fat tire fest 2007
the morning started out chilly and foggy. driving up malibu canyon road was a real treat, with clouds weaving in and out of the canyon. got there about 7:45am, but there was already a long line of cars trying to get into the park.
it looked like most people opted to come from the north. i came from the south and was able to take a left into the park, bypassing (can i have a backsies cut?) much of the line. temp hovered in the 60s but warmed up to at least 75 by noon. there were hundreds of bikers there...and with all the vendors that attended, probably twice as many bikes!
the beginner and advanced (led by jamis pro rider kathy pruitt) cross country rides took off around 8:30am, and you also had the option to do self-guided poker rides on the many trails that criss cross in malibu creek state park. the poker ride consists of riding to different volunteer-manned stations at the end of various trails, and drawing a card for your "hand". the best hands got ranked and the top 10 hands all won prizes!
i test rode a plush full-suspension bionicon edison on my semi-guided (thanks luke!) poker ride and loved it. i've been riding a hardtail for far too long. though it's probably in my best interests NOT to splurge on this $2700 beast...note my dangerously spectacular wheelie skills...
after the poker ride (and a quick minorly traumatic rope swing over the malibu creek dam), we headed over to return the beloved bionicons, and luke picked up a fresh niner to demo. i signed up for the hill climb with the cynergy cycles folks and received my lucky (birthday) race number...26! the luck didn't help me power up the hill very quickly, but it come in handy later on in the fest...my time was nowhere near the 1 minute 45 seconds it took the 1st place womens winner to get to the top of the hill. the mens winner did it in about 1 minute and 1 second and the winner of the youth division did it in about 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
while i was pedaling furiously up a small mountain, the mountain bike skills clinic, log pull contest, and wheelie contest were getting into gear. here are some great pics by kanga to show you the fun i missed:
i also snagged some shots of klunkerz director, billy savage, kicking ass in the wheelie contest on a genuine old-school klunker...promoting his wares simultaneously! if you haven't heard about it yet, klunkerz is a documentary about how mountain biking got its start in the u.s. they're holding screenings all around the country, so go check out the site and find out when it's playing near you.
then it was lunch time - you had a choice or veggie pasta or tacos. i opted for the carniverous mexican option and gorged myself on the always-tasty combination of rice + beans + cheese + cow. paired with a 2 below winter ale, a fat tire amber ale, and a giant hunk of heavily frosted birthday cake, the meal was complete.
in addition to the tons of free stickers, head badges, water bottles, clif bars, being given away at the FTF, and cheap $10 tires from specialized ($58 retail!), there was a huge raffle with prizes like complete bikes, bike frames, messenger bags, bulk quantities of drink powder and energy bars, and repair stands...and i won an ultimate support bike repair stand yay! it's not a brand new complete full-suspension bike but i'll make do. =)
shout outs to luke, jen, andi, marizel, greg, louisa, laurie, gary, jim, peter, lisa, curtis, paul, and rudy! so good to see everyone out & about.
+my pics from FTF @ flickr
+some great shots by otb mtn biking club rider kanga @ smugmug
it looked like most people opted to come from the north. i came from the south and was able to take a left into the park, bypassing (can i have a backsies cut?) much of the line. temp hovered in the 60s but warmed up to at least 75 by noon. there were hundreds of bikers there...and with all the vendors that attended, probably twice as many bikes!
the beginner and advanced (led by jamis pro rider kathy pruitt) cross country rides took off around 8:30am, and you also had the option to do self-guided poker rides on the many trails that criss cross in malibu creek state park. the poker ride consists of riding to different volunteer-manned stations at the end of various trails, and drawing a card for your "hand". the best hands got ranked and the top 10 hands all won prizes!
i test rode a plush full-suspension bionicon edison on my semi-guided (thanks luke!) poker ride and loved it. i've been riding a hardtail for far too long. though it's probably in my best interests NOT to splurge on this $2700 beast...note my dangerously spectacular wheelie skills...
after the poker ride (and a quick minorly traumatic rope swing over the malibu creek dam), we headed over to return the beloved bionicons, and luke picked up a fresh niner to demo. i signed up for the hill climb with the cynergy cycles folks and received my lucky (birthday) race number...26! the luck didn't help me power up the hill very quickly, but it come in handy later on in the fest...my time was nowhere near the 1 minute 45 seconds it took the 1st place womens winner to get to the top of the hill. the mens winner did it in about 1 minute and 1 second and the winner of the youth division did it in about 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
while i was pedaling furiously up a small mountain, the mountain bike skills clinic, log pull contest, and wheelie contest were getting into gear. here are some great pics by kanga to show you the fun i missed:
i also snagged some shots of klunkerz director, billy savage, kicking ass in the wheelie contest on a genuine old-school klunker...promoting his wares simultaneously! if you haven't heard about it yet, klunkerz is a documentary about how mountain biking got its start in the u.s. they're holding screenings all around the country, so go check out the site and find out when it's playing near you.
then it was lunch time - you had a choice or veggie pasta or tacos. i opted for the carniverous mexican option and gorged myself on the always-tasty combination of rice + beans + cheese + cow. paired with a 2 below winter ale, a fat tire amber ale, and a giant hunk of heavily frosted birthday cake, the meal was complete.
in addition to the tons of free stickers, head badges, water bottles, clif bars, being given away at the FTF, and cheap $10 tires from specialized ($58 retail!), there was a huge raffle with prizes like complete bikes, bike frames, messenger bags, bulk quantities of drink powder and energy bars, and repair stands...and i won an ultimate support bike repair stand yay! it's not a brand new complete full-suspension bike but i'll make do. =)
shout outs to luke, jen, andi, marizel, greg, louisa, laurie, gary, jim, peter, lisa, curtis, paul, and rudy! so good to see everyone out & about.
+my pics from FTF @ flickr
+some great shots by otb mtn biking club rider kanga @ smugmug
posted by cattv at 10:45 AM
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