I recently picked up a great field guide by John Muir Laws entitled “The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada”. It has great illustrations and information about various species of plants, insects, animals and more. If you live in California you should pick up this guide, it’s one of the best I’ve seen.

Kifaru is the pack company by Patrick Smith (The man behind Mountainsmith packs). He launched Kifaru in 1997 as an answer to the lack of rugged and usable backcountry hunting packs. His packs were built for living in and off the land for extended periods. Besides making hunting packs he teamed up with designer Mel Terkla to create military specific packs. All of Kifaru’s packs are built-to-order in Colorado and each pack design goes through extensive field testing. Every product is also backed by a lifetime warranty so you are assured you are getting top shelf gear. I scored the E&E pack from Kifaru almost 8 months ago and have been using it on short hikes (6-11 miles) with one long hike (14-16miles) thrown in there to push it’s capacity (more on that later). I had some issues with the design but Kifaru had addressed it in the newest pack (Generation 2 or G2). Here’s a run down of how I used the pack and what was in it. Read Full Post

GOM friend Bobby Sattler sent us this link to Cold Splinters. Cool outdoor site with mp3 picks that go along with the posts (really neat idea). While lurking on the site I found this link to old photos from the American Museum of National History in NY.

I’ve been riding my Specialized Epic for sometime since I turned in my Turner XCE to get the Turner Sultan… Soon the Sultan will be built and I’ll be riding merrily through the woods so fast the ticks won’t be able to hold on… but the memories I’ve had with the EPIC… ah, the memories…

One time during a race I was actually holding my own, when I snapped my chain. So utterly disturbed that I had broken a chain during a race, I took the EPIC and hurled the bike into the woods as if I was six-time discus world-record holder Jay Silvester. Then started to walk away, only to stop and say… “I can’t leave my bike in the woods…” I went back, with chain in hand and trudged through the thicket of the forest underbelly. I walked out with bike in tow. Only till after the race I realized I had walked through poison ivy… Aye, epic indeed.

So, I’m not bashing my EPIC, I’ve actually liked the bike very much. I just have memories like that on the EPIC… and now I can’t wait to start riding my Sultan.

Finally one of us built up our new bikes (mine is soon to follow). The Niner Rip9 painted in what I call “smurf blue” is finally doing the rounds on the trails and its seasoned 29er owner claims, “Its a creme puff”… I guess that is a good thing. The short time I was on the Rip9, even on a short climb, it felt like it wanted to just go with every pedal stroke. The suspension sucked up everything and the big wheels made the gaps between rocks feel like small cracks on a sidewalk. We chose Ringwood State Park as the RIP9′s maiden ride as Ringwood gave us a variety of terrain and provides the rock gardens to make sure the suspension is perfectly dialed.

It’s Smurfy!

If you want a “smurfy” adventure, check out the GPS at MotionBased.com. Yeah I know the average speed was slow… plenty of time spent adjusting and waiting for me to catch up, especially when I started a hike mid-ride due to a bashed knee, broken chain, and no front brake… eh, excuses!… who cares. We all have our days.

Here are 2 videos I found of Brian Lopes at Whistler viewed through a GoPro camera… I might have to pick me up one of these…GoPro Helmet Hero

Brian Lopes and Cedric Gracia on a dual slalom…