for the kids

As I have never fathered a child, I am quite happily not a dad.Don't get me wrong kids are nice and everything, so long as they are your's or someone else's.

That being said I wholeheartedly support the notion that it is important to act as a role model and provide a unique environment in which they are able to learn and grow as individuals. This was part of the reason that nearly two years ago at a Tuesday night mountain bike club meeting I brought up the notion of hosting our own Take a Kid's Mountain Biking Day, as part of IMBA's nationally sanctioned day.

 As with any structured or organized event, a certain amount of planning and preparation needs to happen for the even to be successful. Generally planning for DirtFest starts the week after. After formal letters for approval where written, reviewed, and sent off to the ACoE (Army Corps of Engineers) planning was underway. With a lack of children to call my own I felt the planning and organization was best left up to those with real kids. 

Despite my best efforts to be hands off with this mini-event as days drew closer it became obvious that more organization and publicity needed to happen to make the day worth anyone's while. After several phone calls and emails where made, we secured ensure enough Clif bars, water bottles, schwag, and imitation (don't tell the kids) race plates to keep the kids happy. As the last thing I want to here is someone whining.

Well with rain in the forecast and having already fallen that cold morning, we debated cancelling the event, but with no rain date nothing would've happened for the kids. Shortly after 8:20am, keep in mind the schedule start wasn't until 9am, our first participant showed up with his father in tow.

Both where simply excited to be there despite the weather and early rise on what could have very easily have been just another sleep-in late Saturday morning. Shortly thereafter Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day at the Allegrippis got underway with nearly twenty kid's lining up to get race plates, put on their bikes.

Club secretary, father, and retired teacher. Driving force behind TKMTB

" I love my trails " IMBA Sticker application.

Treats and Prizes. Kids apparently love prizes. 

Makings for a derby.

At one point I turned around to see a younger guy geeking out on another ones bike, apparently really impressed by the parts spec and red bell on it. As the fella stood back up, the owner of the bike was standing there wearing an unassuming look. "I really like the color of yours," he said as he pushed his bike up in the race plate line.  The owner smiled an nodded.

this is my only child. 

Sometimes it's easy to forget the simple things. Thanks kids.

return to the woods

I'm making the transition back into the wild. I have spent the last five years living above a bicycle shop/ outfitter store in a town of less than a few thousand. There is a train crossing close enough that even in the middle of the night you can see the conductor smiling as he blasts an air horn in the wee hours of the morning as the walls shake violently enough to convince strangers that there is a small earthquake.The sound is one I have become accustomed to, but its getting old. Some nights, if you get really lucky you can even catch a glimpse of some of the local dive bar patrons fighting outside the building after a long night of drinking stale beer and cussing out the lady folk. If it was a good night with drink specials you might even find the dinner special on the sidewalk. All delightful bits of living in small central pa town across the street from a dive bar and in front of the tracks.

The day has come or already came about a month ago when I settled on a small parcel of land about thirteen miles from town.

-it is covered entirely in woods.
-it is accessible only if there is no snow and it hasn't rained recently.
-there is no power, no well, no water, or visible neighbors.
-there is a large black bear who has been wandering around in the morning
-if I told you where it was you would still second guess yourself when you got there.
-it is 500 feet off of the Allegrippis Trail System at Raystown lake.

You can sort of make-out the cut up the hill for where I will put the first small building to house my bikes and trail tools. The property is the whole right hand side of the picture. 

With no water, no heat, no septic. The camper has been a great shell. 

Right now I carry all the water into the site. Power to the unit is via marine battery.

There is an old access road for the utility company that allowed the camper to be brought in an stashed about halfway up the will from the driveway/ gravel road. 

Everyone needs a place to burn stuff and a place to sit to make sure it burns. A little fuel never hurts to get things started.

With the addition of a small shed structure to the property, I should be completely moved out in the next several weeks. The biggest issue right now is having a spot to put my bikes. With the trails and Army Corps of Engineers property just on the other side of the road it is imperative to have both my mountain bikes and my commuters on hand. The 12 mile ride into town is a great commute with limited traffic and amazing views., unfortunately living at the top of the ridge... the ride home is a bit more work, especially after a few Sierra Nevadas.