The last time I got to ride we did the last 2 mile section of 007 at Bass Lake. It is by far the most entertaining trail I’ve done; tons of technical challenges, huge ruts, couple rock gardens, and best of all, jumps. We hiked up from the road so I was able to see all the obstacles in detail before hand. The ruts were insane since the trail is shared with dirt bikes.

When we started, there were a few smaller ramps where I was able to get a whole whopping 6″ of air. Now, mind you, I’ve only been mountain biking for a little over 4 months, and jumps aren’t something I’ve really had an opportunity to try out or practice. Nonetheless, it got me excited… and maybe a little over confident. The next turn was a steep decline (about 20′ long) ending with a nice little ramp that continued downhill a ways. I remembered it from the hike up, making a mental note to be sure to slow down for it, but ripe with my 6″ flight through air victory, I told myself “F@$# it! Don’t touch the brakes, just see what happens!”…

What I remember

On the way down the slope I chose my launch point and hit it going relatively fast (17-20). While in the air I realized I forgot one key element in this whole adventure… where the hell I was going to land. My front tire caught the top of a rut and slid in, slamming the bike and myself to the ground, smashing the light and computer that were mounted on the handle bars in the process. My knee and elbow hit square with the ground and the force pushed my arm back up into my shoulder, tearing something in my back (where my shoulder blade is attached). I rolled and landed on my side, knocking the wind out of me. When I stood back up I noted my tire marks were about 6 feet from where I hit the ramp. Not too shabby.

Moving On

I wound up with quite a few cuts and bruises (my both my knees and calves were completely bruised) and still can’t sleep on my right side, but honest to God it was absolutely worth it! That was the most exhilarating thing I’ve done in a while and I can’t wait to give it another shot, though this time I’m going to be a bit more prepared. Look what the birthday fairy brought me…

It’s been 2 1/2 weeks since I’ve been able to ride a trail, and I’m seriously going through withdrawals. Saturdays are the only real chance I get to go do them and I’ve been busy (and maybe a little injured) the last two, but this Saturday I get to go again. Not sure what we’re planning on doing, but I don’t care, I just need something.

Yesterday I got to pick up my new 2-wheeled companion from Performance Bicycles (very nice guys over there, Pablo & Casey). The GT I-Drive 5 is a definite step up from my Jamis Durango hardtail. Having full suspension is going to be a nice breath of fresh air for the downhill. Perhaps screaming down the side of a loose rock mountain at 35 mph won’t be as terrifying without the backend feeling like it’s going to come apart at any moment.

I’m in the process of moving my gear over to my new bike, one big downer is that I lost a mounting point for an extra water bottle and/or air pump. The air pump I had to get has a horrible mount, we’ll see if it manages to hold on to the frame very long. As a bonus I now have a bike to loan out to anyone who would like to tag along on the trail some weekend.

I have some more elating news, well at least I’m excited about it; yesterday Charles and I signed a lease for our very first office! We are both looking forward to moving out of our dark, depressing home offices into something a bit more professional. You know, somewhere you don’t have to hide your boxers if a client comes by.

The office is on the 3rd floor of a historical downtown building, the Hotel Virginia (built in 1920), that has recently been completely renovated and turned into loft style office spaces. Exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors and views over the city - the space exudes creativity.

Since we just signed the lease, the drywall and final pieces haven’t been put in, but we’re supposed to be able to move in at the beginning of September. We have to send over paint samples to the developer within the next couple days as well as marking off where we want our power/phone/data outlets. We also have a trip to IKEA planned for later this month.

Our one year anniversary of being in business is coming up next month (September 3rd) and getting an office by this time was one of our original goals when we started out. Thankfully this feels more like a natural progression that isn’t being forced. Element really has been doing well and I can’t wait to see where we are next year.

… She’d have 16-cylinders, 4 turbos, all-wheel drive, make 1,001 ponies, and cost $1 million plus. In other words she’d be a Bugatti Veyron. I figured the closest I’d get to seeing one was on Google Images, but lo-and-behold I saw one parked on the street today! With total disregard for the precious lives of those in the cars around me I promptly yanked my phone from my pocket and took some fly-by shots (had to make a couple passes).

The car is even sexier in person. Not too sure about the color in this case, I favor the more common 2 tone paint styles, but who am I to judge? This definitely made my day.

Editors note: My wife was kind enough to login and fix a typo for me… then delete my original post. “Thanks Honey!”. Sorry about that.