BALLS TO THE WALL FISHING

The only place to stay current on the latest manic ramblings from the Florida Panhandle.

CHEEKY FLY REELS, THE OFFICIAL REEL OF BALLS TO THE WALL FISHING

Thursday, September 30, 2010

SIMPLICITY AT IT'S BEST.....

Keep it Simple, always
This has been a very simple warm weather season for me in my 53rd year. So today, I found comfort on my birthday in what many might consider to be a rather unusual way to spend it after work, a killer solo mountain bike ride on one of my favorite loops in the hood. Nate had kind of planned on going but he broke his one million dollar carbon Yeti mountain bike two days ago so he was out, and it was a last minute plan so nobody else was really on board, but I like riding solo, at my own pace, with no worries, on rippin singletrack, with a good beer in my jersey pocket. It's very simple....
And I've gone back to the roots of what it's supposed to be all about, and what it used to be all about, you and a bike, with nothing to prove. I've quit riding with my MP3 player for good as it just ruins the experience I ride for. I enjoy hearing my tires on the dirt and rolling over the leaves that have fallen the past couple of days. It's sweet to hear the critters scampering just off the edge of the trail instead of blasting Metallica into my head out there like a spoiled little brat in the back seat of the car who wants to be detached from the real world. And I like to think while I ride and not worry about catching or being caught. This was a great birthday ride today. Keep it simple, laugh at the old school reflector I see every time I climb up Tick Alley and know that someone on some old, crappy and tired bike broke that off a pedal earlier this year, and it still sits in the same place. Check out the tire treads in the dirt and try to guess who they belong to, and then you see a tread mark that is from a way old school tire from at least 10 years ago, was that a Velociraptor I saw out there? And then you run into a couple of riders who are way old school, with old school bikes that still roll the same shit you are riding, and they are psyched and having the time of their lives as we exchange "what an awesome night eh!" And then you get up to the shit you really like and there are very few new tire treads there, and you sit down, and you crack the great beer you saved from the 24 Hours in the Sage that some VERY cool people gave you which was saved for a special occassion as it's the last one I had from that race. And then, with that perfect one beer buzz, on your 53rd birthday, you let it rip all the way down to town on some of the most fun single track on earth. And it's just you and your bike, and it's rolling perfect tonight, with absolute perfect tire pressure and the fork dialed in, and you smile the entire way, because you know you just stole another day away, and you how damn alive you are on this day which is your birthday, and there is no one else there, and it is simple, and it can never be taken away.......bloody perfect I say.
The new fallen leaves always remind me of when I was a kid in New Jersey, and the leave sweepers would make huge piles of leaves out in the street that myself and the other hoodlums would dive into, of course until the first one of us hit a big pile of dog shit in there somewhere, instantly turning the fun into a gag fest. Somehow I always seemed to be the lucky one, happy birthday to me.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

CONTADOR BUSTED FOR DOPING

Multiple time Tour De France Champion Alberto Contador has reportedly tested positive for a banned substance while competing in the Tour. He of course is claiming to be innocent and claims this is just a mistaken case of food poisoning. Below is what Contador's publicist Michael Rassmussen says Alberto found in his cheeseburger after stage 8 of last years tour. Good thing Alberto did'nt swallow this bad boy. Could you imagine the discomfort passing this thing through your rectum? I can see where that might be a problem.
The Burger in Question
Contador immediately following pounding the albuterol laced burger, just about to blow chunks.

NO ONE FASTER THAN PHINNEY

photos roberto bettini
Taylor Phinney won perhaps the most prestigious U23 World Title today winning the Individual Time Trial down under. Victorious by just two seconds, Phinney today can say there is no one faster in the world on a bike under 23 years of age.
With that said, Mark Cavendish stated he could not win the road racing title this year because the course is too hard, to which I reply," what did you just say?" I love quitters.

Monday, September 27, 2010

WE'VE GOT COLOR, AND A CONTENDER FOR DOUCHE BAG OF THE YEAR GENTS...

Jonathan Page interview on Cycling Dirt this past weekend at the Madison USGP race which was sponsored by HIS sponsor, Planet Bike. I'd say somebody in this interview has got POOPY PANTS.
Visit cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

And then of course we've got this here in Colorado while J Page is whining his way to Europe.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

VIJ FROM WHEELERS RACE AT X VEGAS, BEER WAS INVOLVED

Vij pretty much speaks for everyone's self...










CROSS VEGAS WHEALERS AND DEALERS AND MOOTS

Danny Munson photos
I've got some good friends over a
t Moots Bicycles in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This friendship is a result of the Moots guys having come to Eagle, Colorado for the past few years to race in the spring Cyclocross race I promote called Cult Cross. Check out the Title photo there of Sam Gordon catching air on the infamous Cult Cross exclusive "Air or Scare" barrier section. Anyway, Cross Vegas hosts a Whealers and Dealers race as part of their evening (this being the last year). It's a 4 lap throw down amongst the industry, and you must be an industry employee to participate. I've been fortunate to race it the last two years and it's been a blast. This year's battle was shaping up to be a pier six brawl
between defending champion John Cariveau of Moots and a
former National Champion Mark McCormack. Just one problem, riders from Colorado formed an alliance early in the race and controlled the pace early. The lead group included Greg Keller of Mud and Cowbells fame who went to the front early with Cariveau and pushed a hot pace shedding the pretenders early. Keller, who has all but recovered from a shattered clavicle early in the MTB season, set the stage for MOOTS as they had three finishers in the top 6 riders. Cariveau taking the race win, Matty Pronovost who finished a rediculous 6th overall on a singlespeed (his bike was featured on A2B just recently), and Michael Robson who finshed fourth overall but first in the Media classification. So MOOTS basically dominated. Pictured below, pre-race, Pronovost, Robson and Cariveau prepare for war.

Riding out to the venue in the Moots Sprinter with John and Matty, who'd a thunk they would both leave victorious? A2B did...
Team Moots rolls to the call up...
Being overly alcoholed


Friday, September 24, 2010

MORE TO COME....

On the Outdoor Demo, Interbike, Cross Vegas, the fire, the road trip, and today's ride. As soon as I can recover from that large toilet called Las Vegas...

MORE ON CROSS VEGAS LATER, BUT FOR NOW...

Mourey out sprints Driscoll for the win. Driscoll went OFF early, built a BIG lead and then with 2 laps to go, the freight train was lead by Ryan Trebon on the chase back, it was a furious chase, and amazing to watch live. Mourey sat in perfectly, and launched late for the win. On the women's side, Nash absolutely decimated the women's field with a mid race assault, and Dombrowski went with half a lap left out of the three chasers like an aggravated badger to claim second...the crowds were HUGE, the largest yet for Cross Vegas. Unfortunately, this is the last edition of the race as Interbike now moves to Anaheim next year and is much earlier being the first week of August, which to be honest with you, does not crush me one iota, as Dirt Demo was a bit of a goat fuck this year with 40 mph winds both days and temps around 105. More on this race later...

all photos from Cross Vegas website

Nash and Gould at the front for Luna on lap one

Thursday, September 23, 2010

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

WILL BE BLOGGED AT SOME POINT TOMORROW, I'M TIRED AND POSSIBLY STILL DRUNK, BUT I'M HOME. THANKS MOOTS.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Friday, September 17, 2010

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY A2B!

TODAY MARKS THE THIRD BIRTHDAY OF A2B, THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING THIS RAMBLING PILE OF SHIT FOR THREE YEARS, A2B LOVES YOU ALL.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

LEGALLY PROSTITUTING MYSELF....

With Interbike RIGHT IN OUR FACES, I thought maybe I'd try prostituting myself out when I arrive in Vegas on Sunday. It might be a good way to support my In and Out Burger addiction. Lord knows I'm going to need it. And for those of you who think I'm now a sinner for typing the words "Lord", "prostitution" and "In and Out Burger" in the same sentence, I reply with a resounding blow me.
Dirt Demo might be a good place to "hook" up.
Or I could pose as a "player" in Harrahs....
Or maybe pose as a retailer and "HOsale" myself

Or maybe just face reality and work it like a snow maker with the "cold as hell" approach and see how that goes, since we are just about ten days away from the snow guns firing up here in Colorado, yes that is right, just about TEN FUCKING DAYS from blowing snow.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

HATE TO SAY IT....

But the shadows are getting longer earlier, which kind of sucks, but it does mean CX season is now in full swing....bring it, after Vegas.
And there is a fresh perspective on some things that I look at everyday..and that is good.

COLOR AND CROSS....

Are finally here....
The hike up to Booth Creek Falls is starting to go off in full fall color, look for it to peak in about five days.....
Thomas Maddox captured my first effort of the year on the CX bike Saturday in Steamboat, in black and white no less, on an amazingly fun course....jumped in right off the mic on a nutritious half bag of Goldfish and a coke and just had a blast, suffered, smiled and just about shit myself from the effort...damn I love Cross.
Our fall has simply been more summer this year, and we are diggin it.
T-minus five days to Vegas and Interbike where I'll be camping at Harrah's, hope to see some of you there and look for the Squirt Lube tent at Dirt Demo.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

STEAMBOAT VELO/MOOTS CYCLOCROSS GETS THE PARTY STARTED...

Eve before the race was a sign of the perfect day to come in Steamboat to kick off the 2010 Colorado Cyclocross season. The course was raved upon by racers as a super fun and technical course...
photos courtesy of Thomas Maddox
Glen Light of Moots hammered away late in the 35+ open race to gain second place on the final lap
The "Sock Diva" Laurel Rathbun talking about her first lap crash when she rolled a tire and went down hard on the pave, dropped out, but came back later to race the women's open race and finish on the podium..
Charlie Brown from Eagle charging the perfectly placed run up
Overstreet railing the course, held on for a third place finish in his race...
Robson rode to what looked like an easy victory, we all know better however, as "easy" and cyclocross racing really do not belong in the same sentence
The Charge is on in 2010
The Steamboat course had some very technical sections, which took their toll on more than one rider...
Not only was there recovery on this section, but air as well