Duthie Helmet Cam Action

Last Saturday, son Ian and I hit Duthie Mountain Bike Park once again. This time, old riding pal Brian came along for the ride, first visit to Duthie for him. He dug the place - so did Ian and I (again). Super dry, dusty conditions made for some slippery sections. Not much mileage in this park, but looping the trails together or taking multiple runs makes up for that. The trails themselves are fun enough to give 'em a go multiple times. We haven't even messed with the wooden freeride type structures yet, we'll save that for future trips.

As an added bonus to the festivities, Brian brought along his new helmet cam. Video clips courtesy of Brian's bird eye view, since the cam was mounted to his noggin the entire afternoon. That's Ian and I popping into view out front. We based the ride on Ian's pace, but he can rip some sections pretty good for 11 years old.

Hack edit job by me, music by Rush, surprise crash ending by Brian - complete with cam ripped off helmet - he and the camera survived. Enjoy.

Rush Is a Band

I've had The Trees from the band Rush stuck in my head for days - specifically the guitar lead and instrumental piece before the last verse. Quite strange since I own no Rush albums at all - nada. Well, not for the last few years anyway - make that many years.

Back in the '70s and early '80s I listened to quite a bit of Rush and was a fan. Friends and I listened to the Rush 2112 album constantly at the time. I owned a few other Rush albums as well, including Hemispheres that contained The Trees track, so I actually have the song buried in the memory banks back from that era.

For some reason over the years, through the change from vinyl, to 8-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s, Rush was dropped from my collection. Could also be from my fascination, then later obsession, with the Ramones that started in the '80s. The Ramones and Rush, though neighbors in the R family, couldn't be more miles apart musically. The R however also stands for Rock, which both bands do and quite well for their respective genre.

In any case, with The Trees repeating in my head, I downloaded the song from iTunes - along with the entire 2112 album. I listened to complete 2112 album and The Trees - along with Working Man (already on my iPod) - driving to work today, at lunch, and driving home. Sort of a personal Rush Fest 2010. It was great hearing this stuff once more - Rush is amazing, one of the best things to come out of Canada - along with Neil Young, bacon, and the McKenzie Brothers.

Out of the Rush tracks I reacquainted myself with today, by far The Trees is my favorite. No wonder it's been lodged in my memory bank for years now. Intelligent lyrics, killer guitar riffs and the usual over the top drums by Neil Pert.

The video I posted is a slighty cheesy home brew that someone posted on YouTube - but it includes the lyrics. Take a gander if you will.