june 2008

Campout(s)-June 5th, 2008

Most important stuff first...the 2nd annual veteran campout will take place next Saturday-Sunday at the Charlotte park (same place as last year). Here is the flyer, pass it around, tell your friends, and be sure to let us know if you're coming out either on myspace or in person.

We've had the day picked for a while but apparently there has also been a skate and bmx contest scheduled for that day as well. You can enter if you like but if not you can chill while that goes on. Word is that they're bringing in one of those inflatable bouncy things so that could prove entertaining during the downtime. We'll have the bonfire and camp at our friend Alex's property for free, so thank him for his hospitality. The next day we'll probably head out to Battle Creek to ride Kellogg Park and then head home. Last year was awesome and you'd be crazy to miss it this year. You might remember the Govan moment that inspired the sketch on the flyer, but just in case you don't here's a reminder...

Even Govan doesn't know how he got into the tent.

If you still haven't had enough of sleeping under the stars...

Peppi from Waterford let us know about a new park opening in Holly, apparently the park is near a campground. In celebration of their grand opening their having a contest and then giving a discount to camp. Should be another good time. We'll be there, you?

In one of my least shining moments...

I fell victim to mass marketing and rushed out to the very first Sonic in Michigan. I just couldn't take looking at those cool refreshing drinks anymore.

You push a button and then the drink magically appears. I was kind of disappointed that the drink didn't look like the one's on tv and I almost had a moment from the movie 'Falling Down.' If you've never seen it go and rent in now.

But Sonic redeemed itself by having tots instead of fries.

In the short time we were there a roller skating waitress fell down and flung fries as far as the eye could see, some women went through the drive through screaming about how she was a sonic virgin, and then this guy showed up. Sonic equals fun times...the only problem is that buc threw up his sonic burger later that night. Please pardon my rant about fast food, I'm a dork.

Earlier in the week we went out to visit Silent Chris and his crew at Hatfield's trails in Wayne. We lasted about a half hour, we tolerated the mosquito's as long as possible and then it started raining. It's a good place to get used to dirt though, which I need to do desperately.

Buc managed to get away for a weekend and went up north. He came back with these beauties.

Yeah, I think it's time to spend a little time outside.

If nobody's got anything going on Sunday, come by buc's for a little bbq action and then head out with us to River Bends. We haven't been out that way yet this spring and we're due. Let us know!

Hope to see you all at one of the campouts,a t least.

~Hanan

Nothin To Do-June 11th, 2008

There is no excuse to be bored this weekend, let me get all the event stuff out of the way first...

Bikefest is happening again in Ann Arbor this Friday the 13th. As I understand it, Thomas is making sure that the good old box jump will be there so that we may perform the stunts that make the crowd go crazy. Check here for all the details. Remember this from last year.

How could you miss it and live without regret?

Just another reminder, in case you forgot, the veteran Charlotte campout will be this weekend. Thankfully the weather looks like it will be decent so everything is going as planned. Gas isn't cheap these days so shove as many people as you can into your car and pool them out there. We're taking my bro's truck so if you need someplace to put your bikes so you can shove more people into your car let us know and we'll make arrangements. We'll bet here by 4pm, and it's free to ride and camp that night thanks to Alex.

And lastly, next weekend a new skatepark will be opened in Holly, MI and there will be a contest in order to celebrate...

So there is no shortage entertainment so far this summer.

This past weekend my brother Ali graduated from high school. He's been planning that day for 10 years and now it's finally over. We had a little bbq at buc's house to celebrate because we celebrate everything with food and riding in various combinations.

Everybody testing out the new deck, I love making bikers sit with little pink flowers.

Everything was going smoothly...

Bike's were being tuned in hopes of a good session...

Then this happened...

Redford Steve rode in it anyway and created some of my favorite photos.

Some people tried to wait it out.

Wagel cursed the gods...

Then it rained like crazy.

Everyone watched criminal mischief and by the time it was over the storm had passed and it even dried out enough to ride some street.

We went out to our favorite wall.

Then to wolverine where we reunited with Dane Wild quite by accident, then Carmickle and Wagel introduced us to this spot.

Isn't it pretty.

We rode it for a little bit then decided that we had milked the day as much as we could.

Ali did a burnout in honor of never having to set foot in Dearborn High again and we all went home.

I don't know why that whole thing came out like a children's story but it worked out anyway.

Don't forget, bikefest on Friday, campout this weekend, campout next weekend.

~H-dog

Sort of Stolen-June 18th, 2008

Well, we had the campout this past weekend and for the most part things went smoothly, except for when I forgot the ketchup and mustard, when I forgot the charcoal, when Drew's car broke down, when lightning filled the sky over our tents, when some asshole woke us up with a chainsaw, and oh yeah when someone stole my bike. I don't know if it's even accurate to call it stolen. While packing up the car with every other thing I dragged out there I managed to leave the most important thing behind, the whole reason for the trip, the thing no biker should ever leave behind...my bike. When we finally realized it was missing of course it was gone. Forget this, I am calling it stolen, someone took it and it wasn't theirs and that's stealing to me. It's such a shitty feeling. I keep picturing my bike is someone else's crappy garage. They're painting over the color that I spent a half hour picking out, they're sitting on my seat, they're gripping my grips. I don't like it one bit. I know bikes can be replaced, but it still sucks. We had a relationship and now I have to make friends with a whole new setup and I hate new shit on my bike. I'm in a mourning period right now. It's still too soon to look at other parts, I would feel like I was cheating, but then again I would like to ride by Saturday.

When we got there, a church group had a contest going on and these two decided to enter. The rest of the contest became known as DILLON vs. WILL!

Both were impressive, but there could only be one winner and it was...

...some other kid, but Dillon and Will got 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Here are some of the other riding photos:

Dave and Luke didn't even enter, but they still won.

This guy deserves some kind of prize.

This guy deserves nothing, he's evil and he already has an empire.

We stopped by Meijer for a pit stop on the way to Alex's land and after leaving the radio on for a little too long and Drew's car ran out of juice.

It didn't bring him down though.

On to Alex's campground.

It was raining when we got there so we threw all the bikes into and extra tent, all except one that is.

There was serious ass lightning for about an hour and I was having visions of our tent spinning into the sky like Dorothy's house. Thankfully, all was well and the storm stayed off in the distance. It actually turned out to be kind of nice.

Alex had his hands full, but did an awesome job of getting everything ready for us to come out. He was a fine host and much appreciation goes out to him and his family.

Here are more of the good times.

Someone gave my brother fire, and we're just lucky that nobody's tent went up in smoke.

We woke up the next morning to observe the damage while Wagel and Carmickle cooked a loin of pork they procured along the way.

Dillon caught up on some zzz's.

In true Govan style we found Brian like this.

Overall it was a good time spotted with moments of misfortune. I wish I still had my beloved bike, but everyone has been super nice offering up parts and helping out with the rebuild. I'm calling it a rebuild because I want to make the new bike as similar to my old one as possible (maybe a little lighter). We didn't accompany the clan out to Battle Creek cause being short two wheels really puts a damper on planned sessions.

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped out, you're all awesome.

Don't forget there will be yet another campout this weekend in Holly, MI. We'll be out there but probably not staying over night. Hope to see you all there.

Oh yeah, if anyone runs across some little runt riding a light purple fly pantera with dark purple animal pedals, profile hubs, and an odyssey seat, kick his ass and save my bike!

Thanks again to everyone who camped out.

~Hanan

Adapting-June 28th, 2008

Not too much going on lately on account of trying to assemble a new ride. Here it is.

It's way lighter than it used to and the more I ride it the more I'm finding that it is a good thing. I would feel like a traitor if I said that I like this more than the old set up so I'll just say that I like this near equally. My frame and cranks got shorter, the back hub is much smoother, and the sprocket got bigger. Originally I put on my old tiny fly bars but something just wasn't right. Thanks to Scott Towne for providing me with some slams and allowing everything to fall into place. I started out riding slams and I don't know why I ever stopped. The purple pedals have been reincarnated as well because I just can't ride without them.

We went out to the Belleville park to break things in a few days ago and found this...

Which made Ali do this...

I wasn't about to throw a brand new bike over a fence so we took off.

We went and spent a little time by the lake which wasn't so bad so everything worked out in the end.

We'll probably be at TRP mostly this weekend breaking in the new whip.

Jarvis let us know about a jam happening out in Chicago next weekend. If we can get the cash together we'll probably head out but that new bike set us back so who knows. Chicago sounds real good now.

Buc and I are getting closer and closer to getting all the wedding plans together so stay posted for the exact date. It should all go down before September and it should definitely be interesting.

Hanan