Saturday Night's alright for fighting, uh, I mean riding. This week's Saturday Night One On One Studio Ride was a ripper. 6 knuckleheads rolled north to Alaska and beyond, riding hidden singletrack gems along the Mississippi River. At one point Minneapolis' finest did a hang-out-the-door rolling stop, just like on TJ Hooker, to ask us if we had any spray paint or guns in our backpacks. Seems they'd gotten a complaint from a business owner about some kids on bikes tagging his wall. Sorry officers, but it ain't us...(We did find a grass velodrome-like area along the river so stay tuned for the Mpls. Mafia NASCAR Spectacular, coming soon.) Upon returning to One On One, a glorious 6-pack of Sierra Nevada was dowwwned. Get thee to said shop next Saturday at 5 if you want to participate in further urban dirt track hijinx. Sunday, Zito, Mac, & I headed out to Lebanon Hills. I hadn't rode out there since Kid & Chef's Muggy Buggy Swampthing Single Speed Rally, circa 1999, when I basically experienced the joys of heat stroke. Well to paraphrase Notorious B.I.G., things done changed. Over 6 miles of top notch singletrack awaited us, including that bitchin' natural rock tabletop. Too cool. Hats off to MORC and all those affiliated with Lebanon Hills. Some of you lucky suckers are heading off to Berlin next week for the SSWC '04. I certainly hope that you'll do yourselves right and not let those bastards take things too seriously. I mean come on, the SSWC has never been about limited fields and top fitness, unless your fitness regimen includes Budweiser, nicotine, and whiskey...And have any Germans even been present at any of the previous SSWC events, (dating back to Rancho Cucamonga 1999, I mean?) Who cares. Go and have fun. Wish I was going... And don't forget, September 11 is the Midwest Single Speed Championship in Jefferson City, Missouri (the SHOW ME State!) This could dovetail nicely with the rumoured September 10 opening salvo of the FRANK TUESDAY CUP. If you haven't experienced a Frank Tuesday event, well, then, you should. Just stayed tuned and we'll post the info as it becomes available. And finally, if you fancy yourself a singletrack hardman, (or hardWOman) and you've done the 24 hour races, you've done Leadville, maybe even the Creampuff or the Laramie Enduro, then you owe it to yourself to check out the Dakota 5-0h. 50 miles of pure offroad fury in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Sunday, September 5th. Until next time... -Dwight Trashe