Heilman Weekend Visit

Tatiana and I finally got to see John and Heather's new baby Ellie. She's so cute and so easy going, just like her parents. We spent Saturday at San Elijo Beach and then Sunday brunch at Karl Strauss Brewery Garden.
Ellie and her proud mommy Heather.
Water was cold, the surf was small, but the beach was beautiful and it was really fun hanging out with John in the water.

The Heilman Family.

John and his "bald spot protector."

Me & Miss T at Karl Strauss.

Glen Helen National MX - 2007

Glen Helen AMA MX Nationals is the final round of the season. Riders are greeted with huge hills, dry hot, sunny, smoggy skies and probably the roughest track on the circuit. This year both the 250 (I refuse to say "lites") and the 450 class championships were to be decided at this race. We camp out the night before, raise a little hell, and then set up shop on top of one of the hills to watch the MX racing action.

Pre-race campout action...MORE COWBELL!!!

Glen Helen has huge hills and HUGE jumps. Ben Townley catches a little air here. (Photos by Junko Ikari)

Skyrockets in flight ...
RV.

Matt performed stunts for us all weekend for monetary bribes, like carrying all the ez-ups to the top of the hill. Here he earns $5 the hard way by climbing the hill in his boxers while Doug keeps him honest with the duck call. Or should I say Doug-call?

BT101 gettin' stylish over the new Mt. Whitney tabletop. This jump is basically a mountain that the riders catch air over as they crest the precipice. (Brad Sherrill photo)

Rod and Carl had a show-down on amateur day. As the picture clearly indicates Carl lost. He also sustained a few bruised ribs to go with the bruised ego.

Some of the Glen Helen hill people.

That's our red ez-ups in the bottom left corner. We had a great view of the entire track. (Cudby photo ... http://www.cudbyphoto.com/ )

Ryan Villapoto came away with the 250 championship. Here he battles with Josh Grant who impressed us all by being the first rider, 250 or 450, to clear the finish line triple jump. (Photo Brad Sherrill)

Mr. September. His likes are puppies, arguing with Darren, waffle irons, Early Times and late hours.

Video of our co-worker's brother Drew Gosselar clearing Mt. Whitney. He was super fast in his qualifiers, made the field, but had a horrendous crash on this same jump during the race. Todd also attempted to qualify, but didn't quite make it ... at least he didn't end his day in a steaming pile like Drew.

Labor Day Weekend 07 - Day 4/5

We ended our trip at our friends Daren and Julie's house on Lake Wildwood. It's a private lake near Grass Valley, CA. Let's put it this way, it doesn't suck.

Martini time!
Little Jesse got her first Tatoo.
Floatin'.
Dax, Diallo, and Christina. The newly "official" family. Congrats guys!
Jason and Shawna came in from Reno too.

A little advice, do not ride on the Molecule! You will lose.
Good friends, good times.

Labor Day Weekend 07 - Day 3

2nd day at Northstar. We loved this place!!! It actually rained a bit in the morning which made the trail conditions better than perfect!

Meandering trail through the pines.

Tati on one of the big berms on Live Wire. Live Wire was more like a motocross track than a trail. A bunch of perfect table top jumps and big banked corners. So much fun.

A view up the Live Wire run.

Our buddy Daren met us out there for the day. Smiles all around!
Fun little rock "feature."
Tati on one of the many ramps.

U Totem bike, we ridem trail.

Happy souls with happy soles.

Labor Day Weekend 07 - Day 2.1

We also got to spend some time with our friends Amy, James, and their baby Lizzie. They were on a little vacation in Tahoe City. Super nice people and Lizzie's just a doll.

Labor Day Weekend 07 - Day 2

Day 2 we landed at Northstar at Tahoe.
Northstar has a really nice village area to start and end your day at.

Epic mountain bike trails, pines trees, sunny skies, and time to enjoy a Starbucks on the chairlift ... quite normal really.
Tati rocks one of the rocks!
Fantastic flowing trails cut through woods with perfect berms, jumps, rock drops, logs, etc.
Wheeeeee!

Labor Day Weekend 07 - Day 1

For Labor Day weekend, Tati and I headed out on a mountain bike adventure. Our first stop was Mammoth. We met up with Tati's friends Jennifer and Megan. The 4 of us had a blast riding all day, pitchers of beer at Lack-a-nookie, and big burritos at Romiros.

Tati, Jenn, and Megan. These girls can embarrass a lot guys on their bikes.

Helmet Cam video of Jenn and Megan on Velocity.

Tati calls Shotgun! And summons her Eagle Powers!

Helmet cam video of me doing the ramp drop on Flow.