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

Monday, March 26, 2012

AND THEN THERE WAS THIS UNEXPLAINABLE MOMENT IN TIME....GO WITH IT.


Sunday, March 25, 2012

BUFFALO BILL'S GRAVE AND THE WAX LIPS...THAT'S AMERICA

This is Buffalo Bill's grave. I had never been to Buffalo Bill's grave even though I have driven by it for 30 years while living in Colorado. So I was on the front range and had my road bike and decided to ride up there from Golden. It was a cool ride up Lookout Mountain and short, but my first jaunt on the road bike of the season. I though to myself this guy is an American icon like the robot from "Lost in Space" which I thought was cool. And then the coolest part of the day took place. I looked down and there on the first step to the grave of Buffalo Bill was a set of red wax lips, which I also believe is an American icon, which I thought was very interesting. I mean really, what are the chances of seeing Buffalo Bill's grave and a set of red wax lips all in the same day and within a stone's throw of one another. I thought about how bummed that kid must have been when he dropped those wax lips in the dirt...such a waste, and the ants can't even eat them.


Monday, March 19, 2012

MORE A2B TOYS....

Contour unleashes the pole mount for their cameras, and it's a winner. If it ever snows again this thing will be the bomber.....here is the test vij.

BOY, DID YOU GUYS SUCK THE BIG ONE LAST NIGHT

I'm not sure I understand the concept of "point shaving" very well, but the team that beat North Carolina and Duke back to back twice this year and won an ACC Basketball championship looked like they were doing anything but TRYING to win that game last night, I found it to be a bizarre effort and demand an investigation into the suckiness displayed by FSU.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I'M NOT FEELING VERY ADDICTED TO BICYCLES....

I've  been on a bike exactly three times since New Years day. I'm not feeling very A2B these days. However, with that said, and those days behind me, I have been skiing my ass off this winter to the tune of 75 days on the hill, and I know it is almost time, it is almost time to rebirth my addiction. Years of experience have taught me to chill this time of year while most others that are not world class athletes to begin with are smack dab in the middle of making themselves very tired in August from being on the bike too much. Yes, it's time to unleash the Addicted to Bicycles gene within, and unleash the fury of rubber on dirt and asphalt. Despite the light snow year, it's been an amazing winter on so many fronts, which included popping one hell of a blister and putting it in the past. And the skiing has been a riot, and it is going to be a riot, and I'm back in the high country in Eagle County, and I do not have to stare at the mountains through the haze any longer. With 40+ dates already on the announcing calender not including cyclocross season, this is going to be an amazing season, it already is. It's time to ride bikes.....

Thursday, March 15, 2012

APPARENTLY THIS IMAGE WAS "SHOT" IN EAGLE.....

I'm wondering if this is the mayor on his way to the next public hearing on Eagle River Station? Just Wondering...

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

SO WHO THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR AS AN AMERICAN CYCLING FAN?

Levi?
Tejay?
Horner?
Farrar?
 Images from Cyclingnews and Velonews
I mean seriously, what team am I supposed to pull for this year and what riders are going to actually be unleashed as individuals who have a chance to win for their respective teams, which are many, and which have riders whom I do not ordinarily pull for? Garmin-Barracuda a good choice, sort of. BMC has some guys I really like and always pull for, sort of. Radio Shack-Nissan has lots of flavor, sort of.
Maybe I'll just stick to cheering for Frites en Mayo and the Happy Coffee Cyclocross teams, that will keep it easy.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

AFTER ALL THIS IS A BIKE RELATED BLOG....IN CASE YOU FORGOT THAT.




And then there is this moment of douchieness from the Paris-Nice ending Levi's hopes for a podium finish overall...

Friday, March 9, 2012

AN INTENSE FEAR OF HEIGHTS, RIDING LIONS LOOP

I'm really not sure where my intense fear of heights developed, but it happened early in life somewhere in New Jersey as a child. I seem to remember falling off the top of a large lumber pile in a lumber yard somewhere down by railroad tracks close to Fair Lawn Ave when I was a young kid, maybe that was when it happened. Anyway, I'm scared shitless of heights, unless I am on a pair of skis for some reason. So I like to go ride Loma once in a while and ride Lions Loop with it's exposed rim trails to help overcome those fears, and it intensifies when I take a solo trip....hence yesterday in Fruita, on the Loma Loops, 60+ degrees and no one there. Blissful

Dropping into Horsethief

Mary's Loop views



Thursday, March 8, 2012

TWO "EXPERTS" DIE IN AN AVALANCHE IN TETON NATIONAL PARK ON WEDNESDAY....

Pretty bad news for the Jackson community, Steve Romeo and Chris Onufer.....pushing it to the limit passed in an avalanche in Teton National Park.
From Steve Romeo's blog TetonAT.com



And the irony that Romeo had just posted this video on his blog just two weeks ago....crazy stuff.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

OK, LETS GET IT ON 2.0, VOTE FUCK NO ON EAGLE RIVER STATION, HONEY, I'M HOME.....

So, for those of you that already voted in Eagle two years ago, stating you thought Eagle River Station was a goat fuck, you get to do it AGAIN. Funny how those who have A LOT to gain from this project on the planning and zoning commission have agreed that it's a wonderful idea to replace this field which they picture on their website with the piece of shit building below it, on the Eagle River, in Eagle, Colorado, where every single piece of trash will eventually end up in the river where it always does, because wind and runoff put it there, and where "workers" will make 8-10 an hour and not be able to afford to live anywhere, and where I'd guess the majority of the businesses will go under like most others down at this end of the valley, and we will have a tremendous eye sore along the interstate, another GALL DAMN TARGET in the middle of the Silverthorne and Glenwood Springs Targets, and where no one can afford to shop anyway right now, and where the light pollution at night will never give Eagle the same view of the night sky, and where Eagle will foot the bill when the project likely fails, and where this proposed project is more than twice the size of the original ERS offering, which we told Red Development to shove up their ass with a "NO" vote, it's funny aint it? Well boys and girls it's time to hit em where it counts again and vote NO, as a matter of fact, vote HELL NO on ERS again, for lack of a better description, it's STUPID. Hi mayor.

If you vote yes, this is the hunk of shit mall, less hundreds of thousands of square retail space that you will look at, instead of the image above without the piss poor message on it. Hellooooo Planning and Zoning commission. 
At $8/hour I'll bet they fill these places up like they are infected with the plague.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

LET'S GO BACK TO JACKSON HOLE ON A2B, WHERE IT IS STILL SNOWING TODAY...

It's been a bit of a shit winter, now melting down here in the Vail Valley, unless of course you reside in Jackson Hole

Sunday, March 4, 2012

PARIS-NICE ROLLS

photo; Roberto Bettini
While everyone was himming and hawing at Gustav Erik Larsson winning the prologue at Paris-Nice today, there was another story that I found pretty interesting. Tejay Van Garderen of Bozeman, Montana (BMC Racing) finished fourth, and that my friends is a statement from a very talented and young USA rider. This is a big story, a really big story.....
Unfortunately, Andy Schleck once again shows early that he is just not going to be able to hold his own in a TT format, finishing well back (over a minute) in the opener.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS MOVIE....GET IT, AND LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THE SOUL OF SKIING

On February 17th, 1986, myself and 11 of my best skiing buddies drove and flew to Jackson Hole Wyoming. The storm that hit Jackson that week had deposited tremendous amounts of  snow on the mountain the previous days, and we were forced to fly into Bozeman, MT and then jump on a bus for 11 hours back south and over Teton Pass to get to Jackson. we could have driven there in 9-10 hours from Summit County which some of our party had done. When we arrived in Jackson at 1am in the morning, we heard the bad news. Ski Patroller Tammy Ramer had been killed earlier in the day on an opening route at Jackson and the mountain was closed to skiing, for two weeks. The summit at the tram exit had received 11 feet of snow OVER NIGHT and the mountain was one huge avalanche hazard. So we drank at the Moose for four days then flew home. Our journey was a pilgrimage to the mountain made infamous by Warren Miller movies and we went to drop Corbet's Couloir and ski the rest of the legendary mountain. We had heard rumors of the Jackson Hole Air force back in those days and wanted to check out their scene. This movie documents the Story of the JH Air Force and should be watched by any and all of you who think you know anything about skiing the wild....it's good shit maynard.


Corbet's....no time to fuck around up here....I went back the following year in 1987 with good friend Tom Crowley, and I've got some old photos buried somewhere from that trip and the day we dropped Corbet's Couloir clean and survived it, narrowly missing the wall on the right after dropping it from the top. Immediately after dropping it and skiing it clean, I swore I'd never do it again. There is nothing more frightening on skis then standing at the top of this couloir, for an eternity, before finally committing to that first turn, it is beyond an adrenaline rush, and a right of passage for any true self proclaimed ski bum in this world....go get it.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

THAT IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT....

This footage is from Beaver Creek today, and as usual, the place was empty because all the really good skiers usually end up in Vail, keep going there, please, Beaver Creek sucks, really. I think I rode the chair with other people 5 times today, and I skied from first to last chair.  

The snow storms of the last couple of weeks have been a tremendous game changer in Colorado, and as of tonight it is still snowing hard on the hill. It did not stop snowing today once, which is why I had to one up it on Epic Mix for 55,000 vert today....stellar.

WELL A2B FANS, NOW THAT IT IS FINALLY SNOWING IN EAGLE COUNTY, SOME VIJ FROM YESTERDAY...

Right on the verge of being able to charge this stuff really hard, one more big storm, and it is snowing right now, and it's gonna be on full tilt.