Words I Use

Rules I Write By

*  Denotes the rules are way more complex but it’s best to simplify the issue.

He lives in the State of California. *

The event was held in the City of Boston.*

I live near the county line. *

Headlines / Titles: * Too complex to dive into on this page.

Address: When a number is used, abbreviate avenue (Ave.), boulevard (Blvd.), street (St.) and directional parts of street names.
I lived at SE 1014 Corte Maria Ave.
The avenues and boulevards were very wide in the City of St. George.

Date / Commas: When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with commas … “Jan. 15, 2018, † was the first day of the
semester.”

Changed Tim’s rule on 8 Sept. 2019 — When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma … “8 Sept. 2019, † was the first day of the
semester.”

Times: Do not include a colon and two zeroes when
referring to an even hour and use periods and lower case for a.m and p.m.
4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m.

Ellipsis { … }  [Changed on 8 Sept. 2019] A space before and after the ellipsis and capitalize the word following.
In most cases, when writing anything that will be published on the internet I will format the ellipsis similar to this sentence … But on social media there is more flexibility in its use.

In many social media cases and non-formal writing situations, I will not capitalize the [A] the first word after the ellipsis. 

Apostrophes:
states‘ rights
Do not use ‘s for plurals of numbers or multiple letter combinations: 1960s

Single Quotation Marks ‘ : Single quotation marks should be used only for a quote within a quote. Do not use quotation marks for word emphasis.

Directions: Capitalize when used in widely known locations.
Southern California, West Texas, South Side of Chicago, the Lower East Side. However, when in doubt use lower case.
southern Idaho, northern Utah, southwestern Idaho

Led versus Lead:  In most cases, “Led” is a verb.
She led the team to victory last week in the championship game (“led” is a verb in past tense form).

turnaround point versus turn around point: whenever referring to the place I turn around on an adventure it will always be the one-word version or turnaround.

Money:  5 cents.
Don’t use extra zeros with sums of money: $5 not $5.00.

Numbers:

• He said 1,354 voters signed the petition. Use a comma when numbers exceed 999.
• 1.2 million, not 1,200,000
• More?

Time:  Use noon or midnight rather than 12 p.m. or 12 a.m.

Fractions: fractions less than 1, in a blog post (non-recipe) must be spelled out, using hyphens between the words.
two-thirds, four-fifths, seven-sixteenths
Fractions: fractions over 1, use the full number followed by a space and then the fraction.
1_1/8, 2_3/8

Seasons: Summer, fall, winter, fall, and autumn are always lower case.
Tim will always use autumn in place of “fall.”
Winter Olympics is a proper noun so it’s capitalized.

Generations: Do not capitalize generations such as baby boomer or millennials unless they appear at the beginning of sentences.

National Forest Service and BLM roads and trails: Always abbreviate as FSR #XXXb and BLM #1223f

 

Berm: An embankment on a trail.

Chain Suck: The dragging and jamming of your chain that occurs in sloppy conditions, or when little burs occur on your chainrings that cause the chain to bunch up.

 

Cross County: A traditional mountain biking method that mixes many types of riding terrain and conditions into one ride.
In hiking, not following an established trail.

 

Doubletrack: A Forest Service Road (FSR), jeep track or two trails that run parallel to each other.

 

Downhill: a type of riding where most of the trail/road is downhill. Gravity ride. 

 

Downshift: shifting to a lower gear.

 

Dualie: a bike that has both front and rear suspension.

 

Endo: a crash that involves going over the handlebars of your bike.

 

Enduro: a form of mountain bike ride where there are a proportional amount of downhill sections,  uphill sections, and flat sections.

Fire Road: A Forest Service Road, a jeep trail or doubletrack wide enough for emergency vehicles to use. Basically, any trail wider than a single track.

 

FSR: Forest Service Road. It can be a dirt road or a double track. Normally numbered. “FSR #172 is Trinity Ridge Road north of Featherville, Idaho.“

 

Granny Gear: The lowest gear available on a bike. Designed for steep uphill climbing, but extremely easy to pedal in on flat ground.

 

Grind: A long, strenuous or steep uphill climb.

 

Hardtail:  A mountain bike that has no rear suspension like my Giant Talon 2.

 

MTB or #MTB: Short for a mountain bike.

Mud Diving: What happens when a bike slows abruptly in mud, throwing the rider into wet mud.

 

Off Camber: Sloped ground that makes handling difficult. A trail or path that is perpendicular to the fall line. aka, sidehilling.

 

Pinch Flat: A tire flat that is caused when the tube is pinched against the rim internally.

 

Presta Valve: The narrow valve found on most mountain bike inner tubes. A valve stem cap stem stopper must be unscrewed before air can enter or exit.

 

Ratchet: A riding technique in which you pedal in partial strokes in order to clear obstacles.

 

Rock Garden: This refers to a section of trail covered with big rocks.

 

Schrader Valve: The type of valve used on most cars and trucks. They are found on less expensive bicycle tubes and are spring-loaded to release air or let it in.

 

Sidehilling: Sloped ground that makes handling difficult. A trail that is perpendicular to the fall line. aka, Off Camber.

 

Singletrack: A narrow mountain bike trail that must be ridden single file.

 

Standover Clearance: The distance between the top tube and the rider’s crotch.

 

Switchback: A turn on a hill that is too steep to be climbed without zig-zagging.

Trackstand: A riding technique that involves the rider stopping completely without putting a foot down.

 

Wash Out: To have the front tire lose traction, especially while going around a corner.

 

Washboard: small, regular undulations of the soil surface that make for a very rough ride.

 

Wheelie: Lifting the front wheel off the ground, usually with some combination of pulling on the handlebars, pedaling harder, and balance.

 

Wipeout: A crash. 

 

Wonky: Equipment not functioning normally, not properly or as expected.

 

XC: Short for “cross country” – see above.

 

Yard Sale: A horrendous crash that leaves all your various “equipment” such as water bottles, pump, and tool bag scattered on the ground as if on display for sale.

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