Revolutionary

 Ever since I read "1984" for a book report at the continuation school I was sent to for truancy in my senior year of high school, Orwell's words have been Gold to me. I needed to make up two semesters of English credits to obtain my diploma and when offered the option of book reports on how to do so, I chose his prophetic dystopian novel to begin the process. When submitted at the beginning of a class a day after finishing the book, the teacher read the report and called me to their desk to discuss what I had written. "What are you doing here, writing something like this?" I told them that when the standard curriculum in the first semester dictated I read Shakespeare, I told that teacher I would not read that shit and was advised I'd not pass the class. I stopped going, hence the truancy issue. After being told that I would be done with obtaining credit to graduate by writing a number of similar reports, I scratched them out rapidly from books I'd already digested. I was done with high school a couple of months before my peers, thanks to Orwell, Stephen King, Joseph Wambaugh, Ken Kesey, Ken Follett, and a few others.

 When I first spotted the above meme a few years ago, it was saved for a few reasons beyond being more Orwell Gold. While it's seemingly more germaine today than it was when Orwell was still attached to his mortal coil, the truth of those words have rung throughout the (de)evolution of humankind. The acceleration of misinformation and other truth-dodging matter in this day and age of accessible information is undoubtedly increasing. If the truth is not spoken, the future seems rather bleak and I don't do bleak very well.

 The association with cycling in this light contains many facets. Though some of my posts based on simple etiquette subjects are most definitely of a ranty nature, the unfiltered observations are truthful. Ignorance in this age of information is self-imposed, especially when so many have a virtual Encyclopedia in their hand. How do mountain biking people not know how to yield the trail properly on a singletrack when searching "The Fruita Lean" online takes less than a second? When AI knows something like this and a trail user doesn't, it speaks volumes about that user's contribution to the Idiocracy, most likely omnipresent in all aspects of their puny lives that further contribute to the degradation of civilized society. Yeah, turn on your apphole craphole, but don't bother with how to recreate without destroying the environment you choose to degrade with self-imposed ignorance. The Idiocracy is real and furthered by the self-indulgent.

 Do I consider myself a revolutionary? No, and as far as I'm concerned the truth should not be considered as such. Orwell's words seem to me as an observation about mainstream public perception. The "mainstream" has been buried under a quagmire of bullshit for centuries, heaping up at an accelerated pace. My own experiences of living outside the proverbial box lessens that quagmire in my life and as such, is where I reside comfortably as just some dude on a bike.

Riders Come and Go, Kooks Accumulate 

Dumb Downers

 We've all seen it, parts of trails where those with a lack of regard for both their limited skillset and proper trail etiquette have dumbed-down a singletrack into either a braided mess, or twelve foot wide abomination that even a novice ATVer could traverse with ease. One may classify this as trail sanitization, as it most certainly is, however I feel that this is far more prevalent than the misguided work of foolish individuals who tear rocks out of a slightly (or highly) technical section trail bed to suit their own lack of abilities.

Why this form of trail destruction is more prevalent would be that it takes much less effort, in fact it's most often as simple as not heeding to the basic trail etiquette tenet, "Control Your Bicycle". Those who actually control their bicycles on a singletrack stay in the tread, taking care ("care" being key) to not cut corners, blow turns, or braid the trail from the originally designed trail bed. The Dumb Downers are a horribly narcissistic lot and their misguided deeds destroy public trail resources seemingly everywhere.

 The motivations of the Dumb Downers are most likely very broad, however ego appears to be the main cause. Egotistical individuals don't like to admit they lack skill, etiquette or fitness, amongst other qualities that responsible trail users often possess. One of the most common old school rules of the trail is, "If you can't ride it, walk it.". The fragile ego of a Dumb Downer is unable to accept this age-old rule and thus will modify the trail to suit themselves, with zero regard for the public lands they are denigrating. In the case of ego-driven Appholes in this light, one person may have the (dis)ability to turn a singletrack into a truck trail width route through repetitive abuses, just to feed their ego and attain the joke status of "legend" or some other bullshit level of Appholiness. Pathetic 

 The moral of the story here (as it appears everywhere in the MTB realm) is to respect our public lands and if you don't, find another hobby. The true enthusiasts begin with respect for themselves, their (RL, not some internet garbage-bin) community, and the facilities we all are supposed to share. Remember, just because you can't navigate a portion of trail, it doesn't mean that others lack that ability. If you are a Dumb Downer, please heed the first sentence of this paragraph, or toss ego aside and LEARN. Though I've participated in an MTB lifestyle for several decades now, I refuse to stop learning and seek out trails that probably frighten egotists because pushing my bike up what I may not be able to ride cleanly today is a place where tomorrow may be the day my desire to learn gives it what for.

Riders Come and Go, Kooks Accumulate

Legacies and Mountain Biking

 Everyone leaves a Legacy, no matter who they are, how long they are on this rock, or what they do with their time on it. With the Human Experience being so varied by a multitude of factors, ones Legacy can range from the bottom of the proverbial toilet, to the top of the World and all points in-between. What seems to separate the two extremes in many Legacies is the ability to realize that the bottom of the toilet stinks and distancing oneself from shit begets fresh air by simply doing good things. This doesn't particularly mean grandiose gestures or acts, but more particularly awareness of proper deportment in day to day living. It's as simple as a "Please" or "Thank You", which in practice has the ability to further a Legacy by bleeding over into the other simple aspects of daily life. Leaving a Legacy of good takes work and Legacies based on sloth don't, in which the latter attracts bottom dwellers and garners a close proximity to the aforementioned shitpit.

 I'd be a hypocrite if I said that my proximity to the bottom was always distant. Unless you are Mother Theresa, you've all been close to it at times as well. What separates Human Beings from Inhuman Beings is the ability to admit you've made a mistake, correct that mistake if possible, and learn from the experience in order to avoid repeating it. In the mountain biking realm, a mistake is as simple as running out of the trail bed and making a track off-trail. The mistake in this instance is not controlling your bike (Ride in Control is basic MTB etiquette), so admitting you were out of control, erasing your off-trail tracks (Leave No Trace is basic outdoors etiquette), and riding in control is the lesson learned. Leaving a Legacy of turd, the sloth will just ride on and leave the damage they've created behind, while not learning anything. Those who leave a Legacy of good will repair their damage and because most from this realm are capable of learning beyond correcting miscues, they'll learn how to navigate that section of trail in control. An interesting parallel to this actually exists in Golf. Golfers who wish to leave a Legacy of good replace their divots, whereas the sloth golfers don't. The punch line to this parallel is that irresponsible "mountain bikers" are no better than an irresponsible golfer. The question remains, what Legacy do you wish to leave on the trail?

Riders Come and Go, Kooks Accumulate

MTB Saddle Down Full Ride

 Way back in the day, I didn't mess with saddle height in any situations. It didn't matter to me most of the time, so "set it and forget it" reigned supreme in my world. This remained so until sometime just after the turn of the century in Durango. A friend and I set about upon Haflin Canyon and at the top, my saddle finally got dropped for a descent. The revelation that followed enhanced my freakishness on two wheels exponentially, another quantum leap. 

 Since I was singlespeeding on the regular by this time, an article that had been published in print suggested doing occasional saddle down full rides. This especially made sense for 1x1 because I was standing for most climbing anyway. The revelations within this realm of saddle down were even greater, especially with having it out of the way on climbs that required extra manuevering. Being able to contort and even using the lowered saddle as a guide when ascending turns at speed added much more benefit than even the strength obtained.

 Fast forward to present and unless I'm on a lengthy a-technical climb, the saddle stays down. This is true for both of my Mountain Bikes, rigid SS and FS. A good friend and bike shop owner once told me that dropper posts are a "game changer" and suggested I get on board with them. While this may be true for most, it's wholly untrue to me for several reasons and the biggest being that I'm already used to my modus operandi and don't mind stopping to adjust a seatpost manually on occasion. The skills that have been added to my Magic Bag of Tricks are irrevocable and ever-expanding. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 If one is considering an attempt at this, I have only one piece of advice, take your time. In this day and age of people trying to sell the "one size fits all" advice, I'm here to say that is 100% bullshit. This and other suggestions in improving one's skillsets may or may not work for everyone. Even so, taking your time will benefit you in at least two ways. One is that if it's something contrary to you and what you wish to accomplish, you will lessen any chance of injury and not waste too much of your time. Second, if it does work and you heed personal limitations, it will be much more enjoyable to the point where you look forward to the challenge.

Now go ride your bike!

Riders Come and Go, Kooks Accumulate