Steele Creek GNCC

On a beautiful sunny March Sunday, hundreds of speed hungry dirt riders converged on the Blue Ridge mountains in Morganton, NC at Steele Creek to spread some dirt around a 12 mile rugged course. The GNCC series was started up the Appalachain mountain chain in Blackwater, West Virgina in the 1970s by the Coombs family and has continued to draw huge crowds since it inception.

I decided to stimulate the economy last week by purchasing a new 70-200mm, vibration reduction, f/2.8 Nikkor lens. The Steele Creek GNCC was the perfect venue to test this baby out, and the conditions were ideal.

Here is sample, more picture at Off The Road Photos.com

DIRT RIDER MAG BRAG

If you don't subscribe to Dirt Rider, you should, these guys rock. Not only I have bought several very useful tools form their reviews, Dirt Rider has provided me continued amusement with their sense of humor, dirt biking tips, and mechanical tricks.

Earlier this week I wrote in about an issue I was having with my KTM 530 EXCR, Karel Kramer responded within a few hours and not only did he provide some great information, he e-mailed me again later with more things I could do to improve my bike.



In this day of crappy customer service all around, is nice to know that these dudes have it going on!

Thanks Dirt Rider!

Cherokee National Enduro 2009

Wallace Palmer


Russell Bobbitt


Flying Down The Trail


The Cherokee Enudro Riders sure know how to put on a killer race. It was a beautiful clear, crisp day and the conditions were perfect for the bike to stick to to the trail and fly. More pictures to come at OFF THE ROAD PHOTOS.COM. A special thanks to Kenny K., whose pictures are always perfect and his great company and advice always welcome. His pictures are up at PBASE.COM/KENNYK.
Rob Beachman also took great pictures and shot many of the rows I missed due to camera failure photos. His photos are up here Passion4Dirt.

Sumter National Enduro 2009 Photos

More photos from Sumter National Enduro:

Bainon Coursey showing perfect form


Johnathan Hazinski


Anders Erickson


Michael Pugrab was super fast and was sporting great colors...

Sumter National Enduro 2009

Russell Bobbitt tearing it up (again!)



Mike Lafferty wheelieing his way through the Sumter forest.


There are many reasons I dig taking pictures, shooting Enduros is probably #1 on my list. First, this is sort of a fringe sport. It is well organized, everyone is nice and talks to each other. You meet fantastic people and you get to be outside in some of the prettiest woods you would otherwise never see.

I met some great new people at this enduro and saw some old friends I have met over the years at other Enduros.

More pictures to come....

The Smokies

Barn across from the Caldwell House


Old Man's Beard Lichen


View of the Park


Elk bull eating



The Cataloochee entrace to the Smokies is just 10 miles from my house! Our National Parks are in trouble, to stay informed of issues facing our Parks please visit the NPCA website. Perhaps the biggest threat are fights over land use, hunters, hikers, whitewater folks, and mountain bikers must learn to use the land together. Its all of our tax dollars that pay for Park land, so no one group should be forced out of using the land responsibly. Let's hope the new rule for allowing mountain bikers to use Park land will go into effect smoothly and Parks such as the Smokies will come into compliance with the new rule.

I look over Park land everyday from the view from my house and everday I feel lucky to be able to look and see undeveloped land.

Holidaze

Whoah nelly, the year is almost over. I don't have too much to say this time of year mostly because, I've had too much sugar, food, and alcohol to put a coherent sentance together. However, its been a great year for me despite all the apparent turmoil in the world. I heard a segment on NPR today that made me laugh out loud, about how Bush said he didn't want to leave a big mess for the next President. (This was in regards to the shamefully huge auto bailout package). That is mighty white of ol' President Bush considering the two wars, financial ruin, and educational failure of his administration that Obama will now have to attempt to clean up.

I'm from Washington, DC so sorry I can't get politcal analysis off my brain. However, a buddy of mine was in town a few weeks ago and said how his lifestyle has never changed in past 2 decades so he doesn't pay much attention to politics. Truthfully, mine hasn't either. That economic stimulous package bought a few extra bags of dog food for my two mutts, but thats about it. I do feel being informed is important, but it shouldn't run our lives.

So I am going to continue to go on my merry way (and run a few extra miles) over the next few weeks and get prepared for another wonderful year.