10.06.2008

Smokout West VS. 3 Amigos: Day 2, 330 Miles

Day 2, absolute longest day I have had in a long time. 20 hours in total we were up. We all slept like rocks, we were energized and ready to do this. Before we headed back to Cottonwood I wanted to show Dustin and Landman how sick Sedona was. We cruised up the canyon for about 10 miles to check the scenery.

Slide rock, killed this place as a kid. Naturally smooth river rocks covered in moss provide natures water slides.
Justin
Landy


Arrived at Smoke Out to a plethora of bikes of all types. Same goes for the people there. I think Dustin and Landman were a bit taken back by the scene. I had been exposed to it as a young buck with my Step Father at the time being in the Harley mix. Some crazy peeps for sure. Landman had a perfect word to describe the whole thing, "Stagnant". Same people, different places. I feel that the younger generations will have a hard time trying to adapt to this culture. Its pretty nuts.

These four bikes were constructed by this dude named Slim. His shit is amazing. Fully unrideable but what an imagination this guy has.




Foundry Cadi

Still till this day I think Foundry has the best steez in their bikes. So ill!



Exile Bike

My favorite Sporty there. Simple and sweet. Exhaust is tits!

Snake Skin paint.

Cool Flat-Tracker

Burn out Pit

Someones cool ass Grandpa


I love the ridge and the copper on this tank

Kind of creepy
Slim doin his deal


Foundry Matt making Pacman do a afternoon burnout shot

Jack, AKA Pacman, is a pin-striper that I met awhile back at Foundry. He does some crazy good work. The second time I saw him at the shop I asked if he would be down to stripe my helmet. He was super into it but I never got around to bringing my helmet in. We saw him in Cottonwood and I asked if he was interested. He seemed stoked so he got after it. Dustin saw the number 5 on another helmet he had done and really wanted a number. I was into the number as well cause I love the nostalgic race car look of it. We thought long and hard and we came up with "3". For some reason it just popped into our heads, and then the symbolism came around. The "3 Amigos", we were there, might as well do it. So all of us got our lids done in some configuration of "3".


His signature is mini. I don't know how he does it


"Meat Head Choppers" are fucking stupid. So are meat heads.

Met this guy Vince who tools his own seats. Its super cool to still see a trade like this. Thats hard work.

All by hand


WTF mate?


Dustin's Lid

Landman was pretty sure he wanted it written instead of just the number.

We left The Smoke Out waaaaaay behind schedule. I was hoping to leave around 2, but since we all were really hyped on getting the helmets striped we had to stay until Pacman could finish them all. We departed the fair grounds at 8. Mind you, it was raining all day, cloudy and gloomy. I had looked at the forecast earlier in the week and the daytime weather for our whole trip was in the 70's and 80's, so I opted out of birning my leather jacket. Dustin brought his and Landman ended up buying one with his new helmet. So I was assed out with a 3/4 sleeve T. Fast forward to when we left at 8 and it was brisk out to say the least. Plan was to stop at Walmart, grab a Flannel & Red Bull and bounce. Ended up getting a totally Vato Dickies button up and a thermal. When I walked back out to my bike I noticed that my pipe tape had gotten cut on something and was about to unravel. Quick fix with some safety wire and we were on our way.

Headlight support team

A rare shot of Matt with his iPod connected, this didnt last long.

A quick re-situate stop just outside of Sedona. This is where it started to get cold.

Our revised route took us through Flagstaff. Just an FYI this is one of only two places in AZ that it snows. We got through Flag and stopped in Williams. So effing cold. High 30's and totally unexpected. This was Landmans first road trip and at this point I think he was ready to quit motorcycles all together. Needless to say we posted up in the Circle K for about an hour to warm up. We were so loopy from not talking to eachother and freezing our asses off that everything seemed hilarious.

Jesse James' little brother in some Circle K Crocs

We made it through the frigid weather and into Kingman to get some In N Out. Landman had his thumbs through the end of his flannel for 120 miles, the button didnt mesh very well with his hand.

Tripping balls and completly sober

Hoover Dam at approximately 3AM. Dope picture.

Rule Breakers.

Finally made it to Vegas at about 4AM. Stayed at my ladys place and got some much needed sleep.

Smokout West VS. 3 Amigos: Day 1, 178 Miles

What a trip. 48 hours total and about 850 miles later, its a branded memory. I had been planning to do the Smoke Out for the past three months or so. I was going with or without my friends. As with any trip that involves bare bones traveling, you don't really know who is in for sure until the day of departure. I had gotten a ton of "Count me in"s from a lot of people. As the countdown neared ground zero those "I'm in"s became "I can't make it because......". The remaining three people on my list were Dustin(AKA Justin), Matt(AKA Landman), and Aaron(AKA No-Show). These were the three deciding factors on if I was traveling in a pack, or alone. All hailing from San Diego county, they had a trip ahead of them just to get to my house. That is if they decided to come.

Ground Zero. It was Thursday evening and the plan was to leave Friday morning at 9. I still hadn't gotten an answer from the SD crew. At 8:02 AM I got a text from Landman that read "200 Miles to Phoenix". With that text I was only left to assume that they should be here around 11AM and we can leave from there. A little behind but no big deal, at least they were coming. They rolled in around 2PM, and by they I mean the TWO of them. Aaron decided to back out at the last minute for one excuse or another. Alright, so they are here, I am so fired up at this point. We were making this talk a reality. They rested for about an hour and we headed out for the start of a new Chapter in our lives.

I just want to stress to the people that don't own motorcycles how intense, involved, and exhausting a trip can be. When you are on the bike you are 100% encompassed and focused on what you are doing at that instant. There are so many variables involved that could determine life or death(not exaggerating) at an instant. This is the one and only reason that I was trying to be on somewhat of a schedule. This schedule was to avoid riding at night. Due to a few setbacks throughout the trip, 75% of our riding was done at night. Pitch black, and cold as fuck.


Dustin, Myself, and Landman. Leaving my house. I am fresh and they were already 350 miles deep.




Day 1 Route. Some epic scenery for sure.
Dustin and Landman


Yes, it is sketchy taking pictures while you are riding.

We got to Cottonwood around 5:30, just as the sun was going down. Went to the Fair Grounds to check the Smoke Out. We cruised around for a bit and decided that we would come back to check it out in more depth tomorrow morning. All of the hotels were sold out in Cottonwood. I was originally thinking we would just rough it and sleep on the ground somewhere in the forest. Dustin and Landman were exhausted from riding so much that they were stoked on the idea of getting a hotel. So we headed up to Sedona. This is a super small tourist town that is so beautiful. Its surrounded by red rock peaks. Perfect place for a morning ride.

Got to the hotel and I decided that I wanted to nerd out on the camera. I took some over exposed long shutter shots and came out with these two gems. I was extremely stoked on how they turned out.



We asked the guy at the front desk where we could walk to eat and he suggested a place around the corner called the hideaway. I really wish I could go slap that guy a high five cause it was epic! The only thing I had eaten all day was two taquitos from QT(best gas station on earth) so I was in need of a refuel. We made a collective decision to eat and drink as much as we could. We proved to be successful in carrying out our promise.

Justin

ME

Jack Sparrow

Leaving the Hideaway we came across this fine piece of machinery. Here Landman and Dustin show everyone that a designated driver is a great investment.




There was a ripping band that came on at the Hideaway about 30 minutes into my set list on the Jukebox. They were seriously so fucking good. They asked if anyone would play the tambourine on a song. Dustin persuaded Matt to demonstrate his skillz. And they could pay the billz. The video is dark, but the sound is more than enough.

We then proceeded to pass out for some much needed rest.

10.03.2008

The Eagle Has Landed

Two Birds, One Stone

Leaving in about an hour to embark on another journey with my bike and my friends. Smoke Out West and Vegas Bike Fest are both this weekend. We are going to head up to Smoke Out today, stay the night in Sedona, then power to Vegas in the morning. Should be a fun little jaunt. I am really hyped that Dustin and Landman are going to make it. As soon as they get here, we're peaced. Should be another adventurous trip. Stay tuned.....



Bare Essentials. Anyone that has traveled with me knows that its almost impossible for me to go somewhere overnight with this small amount of shit.

10.01.2008

Hammer Time

Looks "Dumped and Kitted" when I've got 20 cases of Vitamin Water in
the back.

9.30.2008

Scraper Bike.....


KC and I last winter, Mash party at Sunset. Good Times.

9.28.2008

Brighton Ride

I am trying to utilize every moment that I spend in Salt Lake this weekend. TJ and I grabbed some lunch today and then decided to head up to Brighton, our local shred spot in the winter. We grabbed a Red Bull and Chris Brown, gased up, then headed for Big Cottonwood Canyon. Here are some gems of the day.

TJ
Some Rando

This is usually the lift we use to hit insane out of bounds terrain about 4 months from now.




Milli lift, video game shit(minus the family in the background)

View coming down

Salt Lake City, breathe in all its glory

Ride Video

Jeremy put together a little video from yesterday.