ethanhouse.com » Everything MTB

Magnum P.S.I. Builds a New Rig

Ethan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:10:54 +0000

: New Niner in the NKC

Magnum has been rolling a 26″ Gary Fisher for quite some time. He has fond memories of his old steed. Just last year we were at Tyler State Park for the JLF IV Push Your Bike Challenge and he decided he needed one more run on a downhill. To everyones surprise (except mine, I knew he was going to eat it) and a faulty fork he took a tumble, we had to quit for the day and haul him to the emergency room…what a drag, but I guess we did care a little bit. With this new rig he will be rolling the Big Revolution in style. Good job to Andy, Alan, Darrell and everyone else who has had to suffer through the million questions Alan has had while building this rig. Looks good PATNA…

Pedal Damn It!

Cactus…Over and Out

No Knuckle Hits Jack Brooks Park - Last August

Ethan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:56:59 +0000

A few No Knuckle Crew members (Andy, Jim & Ethan) hit Jack Brooks Park in Hitchcock, TX. Great day, hot as hell and extremely humid. Great ride! Pedal Damn It

Hollywood Hits a Few Drops at Palo Duro Canyon

Ethan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:47:14 +0000

No Knuckle at Palo Duro Canyon (Lighthouse Trail) - Hollywood (Dirk) hits a few drops just off of the trail. Short clip - this was the Go Pro Hero Helmet Cam trial run.

SPEED OF LIGHT BEAR

Ethan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:04:50 +0000

MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCAMOTIVE

Have you ever seen a Cinnamon Bear in action - rocking through the trees making his own trail - well here it is, caught on film…These guys had a great day on the trails and the Big Bear rollin’ the Single Speed 29er. Keep pedaling padna.

MR. AGGRESSIVE

Ethan — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:56:32 +0000

BE AGRESSIVE...BE BE AGRESSIVE

JLF IV - Rocking it out on the trails. We’re so proud of this “little” fella. Keep it up padna!

Bryan Power Pedal

Ethan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:41:35 +0000

HOLY CRAP!!!

October 12, 2008 the South Texas Chapter of the No Knuckle Crew heads to Bryan, TX for the Power Pedal race. From everything I have heard it was a great race and a great time. We have a new member to the crew. Alan “Holy Crap there is a Photographer” Scott. From the picture I think Alan was about to take him out. Joe V was there but I could not find a picture of him. Though I did find Cinnamon and Holy Crap on the same stretch of trail handling it in different ways.

Cinnamon Scans the Trail

Cinnamon was scanning the trail to make his next move, Holy Crap saw a photo op and decided to either stick his tongue out or it was hanging out because the trail beat the crap out of him. Glad the crew was there representing and Cinnamon passed me in the state standings racing two races to my one (sorry I had to add that). Way to go guys!!!

Pedal Damnit,

Mr. Rugged

Ethan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:26:33 +0000

Mr. Rugged @ Camp Eagle

See Joe V
See Joe V Ride
See Joe V Scan the Trail
See Joe V Strive to Win the Race
See Joe V Look Rugged

That’s right folks, meet Mr. Rugged. This guy knows how to ride and how to win. If only he could pick and choose when to look rugged. Sadly, it just comes natural to him. Way to go representing the No Knuckle Crew at Camp Eagle.

Keep Pedaling Padna

Chain Breaker - Buffalo Springs Lake - Lubbock, TX

Ethan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:57:57 +0000

Cat 3 Start - All Age Groups

October 5, 2008 - I headed to the Chain Breaker in Lubbock, TX. This was my second race and I fared fairly well. The course was mostly four wheeler trails, it was easy to pass on the majority of the 6 mile loop. I began in second place and moved to fourth within the first three miles. Once we hit the single track and the technical sections of the course, the time in the Canyon paid off. Lupe was in third and I was in fourth, the two we were chasing slowed in the first technical section and Lupe took second. In the second technical section I moved into third and Lupe moved to first place. It was raining and a bit muddy, the rocks were slick and I had to Hike-a-Bike in a few spots.

Finish Line

Other than that it was well worth the 5am wake up to get there on time. The South Texas chapter of the No Knuckle Crew will be in Bryan, TX this weekend. Final results for the Chain Breaker are as follows:

Lupe - 1st Place - Cat 3 - 30-39
Ethan - 3rd Place - Cat 3 - 30-39

Pedal Damnit’,

Pain on the Plains

Ethan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:53:45 +0000

The No Knuckle Crew Representatives

September 27, 2008 The No Knuckle Crew heads to the Pain on the Plains. For our group this was a 9 mile loop at the Palo Duro Canyon. Dirk and Joe V were competed in the Category 3 - 19-29, while Andy and I competed in the Category 3 - 30-39. That’s right we are the old ones. But from what I saw at the race, age means nothing. I had guys that were in the Cat 2 and Cat 1 classes that were 50+ passing me like I was crawling along, which I was. Those guys were on 18 or 27 mile loops while I was on my 4th or 5th mile. Gotta give it to them.

A mile into the race I was in third place and while ascending a hill I shifted the wrong direction (inexperience) and my chain came slidi

No Name Yet & Cinnamon

ng off as I went crashing down on the top tube. Luckily this was a race and I was motivated to get it fixed and get back on

the trail, had it been one of my Sunday strolls at the Canyon, I believe I would have curled up in the fetal position and had a nice cry for about 30 minutes, then requested to be life flighted out of there to make sure I had not ruptured both of the boys. I ended up regaining a few places, back to 6th place with Shae Webb (Lubbock) on my tail for quite a while. He passed me going into the last few miles and I made a dash for the finish line once we hit the home stretch.

With my legs on fire and wanting to collapse, I crossed the finish line 5 seconds in front of Shae and took 6th place until a protest in the 4th and 5th place spot moved me to 7th. Seven out of Fifteen is not shabby but I am hooked on the races and will be working to

Hollywood & Mr. Rugged in the Spotlight

improve. Which I did at the Chain Breaker in Lubbock. That is another story.

Final Places for the No Knuckle Crew are as follows:

Dirk (Hollywood) - 1st - Cat 3 - 19-29
Joe V (Mr. Rugged) - 3rd - Cat 3 - 19-29
Ethan (No Name Yet) - 7th - Cat 3 - 30-39
Andy (Cinnamon) - 10th - Cat 3 - 30-39

Way to go NO KNUCKLE!

Mr. Rugged and his 3rd Place Cacti

Keep pedaling,

JACK BROOKS PARK

Ethan — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:35:19 +0000

Jim Preps Bike

Saturday, August 30, 2008 the No Knuckle Crew heads out to Jack Brooks Park in Dickinson, TX. Having lived in Amarillo for the last 10 years memories of 7:00am 80 degrees with 100% humidity flooded back to me as I stepped out of the truck. This would be my first ride at Jack Brooks and though the excitement of a ride with the gang was prevalent, the humidity and mosquito’s the size of vultures quickly reminded me that I was not in West Texas and this would be a great test of my endurance. As Andy and I waited for Jim to get his bike ready to roll I was already sweating profusely and could not wait to get moving.

Roughly an hour later, Jim is ready to roll and the 29ers hit the trails.

A few twist and turns into the ride, we are already hitting the hills in this creek side mosquito picnic and we are definitely the appetizer, main course and dessert. None the less the first set of rollers were challenging and adding in the root spiderweb at the peaks of each roller made it that much more a test of my completely out of shape abilities. Once we hit the the next set of rollers, we stop and wait for Jim. I would like to say that I was kicking the crap out of everyone, though that was not the case, Andy was on a rigid Haro Mary SS and I was on my Niner hard tail. Mr. No Gears was completing each hill either as well or better than I was heading up each one on the GRANNY chain-ring.

As we progressed through the heavily wooded hills, peaks and valleys I could feel the pop tarts and chewy granola slowly working its way back up my esophagus. You would have though there was a rabid beast hiding in the trees as I loudly belched down the trail. Once we completed an hour of the trails, Andy informed me the fun part was coming up. At this point I am close to puking, I have ripped off my helmet and camel back, am pouring water over my head and neck and trying to breath. Did I mention I am not multi-task capable? Luckily Jim was pulling up the rear and I had plenty of time to rest up for the next section and next hour. At this point Jim informs us that he is not going to complete the “Home Stretch” once he hits the “Autobon” he is headed back to the truck. This is right before he calls us every four letter word in the book as we snap pictures of him pushing his bike up the next hill full of roots, this begins “Dragons Back”.

Mr. No Gears (Andy)

“Dragons Back” was a great set of large rollers and hit correctly you could fly through with rhythym and grace. Unless of course you have yet to find your rhythm and grace is not in your vocabulary. Luckily I had some motivation, on Mr. No Gears in front of me cranking through it and a large swarm of mosquito’s behind me. We complete “Dragons Back and hit the Spider Bridge, or ramp or something along those lines. Really fun and shoots you into the next set of winding trails, spits you out into the “Autobahn” at which point I think I know where I am headed. Andy waits on Jim, I then roll the ”Autobahn” to the “Home Stretch” have a good run through it to the point a fellow biker is standing beside the trail and watches me catch what I am claiming as a foot high root with my toe, he tells me he did the same thing, that does not make me feel any better, we visit, I hike-a-bike up the hill and get back to the truck.

Jim finally shows up at the truck, Andy calls me and tells me I have missed a big chunk of trail, not to be a candy ass and get back in there. I tell Jim we are headed to the “Playground” (lots of obstacles, teeder todders, ramps, jumps, wood structure) he informs me he is not going and I can “bite his ass”. That of course after I called him all sorts of names for not joining us. We hit the ”Playground”, ”Autobahn” and “Home Stretch”. Immediately get out of our gear, get in the AC and grab some greasy food at Sonic.

Overall experience was great, this is a great set of trails and I recommend them to anyone. We had a great day only in the way that the No Knuckle Crew can. If you are ever in Houston and are looking for a great ride (in January instead of August) I highly recommend Jack Brooks Park.

Keep Pedaling