El Rancho Relaxo Floodo

The Paranormal is Coming

Big Blue: https://www.facebook.com/events/369594806566163/

BikeReg: https://www.bikereg.com/paranormal-6-hour

Also, it'll be a Trek demo day here at the rancho relaxo.  

Also, also, it'll be Shawn's birthday.  

The odds of being able to rip a brand new mountain bike on groomed, perfect singletrack, then have a cupcake, and then dig into selection of fall-themed free beer...pretty much right at 100%.  

All happening on Saturday, Oct 17th.  

Hope you can make it.  

Up, up, up.

(End of the) Worlds

Well, Worlds is upon us.  This week, in Richmond, the best in the world are fighting it out on skinny tires for the right to wear rainbow colors for the next year.  

Also, conveniently, the End of the World is set to happen a few hours after UCI worlds ends - that being the exact moment of the 4th full moon in a tetrad of blood moons, this one culminating as a supermoon, full lunar eclipse at 10:10 PM on Sunday night. 
See also: http://www.space.com/30592-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-one-week-away.html
and http://www.endtime.com/four-blood-moons/

If the website, Endtime.com doesn't get you in the mood for love, nothing will.
Also, my kids turn 4 on Tuesday.  

So it's a pretty big week, all things considered.  

As such, the Northside Extreme is bringing you not one but TWO rad night rides to celebrate the good life (and quite possibly the end of it.)

#1:  Woodberry Forest Short Track - This Tuesday, 9/22 at Woodberry Forest School.  5:30 PM.  Details can be found here: WFS Outdoor Program Blog except for the part about the badass night riding that naturally follows the racing.  Sweet, sweet riverside flow trail, burgers on the grill, and maybe even a ride on the gator if you play your cards right.  I actually can't attend this one myself this week, but I'm certain there will be a northside carpool heading that way that you can take advantage of, so just communicate on the matter as you see fit.  

#2 End of the Worlds Night Ride - This Sunday, 9/27, Ohill, starting at the O Hill observatory at 9 PM.  Scheduling is pretty exact here, because the whole thing may or may not be going up in smoke at exactly 10:10 PM and the eclipse actually starts at 9 PM, which should be enough time for you to sober up, drive home from Richmond, lube your chain, hug your kids one last time, and get to O Hill for a 9 PM departure into a tour of our local prize singletrack before it becomes a post-apoclyptic wasteland.  BYOWhiskey, and come ready for fun, but also the first instances of socially fatal looting and cannibalism that will surely follow.  

See also, The Road.  
First sign of real mayhem and I'm out.  No sense sticking around and trying to be a survivor. But go ahead and have fun while there's still fun to be had.  

Up, up, up. 

Woodberry Forest Short Track

The title of this post is a little misleading.  I don't actually have any photos or words of wisdom about the short track, other than to say it was awesome, and you should get there for the next one happening on 9/22.  More details hereish:

http://wfsoutdooreducation.blogspot.com/2015/09/reading-races-wfs.html

What I do have though, is a photo of the devoted team that was 100% committed to post race night riding, course cleanup, and grilling out until the wee hours.

Come for the racing.  Stay for the awesome.  

Up, up, up.

Man vs Nature vs Nature

Just a little crime scene I came across during my lunchtime ride today.  

As Shawn says: "Nature.  Awesome.  Scary."

Up, up, up.

The End of the World at the End of Worlds.

Been a nice few weeks here at BRC blog headquarters.  The SM100, Boys and Girls Club Challenge, and plenty of bike and family time has come and gone, and for the most part, smiley faces all around.

Tom Barry, the first photographer to capture all 4 of us smiling at the same time.

That's good, of course, and looking forward, I advise you to seize the day in a similar manner if at all possible.  Because it's all coming to a terrible, cataclysmic end in a couple of short weeks.

You see, as I'm sure you're aware, UCI Worlds is coming to Richmond next week.  What you might not know, however, is that the END of the world is coming at around the same time.  Indeed, Sunday evening of the 27th at about 10:40 PM, hours after the men's road race concludes, there will be the 4th and final full lunar eclipse in a tetrad of blood moons, which as you may or may not know is biblically and 100% factually linked to the end of the world.  

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/01/living/blood-moon-biblical-prophecy-feat/

Here at BRC blog HQ, we're uncertain if it'll be truly weird, or just a natural part of the end of days.  Either way, I'm planning on being there at the epicenter of it all, Richmond that is, to watch it all unfold and likely host a badass, guided, MTB night ride around the JRPS starting from somewhere near Browns Island about 7PM, 100% committed to seeing it through to the very end, whatever that end may be.  

Also, there's some talk of making this night ride Saturday the 26th vs Sunday the 27th, due to the unfortunate reality that if we go Sunday, and someone has a mechanical on the ride, and we end up running late, it's possible we could perish out on the poop loop somewhere amid the fire and brimstone of it all, away from our loved ones, and no one wants that.  Plus, on the off chance the world doesn't blow apart, our sitter clocks out at 9 PM Sunday.  So Saturday night it will probably have to be.  

Details forthcoming, but in the meantime, hug your loved ones and what not.  Night ride.  Sprint for stop signs.  Make hasty, bad decisions.  Order a cosmopolitan with lunch because goddammit you just like how they taste.  

The World is coming.  And so is the end of it.  

Up, up, up.