Update on back yard bike circus

Paladin says:

Quoted message said:

Here's where you can help, if you like: If you live in the Treasure
Valley of Idaho,

That's where you lost me. ;-)

I have a stack of lumber that used to be half of our deck (too huge and in the
way of useful things like cellar entrance) that isi just sitting behind the
shed waiting for use. 2x6 and some 2x8, mostly in 10 or 12-foot lengths.

If you decide to continue building closer to RI. let me know.

Steve

Stephen Baker said:

Paladin says:

Quoted message said:

Here's where you can help, if you like: If you live in the Treasure
Valley of Idaho,

That's where you lost me. ;-)

I have a stack of lumber that used to be half of our deck (too huge and in the
way of useful things like cellar entrance) that isi just sitting behind the
shed waiting for use. 2x6 and some 2x8, mostly in 10 or 12-foot lengths.

If you decide to continue building closer to RI. let me know.

Steve

Just box it all up and mail it to me. I'll put it to good use. I'll even attach a brass plate to the side of the big drop in your honor. (That way they're more likely to sue you than me if they get hurt, heheh.)

Big challenge last night, beside overcoming my fear of riding up a ramp and negotiating elevation without any guard rails, of course, was our two dogs who thought riding with me in the back yard was too much fun.

CDB/paladin

CB/Paladin says:

Quoted message said:

was our
two dogs who thought riding with me in the back yard was too much fun.

What kinda bikes do _they_ ride? ;-P

Steve

Chris Brown said:

Just box it all up and mail it to me. I'll put it to good use. I'll
even attach a brass plate to the side of the big drop in your honor.
(That way they're more likely to sue you than me if they get hurt,
heheh.)

Big challenge last night, beside overcoming my fear of riding up a
ramp and negotiating elevation without any guard rails, of course,
was our two dogs who thought riding with me in the back yard was too
much fun.

CDB/paladin

Did that photo set include one of the roller coaster?
Also, anyone that wants to see this photo collection of backyard courses and
some Canadian builds, just let me know.

penny

Paladin said:

Howdy amigos. As I mentioned a few days back, I started working on an
underwhelming version of a "north-shore" type bike park in the back
part of our big back yard. Beyond our fruit trees is a barren patch
about 60x40 feet avail to me. Well, I got phase 1 done, working with
a buddy last night and finishing up by myself today, which is a good
start. All just scrap lumber, and it's gonna stay that way.

Sweet CDB! I'll be over today with the Surly and we can
rock-n-roll! :-)

Since your house is like 5 minutes from my work I can see
some lunchtime "skills clinics" at your place (taught by you
of course...better get good on that thing). =)

I'll keep an eye out for any scrap lumber. I have none now,
and I'm about as good as my 2 yr old daughter at building
stuff, so I don't see any in my future.

There used to be more building out here, but there's still
some. That new chi-chi place over there at the East end of
Park Center is pretty active...I may have to cruise thru
there today and see if there are any scrap supplies looking
for a good home.

Gman

quote='Gman'On 4 Sep 2004 22:18:37 -0700 said:

Howdy amigos. As I mentioned a few days back, I started working on an
underwhelming version of a "north-shore" type bike park in the back
part of our big back yard. Beyond our fruit trees is a barren patch
about 60x40 feet avail to me. Well, I got phase 1 done, working with
a buddy last night and finishing up by myself today, which is a good
start. All just scrap lumber, and it's gonna stay that way.

Sweet CDB! I'll be over today with the Surly and we can
rock-n-roll! :-)

Since your house is like 5 minutes from my work I can see
some lunchtime "skills clinics" at your place (taught by you
of course...better get good on that thing). =)

I'll keep an eye out for any scrap lumber. I have none now,
and I'm about as good as my 2 yr old daughter at building
stuff, so I don't see any in my future.

There used to be more building out here, but there's still
some. That new chi-chi place over there at the East end of
Park Center is pretty active...I may have to cruise thru
there today and see if there are any scrap supplies looking
for a good home.

Gman[/QUOTE]

Thanks, G, for keeping your eye out for lumber. I've got a couple subdivisions to cruise through around here, too. Today, if I can get my yard work done, I'm gonna build a section with ledges or wide stairs of varying heights. Probably 4" to 6" since I have 2x4's and 2x6's to work with. I'll be able to angle them up or down, so they should be a hoot climbing up and bouncing down.

Come on over whenever you want. When I have more built, you and Mr. Surly can rock n roll.

But I have a lot more respect for those North Shore riders who ride those elevated ramps.

CB :eek:

"Paladin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Howdy amigos.

Saturday I built a series of ledges, or long stair steps, (depending if
you're more a mtn or urban rider.) It's about 10' long, with 3 steps. 2
are 8" and 1 is 6". Depending on the angle I set this at in respect to the
rest of the circus, it could be a hoot to climb up, or a bouncy descent. So
now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others tonight
and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a loop. So now I'm
pretty much out of lumber and have to scavenge the new subdivisions going up
for throw aways. How much fun.

Quoted message said:

__________________
Now remember boys and girls. Real men don't buy upgrades--they ride up
grades. Paladin

I've been considering a version of your quest myself lately...

We have a cabin and some semi-cleared land in a little canyon in eastern
Washington state. I wanted to develop a "skills park" that would enable me
to handle small drops, narrow switchbacks and bumpy climbs better. I'm an
aging XC rider, so bigger drops and high, narrow ladders are not really my
style.

I was hoping to build it with natural stuff that is abundant there - mostly
old logs and big rocks. I have some surplus building materials on the site,
but nothing really usable in terms of lumber. Wondering which devices will
help you to improve typical riding skills. I'd like to see pics of your
stuff, and hear back on what you think develops skills for your typical
rides.

Tnx

Gary

p.s. Tried to send this privately, it got bounced because your disk space
is exceeded....

"Paladin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Howdy amigos. As I mentioned a few days back, I started working on an
underwhelming version of a "north-shore" type bike park in the back
part of our big back yard.

Gwood said:

I've been considering a version of your quest myself lately...

We have a cabin and some semi-cleared land in a little canyon in
eastern Washington state. I wanted to develop a "skills park" that
would enable me to handle small drops, narrow switchbacks and bumpy
climbs better. I'm an aging XC rider, so bigger drops and high,
narrow ladders are not really my style.

I was hoping to build it with natural stuff that is abundant there -
mostly old logs and big rocks. I have some surplus building materials
on the site, but nothing really usable in terms of lumber. Wondering
which devices will help you to improve typical riding skills. I'd
like to see pics of your stuff, and hear back on what you think
develops skills for your typical rides.

Tnx

I have a whole folder of pics for ideas, from Rossland and Tuffgrrls
backyard.
send me an email if you want to see them

pennys at cet dot com

Quoted message said:

I was hoping to build it with natural stuff that is abundant there -

mostly

Quoted message said:

old logs and big rocks. I have some surplus building materials on the

site,

Quoted message said:

but nothing really usable in terms of lumber.

If you have an axe, an adze, a froe a drawknife and some time you can have
all the lumber you need.

"J G" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was hoping to build it with natural stuff that is abundant there -

mostly

Quoted message said:

old logs and big rocks. I have some surplus building materials on the

site,

Quoted message said:

but nothing really usable in terms of lumber.

If you have an axe, an adze, a froe a drawknife and some time you can have
all the lumber you need.

How about just a chain saw...sounds like less work.

Nodonuts says:

Quoted message said:

If you have an axe, an adze, a froe a drawknife and some time you can have
all the lumber you need.

Now, John - I give you the adze, but how many are actually going to have a froe
hanging around? Damn fine tools, though ;-)

Steve

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 15:08:06 -0600, Paladin wrote:
So

Quoted message said:

now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others tonight
and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a loop.

AMB-ID 2005 at your house?

gabrielle

Stephen Baker said:

Nodonuts says:

Quoted message said:

If you have an axe, an adze, a froe a drawknife and some time you
can have all the lumber you need.

Now, John - I give you the adze, but how many are actually going to
have a froe hanging around? Damn fine tools, though ;-)

I almost replied that he must be having a seizure, but then my spell-checker
disavowed me of the idea.

Bill "didn't froes go out with Dr. J?" S.

[quote="Gwood"]I've been considering a version of your quest myself lately...

We have a cabin and some semi-cleared land in a little canyon in eastern
Washington state. I wanted to develop a "skills park" that would enable me
to handle small drops, narrow switchbacks and bumpy climbs better. I'm an
aging XC rider, so bigger drops and high, narrow ladders are not really my
style.

I was hoping to build it with natural stuff that is abundant there - mostly
old logs and big rocks. I have some surplus building materials on the site,
but nothing really usable in terms of lumber. Wondering which devices will
help you to improve typical riding skills. I'd like to see pics of your
stuff, and hear back on what you think develops skills for your typical
rides.

Tnx

Gary

p.s. Tried to send this privately, it got bounced because your disk space
is exceeded....

my present email is brown law at quik dot com

Now, I'm an E- Washingtonian myself, transplanted to the potato state about 15 yrs ago.

I scavenged a little lumber from a discard pile at a new sub near the house, but felt a little guilty. So I'll ask a contractor buddy where the good hauls are to be made. Next step is to build better supports, but keep the whole shebang flexible, ie, the parts to mix and match, almost like legos.

I haven't gotten to ride much this summer, (snip the long story) and realized that not only had my fitness suffered, but without road trips out of town, (ie, Moab, WA, NV, AZ, etc) I don't get to polish or maintain my technical skills, such as they are. This is high desert riding here, but not much in the way of big rocks and logs and such. Steep climbs and switchbacks, and a couple semi-technical trails that you eventually learn by heart.

So, I'd been thinking about this bike circus for a while, and just decided to do something about it. Good bad or ridiculous, it's going up and taking shape. My digi-cam arrives any day and I'll try to post some pictures of the progress this far. Prepare to be underwhelmed.

I know that I need to work on track-stands, off-camber switchbacks, staying on line up tricky climbs, staying on course over elevated tracks, (ie, mental toughness and bike control), wheelie drops of greater than 2 feet, let's see, the list could go on and on.

Penny's got some great pictures of this type of thing. There are also tons of shots on the internet of the Vancouver, CA, North Shore trails that are really burly, made out of mostly cedar logs.

If it's not secret, let me know where you are and keep us apprised of your progress.

CDB/Paladin

"gabrielle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 15:08:06 -0600, Paladin wrote:
So

Quoted message said:

now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others

tonight

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a loop.

AMB-ID 2005 at your house?

gabrielle

Yeah, right. LOL. Nothing compares to the last few years' epics.
(Especially my back yard menagerie in process!) We'll just keep getting
better every year. Whaddya think about a 3-day, multi-sport deal like we
talked about, rock climbing day, whitewater day, and riding day?

paladin

Paladin said:

"gabrielle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 15:08:06 -0600, Paladin wrote:
So

Quoted message said:

now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others
tonight and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a
loop.

AMB-ID 2005 at your house?

gabrielle

Yeah, right. LOL. Nothing compares to the last few years' epics.
(Especially my back yard menagerie in process!) We'll just keep
getting better every year. Whaddya think about a 3-day, multi-sport
deal like we talked about, rock climbing day, whitewater day, and
riding day?

paladin

have to make it 5 days to cover everything. We can provide raft and paddle
for the white water day.
Did I just commit myself??!!!

just sent you a picture of a skinny roller coaster that I just got.

"Paladin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"gabrielle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 15:08:06 -0600, Paladin wrote:
So

Quoted message said:

now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others

tonight

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a loop.

AMB-ID 2005 at your house?

gabrielle

Yeah, right. LOL. Nothing compares to the last few years' epics.
(Especially my back yard menagerie in process!) We'll just keep getting
better every year. Whaddya think about a 3-day, multi-sport deal like we
talked about, rock climbing day, whitewater day, and riding day?

paladin

Sounds like a winner.

JD

Paladin said:

"gabrielle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 15:08:06 -0600, Paladin wrote:
So

Quoted message said:

now I have 4 major pieces. Gonna hook the ledges up to the others

tonight

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and then decide on how to make the whole menagerie into a loop.

AMB-ID 2005 at your house?

gabrielle

Yeah, right. LOL. Nothing compares to the last few years' epics.
(Especially my back yard menagerie in process!) We'll just keep getting
better every year. Whaddya think about a 3-day, multi-sport deal like we
talked about, rock climbing day, whitewater day, and riding day?

paladin

That could be cool. I'll be shuttle bunny for the whitewater part -
now taking advance beer orders. 😉

gabrielle