Riding with “Doo Rag” on “Hello Kitty”

I have a buddy I get to ride with whenever he gets a ‘kitchen pass’!  But whenever he shows up I am pretty much guaranteed a fun filled and entertaining day on the trail.
So this trip put me on the trail with Rodney or R.J. as we call him, Doo Rag (Darrin) and Barry who lives in a housing complex called Camelot, sounds magical doesn’t it!  We started our ride from Barry’s house and rode into the Plumas National forest. Barry or Bear-Meister as I usually call him leads us out on some really cool trails that are awesome single-track after awesome single-track. We negotiate some rather large boulders, narrow tree sections and a creek crossing or two. Then we come to a trail head that Barry tells us is known as “Hello Kitty” and we should go that way and he will meet us at the other end.  We assume he was going to set up for pictures or scouting another trail or something. Boy are we dense!  But like good little soldiers away we go with big grins on our faces. This is going to be great.
We thrash for the next hour and a half and probably cover all of 3 miles or less!  It was Great!  Well, I thought so anyway.  Doo Rag struggled in a few spots and had to make 2nd attempts and push a couple of times but he survived.  Barely!  

RJ did great with the exception of one tricky steep off camber downhill.  He and the bike swapped places and the bike rode RJ for a bit down the hill. Unfortunately for RJ I was there to capture the comedy on camera. He escaped unscathed, remounted and soldiered on.
When we all arrived at the end of the Hello Kitty trail Barry was nowhere to be found. It seems Barry was not as familiar with the trail as we thought.  He couldn’t find us at the other end.  So we took a break to eat and drink something, but mostly for Doo Rag to recover since we were now on our own and would have to find our way back.
When we did find our way back and hooked back up with Bear Meister I found out he had done Hello Kitty exactly once!  He was also overheard making the statement that it would be the only time!  Doo Rag was a bit fatigued and could hardly keep his eyes open so he laid down and took a little siesta so he could make it back to Camelot.
Day 2 started out much better since it was agreed beforehand we would not go anywhere near Hello Kitty. So we had a great 2nd day of riding on some great trails with some very scenic views. I was pretty sure Doo Rag was feeling the effects from day 1 so I thought it would be a good idea to stay close and keep an eye on him.  I also made sure I had the camera ready, I didn’t want to miss anything.
Well Doo Rag didn’t disappoint, he had a low speed mishap on an uphill rut that had him lying in the brush with his leg pinned under his bike. Since he was on the downhill side he could not free himself without help. Take a guess on who the “helper” was! Yup, yours truly #33.  He calmly waited and said, “go ahead and take your picture then help me get up!”.  I was laughing so hard I almost forgot to put my kickstand down. I got the photo as Doo Rag posed and then lifted the bike for him to escape.  
We finished day 2 without any more major mishaps and made it back to Camelot, loaded up and headed for home. I couldn’t wait to download the pictures and share our boy’s bonding weekend trip with the mx43 readers.
Anybody want to go riding?
#33
“Learn to smile at every situation. See it as an opportunity to prove your strength and ability”

Fly Helmet + 1000's of Miles = Happy #33

 First Anniversary of FLY helmet

 

It is almost a year of wearing a FLY helmet for riding and a Baja 1000 race.  It has been very comfortable and seemed to hold up well despite having hundreds of hours and literally thousands of miles on it. Rest assured it has had the lining removed and washed several times during this constant state of flogging/use! 

I have also done trail work in it, which without the air flow, has resulted in it being thoroughly drenched in sweat. Those of you that have had to put a soaking wet helmet back on know exactly what I am talking about.  As disgusting as that sounds it has always cleaned up and washed up well enough I don’t mind  heading off on a new adventure once it has been cleaned up. 

I have grown very accustomed to the bright orange color and find it has several advantages, easy to locate when I set it down somewhere, easy for anyone on a group ride to identify me and very easy for anyone to pick me out of a crowd on a ride or during a race. Also, I think it looks great in photos!

So to sum it up, Comfort, durability, easy to maintain and good looks. What more could you ask for?

#33

‘Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions’

Works Connection Pumps You Up!

WORKS CONNECTION NALA & SUSPENSION PUMP
I have been using the Works Connection pump along with the No Air Loss Adapter (NALA) for approximately a year now. I have been very impressed with the ease of use and accuracy of the gauge.
The NALA is another tool that increases the consistency of your pressure by guaranteeing you have the same pressure each and every time you use your pump to set your forks. Also the gauge is so accurate with its digital display and bleeder button anyone can do it.
Having just recently acquired my first dual suspended mountain bike with air forks and shock opens up a whole new use and makes the Works Connection gauge and NALA even more exciting and valuable to have in the tool box!

The pump and NALA are light enough and small enough to actually take in my back pack to adjust and experiment on the trail. It has made dialing in my pressures and getting my suspension set up correctly so much quicker and easier I can’t wait for the next ride to do more trail side tuning.
I think I have found my new favorite tool in my toolbox. All I can say is if you don’t have one, move over when you hear “on your left” because my suspension is working so good I will be coming through!
#33