Coach lives.

Out here in the sticks, we have lots of stray "farm cats" running around. We saw this orange and white one so frequently last summer that Noah named it Coach. No idea why, but it was funny. Coach was around all the time but we never saw him close up. Time passed and I had been thinking I hadn't seen Coach for awhile. I was out by Birdland and I saw a dead orange and white cat lying in the area that is now the Mini-Grizzlies section. I was bummed that Coach had met an untimely demise (some other animal had done him in). I buried him out by the pine trees and told my wife. Later that day, we had family over and my wife pointed out that Coach was running across the field behind our house! Indeed he was. I buried some other cat and started freaking out that maybe it was the neighbors or something. I rode over there for the awkward conversation (I had never even met them before). They said it wasn't theirs and seemed happy to have one less stray around. Whatever. A couple weeks later I saw that the shallow grave had been dug up and the bones were basically picked clean. Recently, Degryse found this and put it on display. You might think since I'm a vegetarian animal lover weirdo that this would bother me, but I kind see it as the equivalent of wearing leather shoes, as well as kind of a monument to the animals in the area. It's a stark contrast to the peaceful "Birdland" moniker too.


We've had a bunch of rain so I've really been going nuts digging. I went from stoked to have some wet dirt to dig to being bummed about how much rain we are now getting. Hopefully the jumps aren't washed out too badly. I just finished rebuilding the first big set this morning. It was over-due to be beefed up and I made the take off a little taller and the landing further, taller and wider. I came home mid-day to find the White Lotus coming out from riding. He said the rebuilt jumps were good. I was like "you hit those? did you pack them first?" I knew the take off was dialed and I guess the landing was solid too.
I'll post pics of all the new stuff soon. I've been waiting until things were semi-complete (for now), but I keep getting inspired and can't seem to stop digging. Obsessed?
I was bored with my paint job on my bike and did this 70s chopper inspired scheme. It doesn't look that great in the artificial light, but the metal flake looks pretty sweet, I think.
It literally took me 12 minutes to put together, including a quick cleaning, but excluding brake installation. I took my brakes off last week before the rains came and rode the jumps. Inspired by the Lotus, Degryse, Chris Noble and Jason Burton, as well as having wanted to ride trails brakeless for awhile, it felt great. The jumps were good but some of the turns were a little hairball. Instead of putting brakes on, I think I'll just build the berms up...