Hope Mono M4 Disc Brake Giveaway

[Ridemonkey]

After a couple year long hiatus we are finally getting some product giveaways going. We will be doing this on a regular basis now so if you don't qualify for this one, just wait until next time :oink:

The prize: Hope Mono M4 Disc Brakes front and rear. Retail value approximately $450.

Thanks to Webcyclery (http://www.webcyclery.com) for contributing to this contest.

What you have to do: Post in this thread with a couple sentences about where you are from, how much you like it (or how bad it sucks), and why.

Edit: you are supposed to explain how much you like the town you are living in... :p

THE RULES :evil:

1. You must be a registered member of Ridemonkey with 10 or more posts on the date this contest was started. Members found to be padding post counts with nonsense may be excluded from future contests.

2. You may only post in this thread one time.


The Winner will be drawn randomly from all eligible members that have posted in this thread.

The winner will be announced Monday, August 9th


Thats it. Good luck!


http://www.ridemonkey.com/contests/mono4.gif

[Silver]

Well, let's see.

I'm from Anaheim. Not sure if I'm supposed to comment on how much I like Ridemonkey or how much I like this thread or how much I like the brakes, so let me tell you about the brakes.

They are sexy. I've had to start beating off women with a stick. I stopped taking showers, stopped cutting my hair and goatee, stopped brushing and flossing, and it doesn't matter. I still need the stick to walk around safely. The brakes are that sexy. Really.

[The Kadvang]

Well I'm from Menlo Park, California. Its really pretty yuppie out here and there isn't much to do besides ride bicycles. To spice things up I say I am from 'west' menlo and get in 'rumbles' with 'essays' from 'east' menlo, 'scrub central' aka San Carlos, 'a-town', and the 'RWC'. It is intense around here, and to mob it with the best of them I need some pimp arse gold four piston action so I can roll up and pimp the hoes.

DKad

[Espen]

A bark from the litle spot far north, called Norway. I don't think many DHers have more patience with mud than we got up here. Anyway, we got some of the finest riding terrain on earth, so we have to deal with it.

Espen

[RaID]

Im from Adelaide, Australia. Were pretty lucky down here as there is riding to suit every one from roadies, downhillers, XC folk to the street crew and hucking freeriders.
What the hills lack in altitude they gain in quality of trails providing a different challenge throught out the year, from the scortching heat and dust in the summer to the windy, wet winter and everything in between.

RaID

[soulfly]

so, i'm from budapest / hungary. a 2 million town, but none of us have seen any of those beauties here. let me the first owing them ;) (my formula's aren't the best after 2.5 year of use/abuse)

ohh, i forgot to mention, how i hate to live here. the public transpot sucks, heavy pollution and the top "mountain" are here average 500-800 m high, so i must go to austria or to slovakia to find a real mountain.

[w00dy]

Fayetteville new york, home to cops that have nothing better to do than hassle bmx kids, but restrain themselves anyway. Thanks Guys. Not to mention skytop is 5 minutes away...RAWK!

[KleinMp99]

I'm from marquette michigan. I used to almost hate living here. Though the mountain biking is pretty sweet, the trails are short and the local ski hill woulden't run their lifts (or make a bike park or anything). Luckily, a few people up here have really got this place IN GEAR. Lately, bike magazine has been doing some stuff here, marquette has been rated very highly in their magazine reviews. One night I was riding urban with a friend, and dave ollila, owner of viosport helmet cameras rode by on the bike path, we chased him down and he started telling us about a huge event that would be happening here. The event is the monster park slopestyle, which is actually supposed to begin TODAY.....but I dont think its going to happen this week because of the rain. Basically I went to not liking the whole scene here, to seeing a huge park be built on our ski hill, and then running the lifts for mountain bikers 3 days a week. I also got to hang out with wade simmons at mcdonalds last night. :cool:

[MVRIDER]

I'm from Mountain View, California. Why do I like it here? Hmm.... well you're close to alot of things, only about 10 mins from some trails, only about 40 mins from the beach and, most importantly only about 3.5 hrs from N*! The reasons it sucks? It's the yuppie capitol of the universe, it's really overpriced to live and it's like 3.5 hrs from N*

[Slugman]

Where am I from... or where I am living?

Well, I am from New England... I can actually trace my roots to the Mayflower and my family was one of 15 families to settle Newport, RI... and we never F'ing left. I really loved growing up in New England b/c I loved the cold weather, I loved sailing, and I loved being so close to Boston and NY City. However... as I grew up I didn't like the cold as much, "mountain" biking replaced sailing, and got sick of all the BS attitude from people in Boston.

Now I am in Irvine, CA and LOVING IT! There is so much to explore and see in SoCal. The biking is completely different and it kicks my A$$, which is a good thing since I had gotten a bit slow and lazy... People (in general) are friendlier and easy going, the weather is nice all the time, and the roads don't try and eat your car. One of the big things that the wife and I love is that any day/night we can walk from our place to any one of several restaurants. No need to bring the car! The other thing is that every place that we go has outdoor seating, So Cal knows how to enjoy what they have – you don’t find that as often back east (then again you only have like 5 months of the year to be outside…). I still miss visiting New York City, but there are so many places that I have not visited around here yet that I will be able to keep myself busy for a long time.

[azonicbruce]

Hmm, where to start.

I was born in San Antonio, TX. Apparently only lived there a couple months, then onto Virginia. Lived in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake for most of my childhood years. Then moved to Oregon where I lived in Wilsonville for a year, then moved to McMinnville, OR where I spent my high shcool years at. Then headed to Utah to start college, but after 4 months packed up to go to Mexico for about 2 years. Spent 3 months in Winchester, Kentucky waiting for my VISA before actually getting to go to Mexico, at which point I lived in various cities. Durango, Zacatecas, Gomez Palacio, Lerdo, Guadalupes, Rio Grande, just to name a few. Then I got back and my family had moved to El Paso, TX so I stayed there the summer before going back to school in Provo, UT. Stayed there for 'bout 4 years then did an internship with a company in San Diego, CA, where I lived for 7 months. Graduated and moved back to El Paso where I am currently living.

Geez, is that enough? Can't really say what I liked most about each place but suffice it to say every place has is good points and its bad points.

What else? Oh yeah gimme them brakes man! :thumb:

[I Are Baboon]

I was born and raised and currently live in central Connecticut (living in Newington right now, moving to Simsbury in two months). I love it here. It's 90 minutes from Boston and 90 minutes from NYC. I like experiencing the four seasons. I can bike eight months out of the year, then ski the other four months. The cost of living is high, but so are salaries. The towns are not overpopulated and driving conditions are not too terrible (unlike other places I have visited). To top it off, there are countless numbers of places around here for awesome mountain biking.

[MtnBikerChk]

Of course, Mine is real similar to IAB's. I was born/raised and still live in central CT. I like the variety of off road terrain - not to mention the road riding and scenery.

And how can we not mention the leaves in the fall?! Leaf peepers from all over the country come to New Englad every fall to see what we take for granted.

[sikocycles]

I was born and raise in Bridgeport Ct. Now I live in Greenwich Ct, The other extreme. I liked brideport but getting your car stolen was getting to be a drag. Happened 3 time there. Moved to greenwich because I got a job there and I like it there. Now worries about getting my car stolen there because there are so many better cars than mine.

[BikeGeek]

I currently live in Arlington, VA and am still trying like hell to get out. It's been great being as close as I am to DC, but after 7 years, I'm tired of the people, the politics, and the prices. I have my eye on northern VT. Someplace where the pace is a little slower, the people are fewer, and the trails are longer.

[groovis]

I'm a california boy, born and raised. Grew up on the central coast in this little town called Lompoc. Went to university in San Luis Obispo and discovered this biking thing. Rode the coastal the mountains until I was too poor to survive and moved to San Diego with 8 bucks to my name and a bike. I hated San Diego for quite awhile but am starting to like now. There is plenty of great riding and most you can ride to from my house.

[Jou]

I live in Powell, Wyoming. It's a small town of about 5000, but i live 10 miles out of town. When i was younger i hated it here, but the more i mature the more i like it. There's only a handfull or riders here, and even fewer of those that will ride DH. It's very mountainous here, but there a 0 trails of any kind here, so we've built our own dh coarse complete with a 3, 8, and 12 foot drop and a 16 ft gap. Other than that, it's urban riding.

[The Toninator]

The Long and Suck of it, a tale of living in Houston Texas.

Houston totally sucks. It’s hot, humid and there’s always a butt load of traffic. People in cars hate everyone including other people in cars. I guess the worst thing about Humidistion is the fact that there aren’t any Monkeys here. Recently a monkey from Atlanta had to fly in just to cheer me up. That’s the suckie part about Houston in a nutshell.
Houston is also a really really awesome city too. One of the biggest perks is the fact that we really don’t have ‘winter.’ There was only 2 days last ‘winter’ that I couldn’t ride. If you like to eat out Houston is the town for you. We have more restaurants than anyplace in the world and believe it or not some of it is actually good. Personally though I think the best thing about Houston is the chic’s in summer clothing. Summer dresses are AWESOME only to be topped by Bikini’s. During the summer casual office dress attire is a bikini top with frazzled Daisy Duke shorts. That’s awesome.
So in summation PB and J sandwiches are best when your mom makes them.

[Westy]

Charlottesville, Va. Nice place to live, right at the foothill of the Blue ridge mountains. That means more trails in the George Washington National forest within a 2 hour drive than I could ride within a year. Some nice roads to ride on too. The biggest problem around here is the fact that it seems to have been raining heavily for about 2 years straight.

[binary visions]

I live in Keene, NH.

The main beef I have with this town is that it is home to Keene State College, which was actually nationally ranked by Playboy as having some of the best looking women in the country - not a bad thing in and of itself. However, the school year runs at the wrong time. Summer time, when all the gorgeous women should be prancing around in halter tops and tiny shorts, is when all the college students leave. Then we get stuck with the hairy rednecks with shotguns and beer guts prancing around in halter tops and tiny shorts. We have about a month of overlap when the college students com back and the weather is still good, then all of a sudden its cold again.

Other than that, just a nice New England town - I like it here...

[BurlyShirley]

Living in Kailua, Hawaii is about as good as it gets for somebody, like myself, who loves the outdoors. Our mountains are steep, green and always rideable through the whole year, with plenty of rocky and rooty terrain to keep your skills sharp and your shins scabby. Our XC racing scene now hosts a 24 hour race, road bikes have always been big here, BMX is growing and the downhill scene is coming up fast, with shuttleable trails popping up all the time and local clubs putting on races and freeride events to keep things competitive. Kailua Beach is also one of the best beaches in the country. I do live in paradise.

[RhinofromWA]

RhinofromWA

Lynnwood, Washington (14 miles north of Seattle)

I have spent my whole life (29yrs) living in the Pacific Northwest. I have a love/hate relationship with Western WA.

I love the weather, forests, mountains, fresh water lakes, and oceans. I love how in 90 minutes you can go from rainforests to the desert. It doesn't get to hot or to cold and generally the woods are ridable year round with only a modification in riding gear. (rainy/wet gear)

I disslike Seattle and it surrounding cities....they come with traffic and huge apartment mega-plex's. The puget sound area is choking on it's own population, but there are little bits of heaven to ride on in the surrounding areas.

I have thought about moving in the past and I always stall out on "where." There is a reason people continue to migrate to Western WA. It is a beautiful area to live....but it is becoming a price to high for many to pay and for us who at times dream of a simpler life, will eventually move to dryer, yellow'er pastures. All the while missing the gem that was Seattle, 20 years ago.

RhinofromWA

[Broken_Spoke]

I currently live in Hutchinson, Kansas. My feelings on living here are mixed with both the good and the bad. My first reason for not liking the town is obvious, that is because it is in Kansas and not in the mountains so I don't see too much gravity related riding unless I take a vaction from here. Another reason that I don't like liveing here is because there aren't a whole lot of people that ride mountain bikes or any that are open to the idea of getting a mountain bike, this makes it hard to spread the word of how awesome of a sport biking is.
Now that I have touched on a few bad areas of living here I will now touch on the good. For the most part the area I live in has extremely low crime and people are actualy careing for one another which I greatly like and is one of the benifits of living in a relitivly small town and when I do move to the mountains I plan on living in a small town. Another good thing is that the trails we do have are some of the best kept in Kansas. My buddies and I have riden trails in other parts of Kansas that just don't seem to be as well maintained. Lastly a good thing about living here is that it makes me be more creative in my riding so that I can progress instead of staying at the same level.

Drew

[Echo]

I live in the anti-mountain biking capital of the world, Rochester NY. You would think that in the anti-mountain biking capital of the world, mountian bikers would unite for their common benefit. Yeah, right. First chance I get I'm moving to Bend.

[spincrazy]

I live in New York City, but I'm from the NW. I miss the mountains, but love the tech riding here. The rocks are better and bigger and it rains much less.

[douglas]

I say Albany, NY but I'm actually in East Greenbush, on the other side of the Hudson River.

I like this area, the summers are not (normally) killer hot/humid, plus we have 4 real seasons (snow skiing - yeah!)

The thing I like best is being located close to so many awesome places!
For riding: Plattekill (1.5 hours), Mount Snow (1.5 hours), Dalton (24 horus of adrenaline) (1 hour), Catskills (1-1.5 hours), Berkshires (1 hour), Adirondacks (1-2 hours)

plus NYC (less then 3 hours), Boston (less then 3 hours), Montreal (about 4 hours)....and snow skiing at most of those biking places too!

[Jozz]

Well anything to get my hand on another sets of Hope Brakes! :drool:

Montreal, Quebec Monkey in tha house!

Love this place for the mix of two great culture and a great town with lots of history. Get to enjoy hot summers with lots of biking around, great DH in Bromont and Ste-Anne and lots of XC everywhere. And in the winter we pack up our bags and head up north for some great outdoors activity!!

:monkey:

[syadasti]

I live in Red Bank, NJ like my title says...

My current favorite trail is Fell Mtn. - Pete's Brother's trail. Would like to visit Reading, PA and Ninham Mtn. soon. Always looking for some new terrain to try out.

Those brakes are made nicely. Sometimes the factory needs to pay more attention when bleeding them - its a common problem I've noticed from various brands.

[Rabie]

I live in The OC. It's so cool they made it into a tv show. I like watching my life on tv. Like when the one guy said the he hooked up with girls from UCI, I was all, "hey, I totally went there." The OC is so cool.

[amateur]

Well, I'm from Laguna Beach, CA and really have no reason better than anyone else for wanting/needing these. The v's on my hardtail have slowly died, leaving me with one canibalized brake. Should I receive these, I can throw the brakes from my DH bike on the hartdtail, and then proceed to follow in the footsteps of Mr. BrianHCM#1 because he's my idol.

[Rip]

I live in Annandale, NJ. Why I love where I am, is that I am not too far off from Mtn Creek, got some great trails in my area as well.

[Zark]

I live in Santa Barbara, California. Aside from high costs of living this place is a biker's heaven. Long, gnarly DH, big XC loops, little jump spots around town. This town is full of beautiful women, fun activities and lots of killer food. I hope I get really rich so I can live here forever ;) Come on down for a visit and see for yourself!

NC

[Nitromike]

From Houston, Tx

Not too much good about this place, but it is cheap to live, except the rain you can ride year round, and its close enough to other places that its liveable to ride.

Now gimme the brakes :D

[Toshi]

i'm from portland, oregon. portland has good weather, lots of greenery and some dedicated trailbuilders. it also has a good group of local riders who post on the :monkey: and are always willing to show off their favorite riding spots.

[Clark Kent]

I live in minneapolis Mn.... Moved here from Northridge...( suburb of L.A.) in 71 when I was 10 or so... At first I hated the snow...Frikin hated it. And the damn cold too. Now I dont think I could live without it. The cold and snow makes ya tough on the wheel, no wussies on bike round here come Jan.! The riding isnt too bad... We dont have any REAL mountains around here, but you can still hit a lungburner without too much lookin ;) ( I do find it difficult to find an area around here in which I can give a 110 percent though... ;) ) On the other hand, I basicaly live in the city, but can be in woods and on trails in 5 minutes. We also have been realy moving forward with the rails to trails project, creating great bikeways that run west to east across the whole city and most of the surrounding suburbs.

[ghettorigged]

I live in Grahamsville, NY.

The population is very small, but we still have a big enough 'highway' to warrant the use of a blinking traffic signal on Main St.

Living here is extremely bittersweet.

The geography is simply beautiful. The animals I have been able to witness in their natural habitats are amazing. The roads are great for rally cars and motorcycling.

The fact that I have to drive 25 minutes to buy groceries and do laundry, 45 minutes to see a movie, and an hour to the nearest bike shop SUCKS A$$! It's too friggin' remote out here! You would think "that's great for biking" but it's not. Road riding is basically sharing a country highway with semis & log trucks going mach 5 (think Pet Cemetary here). Mountain biking isn't 'allowed' on most of the land because it's NYC watershed. Therefore, I typically have to drive 45 minutes if I want to ride my mountain bike on a trail. And is there anyone out here who rides? No, they would rather sit around picking their collective tooth and drink Bud from cans than exercise.

[TickTock]

Currently live just North of Boston. I ride Lynn most of the time on an Evil Imperial. Trails are technical, rocky, and fun. I have no plans of going anyplace else with this freeride heaven so close by. I think id miss the rocks and roots and rolls if I went anyplace else. I could never handle the 10 mile xc climbs the westerners do for fun!

TickTock

[LeeOz]

NYC here... I don't think you can really decide on weither you like it or hate it... kinda like a woman: when close to her, you wish she would go away sometimes, but when she's far from you, you wish she was closer.
Anyway, riding here is awesome, fellow riders are cool...

[Nate at RIT]

Living in Boise, Idaho this summer. Lots of great biking, rafting, and women around here. If you're looking for athletic females, Boise's chock-full of them. Lots of nice climbing, dirt jumping, and mountain biking out here in Boise, come visit!

[BMXman]

Well right now I'm living In La Mesa it's a small place about 10 minutes east of San Diego. I'ts a good town and quiet. The So Cal riding scene is really incredible because it's pretty much year round riding. I started MTB in Nor Cal and I miss it alot. Here in So Cal. everyone either wants to shuttle or go somewhere where there's a lift.

When I was in Noc Cal. (San Francisco, Mission Dist.) You had to climb up whatever you wanted to bomb down. I miss that....I really liked living in the bay but the high priced drove me away...so now I'm here in SD just waiting for my wife to finish her masters degree then it's off to Canada...somewhere within 2 hrs of whistler;)....D

[Sandwich]

Boston, Massachusetts.

:mumble:

If I created slogans for liscense plates, the "Commonwealth" of Massachusetts' would be called "The Cancer of the Union." Boston is great, if you like 98% humidity all the time, sun-followed by rain-followed by sun-followed by a thunderstorm-all in the course of 2 hours, and winters where it doesn't actually snow, it just kind of slushes or gets 30 below with wind chill overnight. I hope you played a lot of frogger when you were a kid- driving down 95 makes me feel like I am that little green amphibian, only I don't start over if I get squished. Don't plan on being anywhere for a while- Massachusetts drivers love traffic jams. They LOVE them! The best part is, after you slow down for an extra half an hour and finally pass whatever it is you're slowing down for, there's nothing there. No dead bodies, no naked ladies, no cop, no merging traffic. Just traffic for the hell of it. Why not? And the roads? Forget about it, I think every intersection and street in the city and surrounding areas was designed by an alcoholic and magnum of Beam. Every civil engineer in Boston should be shot, then shot again, just to be sure. Well, how about living in Boston? I could get a penthouse just about anywhere else for the amount that I pay to live in a dump in the ghetto. What about the people? You've got to be either rich, or emo in order to live here. That's what I've discovered. I think all the normal people moved out a long time ago. Maybe that's why all the students at MIT are foreign- the smart ones left a long time ago. Ok, fine, at least you can get around the city easily....are you kidding? The green line runs so rarely you had better add 30 minutes to your T ride just to get on a train. Add to that all the bars close at 2 and the T closes at 1230. Hope you brought 15 bucks for a cab. Don't get me started on the Red Sox. This is the year? I thought last year was the year? Hey I got an idea, why don't we make it right up until the end then choke really bad? There's something we've never seen before. I've never seen a place filled with more high-strung idiots than here. Boston will eat your soul. Don't come here ever. EVER.

I guess it does have some redeeming qualities- you can get chinese food delivered until 2 and there are some decent bars/clubs. Not enough to convince me, I'm getting out ASAP, and I'm bringing my bike. Even the relatively Dead-end hometown of syracuse has better riding options than here. :thumb: At the very least, boston has made me grateful for the time I do get to spend on my bike.

[mtnbikerdude87]

Im from Pomona, California (actually a small town called Phillips Ranch). Although the city has a bad rep, there a lots of riding areas around us. About a 20 min drive I can get to Marshall Canyon and Claremont Wilderness Park. Nice places to ride. There is also Chino Hills State Park and a little further down is Santiago Oaks Trail. Both great spots to ride, espically Santiago which has some nice trails. Oh yeah theres Big Bear too which Ill be going to a lot this Summer!!! :D There are plenty of places to ride and many are not that far of a drive.

[ET_SoCal]

I'm from the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, Southern California.
Born in Glendale, and grew up in the SFV.

Got Married and moved to Simi Valley, that's just "over the hill", North/West of SFV. It's also when I started Mounatin Biking... Some time ago...

Simi's yet another SoCal suburb of LA, like most all the others scattered out here. Maybe it's got some visibility to the outside world 'cause it's where the Regan Library is, maybe because it's been rated one of the top most safest city's in the county for many years now (we lost the #1 status this year to next-door city Thousand Oaks). Use to be people around the globe knew Simi Valley because of the Rodney King trial (remember that?)
Anyway, it's a great area because of the less car congestion (out of all the other LA suburb's in this area), and there's a bit less crowded singletrack just outside one's door...
And since I also work out here, I can commute by bike.....

Why does it suck?
Not much night life, matter of fact - nill/none/nada...
Well, there's always the corner Starbucks.

[Dog Welder]

I'm from Pasadena CA. THe riding here is pretty good though the dirt sucks...too dry and gravely. The town is pretty cool though there doesn't seem to be an energy about it like other places I've lived.

[auntesther]

I reside just north of Boston in Melrose. I like it well enough. Its close to the city but not too close. Easy commute for work. Close to some great riding in Lynn Woods, Gloucester etc. Close to my family but not too close. Close to my friends. Great riding community around the Boston area, reasonable driving distance to some good DH venues...although even closer would be nice. :cool:

[McGRP01]

Hey there!! I'm from the lovely town of Glens Falls, N.Y.. Among notable the facts of my fair city are these:

Glens Falls is known as "Hometown U.S.A."
Glens Falls is the hometown of former W.W.F. wrestler "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

We are just on the southern border (10 miles south of Lake George) of the Adirondack Park and all the riding it has to offer. The beauty of the Adirondacks rivals that of anywere and that is why I make this place my home.

[Fredzilla]

I currently call Seattle home. I like it mostly because there aren't many places that you can have the choice of skiing, kayaking, or biking on the same day... :thumb:

There's also a pretty large :monkey: population as you can see by the posts in the PNW forum!

Overall, a great place to call home.

[dfinn]

I'm a masshole(go sox). It even says so on my bike.

I grew up in western mass, moved to boston for work when I was 21 or so and spent a couple of years there.

I've been living at Lake Tahoe for the past 8 months and it's freaking great. If I could afford a house here and be confident about keeping a well paying job I don't think I would ever move. Although that's not my style, to stick in one place, so for now I'm trying to get as much as possible out of the area while I am here.

I have only been biking for about a year but the trails here are some of the best I have been on. There is every type of riding. Sure it gets a little dusty, but that's the price you pay for only having 50 non-sunny days a year (most of which are in the winter when it's snowing). I try to ride 3-4 times a week and I like to try a new trail every time I ride and I have probably only seen about 5% of what's here. And then there's N* on the weekends, which always kicks my a$$.

People here are cool. You meet people from everywhere, and alot from the east coast, they call it the east-infection. Pretty much everyone you meet is psyched about life and psyched to get to live in such a beautiful area.

Winter is good too, as long as you like snow( :love: )

[The Mad Haderer]

...blah blah blah....i live in beautiful NOR*CAL. East bay. Co Co County. Its supposed to be one of the nicest places to live in the entire US. My house is about 15 min from a group of estates where each house is no less than 5.5 million dollars. And to make things even better...rite in the middle of town there is a 3800 foot mountain poping up. The catch...it is home to some of the most up tight law and forestry enforcement in the country. every set of dirtjumps to every trail we have had has been plowed and patrolled to the point where there is absolutley no where to ride anymore. I have to drive an hour to ride ANYTHING. that huge mountain which would be perfect for shuttle runs has 2 single tracks which are "bike legal" niether are longer than a quarter mile leaving you with 5 miles of boring fire road. This completely eliminates the possibility of startin up other DH and free riders in the area because none of them want to travel so much just to ride. Im not even getting into the lack of other activities or partying for a town with one of the biggest JCs in california. To sum up the town in a single word...."WHACK!!"

[MMike]

Well as most people know, I'm in Seattle for the next couple of weeks. I've been here for six and a half years. But on....likley the 25th of this month, I'll be heading home to Montreal. Seattle is cool, because you can do day trips to whistler. Bromont, though closer to where I'll be living....well frankly isn't quite the same.

But hey... I'll live.

[jon-boy]

I'm an British-expat living it up in Vancouver, Canada. Although I can never say never I have no desire to head back to the UK any time soon, the riding here is way too good. Vancouver is an amazing place to live, the riding here is so well catalogued and come winter the rain sucks, but at least there's snow on the mountain to go play in. The sea is on your door step, amazing scenery, wildlife, people, it's just a good place to be. Oh and if you're looking to meet cute girls, you can NOT beat Kitslano beach in the summer. The down side of living here? There are way too many rippers that make me look inadequate on a bike!!!

Jon.

[SprungShoulders]

I'm an Illinois-import currently living behind the Zion Curtain in Salt Lake City, UT. The beer here might be watered down, but the riding certainly isn't!

The Salt Lake valley has some killer trail riding within minutes of downtown, you're a half-hour drive from DH and XC riding in Park City (assuming no I-80 construction), and about 3.5 hours from the Redbull course in Virgin. Need I say more? :D

[Full Trucker]

Currently kickin' it cowboy-style in Denver, Colorado ya'll. LOVIN' this town so far: 50 miles of singletrack right out my door, never more than 2 miles from drinking beer brewed on-site, and thousands (or millions?) of the most beautiful country around within a days' drive.

The only thing I'm having a little trouble with is the amount of single, smart, cylist-adoring gals. Or maybe it's not the amount of them here, just that I scared 'em all off already? I'll look into that...

:D

[Curiouscaptian01]

I live in Greenville, SC. The dirty south is grand. I like to build dirt jumps on illigal land. Don't sue me. Ill mitch is super cool. He raps like no ones fool. Come ride in my town. I will show you all around. The riding is great.

On monday we poach the golf course, tuesday we build legal stuff at a local state park with some cool dudes, wed. we dirt jump, thursday we dirt jump and ride our trails we build, friday we dirt jump and have a good time. The weekends are good too. We drive to Pisgah and ride, and then ride Dupont a good bit too. I work at a local bike shop.

What was this for?

[Cash-Money]

i'm from vancouver, BC, but I live in kenmore, WA now. The suburbs are very different from the "big city" but i like it here. local riding is XC unless you can drive. I'm going to whistler on friday, a plus of living here, day trips to canada.

[kdog-rider]

I am from Boulder Colorado. It is a neet town with nice views. There are to many hippies though.

[bbmj]

I am from and live in Mountain View, California. The name says it all, we have an amazing view of the mountains, which means we also get to use those mountains plenty. Good riding, lots of roadie biking if your into that, Calabazas isnt too far, LOTS OF HOTTIES, good schools, nice climate, sick place to live and grow up (thanks Mom and Dad) oh, and Hillary Duff is going to high school here next year, so that makes my town 100 times better! :eviltongu

[chicodude]

i live in paradise. California that is. i love it here because i live next the the most bike friendly town in america, without the hippies :D i love it here because of bidwell park, the 2nd largest city municiple park. i live in the mountains so we can go camping in by the river. its nice and peaceful here.

Plus we have lots of steepass hills here so i need some good stoppers so i dont die. :help:

[ibismojo]

Saugus, California is where I spent most of my youth. This would be right next to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Everything was alright until the place started to get over-developed. The vast open lands are now covered with wall-to-wall track housing or shopping centers. Good thing I moved to San Diego, only to get raped by outrageous housing/gas expenses.

[mcA896]

well...
i am from harwich MA. its pretty much a stuck-up rich town where everyone except me is in bed by 9 and too many old people. the towns nearby rock (read:chatham). so i chill there a bunch. good riding there, and in falmouth. only OK riding in my town is XC :o:

[Swine]

Im from Alpharetta, Georgia. Lets see, there arnt really any "mountains" around me besides Sky...but its more of a hill. However, i love where i live. I am within 15 minuetes driving distance of tons of entertainment options (mall, andrettis, movies, paintball,....the list goes on). Besides, i have a couple of friends in my neighborhood i ride with, and as long as you ride with someone who shares the same passion and vision as you...you will always have a good time. In our case, we usually have to hunt for things to do when it comes to riding(we are of the DH scene). But, no matter how big or small the stunt/drop/jump or whatever it is we are doing...we are always in friendly comptetion to be better then the other, wich in turn...we are always improving our skills.

[Dogboy]

I'm in Chapel Hill, NC. It's a college town with a pretty decent riding scene. We have an in-town trail system with a little something for everyone-twisty singletrack, dirt jumps, wooden stunts, and lots of logs. In the Triangle-Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill-the scene expands and there are riders from all disciplines. All in all, good folks and good riding-I just wish the mountains were a little closer. :thumb:

[11:11]

I'm from Melbourne - Australia..
I love living in this city mainly because of the friendly ppl and of course the "free" public transport (trams/trains) lol..
The weather over here is kinda sucks tough.. (changing every 20min).

[monkeyboy424]

i live in san francisco, california. i like it becasue i can ride in Golden Gate Park or the presidio when ever i want, un like some cities where i hear you have to travel hours away to ride trails. i also like it because i can ride street anytime i want also.

[Smelly]

i'm from amherst, massachusetts. it's in western mass, like 100 miles from boston. i grew up in the town, now i go to school there. i like it because it's not overly populated and there's a lot of woods and free space to roam. unfortunetly, there isn't much of a riding scene there. but hey, more trails for me then.
i'm in santa cruz, ca for the summer, and this place seems like a riders paradise. great trails and tons of riders. plus it's it's even more hippie than western ma!

[RideND]

I am one of the few ND monkies that we have on the board. I live in Mandan to be specific. We only have 17,000 or so people but have the capital city of Bismarck across the river with 60,000ish, so it's not tiny. I don't mind our town, it is not a bad place to grow up. I would love it if we had some mountains to go biking though (we have plenty of hills).

[Gee Spot]

I live in the anti-mountain biking capital of the world, Rochester NY. You would think that in the anti-mountain biking capital of the world, mountian bikers would unite for their common benefit. Yeah, right. First chance I get I'm moving to Bend.


I live about a half mile from Echo so I'm with him on this one..... other then moving to Bend. I have a big family it would be hard to move away from and I really like my Job. If I could hook up with another police department in a warmer time zone..... I might think about it.... other than all that east cost riding is amazing! :thumb:

[dG video]

Ok here it goes!

I live in South Burlington, Vermont, It doesnt have the greatest riding but If you're open to anything its not bad. Its nice being close to Mt. Snow and Bromont though. With that said, I am going on a ride!

[luken8r]

Im from a backwoods town in NE CT where the only thing going on there was the stupid races at the local half mile race track on friday nights. Its a nice place if you like the whole Bud-drinking, Shotgun weilding redneck persona. So, I went to college in Boston and never looked back. Spent 4 years living on Huntington Av falling asleep to the din of the stupid green line running outisde of my window and next to the 5th busiest fire house in the country. Now Im up in Melrose which is a cool town to rent in, but Ill be damn if Im going to buy a craphone trailer or other run down house here (or anywere in this state) for $300,000. Traffic sucks, people are dicks and the weather is getting to me. Not so much the summers, I can almost deal with 90* and 90% humidity, its the winters, especially after the last few. With last year's storm with 30" along with most of January not above zero, to go with the past two or three winters, its time for me to get my azz out of Dodge. If I hear anyone come up to me and preach their global warming stance, Im going to punch them in the throat. Now I just need to find a new job :/

[Lennox]

My name is Phil and i live in Toronto Ontario Canada... The TDot is ok for biking, we have the valley system that offers some nice trails in the heart of the city. Blue Mountain is not far off for some nice downhill action. To the East we have Bromont and Mt St Anne and to the West, Whistler (lil far). Toronto is actually pretty good for some urban riding... lots of fun can be had in and around the downtown core.... The SkyDome can be fun.

Thats all i got.... man... wish i were on the west coast :cool:

[splat]

I am in Holliston , Ma, Just west of Boston. I have the Vietnam as a Place to ride , right in my Backyard ( literally) Plus lots of the other places not to far away. . I get to ride with lots of Monkeys ( IAB, MMcg, IF_rider, SloMoJo, Justbill, , etc , etc) , and I love the seasons of New england , and I get to ride all year. regardless of the conditions we get to ride. Boston is a great city to be close to, Mountains up in New Hampshire and Vermont close by, the Ocean and the Beach are close by.

I have lived all over the country , and so Far New England has the most to offer to me.

[Tweek]

I'm a Jackalope from Rochester, NY. If the WNY economy was better, it'd be a fantastic place to live. As far as biking, we usually have to make road trips to get to any decent hassle-free riding since mtbing is illegal in all of our county parks. The freeriding scene has turned from very good to dismal, but things will get better. Since I'm in the process of buying a house here, I'll probably stick it out in Roch for a while.

[grimm]

Im from Skoghall, Sweden, and we have great nature for trail/xc riding, long and varied trails and they are great fun! And since we are surrounded by water, Skoghall being on a huge island, we have great scenery by the sea to stop by, chat about bikes and have a snack, while on our xc tours :)

[CreeP]

No Montrealers here?
I've lived in Montreal all my life. And i've liked it the whole time, which must be saying something. The only issues I have with it are that it's still a city so you get all the cars, and dust and filth. -which is why I normally go to my cottage for the summer. It has some meandering atv trails to explore that go on and on forever it seems- and they put way too much salt on the roads in the winter, so even on those nice days of the winter you still have to deal with brown salty dirty slush once you get back home.

As far as riding in Montreal? Well you all know it's less than an hour from Bromont, and 4 hours or less from Mt. St. Anne; however you may not know: the street riding is off the wall, it has a legendary road racing course, bikepaths where you least expect them (and some are even really nice) and has some of the most colourful riders anywhere. Not to mention being the home of the great but now sadly taken-over Balfa, and the much lauded and still independant GURU. The island of Montreal is, if i recall, 23 miles long, and 8 wide. In that space, and just outside of it one can find absolutely anything.

[bikeguy100k]

I'm from Seattle, which is a great place to live. I like it because there is a good bit of riding close by and Whistler is only a couple hours away. The bike shops are cool and the people have great energy! The coffee's pretty good too. My wife is from here too! :p

[Dingus McGee]

I live in Fear, along Denial. I fear that the cost of living in S.F. is going to kick my little family's butt (insert cute kid pictures here for sympathy) - we are struggling super hard to keep them housed,clothed, fed and in various daycare, preschool and summer activities. I am riding totally bald Maxxis Mobster ST tires I bought new in the parking lot of Northstar on the last day of riding last year for $10 each. I was best man at my pals wedding and organized a MTB ride there for his bachelor party (oh the carnage :sneaky: ). Otherwise I would not have ridden recreationally last year besides bike commuting and my once a year race, the Sea Otter. (can't afford a car in this hellhole, hence the bald tires from fulltime street riding) I run a Hope DH04 front and an Enduro rear...they are old and sad. I sometimes hold out hope that I will be able to afford a set of Mono4's, but I realize that I am just in Denial. :dead: Where is that violin smiley, anyway......

[los jefes]

I am from Asheville, NC. Let me see, other than having over 1100 miles of singletrack within a 45 minute radius of town; other than having the Ocoee, Nantahala, Pigeon, Green, Tuckaseegee, Nolichucky, Chattooga rivers to paddle all within an hour or so; other than the coast being 3 1/2 hours away; other than Asheville being a funky, hip, culturally diverse and liberal town; other than never getting above 88 degrees in the summer (a southern summer at that) I am not sure why I like my town so much. Being a rep whose territory extends from DC to Miami and the Mississppi river to the coast, I would still say this is the best town in that neck of the woods.

[Superdeft]

The DC area is pretty good for riding, there are trails, dirt jumps, street spots, and lots of good people to ride with. One nice thing is that the VA regional forum is active, and there are almost always people to ride with.

[vibiker]

I live on Vashon Island in Washington. It is a great place to mountain bike. Some good free-ride opportunites as well as XC terrain. The only down side is that the ferry ride adds one hour to the drive to Whistler.

[partsbara]

i live in a small town in called enkenbach, it s in germany... it s got everything i need:

- a pizza joint
- a drinking establishment 30 yards from my front door
- some surrounding forests for decent trail riding
and, best of all...
- the A6 autobahn up the road connects me to the sickest DH shiat in europe !!!!!!!!!!

now i just need brakes to stop :cool:

[Spudzie]

I live in New Lexington, Ohio

Its a nice small town in the south eastern part of the state. I'm in the foot hills of the Appilation mountains, so we got short steep hills and also long slow decents, where them brakes would come in handy.

The mt bike scene is getting bigger here. There are 3 XC trails with is 45 minuets of my house and they are riders of all sorts all around me.

So if your thinking bout riding in Ohio we got what your looking for, just ask and someone will help ya out.

[shootr]

I live in Pemberton, BC, Canada.
It is Whistler's sister village.
There are forty odd downhill trails which are an easy shuttle (2500ft vert) right out my door....literally they end within five hundred feet of my house. There are two hundred XC trails in the valley.
Whistler is less than 20 miles away.

Yes.
I like it here very much.

[quadricolour]

I live in Cambria, on the central coast of California. I love it here, pine forest along a beautiful beach. Lots of land is reserved for public use, and we are at the southern tip of a marine sanctuary. Great area for a nature lover.

[Morryjg]

I live in Littleton, CO. Other than the fact that Denver has a bad case of sprawlitis and there are millions of people here, I love it. I grew up in a small'ish town (60k peopl) so Denver as a whole is too big for me. But, I have single track 5 minutes from my front door that stretches for miles and miles. Colorado has over 300 days of sunshine a year, most of those are rideable. I take my trials bike to work with me and hit up the urban stuff during lunch. I try to bike commute to work twice a week too. After work it's single track somewhere. (when I can get a hall pass from the wife) The single track around here isn't what 'the industry' defines as XC. I think they are calling it aggro or some odd name. It's some long climbs followed by long downhills. There isn't a whole lot of flat. Overall it's :thumb:

[Hans]

Copenhagen, Denmark. No mountains in Denmark, highest elevation within a 100 km radius is something like 50m/150feet, this sucks, we have to go to Sweden to ride. Everybody rides pushbikes around the Copenhagen, this is good. The chicks are hot, this is also good. This summer is the coldest since 1928, this sucks. I'ts been raining since I got back from Australia three weeks ago, this sucks. The inaugural danish DH cup is being held this year, and if I win the brakes I solemny swear that I will beat the other riders, in a senseless display of mediocre riding, first rate color coordination and stellar fashion sense!!!! I really HOPE :love: this is my lucky day! For once let good looks count for something! Keep the dream alive and keep on truckin'!

[freeriding101]

im from Anacortes Washington, a small one horse town with absolutely nothing to but ride. i hated this place, i thought there was nothing to do until a couple of years ago i picked up my dads 1993 specialized hardrock and went for a ride since then iv been finding better and better trails although i would still prefer to live in a bigger city

[Curb Hucker]

ah, a chance to get my hands on my 7th pair of hopes :devil:

i live in Illinois, a suburb of Chicago to be exact. The local scene is pretty good, we have a killer northshore park, and the urban riding and scene in downtown Chicago is amazing. But i still hate this place, and am moving to CA in a few years

in other news: If BrianHCM#1 wins these brakes i will sh1t myself

[roachboy]

I'm from Toronto, Canada. great town...just wish there was more vertical. Riding here is ok, definitelty not great. They don't call this place Onterible for nothing!

[Wumpus]

Live in Wacko, TX. The cults seem to like it here. Get to ride the dirt 11 months out of the year except when we get 14 straight days of rain in June. Only have one trail in town. 20+ trails within 100 mile raidius. I could do without the 3 months of 100+ heat indexes, though.

Max Elavation 515ft minimum is probably 450ft.

[special O]

im in san luis obispo ca and i can look in any direction from my house and find a trail...

oh ya and its always sunny and never rains and there is always a nice breeze in the afternoon to keep ya cool.


oh ya and thanks webcyclery!! and ridemonkey!!

rockin

[yellowfox]

Akron Ohio here. Pretty nice place thats centrally located around a couple nice places to ride so i'm diggin it. Closest mountain is prolly Blue knob or something. Going there this weekend as a matter of fact. Built or own DH course in loudonville about an hour and 15 minutes from here and thats where the local races are. I think its around 300' elevation change. Exciting huh? Where theres a will to ride theres a way to ride, ya heard?!

As for the brakes...... MMMMMM I'm running a set of M4's from a while ago. Got em off a friend a while ago for good price and LOVE em. Only one thing wierd. (maybe not bad nore good) is the fact that you have to shim them. After you get them shimmed right you never have to worry again but shimming in the first place can be daunting. over all. I give em a 12 out of 10.

[TomBo]

Out of ottawa here. A great city for urban assualt with all the nice parliament and office building down town and afew parks to fLow in. A great crew of Everything from freeriders to BmX guys all hanging out on MTBKanata.com keeping the scene strong and united. And with the Qubec right next door with tons of land to ride and the skill hill Camp Fortune with lifts. Theres is tons of great riding to do. Athough I would be just much better if I had a front brake to slow me down.

[scofflaw23]

On May 17, 2004 my girlfriend and I left Boston (and pretty much everything and everyone we know) to move 4500 miles away to a place we'd never been before. Fast forward to today: having spent one month so far on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, I can't imagine a better place. I love that it's cheaper than living in the city, I work at the best bike shop ever (Cyclepaths, 1000ft. from my house), everyone I meet has a smile on their face and the best attitude, and I live 2 blocks from Lake Tahoe. But, far and away the best part is the riding.
The best network of trails ever exists in my backyard: epic rides, short afterwork loops, everything. It's also only 25mins to Northstar (which has already destroyed my Kona) and some of the most legendary trails are within 1/2 an hour (Mr. Toad's, The Flume Trail, Hole, etc.).
Come visit and I'll show you around, but I can't promise you'll be able to leave.

[valve bouncer]

I live in a little town called Hojo on the isalnd of Shikoku in Japan. Hojo means northern castle or someting like that. Anyway there isn't a castle here, in fact there isn't much of anything, excepts old farts in little trucks and a Macdonalds. All in all not a bad place, there's definitely worse places to be but there's also better.

[fonseca]

I'm from Richmond VA. Moved back here in 2001 after five years in Harrisonburg, where endless singletrack is just a few minutes away. I grew tired of the limited local trails pretty quickly, but thanks to the VA forum here, and also the ride forum at cyclingcentralva.org, I've been doing more group rides over the last 1.5 years, which has really made the riding enjoyable for me again.

It's still nice to get out of town for some epic singletrack on the weekends...

[Jm_]

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Well, not yet, but I am getting ready.

I am from california, and everyone knows why it sucks (smog, people, wall-mart, traffic, developers, etc)...

I live in arizona now and I ain't going back to california. The riding scene here is nice, not huge, but we have some great riding. Sedona and Flag are about an hour away, and there are more miles of trails here to explore than I will in a decade. I can't complain much. I wouldn't mind living here, or in utah/colorado later on.

[Nappy]

I live in Danville, CA.... It's overall a nice area to live if you can afford to buy something other than a renovated garage. The people are generally nice but lacking cultural diversity and some tend to be a bit stuck-up or have been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years. A lot of cute girls and MILFS are in this town but unfortunately, as I mentioned above, sometimes a bit too into themselves. :)

The downside of living here or this area is lack of good, fun, challenging, technical and legal trails. Everything is at least an hour drive away and even that stuff gets old or is being threatend for closure. :angry:

[COmtbiker12]

I was born and have always lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's a pretty cool 'town' for the most part. It's within a couple hours of all the sweet ski resorts in Colorado, Breckenridge, Vail, Keystone, Aspen, Winter Park, etc... which also means that in the summer time there are some sweet places to go downhilling. But locally there isnt a whole lot of riding like that except for this area in the middle of town called Palmer Park. A lot of it seems to be made out of sandstone and granite, so there are some fun trails to shuttle there as well as some good drops and jumps. Unfortunately I dont have my driver's license yet (in October I will) so most of the time I just have to find stuff around me locally. For the most part its almost all suburban with houses, NOT the best place for riding. But I manage. Also, another good thing about Colorado Springs is that its within a few miles from Pikes Peak, which gives a beautiful view of the mountains from almost anywhere in town. And as we all know, its close to Manitou Springs original home of Manitou Suspension. It's also the home of USA Cycling, along with the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

[FlipSide]

I live in Québec city.

I like it a lot because it's a pretty relax city and it's not crazy expensive to live here. For the non-winter part of the year, the riding is really nice here. We have Mont-Ste-Anne at ~35mins from downtown Québec (where I live) where we can find awesome DH and XC trails...and there are just too many nice XC trails all around the city (within a 15 minutes drive). Basically, I find that the riding here is nice enough to justify living here for a long time. :)

Then there's the winter. It's cold, it's windy, it's long and most people says it simply sucks...but I tend to disagree. Sure it would be nice to be able to ride my bike all year long, but snowshoeing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, XC skiing, etc are very sweet sports too...and it forces you to diversify your activities, which is a good thing in my opinion.
:)

[B-boy]

Wow, how cool of Webcyclery & Ridemonkey to do something like this! Anyways, I'm living in Terrace BC (born and raised), which is about 14 hours north of Van/Whistler. Its a small town of about 25,000, and I never used to like it when I was a teenager, but I've grown to see the beauty of the area. Theres some really amazing singletrack and we've got our own little north shore mountain evolving with some siiiiick trails. Maybe one day I'll move to squamish, just to be closer to whistler and Vancouver.

Cheers, and good luck to me! (i've never even tried a set of hopes, all i've known is hayes :dancing: ) :D

[Beyr]

I live in Santa Cruz, California, and love where I live. It would be hard to think of a better place. Its beatiful, with the coast right there are the mountains just minutes away. The culture in SC is awesome, we have some really weird people :p Its location realtive to other biking destinations is factastic, a few hours away from Tahoe, and a long day of driving to get to BC. We may not have the best trails, but they are great, and ridable year round (to a extent) I guess the only place I would really consider moving to is whistler, or perhaps up to tahoe, but I dought it :thumb:

[Internal14]

Liven in Davis, CA.
Why?....Babes, bikes and beer of course! What else is there to make a town good?
Of yeah, the not so good part....no dirt trails within half hour drive.

I'd use these brakes to slow my enormous arse down instead of using unsuspecting equestrians and hikers to slam into to decrease velocity. :mumble:

[dangle7]

i live in the southeast quadrant of calgary, which is tight because there are some pretty wicked "suburban assault" areas to session, as well as a short trip on the train to down town for some real riding. aside from street riding, there is also a plethera of natural trails in fish creek park, and some man made ones at cop. aside from it's biking appeal, calgary was the home of the 1988 olympics, and the infamous calgary flames, not to mention some smokin hot women, and the stampede.

[DHracer1067]

Well i live near Raliegh(sp) Nc and where i live rocks because im not really in a city so there is still plenty of land available to build and no one cares if you build or ride on there property. there is tons of great places that i can ride my bike to and since i have no car that is something that is needed. it isnt really too hilly around here so you dont have to climb much to get places or when riding trails. but there is still a good amount of terrain that lends itself to building some pretty cool stuff. Also almost everyone around here is bike friendly and doesnt just start screamin at you for bein on the roads or try to run you down. Within about 20 minutes drive we have NC state which has some kickass urban and stairgaps. Everything you could want. And about 45 minutes away we have a really cool guy thats kinda old and i think does some xc riding. but he lives kinda out in the no where but he is renting land from someone and he dovotes ALOT of time and effort towards building a freeride park for everyone in the area to share and enjoy. He also gave us a tour of just about everything in the area in one day since it was our first time going up there. at the freeride park he built and is still continuously building new things on there are tons of nice skinnys. drops jumps teeter totters and just about everything you could imagine. its our own North shore. there are plenty other great people around here to ride with and support you. and for some real Dh stuff. within 3 hours you can ride pisgah and plenty other places out in western nc. and within 6 hours you can go to windrock which i havent been to but seems to be one of the better places on the east coast from what i have seen.

[nicklin]

well, I'm from Santa Cruz, california, where trails are awsome and people are clique-ish to the max. right now i go to school in UC Berkeley, so I'm looking for new brakes for my dh bike which is 5 years old now and still has original brakes, and the rear is busted. anyhow, i dislike berkeley for its people and like for its people, it's a love-hate relationship and i seem to get on both sides of it.

it may appear strange to be me from sc and go to school in b-town yet if any of you have browsed through the political debate section you wouldn't have guessed that. but hey, things happen. i love my bikes, i ride now exclusively on my ht ss urban bike, and it's sweet.

if i don't get the brakes i just have to go to work an extra twenty hours to make the money for it, whatever it takes.

take it easy folks, and remember, good intentioned democrats can screw things up just as much as the worst of republicans. so being liberal isn't always right.

rock on

[johnbryanpeters]

I have been in New Haven, Vermont since 1975, which, in local terms, classifies me as just having arrived.

New Haven is a pretty good town. It's far enough north of Middlebury to avoid the college, and far enough south of Burlington so as not to have to deal with the more pretentious suburbanites.

Trails of one sort or another start oh, forty feet from the garage door. If I set my mind to it, I could make it from here to Burlington staying in the woods most of the way. Our road is still gravel, which slows traffic a little, but covers us in dust when it's dry.

I hold the town selectmen and clerk and listers and other functionaries as friends and at this point that won't change if someone else is elected because I'll know them too. The fire department has long given up on pestering me if I happen to burn some brush or trash or maybe the pole barn I just disassembled.

The Vermont State Police are well trained, civil, and honest. One of them was headed off the other day with lights, siren, etc., so I pulled over to get out of the way and got a thumbs up for a thank you. :thumb: My neighbor was on the force and used to greet me with a flash of the blue lights when we met on the road.

I have lots of good bike shops readily at hand. There are a bunch of local people who are interested in trail building and maintenance.

There's some sun, some rain, and some snow.

New Haven rocks!

J

[shocktower]

I have abosolutly nothing to post about seppt ,I need to ride

[tammy]

I live in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The bike scene is decent - lucky for me, shortly after I started biking, I fell in with a great group of guys who are actually responsible for building the majority of the legal trail systems in this area, which gave me the opportunity to build and work on trails as well (you get a whole different appreciation for the trails when you put that kind of work into them). We don't have any mountains here, although there are some about 3 hours away, but you can ride all year long (if you don't mind hot humid summers, and occasional snow in the winter). I live far enough outside of town that there are some nice road rides near my home as well.

[Islandmudpuppy]

I am living in Victoria, BC at the moment and love it. While the mountain biking has taken a beating here in the last for years, there are still some great spots to ride. Not only do we have one of the few actual mountain bike parks that the local bike club (SIMBS (http://www.simbs.com/))is the land steward of, but we have a pretty good bike trail system throughout the city. If you are ever on the Island send me a pm and we can get together....(once I get my bike built however).

[Matt D]

I left New Jersey in 1998 to attend the University of Virginia and I have been living in Charlottesville, Virginia ever since. During my schooling I met a lot of dedicated mountain bikers who feel the same way as I do about riding; the culture, trail maintenance, riding style, etc.

The immediate local mountain bike riding consists of O'hill on University Grounds, Walnut Creek Park, The Rivanna Trail, and the privately owned Panorama Trails. All are within a 15 minute drive and are great to do as after work jaunts. 35 minutes out of town is Sherando Lake Recreation Area which has some good climbs and long descents with loops ranging from 2 hours to epic days of riding. Further out of town, about an hour, is the George Washington National Forrest. Perfect for day trips, this jewel boasts the best riding I've ever experienced; epic long rides, beautiful country, and some of the best singletrack imaginable. Most of it maintained by the good folks from the Shenandaoh Mountain Bike Club, some Charlottesvilians, and the Forrest Service.

There is also spectacular road riding outside of town. About 8 miles from downtown you can find some of the most picturesque roads in the South.

Lift access DH is available ~3 hours away at Snowshoe. Weekend trips to Mountain Creek, Plattekill, and Windrock are easy to do as well.

Charlottesville itself contains a lot of outdoors & active folks who make the city feel healthier than a lot of other cities I've been to. Every day from about 5am until 10pm, you're sure to see runners all around the city and there are a lot of kayakers who make the trip to some of the nation's best rivers in WV as well.

One of the nicest things about the area is how friendly most of the population is. A "Hi" or "How are you" is almost a guarantee from a complete stranger.

All of this probably helped C'ville get rated as the #1 city to live in by numerous publications.


Now if we could just get the 'necks to vote Democrat....

[BigMike]

I'm from Springfield Virginia. I like it here. I have a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and I'm close to DC, a few hours from the mountains, a few hours from the beach, and a few hours from school in Reeshmond.

[Andyman_1970]

Orginally I am from around Kansas City Missouri, but in early 1999 my wife and I moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. Besides the killer job I have, I was really amazed at how popular cycling is here in Little Rock. One of the coolest places to ride here is out at the local Army base (Camp Robinson) there the local cycling club made arrangements with the Army for about 45 miles of trails to be cut in one of the training areas they don't use very often. So for $10 a year you get a pass to get you on base and ride as much as you want.

That's my story.......................

[wysiwyg]

Im from Sherwood Forest, we got Robin Hood, not Sitting Bull, they both had bows and arrows, but thats where the similarity ends.

/randon

[Mackie]

What you have to do: Post in this thread with a couple sentences about where you are from, how much you like it (or how bad it sucks), and why.

Why? Well, it's Brooklyn, diversity capital of the USA. Lots of cool things to see & people to hang with. Not too far away from some reasonable riding.

Brooklyn Brewery is there, and that's some damn good stuff......
Coney Island is happening...
Tons of good bars & places to eat......

Aight, gimme the brakes.

[Earthmover]

I live on Whidbey Island, been here all my life! We're sitting smack in the middle of Puget Sound. just north of Seattle. It's a tight community, with several few good trail systems. Unfortunately, there's no extended hills to work with (lot's of real short, steep ones though) so we have to drive to get any DH action. Not a problem, though, since we're 2.5 hours from the Shore, and just under 4 to Whistler!! This is a great place to be not too big, not too small. Anyhow, I could use those new brakes, as my Hope C2's are pretty much done at this point! Would look great with my red ano Bulb hubs and black 888 fork and frame.

[Lexx D]

I live in New Paltz, NY. I love it here because the area is what got me into mountain biking over 10 years ago. It's a somewhat small town with a state college(fresh group of ladies every spring :thumb: ), and good nightlife. World known rockclimbing, a nature preserve, and great scenery make it a great place for people who like the outdoors. I live within an hour and 1/2 from plattekill, diablo, jiminy peak, west mountain(but i don't think they opened this year), and new york city(nice choices of things to do). Also great trail riding 5 minutes from my door.
I need the brakes since I have a 4 year old pair of hayes on my bike now and I ready to join the Hope revolution(that and I have hope hubs and feel i should have the brakes). Now give'm up :D

[bikeCOLORADO]

Colorado Springs:
-- Year 'round riding with over 300 days of funshine a year. Hardly ever snows here...maybe 3 to 5 days a year down due to snow.
-- The Crown Jewel of Colorado Springs, 800 acre Palmer Park with 25 miles of trails and the some of the sweetest techno trails anywhere...only 10 minutes from anywhere in town.
-- DH? Start at the top of Pikes Peak at 14,110ft for a non-stop DH run down Barr Trail losing 7,510ft in a short and often technical 12.6 miles. Or try a few of our local favorite DH shuttle runs outfitted with plenty of man made stunts.
-- VERY active...and PROactive cycling and mountain biking community.
-- So many local trails, I haven't ridden them all yet in 5 years of riding. Endless selection of world class trails that are no more than a 15 minute drive from work or home.
-- Huge selection of local bike shops including the home of Colorado Cyclist.
-- Road/Mountain cycling friendly land managers, city planners/officials and Open Space Coalition.
-- Home of Carmichael Training Systems.
-- Home of the US Olympic Training Center.
-- Killer High Altitude training ground...I live, work and ride at around 6,500ft!
-- Six hour drive to Moab. Makes it close enough for a trip or two a year, but not too close that it gets old.

[SilentJ]

I was born and raised on a farm in west-central Manitoba, Canadia. I lived there till I was 18 and loved it, but there was nothing there for me. I moved out to Calgary, AB for university and have lived here ever since. I like it here quite a bit, the people are super nice, we have virtually zero crime and we have mountains within an hours drive. :) I have COP within a 10 minute drive so I can hit up some lift accessed dhing after work when the weather co-operates. I work DT at an engimeneering company in the oil and gas biz and they pay me with free hot chocolate, shelter for the day, foosball and hot lady co-workers.

[Zaskar Rider]

I'm from Seattle and i love this city. There's good riding in almost any direction you can point and it's within a few hours from the shore and whistler :D The views are breathtaking from the mountains and I just can't get enough of being out and riding in them.

[Atomic Dog]

I live in the bustling metropolis that is Kennewick, WA. It's hot and dusty and dry (A desert in the evergreen state, imagine that.) and I have to drive a couple hours minimum to get to any decent riding. Family and good friends make it worthwhile at least.

[ZEDMAN]

I live in San Francisco and its a great place to go ride. I can go rip up the trails in the 2 parks here or go downtown or near home to session some awesome street.

[Mitch]

I reside in Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island Canada. It's a small island but we have some of the best technical xc riding in the maratimes. The free-ride scene is just beginning and we grow the world's best potatoes ;) It's a great spot to live. Really laid back have a beer town.

[spoke80]

I live in Knoxville Tennessee. Riding here is great if you like places like Windrock for downhilling and Bigfoot for MTNX. Come on down and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

[psycle-on]

I live in Wake Forest, NC.
A fairly moderate place for biking - nothing incredible without a bit of a drive but there is plenty around. We have a couple local trails that are quite fun and are only a few hours from Pisgah and the NC mtns as well as some of the good VA riding. Road riding is generally pretty good out in the country so long as you don't go out right after a NASCAR race on Sunday! :eek:.

[xy9ine]

vancouver, bc. beautiful little city; diverse culture (many fantastic resaurants), decent weather (for canada, anyways) and some of the finest outdoor recreation in close proximity (15 minutes to the north shore; 1.5 hrs to whistler). i like it here.

[Mike.rider]

i have lived in the out skirts if Seattle WA all my life and since i was about 10 i rode my bike every where when i was 12 i started to experiment on trails and see what my town realy had to offer. as i grew as a rider the trails seamed to grow with me. one place in paticular South Sea-tac park ive seen grow from the 2 jumps i could never get the guts to hit into an amazing section of in town trails. my town is a part of me and the trails are the veins and arterys that keep the town alive. as i am 16 now i hope to see my town grow even more, my town is almost like a little brother some thing you never really admit exists but its a part of you its where you live. my town will always be a part of me.

[Blieb]

Been in Tallahassee, FL since 1998. I like the rolling hills and northern feel of the town. I also usually enjoy the slower paced life, though sometimes I wish I had the option of the beach or tons of clubs and other action like I did in S. FL.

I have really grown to love the town because there are a bunch of places to Mtn Bike, so after getting back into cycling I have a renewed love for the town.

College chicks everywhere never hurt either :)

[BrokenSpoke]

Im from Pierrefonds, little town from Montreal, theres tones of things to do arround here and its nice and quite. Bromont is like an hour away so its easy to go dhing, theres about 2-3 dj spots not to far away witch is pretty cool. i can take the train, it only costs like 3 bucks, and i gets me dirrectly downtown, its very usefull, makes life easier to go ride more in the east part of the island. not to far from where i work theres lac st-louis, very nice view and theres a really nice church by the water. also the water side of lac st-louis is a great place for natural trials. I grew up here, i know most of the spots to go ride, and every thing is clost or easy access, i love it here, for now i got no reason to move anywhere else

so thats how my home town looks, plus theres a growing biking comunity witch is getting bigger and bigger, btw theres probably a tone of spelling mistakes in my post but i did my best to correct them :D english is my second language...

[-BB-]

Sun is shining.... weather is sweet.
Make you want to move... your dancing feet.
:dancing:


Cali is nice. Norcal or Socal, so stop the hating.
We're all Hella lucky.

Big mountains, big surf.
Big sun, big (.) (.)
eyes... what did you think I meant?

[Steven]

Hey, I am from Lewisville North Carolina, a town just outside of Winston Salem. Lewisville is alrite, not many places to ride or many things to do. But if i need somewhere to ride or something to do they are all close by. If I want to do some shuttling or dh riding i can drive an hour and be in the mountains, or if I want to go to the beach I can drive 4 or 5 hours and be at a nice beach, North Carolina has everything!


Steven

[j-bone]

I live in nelson BC CANADA woot.
heres what I like about it

drugs are in abundance.....the people are freindlier than they should be........there is a lake of wich you can swim in......there are mountains of wich to frolic in......streeeeet fest (crazy hippies doing tricks). And robbie bourdon lives here, and I've met joe schwartz cuz he used to live here :D

[Ronny Grady]

I grew up in Asheville, NC, which is awesome. That is where I picked up mountian biking. There is great cross country in the Blue Ridge Mountains and a cool dirt jump park in the area.

I am living in Nashville, TN for a while, it does not have good riding. There are some flat cross country areas that the locals like, but they are really not much. I will get out of Nashville for good in less than a year. I drive to Oak Ridge, TN (about 3 hours) now to get some real, shuttleable downhill riding in at the Windrock Riding area. It is fantastic.

This summer i am living in San Jose, CA. It is overpriced as has been said about the bay area previously, but I love all the riding around here. N*, Pacifica, Santa Cruz, and the Calabazas dirt jumps are all fun! To bad I am heading back to Nashville in a month.

[lovebunny]

well im from san diego. wegot some nice riding out here such as nobel canyon and anderson. and big bear is only 2.5 hrs away! :D its a nice town allways sunny weathers usually round 70* pretty nice place

[TreeSaw]

I come from a little slice of paradise called "Porter Corners, NY", which is just north of Saratoga Springs and border to the beautiful Adirondack State Park. I live within a few hours of NYC, Boston, Montreal and just a short drive from the DH/ Freeride Mountain Bike havens of Mountain Creek (Diablo), Plattekill, Mount Snow, Killington, Gore, West Mountain (if and when they ever open), Jiminy Peak and Whiteface. As for XC meccas, we have Skidmore, Spier Falls, Dalton (24 hours of Adrenaline), Garnet Hill, The Kingdom Trails of East Burke, VT and a whole host of other awesome places. On the north shore front, we have that too…right in our own back yard!!!! We have the beauty of nature on our doorstep and enjoy (almost) every minute of it while tasting some of our finest (relatively) local brews (Magic Hat, Davidson Brewery, et al.)…what more could I ask for???!!! :dancing:

[S.G.D]

i live in montreal.

i like it becuase there is always a good show to goto and becuase there are multiple Dirt jumping spots close to my house. it's also awesome because bromont is no more than an hour away, St anne is 3 and vermont is right below me.

w00tle.
~SGD

[Scurry]

I live in chelmsford Massachuseets, I dont mind the place, esxcept for the old people :D , but theres a little bit of everything around here to ride. Just like a bunch of small samplers, for example, theres a small skatepark, robin hiill has a few nice downhills and stunts, some mediocer urban, and some dirt jumps in my yard, and a not so bad LBS. Not a bad place to be when your to young to drive.

[Kilgore]

I live in Berkeley, California, USA. It's a great town with a lot of environmental and socially conscious folk. THe latest news in town is that Berkeley had the most people show up for opening night of Micheal Moore's movie _Fahrenheit 9/11_ in the nation, and that's not counting me since I have yet to see it.

[johnbrittain]

I live in Amarillo, Texas; its got good street and a good amount of dirt jumping for any rider from the most basic small doubles for beginners to some large technical jumps for more advanced riders. Alex Morgan of BCD lived here, but moved a couple months ago, so any help i need with any new parts he is there to help, along with my progression as a rider. Amarillo has a good location imo, right smack dab in the middle, close enough to the west coast, and close enough to make those east coast races. amarillo's in general got a great amount of riding for any type of rider, and is only 20 minutes from Palo Duro State Park, which has miles upon miles of great trail riding and now quite a bit of DH. Not too much of a busy town and businesses actually like us riding because it gives them entertainment during the long days of summer. overall theres any type of riding for any rider imaginable.

lol, and disreguard the small comment about hope brakes in my sig. :)

[bagtagley]

I'm from Charleston, WV but I currently live in Morgantown (WV) where I'm working on a Master's. Morgantown kicked arse as an undergraduate, definitely some of my best memories. However, I was really glad to leave when I graduated. So, it was really annoying when I realized I was either going to have to amass huge amounts of debt, or come back to here for free...the decision was hard and easy. So, here I am, not really unhappy (I'm only 2 hours from Snowshoe), but would definitely be more content somewhere else; preferably somewhere west.

Morgantown is not that bad of a place, especially in the summer when most of the students are gone. There's a good bit of riding. Urban, XC, Freeriding and dirtjumps..it all exists in one form or another. Meh, could be worse.

[UiUiUiUi]

this giveaway is funny! :D

ok whatever. i live in Munich, Germany and al the prejudices about this city are true.
we all live for the oktoberfest and in this two weeks you shouldn't do business with a munich company. ;-)
lots of fun and pretty peceful for over 6 Million people getting drunk in 2 weeks.

besides all the oktoberfest stuff, i really like my Munich!!!
lots of good DH riding nearby, 4 full on DH parks within of 2 hours driving and some good local riding, too.

downsides: super high living costs and Bavarian police is a little over the top. :)



so now give me those brakes!!! :D

[Strakar]

I'm from Lisbon, in Portugal.

I love Lisbon, lots of sun, with great beaches less than 30 min away, people are friendly and generally relaxed.

The riding sceene serves me well. My area has very good street spots and a skate park. Less than 20 Kms from here we have great trail riding too.

[p-spec]

montreal quebec.

I love montreal because its got crazy urban.Because its 45 minute drive to bromont for me :heart:

Also very awsome for urban trials ( i ride trials as well).Most of the riders are very nice guys and girls.But sometimes you well incouter then occasionel guy with the sickest bike who can't bonny hop.........

This contest is awsome because it makes ether a prior hope owner get hopes.Or a hayes guy who finally finds out how better hopes are :D

[DHS]

Why i Love to hate Rochester, NY
1. The Road riding here is Amazing
2. I was Fired from my lovly LBS, cause my boss thought i would steal from him
3. The City is a wonderful place to Urban ride.
4. Couple months later my ex-LBS boss assaults me on a ride.
5. There are so many local trails that are all hidden throughout the Urban/sub-urban area, its hard to get bored.
6. ex-boss calls everyone in the bike "industry area" and says anything dirty he can come up with.
7. I find out who my real friends really are.
8. Months later, ex-boss is still going insane. and many of the people that thought i would actually steal from LBS, now believe my story and have kicked "him" out of everything else.
9. Too late ****ers.
10. Most of my family lives in and around here, i just can't leave this place.
Steve The K.

[LukeD]

i'm from Georgetown, MA...about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes north of Boston. Yes, i'm in the boonies. It is a small town with nothing much going on...but its growing with all the families moving out of the city. Georgetown/Rowley State Forest is a 5 minute bike ride away from my house where we have a number of trails and a small little downhill training ground for myself. (aka trying to get the most out of small little hills) There is little to no street riding but there is enough to go out and kick around when i can't sleep at nite. all in all it's an ok place i guess, relaxing and quiet.

I NEED NEW BRAKES! :help:

[eddiebrannan]

Well now there's really very little in my immediate neighborhood (Bushwick)to recommend it. in 1977 during the major blackouts in NYC it was the scene of major riots and looting, and there really isn't much civic pride about Bushwick 27 years later. It's not charming or pretty, but there's stuff to like. It's now predominantly a Mexican neighborhood (Equadorean too), and there are taquerias here worth travelling miles for. On the Equadorean side, my local C-Town grocery sells frozen guinea pig, hairless and whole!
But the best thing is that it's a 15-20 minute ride to Prospect Park (Brooklyn and in my opinion New York's finest, most beautiful park)
There aren't very many better places to go with a book or a dog (or a book and a dog), lay down by the lake or in the shade of a big oak and just contemplate the world. Trinidadians gather to play cricket and fly kites, Mexicans and Jamaicans play football, Americans play ulitmate frisbee, hippies play guitars, babies play with their toes… Extended families and workmates gather for barbecues, lovers kiss, dogs gambol and, like mine, make futile efforts to chase cocky squirrels, who'll stand there unflustered while the dog coversd half the ground between them, then turn with a flick of the tail at the last millisecond and scamper up the nearest trunk, pausing just out of reach to scoff at this slobbering, jumping barking beast that is clearly so inferior to their own species.
As the seasons change the bluebells bloom and young birds are born and the sun shines and the leaves turn brown and the hoar frost covers the ground and the world turns and the cycle begins anew. Road biking, as I used to do each morning, around the 3 1/2 mile circuit brings you as close to the wonders of each new season as you can get. Dew, frost, snow, the blessed cool before the sun has fully risen in midsummer - all this yours before breakfast, a unmatched richness you haven't encountered since you sold your Bianchi.
I've seen eagles and turtles and woodpeckers in Prospect Park. I've seen sunrise and sunset, i've seen joy, pain, relationships begin and end, in Prospect Park. I've ridden a Bianchi, a Litespeed, a P.3, an Evil Imperial, a .243; i've learned to jump, learned to manual, crashed and opened my shin to the bone, learned my limitations, learned to overcome them, experienced success and failure and embraced both…
The always the ride home, the brownstones, the tenements, the projects, the avenues, the elevated subway line, the fried chicken stores, the bodegas, the Lincoln Town Car gypsy cabs, the dollar vans, the sidewalk preachers, the honeys, the honeys… ah, we bring em up cute in Brooklyn!
Finally back to the hood, trashy sidewalk, blank brisck wall, graffiti-covered steel door, key turns, clunk-click. In, hoist bike upstairs to second floor (thank God - my last place was a 5th floor walkup) and into apartment. og hopping around deliriously as you lean your bike against the wall and take care of any mud and dirt you got on it during the ride. as you do so look out the window over the rooftops towards the distant buildings of the Manhattan skyline, smile, realize you love everything and everyone in between. Happy to be home. Happy to be Brooklyn.

[RideND]

Wow, you wrote all that and you aren't even eligible to register.

[eddiebrannan]

that's ok. just nice to write about living and riding BK

[Ridemonkey]

Wow, you wrote all that and you aren't even eligible to register.

I would like to remind everyone to read the rules of the contest before posting.

[hurricane]

I'm from Port Coquitlam, B.C. which is a suburb of Vancouver. I like it here because there's some great riding locally at Eagle Mtn and Burke Mtn. The bottom of the trails on Burke are a 5 minute spin from my house. (another good thing is that a person can actually afford a house here, vs. other areas around Vancouver.) Plus the shore is 30 minutes away, and of course Whistler is less than 2 hours away.

Bad things? Well the traffic sucks, and it rains a lot.

[Anders]

i live in durham, new hampshire, home of the university of new hampshire. we have a great bike team at the school hear to do it all from xc, dh, ds, and hosting cyclocross races. we have some great xc trails and some of us locals have started building djs/drops. oh, and i need some super strong disc brakes to haul my ass down on my new bike ;)

[lanman]

I was born in Bawston, raised in Natick, MA, 20 minutes west of Boston. It's your normal boring suburb, but right near some kick ass riding, Nam, Lynn, lots o dirt jumps. Going to school in Boston, so I consider myself a part time resident..kick ass riding in the city, can't wait to go back!

[Cave Dweller]

I live in Newtown Australia. It's about a 10 min ride from Sydney City and is full of uni students and hippies. Its pretty cool, there are lots of differant resturants and heaps of food variety. I mostly ride in the blue mountains, sick tracks up there. Rennie used to ride them, infact he built some of them. Sick mate! :)

[Incubus]

Boston Mass checking in... there is great riding only short distances from the city. Lift assisted biking is ~ 2+ hours out, so a busy work and social schedule makes it a tough activity to partake in with any regularity. :( We love our Sox & the Patriots. The seasons are great though it does get d@mn cold in the the winter at time. I really like it here, but you pay through the nose for rent and home prices are outrageous. Go Sox.

[MMcG]

I live in Avon, CT and I really like living in this part of Connecticut. Plenty of great places to mountain bike from within 10 minutes to an hour or so drive. Lots of conveniences close by to my place (shopping, restaurants, bars, an EMS store), and I have made many good friends here as well. I'm very happy to be living here right now and see myself staying here for a long time.

[Colin]

So far I think I'm the only one from Florida posting here. I like Florida. It's hot, English is sometimes a foreign language, and come winter the snowbirds flock to south Florida like swallows to Capistrano. In all honesty, the beach is 5 minutes away and the riding is actually really good, if albeit a bit short on mileage.

[b-man]

Well I live in Greenwich, Connecticut, the notoriously rich and stuck up suburb very close to New York City. I really don't like it that much at all. First off, Greenwich is the drug capitol of America (really...15 year olds o.d. on coke), and I'm not into that. I don't really fit in, being nearly the sole serious biker in town.

I'm going away to school, so I won't be able to ride my stunts that I've spent 3 years on. The local bike shops charge prices proportionate to the town they're in.

Other than that, the trails are okay, the girls are absolutely blazing because hot, rich parents make hot, rich girls. Its a fun place to be sometimes. I love it and I hate it, but I gotta have some change.

[arsenic]

Springfield, VA. It's been home for the last 10 years or so. But I've always lived in this area. I think the best part about living here is the particular part of Springfield I live is just a short mile ride to the trails at Accotink :D (local single track trails !) I really haven't lived anywhere else so I sure don't have much in the way of a comparrison to anyplace else. But, I do know, traffic around here is a nightmare! Always has been, and it just seems to be gettin worse all the time :( All in all not a bad place to live.

[d.e.f.]

I'm originally from northern virginia but moved to Knoxville, TN 5 years ago to go to UTK. After receiving my degree, I stayed here for the girl and have gown to like this town. There are some decent xc rides around town and riding on UTK's campus is good too. Mostly I've been riding out at windrock mtn which is about 30 minutes out. These are some of the best dh trails in the east and we locals feel very grateful for living so close to such a great venue. A new fully paved shuttle road now takes up to the top and new trails have been built over the past few years to give us many options. Overall, the biking here is great and I'm getting used to the town - now that I can get away from all the southern football crazy frat boys.

[scurban]

I live in Santa Cruz California. I love it! I live riding distance from great trails, (bmx and Mountain bike) there is a college campus with good urban riding, we have mountains, and the ocean, the only problem is it's very expensive to live here, I have all the resources for great riding except money to buy parts with..... thats why I need these brakes...

[hans2]

Boston, Mass. I liked it alright the first year I was here, but now I just want out. I have too much history here. That and the upcoming DNC really shows how crappy of a town this place really is.

[narlus]

i'm an ex-pat currently living in dublin. dublin is a land of rain, literary titans, streets awash w/ guinness, and the best craic on earth (nope, it's not a drug; check out an irish translator if you need to). however, there are no chairlifts in this country, which is a distinct drag.

[Iiro]

I live in Espoo, Southern Finland. It's pretty flat around here, the nearest lift-assisted biking is ~1h away, on a hill with elevation drop of about 100m. That kinda sucks. Anyway, few good dirt jump spots and lots of xc-trails compensate the lack of mountains a bit.

[dwnwrd]

I live in Davis, CA. Although it's not a hip urban area, I'm getting old and I like the relaxed and bike friendly atmosphere. Riding to work on nice wide bike lanes is great. I'd like Davis even more if I was cruising it with some kickin' Hope stoppers.

[bcd]

I live in Fritch TX.http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=address&searchtype=address&address=&city=Fritch&state=tx&zipcode=&search=++Search++

No one knows what a dh bike is here. All there is in this town of 1400pop are farmers and ranchers. they both have hope. that I could say I have hope would connect me to one of the two horses in this town.

thanks for the stopies!

alex

[cali4niabiker]

irvine, calif. The upside: loving every millisecond of it, great biking, the beach, lots of hooters, decent ski resorts nearby, the weather... what could you ask for? :D The downside: too much development, Irvine Co owns everybody, and lots of noisy & bitchy neighbors... :rolleyes:

About the hope M4s... boy these are the sexiest brakes ever, man! :drool:

[Bikerpunk241]

Ok, I'm from Boulder, CO and I like it here a lot with one exception, all of out local DH trails are getting shut down for many reasons. The up side is that there are a lot of cool spots to ride within a half-hours drive. I've been all over the country, and there are a lot of beautiful places, but Boulder has an appeal to me that no oter place has matched (perhaps that I've lived here from day one of my life).

Thanks for the awesome give away and good luck to all who enter.

[BRacing]

My name is Brad, from Napa Valley, and I'm a recovering crash-a-holic. Not only am I blessed with beautiful vineyards out my windows, but several trails among the hills. I'm riding distance to my local trails, and in under 3 hours drive I can be anywhere in the Bay Area, Sacramento or Tahoe.

With these brakes i can effectively slow down from my blistering pace to avoid the big drops, large rocks, and small children.

And those brakes would look way better in this pic than the Hayes...

[joelsman]

I live in bellingham Washington, I like this city because it has everything you need but is not too big. The riding is pretty good, lots of xc riding, a freeride trail or 2. North shore is an hour away and whistler is about 3hrs. :thumb:

[mplutodh1]

I'm from Woodinville, WA, now living in Bellingham, WA... as for Woodinville, well its a yuppy town, didnt use to be when I was growing up but it has gradually become much worse. All the friggin "new rich" live here now and everyone is in such a hurry, part of why I like Bellingham so much, people are more relaxed up there. I like Woodinville a lot more than the South Bend, Indiana. I had the unfortunate opportunity to live there when I was 13 and hated every minute of it, corn fields for as far as you could see and not a mountain in sight.. since then I have realized I need mtns to survive.

[Revolver]

I'm from Orlando, Fl and now live in Bellingham, WA. Bellingham has mountains, good food, good fish, clean air, cycling and Canada as close neighboors. Sooner or later more Californians will buy up the town and it will suck but for now it's good.
It does rain a lot and you have to adapt. People usually come and go because of this.

Orlando was hot, humid, flat and sandy...not cool. Plus crocs can't ride.

[ChrisKring]

I'm from Grand Haven, MI. It's an ok place to live for a DH rider. Basically, we drive 8-10 hours to ride out east. We have a few really good local DH trails but they are not huge.

The upside is that there are a ton of places to ride XC. The other upside is that I live 5 minutes from Lake Michigan and one of the best beaches in the world. If I had a Gulfstream5, it would be the perfect place to live. :cool:

[bomberz1qr20]

I live in Oakland CA, on the border of Berkeley and Emeryville.

There are some good local trails, and more importantly, excellent coffee.

[ChrisNJ]

I live in Cranford NJ, which is far from an elite mtb area, although we do have our fair share of fun trails. Watchung reservation, which was the closest to cranford was shut down to mtb's probably 10 years ago now, so we are forced to travel usually 45 minutes to the nearest mtb area. Other then that, we're 20 mins from the greatest city in the world, nyc :) Another upside to cranford is its general central location. 45 minutes to the jersey shore, 20 to nyc, 45 mins to ski resorts, and about the same to decent mtb'ing :) Cranford bike shop has a good road team as well, so there is a great scene in the town among riders.

[Repack]

I live in Wnchester, MA. I live 1/2 mile from some of the sickest singletrack anywhere, but the majority of it has been closed thanks to the efforts of Trail Nazi's and one very irresponsible mtb club. I like the town, but can't wait to move out of my parents house.

[Knuckleslammer]

Yo, I need those brakes for my BMW FQ. Really. I live in Worcester, MA.
I love Worcester. Urban riding around here is cool. Colleges and whatnot. I hate Massachusetts. It's the most miserable state there is. Weather sucks (5 weeks of Summer and then sh*t the rest of the year)
I really need those brakes. Plus, I never won anything in my life.

Knuckle

[MtnbikeMike]

I live in La Verne, CA. It's cool, I live in a place where I can pedal out my door and, depending which direction I go, I can be at three different trails within five minutes. There are places to XC, DH, or some mountain roads to do some road riding. The air sucks (LA County), and I AM in the infamous 909, but I don't mind too much. :thumb:

[Ian F]

I am currently living with my girlfriend in Plainsboro, NJ. I like it here for the most part.

Sweet road riding around around. Easy flats - go East. Some hills - go West.

Not so great for mtn biking as anything good is well over an hour's drive.

[FR007]

I was born in Michigan and moved to Pennsylvania. I live about two hours from Snowshoe, WV. Yup. I have been riding a bike since I was 3. What can I say, I LOVE IT.

These brakes are amazing. I have to say that HOpe brakes are #1. I have tried bikes with the mono mini and the mono ti 6 and they feel so good. These brakes are the ones I want for my next bike. Wow, they are amazing. and did I mention they look so sexy!

[Dontblink]

I'm li