No Friends on a Pow Day?
There is a rare event that only comes around once in a blue moon in the cascade mountains. The winds blow from the east, the temperature drops, and the snow intensifies; creating a magical thing called blower pow. Blower pow is super dry ultra-low density snow that is a snowboarder’s dream to find. Such an event occurred in the cascades two weeks ago and the images below depict my good friend Chris’ first experience riding in such mind blowing conditions. Big shoutout to him for being such an awesome rider to work with.
A Bermsled Halloween story.
When I first moved to Washington several years ago my very first introduction to the unique bike culture here was going to GHY Bike’s Bermsled Halloween race. And boy was it an experience! It was a typical cold and rainy fall day in Washington but as someone who grew up in northern Michigan and moved away before the fat bike movement really took hold, riding bikes this time of the year was never really an option. So when I saw all these people dressed up in their halloween costumes, racing a super slick trail in rainy and 40 degree weather, I thought to myself “This is insane… but weirdly fun!” Now that I’ve been through a couple winters here I almost look forward to riding in this weather, but that’s a topic for another time.
This year was the ninth annual Bermsled Halloween race and a big thanks goes out to AJ at GHY Bikes for putting this on every year. Also to everyone that helps out, from trail maintenance to cooking burgers, we appreciate all the hard work! With that said enjoy the photo story below of the most chill and fun bike event in the northwest!
P.S. If you see an image you want, just hit me up here or on Instagram and I’ll send you a link to download.
AJ on the megaphone and Travis (who generously donated the hot dogs and burgers) with a pre race beverage.
Colette Butorajac, chef for the day.
Costumes are encouraged, aerodynamics aren’t really a thing here.
“I was going faster than I thought I would!”
Marcus is coming for your strava times
Dragon Power!
Probably the sketchiest thing I saw all day!
Bringing back no-footers!
Wet conditions led to the inevitable crashes, but luckily just some cuts, bruises, and hurt egos.
This pretty much captures the vibe perfectly.
The mastermind behind this insanity!
Best Trick Winner
Best Costume Winner
Grand Prize winner from the raffle, sponsored by Transition Bikes! Yes that’s a Triple frameset.
Under 14 Class Top 3
Fast Class Top 3 (2nd place is MIA)
Faster Class Top 3
Fastest Class Top 3 ( 1st-Josh Gibb 2nd-Travis Erickson 3rd-Craig Wilcox)
Dreams of Spring
We knew it was too good to be real. Everything from the sunshine to splashing through a few puddles pointed towards spring riding. The only thing to remind us that it was still winter was the occasional snowflake fluttering down. Alas, here in the PNW, the saying "if you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes" also happens to be true if you do like the weather. Hence the snowflakes have become more constant and now we wait for that next day of blissful riding.
Softies Jump Jam Part 2
So stoked on how this series has turned out so far! It was awesome to be involved in such an epic jam! Thanks again to GHY Bikes and everyone who helped make it happen. Part 3 is coming soon!
Softies Jump Jam Part 1
So stoked that I was able to attend the spring Softies Jump Jam! It had such a good vibe and some insane tricks were thrown down over the big lines! Thanks to GHY Bikes and everyone who helped make it happen. Keep an eye out for when the next part goes live in a couple days!
Duthie Group Ride
Riding with a group is almost always more enjoyable then riding alone. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to join a great group of riders on one such ride at Duthie Hill! Here is a few select images from that day. If you were a part of the ride head over to my Facebook page to see if I got any images of you! Thanks to GHY Bikes for putting it together!
Mountain Trail Running
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost perfectly sums up how I feel about my latest shoot in the cascades. Thanks to Keith Vowell and Marcie Morgan for running their hearts out.
