Riding the Backbone

This is a scan of a photo of me from probably around 1999.  I am on my old Cannondale Super V full suspension bike.  I had this bad boy set up pretty good with full XTR components, custom built wheels with Mavic rims and Hugli hubs, Easton carbon riser bars, and Shimano 747 clipless pedals.

It was a sweet ride.  Especially after I learned how to correctly ride a full suspension bike versus and hardtail.  It is completely different requires a new riding style. This picture is from the Backbone trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. A long, kick ass singletrack that takes you all the way down to Sunset Blvd.  It is best to ride it during a weekday as the trail gets very crowded with hikers and bikers on the weekends.

I stupidly sold this bike in 2000 thinking I would replace it with something better.  But life circumstances prevented getting something else so I was without a mountain bike for a few years.