love your mother

it's only one month away, but should be celebrated everyday. the jim thorpe earth day celebration is in its 12th year featuring all kinds of heady treats throughout the town of jim thorpe. free music, arts & crafts, and good vibes in the town square on both saturday and sunday, with a drum circle hosted by yours truly to welcome folks to an evening of music at the mauch chunk opera house. i'm looking for a few good rythym makers to join in on the circle. so bring a drum, cowbell, or maraca and contribute in the healing power of music to thank mother earth for all she has provided for us.

the roots of creation

in case you have been locked in a block of ice, high above some miscellaneous skyscraper, eastern woods research is back! this spring they will unleash a band of enthusiastic cyclists upon the mountain bike scene. filled with vigor and an unbridled passion for the soul of the mountain trail i introduce the ewr bikes/bilenky cycle works factory team and the ewr bikes/acg opthamology grassroots team.










missing from the photo is the rancor beast!

what is and what should never be

as i approach the summit i knew the earth was far beyond repair. what once was a serene landscape was now the last place to dispose of waste created by a society of over consumption and poor decisions.

what ever happened to the slogan "going green" or "reduce, reuse, recycle?" all i could think of as i sat atop the mountain of trash was that maybe "going green" really meant going, going, gone green or reduce the amount of beautiful countryside, and reuse it to store our waste.

the days of digging your toes into the earth are long gone. no more flourishing green fields filled with wildflowers or white sand beaches for a king to romance his queen at an afternoon picnic. shoes are mandatory in this new, forsaken land.

people in the past talked about other people having bad tastes in fashion. well what about the tasteless food that no longer grows from the ground, but comes from that big factory down the street. maybe if i moved a patch of this trash i can grow a few veggies! even though they might taste like petroleum, it might still be worth it. maybe i could clear an even bigger patch and give the animals a suitable habitat as opposed to boxes and cans, cars and refrigerators.

as i stepped back to get a good lay-of-the-land to make my ideas a reality, i tripped and started to stumble. all of a sudden the ground broke loose under my feet and i began to fall uncontrollably into a pit that must have been covered by trash. i couldn't see the bottom, and why should i, it took me what seemed like hours to get to where i was. what if my idea could have helped just a little bit?! what's that?!

ahhhhh! suddenly i spring up! i look around at the view in front of me. i am sitting in a green meadow filled with wildflowers, barefoot and next to my queen. it must have all been a dream! then i thought to myself, what if my ideas could help just a little bit?!

i had my students write hypothetical stories about what would happen if there was no more land to store the waste produced by humans. this was mine. enjoy!

in these parts

the weather has been braking just enough to get the wheels turning a little more than usual during the month of febuary. cabin fever is beginning to subside, to speak the truth, i usually spend most of my free time outside no matter what the temps are, just not so much on a bike. anyway, over the winter the cabin fever has been consisting of friday night bluegrass jams at the place that i call home. we have had some epic nights this winter just diggin' on a simple groove.

another great aspect of the ending of winter is the harvest of that good ole nectar from mother nature, maple syrup! over the weekend, i grabbed the axe (guitar) and headed up the road to a good friends farm to party down for his birthday, play some tunes, and tap some maple trees. it is a long process that takes about a month to a month and a half when you tap trees in the old way, but well worth it when you have a huge stack of flapjacks in front of a fire with syrup from your local trees. the best thing about using the land is sharing it with the younger generations to pass on the love and knowledge of the earth. after the trees were tapped we celebrated pickin' some righteous tunes till the wee hours of the morning. in these parts, that's how it's done!

lost cause

technology is the greatest at sucking! fuckin' beta tapes!

filler up with unregular please!

so this here online journal hasen't been getting much love in the past few days, weeks, months, but what can i say, it is the winter. nothing much has been going on that is blog worthy or maybe everything is blog worthy? you never know what people will read. well, the reason for this post is that i got posed a question last weekend and gave what i think was a totally lame answer to the question, so i am re-answering the question. even though the person who asked the question might not even see this post, i still need to re-answer.

i was asked, might i add very late in the early morning, what my favorite band was. in a drunkin' haze, i gave my answer based on the first band that popped into my mind. for the past week that response has weighed, not too heavily, on my brain. i really like the band that i mentioned, but in the overall scheme of the question, i really do not have a favorite band. i love music in general. music had been a big part of my life thus far and i can not see it going anywhere. i have had so many good times, travels, spiritual moments and realizations during moments with in the experience of music. from the first band i really liked when i was in forth grade, to my teenage years being a straight-edger that couldn't get enough of robert nesta marley, to the many concert runs of various bands throughout my life. music is here, it is real and it has no boundaries. from the rhythm being tapped out during the daily grind, or exercise, to the cosmic metronome of the sun and the moon conducting the growth of the green earth. it comes in all forms, from any shape and size, to our senses to be interpreted in anyway we see fit.

since i was young, i was very interested in creating music. i took basic drum lessons when i was in elementary school for a few years, but wasn't really into the structured format to learn what seemed like something that comes from within. i bagged the drum to later return when i was 18 once i heard the drumming of jim donovan, rusted root fame. i picked up a djembe and have been creating rhythm for the last 12 years. the best teacher for drumming, that i have found, is nature. the rhythmic patterns created by nature are the most organic and can flow consistently as long as you can. some of my favorite lessons have been with the local water falls, and with, of course, the energy of the lehigh river. as of late, i have been quenching my musical palatte with the guitar. this instrument has always intrigued me, and since my friend shawn showed me a few chords a few years back, i haven't looked back and have been learning as much as i can.

another great part of music, to me, is the way it makes you feel. hearing that same song over again that makes you think of good times, bad times, or the inbetween times. the feeling i get when i listen to a bootleg of a concert i was at, remembering my state of mind at the time or the memories of my old man and i hitting a few shows of the crosby, stills, nash and young reunion tour. that shit transcended generation barriers! the feeling is amazing not just from listening, but also from creating. joining in on a raging drum circle, to standing around in a friday night pickin' circle with some close friends, the connection is far beyond conversation and really can't be described in words, but can be conveyed throughout the surrounding area to connect everyone in the vicinity. this question has been on my brain ever since i gave the wrong answer, like it was a test or something, but i had to return with a proper answer. i can give one definite answer for right now and that is that one of favorite songs, right now, was written by joshua finsel and is called "the lehigh river song." the vibe in the room last night was brought on by the energy of that song. there will never be a definitive answer to the posed question from a week ago and i'm sure my new answer would have been better as conversation at the time of the question, but what the hell, it now has become some good reading. "You know the nearer your destination, the more you're slip slidin away." ~ paul simon ~

happy new years!!!

last night, some folks danced with the green fairy a lot harder than others...

threads

Winter time usually brings a much welcomed change of pace to the outdoor schedule of activities. The two wheeled experience takes a back seat for a few to enjoy some hiking, some trail running, and some xc/backcountry skiing. Over the past couple of days, the northeast has gotten enough snow to turn two lane townie roads into single lane passageways and the single tracks into, well, perfect for skiing. Just before the storm hit, I got some hiking in at one of my favorite places to ponder life, Glen Onoko Falls. With some steady precip, the falls have been flowing well for the past few weeks. I usually hit up The Glen a few times a week for a variable tempo hike/spiritual moment.
Even though we got a badass couple of days of snow, a topic that has been in the minds of concerned individuals is climate change. Last week, in my Biology and Environmental Science classes, we covered the topic so it is fresh on my mind and with the recent snowfall, I couldn’t help but think about how great it is to get snow. It is a welcome change to shift your focus from one activity to the next and expand your view of the wilds around us. One thing that is certain, it would suck to have made a lasting impact on the Earth by the pasts’ nonearth-friendly industrial practices. With all the advancements in technology, there is no reason to continue this type of behavior.

Being more conscious of the individual impact each person has on the planet, and supporting products made by sustainable business ventures will help bring a change to the economy and reduce the pressure we put on our mother. It would be a bummer not to be able to enjoy the flow of nature that we have become accustomed to.

must produce post

i feel like i have been neglecting the blog. well the simple reason is that, yeah, i have been neglecting the blog. no not really. it has been a real busy fall/early winter filled with the daily grind, grad school, and spending some quality time in the outdoors, as usual. i am also getting stoked for some winter time fun on the backcountry skis. i am pretty fresh with the whole experience and can't wait to get back on the snow! until next time...

fall has arrived!

this is my favorite time of the year. a walk around the woods will explain why. the aroma of the reclamation of nutrients into the soil, the visual stimulation provided by the foliage of the trees and of course the fact that the temperature is cooling off. oh yeah and the end of the worst possible thing that ever happened to this land...

breaking the girl

this weekend was my first long day event on the new bike. epic day, great weather, and skinny chickens! the moonshine burned a little, but it what do you expect?

roll out

the one, two punch!

freek bike's rule!

what a great weekend for a test ride! thanks for the saturday ride, it was epic! as for the people who couldn't make it, this song pretty much sums it up.

some time to spare

"eat the rich" says the hill to hill bridge that crosses over the lehigh river in bethlehem, pa, as a critical fat tire mass decends on the salsbury trails for some singletracking and musikfesting on a wednesday eve. i have been immersed in graduate school once again with little end in site. at least not until christmas break. with work looming in the near distance, i will be and am back to the official grind of the times plodding through the field of education. time is precious, and needs to be used accordingly for the things that are important and just moving a few days ago, my place looks like i moved today. it's hard to live out of boxes and i could be doing so for a little while until my kung foo feng shui comes into a free day. the month of july and into august has been packed with some racing, some riding and a trip to the music city of Nashville for a work conference. the best part was that i got to check out a concert at the birth place of bluegrass music, the ryman auditorium.

still hitting some races this month until i can start to kick back and enjoy the fall breezes and some good ol trail riding. also, i am anticipating the arrival of a new steed that should be here in a few days. getting back to the real feel is going to be appreciated when the leaves cover up the rocks in the eastern peeyay forests. enjoy the rest of the summer, some cool breezes are on the way!

back in biz!

the recent buzz in the world of two wheels, is the return of Eastern Woods Research. EWR broke through the mountain bike scene in the early to mid-ninties with a frame design with futuristic feel. long front ends, short rear triangles and aggressive angles gave the OWB, Original Woods Bike, a truly unique ride. especially on the technical rocky trails of eastern peeyay. luckily, i got to ride an OWB back when i was in high school and started laying my roots into the mountain biking scene. in all honesty, i never really liked mountain biking back then. i was more into the bmx racing/dirt jumping thing. way less spandex! none the less, i could not deny that the OWB felt like a bmx bike for the woods and i have always tried to mimmick that feel with every mountain bike i have owned since then.

moving years into the future, EWR is back and making current models of the OWB in the 26" platform, and on saturday i got to try out the much anticipated introduction of the OWB 29er. the OWB 29er has the signature EWR feel to what i remember from years ago, except with bigger wheels. very snappy and easy to ride through the tight and twisty, climbs like it should and the real feel of steel. a much nicer ride than the aluminum i am currently cruising on. the OWB is back and has been reborn with the option of the 29er wheels. swing on over to the EWR website and check out when and where jay and ken will be to demo one of these true american classics!

just a reminder!

rothrockin'!

what can one say about the trails in central peeyay except for, amazing! last weekends stoopid fiddy proved to be yet another reason why we all love to be enjoying the woods on two wheels. rain to clear out the stuffy dryness on saturday led the way for perfect trail conditions for sundays not-so-early start. the mountain laurels are in full bloom right now and probably will be for the next week or so, the cicadas were doing there mating dance, and the competition was stiff with some of my fellow single speed competitors mixing it up in the geared bike bizz. for the numbers on the day click here.

the trails were so good that i cruised back out on wednesday for another helping, but the weather was not so nice. cold rain and slippery trails were on the menu, but whatever man, that's mountain biking. road tripping and catching up with some friends is on the agenda for the next few weeks so don't call me, i won't answer. just kidding. love, peace and hair grease!

99 in the shade

"Well we got no choice, all the girls and boys.
Makin' all that noise, 'cause they found new toys.
Well we can't salute ya, can't find a flag if that don't suit ya, that's a drag.
School's out for summer, school's out forever, school's been blown to pieces!"

In the immortal words of Alice Cooper, school is out! It is pretty wild to toss your job asside for a while knowing you can go back in a few months. The heatwave of the northeast has been delivering some swampass conditions over the past week. It is unbelievable how hot it is and summer is still on the horizon! Speaking of northeastern PA, someone would fit in nicely with the locals around here. Everybody loves a little all night party!
A few weeks back, I ventured out to the Mohican 100. What a cool race! The trails, roads, and farmlands were very scenic and it is definitely an event to return to. As usual, there was also some fine folks to hangout with before and after the race to share in the experience. More can be read about the race here.
This past weekend the heat crept in and turned beautiful spring days into sweltering dehydration days. Saturday I lended a hand to a local rails to trails event in the booming metropolis of Hazleton, PA. The event was to promote the continuing project of the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails. So far the have about 4-5 miles of the trail finished, and will continue to improve more of the trail over the years. I never knew how much it cost to create or refurbish old trail. It is quite a substantial amount of money for just a mile. The positive cycling vibe was definitely in the air and people showed up to enjoy the outdoors despite the intense heat.
As if Saturday wasn't hot enough, Sunday could have been even hotter! Arising early to coordinate a food and drink cache for todays adventures in long hot days in the saddle, I was quickly reminded of why one shouldn't mix Hoegaarden, Jim Beam and Jager! It was all for a good cause and hanging with and old friend. As planned, some of the Beaners, the Breaker of Kegs, and some local trail afficianatos rolled in for a day in the woods. It was hot, the rattlesnakes were out and about, and a much deserved dip in the Tank Hollow creek summed up a good thirty something mile day. Hopefully the heat will break a little for this weekends festivities. Until next time...

long live long rides

with friday came the rain. with saturday came a crisp cold morning. thick with dew and the sun trying to show its face on what was to be one hell of a trail ride. the scene was relaxed with everyone trying to anticipate what was to come. i had an idea, but really had no idea of what was instore as the ride unfolded. all i knew was that i didn't want to walk out of the woods like a few weeks back, so i figured on sticking with what i know best. pushin' one for fun! the rocktober challenge, in r.b. winter state park, was just what it intended to be, a total challenge! the field was small, which was a shame for such a well organized, backcountry race. my ride plan was to find the sweet spot and stay there all day. all was well until, shizzam!, a huge rock flew up and railed my sprocket pocket and bent it so bad that pedaling was no longer an option. checking out the scenario, it just took a little elbow grease and about 10 minutes until she was spinning smooth again. back on the trail, and i might add rocky as hell, but i like rocks. it's half of rock n' roll!

exiting out of the woods to a dirt road, i had a chance to pull back some of the folks that squeeked by during my wrangling with rocks and sprocket pocket. all of a sudden i picked up a frequency of the worst song ever to have rolling through my head at this point in the race, bon jovi "living on a prayer." all i kept thinking was the line "were halfway there, livin' on a prayer." only the race was no way halfway over! the only way to get a bad song out of your head is to pass it on. thankfully i saw a rider in the distance and much to their dismay, will have bon jovi in their head once i pass by. gotcha!

the rest of the race went by with no issues except some immense efforts on some badass trail. the second loop was surely a hard 35 miles. it had me thinking about some times i used to spend with a few of my friends years ago before i had a career. middle of the week, 10+ hour, onespeeder rides. no cares except for seizing the day! after the second loop, i needed much food and liquids to head out on the third and final loop. the last portion of the ride had some singletrack that was some of the best i have hit in a while. i believe the one trail was white deer trail. if my smile was any wider on that trail i might have eaten some branches! after all was said and done, the race turned out to be about 70 miles. it was truly epic and props go out to kuhn for hosting a great event. it was definitely appreciated! also, props go out to the ranger and old timer that were waiting at the finish for elk and i to clean out our campsite! next time we'll crash in your blazin' bago!

if your wondering what to do next, click here and donate to a great cause! then click here if you love pickles!