I picked up some work through my biking/engineering friend Tim. We met through mountain biking, I think I even remember the day I met Tim. We were riding in the same car to some mountain bike race. We lived together the summer after my Freshman year, he hooked me up with work with Garcia, and he lived at 120 Wait last summer. Tim's been in Ithaca for 10 years, I think, I can never quite remember...but he's an old timer. He's finishing up this semester and headed to Chicago (Northwestern) for his post doc after he gets married in Arizona this summer. I was recently invited to his wedding, and I hope I can make it...
I have also arranged to do some painting for pay for my landlord, Pat. Hopefully I can knock that out in the next couple of days. Painting by yourself is slow, as I learned yesterday. Just means more $$... It's also pretty satisfying, although tedious.
We got some rain during this past week, so I set out to brush up the dirt jump trails I built last fall. These trails kick ass because they're fun and rideable for ANY skill level. Here's some footage from a day of riding last fall with Connor and Alex (thats me in the blue striped shirt).
So I made a few changes and patched up the eroded spots while it was wet out. Then it went from wet to dusty in two days, and I've been itching to ride them. I finally got out today with Andrew (I don't ride them, with enthusiasm, by myself) and we rode for a bit. It took a few runs to get the rhythm back, but man they felt good! We were both able to nail both the left handed and right handed hip lines, although Andrew was getting a little sketch--early season. Andrew rips, I hope we get to ride trails soon and maybe this summer. I love this little spot, though, it's my pride and joy, and digging kept me sane during the semester. For the lawyer in the crowd, it's not my land, I don't know who's it is, but no one seems to care!
My Bitch is out of commission for the moment. I won't go into details but I think all I need is a new headset, as the old one broke off inside the frame (weird and kind of sketchy). The bike's kind of a mixture of secondhand parts, and the fork makes me a little nervous (I thought that was the issue) but I love the way it rides. With my bike busted I got to ride Alan's Specialized P series bike, which was set up more for dirt jumping/urban riding than my Bitch. The bike felt awesome and was noticeably lighter than mine. His stem was shorter and his bars wider, which felt great. He offered it for anytime this week...
So while I was digging last week I got a call from Grand Targhee's trail crew leader dude. We talked for a while about my building experience and their plans. It sounds pretty awesome, although it also sounds like a lot of work. 4 10 hour days building mountain bike trails? sheesh... BUT they are building mountain bike specific trails, which is what I love to do and I think I'm half decent at building fun trails. Plus I'd get super strong super fast, although I think I'd have to train up for it a bit.
I should hear back from Targhee early this week, hopefully tomorrow. The work wouldn't start until June 1st, so I'd even have time to check out some epic riding spots after I get my bikes working!
Today was riding with Andrew and then a road bike ride with housemate and friend Leo. Leo either loves or hates hills, because he cranked up all of them. I think we were about equally spent by the end of the ride.
It's definitely bike season now!
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