New KENDA Ad!

Conor after practice in Sonoma
Ryan Blanchette in Sonoma




The peeps at Kenda (Jim and Lydia) hooked us up in the new KENDA full page spread in the new Mountain Bike Action magazine! They posted our name on their list of sponsored riders/teams, just above the Small Block 8 Tire! Thanks to Jim Roff for the heads up. Go get it and show your friends..if you have any! ALSO< look for James Cross to be in an upcoming ad for Kenda. James won this honor by winning the Brian Head NCS race, and taking the Kenda Kontingency Kash! SEVERAL Backbone riders will also be featured in the upcoming KENDA catalog for 2007. We will have about six pix in all throughout the magazine. People that I know of are Val and Karl (snow tire section), Heidi Volpe(opening page collage), Bert(same), Vegas Bob(back collage), and? This is all unofficial, as the work is going to print Monday. Thanks to Kenda for continuing to keep us in the spotlight!

Chris

Ryan Nolan's Race Report

Race Report----------

This past weekend was race number 3 of 5 at Diablo Freeride Park. Saturday I was woken up by the sound of hail hitting the house around 3am. The hail lasted only 10 minutes but was followed by extremely heavy rain. I knew at that time it was going to be one of those weekends. Saturdays practice went well with a very wet course but no crashes for me. The rain did hold out though with only a few drizzles here and there. When I woke up Sunday morning my dad said to me "are you sure you still want to go" as we looked at the water coming into the garage. Of course I told him that we were going still. I only had time for 2 practice runs because I had to get back and clean my bike off if I wanted it to work in the race. By the time I cleaned the bike off it was time to head up the mountain. Just then the rain we left back at our house arrived just in time for racing to start. By the time I was to the top, water was running down the mountain like a river. I have raced in mud before but not like this. There was so much water running down the trail it was hard to see any of the lines that I was using in practice, this was partially because my goggles were covered in muddy water. The plus to all this was the rocks were getting washed off after every rider went through so it actually wasn't as slippery as it was in practice. I have to admit when I crossed the finish line I was surprised that I kept it on 2 wheels through some of the rock gardens. I ended up 10th out of 45 racers.

NCS Medal Count!

I'll keep it short...

We have SIX GOLD MEDALS, TWO SECONDS, and a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! please correct me if I missed some in there....

C

Rim Nordic Final

Rim Nordic Series Final was today, and we had some great overalls to tell you about! King James took second overall, without even racing today! BEV TOOK GOLD for the series, as did HEIDI! Congrats guys! Thanks for covering my arse up there, James, the company did not leave until late morning today. Great work everyone, and we will hopefully see ya'll soon...

C

Jeff "Tookie" Williams WINS!

Jeff Col' Chillin' after a race in West Virginia



"Tookie" departed his top secret training camp in the swamps of Florida Saturday, drove for ELEVEN HOURS to the race course, slept for three hours.........


Then he POUNDED SOME ASS and took FIRST PLACE! Granted, he mistakenly entered the 11 and Under girls Special Olympic Race, but he still WON! JUST KIDDING, he actually won the REAL THING! I am currently awaiting pics and more from Jeff on the race, but wanted to post this asap. Great job Tookie, way to hold it down..

C

Famous Fireplaces

Two Of Desi's FOUR Emmy Awards, And Three Of Her Mountain Bike Medals..




Today's issue of WEST MAGAZINE features a picture of two of Desi's four EMMY AWARDS! It also shows some of hr best work off the computer and on the bike. I would like to note that of the FIVE people featured in the article, DESI-LOU has the MOST of any of them! WEST MAGAZINE is found in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Edition, and is artistically directed by Backbone's very own terror of the trails, Heidi Volpe! Congrats, baby-head..now if only our friends could read....

Robert William Thomson

Lower Lake Mary, Flagstaff Arizona



Ever heard of him? Most people haven't, but we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Mr. Thomson was an inventor and bike builder who, in 1845, created the very FIRST pneumatic (air filled) tire. This was done forty three years before John Dunlop's tires were produced (1888), and even before Andre Michelin's rendition for horseless carriages.
Pneumatic tires are what give the bike sucha pleasant feel on the road and trail, allowing lower pressures and thus more cushion and isolation from the road. If he were alive today, he'd probably be in cahoots with Jim Wannamaker and the peeps over at KENDA TIRE in Ohio!

C

Ara Does Mammoth, and Heidi/Darter Too!

Alex and Stakk....ain't that cute?
Ara taking the plunge with Alex (or a grizzly) on the rocks

Snow Summit Allows DH Bikes Again!!

Ryan Nolan



Snow Summit has re-opened it's lift access to large DH bikes!! That being said, the resort trails are still unavailable to ride. There are still plenty of other trails though, so this is great news! See ya on the scenic sky chair!

C

Jeff "Tookie" Williams in Florida

Jeff went down to the swamps and jungles of Florida in search of the fountain of youth last week, but found only 747 sized mosquitos and 'gators! Thinking they were logs, Jeff almost became the days meal for a twelve footer. He will send the rest of the pix as soon as he can. The riding was sandy, sweaty, and "not too fun," but still beat baby sitting and going in to work. Thanks for the pix Jeff, and thanks for representin' the 'Bone!

C

King James To Be Supermodel?

James busted his ribs up the other night on a group ride, and thusly has decided to take Paris Hilton's job as the skinniest person alive. With ribs removed, James can now shop at Gap Kids, and wear xxsmall KENDA shorts! That's Hot.
Seriously though, we wish James a speedy recovery, and hope to see him at least hang out this weekend at the Rim series finale! I hear beer and Jaegermister help swollen ribs...just in case!

C

Quadricycles

Quadricycle, circa 1886, in front of the White House



Imagine having a backseat driver....on your BIKE!! During the Victorian era, bikes were beginning to move away from the often murderous "High Wheelers" and more to the current style. Known as a "Safety Cycle" the current idea was to bring the rider closer to the ground and increase steering stability. One such design, known as the Quadricycle (pictured above) had some fairly amazing features for it's day.
Quadricycles were made with such advances as dual steering devices (for both front and rear passengers,) odometers, speedometers, and pneumatic tires. One such Quad actually could be seperated into two different tricycles! By removing a couple of bolts at the center section, one could have a rear wheel dive trike, or a front wheel drive, rear steer trike! The Quad pictured above was photographed in 1886. Quads even went on to greater fame with the help of the great industrial mind of Henry Ford.
In 1889, Henry Ford's very first car was created from a Quadricycle that he converted with a small motor! Even with a motor, it still couldn't outrun or out last Bert Blanchette, but was still a great leap for bikedom. Now extremely rare, Quadricycles can only be seen in a handful of museums world wide. Average price for a collector's Quadricycle? Thirty to fifty thousand dollars! Not bad for somethong that sold for less than fifty in 1886.

Chris

CONOR ROWAN GETS MARRIED!!

A devastating blow to college sorority girls everywhere, CONOR just returned from his wedding back east! When asked if he was still getting laid after marriage, he said yes, and she even still lets him ride his bike! I have asked for pictures, but since Conor races bikes, they clearly can not afford a phoographer...just kidding. Pix are on the way, so please harass Conor as soon as possible. Thanks!

C

Jim's Shorts

Jim Roff has posted some great edited film work from last season, featuring some of your favorite racers from last year! Go to the Roff Report link and check 'em out...
Jay takes a sweet header at Northstar, Jim takes a sweet header at Bonelli, and there are some funny shots as well.

C

Jeff "Tookie" Williams Kicks Ass! really!

Jeff just finished the Ohio State Series, finishing in 6th overall! That was with 3 out of 4 races having either chainbreaks, flat tires, crashes, or all of the above! Jeff finished 15th out of 96 total Sport racers in the series. He has promised a full report soon, I just have been a bit hard to get a hold of lately due to the house. Anyhow, congrats to TOOKIE...hope to see ya soon!

Chris

Bev Wins Everything!

O.K., not really...but she did win the Mark J. Reynolds Memorial Stage Race at
Rim Nordic this weekend! Taking 55 seconds off her Hill Climb time, and a full minute from her Dirt Crit time, bev won both events Saturday. Sunday she returned to destroy all available muscle tissue in her body for a SILVER in the XC! The course was three laps, 3,200 feet of vertical, and 26 miles. Painfull yes, but the
the effort paid off and landed BEV THE OVERALL TITLE!! Great Job Bevvie...and your pix wouldn't download, sorry. I have been trying for hours!

C

Rim Nordic Stage Race Results

King James, Heidi and vanessa/Roger all rolled up to the Boulder Creek Resorts pad this weekend to do the Mark J Reynolds stage race at Rim Nordic. There were a Hill Climb, Short track, and XC events. Heidi and James did the XC only, saving their fitness to ensure podium on Sunday. Heidi won her Sport race, and James took the Silver medal. Heidi was leading the race out on Sunday again for all the Sport women, then realized that Ms. Vanessa would get to take the stage race overall victory if she would chill out at the end and allow the pass. That being done, Vanessa was able to have three victories for each event in her age class and be the TOTAL VICTOR for the weekend! That's very cool, and way-over-the-top-sportsman like of Ms. Volpe. Sounds like ya'll had a great weekend, sorry I missed it. I got to go appliance shopping...woo-hoo.

Thanks to James for taking over in my absence!

pix out as soon as I get them..

C

Jim Roff in Crusted Butt

Jim making Super-D look like Kamikaze! Thank God (Jim Wannamaker) for those sweet KENDA STICK-E RUBBER TIRES!!

Here is a shot dutifully sent in by Jimbolaya at the recent hoe-down in Crested Butte, Colorado. Highlights of the day in Colorado often include games like "Who's The Foreigner" and "Kill What Moves," but Jimbo has found a new passtime in mountain bike racing. That ol' Specialized Enduro can sure take a pounding, just like a Boy Scout at a preacher's convention! Thanks to Jim for holding it down in CO, and we all look forward to seeing Jim and Rhoda soon...on an episode of COPS! :)

Chris

More From Utah

Our Homecoming Present

Desi and I returned home Monday afternoon to find our entire kitchen ceiling on the floor, all appliances toasted, and all the wood flooring buckled. Apparently on Tuesday our hot water pipe in the attic split open, disgorging gallon after gallon of water into the 2" thick plaster ceiling in our 1943 home. The water damage ruined the wood floors, and the plaster took out the 8" Mexican tiles in the kitchen, the countertop, the cabinets, and the appliances. Sweet. I have spent each day since under the house replacing all the copper pipes and fitures, water heater, etc. Insurnce apparently doesn't cover replacing the plumbing. Good thing I'm a plumber! If I don't get back to you all right away, you will know why. Sorry for any delay in response...

Utah Pix #1

Brian Head NCS

Jay during slalom practice



King James Takes It All



VB on Marathon Trail



Feed Zone Fuzzy heading out to Boy Scout Camp

King James Steals Mormon Gold!

King James stole Moromon Gold in the XC on Saturday, taking his first-ever podium top. With the starting elevation at over 9,000', James had to bust out the toughest Sport race on the circuit. Both sore losers, the two men in 2nd and 3rd were clearly bitter that James had thrown down on their asses in the rocky and cold high country of Brian Head. After crossing the finish line victorious, James made like Billy Idol and let out a Rebel Yell that made the sheep nervous. Rock on, King James, and ya look damn good on that top podium spot!

James and Court-Dogg podium!

Court broke out the GOLD MEDAL performance in the Hill Climb last weekend, proving that the mountains of Colorado are no match for his cavernous lung capacity. With a 3.1 mile course gaining 1,100 vertical feet, and starting at 9,500 feet of elevation, Court ascended like a Sherpa to take the win. Great job, home-boy!

Also, in Rim Nordic's race #2 King James took Silver! James said he shoulda beat the guy, and will certainly whup him next race. Thanks for representin, boys!

C