An aspect of the summer youth program that people might not fully appreciate is the beating our gear takes and care we give it to keep it in tip-top shape…. especially our Mountain Bikes. Every time a bike goes out  and comes back it gets a complete tune up to make sure its next user is able to shred the gnar and teach the trail a lesson.

But we here at WA love to have the newest gear and rides possible, so we will be retiring some of our favorites from last season and replacing them with Brand New 2010 Specialized Hardrocks! These shiny, red monsters are smooth as butter and amped to get out on the trail. We kindly thank our friends over at Tangent Outfitters in West Virginia for hooking us up with these sweet rides and we know you guys are going to love them.

And while we are sad to see our faithful old fleet go, we are happy to let you know that they need good homes. All of these bikes are tuned and ready to hit the trails with you!… plus they come with sweet nick-names. So check out our used gear page or give us a call and come pick out your favorite. We’ll even size it up, double check the tuning and let you in on some sweet places to ride. And if you absolutely must have one of our shiny new red ones, we can work that out too….

Your friendly bike barn manager,

Chris(Topher)

All creatures great and small get on their children’s bikes, over sized big wheels and wheeled creations that could be best described as a “Franken-Bikes” and head down the hill as fast as they can pedal. Pretty soon we all file into line and start to gain speed. Lots of headlamps and duck taped flashlights keep the road ahead clear as we barrel down the road. I am lucky enough to be riding a bike that us at WA like to refer to as the “Golden Boy”.   Chris “the T-rex” is behind me on a bike known as the “Sea star”. As we keep gaining speed the road and all the blackness around become a blur.  As I gain speed, all the creatures I saw at the top of the mountain fall behind as I pedal to gain even more speed.  I push to the front of the pack and I see an older lady on a child’s bike. She had to be at least 80 years old.  She is leading the monster race down the mountain. As I speed up this old lady gets on the go pedal and starts to pull away! I decide that no old lady is going to beat me down the mountain, so I tuck in as close as I can and keep the pedals moving. I am reminded  of my good friend Marc Dufour a well known and respected road cyclist.  He said the key to any cycle victory is “Spin to Win” with that mantra in my head I start to increase the revolutions.  I start to close the gap on granny. We pas a few cars going up the mountain and continue onto the main street that heads to an intersection that marks the finish line.  Granny is relentless in her quest for victory but I will not be beat! I decide if I am going to pass I need to make my move. I tuck in behind her and decrease my wind resistance and engage the slingshot maneuver  made famous by a personal hero “Ricky Bobby”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We are all caught up in our lives, we have deadlines for work, bills, kids, and so many other things that take up our precious time. My new years resolution is to slow down and enjoy the moments that I am not spending stressing about work, or anything else in my life. With a baby on the way and more stress approaching I need to get myself in check before the sleepless nights and poopy diapers start showing up.  Starbomb is one of those small things in life that to some people seem so pointless. But to us Hipsters, bike nuts and adventurers it is a chance to slip into another world and relax. So whatever your new years resolution is, try and take time out for the small things. weather it be watching the sun set, sleeping in or riding sketchy bikes down a mountain.

As always, Ride or Die.

Dano

Well here at WAEL we have a different set of perks. Perks that I feel are worth far more than a desk with your name on it or even your own company computer. What perks am I talking about you ask? I am talking about perks like: lifelong friendships, new experiences, getting up in the morning and wanting to go to work, the support of your peers to be whatever you want to be, the memories you create, and the people you meet. There is nothing like it.

I was writing the above paragraph for another blog I was going to do for the website. Now fast forward 2 days to Wednesday morning…….

What is worse than getting up at 5:00am on a weekday to drive to Ohio? The answer is waking up at 4:00am on a weekday to drive to Ohio. Yes, us WAEL staff are at it again. Another trip, more memories, more new people and awesome experiences. This time we are headed to Cleveland Ohio, to Rays Indoor Mountain bike park!

Yes you are reading that right, an indoor park! Only in flat, corn filled, Ohio will you find a place like this. 115,000sq ft of ladders, jumps, logs, rocks, and a half mile XC loop! All jammed and crammed into a huge old warehouse that looks all but abandoned.

Steve and I were lucky enough to meet up with Jake, Janine, Sarah and Chris for a few days of riding, and good times. So Steve and I get into Columbus at around 1:00 and meet up with Jake, Janine, and Sarah. We had just enough time to cram 5 people 4 bikes and clothes into Jake’s jeep and get on the road. 2 hours later we are at Rays.

Rays is open from 5:00pm to 10:00pm every weeknight. We went on a Wednesday and Thursday night. The first night we got there just after 5:00, we took enough time to change, get our bikes together and throw a helmet on. Everywhere you look at Rays there is something fun to ride on, or jump off of. Or if you want you can watch other riders hit the stunts while you build up your courage.

It did not take long and the building was full with all sorts of people. There was a wide variety of riders. BMX, XC Jake was on his All Mountain rig, and even a down hill bike made it in, “Cough” Steve “Cough” . It was awesome to be in a place where all you needed to fit in was a love for bikes. There were some older XC guys riding the same stuff as the BMX kids. I saw people that were Pro quality riders, beginners, first timers. Families, and senior citizens! There was even a 8-10 year old kid throwing 1 foot Can’s off a small jump on the pump track. I wanted to talk to the little dude and give him some info on our mountain biking trips, but his mom called him out of the park because he needed to go home and do his homework.

Ray’s is divided into 7 main areas with other trails and stunts shooting off. Jake and I spent a lot of time in the GT Sport section, and the Mongoose expert section. The GT Sport section had lots of cool stuff laid out all over the place. There were ladders that challenged even the most skilled riders, rythym jumps, and a large platform that the BMX guys liked to pulling tricks on platforms and the staging area’s. The Mongoose section was filled with Ladders, skinny’s, and tons of cool stunts. There were teeters, double teeters, and even an elevator! The skinny’s and ladders in this section were even harder than the GT section. You had plenty of room to try new things and hone those skills. To the far left side of the GT section there was the Gary Fisher, pump track. Talk about a workout, and a heck of a lot of fun.

It was a perfect place to work on your trail flow, and work on getting every ounce of pump out of each corner. there was even a beginner room for people new to biking, to work on their skills without the worry of being in the way or making a fool of yourself in front of the pros. Scattered around the park there are a number of lounge areas. I am not talking just some chairs to rest on. The SRAM lounge has 3 full gas fireplaces, wireless internet, food, comfy chairs and music playing around the clock. The lounge is a great place to rest, eat some pizza and get your energy up for another round. Just off the Lounge is the entrance to the XC loop. You would think that a Indoor Mountain bike park, would be kind of limited to the type of riding you can allow in such a small space. Well Ray has thought of everything, and devised a way to fit a half mile XC loop into a warehouse that is already busting at the seams. How did he do that? He built it into the rafters!!! That’s right you heard me! You have climbs, decents and a small but very fun ride in the rafters, where you can look down on the park and your fellow bikers shredding it up in the other various area’s Ray’s has to offer.

If all of that was not enough, Ray did one more thing to solidify this as one of the best bike parks in my mind. He put in a foam pitt! Heck yeah! Now you can try all those tricks you are scared to pull on your local trails or jumps. That’s right, now you can work on turn down’s, or the elusive 360. Or if you are looking to challenge yourself, you can try to polish up that backflip, 360, turndown, flair, that you can’t seem to pin.

I guess what I am trying to say is that Ray’s is amazing. The icing on the cake is the people. I can’t say enough about the people of Cleveland. Everyone we met was down to earth and friendly. We became friends with Bob, “the guy behind the counter at Ray’s” he hooked us up with some free stickers and gave everyone in our group a free Ray’s water bottle.

What a great trip! This brings me back to the point in my first paragraph. A perk can be something as simple as a good time with good friends you work with. I feel lucky to have worked with all of them. It’s a perk I would not trade for anything. Not even a sweet WAEL tie.

P.S. if you are in the area hit up Melt. It is a awesome place specializing in the art of making the best dang grilled cheese sandwiches on earth! You will not leave hungry!

As always, Ride or Die……and have some fun in between.

Dano

P.P.S. we will be uploading a video to the site soon, but it is not finished yet. So these screen shots of me and Jake in the foam pit will have to do till it is done. Thanks!