CORBA Fat Tire Fest 2007
by Rob Blue on October 20th, 2007
If the turnout for this year’s CORBA Fat Tire Fest is any indication, things are looking good for mountain biking.
Just over the last 3 years I have seen this gathering go from what seemed like a a small get together to a full blown festival. The coolest thing is that it is not just a bunch of racers showing up for an end of season party, the majority of the attendees were just people who love to ride in the dirt. It looks like people are starting to get back outdoors again. Right on!
Even though we had perfect conditions this year for riding and hanging out, the day started on a bad note when we found out that Bryan was sick as a dog and wasn’t going to make it with the Evomo trailer. We missed having the Evomo booth as our base of operations. It is always cool getting a chance to talk to people that stop by to see what’s new or just see what Evomo is all about. At least with a bunch of the team there riding we were still representing Bryan’s cool designs. We ended up doing a lot of talking throughout the day anyway, the Evomo team kits really stand out in the crowd and draw some attention.
The morning started off with Zach and I riding the pavement over to the Fest with our new teammate, Jon Baskin.
Jon and I used to do some road riding and racing together a few years ago and it has taken me this long to convince him to get dirty. I think he is going to love the MTB racing scene and definitely has the ability to go as far as he wants to go in the sport. I get great satisfaction seeing someone new getting turned on to mountain biking. You can just see it on their faces when they realize that this is an awesome sport.
We arrived warmed up and ready to have some fun. We met up with Brandon and another new rider for Evomo, Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill has ridden a few miles over the years and shares our attitude of taking what we do seriously but not too seriously. If your not having fun, why do it? Life’s too short to be miserable all the time, it’s all about balance.
OK, enough of that, on with the story. Mr. Bill really knows that bikers don’t REALLY want energy bars, they want chocolate cake! Now that’s a satisfying way to fuel up for a day of off road adventure.
Our adventures this Sunday centered around the poker ride. The Fat Tire Fest is CORBA’s annual fundraiser and one of the highlights is the poker ride. If you have never done a poker ride before the object is to go to any five of eight or nine stations spread out amongst some nice trails collecting your hand.
You get what you get and have a blast doing it. I love just tooling around from station to station running into your old riding buddies and meeting new ones too. In a “small world moment” we were collecting our cards at our third stop when we ran into this guy who says, “Hey Evomo! I have a bunch of Evomo stuff.” Of course, we have to talk to this guy since he seems to be one of us. Then this guy says, “My son Michael rides for Evomo.” It turns out we are talking to our DH teammate Michael Takahashi’s dad!
Mr. Takahashi pretty much could ride circles around us all I’m sure. He tells us he was just at the Southridge Demo Days on Saturday testing out like a dozen different bikes. I asked him if he got a chance to ride a Turner DHR and he says, “That bike is awesome! Eight-and-a-half inches of travel. It rode great on the downhill course. That Southridge course is gnarly!” Jeez, It looks like just riding XC is for wimps. We were getting schooled by The Ninja’s dad!
After our last card stop on the poker ride Brandon, Jon and I decided to try to take a shortcut back for some lunch and beer. The carne asada tacos are wicked at the Fat Tire Fest and new for this year, New Belgium was going to have a beer tent! We love Fat Tire Ale!
Nothing beats an ice cold brew after some riding. Unfortunately, it took a little longer than expected to get to the good times and food and ice cold Fat Tires. I the true spirit of mountain biking we decided to explore a new trail to get back to the event.
Yep, sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it’s not. Just so happens that unless you like hike-a-biking up insanely steep goat trails today was not the day to blaze a new trail.
We eventually made it back to civilization and I ran into Billy Savage of Klunkerz fame.
If you have not heard about Klunkerz and are into mountain biking you really need to check out Billy’s film. Here is a link to his website:
Billy’s film is about where mountain biking all started. Some of the guys in his film you will recognize and some you won’t but they are all the guys that invented our sport. I spoke with Billy for a long time and that guy is just downright cool. He has done us all a favor by making Klunkerz.
Well every party must come to and end so after we were all fueled up on mexican food and beer we hopped back on our bikes to ride home. Jon and I opted for the scenic route through Upper Las Virgenes to avoid as much pavement as possible. Man, it gets hot in those canyons! I needed a nap big time once I got home.
October 20th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Wow. sounds like loads of fun. I am bummed that I was so sick I couldnt make it out… but believe me - I was sick as a dog.
Next year for sure!
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:49 am
MMMMMMMM……..Fat Tire Beer.
October 26th, 2007 at 9:21 am
It was great pleasure meeting Michael’s fellow racers, with EVOMO. What a great bunch of racers.
Rip ‘em up in 2008 guys, and I want to see all of you on the podium next season.
The Ninja’s dad.