JB's Adventure Blog: September 2007

Yo,

Erin and I just returned from a whirlwind visit to the Interbike trade show in Vegas. Wow! It was fun seeing old friends and new bike gear.

Lea, a Trek/VW teammate, and I were sent to Vegas to provide hospitality and information at the Trek tents at the Dirt Demo. It was a huge success. I love the new EX so much I might have converted some non-Trek dealers to pick up the BALL! Trek also had a product launch that left dealers speechless. The new Remedy 9 was a show stopper for sure. I want one bad! Maybe if I am good, Santa will work it out.

After two days of outside fun, we moved inside for the main part of the show. I spent most of my time working the World Bicycle Relief booth. I think we generated some new interest within the industry, and I think the ball is starting to roll. Check out the link on my front page!

By day four, I finally had a chance to walk the miles of exhibitors that turned the convention center into a human rat maze of glitter and glam.

I literally got lost looking for Erin. There were so many people there that you could get separated like at a rock concert. I was stoked to meet a lot of the people who make it happen; our sponsors of course. Cytomax had one of the best displays of the show. It was great to see Steve Blick with Oakley and my buds Than and Dave with Shimano and Rock Shox!

I am glad to be back home to catch up with what it's all about!

Gone riding right NOW! I will tell you some more stories - and post more photos - later.

Jeremiah

Labels: Industry News and Events

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 10:46 AM 2 comments

Shenandoah Mountian

Erin dropped off Jimmy Mac, Todd Helmick, Jeff and I at the top of Rt 33 high on Shenandoah Mountain: Our goal ride the whole thing if we could. I guess if Jimmy's crash 35 feet from the car was any indication our chances didn't look good.

Weather was perfect and cool. The sky blue and still. Grand views into West Virginia's endless mountains and valleys set the stage for an epic adventure. As we dove strait into the burly single track that starts the day of ridge riding, rays of light were penetrating the canopy of seemingly ancient trees.

Jimmy crashed again and dented his front rim on the second single track. He had this nasty contusion on his arm this size of a walnut! When a vein ruptures and fills the skin with blood like a sack it's kinda gross but usually harmless.

Later a stick ripped off his rear derailluer and later he broke his chain! Jeff maybe sensed the time to bolt was good and took off for town. We rigged the broken ride but he again found an angry stick and it ripped the derailleur off about at the halfway mark of our journey in the middle of nowhere.

I too had some problems. I stripped the threads out of my front caliper before even leaving town! I had 2 flats also but the ride was worth the trouble.

On a normal training day this may have bothered me but not today, all my goals were met. Do a big daddy ride I have never done on sick trails and enjoy the ruckus joking with some good friends.

Thanks to Erin, we had a bail out rescue in the works by the time we were off of Tear Jacket Knob.

On the way back we stopped for some chocolate milk and some Doritos at the Stokesville marked.

I smiled because sometimes when things go like this is actually becomes funny!

Come prepared hope for the best and above all make it fun!

Jeremiah

Labels: Epic Adventures

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 3:37 PM 1 comments

5:30 AM

Yup I am up at 5, can't sleep and when you can't sleep you may as well do something so I am on the blog.

World cup finals was cool. Slovenia was a hit with most of the riders, the trails are east coast style and the forest similar to the high mountains of the east except for some more northern species, birch, beech ash and sycamore maple along with some coniferous suspects of unknown name. The City of Maribor was bustling and had a italian feel with the open verandas cafes shopping and old churches.

The course was pretty cool. Lots of slick roots and terrain undulations that were a blast at full speed plus some grassy cyclocross type stuff. .. In the race however the tighter sections of the course and lack of serious sustained climbing made for a chop busting race of sprints and maneuver wist breathing like a heat stricken pooch. I had a good race my legs were pretty good except the 1st 5 minutes. I cramped curtailing my forward progress but made some really good ground before the frustration of having a governor on the engine.

My race highlights. Were avoiding crash 1 and 2 in seconds 10 and 11 of the race. Not running over Sven Nyse on lap 1 when he lost control of his Dugast tubular mtb tires on a high speed left sweeper to home run slide toward and electric box. Almost catching Absalon on lap 4 (he was having an off day). And going back and forth with JHK he finished ahead. Seeing that guy in yellow is Gilberto Simoni, and he's learning some respect for how hard mountain bike racing is. And Finishing higher than I started to end a very tough season.

So now what???

I am heading to interbike for some dirt demo ride time and I am doing an autograph session at the World Bicycle Relief Fund booth on the first 2 days! Should be fun. The Cross Vegas race should be a hoot to watch. Erin and I are going to do some bike touring on the blue ridge parkway when we get back. It's going to be fun to catch up on some epic moutainbike rides in the GW. And of course a day or two of fishing.

Well i can see the faint glow in the sky sun should be up in half an hour.

See ya.

Jeremiah.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 5:42 AM 1 comments

World Championships Ft. William Scotland.

Today was a fun race: screaming spectators, the best of the best and a fun course.

My legs however were on a leave of absence, as the raging field sprinted up the first steep wall-of-a-climb on the course. I lost ground to fall back to the mid-40's. I was a little shocked that I couldn't go because yesterday I felt really good. ??

Today's race wasn't my best, but it was a salvaged day. I scrapped with the deep reserves and gutted it out. Man that hurt.

By the second lap, I found some rhythm. Ahead in large group, I could see JHK and Wells. Just as I made contact with the group on a rocky ramp near the start of the course I bobbled bad and couldn't get back in the pedals. I finally ran up a few yards, jumped on my bike just to get knocked off by some Italian dude. AHHHHHH! It was frustrating. Despite this my form came on little more by lap four. I moved up to with the large group that included Bart Brentjens and Frichi. Frishi and I climbed out of this group and passed JHK. I battled the Swiss rider the best I could but cramps came in the final three minutes so I had to watch as the group I was with fought it out. I captured a respectable thirty-third just behind Seamus McGrath.

Just an off day, had some sore muscles today and I wished the race was yesterday. But just like the tide, the form comes up and down. You just have to time it right.

I had fun, kept it in control and finished stronger than I started.

It's Guinness time!

Later y'all,

JB

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 10:46 AM 0 comments

The Witch's Trail

Hey peeps.

Well, I am here in rainy chill Scotland and all is going well. The course is better than it sounds. With names like "Great Glen," "Helter Skelter," "Haggis Trap" and "Witch's Brew," you'd think it would be gnarled with roots. I would probably like that more. Instead, the course is a really fun roller coaster of groomed gravel track with berms, a big climb a few jumps and of course Northshore style bridges.

I like it.

Should be a blast.

I'll keep ya posted.

Lata

Q<>,
(O)*;(O) .:***

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 10:05 AM 4 comments

The 5 Seasons of the Shenandoah.

To me there are really more than four seasons in Virginia. Summers are on the hot side and some times sultry, winters can be cold but with warmer spells and little snow though sometimes ice storms. Spring can be cold and wet and then the temperature flips from chill to woah its hot out. You find yourself asking what happened to spring?

This time of year time of year however when the dog days of summer are all but done. It is my favorite.. Though the temps may get up into the 90's this time of year change is in the air and the humidity is down. This makes for my favorite time of year in the valley. I call it Autumn. yeah well I know, you thought THAT was the season between summer and winter.
There is allot going on between the two and for me it includes the season for Mountain biking!!. For me these warm days cool nights and 50 mile green mtn views make for perfect trail days. The days when the snap is in the air or when we get the cold wind driven rains and the leaves are off of the skeletal trees, I call THAT fall: because the leaves are about to fall or have fallen.

I suppose because of our warm latitude, continental effect, the gulf moisture and the mountain's to our west the climate is something different.
So there you have it. If you like a little of everything this is your place we have blizzards tornados hail, and even locusts.

Get off the net GO.. be good and ride you bike!

J

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 10:02 AM 1 comments

Lost Vegas

Shenandoah Mountian

5:30 AM

World Championships Ft. William Scotland.

The Witch's Trail

The 5 Seasons of the Shenandoah.

Archives