Guess who's back???

Square One MFer's. I couldn't be more pumped on this news. Some of the best bmx videos ever in my opinion came from Square One back in the day. The team looks bad ass as normal. Congrats Bennett. Their website is now in the links. Here is a quick video I found of Bennett for Demolition. Watch it kids and learn to do no-handers proper.

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/demolition-bennett-vid/db4f4224cbf5dd7c29e5db4f4224cbf5dd7c29e5-138002497713?q=kris%20bennett&FORM=VIRE3

Brad is a beast

What the?













Head tube view.













Top & Down tube view













We all know Brad's a beast. I beat him to the trails and he was riding towards the chill zone and when he rounded the corner his bike looked pretty weird. His rear triangle was atleast 20 degrees bent to the side compared to the head tube. Riding in he thought his cranks were bent. Once we noticed the sliver of metal keeping the bike together, one more twist of the handle bars and it snapped. He is probably lucky he did not die last night riding, because it was definitely broke by the end of Thursday night's session. It was sort off funny, because he checks his frame weekly for cracks. He has wondered since day one how much abuse a 4.75 # frame could take. I would say Brad never abused the frame like I have seen some people do, but he rode the hell out of it. Its also why I run a 6# frame considering I'm twice the weight of most kids now a days.

Hopefully he can get his new frame next week, because the Welcome Jam at Potoczny's is next Saturday. The jam the last 2 years has been a great day of riding, chilling, bbq-ing and what bmx should be about. Check out the info at http://roundtwobmx.com/r2wp/

Check out the new link for the Penn State Trails. I remember going there for the first time in 1995 / 1996 when I was attending PSU and not believing what I saw. Unfortunately, I was into MTB-ing at the time and just thinking about getting back into BMX. I was helping my brother build dirt jumps when I would visit home and it definitely influenced me. The PSU trails have been great some years to horrible others. Looks like they are back on the rise. Awesome.

Future Heathen???

Dinger with his signature one-hander.

Dinger left this weekend to start school at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. He will be in Heathen's territory for the next year and a half with some quick visits back here and there. Hopefully he meets up with them soon and starts helping them out and keeps riding and getting smoother. Check it out. http://www.theheathens.blogspot.com/

I will have you graduation card and gift the next time I see you. Good Luck and try your best.

3rd Sunday Funday for August

It sucks not having pictures to post. Who real gives a crap about what I have to say. Pictures are worth a thousand words or so the saying goes. Digital was charged up and the same with the recorder and the goal was pictures at a minimum and footage hopefully. Original plans was to go to the Meadville area to ride some trails for a change of pace. Cleveland guys got going early and was going to met us there. Unfortunately we got news it was pouring in Meadville and we turned around 10 minutes after leaving the shop.

Brad checked the weather and we started heading to our trails with the Cleveland guys about an hour behind hoping to dodge the rain. Got everything un-tarped, watered and did some dialing until the guys showed up. They showed up and had the normal meet and great and everyone started to get padded up and heading towards the roll-in. I could hear it coming. It started sprinkling, but P'Simer was going to get in at least one run and dropped in and flowed like normal. Brad made a run and mud was already slinging in the flat bottoms. It looked like it was going to pass pretty quick, so we left them untarped to help with the watering.

It stopped raining in about 5 minutes, so we chilled, bs'ed, did some more dialing, some drainage work and about 45 minutes later they looked good to go. Brad, Dave and P'Simer got a run or two in and it started down pouring. Their last runs were in the down pour and quite amusing. Instead of the normal knobbies buzzing sound that is heard through out the trails the squishing sound of mud seamed pretty funny. We called it a day.

Saturday was a chill day and Brad and Joe T worked on and rode the bowl area. Brad has been working on this area again along with the start of the new lines heading back to the beginning. Everything is making progress and is going to be super fun. The bowl was riding in nicely and I was told actually feel pretty good considering it was only roughly formed.

Brad's Mini-Road Trip

Brad went on a quick road trip the beginning of last week. We had a project finish up at work that needed to be in North Carolina on Monday morning. Friday afternoon we could not find a trucking company that could get it there with out charging an arm and a leg or garanteeing it would be there Monday. He left around 8:00 Sunday night after a good trails session with the Cleveland guys and drove throught the night to get it there before 7:00 Monday morning.

Monday morning he made it back to Richmond Virgina and found a hotel to crash at to get caught up on sleep. Tueday he got some directions to some local trails from some guys that came to the trails earlier in the year. No name for what they were called, but there was a good variety of stuff to ride. With the 100+ degree summer weather there, the trails had seen better days. We are guessing it is the off-season and they are jamming in the fall, spring and maybe the winter. Brad took alot of cool pics and they definately had some cool and unique lines. Hopefully we can make it down once snow flies here.

Tuedays evening he made it back into PA and went to York to check out the concrete park there. I have been wanting to go there since it was built, because concrete is the next best thing to trails. I love the feeling of coming up with lines for the first time and dialing them in. It was what we were hoping for and can't wait to get the crew down that way. The park is exactly what the city of Warren should have built, instead of the piece of crap pre-fab cement park that they paid good money for that fell apart with in 2 weeks. Street stuff for the skaters and flowing transitions for the bikers. Everyones happy then. Brad got some riding in and a couple of hell yeahs from some locals on some lines he was doing. There was also some dirt jumps right next to the park also. Pretty dry, but Brad took a couple of trips thru the 2 lines. Check it out at http://www.reidmenzermemorialskatepark.org/ and http://www.concretedisciples.com/skateparksdb/skateparks_display.php?id=3712

He made it back to work Wednesday and had some good stories and pictures to share. Nothing like going on a road trip and having work pay for it.

08-08-10 Update

Trail start overview.
Far right, Geronimo
Dead center, Roller Line into Main Line
to left, Main Line
Far Left, 3 berm Line








Main Line's 3rd lip on right
Geronimo's 3rd lip on left
NBL Line start between the 2 lips









A week late, but here is last weekends post. What can I say, there are not enough hours in a day or week. Trails were rocking. Cleveland guys came out for some riding on Sunday Funday. A crew of racers from the Buffalo, NY area also made it down for part of Saturday and most of Sunday. Pretty much everything is being hit, besides the bowl area. I was hoping for some good action pics, but everything was turning out too dark. Above are a couple of pics I like. Got some good video footage of Dave and Brad training and ripping before I had to leave early.

Sunday Funday

Dinger 3ing the step-up in the Main Line.












Brad 3 tail tapping the set out of the 3 berm.













Went to ride the trails today and a skatepark contest broke out. Not really. Just a little jibbing on the set out of the 3 berm that resembles a street spine. Brad was pulling some trickery that I had never seen before and Dinger was hucking and coming close at multiple tricks.

I missed it, but Aaron made it down to the trails with a 26" MTB jumper. We have had many discussions on whether a 26" bike could make it thru the trails or not. Some of the MTB guys that don't ride trails, I think were thinking that it couldn't be done. I was positive that the correct rider on a good 26" MTB jumper could get it done. Aaron and Brad were making it thru the Main Line and Roller Line after a couple of tries. Being 36, I don't know when I will outgrow a 20" little kids BMX bike, but there is some hope I will have something to ride when I finally do.

Allegheny Cyclery Facebook

I'm not into Facebook, but check out Allegheny Cyclery's page. The BMX portion of the shop is official with S&M Bikes, Fit Bike Co and United available. Go buy a new bike from Aaron and Josh right now. Tell them Farmboy Trails sent you and you want the family discount. I'm sure there is no discount, but support this awesome shop and an OG Farmboy.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001272422947

Pool party at the trails

Pool party at the trails this weekend. Brings suits, towels and BYOB. The Geronimo Line swimming hole is finally full and ready for action. Looks like chocolate milk.
















1st landing and 2nd lip in Geronimo are under water from last weekends thunderstorms. Judging from the dirty water marks on the tarps the water level has only dropped 6". I'm estimating there is a good 600 to 800 gallons of water laying here. The rest of the trails are good to go and still need watering.

No riding pics from Thursday's riding, becasue it was too dark to take anything decent. Ridgeway guys made it up to ride, before we got out of work. Brad and Dinger got some riding in. I made it to the trails to get away from work. Made quick work at widening the first lip 2 feet on the right side on the Roller Line leading into the Main Line. Should work better for the hip out to NBL Line so you don't have to carve the lip in order to make the landing. My arm proceeded to lock-up 3 times in 10 minutes so I gave up on digging and was going to try some riding. Go grab my bike and the back tire was flat. I think it was a sign since I have not had a flat tire in 3+ years. Will try again this weekend for some riding and action pics.

Come Ride Me!!!

That's what she said. Seriously though. The trails are lonely. They need ridden. Thursday night riding session is a go and hopefully everyone can make it and the upcoming weekend. Brad and Dinger have some good helmet cam stuff I need to get up on Vimeo from their recent sessions.

I will admit it, I have been slacking at the trails. Works been busy and getting busier. 30 hours in the last 2 days and pretty tired, but I can't wait for Thursday. I could go into a rant here about how no one rides or digs, but what is the point. I know everyone is busy and the trails are not everyones priority. Just try to come out once a week and have fun on your bike, hang out, have a hot dog on the fire. It is going to be winter before we know it. I guess I did rant a little.

Stopped Sunday to see Brad digging at the trails on about 4 different projects. Between tornados in the area and atleast 4 inches of rain in a day or so, the trails handled it like a champ. Drainage is pretty dialed on most everything. Surprisingly they could have been ridden if you had knobbies on. Some minor repairs need done from the run-off from the tarps, but in general everything just needs ridden. We will get some pictures up next time.

Joe T. Flattie

I love this photo of Joe T. for so many reasons. The lip he is launching is maybe 2 foot tall. He is easily 5 to 6 foot above the lip while tabled and kicked out at the same time. The set before this I think he 360 tail-tapped. I could take photos of tables all day.

Dinger from the 3rd of July

I'm back from vacation and sadly this is the first post for July. I planned on doing a couple of updates while on vacation, but WiFi was pretty much non-existant. Some interesting journeys trying to find wireless networks that don't require passwords. I was hoping to hit up some trails in the Buffalo area, but instead my bike got to see Niagara Falls for the first time.

We will call this the Dinger edition. He bought Aaron's bike and he is riding smoother and going higher then ever. These pics are from 2 weeks ago when he was pulling new tricks on command for the camera.




















Still working on my photography skills, so most pics are taken late. Hoping to get a lot of pictures and riding in tomorrow.

Saturday Jam Happenings

Brad and Chevy training. 4th set in Main Line. My favorite pic of the day. Nothing says trails like a good train pic.

Cole and Shawn training the Roller Line into the Main Line.





















If you know Chevy, then you know the X-up was tweeked. Caught late over the 1st set in Main Line even after he held it longer for me to catch.

























Brad hitting the 2nd set in Geronimo. It was heavily sessioned thru out the day and was riding in nice. I always find it funny how jumps never look that big in photos. Case in point. About a 20 foot gap with 2 feet of step-up.




















Jordan hitting the 2nd set in Geronimo. Normal trail stuff went down over the 2nd set and Jordan went off on the 3rd set.

Future Farmboy trailboss in the making. Having a blast on the 18" BMX. Hitting up the 1st roller in the Roller Line. I wish I had his energy.


























Taking a break for the day from the MX and hitting the 2nd roller in the Roller Line. I wish I had stuff like this to ride when I was 10 years old. Another future trailboss in the making.

I think everyone had a great time riding, BBQ-ing and chilling. Small turn out compared to what we were hoping for, but when the weather radar is showing rain over the area most of the day, its hard to get more then locals to come out. We had sprinkles for a minute or 2, but with the tree cover it did nothing. Dave, Steve and Rob from Cleveland were the only non-locals although Dave is pretty much considered a local that lives 3 hours away.

Fire was going all day and Brad's firewood pile shrunk considerable. I made a couple of trips with the tractor and trailer to get all of the coolers and grills to the chill zone. That was an adventure in itself. Nothing like using a small lawn tractor to do a job that probably needs a four-wheel drive ATV. Dinger was on vacation so we were out of luck.

Riding wise stuff got done. Jordan was doing lines that we did not know that existed and Dave W. was doing lines that existed, but thought to maybe be impossible. Brad was ripping Geronimo most of the day, probably wishing the next 2 sets were done and doing his normal thing. Chevy was keeping his Standard Trailboss frame proud with his normal style. Dave from Cleveland did a trail trick clinic over every set in the Main Line for a couple of runs. That is what stuck out in mind.

The Cleveland guys stayed the night and hopefully more from Cleveland are coming today. The weather looks good for today and it might turn into an un-official 2 day jam. We will see what happens. Hopefully I can steal some good pictures from Dave W camera from Saturday.

Summer Jam still a go

The trails are looking good for Saturday's Summer Jam date. A little rain today, but Friday is supposed to be perfect and Saturday is looking at 30% chance of thunder stoms. With the tarps on everything, it would take inches of rain to keep riding from going down. Hopefully everyone makes it out even if the skys are not bright and sunny.

Sunday we had return and new visitors from Pittsburgh come dial and ride. It's awesome when visiting trail riders show up and know exactly what needs fixed, then proceed to dial stuff in. They worked their magic on a couple of lips and landing. The help was very appreciated.

Mulville updated his blog with photos and commentary from his visit to the trails last Thursday. www.wolfbrandclothing.blogspot.com is where you want to check it out and support fellow trail riders. Dinger, quite bothering him.

We had visitors mid-week for 2 days from Virginia that are friends with Erin. I'm horrible with names and was only there real quick to help get the step-up roller after the 2nd berm improved for the jam. The main man owns a traveling bike shop that follows national BMX races and South Park is this weekend. Very cool guys and dialed bikes. Check out their website at www.powersbikeshop.com for all of you racing / trail needs.

Plans are in the works for some of the guys to hit up the Heathen jam on July 3rd www.theheathens.blogspot.com and Orchid Footwear and S&M Bikes Jam on July 4th www.orchidfootwear.com. Should be good times both days. Talk to Brad about details.

There is always stuff that need dialing, but in general the trails are better then ever right now. Can only imagine how they will be this Fall. Get to the trails tonight and help dial stuff in. Did I say dialed enough. I need a new word.

Thursday Super Session

Thursday we had some visitors from Pittsburgh make the journey up to get some riding in. Josh, Brodie and Mark showed up around 1:00 or so and Brad and the boys showed them around and got them started. I was going to get out of work early and that backfired as normal. I rode in around 5:00 and got to witness the Mulville show on the Main Line. All I can say is dialed. Consistently hitting tree limbs that rarely get hit. Sweet combos like barspin to stretched toboggans. My favorite along with Chevy's, although he didn't see it. Josh and Brodie were getting thru Main Line and training most of the time. I'm sure our trails are quite a bit different then the standard Pittsburgh trails, since we are basically on flat ground, but I think they a had a good time and will hopefully return for some more sessions and a cook-out next time. Got a little bit of video, but no photos.

The trails saw more riding Thursday then probably any 2 weeks combined all year. Exactly what the trails have needed with the JAM coming up on June 26th. Alot of stuff was riding in and getting smoother as the day went on. Friday had a decent session also that I had to miss out on. Speaking of the JAM, make sure to tell everyone you know. I'm guessing riding will start around noon, although we will be there quite a bit earlier water and brooming. Sunday is the rain date, but hopefully Saturday it goes off. Bring your hot dogs and burgers. I will be bringing the grill down and I'm sure the fire will be going all day also. If anyone knows of anyone that wants to take pictures or do video, let me know. I will bring equipment. The dialing continues.

Check this out now!!!

2 posts in 1 night. You guessed it, the wife is not home. If this doesn't get you pumped for trails nothing will.

http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog/_/post/5285208

Last Lip Rebuilt and Ramblings

Last Saturday saw the last lip at the trails that needed rebuilt, finally getting rebuilt. When it was originally built 2 Falls ago, it was sort of formed up and just ridden in. It got a major face lift, finally look proper and is ready to hit to the right hip. Transfer left I would wait a while.

















Brad and I have decided to stop the mass digging (unless it is raining) and focus on dialing everything in. We have focused the last 2 years on getting a lot of new stuff built, because we thought more local riders would be interested and would come ride and help dig. Hasn't really happened. Brad and I are doing 90% of the work and a couple of others help here and there. Might as well make what is good alot better and smoother and ride more, because the trails are definitely not getting ridden enough. No point in killing ourselves making a ton of stuff if no one is going to come and ride it unless the weather has been perfect for a week. I'm sick of the the excuses. The trails are too wet, I don't have brakes, that set is too hard, I'm too busy. Put knobbies and brakes on your bike and get to the trails and work on that set to make it more effortless. I hate the I'm too busy excuse. My normal work week is 60+ hours, still get the family stuff in and I'm at the trails 3 to 4 days a week and digging 80% of the time. Brad is almost as busy and he is there 5 to 7 days a week. I don't know how I started ranting, but I hopefully made my point and I'm done.

On Sunday some real trail riders showed up with knobbies on. P'Simer and Keltner finally made it out from Cleveland to find an overcast, muggy day and wet trails about an hour before they got there. They didn't complain about the wetness. We un-tarped and the 4 of us spent a couple of hours getting them ready to ride and they got a great day of riding in with threating skys the whole time. I was hurting with my wisdom teeth killing me and my body beat from that last 4 days of riding and digging so I enjoyed watching the trail bosses ride. Always fun to chill with the Cleveland guys, see them rip even with the damp conditions and enjoy what we have built.

We are starting to get a lot of requests from out-of-town riders to stop in and ride. Very cool. Always open doors for fellow trail diggers and riders. A Pittsburgh crew is supposed to be coming up Thursday for a session. Should be fun. I don't know who really reads the blog yet, but if you are heading thru the area this summer and would like to stop in, email me at work joe.glotz@warrenindustrialsolutions.com and we will set something up. Remember the JAM is still on for June 26th with the rain date for June 27th. It looks like the Heathens are having a JAM the same weekend. Guess we will have to miss this one, but support PA dirt anyway you can. http://www.theheathens.blogspot.com/

Green is here

I love this time of year. The leaves are out and providing some nice shade. The ferns are growing like crazy. Moss and algae are growing in places and giving certain obstacles character. Dinger is whipping into tree branches.

The 2nd double roller was changed last night into a single bigger roller. Seams to be alot smoother and faster. Brad and I have been discussing on changing the step-up roller after the 2nd berm all day. Want to make it more effortless and still fun. Any ideas?

There will be someone at the trails all weekend afternoon to dark. Get down to the trails and get your 5 wheel barrows in. If you don't want to dig, talk to Brad or me and we will set you up on the maintenance program. Plenty of work for everyone. Hopefully the rain misses us this weekend and we can get some sessions in both days.

Week in Review

It has been a while since the last post. Where to start. Brad went to the Catty JAM over Memorial Day weekend and met up with the Cleveland and Chicago crew. He had a great time at Catty and got some riding in. He almost won one of the stems back that we donated for the prize raffle, but got some sweet Deluxe grips instead. On Sunday he made it to POSH with the crew and met some of the cool locals. He got some more riding in and got on the road. If you know Brad, then you know he is pumped on trails. Listening to him about his Catty / POSH experience, I would say he is 10X more pumped then normal.



At the Farmboy Trails, the locals were absent all Memorial Day weekend. Everyone was too busy as normal. Not sure who showed up and rode, but everything was left untarped to bake in the sun, then we got the down pours of rain. Not cool. It helped a couple of lips and landing, but in general just created more work for us. Rule of thumb for visitors: Make sure a local is present, un-tarp, water, ride, have a great time, water, re-tarp, pick-up your garbage and come back. If you are untarping stuff, please be carefull. Some of the tarps are getting staked down so you just need to fold them back over the lip or dank pad. If you start yanking and pulling on tarps like a gorilla you are creating more work. Don't assume someone is coming later in the day and will re-tarp everything. Leave the trails as you found them. Brad and me are focusing on getting new stuff built and don't have the time or desire to re-work stuff.



We are thinking about imposing a new trail rule on those that are showing up frequently and just riding. We are leaning towards a 5 wheel barrow minimum dig before riding. Think of it as going to the skatepark and paying your 5 to 10 dollars to ride for the day. I think 5 wheel barrows is an extremely good deal. From Saturday's and Sunday's digging session, Brad, Ben, Chevy, Chevy's girl Megan and me are paid up for the next couple of weeks. I'm not trying to make any of the slackers feel bad (maybe I am), but Megan did more digging yesterday afternoon then I have seen from the regulars. Not sure what to dig, when Brad or me are not there. Ask us and we will set you in the right direction.


No pictures from the last week or this weekend. My lap top hard drive might have died, so no old pictures either. I will get some next time out. Quick rundown of digging progress. Dinger put 6 loads of some of the best dirt that we have on the lip after the step-up in Main Line. I finished that lip Saturday and it looks great. I then added close to another foot to the step-up in Main Line and improved the tranny at the bottom of it where it goes below ground level. Saturday and Sunday saw the last landing in Main Line grow from a small pile to a man sized landing. Brad and me were doing wheel barrow trains to the new landing until Chevy and Megan showed up. I then started shaping up the landing as they continued to import dirt. A couple of more loads on front and backside should have it real close to size. Loads that were more sod were going to the berm after this landing and it is staking up nice also. All of the imported dirt is coming from the field where the mass excavation is taking place for the dip between the 4th landing and 5th set in Geronimo. Friday saw Dave and Cole stacking the 4th landing in Geronimo. Rain all weekend so no riding, but major digging progress.

June 26th JAM

Brad got some work in Sunday on the berm after the transfer set and the next lip and landing. We are both contemplating what to do with Dave's project since he has been working crazy hours.


















The Main Line, last set before bowl area. The lip has looked like dog poop long enough. The set has been begging to be finished.


















Squared it up Sunday and got it ready for loads of the good stuff. It will be a little taller and our normal steepness. If someone would want to dump 5 or 6 loads of good stuff at the base of it, the lip will be finished next week. Once I get it finished, hopefully we can get a crew down to finish the landing in a day or so.

Brad got some good digging hours in Saturday between rain showers. Sunday was perfect with the trails being a little moist, but the knobbies hooked up good. Mostly digging and a couple of runs. Pretty quiet with most everyone too busy and not making time for the trails. The trails do not maintain themselves, so show some trail etiquette and help out when you do come to ride.

The big news is that the JAM date is set for Saturday, June 26th with the rain date for Sunday. Probably get started around noon with it winding down around 8:00 pm. Brad has been texting everyone and calling everyone to get the word out. I'm not sure who even reads the blog, because there have only been a couple of comments, but if you need directions or info, email me at work using j.glotz@warrenindustrialsolutions.com. Make sure you have BMX JAM in the subject line and no attachments or I will not reply. Hoping for a good turn-out since the last one was rained out at the end of last year.

The Catty JAM is this weekend and I don't think anyone is going to make it down. A couple of AUTONOMY stems are getting shipped out today for the prize raffle. Brad talked to Fat Randy and Quaggy from Chicago last night and they are already at Catty. Must be nice.