Black Rock trails feature of front page Statesman Journal article

Two articles appeared in todays edition of the Statesman Journal.   Front page news!   Awesome coverage of the trails and the impact it's having on local community. 

"Take a ride on the wild side " (article includes quotes from Jay Hoots and the mayors of both Whistler, B.C. and Moab, UT.)

"Black Rock changes the face of its surroundings "

Both articles were by TIMOTHY ALEX AKIMOFF  takimoff@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6750

The reporter quoted me in the second article about the economic impacts of having a popular trail system in place. Mispelled my name to, but that's ok.

BRMBA's first ever shuttle day fundraiser at Black Rock trails

The first shuttle day went down without any issues.  Everything seemed to flow fairly good - people got in many runs before leaving exhausted - there were just enough left to do a "sweep" of the trails to make sure nobody was stuck out on the trails.

We have another shuttle day event scheduled for August 26th, and it may be even bigger and better!

Here's a general overview of the event...

Had over 50 riders sign-in and pay for a shuttle trip (most bought all day passes for $15) 

Lots of riders showed up from all over for the day of shuttle riding at Black Rock.   Sure was the best way to beat the heat of the day!  The single-track is still just as sweet and the wall ride just as big - even if you didn't push all the way to the top on your own power.

Had several trucks/trailers taking riders and gear to the top of Mt. Brown.   Most riders who came for the shuttle day where new to the trails - many stuck to Banzai Downhill - but a few adventurous souls and dozens of regulars hit the more challenging trails (Granny's Kitchen, Sunday Stroll, and Sickter Gnar). 

We had a crew of volunteers running the shuttles, managing the sign-in table, and general event stuff - Troy Munsell, Rich Bontrager, Dan Shell, Chris Eggen, Chris Lozano, Dino Venti, Ryan Powell... hats off to all for all the work!   Santiam Bicycle also set up a repair booth - to fix any mechanical issues riders might have had.  As for myself (Joe Rykowski), I was doing my best to try and capture photos of the event and riders on the trails.   A gallery of about 170 photos taken during the event are available for viewing/sharing at http://inthezonephotography.com - enjoy!

Thanks to TracE Smith for hooking us up with some great BBQ!  His mobile BBQ and kitchen was an amazing thing to see in operation at Basic Training - and the smoked gourmet burgers and fry's definately hit the spot.

Note: We made sure there were plenty of fire extinguishers on hand near the BBQ, there were lots of "No Smoking" signs posted, and every shuttle truck had water/extinguisher/shovel.   We have EVERY BIT of respect for the forest and forest managers - when you've put in thousands of man-hours building a trail system, it's just natural you have a greater ownership feeling towards it - so, taking fire regulations seriously is part of that respect. 

Want to see more photos taken during the event?  See http://inthezonephotography.com Photo Gallery.

sexoffenders.oregon.gov GIS website...

So here's a shocking sight... at http://sexoffenders.oregon.gov :



Typed in home address and got map showing our house (in green) and there's a literal ring of predator sex offenders living within 1 mile of us!

Surprising? No, not really. The world is a pretty sucky place. Shocking? Yes. Especially, when you see it graphically respresented in such a way - a stick pin where you live, and red stick pins ALL AROUND YOU.

Anyway - this is a cool use of GIS (a geospatial information system). You'll see more of these sort of "mash ups" of location based data against mapping sources in the future. It's a really valuable tool (makes it crystal clear when things are up on a map).

Banzai Downhill trail at Black Rock

Here's a helmetcam run thru of the Banzai Downhill trail at Black Rock taken couple months ago.



This is the easy route down Mt Brown and is built for speed. Berms and rollable jumps (slow to roll over or go fast to fly...)



That's Wade Waddell out front... I'm following him with helmetcam.



Thinking about hosting "Super D" (combo cross-country and downhill) events that will use this section.

2006 Fourth of July in Montana

Had a great time in Montana visiting family and friends. One of the best 4th of July's that I can remember... 'course, what may have added to the fun and everything was the fact it was Kaylee's "first 4th"...

Went to the parade in Laurel.

...Kaylee (and Wendy) caught some beads and candy!

...Waved a flag.

Here's video...(click icon to play)


...Played in the wading pool in Pamela and Gene's backyard.



...Took in the church carnival (Mom's church) up in the Heights.

...Kaylee had her face painted.

Took in the fireworks display at Thompson Park in Laurel. We actually sat in front of the highschool where Wendy and I both graduated! The lights stayed on there - so we could keep an eye on Kaylee easier. She wore earplugs so the loud booms wouldn't scare her. The big whole sky lighting up was more than she could comprehend though - it blew her mind to see! We turned her away when it was just too much for her... and she went to sleep about 5 minutes into the show... and slept through the whole thing (even the biggest grand finale we'd ever seen).



Our camera ran out of batteries - otherwise above would have been picture from finale.

But here's a short video clip from the show (when Kaylee was sleeping)... (click the icon to play):

Rykowski family portrait...

Took a family picture in parents' backyard...

Oogity! Boogity!

This is "oogity boogity" in Joliet, MT. Stands outside a cool art gallery. Snowboarders and skiers say "oogity boogity" as they pass it for good luck...

Camping in Montana...

Went to Montana to visit family for the 4th of July. Went camping at M-K above Red Lodge (below Beartooth Pass). Was Kaylee's first camping trip! She loved it...

Wendy and Kaylee stayed in my Mom and Dad's trailer and I stayed in our tent.

Went for a hike to Greenough Lake from camp one day.

Wendy and I drove my Dad's Polaris ATV up to the end of the canyon and hiked up the trail a ways.

Got a short mountain bike ride in too.