Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy - Peek from Beyond

Feast your eyes on this specimen of all things old school cool.  Yes, bike geek alert in full alarm.  Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy in all its steel frame and fork glory, courtesy of Fat City Cycles.  Please bow your heads.  Fat City Cycles.  R.I.P.

Suspension?  Nada.  Toe clips?  Check.  Top mount shifters?  Check.  Turbo saddle?  Check.  Fat ass tires?  Check.  Stare in awe at the green and black fade paint.  Marvel at the correct stance of the thing.  It just plain looks right.  One of the coolest mountain bikes ever made.  You know it.  I know it.  We all know it.  Well, at least now you know...

Okay, I'm biased.  I own one, now retired after many years of use.  I still enjoy just seeing it hang in the garage.  I occasionally buzz it around, still amazed how good it feels.  Some frames appear to contain magic in their tubes.  This is one of those bikes.  Trust me.

I pulled this image off the 'net.  Not sure of the original source, so apologize for not giving credit for the excellent photo of how things were.  We now return to our regular programing, already in progress.

Tiger Mountain - Trail Building "Mockumentary"

Nicely done video showing off recent trail work on Tiger Mountain, a local riding spot here in the Seattle area.  The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, along with an army of volunteers, have been at work creating new trails at this well used and popular location.  Very cool to see and I'm looking forward to checking these out on two wheels.







Another video of new trail finished last summer.  I've yet to ride this, will do so this spring.  Some of the trails at Tiger Mountain close during the winter to reduce damage, though really not necessary with recent maintenance and modern trail building methods.  That debate continues.


I've ridden Tiger Mountain many times over the years, quite a bit in the '90s - then a gap of a few years - and now plenty of times with son Ian. It's a Seattle area classic with a decent climb to the top, then really fun trails to descend.  Yup, plenty of people ride Tiger and for a good reason - it rocks.

Thanks to the crew at Evergreen and all the volunteers involved to keep this place flowing.  Great job.

Basketball Season Ends

Today was the last game of son Ian's basketball season.  They ended it all with a fun win, then a pizza party nearby.  Good day for all.  Ian's fourth year on this recreation league team and that for a reason - great bunch of kids and coaches.  All based on having fun and learning new skills.  A great set up and we plan to be back next time around.

A few shots from the season, games and practice...

Ian works the ball down court.

Coach Larry with low angle attack of advice.

All for one.  One for all.

Practice fun.

Andres on the go.  Smallest kid on the team, but a fantastic player.

David enjoying the game.

Ian on defense, puts the smack down.

Practice goofing around.

Dominic gets some air.

Coach Lyle keeps an eye on the mayhem.

Full speed ahead Scotty.

Time out conference.

Ian has a pretty sweet jump shot.

The basketball gig has been a positive all around experience for Ian.  The team aspect a good companion for his bike racing, very different mentality and culture to both.  Working as a team verses the individual effort involved with mountain bike and cyclocross events.  All good stuff.

Opens my eyes a bit also, since I normally have little interest in the mainstream stick 'n' ball sports.  I've grown to appreciate basketball a bit - it's a cool sport.  More of a family affair as well, since wife and daughter attend every game, a little more comfy then hanging around a bike race for a few hours.

To help out, I designed some t-shirts to give away today at the season ending party.  Plus put together a photo slideshow.  My wife helped arrange gifts for the coaches and worked with the shop on printing the shirts.  Another mom arranged the party site reservations.  Thanks to Coach Lyle and Coach Larry for all their time and support.  The kids should good memories of all this, and that's what counts.

Until next basketball season, back to bikes.  Stay tuned.