A slight break from being beaten by the whore mother nature

So, we've been under the gun of late. Tornadoes, hail, wind, trees ripped out of the ground and deposited on playgrounds and homes. Mother nature is pretty pissed, it would seem. I choose to believe that it is because of the continued breath that Sarah Palin continues to draw. I digress.

We got a slight break today and though it was fucking hot, we rode. Because you never know when you are gonna get to pedal again. Save nothing.

Dave moved back from Arizona and is a full time Knoxville resident now. We got some different angles of this. Dude is a rippah!



I had some other stuff from the Toast Jam that I felt like posting up. I still think about this trip. Mostly it was the time spent with awesome folks at Empire and the sessions at T-1. But I also got to see some serious shred.

Corey Nastazio!


Morgan Wade just goes and goes. If it were football, they'd say his motor never stops running.


Rickey Mosely got third place...


over this guy...RICARDO LAGUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.


There's talk of a trails jam for the weekend of the 4th. We'll see what happens. *casts a weary eye at the sky*

So, better late than never...right Jake?

Sorry. I really am. Between the travel, the storms, the work, the storms...I just never got around to this. UNTIL NOW.

Fit Bike Co. did a shop stop in Johnson City, TN. This is the home of my favorite bike shop in Tennessee- Angry Penguin. Jake works hard to run a rad shop, and this is a fruit of that effort. Van Homan, Shawn McIntosh, Justin Inman and some others (what am I, fucking tape recorder?) rolled through and brought pizza, frames, stickers, good attitudes and Uncle Stew with them. I hung back on the riding part because I am old and have nothing to prove, so most of what I have are just some random shots from the shop visit.



Jon and Tetro know why this picture is funny to me...


The Jake on the left makes things happen. The Jake on the right makes teen girls swoon.


Look at this damn dog. He's awesome.


This guy slept on my son's bed the other night. That looked awesome. NOT CREEPY AT ALL.


Tetro bought his nephew a Fit complete and as a result he helped his odds of winning the raffle. He won to the shock of no one except for him. That head tube is a bit steep, though. Just my opinion, in my opinion.


This picture is serious business. Jeff Z. threatened to beat my ass if I ran any pictures that he was shooting. I WILL WRECK YOU, SON. Just kidding. Jeff is nice as can be.


The only riding picture that I felt decent about. Shawn McIntosh did the pole jam to a nose manual to hop off the end of the world.


Again, sorry this took so long, Jake. I'll do better next time.

My wife put in work!

I took most of the pictures, but she did the writing, which is the hard part anyways. Check it out!

Our home, my pictures, her words.

I never got to swim in the springs...

On this trip. I tried. There was a triathlon or some shit downtown on my final attempt. By the time I got there, the line was about 270 yards long. I've been...but I wanted this one. Just one dip.

And I would like to say, wearing a helmet is such a good idea. I took it pretty hard at 9th and thankfully, I had a helmet on and it made a difference in the severity of my crash. I walked away under my own power and rode the next day. About 20 minutes after my crash, I saw a dude go to his head and get knocked the hell out. No helmet.

Okay, so back to the Toast and other happenings.

Last time I ended it on Mike, so I am gonna start it on him for this...well him and Chase. This picture has gravitas.


So, one of the cooler things about this Jam was getting to see Van Fucking Homan ride a dirt contest. I never got to witness this back in the Schwinn days. Worth the wait? Yeah. Van is a secret ginger beast.


Obviously, one of the raddest things about Anthem II was Clint Reynolds. I didn't take enough pictures of him. Also, he's a lot taller than I thought he would be. I am in stream of consciousness mode at this point.


On my last day in Austin proper, I rode T1 with this guy. Paul Radosevich...he looks like an Ohio Seth Kimbrough. Rides like a man. He took my bed spot. I hope it didn't smell like fart. I really tried to keep it together in there.



I have more. This trip will stay in my head and heart for a long time.

The greatest contest I have ever been to...

and I probably missed half of it due to heat/riding/resting. I saw some pretty amazing shit, of this there is no doubt. Big thanks to Tom and Tina (and Owen!) for their hospitality and kindness, Joe for letting me ride his ramp, Frank and John for giving me a place to stay and to my sister for letting me drive us back to Knoxville. I could go on and on, but I don't want to. Rather, I would like to sleep for a day or so. Not gonna happen, so here are some pictures and descriptions and whatnot-

I feel like it was important that I got a picture of Chris Moeller riding 9th Street. He can still bring it, which makes me feel better about my own aging. Tom told me that he is not as old as I thought he was; he's just been in the game since he was really young.


Justin Inman came through Knoxville (I need to get those pics up. Sorry Jake...I am a slacker)with several FIT riders on the way to Austin. He's a really chill dude and easy to talk to. Decent on a bike, too.


Brian Hunt has been on here before, so...I have no idea where I was going with that. He was blasting the shit out of the main line. His attire made it a little tough to photograph, but I got this shot that I liked.


Morgan Wade. Dude is sweet, rips like a motherfucker, and will keep trying something until it is pulled to satisfaction. State champ. In this order- Flip to fakie, whip to ice pick, HAM.




BKFBM pointed out to me that this is probably the most printed, posted, shot, eaten and docked picture of Chase Hawk, but this is the first one I shot, and it looked cool. STUFF YOUR JEALOUS RAGE SOMEWHERE ELSE, FUCKO. Just kidding.


I unexpectedly got to ride 9th with the UM. Seeing the socks roast through big jumps with no issue makes a man remember why he still has a poster of this dude hanging up.



I'll end it on this one. I have more pictures to develop and post, but for now...we are gonna just marvel at one of the more awesome things in BMX...