This year the race season started off decent, but now its all over. Last Wednesday, July 15 I shattered my left ankle at the Sol Vista National Championship. My first run down the expert course was pretty mellow but I still hit the 45 foot gap on course, I thought to myself that this jump isn’t so bad. But on my second run I hit the same jump again and cased, cased hard, so hard that my ankle shattered. I was instantly ejected off my bicycle and landed at the flat bottom of the landing which resulted in a concussion. Another rider assisted me off the course, and asked if I was all right. I responded by saying I was fine not knowing that my ankle was broken. I regained my strength and stood up, my ankle bent to a 90 degree angle to my leg. Now I was in pain, the rider quickly rode down the course and got medical assistance. When the medics arrived they asked me what had happened and questions like, ” Where are you right now”, ” What day is it” stuff like that. I was quickly brought down to the bottom of the hill. There I was asked more questions about the crash. An ambulance showed up about five minutes after I was brought to the bottom. When I was being loaded into the ambulance one of the medics accidentally kicked my ankle while walking past me, that hurt…… When I look down at my ankle I saw the bone sticking out of the skin, I thought to myself, “well this sucks.” I was brought to the Granby, Colorado ER which was super tiny and only had a few beds, there I received a couple CT scans. Since the Granby hospital was so small I had to be transferred to the Denver Hospital. I was transferred for two hours on a mountainous road in the ambulance which also sucked. I arrived in Denver at around 8:30 PM, there I was given dozens of pain killers, yet I still felt the pain. The next morning I went into surgery. When I got out all I wanted to do was eat and drink because I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink after the crash due to the surgery. At about 7 PM Thursday I was able to leave. Now I’m on crutches for 6 weeks and is anxious to get back on my bike! The overall experience at Sol Vista was very exciting , I was able to meet Pros and ride a smooth flowly course. The lifts there were also awesome they just like the ones at whistler, and were actually fast. Anyway I appreciate all the calls I received from concerning individuals it really helped out.
Thanks
Ride Hard! J
Brian Mullen
We decided to try out VholdR’s website for sharing videos. The quality is a lot better 
Anthony finished first in his class!
Brian Mullen and Mason Sowdon ride at (censored). Mason is cool, stylish and fast. Check it out!
Joint project by cities moves rapidly
By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I REPORTER
Several cities in South King County announced Thursday an agreement to build a new jail to hold people accused of or serving sentences for misdemeanor crimes, and they have already selected a vacant 14-acre lot in Des Moines as the new jail’s home.
ONLINE
For information on the plans for the new jail, visit www.SCOREjail.org
TOWN MEETINGS
The project has moved much more swiftly than a similar one being planned to serve Seattle and cities in north and east King County.
Those cities still are trying to find a place to build their new jail and convince the public that one is even needed. It was just last year that Seattle and the other cities agreed to work together on a common jail rather than build two.
But Penny Bartley, interim director of the South King County cities group, said her organization has been able to make progress because it has been working together longer than the other cities. The group is the South Correctional Entity, or SCORE.
“The thing to keep in mind is that the SCORE cities have been working together for about two years,” Bartley said. “We have put a lot of time and a lot of resources into this.”
The cities involved include Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila.
Together, they plan to build a single-story 668-bed jail in Des Moines. Development and construction is estimated to cost $80.5 million. Construction is expected to start in September.
“It seems ambitious, but we think it’s doable,” Bartley said.
The jail will be built on land at South 208th Street and 18th Avenue South, vacant property the Port of Seattle owns.
For the past 40 years, George Carns, 78, has lived on 15th Avenue South, near the proposed jail site.
The land, what he called a jungle, has for years been a haven for transients and drug users who ignore “No Trespassing” signs and clamber over a fence to get in.
Carns is not pleased about plans for the jail.
“They don’t need to build them in the neighborhoods,” Carns said. “We’ve got enough traffic here and noise.”
To date, plans have moved along without much public input. Bartley said the councils of the cities involved have held hearings before joining the agreement to build the jail, and some input has been taken as a result of those meetings.
But public meetings specifically to address the jail, and related questions or concerns, are expected to be held in April, Bartley said.
All cities in King County are looking for a place to house their misdemeanor inmates, people accused or convicted of crimes such as DUI, assault, domestic violence, property crimes or traffic offenses.
Historically, the King County Jail would hold these inmates. But the county alerted cities in 2000 that it would run out room for misdemeanor inmates by 2012. That has become the target date for cities to build a new jail.
Bartley said that even now, King County cannot handle the inmate load. City leaders have sought alternative and deferred sentences for inmates and, in many cases, paid to have them housed elsewhere, including the Yakima County Jail.
“We’ve all come up with a bunch of short-term fixes to this long-term problem,” she said.
“The ultimate solution is expansion.”
P-I reporter Hector Castro can be reached at 206-448-8334 or hectorcastro@seattlepi.com.
I got the opportunity to film Mike Metzger from Transition Bikes at Colonnade this weekend. He just got back from being broken.
For those of us living in the snow, especially Seattle, where the roads are Icy, and the DOT has no snow plan, it’s hard to get around safely or quickly. For people like me without a 4×4 (yet), driving is not a good option, and walking is just boring. But I just made myself a pair of studded tires for those ICY roads and sidewalks.
What you need:
Some used DH tires you don’t plan on using in the spring.
Sheet metal and or wood screws.
Sealant that can work with rubber.
Duct Tape.
Tools:
Drill.
Driver bit.
A few albums of awesome music. (the tires will take a good while to make)
Here’s how it’s done:
Get some old DH tires like Maxxis Minions. It’s easier to make them studded if they are solidly built and double ply. TIP!: Get smaller tires like 2.3, etc. The larger DH tires may interfere with your frame when you have spikes sticking out of them. EEK!
Drill holes directly into the knobs you wish to have spikes. The knobs will support the screws as you bike.
Repeat a couple hundred times.
On the inside, screw in your sheet metal or wood screws. I used 1/2″ screws, thicker ones for the center tread, and slightly thinner ones for the outside. Repeat a couple hundred times.
Apply some sealant to each screw after they are seated into the tire. Make sure that the sealant bonds RUBBER! A lot of the stuff I tried peals off the tire when it dries. Time to use those label reading skills
Duct tape the inside just as a safety measure after the sealant is all dry. You may need to use a heat gun or a hairdryer to help the tape stick a little better. The tape will keep you from getting any pinch flats (backup to the sealant).
Put that stuff on your bike! Be careful you don’t stab yourself in the process.
Enjoy! Be careful when putting your foot down when stopping or getting off your bike. Your tires will grip, but your feet will probably not if you’re any bit as cool as I am.
