xcrament http://www.xcrament.com the life and photos of a shitbag Fri, 21 May 2010 14:28:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 en Border jumpers http://www.xcrament.com/border-jumpers/ http://www.xcrament.com/border-jumpers/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 14:20:21 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/border-jumpers/

Mikes Sky Ranch is almost a Baja Museum with every window and door plastered with stickers from years of baja racing history

 

dont forget to go to http://emeryphoto.blogspot.com/ too

back on the baja race course

sign should read “No Traspassing unless you have wire cutters”

we are going that way

follow this cattle path for 20-30 miles and it leads too

 

rock climb

 

 

 

 

“dropping”

terrorizing a vacant beach in the middle of no where

 

finally led this horse to water

 

food

real crab burritos recommended by the owner

the same guy who asked us to proof read his drink special list for the upcoming  baja 500 race in two weeks

 

back to the race course

 

5th gear wide open is sketchy in the loose stuff

 

 so we pull into a city on the beach called Ensenada and Mark asks if we want to ride more along the beach. hop a sidewalk and picture people walking, hanging out, volleyball games and 3 idiots on dirtbikes

 

 

 

then a few block ride to our hotel in the city

from our balcony (look closer)

 

typical street vendors all pedaling the same garbage

 

well it wasnt all garbage

 

trying to blend in with the locals

 

 

who else could pull off a NO FEAR drugrug

not sure what gave it away but right about now a local asked us where we were from because we “dont look mexican”

so mark tries to “look mexican”

and i do my best to blend in with the locals as well

 

our balcony below the neon…we were in the Happening spot

 

mikes brother he never knew he had

 

car load of “working girls” below our balcony. the one was 6′5″ and looked like Dee Snyder with the adam’s apple to match

 

sleep…

morning

VIP garage parking, cant have these things getting dirty

 

out of town and into this awesome pine forest

 

gas station

self-service

 

watersports

 

mike has much better pics

 

drenched

this pine forest was seriously one of the nicest places i have ever been

rock hop

 

 

 

Mike crossing the border. “No i dont have  NO FEAR drugrug to claim”

USA

Miles Covered: 615

Days in Mexico: 3.5

Near Death Experiences: lost track

Bad People encountered: Zero

i have dirt and sand in places i havent washed in years. i cant believe it took me so long to get there but it wont be long till we go back. this was just a warm-up. next ride we are already talking over will blow this away.

 

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/border-jumpers/feed/ sick days in MEXICO http://www.xcrament.com/sick-days-in-mexico/ http://www.xcrament.com/sick-days-in-mexico/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 17:06:55 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/sick-days-in-mexico/ i go to work when im sick so i can use my sick days for stuff like…leaving the country to ride dirtbikes. since the first time Mark rode the baja in Mexico he has been telling me non-stop that i need to experience it for myself. spending four days riding hundreds of miles of the hardest terrain through the most desolate areas of a foreign country doesnt sound like a vacation to most, but i knew mike “party boy” emery would enjoy this trek. with all the news reports of violence, kidnapping and corruption in Mexico my last phone call before crossing the border was too my mother who laid down the law “dont hang out with any bad people”.

all loaded up and making a run for the border

 

all laced up and ready to cross the border.  literally rode through Mexican border on the bikes into a city called Tecate. right through the city streets to the highway and then out into the hills. i couldnt believe it was legal

we ended up riding 30 miles into the country the first afternoon to a small village/ hotel so that first thing friday morning we could really get on our way.

milk jug gas station

 

mother and her young welcoming committee

like father like son

 

would you follow this guy into the interior of a foreign country?

this mongrel followed us to our room

 

Mike has a “real” camera he lugged along. for “real” high quality photos of our journey go here : http://emeryphoto.blogspot.com/

as authentic mexican as you can get

DAY ONE:

miles traveled: 3000 by air/ 30 by moto

near death experiences: zero

number of “bad people” i hung out with: zero

 Since there is no possible way to really capture the difficulty and technicality of racing or riding in the baja i did a quick video search and posted the first video i found so you can get an idea of what a 200 mile off road day of baja really is like. its beats the shit out of you

 

suns up. lets roll

a well known breakfast spot in the village of Ojos Negros

 

circus is in town

 

if you ride a “moto” all the locals assume you are a pro racer and all they want are stickers. it doesnt matter that they have no idea what the stickers is. mark makes friends with the natives. 

 gringos

miles and miles away from civilization we came across a local woman and infant who was stuck. she nearly drove straight into this hole which was easily 10 feet deep.

stopping for a second to take it all in. the miles we covered and the speeds we were traveling made it hard to take any pics of the actual riding. these were literally cattle trails, farm roads, river beds, mountain trails that are hundreds of miles from any sort of civilization

 

 

the gas station attendant at this fuel stop spoke very good english. when Mark commented on it he explained that he had lived in the States for years before being deported after being caught with “a little bit” of weed. when i asked what “a lil bit of weed” was he said 200 lbs.

all fueled up… back to no mans land

 

this is along the driveway of our destination for night number two. the world famous Mikes Sky Ranch. his driveway is 30 miles long over dirt, rock, streams up and over numerous mountains and valleys.

welcoming committee

 

pool was empty for painting which sucked

 

garage kept

this place only has electricity when they start a generator as the sun goes down and they let it run for just and hour or two and that it.

 

the water crossing on the way in and out is NOT optional. after a rain it is measured by feet not inches

we were pretty beat after the day that we couldnt wait for the sun to go down so we could go to bed

DAY TWO:

miles traveled: 205

near death experiences: 5 (blowing turns at high speed into ravines or hitting random cattle in the trail)

number of bad people encountered: zero

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/sick-days-in-mexico/feed/ Loyalsock Trail http://www.xcrament.com/loyalsock-trail/ http://www.xcrament.com/loyalsock-trail/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:28:25 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/loyalsock-trail/  The Loyalsock Trail (LT) is a 59.3 mi (95.4 km) hiking trail along Loyalsock Creek in Lycoming and Sullivan counties in north centralPennsylvania in the United States…and just a few miles a our mountain home

(photo: Glenn?)

Our plan was to park a car at two separate lots  and leisurley cover about 13 miles of it on an overnight hike.

 

its just a hop skip and a jump

only guy with his aqua socks

pick your line

up

 

braving the class V’s  at Haystacks Falls

lunch bunch

family

stolen from http://theseourwasteddays.blogspot.com/

Sones Pond

 

gator

loyalty

artsy

statue pose

wiener

10 miles = ready for dinner

 

a nice home for the night right by the water

 

waiting for the sun to set

Temple of the Dog cover shoot. new album 2010

eats

 

illiteracy

outlaws

 

one man tent + zero degree rated sleeping bag + one dog + one dude = steamy situation

 breakfast

wake the neighbors

gotta love the spent shell ejection from the over/under 12 gauge

ejection

 

many a fun days of shooting have been had

the next 36hrs he looked like this

Great two days or so. Tight crew. Great weather. Just say the word because my stuff is still packed and for sure Harley will go

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/loyalsock-trail/feed/ Colorado 2009 http://www.xcrament.com/colorado-2009/ http://www.xcrament.com/colorado-2009/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:50:14 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/colorado-2009/ After a stellar year in Colorado last year at this time with ort long time friends and wonderful hosts…it took Brett about 2 seconds to think about his reply when i asked if we were gonna do it again

 

first morning we got right to work…but were snowed out at stop #1

 

with a little shoveling and some sun we made some stuff happen at stop #2

snow pants and hiking boots…

the runway

all pics that look like Me were stolen from  (http://morewasteddays.blogspot.com/ and lisaandjersadventures.blogspot.com)

shoveled out an approach to the up/down ledge

off to snowshoe in the rockies

look back at the previous picture

 

frolicking on a frozen waterfall

wrong day to wear your antler hat

 

next A.M. off to Breckenridge with the occasional Bighorn sheep along the road

the most accurate way to test snow depth

it was windy, cold and snowed pretty much the entire day

 

 

 

Vail was crowded

under the rope = unopened, untracked, and off limits. its the first place we went

shit was knee deep

i spent way too much time trying to rotate this photo and its just not happening

in case you didnt know who The Skipper was

 

we were greeted at the bottom of the slopes by these mongrels

this lil lady instantly fell victim to my charm

meet Mom and Dad

 

early morning Copper Mtn jet stream

it was sunny and warm. tons of snow in the trees but the hiking the park was where it was at

this looooong multi-level box was well worth the hike

 

back to the woods…guess where i just came from

 

taking a moment to reflect

we spent 3 nights in this slope side condo in Breckenridge

cable TV, fireplace, full kitchen, jacuzzi, 2 shitters…it was perfect

the next morning we were preparing to go ride backcountry on Loveland Pass and we caught this on the news

this was literally where we were going. and didnt deter us

 

said “avalanche” remains in the upper left

 

 

 

i found this natural tree wally and got in the way of lisa taking a pic of brett (see next pic)

 

 

or brett taking a pic of lisa…either way i got in their shot

back country kicker session

1 jump. 2 angles. 1 tweaked out method

Long day at Loveland is capped off with 55 degree temps and a session at the denver park

some snow in crucial spots but plenty of skateable stuff available

maximizing board time on this trip we stopped at one more spot n the way to the airport. (thanks lisa for letting me abuse your cruiser)

just like last year it was another perfect trip. tight crew. everyday maximized. unbelievable hospitality. great weather. see you again in 2010

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/colorado-2009/feed/ A Fixed Gear Philadelphia LIVESTRONG Challenge 100 http://www.xcrament.com/philadelphia-livestrong-challenge-100/ http://www.xcrament.com/philadelphia-livestrong-challenge-100/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:24:33 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/philadelphia-livestrong-challenge-100/ This past weekend was an event organized by the Foundation formed by not only the most accomplished cyclist in history but also a cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. It is a “challenge” and not a race in order to raise awareness and donations for cancer research. Some 6500 participants raised over 3.2 million dollars for the cause. Out of all the participants only one was dumb enough to “challenge” himself to the 100 mile ride on a single speed/fixed gear/brake less track bike.

My Motivation: My grandmother who had 3 battles with cancer and who I recently lost

Kim’s mother who we tragically lost so prematurely

Ray and Big Al. Two long time close friends who have both battled and won

My Inspiration:

Earlier this year some of the Mash SF crew rode the Tour of California. 6 Riders/9 Days/750 miles. Absolutely ridiculous. This preview video says it all. Definitely earned tons of respect.

The Ride: “The total climbing elevation for the 100 mile course is 4,337 feet.”

My Ride:

needs some TLC after the ride

My story:

Overall I had a good time.  I definitely got a few looks standing in line for 100 mile ride with my bike but it was all the motivation I needed. Having never done a century ride I wasn’t sure if one with over 4300 ft of climbing was the right ride but it was for a good cause. The announcer pointing me out as we left the start line was kinda funny too. I think most of the doubters new I was for real as I was passing them on the 1st long climb and didn’t turn off at the 70 mile ride mark and followed the signs for the 100. The highlight of my day was the Landis Store climb. It is about 58 miles into the ride and climbs around 500 vert. feet in a mile. I pedaled by at least 30 people walking there expensive, geared road bikes up the climb.  As soon as the devil (guy dressed as the devil directing traffic at an intersection) saw me coming he began heckling all the walkers as the “fixed gear guy” pedaled on by them. I refuse to get off my bike and walk. I will have to fall over before I give up and get off. I definitely answered a lot of questions and received a lot of praise and respect from fellow riders as the day went on. The term “you are a better man than me” was heard dozens of times as I was passing riders yet all declined my offer to trade bikes. coming into the finish the announcer told me to “slow my roll” for photo ops. it was when I skidded sideways he realized I was “the fixed gear guy” and the place went nuts as he called it “Philly or NY type skills” which was funny.

I heard dozens of times “What’s with the long sleeves?”

My reply “I have 3x invested in my tattoos as you do your bike”

I finished in around 6.5 hrs riding time. i ran 48/16 gearing which meant i really needed to keep my momentum going up each climb which is why I was passing everyone on the up hills. It was a leap frog effect. I passed them going up, they passed me coasting going down while I was pedaling my ass off.

Thanks to all who donated, all who inspired, and here’s to all who motivated. Whats next?

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/philadelphia-livestrong-challenge-100/feed/ Saw something on my morning ride http://www.xcrament.com/saw-something-on-my-morning-ride/ http://www.xcrament.com/saw-something-on-my-morning-ride/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:42:32 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/saw-something-on-my-morning-ride/ While pedaling this a.m. up the Macungie mtn. I heard some loud rumbling while I crested the top. I had seen the following link sometime ago…

 

There is a big powerstation on top of the mtn and i got to see this in action. i had a conversation with a PPL worker about what they where doing, and what I was doing. Apparently the second helicopter was filming a TV show for the BBC called “Invisible Industry”. I had my phone so grabbed a few crappy pics. Being 150ft away from watching this guy hanging out of a helicopter, getting zapped and clipping onto the wire is fucking cool.

Guy even gave me his card. I wish I had a business card that was this cool.

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/saw-something-on-my-morning-ride/feed/ STPR Rally Weekend http://www.xcrament.com/stpr-rally-weekend/ http://www.xcrament.com/stpr-rally-weekend/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:29:47 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/stpr-rally-weekend/ This event…
One of the oldest rally races on the schedule, Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (commonly known as STPR) began in 1977. It is not only the oldest, but it is also the fastest rally in North America. With roads consisting of clay and gravel, the course is slippery, fast and extremely dangerous. Drivers travel at speeds reaching 100 MPH through densely wooded roads. The speeds combined with the dangerous course ensure that this rally is not for the feint at heart.

Takes place not too far from my place in the mountains of north central PA. The right thing to do is round up a bunch of dudes, tons of food, guns, and disappear into the middle of nowhere for a weekend.

The early risers get to see the cars lined up in starting order in downtown Wellsboro

Starting 1st and who everyone wants to see. Ken Block

and 2nd. motorcross and xxxtreme sport legend Travis Pastrana

Travis

Ken Block. (the man behind the wheel in the following vid)

 

Dave Mirra (i think he is only famous for hosting Real World/ Road Rules challenge?)

The race consists of 15 timed stages on friday and 15 stages on saturday. all cars must be street legal because they drive public roads to and from each stage. this is the start in downtown Wellsboro

No shame in his photo game…Metal J right up in it

On our way to spectator area but following a racer who clearly lost his bumper on friday.

For those that dont know the stages are timed and the drivers  have never seen or driven these roads before. Stages vary in lentgh but can be up to 15 miles of gravel mtn. roads and they rely on instructions from a co-driver who is relaying information off a map. Therefore roll-overs, wrecks, collisions with trees/rocks/etc are very common.

The first spectator area we made it to was on stage 4. This is video I took of Ken Block.

Travis Pastrana

not positive but i think this guy was smuggling horseshit under his stupid hat

waiting at stage 9…The Dudes (L to R):  Barold, Metal J, Bagger, Papa Bear, Shitbag, Chuckles. (the last of the crew not pictured was the photographer)

Stage 9 was a tight 180deg. turn. Take notes on the following of how to properly handle the situation

Ken Block (note his rear bumper is missing which was attached in the previous vid of stage 4)

Travis kills it

this pic was captured during the above video of travis by mike and his $900,000,000 camera he borrowed from his employer.  Def the sickest shot he got. (peep the glowing red hot brake rotors)

this guy has apparently spent some time bouncing off rocks and trees

VW love

competitors are allowed only 15min. before the last stage for repairs. ken’s crew awaits his arrival.

back to the homestead to shoot shit

“PULL”

Grillin, Beer, Marshmellows…Man type shit

7 dudes, racing, guns, steak = Meatfest 09′

Sunday a.m….more guns

sunnin’ them titties

digging a 12gauge slug out of some lumber

found

its obvious why ladies find him “dreamy”

i found my new hat at a gun store in the middle of nowhere and it was the best find of the weekend

shotguns use shells, this guy uses silver bullets. tap the rockies

over 400 empty shells is evidence of why it sounded like World War III at my place.

great weekend. hoping it all goes down again next year

 

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/stpr-rally-weekend/feed/ 48 hours in Cali http://www.xcrament.com/48-hours-in-cali/ http://www.xcrament.com/48-hours-in-cali/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:13:32 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/48-hours-in-cali/ a quick but action packed jaunt to the left coast.

Runyon canyon hike with my Bro…and our ho’s (not pictured)

the way we came up

in our hike we saw 1000 dogs having the time of their lives

chopper

my grandfather had one of these. and i drove it in highschool. and if it looked like kim’s neighbors i would still have it

a huge Royal ad on La Brea ave

i should have gone inside to confirm that Kat Von Dude pisses standing up

 

Griffith Observatory. cool as hell

do to clouds the telescope was closed

Hollywood at night

 

Hollywood at night in an earthquake (not really)

meet Harry

and Theo

teaching them bad habits

me being on east coast time and used to my normal daily routine, i was up early and took the rascals for a walk. in 45 min we covered half a city block

back to bed

another reason for my visit was to spend some on my sleeve

freehand decapatated diver

very dead diver

and a free hand shark. cant wait for the color on this thing

La Jolla seals

 

whiskers

out of nowhere it was like the start of a race and they all just woke up and bolted for the water

 

if my hand looked like the one in this sign i would rather have it bitten off by a seal

stopped by Washington st. on the way to the airport

home. 48 hours in cali and im goin back soon. need to hang with my crew and get some color in my arm

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/48-hours-in-cali/feed/ Chicago. our weekend in the breezy city http://www.xcrament.com/chicago-our-weekend-in-the-breezy-city/ http://www.xcrament.com/chicago-our-weekend-in-the-breezy-city/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 14:22:58 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/chicago-our-weekend-in-the-breezy-city/ My photos are slacking. but i finally had a reason to take a few. and honestly a fair share of these pics were lifted from other sites because there was just so much going on that i didnt really feel like carrying a camera with. (which is a good thing because my phone ended up getting crushed anyways).

4:30 a.m. wake up call for the airport. Who is with me?

check this guy for a pulse

our reasons for travel usually revolve around skateboarding obviously so when i heard about the two day Burning Fight book release/90’s hardcore reunion show in chicago i didnt even have to ask brett, i just assumed he was in. brett and i have this habit of rubbing elbows with celebs at airports. seat 13D brett, 13E myself, 13F jimmy “superfly”snuka. is there a better way to start a weekend

(L to R): Noneck, Shitbag, Snuka, Kid Rad

my camera sucks, maybe i should carried it and had it crushed

where is the Married with Children fountain?

 

self portrait. sears tower. big deal

some guy named Picasso designed this.

and apparently skateboarding here is a Federal Offense therefore the person in this photo shall remain nameless. (photo boosted from: www.morewasteddays.blogspot.com)

wallride everything

Big Ben

“love and marriage, love and marriage”

i fucking owned this Bundy 12 stair hubba (proof: morewasteddays.blogspot.com)

we pushed what felt like 20 miles to find the famous Sea Wall

i purposely didnt put a new board together for this trip because i assumed mine was gonna end up in the drink…and it didnt. figures

…all band photos and videos were boosted from other people. this was our other reason for going. great line-up, great venue, great crowd.

Damnation ad.

RINGWORM

108

Underdog

this is the most talked about photo off the weekend as far as capturing the moment…xtrialx

UNBROKEN. this is my reason for going. this band hasnt played together in years. they just got back together for this book release and two other west coast book release shows. one of my all time fav’s who i only got to see once in the 90’s.

this park was a mere 5min train ride from the show. we hit it on sunday afternoon and it was standing room only. this was monday morning. much better

i got home late monday night after being gone 3 days. apparnetly the next best thing to sleeping with me is draggin out my dirty laundry and sleeping with that

 

kids are trying for another event like this next year. im there. i will get brett a ticket right away. tons of laughs with noneck as usual. if you slept on it, you fucked up. if you were supposed to go and then didnt. you really fucked up. we really wanted ray to come because he would got swine flu for sure.

 

 

]]> http://www.xcrament.com/chicago-our-weekend-in-the-breezy-city/feed/ Its March why was this not posted in December? Colorado revisited http://www.xcrament.com/its-march-why-was-this-not-posted-in-december-colorado-revisited/ http://www.xcrament.com/its-march-why-was-this-not-posted-in-december-colorado-revisited/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:31:29 +0000 Matt http://www.xcrament.com/its-march-why-was-this-not-posted-in-december-colorado-revisited/ It was brought to my attention that I never finished the write-up of my trip to visit some old friends in Colorado. Good thing it still seems like it was yesterday

snowshoeing to the hot springs..im laced

nobody home

3 miles later

first to greet me was a rare wirehaired wieramer youngster named Chieftan

i got Chieftan a lil rowdy

always hydrating

 

 

this place was amazing

the next morning we rode backcountry at Loveland Pass. drive to the top. get dropped off, and then meet your ride at the bottom

 

 

too much rehydrating=lots of dehydrating…remeber that next time you tap the rockies

 

my proposed line in the gulley

sun tried to break through on jer’s strap in

bottom road is where peeps line up to catch a ride back to the summit. it is only a matter of minutes till a local goes by with a pick-up.

after riding loveland for 8 straight hours we headed back to Denver where it just happened to be 60 degrees so we headed to the free park downtown.

 

 

 

 

 

this place is huge, and fucking awesome. after 2 hours of that on top of 8 hours at loveland we were spent.

the next day we took a day off and drove to Rocky Mtn National park to find the haunted Stanley Hotel (where stephen king stayed and inspired “the Shining”, and  parts of Dumb and Dumber were filmed)

 

off to the park in search of animals

 

we managed to get really really close to these huge elk. this isnt zoomed. he wasnt as happy to see me as i was him

him and his pals split

 

on our last morning we got up early to go get a few more lines in at Loveland. temps were cold and that didnt include the wind chill.  mount up

 

 

 

cobra commander

Jeremy shot our hike/line from a parking lot

 

brett pics his photo angle and i pic drop off

stolen from http://morewasteddays.blogspot.com/

dropping

 

 

 

 

the locals would drop into the woods and let their dogs follow through the deep snow. it looked awesome. made me want to bring my boys out. it was this lil guys first time out.

 

i wasnt getting on a fucking plane till i saw another Bighorn Sheep

done

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