| 04/08 Jeff Haymes- "The Professor". As active and committed a mountain biker as you will find anywhere. You can find Jeff riding trails every season of the year in Capitol Forest. Well rounded and as stoked on racing downhill as he is about long trail rides Jeff doesn't get caught up in the identity crisis some mountain bikers do as they try to niche themselves with a specific trend or facet of the sport. Its about the dirt and the knobby (and the technology!). Jeff can also be a man of few words, and when he does have something to say you better listen up. On April 11 2009 Jeff became paralyzed after a bike accident near Seattle.. Jeff is one of most intelligent, determined and disciplined individuals to place a nobby on the trail in Capitol Forest. His friends and his family know if anyone can recover from this type of injury it is Jeff. Whether you know Jeff or not, send positive thoughts, vibes, support and prayers his way. You are The Man Jeff Haymes. -Your friends on the trail in Capitol Forest http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeffhaymes When did you start mountain biking? 1991 - I was living in Forks and a friend of mine had bought something called a "mountain bike", and told me I could ride it like on logging roads outside of town and even trails and I thought, "that's soooooo rad....." Where have your "home" riding areas been? Forks/Port Angeles 1991-1996, Olympia 1996-present. What has kept you interested in mountain biking? The crazy technology Best innovation(s) in mountain biking since you started? Disk brakes, tubeless tires/rims (the Mavic UST standard RULES for reliability and consistent performance), sealed (like really sealed) bearings, and Fox Suspension (they made everybody else Step It Up and make suspension products where you didn't have to pour the water out of the suspension fork legs after every ride in Cap Forest - note to White Brothers and Manitou circa about 1993-97 - Shame on You!) What was your first year on a mountain bike in Capitol Forest? 1996 - it was a typical muddy CF day, and I noticed everything on my bike was broken or seized up after the ride (see disk brakes, sealed bearings, etc... above for why I still continue to mountain bike). How do you think Capitol Forest fits into the NW riding picture It's a great place to ride - the mud can be kind of a Beatdown though. If the Quads and Horses were not around to continually trash the trails, it would be MTB Paradise.... Favorite trail or ride in Capitol Forest? Green Line Baby - Top of 4000 to Margaret McKinney after a Start at the Y-Up-the-C line/7000 climb How have you seen Capitol Forest change over the years? The trails are actually consistently bikeable now and don't degenerate into blown-out,overgrown mud holes with permanently missing bridges like much of the 1990s/Early 2000 period - Thanks FOCF! Do you race, and what do you think about racing? The most important thing a bike rider can ever do! It makes you realize just how much you s*ck, and how you can improve all aspects of your biking. In particular, DH racing teaches a person all about overcoming fear (Fear of crashing, fear of going faster than you really should be going on a bike, fear of getting caught by the rider behind you, etc...), and of course cross country teaches you about out-of-shape you really are! Any accomplishments in racing you are proud of? Third place at the Schweitzer 2006 National Expert DH race 40-45 category Describe your profile as a rider, strengths, weaknesses, disciplines etc? Strengths/Weaknesses - I tend to ride within my current skill limits, which is of course both good and bad (good in that I've avoided frequent trips to the hospital and extended periods off the bike), bad in that I don't do as good at races as I might otherwise). As far as I ride my road bike to train and chill out, but I will always prefer the MB. I like DH, a little Freeride now and then, lot's of trail riding, an occasional X country race, and not much into Dirt Jumping (I'm too old for that scene, and it's too injury prone an activity for me) Trail maintenance and construction, for someone else to worry about? It's Every Mountain Biker's Concern... Favorite ride or race of 2007? The FOCF Green Line Super D Briefly describe a year-in-the-life of "you", surrounding riding/racing? I ride every chance I get. Preride music? Rawk Favorite food/fuel while riding? Cliff Bars, Vanilla or choco flavored gel packs when I'm about to bonk Families, websites, friends, bike shops, teams, magazines etc. you want to give some credit to or acknowledge or thank? My wife for letting me ride when I want, Glenn Graham for being the best trail riding partner a person could ever want, and Mountain Bike Action magazine for keeping the bike industry in line with honest, accurate reviews for the performance oriented bike rider (Read "Between The Lines" and All Will Be Revealed) - it's not some cheesy "lifestyle perspective" mag for Single-speeders and angry bike messengers:-), and of course FOCF for Keeping the Home Fires Burning! |
| The Man himself, in the middle. |