selfish on my new section and neglecting my duties as a trail leader. There are some things that need to be done before the race and my section is not one of them. Time to buck up and focus on the important things...

Got some good berm work completed today on turn 4, 5 and 6. Paul came out and helped a ton. Much faster work with 2 shovels over 1. Probably going out wed night and finish turn 3. It is the only one not back filled yet. Thanks again Paul!

Good progress on the beetle today. Front suspension is fixed and straight. Got some of the bent metal back in place. Now it is off to the body guy and painter. Have all the parts ready to go but the front bumper cover. It should be here monday. Don't want to hurry too much. She really doesn't need the car back till she can find a job...

welp, the pics below depict what happens when a teen is easily distracted and drives into a pole @ less than 20mph. $6400 in damages was well over the cars value, so it is totalled. Bought it back to rebuild. Gonna be a long road this time. I'd really like her to pay for it but i'd like the car out of the shop before she is 40. So the bone yard hunting begins. Anyone got a lead on a 98-05 beetle with a good front clip? lol

Went out and played in the dirt again today. Talked with the city and decided the dirt offered wasn't as good as what was in the area i'm working in. So i just kept digging. Hit an awesome area of clay. Good thing about clay is it packs really well. Bad thing about clay is that it packs really well, which means it takes alot to get anywhere.

This is berm 2 back filled about 1/2 way. That was 30 wheel barrows worth of dirt.




This is berm 1 after close to 40 loads of dirt. I'd say it is about 1/2 way done. I'm going to get each berm this far then go back and start back filling again. If i can get 2 berms a week done, i should be ready for flows and bumps by the end of the month. Here's to wishfull thinking!

Oh man, think the city will let us build this?

Flow and berms are amazing. Wonder what kind of soil was used? I know i'd never have the guts to ride it but a smaller version would be interesting. Had at least 4 people this weekend ask me when the bsa is going in @ tranq. Wish i had an answer. A couple of them work construction and were offering the use of equipment to get it done...hmmmm...

i don't know where this sign went but i wasn't gonna find out. I've spent enough time "otb" lately...



Swung by genoa, il while out in chitown to snap a pic of pops old house. Neighborhood is huge now. I remember when you turned off the highway there was just a sign pointing to the golf course. now there is a light and houses all the way to and around the course. Crazy considering this is in the middle of nowhere. Even Sycamore is huge now...



Got back to town and the pump track gave me inspiration to go work on the new section @ tranq. Got berm 3, 4, 5 done sunday and berm 6 done today. Figure i am going to need around ten pickup loads of dirt to finish the berms then 2-3 more to build the humps in the straights. Looks like crap now but i think it will be a blast once the berms are built full and are hit-able. Still need to mow and get sign posts put up. Sure were alot of new, lost riders out today.






pics from the joliet jump park are on facebook and grad pics are on the family blog.
That's aboot it for me. I'll post on the bike park findings later. Gotta go mow my own yard!