Matthew Botos

At least according to CDC research:

More people are hurt snowboarding than any other outdoor activity, accounting for a quarter of emergency room visits, according to the first national study to estimate recreational injuries. Nearly 26 percent of the injures were from snowboarding followed by sledding (11 percent); hiking (6 percent); mountain biking, personal watercraft, water skiing or tubing (4 percent); fishing (3 percent) and swimming (2 percent).

I’ve taken plenty of lumps biking and boarding, but the worst I’ve racked up was a few stitches on the bike. As for broken bones, my only fracture was a collarbone in a game of flag football

After test riding a singlespeed 29er last year, I knew one was my next bike, but it took until now to put one together. Since the price and weight points of off-the-shelf and bike store custom jobs weren’t what I wanted, the project became a custom build.

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I had a blast photographing the 2008 Rally in the Valley last weekend; mountain biking gatherings are always fun, and so is capturing them in photos.

Preparation was easy for this one since I’ve volunteered at the event before and ridden the location many times. A test ride with all my gear in the backpack was enough to convince me I wanted to do minimal shuffling while loaded down like a sherpa, so I picked a few spots within a mile of the start off the main trail.

Another useful activity was making up signs; one saying “Smile! Photographer ahead.” and a few more letting people know where to find my photos on the web. The smile sign really worked; people actually looked at the camera, smiled, and gave thumbs up, peace signs, wheelies, & jumps!

Since the leaves on the trees haven’t come in yet, there was more light than I expected. It was enough to get fast shots along Forbidden Drive, though people’s faces still ended up in the shadows sometimes. On the trails, flash was more of a necessity, but took a bit of trail and error to dial in manually. I think the truth of event photography is that you have to have an automatic, through-the-lens (TTL) metering flash.

I found I took wider shots to make sure I got people in motion, then cropped them down afterwards. As the day went on, though, it became easier to get tighter, more emotive shots.

With so many people around, it was also great networking. I met a few fellow photographers, both beginners and established pros, some potential customers, and got a few ideas for new opportunities.

Other useful odds and ends: bungees to tie signs to existing posts, water and snacks, hat, music for the slow spells. Given my minimal riding, street clothes and shoes were definitely the way to go. Wearing my IMBA jersey even prompted someone to ask me if I had flown out from Boulder for the event. Maybe they’ll come next year, after they see my photos

See the 2008 Rally in the Valley Photos

I met a cool bunch of guys from Eastern Woods Research at the Rally in the Valley. They’re local Pennsylvania frame builders making steel hardtails, with a 29er version in the works. The bikes look great; here are a few more photos.

Get your bike and legs ready; this Saturday is the 2008 Rally in the Valley at Wissahickon Park! All funds raised go back into the park and the trails - and it’s a great chance to get out and ride, regardless of your skill level. And don’t forget to smile on those climbs; I’ve volunteered to provide photo coverage of the event and make an additional donation from the print sales.

IMBA has put out a call for support and comments on Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry new resource plan. This department manages many state parks and forests, including French Creek. IMBA also provided some good talking points and statistics:

Mountain biking is extremely popular in Pennsylvania. In 2003, 1,677,060 Pennsylvanians rode their bicycles off-road at least once. This is 17.6% of the total adult population in our state. (Outdoor Industry Foundation, 2004)

Bicycling (on- and off-road) contributes $4.8 billion annually and 44,000 jobs to the Middle Atlantic region (NJ, NY, PA). (Outdoor Industry Foundation, 2007)

You can read about the plan, view the schedule of public meetings, and submit comments online at the Bureau of Forestry’s site.

Some great news for Wissahickon bikers and hikers from IMBA’s Singletrack eNews!

Bikes Belong Awards Grants in IL, PA Friends of the Wissahickon: Philadelphia’s Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) will receive $10,000 to put toward their Sustainable Trails Initiative. IMBA’s Trail Solutions continues to consult on the design and construction of the highly regarded urban trail network.

There are a couple of great demo sections of trail there that are a nice preview of what’s to come…

My coworker Tim and I went biking at Bear Creek this Saturday, where we found a short, but rocky and challenging trail. Bear Creek (formerly Doe Mountain) was bought by new owners a few years ago, and has seen a huge influx of investment. There’s a substantial new snowmaking system, rebuilt lodge, and a new hotel and conference center under construction. It looks much more like a scaled-down western resort than your typical day-use mountain in Pennsylvania.

The trails also seem to have received some recent attention; it was largely well-maintained except for a few spots. The main trail loops around the border of the ski slopes in the woods, with various more-difficult side loops. Both were plenty rocky, to the point that I walked a few sections after being force to clip out and unable to get going again. There’s also one loose, step climb, a few sections with sharp switchbacks, and some short bridges. Most of it was well marked, even including some warning signs of approaching bridges or more technical sections.

Our ride came in a bit under 6 miles, doing the main loop and one side trail in about 1:45. We grabbed lunch at their grill in the lodge, which has the rustic feel of an old lodge with hearty food to match. The selections and prices were middle of the road, and the sandwiches and burgers were plenty filling, along with a couple of beers, of course.

It was a nice change of pace from the usual handful of places I ride locally, and not too far at about an hour. The trails were a bit too rocky for my tastes, but it certainly offers some challenges and good food when you’re done.

(I take no credit for the clever title.)

I demo’d the Haro Mary SS tonight, a rigid steel single speed bike with 29″ wheels. The big wheels seem to be a growing trend, so I wanted to check them out as a ponder the purchase of a replacement singlespeed for my aluminum 26″ Trek 7000 single speed conversion.

The bike definitely feels bigger; you sit taller with a longer cockpit (the frame size was also a little bigger than my other bikes). Bikesport had already swapped out the swept-back On-One Mary handlebars since few people liked them. The tires were big 2.3 inchers for a bit of shock absorption; another growing trend is to go tubeless. All this adds up to a rather heavy single speed bike at 27.5 pounds, versus 24.5 pounds for my current sprung single speed.

On the trail, the added weight wasn’t noticable. The bike did feel “bigger”, and the 29er tires roll over the big logs and log piles with ease. It was the smaller stuff that began to wear me out without front suspension; I don’t think I’m ready to go back to a totally rigid bike. The disc brakes, though mechanical, were quite adequete,  affirming my previous experience with a mechanical disk loaner on my usually hydraulic Trek Fuel full suspension. No complaints about the drive train, aside from the constant clicking from the rear hub when freewheeling.

Overall, it’s a solid bike for $900, as it should be; though for the money it’s not a compelling replacement for my current cheaper, lighter, cushier single speed. 29er bikes are a fun change though, and worth trying out if you have the chance.

Today’s public service message: Clean your hydration pack.

The author of this tutorial gets bonus points for not only employing extra bike parts to clean it, but for complete instructions like these:

Once the cable comes out the other end, suppress your urge to hurl as you see what you’ve been drinking recently.

I was definitely taken aback by the muck that came out of mine, which should make the next ride much tastier!