this blog is so 2007...

This blog represents my past life. One with a wife, home ownership, and a successful career in Nashville TN. Well, 08 brings many changes, no wife, renting a million dollar pad for 600 bucks and a new career path in Green Building in Asheville, NC. The team is no longer affiliated with RE/MAX and I have been asked to no longer use the work RE/MAX on any team gear, domain name, website and this here blog. So it is count down for this blog that once featured updates on the adventures of Jut Rut and his crew. I hope you will check in on my new adventures in Asheville NC over at http://whatupwithjutrut.blogspot.com/ and I will have links to the rest of the crew's adventures as well. All the best to the boys and girls back home and it's been a great ride.

Lifetime YAZOO Crew Member,

Jut Rut

The dust is starting to settle...

The boxes have been unpacked and it is starting to hit home that Asheville is now home base. The past week has been quite the surreal experience. I have been coming to Asheville since 1993, over the past few years I have made the trip countless times so it is only natural that past week has felt like yet another extended vacation. It does not help that my house feels like the kind of bad ass vacation property that I usually rent for a few days then head back to my "real" place. All is going well and yes there have been few good rides to speak of...

1.9.08 Bent Creek. Wednesday rocked and blue skies and temps in the 55 degree range made for a great solo mission to Bent Creek. Hit all the spots I love the best then started exploring and found some new great trails with some great technical single track. For those of you that have yet to check this place out Bent Creek is an amazing trail to have right outside of town. I am happy to announce it take less than twenty minute from my front door to the trail head. Oh yea...

1.12.08 The Grand Loop. Got out last Saturday with Bruce and Chris for 4+ hour grand loop of DuPont State Forest and found my new favorite trail, Ridge line, which is 1.5 miles of super fast flowing single track with a jump or berm every 20-30 feet.

1.14.08 Wilderness Route. Dropped of the car at Subarus R Us for a little love and decided to find the most exciting route possible back to the house from Swannanoa NC about 20 miles from the house. The adventure would take Bruce and I towards Black Mountain then over to Warren Wilson College out to the base of a mountain where the road ends and forest service road begins only for the forest service road to end and lead to a hikeabike up 1,600 ft to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then bomb into town. We got a late start but we were still up for the challenge so we pushed on only to find the trail disappear after riding up the FSR and hiking for a mile or two until the trail disappeared. We starting hiking straight up towards the ridge through snow dusted leaves and rhododendron groves. After bushwhacking with the bikes for another 30 we still had no idea if we were close to the BRP. It was 4:05 and the sun was going to set in an hour so we made the call to respect the Mountain considering we had an apple and two goo packs and a half a water bottle and it was already below freezing on the Mountain. So we turned around and back tracked and made it back to town and proceeded to hit the Blue Ridge for a 5 mile climb to Town Mtn Road proceeded my a 4 mile decent home completely frozen,nothing a few beers wouldn't fix...

Life is good and the Crow's Nest is now ready for visitors. Bring it on boys (and girls)...

Just so I don't piss everyone off with tales of nothing but good times. I have been doing a few things that may one day pay a bill. On a work note this week I jumped right into what I want to get started. There was a Green Home Open House Tour on Sunday with 20 or so homes / subdivisions all held open. I made lots of great contacts and talked with many like minded people who filled me in with what is happening in the "Green Scene" here in town. Went to a green building seminar yesterday and got a great overview of all aspects of what it means to go green and what our best options are in doing so for this area. Everyday I am learning something new, going somewhere new, and meeting a new person. It is exciting time for ole' Jut Rut and I am keeping my ears and eyes open at all times never knowing what is around the corner.

Jut

Ocho, Baby!

Well, I have been waiting for 07 to wrap up and it is offically behind me. Let the good times roll.

"Wow - it's been a couple of rainy and busy days here at SSWC08 headquarters and we've been swamped with all the emails that came in on New Year's Eve. The response was overwhelming and the event filled up as soon as it opened. That being said we are sending you this email to congratulate you cuz you are IN! "

This email came in today. Quite bittersweet though as none of the Yazoo Crew made the cut but myself. Big thanks to Pillsbury who stayed up till 3 am to sign me up while I was sleeping at my new pad in Asheville with no internet connection. He didn't make it into the race but hopefully he and a number of the crew will make the journey west as the race itself is just a part of a weekend of fun.

The past two weeks have been pretty crazy and I am looking forward to resting in one place for a few days. I moved to Asheville then packed up the car again to head back to Nashville only to get in another car and head to Georgia for the first Snake Creek Gap race. I felt rough but was to be expected after not riding more than a few times since the Swank 65. Even feeling like ass I was able to hold back the cramps long enough to pull off a sub 4 hour time and beat my best time from last year. Jamie kicked ass, Thad had a birthday and celebrated like a rock star the night before and still beat the 4 hour mark. All the crew had a great time and the trails were in perfect shape. The boys at the brewery took good care of us and the crew and our closest friends managed to drink all but 5 of the 94 bottles of Pale Ale given to us by our great sponsor. More to come later.

Bring on 08! Cheers,

Jut

Winter has come again...

Guess it's that time of year again. The time of year where I must override my bodies natural response to the weather and amount of daylight that makes me want to sit inside and drift into a long slumber. I don't do very well in the winter, I need the sun to make this thing go and to make matters worse, I am moving in a few days and the "to do" list just keeps getting longer. Throw in Christmas and seeing friends and family and wrapping up an eight year real estate career and all I want to do is crawl up in the fetal position with a bottle of Makers Mark and wake up in Asheville in the Spring. Well, that's not going to happen with out some divine intervention so today the plan is to ride for a few hours to sweat out the stress and come home and start packing boxes.

Christmas has not even registered, ever since my days of retail I have had a hard time getting into it. Mainly I just look forward to seeing friends and family that come to town that I have not seen in a while. Christmas these days seems to be more for the kids and since I don't have any, it is easy to not think about it in a "let's go shopping mindset". I have not been to the mall in over a year and hopefully will not have to go to a mall for another year having avoided the holiday buying pressure. The year ahead is going to be an experiment for ole' jut rut. I am looking forward to a year of self sufficiency and less consumption. We have so much in this country to be thankful for and yet somehow many of us (including myself) can easily take for granted what we have and want more to feel satisfied. Only to find that we still do not feel satisfied once we have obtained that next thing we think we had to have to feel good about ourselves. I am guilty of the above myself, three years of a booming business and I have more stuff I don't need and that I have to store, sell or pack up and move. Other than some clothes, my music collection and bikes which offer stress relief, transportation, mental and physical health benefits I don't really need much else. So, it's off to Asheville to live with the hippies and live a little more like a hippy myself. Never really thought I would go big in business, working smarter not harder mentality sometimes leads to more business than you need. Then before you know it your "smarter" approach is a success and your wind up working "harder" just to keep up with it. It's all a learning experience and one that I will learn lessons from but none the less I paid my dues and now I am cashing in the chips and going to learn a few new life lessons. I really think 08' is going to be a great year. So enough about life, (isn't this a bike blog?) I am going to ride a bike and you should too. Peace and good will to all, remember what this time of year is about and enjoy just being with those you love.

Happy Holidaze...

Jut Rut

Back in Black (with red stripes)

The Sycip is back with a pretty new paint job from Spectrum Power Works. Our boy Jamie P provided the design. All I can say is that I am a very happy man... See you on the trail boys and girls.

Polo was fun on Tuesday with Troy taking the prize for the most laid out crash I have seen yet. He was perfectly horizontal before hitting the ground and taking the top layer of epidermis off his arm. Hope that's healing up my friend. 2/4/1 Beer with the Manondale post polo made for a perfect ending to a great day.

The sun is coming out. I'm going riding...

Later y'all!

Jut

My memory of this weekend is a little foggy...

Last week was a mad dash to get the house ready to put on the market. It didn't leave much time for riding but did provide a few nights for drinking and kicking it with the crew. Did a good urban with Dun and Sharp and I am getting use to the idea of dropping of stuff with no worries. Having a big bike is going to allow for some good times. I hope that once I get use to the weight difference I will be faster on the SS. The plan is to ride the hell out of a thirty + pound rig for the next few weeks then get on single speed and rock the Snake Creek Gap.

This weekend rocked! Even though I am only moving 5 hours away and will most likely see someone from the crew every weekend once the weather warms up I had the chance to throw a throw down to celebrate my departure. The crew stepped up and came out in force on Saturday morning to hook up at Franklin State Forest. We had 11 people make the drive up the mountain to Monteagle to ride the new sections of the 20+ mile loop and the great bluff lines that we have loved for years. It was raining and crappy in Nashville but once we got on to the trail the rain was no where to be found. It was foggy with about 20 ft of visibility and the feeling of riding in BC with all the moist rocks and roots. The ride was great although we did set a new record for the number of flats with in a twenty mile ride. I think the total was upwards of 15 flat tires, guess that says something about the trail. Rocks were hiding just underneath the leaves that covered the trail and to boot thorns also claimed more than a few tubes. It was nice though as we found ourselves getting to hang out a lot rather than just hammering on single speeds all day. The ride wrapped up, beers were drank and we headed back home to tap the keg and get the festivities started.

The party rocked. Lot's great people were there. nuff' said, I'm out...

Jut

Giving Thanks...

Another week, a few more good rides. Post Thanksgiving Day ride at Montgomery Bell brought some good people out with Elliot, Dan D., P-track Jim, Rick H, Stick, Pillsbury, a few others. Great day on the leaf covered trails with temps perfect for a fall ride. Two laps and lots of fun thrown in and thrown down. I was great to have so many people come out and join us and of course the pace was pushed and sliding through turns on a few inches of leaves made for an exciting time. It's amazing how much this trail has improved with the addition of some new trail and smoother more flowing lines. I didn't like coming to this trail at all a few years ago and now it has grown into one of the best in the area. It has a little bit of everything and the race loop as it was run this past year keeps you working with out ever pushing you over the edge. It is fast and flows like no other loop I have ridden out there and if you just find a way to incorporate the table top jump in the loop with out backtracking at all it would rock even more. By the way that's Danny D going huge on the tabletop bridge. And next you see pump track Jim say thanks as I learned he built most of the bridges in the back and hauled in the wood to do so. Work like that is tough but most of us don't think about how they got there we just ride and ofter critique them with out thinking someone had to bring this back here and work on it instead of riding for a day. Speaking on the subject I know I have been guilt by not really doing any "paydirt" for the last two years I have been too busy to give any time to the local trails and I do feel guilty but one of my new plans is to start giving back more to the trails that give so much to me. If we all gave a little imagine how many more trails and how bad ass the trails we already have would be. Thanks to all that give their time and energy towards building cool stuff to ride. You know who you are...

Speaking of trail improvements, a number of the crew rode Hamelton Creek yesterday and got to check out some of the new trails and drops that have been added. I like everything that has been done so far and now that I have a bike with some suspension I am loving it even more. Although the chain skipping around on technical terrain I could live without. For the most part the ride was great. I pulled the new series of drops on the backside on the third time on the new bike though the drops are nothing big it is still fun and a little challenging due to a different kind of ride. With the leaves down you can see all the rock drop opportunities at that place. If the city would allow it H.C. could have some serious gaps, drops, and bridges. The new trails give you a taste of how gnarly it "could" get. I hear a downhill section is in the works so maybe they will go big on that section and give people who have bought a full sus bike a reason to ride it in middle TN. All comments aside the trail is great for riders of all skill levels and once again thanks for the people that are out there building these great new trails.

Things seem to be getting better as I am leaving town and I am happy everyone will get to take advantage of all the work happening with HT., M.B. and the pedestrian bridge at Shelby Bottoms. I have watched the bridge happen for the last year or so and always dreamed of the day I would ride my mtn. bike to Hamelton Creek or ride a bike to the skatepark skate the bowls, and finish the day with a round of disc golf at Two Rivers. I guess someone else is going to have to live the dream for me. The dream can be yours if you are a skateboarding, bike freak, disc golfer and are looking for a house in East Nashville just a mile from the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. I will make you a killer deal on my place if you can keep the dream alive.

The house is going up for sale tomorrow and I skipped a ride today to get things wrapped up. Sacrificed one ride for a move towards a simpler life that will allow lots more riding and less time working to pay for a big house. However, I am about to walk in my clients shoes which at the moment are like a pair of ugly, rock hard Penny loafers, that are two sizes to small. Basically to say that it sucks to be selling right now, but some people have to move and I hope they move to my house. If you have been to my pad, you know it rocks. Tell a friend and help me move to the mountains I will give you a free place to stay and free beer every time you visit me. 1920 renovated Victorian, a mile from downtown, three blocks from 5 Points and everything cool on the East Side. Call me if you or a friend needs a cool place to park that car and ride a bike everywhere in Nashville. When peak oil hits and gas is 10 bucks this location & house is going to rock and everyone who thinks it is cool to live in Franklin and drive into work downtown better have saved some coin to keep that SUV running. I better step of the soap box and get some work done before this gets ugly.

Stop the war for oil. Ride a bike.

Peace,

Jut