Goat in a Turtle Shell

Exploring The ATG Triangle

2012-01-12T21:26:00.001-07:00

That's the Alabama> Tennesee> Georgia Triangle. During the week my hours at work consume all the daylight and all I'm left with is Daybreak and Twilight. Unforunately all the trails in Huntsville are closed to night riding but to make up the lack in riding fitness I took up running two nights a week. It seems to be working as I got in almost 60 miles on the singlespeed this past weekend between Oak Mtn State Park in Birmingham, AL and Cloudland Canyon in Rising Fawn, GA. The weekend before I snuck in a 20 mile ride at Raccoon Mtn in Chattanooga, TN. At Raccoon Mtn I hooked up with some locals on a we're not going fast but we're going fast ride. The trails in the area make the most of the terrian to make it a up and down always churnning the pedals kind of ride. I took some video with the Gopro that I may be able to post up later but the slow internet hotel has limited that. This weekend's ride at the famed Oak Mtn in Birmingham was just as promised. So much fun n swoop singletrack with a bit of tech at the end. The only dissapointment was the famed, "Blood Rock" which was about 50 yards of rock garden that compared to most of the surrounding swooping singletrack. It was still cool though and the newest additions of singletrack on the Mountain including Boulder Ridge and the West Ridge were a blast of off camber boulder riding and rocky singletrack. Sunday I went to Rising Fawn, GA with a light rain falling all day. I went to explore the new 5 points singletrack at Cloudland State Park. This was a cool trail system that had a center starting point to a network of trails equaling about 20 miles or so. All of it drained super well and was fun in swoopy as well. Plans are in the air for this coming weekend. Thoughts of the Pinhoti Trail near Dalton or Mulberry Gap, GA come to mind.

Sweet Trails Alabama

2011-12-19T20:17:00.003-07:00

After a week of school in Alabama, the weekend came and I was ready to hit the trails. I drove up to Monte Sano State Park and immediately found the McKay Hollow Trail. I later learned the locals refer to this trail as, "The Death Trail". 2 + miles of hike a biking through a beautiful hollow with a wee bit of riding between the steep and rocky entrances and exits. It was fantastic.

The previous two days of rain provided trails just the way I expected them to be in the southeast. Wet rocks and roots covered with slimy leaves provided a bit of excitement and it made me realize my technical skills for such riding was a bit rusty.

Couple that with a few steep climbs and this being my 1st time on a single speed in some time and there were a few hills that just had to be walked.

Funny enough, I was told to go to the Goat trail for the funnest technical descent and it was awesome but my favorite trail so far has to be the Mountain Mist trail. Rocks and roots line the trail and its flow is sublime.

One of the cool natural features on the Mountain Mist trail is the natural granite wall that parallels the trail for most of its length.

My second day at the park I found the Stone Cuts. It is a hiker only trail of maybe a little over half a mile but I shouldered my bike and made the hike up just to see it. The Stone Cuts are an exposed ridge of capstone that after thousands of years of erosion, split into two and created small caves and low walled " slot canyons".

I go home to Colorado on Thursday for 5 days of Christmas with my family, maybe a ride with friends on some snowy Colorado trails and then back to Alabama for another month or so of school with LG Electronics.

Going To the South East

2011-12-10T08:08:00.002-07:00

Lots of changes going on in the Goat Household. I've taken a new job with LG Electronics and will be going to the US headquarters in Huntsville, AL for 6 weeks of training. I've been an appliance service technician for almost 15 years but this training will teach me about their computer system, up my refrigeration certification from a Type 1 to Universal, and provide a good base for working on TV's. I leave tomorrow with a week home for Christmas but otherwise I'll be missing my beautiful family.

As for riding, I've gotten maybe 2 rides in since Thanksgiving. Lots to do and a chest cold that knocked me out for the past weeks. My In-laws got me a GoPro Hero2 as a Christmas present and I couldn't resist getting out for a few hours on a snow bound Green Mtn to test it out.

With all of this loss of fitness I'll be shipping my Single Speed to Huntsville. A kit of cogs are in my tool kit ranging anywhere from 17-20 teeth. If I feel like I'm just spinning out too much there is a cassette in there as well for going 1x9. I hear Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville is the place to go for techy riding and I'll be traveling around the southeast to ride the Pinhoti Trail, Oak Mtn and maybe even ride the Snake Gap Time Trial.

Fall Preview So Far

2011-11-13T22:41:00.002-07:00

How Fall Flows. Rides are falling farther apart, fitness is being lost, and snow has covered the high country.

No worries tho as we still have fun

Buffalo Creek

Secret, underground pub rides

That included costumes

Cows do ride in snow, you didn't know?

Some signs needed an understanding of how we feel

Snow makes old trails more interesting

T.I.T.S (Thursday Night Worlds) is still going strong

and T.I.T.S made a Saturday showing at BC

we ended it with the infamous Bucksnort

and recovery rides go better with my girls

Fall Ridin at Indian Creek

2011-10-24T22:47:00.003-06:00

Its come that time of year when the internal bear that resides inside starts to hibernate and I find it harder and harder to get motivated for a ride. The Thursday Night Worlds changed to Wednesday last week and I missed it due to Mrs. Goat finding Buddy Christ so I thought to ride Thursday, even had opportunity to ride a few hours with daylight if I had wanted but alas, The bear was sleeping so I didn't.

Saturday, Canyon Rat had a nice loop planned for Indian Creek and section 1 of the Colorado Trail so I decided to tag along and so did Slow. We kept the pace at a good clip with some stops for lollygagging and taking in the day. Just a beautiful fall day, Blue skies, a crisp edge to the air, trails just primed with newly fallen aspen leaves to keep it interesting.

We managed to get the whole Indian Creek Loop in along with a trip to the Platte River Valley overlook on the Colorado Trail. Near the end of the ride I think we all went into our own special places to make it back to the car. Looks like I'm losing some fitness but its all good as I've made peace with myself in that fact for winter riding.

Slow on Indian Creek

Canyon Rat and Slow in the Meadow

South Platte River Valley Overlook

Canyon Rat in the Water

Beanfest V. 2.0

2011-10-17T06:54:00.005-06:00

Since The Tour de Goat I've now managed to get three rides under my belt. One Lunch ride of an hour, One Thursday Night Worlds, and this Weekend's BeanFest V.2.0.

Beanfest goes off every year at Buffalo Creek and is run by our local hero; Pablo. That was last weekend and I decided last weekend that instead of turning pedals I needed to hang with the family who had lost me for over seven days the week prior.

This past weekend PBR was contacted by some Boston folks who were gonna be in town and was asked to lead a ride through Buffalo Creek. Since he missed the BeanFest himself, he thought up the Beanfest V. 2.0. Camping, riding, drinking, with mexican on the side. I was just gonna head up with my girls for the camping bit but my little one had been sick last week and complained of her tummy hurting Saturday morning. So I spent the day with the girls and headed up that evening with Lubes for a night of riding with a return to the hacienda for bed.

We got there around 3:30 and the Boston crew didn't show till around 5pm so a few beers were consumed in the meantime of us talking about riding a loop and coming back for the Bostonians. Nick was there, another who had broken a Misfit/ True North Dissent and he was riding his newly repaired Dissent but as he put it, "It was a nightmare process with caution put on high alert in riding it".

photo Cred: PBR

Our ride started around 5:30 or maybe later with the fellas from Boston having to build their bikes and such. Once we got started, I pushed the pace a little high and found two of the Bostonians were in superb condition as they hung my tail like dogs on a rabbit and had me huffing like a chain smoking old lady trying to maintain the pace. This was Wraith, I'm terrible with names but great with bikes; who rode a full suspension singlespeed 29er custom built by Wraith and another fella who was on a gold Turner but riding flat pedals. Fast dudes who pushed me hard and eventually cracked me for the final climb that night. They cracked too and some of the others got past but we kept it in front for 3/4's of the ride.

All in all great fellas. All nine of em, though I can only remember Dave's name and that was because he had some big open heart/ multiple number of bypasses surgery back in February or March. The way he was riding, you couldn't tell. Lubes and I ducked out shortly after the ride so you'll have to check out PBR for all the debauchery and tomfoolery that went on that night and the next day.

Tour de Goat Hangover

2011-10-11T21:21:00.002-06:00

I've been back to the real world since last Wednesday but the Tour De Goat Hangover still lingers. Seven days of riding with a couple of cool cats including Guacamole, Mark, Big Ring, and Dicky on trails that railed and weather that couldn't have been more perfect.

The trip was awesome but it left me mentally and physically exhausted. The old cliche of, "I need a vacation from my vacation". So when a snowstorm hit in the mountains this past weekend and all we got here on the Front Range was a light dusting, I took the girls up for a good ol snow ball fight and snowman building right off the Continental Divide Trail near Alice.

a brief photo tour of the Tour de Goat....

Wednesday: Golden,CO...Chimney Gulch> Enchanted Forest> Apex

Thursday: Vail, CO... Bowmans> Two Elks

Friday: Moab, UT...The Whole Enchilada: a shuttle ride of 30+ miles starting in the La Sal Mtns with a short climb to 11,600 ft and dropping to the desert of Porcupine Rim and finally Moab at 4026 ft.

Saturday: Moab, UT; Amasa Back to Jackson's in the am

to Pipedream in the afternoon

Sunday: Moab, UT; Slickrock in the am

Trans La Sals to Hells Canyon in the PM

it can't be a tour with my name attached to it without some hike a bike

Monday: Fruita, CO; Kokopelli Loops

Tuesday at Buffalo Creek, CO....30 miles of buff n fast singletrack. Just what we needed to end the Tour

all of the Tour de Goat pictures are here

The Goat's Weeee Little Fall Foliage Ride

2011-09-26T22:32:00.002-06:00

50 miles, almost 10,000 ft of climbing all at elevations above 10,000 ft.

Scenic singletrack can only be a summary of this ride. 45 miles of singletrack and 5 miles of dirt road grinders made this ride as Home Grown described, "the one that takes the cake."

Drog, Slow and Home Grown joined me for the adventure. We started earlyish, around 7:45 am at the Kenosha Trailhead.

We ran into a few riders on the trail and when they asked where we were going and I told em French Pass, they were baffled. Some knew the pass but couldn't figure out my mostly singletrack route, others didn't know the pass at all and later both Drog and Home Grown commented they wouldn't be able to find the route unless they rode it a couple of times. Ah, I like these types of rides.

Kenosha Pass> Georgia Pass> The American Flume> Little French Gulch> French Pass> Georgia Pass> Jefferson Creek> Kenosha Pass

Breaking treeline, the weather was perfection all day.

Mt. Guyot serves as the backdrop and is the mountain that we would eventually circumnatigate

the Talas of the American Flume clinked and shifts as Drog makes his way across the traverse

Looking back down the Breckenridge side of French Pass

and dropping down the South Park side

From the bottom we climbed up a 4 mile gravel road to the top of Georgia Pass and another 200 ft or so of elevation gain got us to the tip top of what most mountain bikers call Georgia Pass on the Colorado Trail.

The snow drifts on the top of Jefferson Creek never dissapear before the next winter's storm buries them again. A quiet reminder of how little a year we get to ride the fine trails of the high country.

Within a mile or so Jefferson Creek drops into the forest canopy and becomes an east coast style downhill full of roots and rocks, mud, and creek crossing with log bridges. This is my home style turf and even after 40 + miles I was ripping through this fine piece of trail

Back to the Colorado Trail where we zipped in and out of the aspens..too much fun

and finally our day ended with just enough sun to light the empty trail

with that, I leave you with a week of blog silence. Big Ring, Curvy Boy and Dicky all fly in tomorrow night and I'll give them Wednesday to build bikes, acclimate, and ride some local terrain while I work and Thursday morning we leave for the "Mancation". 1st stop will be in Vail to ride Two Elks and from there we head to Moab then to Fruita and eventually back to Golden where the final stop will be determined by how much we fry our legs and the weather. It's gonna be a rad trip. Weeeeeeee!!!

Late Season

2011-09-20T21:23:00.004-06:00

Seems the last couple of years I've yoyo'd between 195 summer time pounds and 210-215 winter blues pounds. This year I've managed to get down to 202 give or take a few pounds depending on how many pounds of M&M's I've managed to inhale that week.

That's ok though. I'm feeling fit, wouldn't say the strongest I've ever been but the fitness is there and the legs are feeling good. 30-50 mile weekend mountain bike rides have been a norm along with 3-4 lunch rides a week and the regular Thursday Night Intervals.

This coming weekend is my "Goat's Wee Little Fall Foliage Tour". Fall colors are here and the high country is calling so I gathered a group of friends for a 40ish mile or more tour of Kenosha Pass>Georgia Pass> Some old flumes>French Pass>Back to Georgia Pass>down Jefferson Creek and finally back to Kenosha. Yeah, that should keep some sated on the high country for some time.

Next week, the Big Ring comes back for more Colorado goodness and he's dragging Dicky and Curvy Butt along with him. Last year we hit the yummy goodness of Crested Butte and as tempted as I was to go back there, I wanted to expose the famous Canadian to the Desert of Moab. It won't all be desert riding though as we'll try to hit Two Elks and maybe Meadow Mountain in Vail on the way out and Buffalo Creek as the week closer. Six days should equal around 200 miles or so of riding if all goes the way I plan.

Downhilling

2011-09-13T22:09:00.004-06:00

This past weekend our friend Tanya came to town for a work conference. She gave us a shout and asked if she could stay with us a few days before and of course, we welcomed her with open arms. A rider herself, Tanya wanted to go riding and see the big mountains but was afraid that climbing at altitude may have undesired effects. She's a relatively new mother and living at sea level which I thought was a good excuse and I gave her a little break. So I did what any good friend would do...take her to Winter Park for some lift served downhilling at Trestle Bike Park. Of course, a trip like this needs a few extra bodies and I was able to rustle up Lubes, Guacamole and The Mad Scientist to zip up the mountain in the 4runner.

Me and Tanya
Me...the xc kid, all mountain rider...bah, I don't care for labels.
Tanya, the black knight...all dressed for war and still gets a nasty little puncture on her knee on the 1st run of the day. Silly pads, I guess they were just for looks. Like a true champ though, with some doctoring from the bike patrol and maybe a margarita, she got out for a few more runs

Lubes all dressed for war with some silly big suspension too...will he sell the singly speed and go big bike...inquiring minds want to know.

The Mad Scientist said the views sucked.

Even Guacamole got all speedy

this ride was all about flow

and....

I usually don't like to fly but when I do, its with Dos Nueve's

Weeeeee!!!!

French Pass

2011-09-06T17:43:00.003-06:00

Originally cut as a wagon road and later abandoned when better passes were found, it leaves with us a good place to kick back and enjoy the views.

Following the route of the Breck Epic...It took some time to get there

Next time though, I think I'll do it my way...less mining roads, more old flumes, and it'll include Kenosha to Georgia and Jefferson back. Maybe around the 23rd of this month to maximize the Aspen's...hmmm

Don't get me wrong though, we still had fun and enjoyed the route, I always enjoy a good pot to stick my bum on

Little French Gulch is fun as always and is it me or did a major gully washer get it since early July?

Climbing up to French Pass

The lone post marks the top

and bombing down the backside

Where there was a snowdrift to cross, I ended up sliding about 20 ft on my back

and then a few miles of climbing

brought us back to the familiar...The CT on Georgia Pass

a super fast n fun descent and a super hard climb brought us back near the start where we chased dirt roads and kept chasing them

and finally we ended back where we started, Minnie Mine

6th Stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge

2011-08-30T07:55:00.005-06:00

Sunday the girls and Guacamole and family joined me for watching the start of the 6th and final stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. It was a great atmosphere and here's to hoping for many years of the Challenge continuing in Colorado.

Guacamole caught some random Pro getting squeezed and trying to take out Levi.

Some edited video I got

Ayla cheering on "The Man"

Crossing Argentine

2011-08-29T06:36:00.003-06:00

Some call me evil. I call myself a Father, Husband, Macgyveriser and an occasional adventurous mountain biker.

Crossing Argentine Pass into Montezuma from Silver Plume, climbing Lenawee to Abasin and finally climbing over Loveland Pass has been a thought of mine for about 3 years now. JJonas has done it for some years and while there have been those that have questioned the route, its not theirs to question. It lies in the mind and bodies of those willing to do it.

But do I question myself at times. Between work and family, time is tight for anything else but I have a good wife and loving children who may not always understand my call to the wild but they let me explore and for that I am always grateful.

I hoodwinked 3 others into my adventure. Guacamole, Joe HomeGrown and Drew from the East. All three know my reputation for taking mortal men(my term for us weekend warriors) and pushing them to their limits. All three have seen me bonk and fight to keep churning the pedals when no power to push them was left in my body.

So in that day, it felt good to be a leader. To take us to 13,200 ft....eyes wide with wonder of the vistas at that elevation and to descend and climb two more times to elevations above treeline and feel strong all day.

Laughing at the middle fingers raised to my salute every time I looked back on Lenawee, I knew I had chosen the perfect crew for such an adventure for the mortal of men.

We may not be gods of the bicycle in your eyes but in that day, we were gods of our own adventure.

Slideshow Here....

We Were Giants That Rode The Sky And Parted The Waters

2011-08-22T00:01:00.002-06:00

We found a wall of snow and climbed to its summit

We chased ethereal ghosts of my namesake

and we rode the Divide that separates the waters that flow to the Atlantic and the Pacific

To reach 13,000 + ft, climbing is required. At that elevation, the mortal man can't always sustain, so we hiked

at the top, we admired the views and new bikes...Guacamole's(left) and my(right) new Jet 9's...Thanks Golden Bike Shop

and then we descended...... to 8000 ft or so

another climb to 10,000 + ft

and another 2000 + ft descent

Thanks to PBR, Lubes, Guacamole and Canyonrat for joining me for a day of adventuring in the Mountains....oh and Lubes and myself, finally cleaned the Turn of Doom in Gtown and that which lays beyond.

My New Jet 9

2011-08-20T18:40:00.003-06:00

I picked up my Jet 9 frame yesterday afternoon and had it built last night. I had to work today but was able to get out for a short lunch ride and in short, this bike is just fuggin rad! I'll be leading a group of 5 hardy souls to the top of Jones Pass tomorrow for a climb to 13,215 ft followed by a 5000+ ft descent off the Continental Divide.

Golden Gate State Park

2011-08-19T23:22:00.003-06:00

Last weekend Guacamole and I tried to head for the Lenawee Trail to try out his new Jet 9. He was looking for some chunk but mother nature turned us from the High Country with voluminous black clouds that ominously hung over the mtns.

So we took a turn and ended up in Golden Gate State Park to do a big ol loop including Mtn Lion and then a counter clockwise circumnavigation of the entire Park.

A Brace To Keep My Wheel In Place

2011-08-17T21:31:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I noticed my Phoenix had cracked again. This time on the weld at non driveside chainstay and the paragon slider.

Reading up on the interweb and talking to a few builder friends led me to believe this was due to the fact that the area had never been braced. So I talked to Chris, a local single speeder bad ass, all around good guy and owner of Podium Cycles about repairing the crack and installing a brace.

Chris installed a sleeve over the original chainstay and installed a brace between the chainstay and seatstay to hopefully advert this from happening again.

Another issue I've had with my frame is that the wheel has always leaned towards the driveside seatstay even though it was straight between the chainstays.

This difference is almost 3/8's of an inch. Chris put a Campagnolo dropout alignment tool on the rear dropouts and the driveside dropout was approx 3/16 of an inch lower then the non drive side. Chris said this was most likely due to an improperly set frame or possibly a miscut of the prebent seatstays...I believe this is the most likely cause since looking at the bends in the seatstays, they are asymmetrical.

As a temporary fix I took my dremel tool to the driveside dropout and removed the material necessary to allow the wheel to sit straight between the dropouts. A quick test ride tonight at 3 Sisters in Evergreen showed promise that the temporary repair will hold until I can get Chris to look at the frame more closely to determine what has caused this.

Demo'd: 2010 Niner Jet 9

2011-08-16T23:46:00.002-06:00

Rented as a demo from the Golden Bike Shop. I knew of the Jet 9 for some years now. 1st hearing of the recall in 2009 and later hearing about the "rise of the Phoenix in 2010. Niner claims the 2010 model is 30 % stiffer then its predecessor and though I never got a chance to throw my leg over the earlier model, I'd say they hit the mark with this bikes rocket ship, sling shot, point it and it'll take you there as fast as your willing to push it attitude.

Golden Bike Shop recommends running a 120 mm fork to the 90 mm rear end. I was a little hesitant at 1st and on my 1st test ride, Chimney Gulch to Enchanted Forest to Apex, I thought they may be off the mark. The bike handled twitchy and nervous on the climbs and while I felt fast on the descents, I really didn't feel in control. I attribute this to the fact that the bike had a 0 degree rise stem and a flat bar along with skinny Maxxis Ignitor 2.1 Tires on the front and rear.

I got home that night and switched out the front tire for a Panaracer Rampage 2.3 and switched the stem to a 6 degree rise with a riser bar on top of that. That weekend we did my Great Big, Damn'd Vail ride and the resulting ride was astounding. The bike felt overall more comfortable under me and performed to every command I could give as long as my legs and lungs could continue producing the momentum. The result was a bike that climbed and tracked well, though new to me compared to my hardtail was a slightly longer wheel base that made switchbacks a little trickier. The descents is where this setup really shined and I had to reel myself in a few times when it felt that I was going a little to fast for my own comfort.

While I know the Jet 9 was optimized for cross country racing, I see the potential for this machine to be a epic cruiser that could handle a variety of diverse terrain while keeping a rider happy for many miles in the saddle. This can be accomplished through using a 120mm fork, 2.3 or larger front tire and 2.2 or larger rear tires along with a cockpit setup optimized for the individual rider. For this reason, I have Golden Bike Shop holding a frame for me until I can gather enough funds to make it mine.

The Great Big, Damn'd Vail Ride

2011-08-07T23:09:00.003-06:00

ok..only 38 miles. Somewhere around 8,000 ft of climbing and just below 11 hours including breaks and lunch.

I've been wanting to ride Two Elks since moving to Colorado three years ago. The only thing that bothered me about it was it was gonna either be a shuttle or a long road/bike path ride to make it a loop. I thought about Resolution Road but I figured if I was gonna be pulling my teeth, I might as well do it on Single Track.

Enter Cougar Ridge. I'm sure it makes a fine downhill but it's a helluva climb. Least I knew it would be and an east coast friend who just arrived in town on Friday showed it could be climbed on a bike. Funny how all of us who were acclimated were the ones walking for at least 80% of it while she just rode away. Did I mention she was a girl? Watch out ladies, she is in town for the Leadville 100 and I have a feeling she might earn herself a belt buckle.

The ultimate route: Vail Pass>Shrine Pass Rd>Bowman's>Top of the World>Two Elks>Minturn>Game Creek>Cougar Ridge>The Grand Traverse>Two Elks Connector>Top of the World>Bowman's>Shrine Pass Road>Vail Pass

Keep in mind this is a lolly pop loop and while we took our time, had lunch in Minturn, and took many breaks....its a loop I'd only recommend to the super adventurous, the super fit, and have the spirit to persevere.

On to the video. Don't worry, I broke it up with pictures, pov, and people riding.

The 1st 15 seconds or so is PBR talking. Some reason the sound didn't transfer well and he is berating yours truly, while climbing a ridable portion for me of Cougar Ridge.

"He did this. That guy. He's the one. His Fault"

Chunky Chunk

2011-08-01T00:02:00.001-06:00

I've been missing some good old chunk style riding. big rocks, roots, eroded(did he go there, I believe he did IMBA*) singletrack. I took Guacamole to a favorite gem up in the mountains somewhere between Boulder and Estes Park where the line between Colorado Backcountry and what definitely has a backwoods Appalachian feel, becomes blurred.

Everything in the area from the trails to the ...ummm towns, if you'd call them that, feels like they stepped straight out of the Appalachia's. Rugged defines this country and it'll break you without thinking twice about it.

I figured I'd start our day in Colorado's east coast style riding right. A couple miles on pavement followed by a brief fun descent on rocky singletrack followed by a hike a bike>ride a bike>hike a bike climb.

I followed this up with a dirt road climb to Left Hand Reservoir and a view that said we were still in Colorado

This was followed by entering the Little Raven Trail. A trail of boardwalks over high mountain bogs followed by lots of rock gardens.

This trail brought us back to Brainard Lake and some brief views of the Indian Peaks Wilderness

where just beyond, a bit of rock and roots awaited

And the roar of the South Saint Vrain kept music with our pace

A bit of smooth singletrack intermittently broke the constant pounding

and after getting lost on a bit of, "new to me" trail...we found the way

During the ride I kept getting a creak out the rear of my bike. Thinking it was a wheel I soon discovered it to be a crack in the chainstay. Fugg me, right in the middle of our peak high country season too.

Sanded just to be sure. The horizontal line is the crack.

* I'm not really meaning to bag on IMBA as I believe they are positive ambassadors of our sport. A root or a rock in the trail is not always a bad thing though and while I love a good ol IMBA style flowy trail as the next mountain biker, I believe there is a limit to excessive trail cleansing.

Aspen/Snowmass

2011-07-27T14:34:00.001-06:00

Ah, Aspen, the land of the hawty tawty. As I understand it, its a place where the rich get kicked out by the even richer. If you can get past that and get past the fact that everything is more expensive there...Gas was over $4.69 for 85 even though back in Denver and even in Leadville it was $3.69 or cheaper...get past that and there are some fine views to see and a nice network of trails.

Camping near Pearl Pass provided excellent views just yards from the tent

The creek near the tent offered a nice white noise to sleep too

Of course, there were some wild flowers to view as well

Sunday morning we drove into Aspen from the Pearl Pass area. Our route was the bike path from Aspen to Snowmass where we connected to the Tom Blake trail>then on to Snowmass Village>The Rim> Lowline> back to Tom Blake> Powerline and finally down the Government Trail. A little over 30 + miles of fun singletrack with a mix from Evergreen to Aspen forest to a more desert like terrain on the Rim Trail.

The Bike Path to Snowmass

Where's Guacamole....somewhere on Tom Blake

Climbing up to the Rim through wild flowers

At the southern tip of the Rim

Further along the Rim

Dropping the final Switchbacks on the Rim

Back to Tom Blake

and finally onto the Government Trail

Basalt Mtn

2011-07-25T06:48:00.003-06:00

2 weeks ago Guacamole and I went for a little camping and mtn biking near Aspen. Our 1st stop of the weekend was in El Jebel, CO...a way town between Aspen and Carbondale to camp and ride Basalt Mtn. Nothing was really known to us about the trail system on Basalt but there it was on a map and an adventure was calling.

Camp on Basalt Mtn with Mt Sopris in the background

just down a way from camp

overlooking a garden of Basalt

singletrack up there was tight and narrow and hardly showed signs of use

headed up Red Table Mtn from Basalt Mtn, the views started opening up

Then back down and down the tight and almost disappeared Cattle Creek

At the bottom of Cattle Creek , a few miles of Gravel Road took us back to camp. Just under 30 miles and somewhere along the lines of 6 + hours. I think Gaucamole said we averaged around 3-4 mph. It was a tough ride but definitely had potential to be a fine place to ride.

Sunday took us to Aspen and Snowmass which I'll cover in the next post.

Roadie in the Rain

2011-07-14T12:53:00.006-06:00

My ladies have left me for the week, leaving me an empty house and a cat starving for attention. I got home from work yesterday and the afternoon thunderstorms that come with Colorado's Monsoon season were throwing down another 2 packed punch. 15 minutes of Sunshine at 7pm tho, encouraged me to jump on the Podio and hit the road. Within 15 minutes it was pouring again but I didn't care. Remember what it was like to be a kid rolling the roads while it was raining. It was that fun. Add in a 41 mph descent down a wet, busy road to beat the final rays of the sun and you have, insanely fun.

Spikefest '11

2011-07-10T21:32:00.003-06:00

Spikefest 2011 was a hit as usual. Kenosha>Breckenridge>Como. A route of 50 or so miles of sublime goodness in the high country of Colorado. I kept my pace slow but unfortunately my endurance is at an all time low and I ended suffering heavily on the climb up Boreas Pass, stopping to throw up a few times and eventually hanging onto someone's car door for the last mile or so of the pass in the rain. It was a demoralizing moment and I sometimes wonder why I keep trying to complete these bigger rides when I just no longer have the time to keep fit for them.

Its the adventure that drives me though. The search for the divine in the wilderness beyond most people's reach. I may never be as fast or go as far as Little E, PBR or Lubes but I live for the next piece of singletrack, the next vista beyond my reach, the next stream to filter my water from. If that doesn't make me a true cyclist, so be it. I'm content in the search for my own adventure.

The Master of Ceremonies, Spike

PBR

Canyonrat

snowdrifts appeared at Treeline

some were a hundred yards long or so

Reven

singletrack goodness on Georgia Pass

and beyond

Lubes and Trent

Hiking the high mountain Swamp

Filtering water at Little French Gulch

Trent and Reven

The ramps of Breckenridge

PBR with the Breckenridge beyond

Somewhere in Georgetown

2011-07-05T22:34:00.002-06:00

Two weeks of car shopping + no riding makes a Goat's head hurt. My pride as well. Got out for a much needed siesta from the real world on Monday with Lubes and Guacamole and headed to Georgetown. My original intended loop didn't get done but we did have some fun out there on my favorite interstate escape.

Starting a little over 8,000 ft

snows a melting and the creeks are flowing

Shuttle Bitch

Going for a ride after hike a biking up the mtn

Snowdrifts abound

snow still clings heavily to the peaks above 11,000 ft

Cabin is still intact and a reason to keep the exact route on the down low.

Guacamole on the old waterline route

that's what I call singletrack

The Goat's New Ride

2011-07-04T06:29:00.003-06:00

One that sucks up Gas and go's Vroom Vroom that is. Its a 99 Toyota 4runner Limited. Well taken care of and the carfax report is pages long from maintenance at the dealer. As Macnab said, "Leather is good for wiping down after children and nasty assed bikers smeared themselves on it."

Rollinsville

2011-06-20T06:54:00.007-06:00

Alpine Lake on the Peak to Peak Hwy

Saturday I got out for a 80+ mile road ride to Rollinsville with recently relocated East Coaster, Drew to join me. Great ride from the house that included some neighborhood roads, the Clear Creek Bike Path, a climb up Coal Creek Canyon and a descent on Golden Gate Canyon Road that included a max speed of 53 mph!

While having a rejuvenating Mountain Dew at the Rollinsville Grocery I saw a cyclist appear to hit the front brakes to hard and flipped over his bars. I was one of the 1st to him and he was knocked out cold. I checked my cell phone and it had no coverage so I ran to the store and called 911. They were on scene in 10 minutes and by this time the rider was alert but clearly in pain a multitude of injuries. I know I can have a serious injury on the mountain bike but this is always a fear on the road and I don't take it lightly.

Looks like the Explorer may be down for the count so its most likely the Road Bike may see more riding time then the Mountain Bike this summer.

Getting it Back

2011-06-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

135 miles this week between the road bike and mountain bike. Last weekend's big ride was cut short at Echo Lake 10,600 due to my dead legs. Still we got 75 miles and hit 47 mph on the descent down Squaw Pass Road. Another big road ride planned for tomorrow. Trying to decide between a Golden Gate Canyon Loop or a big Deer Creek Canyon loop.

A few pictures for the weekend

Road riding does not lend itself to stop for picture taking and I didn't snag a single one on the ride to or from Echo Lake even though there were some grand views along the way. Sunday's short recovery ride did produce this one

Last night was PBR's weekly mountain bike ride and as usual, it did not disappoint.

View from Windy Saddle on the climb up Chimney Gulch

A group with more coming down the mountain

Speed

PBR

The Goat's New Play Toy

2011-06-10T23:00:00.002-06:00

New Horizons need exploring. Continuous churning builds power and speed. I introduce the Goat's new play toy, a Salsa Podio equipped with full Dura Ace 10 speed, Bontrager Race wheels, and a little bit of magic.

Assault on Mt Evans tomorrow. Starting and ending elevation 5700 ft, Max elevation: 14,240...about 100 miles round trip...lets see if the legs have it in them.

Special thanks to my Mother in Law; Cindy, Sister in Law; Boo, Uncle Tom, Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Hedrick for the birthday cash that bought the frame and fork and thanks to Guacamole for helping me find the parts needed to build it.

Eagle

2011-06-06T23:08:00.003-06:00

Always looking for something new. There's a treasure chest awaitin and all you gotta do is look around and you'll find gold. Mine is adventure, seeing new places, riding new trails. Some don't get it, all they want to do is ride, see, feel what is familiar. Me, I'll take a chance. Explore the unknown. Then maybe, just maybe I'll get to show others whats behind the veil.

My explorations took me to Eagle, CO. I heard rumors of a grand trail system there and what I found and only covered maybe an eighth of, was grand. My spiritual gold.

The lower trails reminded me of a mix of Hartman Rocks (Gunnison) mixed with a bit of the Lunch Loops out in Grand Junction

while the upper trails were more of the Alpine forest nature mixed with a few mountain meadows and just a hint and taste of the lush forest

and once I was finished at the top, well lets just say if your in their area...Scratch to World's Best to Elmer's is a hoot

Mr. Mojo Risin

2011-06-02T07:11:00.002-06:00

The Mojo ride did indeed crush my legs. Somewhere out there deep within that evergreen forest tho, I found what I was looking for. Pain distilled by the euphoria of the ride, the wonder of being outdoors, spinning my legs, with good friends just riding along without cares in the world.

Its good to love the bike again.

Mojo Hunting

2011-05-28T06:33:00.002-06:00

For the last couple of months I've been suffering with Mojo issues. No will to ride but sneaking an occasional one in. My attitude has been the pits and to my friends and family who had to deal with it, I am truly sorry.

Today I am on a Mojo Hunt. It was originally thought to head to Lyons for the Annual Memorial Weekend ride but to tell you the truth I've been a bit homesick of late. Homesick for some east coast style riding. There's only one place in all of Colorado that can offer that feeling of being in the deep dark humid jungles of Pisgah National Forest and that is in the Indian Creek loops and section one of the Colorado Trail. So I'll be headed there today with a group of hardy folks. Gummy Bears, Beef Jerky and a Coke in my pack along with a water filter, space blanket and other items of survival.

Its time to find my mojo. I'm thinking it might take all day with a few naps between pedals but when I come back....Mojo will be with me again!

A Snow Day in May

2011-05-04T18:04:00.003-06:00

Buffalo Creek during the 1st lovely day of May
The vegetation was cold enough for the snow to stick
The dirt was warm enough for the moisture to turn the decomposed granite
into hero dirt leaving ribbons of brown etched upon a white canvas

What Is Mountain Biking About?

2011-04-26T18:50:00.002-06:00

The definable truth lays within you, the rider.

What is Mountainbiking about? from Filme von Draussen on Vimeo.

Thanks to The Great Brado for finding this.

Blackjack is Open for Business!!

2011-04-25T00:45:00.003-06:00

I was able to get out and help build the last 200 yards of trail with about 20 other merry folk on Saturday and to say this is the toughest Black Diamond I've ever attempted to ride is an understatement. The initial drop in will have most people walking and a few moves after that will have all but the best riders questioning themselves. I was way off my game Saturday and I let Blackjack get the better of me by throwing me over the bars. After that, my belly swallowed my balls and even some of the easier features wigged me out and had me walking lines I know I can ride.

The trail though, is an understated incredible and it will become legend throughout the country. It's by far some of the best use of rock features I've seen coupled with amazing views, outstanding trail layout, and feature upon feature that will beg even the most gifted riders for a smackerel of blood or bike if their off their game. Its a big win for the Front Range riders who have been demanding for tougher trails to test their limits on.

ribbon cutting

Raspberry Ridge

The Overlook (taken last Sunday)

Blackjack

Jason showing us how to ride the initial drop in. Aptly named "The Slot Machine"

Grand opening of Black Diamond Singletrack in Buffalo Creek

2011-04-19T09:14:00.008-06:00

Come out to the Grand opening of the Rasberry Ridge and Black Jack Trails in the Buffalo Creek area of Pike National Forest headed by COMBA and sanctioned by the US Forest, Front Range Mountain Bike Patrol and IMBA. We'll be meeting this Saturday April 23rd at 8:30am at the Miller Gulch Trailhead in Buffalo Creek to build the last 200 yards of trail needed to open these trails to the public. Rasberry Ridge climbs to the ridge of hilly rocks (I call these fortress rocks) overlooking the Sandy Wash Trail. It features climbing single track that utilizes as much of the natural rock as possible. Once at the top and the overlook, drop your saddles and expect to be thrilled by a black diamond downhill dubbed, Black Jack. Black Jack features steep rollers, drops, rock gardens and as much use of the natural terrain as possible to create the area's 1st US Forest Sanctioned Black Diamond trail. There are alternate lines built around the tougher features to allow the trails use by a variety of riders.

Be sure to RSVP here

I Flew to Mars

2011-04-15T05:39:00.003-06:00

Moab's desert is a foreign land to me. Red cliffs that scrape the sky, strange and mystical rock formations that cover its surface, a tilt of the strata that makes me think I am leaning though I am straight. Moab is both beautiful and stark at the same time. A place of wonder and intrigue that can excite and frighten the mind.

LPS & Porcupine Rim

Slickrock

The Magnificent 7 & Portal

The Mad Cyclocrosser

Look closely and just about dead center and you'll see a rider on the cliff

Pipe Dream

Amasa Back, Pothole Arch, Rock Stacker, Jackson's

For all of the photos see mine or Guacamole's.

and check out the Crazy Cyclocrosser...this may have been one of the easier moves he made that day.

Moab Pilgrimage

2011-04-06T21:58:00.002-06:00

See ya Folks when I get back!

Photo by Guacamole

This week in Rides

2011-03-29T21:52:00.002-06:00

PBR's Thursday night rides provides beer,riding, flask, riding and more.....beer

Saturday's short morning ride provided a moment of bliss just above the clouds

and Sunday Monument was shut down due to snow and rain but Castle Rock provided a new trail in the form of the Ridgeline Open Space to ride

The Goat's Play Corner

2011-03-22T22:24:00.002-06:00

Finally after a few years of procrastination I have a play corner put together in my garage. I've been wrenching on my bikes out of tool boxes since moving to Colorado and inevitably I'd forget where I put this tool or that one. I've been planning on building a new workbench for a while but PBR saved the day with an old train box turned desk that he had. I took it and started searching out an old door or a stainless tabletop and just as I was about to give up, along comes PBR with an old stainless tabletop that the Denver Museum was throwing away.
I have a few things to do yet, such as building two drawers and cabinet doors but it is functional and every tool has a place. Every bike tool that is. All my wood and sheet metal working tools still reside in tool boxes but that's OK because its usually the bike I'm wrenching on anyway.

There's always Monument

2011-03-21T22:01:00.002-06:00

When the local Front Range Trails get ya down and you want something a little narrower, a little more technical, and a little more fun, There's always Monument.

I took Full Trucker down for a sampling of the fun and techy trails of Monument yesterday. The thing about Monument is exploring. Finding trails, finding new linkups, finding the local horde. There is no signs, just a mish mash of trails and I really haven't found one that I don't like yet.

The lower trails are about flow and relatively smooth singletrack

While the upper ones are more about techy riding on and around rocks

It was awesome Bombing the Stoopid Trail with Full Trucker...We railed it! I'm looking forward to some more early season riding down there soon.

Chasing the Storm at BC

2011-03-18T23:13:00.002-06:00

So last night for PBR's T.I.T.S. we headed to Buffalo Creek where there were rumors of unridable trails, mud suckin muck on the CT, and boundless amounts of snow still left in the tree covered trails. We'll let me tell you folks last night was the fuggin BOMB (well, besides me getting sick and Full Trucker having the mother of all Bonks) and I know all of are hating yourselves for not showing up. So I give you a photo teaser before darkness fell.

Full Trucker getting his carbs just as the ride begins

A mother of a Trucker, trucking up Shinglemill

Guacamole always gets pics in the cool views

R-L: DS2199, PBR & Full Trucker

that's all folks.

We did a sweet loop of Shinglemill>CT>Redskin>Gashouse>Charlies>Sandy Wash

On Sandy the 1st flakes of snow started falling that would make for a treacherous drive home but all made it safe and sound. Now I know all of you think BC make be shut down for the weekend but that wet snow + a super warm ground temp + a nice warm sun today is sure to have melted it off and given a nice base for you to go rip it up this weekend.

Facial Hair Stylings

2011-03-17T00:23:00.003-06:00

On and off for over a year and consistently for the past 6 months I've sported a beard. It's time for a change, I give you the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I wonder if it'll become popular?

Neat trick. Take a piece of paper and hold it over half of my face to get the beard or non beard and cast your vote.

Exploring Cheyenne Canyon

2011-03-16T06:59:00.001-06:00

On the bike, you know your out of shape when a 20ish mile long MTB ride can beat you down. It's the lack of winter riding, poor eating habits, and just maybe trying to at least keep Kip and Ol PBR in sight all day on the climbs.

I met up with Guacamole, PBR, and Kip for some fun in Cheyenne Canyon. Thanks to Kip for playing tour guide. It kept me from having to pull the map and every intersection and we saw more trail then road due to his knowledge of the area. It kinda reminded me of riding back east where the choices could have you taking the easy way up via Fire road or the harder way up by known or semi known trails. At each intersection Kip would tell us about the easy way up the fireroad or the funner singletrack that may have some steep climbing. At every intersection I would vote for the singletrack and then watch Kip and PBR blow me and Guacamole away on the steep climbs.

Ol PBR rocking the 29er and glad I talked him into Cheyenne after a Friday full of ribbing text

Guacamole climbing out of the Chutes

Kip showing us the lines

a few views were seen

It can't be a Evil MGE! ride without some hike a bike

Kip on Captain Jacks

A Broken Axle

2011-03-10T23:57:00.002-07:00

You might have seen on my last post how I took apart my rear hub, found a broken paw spring and thus decided to reduce the number of paws in my hub to a equalized triangle per Industry Nine's specs. It rode nice.....until the 3rd ride of which the 1st two rides were lunch rides and the 3rd ride I was two hours in, so you may call it the only ride if every ride you ride you expect to be of epic or length or as a roadie told me once...."I won't even get on my bike if I can't ride longer then 2 hours." Not having a roadie's mentality I'll still think of this as the 3rd ride even though the 1st two rides were lunch rides of less then 2 hours.

If you followed that then continue.....

On that 3rd ride which was a ride ride and not a lunch ride, my freehub started slipping. I had already climbed Green Mtn that morning; up Hayden, crossed to the backside on Summit, which still needed more drying time and crossed back over to descend Rooney Valley. From there I had climbed Zorro, descended Dakota Ridge and started to climb up the Red Rocks when the offending freehub began it's slip.

By the time I reached the actual Red Rocks my freehub had completely given up and I took the wheel off to see if I could do a trailside fix. What I found instead was my one piece axle was now two and able to be removed without tools of any sort.

Not good...

I thought to walk back to my truck but either way I looked at it, my truck was miles away. I called my wife but the kids were napping so I took a chance and called Bad Andy who had just finished church to be forgiven of his heathenish ways and just so happened he was home and willing to come get me.

Bad Andy, what ever they tell you at the Pearly Gates...for your one good deed that day, you are forgiven all else.

Once back to my truck I drove home, slapped on another rear wheel, went back to Green Mtn and got in another hour and a half of single track loving fun before calling it a good day.

A good day indeed. So I later called Industry Nine fully expecting to pay for a new axle and the paw springs that cracked when the axle when out thinking I had done something wrong in the Hub Love I had recently given it. I-9 says they had some issues with their 1st Generation axles and they have a new axle available and all will be covered under warranty. Thanks for the outstanding customer service Industry Nine. Your above and beyond customer service should be a benchmark for other companies!

Some Hub Love

2011-03-05T05:27:00.002-07:00

Since buying my daringly expensive though cheaper then you think, Craigslist bought Industry Nine wheels I've had an issue. When set up geared (compared to SS) my cassette would rotate forward 90 to 180 degrees, wrapping the chain and making a good peddle stroke inefficient.

I finally took the time to tear down my rear up and I found a paw spring had broken into about five pieces. All of these little pieces were floating around and getting caught between the paws and the drive gear binding it up. I thought to replace the spring but I also wanted to quieten down the hub a bit so I took three paws out including the offending spring.

I've had some friends question why quieten the hub and all I can say is, "On a good long adventure with a bonk looming near my hearing becomes sensitive and silence or close to it, is golden".

1st Time on the Board this Season!

2011-02-27T08:01:00.003-07:00

Since I sold my board back in November I rented a Colorado made Never Summer Heritage. This board just rips. Below is a little video I put together. Unfortunately the best riding couldn't be filmed due to almost whiteout conditions above 11,000 ft where the wind was ripping and throwing snow like paper mache.

Rise of the Phoenix

2011-02-25T21:48:00.002-07:00

The Falcon died last last year but from its ashes, a Phoenix has risen. Thicker tubes, top and down tube gussets and clear coat help make this one better then the first.

and all craft need some nose art before going to battle

narrow singletrack on Green Mtn...can it be so?

Box O Rox hurts worse in the winter

and the wind up top...had some kick

and one more for the road

Skinning Loveland

2011-02-15T00:40:00.001-07:00

Ever since moving to Colorado snow sports have appealed but the cost had always been the limiting factor. My 1st year here I picked up snowboarding and got in a good season of 23 days on the slopes. Last year funds dropped and cost of living increased and I got a measly 3 days on the slopes. This year I've yet to get a day on the board but am hoping to change that in the next few weeks.

Back country beckoned but the idea of being caught in an avalanche...simply put, scares the shit out of me. It should too, experienced backcountry users with avalanche training and the proper gear can be caught off guard even in areas they know well. The number one killer for winter backcountry use in Colorado is an avalanche and being a father and husband, it makes me take pause.

This weekend I knew the mountain bike trails were gonna be out due to all the recent snow fall in the Denver area so I sent my buddy PBR a text to see if he wanted to do some low angle and relatively safe backcountry at Butler Gulch. He was game so I contacted another buddy, Bad Andy to see if I could borrow his gear.

All was set but when Bad Andy and myself started talking more about it, he brought up some concerns. The ok snowboarder that I am, skiing is something I had never done in my life. His concerns were the trees in the Butler Gulch area and it rose my own concerns to where I contacted another friend who was a skier and snowboarder and we all came to the conclusion that maybe I should try some wide open areas 1st. Bad Andy's idea was skin up Loveland before the lifts opened and after some coercion we got PBR talked into it.

PBR and I arrived at the Loveland Ski area around 6:30am in the morning. We skinned up about 2 miles and somewhere around 1500-2000 ft to a little over 12,000 ft. I'll admit that the skin left me feeling a little too self assured as skinning is just about as easy as hiking. As soon as the skis turned downhill though, I became about as efficient as a snail high on crack. It was so ugly, that it took me almost 3 hours to ski down what it had taken a little over an hour to skin up. It was so ugly that ski patrol stopped and asked us three times if I wanted a ride down, which I turned down all three.

Funny though, as slow as I was, it didn't give a knuckle dragging snowboarder the chance to avoid me. Fugger! He got his ears chomped a bit but in the end, I let it go. Even funnier, I'm going back to the old faithful snowboard. Though I am looking at a Split board set up, which is basically a snowboard that can be split into two halves for skinning up the mountain and then put back together so you can snowboard down.

Custom Misfit Dissent Fe (geared or singlespeed) for Sale

2011-02-11T23:25:00.003-07:00

$850 with the Buyer to pay shipping. Help me fund my next 29er project.

All the gory details on the MTBR Classifieds.

oh, and Sunday...its time for something new and I'll be in the high country with PBR doing this....

T.I.T.S. Snow Ride

2011-02-05T15:18:00.002-07:00

Just another night on Green Mtn....and it was Bad ass!

If you have broadband internet click the 360p and change it to 720p to watch this in HD.

HD Video, A Jersey, And A New Camera

2011-01-25T06:33:00.002-07:00

Just the other night a friend pulls out a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 camera, gives it to me and says I'm tired of viewing all your blurry ass pictures, make some Magic. To That, I give you Magic, well in a short teasing sort of way but shooting HD Video is sweet and when I finally figure out that Handlebar mount I want, it'll be even sweeter.

I give you 50 some odd seconds of the Red Rocks and the tail end of Dakota Ridge. There would've been more Dakota but I've never shot video before and it kind of came as an afterthought about midway through the ride.

I promise in the future I'll not be repeating a bunch of the same video. At the time I was shooting it I didn't even know if I was doing it right and running back up the hill after setting up the camera became tiring pretty quickly.

The second hurdle was figuring out the video software which in the test video I used Windows Movie Maker...pretty simple and easy to learn. I'm looking at the Adobe Premiere Elements as an upgrade though.

On to the second bit of greatness. That being the new Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race Jersey offered by Pisgah Productions. Only $69 and you get to wear a jersey made after the greatest mountain bike race on the east coast and even cooler that it was designed by the Great Brado! Keep in mind they run a bit small so being 6 ft tall and 208 lbs of a semi muscular build with padding, I went with an XL.

Oh, the new camera does take pictures and as a signing off, I give you some eye candy

...Looking towards Green Mtn from the Saddle of Dakota Ridge

Some Dakota Ridge Technical Goodness

Mount Morrison and the Red Rocks

Looking south from Matthew Winters

If your a local...get out and hit it now...Trails are prime with only a touch of wet here and there.

Love from the Original Big Ring

2011-01-04T23:12:00.004-07:00

Late last week I got an envelope in the mail. Turns out Jebus, formally known as "Buddy Christ" loves me and so does the OBR!!! Awww, ain't that sweet?

Probably misses the nights of spooning in the tent when I took him to Crested Butte. I can't wait to apply one of these to the new work bench that I'll be manifesting out of a piece of multi purpose furniture that PBR gave me.

Thanks Big Ring, your the Best!!

December Rewind

2011-01-03T22:03:00.003-07:00

I am an adventurous soul by nature and nothing packs a few weeks adventures into a few hours quite as well as a bike.

So way back on December 12th I pulled Guacamole out of the rabbit hole and went for a ride, my 1st in over a month, his 1st since the 1st week of September when he broke his hand.

It was a good ride, full of sunshine, naps, and some quality downhill after a bit of climbing then repeated.

Later in the month there was a few night rides

one where PBR was in the spirit

And others where I had the trails to myself to work out the inner demons

I finally had an epiphany and in the wise words of Full Trucker, "I let the ride be the ruler of my emotions, not letting the emotions be the killjoy of my ride"

and the week before Christmas brought a special treat. The private trails of Ken Caryl Ranch. Knowing someone on the inside has its benefits.

The Beerd Belly 2011

2011-01-02T11:42:00.003-07:00

Be it a blessing or a curse, the Goat rides again. There were a few rides in December that deserve attention but being the New Year, The New Year's Day ride takes priority.

The Front Range has been blessed with an unusually warm winter with the highs being in the upper 50's. As of the eve of New year's eve though, the temperatures dropped and we saw our 1st descent snow. With that brought the annual New Year's Day ride, once again at Bergen Peak. This year somewhere between 4-6 inches of Champagne snow covered the trails with a starting temp of 5 degrees F and topping out at a whooping 20 degrees F.

There was a beard, mine alone

There was beer

a few big bellies

and a whole lotta fun riding

and the biggest herd of Elk I've ever seen. Had to be 100 +

Garage Sale

2010-11-09T18:05:00.008-07:00

Call Jeremy at 720-202-0404 to inquire about listings. Cash or Paypal only!

$950 or best offer...Soma Juice Complete: small frame fits riders between 5'3"-5'9", Rockshox Reba 80mm, WTB Speeddisc Wheelset, Chris King Headset, Truvativ Stylo Crankset, Sram 9.0 SL gripshifters, Sram X7 derailleurs, Avid BB7 disc Brakes with Avid Ultimate Levers.

Cheers!

Jeremy

Its Family Time

2010-10-28T23:19:00.003-06:00

Snow is hitting the high country in matters of what can be measured in feet, not just inches. The Front Range Cities though have been enjoying weather that can be described as damn near fall perfect. Sure, there have been those days of blustery wind with a bit of chill and rain mixed in but for the most part we have been enjoying days of sunshine and nice 60-70 degree weather. Can't get much more perfect then that.

Maybe I should be just sharing these on the family blog but as it is, I couldn't resist sharing a bit of my family since they get to suffer without my presence anytime I get to go ride. I am thankful to these beauties that they let me out to play every once in while.

In the world of riding, I've done a bit here and there but fall has demanded with sickness that I take a rest. Every time I go for a ride, it strikes back threefold with a demand for rest and I have finally relented to drugs of the perscripted sort to deal with this she-bitch of a cold.

In other unrelated cycling matters, I've taken to job searching again. I've been in the appliance field for over 13 years now and though I could take position in another appliance company doing anything from actual service to technical consulting, I'm looking at other avenues as well. Only the market will tell.

A photo of the goat, all snazzy pants. Funny, part is, this isn't far from what I usually wear at work minus the sport coat, but it got tons of remarks on Facebook from friends who haven't seen me in 15 odd years.

Yes, the years of looking the part of the Crow are definitely far gone. The Movie still rocks though!

1st Snow ride of the Season

2010-10-16T22:56:00.003-06:00

I have an issue. If there is a trail that's been unridden, I need to ride it. The season for riding the high country is growing short and the day is drawing near. There are a few trails that I've yet to hit in the beyond 10,000 ft above sea level range and I guess that means I'll just have to start planning for next summer.

Fresh snow awaitin my freshies and yes, this was today!

The Indian Peaks are starting to take on their heavenly glow

One thing I miss about the East Coast is big, long technical rock gardens and in this fact, South Saint Vrain never disappoints

The river itself provides serenity

You Wanted it Stiff?

2010-10-13T18:46:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I noticed my new Rock Shox Reba SL wasn't getting full travel. At 1st I thought I was getting hydrolock but a quick check to see if there was excess oil in the lowers put that thought to rest. I took the fork to Golden Bike Shop for a look over and after scratching their heads a bit they decided to send it in to Rock Shox.

Last week I got a call that my new fork was in. "There's a problem though", Adam told me. Its white, its a U turn model and its 20mm thru axle fork only. Thinking for a moment I realized I had the Industry Nine Enduro hubs that can be easily converted over to 20mm and I couldn't give a damn about the color as long as it wasn't pink. Telling Adam this, he told me to bring in the bike since he had the 20mm thru axle adapters in stock for the Enduro hubs. Sweet!

Keep in mind I arrived at the shop at 6pm and the shop closes at 7pm. I have no special ties to Golden Bike Shop other then being a regular Joe customer. As soon as Adam saw me he pulled one of his wrenches aside and set him to work on installing my new fork. Not being one to dawdle I asked for a few tools and set to converting the wheel over to 20mm.

Of course, all this was after I got a chance to ogle my fork. A 2010 Reba Team complete with a Black Box Damper complete w/ a handlebar lockout(Titanium spring tube thanks), U Turn 120-90mm Air Spring, power bulges and of course, a 20mm Maxle Lite Thru Axle. Bad Ass, I think so!

Today I got to test the fork out on one the Front Range's more techy trails, Dakota Ridge and the Red Rocks. Just a short under an hour loop but full of jumps,ledges and small bumps. I can already feel a noticeably stiffer front end over my old 9mm quick release and having adjustable travel along with a handlebar lockout will be great for those multi-thousand vertical feet ascent days.

Your Hoppy Beer Tastes Like My Balls Smell After An All Day Ride

2010-10-05T22:59:00.002-06:00

This post title is my quote for the Day. After I wrote it I laughed for somewhere around 5 minutes. If ya don't like it dark and smooth or tasting like it has a bit of the Bean in it, I don't want your light colored, bitter tasting IPA. I still don't understand Coloradan's fascination with an IPA, the beer that tastes like my balls smell all sweaty with funk from an all day ride but whatever, just more stouts for me.

Forgive me, it is redneck week and my roots have a way of showin when I get in the mood. Must be all the 4x4ing, the fu manchu and riding trails that remind me of upstate South Carolina.

That's West Magnolia. Tight n twisty through a pine needle forest with an occasional Aspen to remind us we're still in Colorado. That we in the "we're" was the Mad Scientist and me. Both suffering some sort of devil colds that made a 15 mile ride with just 2,000 ft of altitude gain last somewhere around three and a half hours.

We did explore an unknown area but it was more then that; general fatigue, a lack of power. Though there was that rider that passed me while standing on the side of Schoolbus on a full sussy with over 6 inches of front and rear squish that I had to show that I could catch him and bag him.

This resulted in a hacking fit at the bottom while I waited on the Mad Scientist and when we rolled again, my body had nothing, just the want to lay on the side of the trail and sleep. Somehow I kept on riding, however slow but it was a good ride nevertheless.

No rides till Thursday as I'm hoping to recover for my own Gtown night ride.

May just hit the short out n back but we'll see what the body can do after a few days of rest. If you call work a rest.

Crested Butte Colors

2010-09-29T00:19:00.003-06:00

It was as spectacular as imagined

as awe inspiring as remembered

and there were a few miles of great riding

and even a bit of hiking with the family

and all around good guy, The Mad Scientist

Ah, the magic of Crested Butte

Longer Then an Elephant's Penis

2010-09-21T21:53:00.003-06:00

I originally planned this year to end on that which is longer then an Elephant's Penis...The Crested Butte Classic. A semi underground race in Crested Butte, CO consisting of 3 loops which total 100 miles with 13,000 ft of accumulated climbing.

After my bonk that felt like death tapping me on the shoulder after the Gunnison Growler and the abysmal treatment of my family the following day I realized that racing isn't what mountain biking is about for me. Being on the bike is more of a spiritual experience that lets me discover new places both on this big ol rock we call Earth and within mt heart. New dirt is always exciting to ride and that place it carries me to that lets me feel like a kid again is priceless.

Big Ring on the 403

The Mad Scientist got a room this weekend in Crested Butte and asked the family and I to join him. His original plan was to ride a loop or two of the Elephant's Penis and to see if I could really complete it. Well, as I have a tendency to do, I took his plans and rearranged them a bit to make the weekend a bit more fun for all.

The Valley near Gothic

I've become humble in the past few years and the need to prove myself in some macho-cyclist form has become a less of a need then the adventure of riding itself, so thinking about doing any loop of the Classic which included enormous amounts of pavement and dirt roads became less and less appealing. So my suggestion for the trip was to do two early morning rides where I would break off sometime before lunch and help the family discover the wonders of the Butte.

The Spectacular Wonder of the 401

Fall should be prime In the Butte which means a spectacular splash of color should be washing the valleys and mountains with a crisp edge to the air to let us know that we should savor every moment, as snow will soon follow.

The leaves of the Great Aspen Grove on the Dyke Trail should be a golden treat

Where our Tires Roll

2010-09-15T06:20:00.005-06:00

Centennial Cone always provides when one is seeking a short ride. You can make the climbs just as as tough or easy as you want and I think this weekends intervals could be set to the tougher side as PBR pushed and pulled me up the switchbacks.

On to another wheeled note. The Explorer is now more of an explorer.

The before...with smallish tires,tuperware, and low ground clearance

The after....what was just another grocery getting wannabe 4x4 is now more capable of being offroad. 2inch lift, tuperware removed, 31x10.50 tires, and Rockcrawler rims.

That may be just the beginning...for now though...just a safari rack, new shocks and bushings in the works.

Guacamole it also seems gets a new hand...

what was this

has become Bionic..some guys get all the cool toys

Guacamole likes it

He says its better to crush cans of Dr. Pepper spiked with Vodka and to rip his carbon bars apart.

The Most Beautiful Place in the Land

2010-09-08T15:37:00.002-06:00

From the mountains that seem to have been landscaped and painted in place to the endless stands of Aspens to the endless expanses of huge mountain valleys, Crested Butte is a beautiful yet humble mountain town.

Take this as a teaser for what may become a month's worth of blog posts.

The Porcupine chewed sign leads the way to camp

Deadman's

Reno

Flag

Bear

and back to Deadmans

Doctor's Park..so fuggin rad!

The 401

The Dyke Trail

where the Canadian Bacon got his fool on

The 403

Deer Creek

where Guacamole broke his hand

Strand Hill

Destination Crusty Butte

2010-09-01T06:35:00.003-06:00

The Canadian Bacon arrives today and on Thursday morning we depart for Crusty Butt along with Guacamole. Much singletrack goodness to be had in that part of Colorado along with stellar views and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Here's just a little preview of what we'll be riding over the next 5 days..

Tune in sometime next week for the recap of riding, to see if the the Bacon needed to use canned air, and of course, to see all the fantastic pictures of Crested Butte.

Black Hole Marathon

2010-08-28T00:08:00.003-06:00

Wonder if claustrophobia would take over before I could finish this one?

The Black Hole Marathon

Sunset Rides

2010-08-27T18:50:00.001-06:00

Sunset rides rock!

Not All Failures End Without Triumph

2010-08-23T23:17:00.005-06:00

Some adventures could be considered a lesson in, "its not about the miles ridden but the places you go that few have ever been and the friends you have who are willing to indulge you in the routes you seek to to discover."

It all began with a race born to be the toughest race in the world and has died in the ashes of the legend, that is Montezuma's Revenge. In 24 hours racers would ride a potential 240 miles, climb 10 times over the Continental Divide, gain 37,000 in accumulated vertical feet, and climb a 14er; all at elevations between 10,000 and 14,000 ft. Fuggin hard, I think so.

No one officially finished the entire 240 miles but to be considered a finisher of the race you had to climb(hike) Grays Peak from Ruby Gulch and descend(hike) into Horseshoe Basin, all along with your bike and wheels strapped to your back, after having 100 + miles in your legs. Ruby Gulch is the least used route to climb the infamous Grays Peak(14,270 ft) and perhaps the toughest. Like I said nothing about this race was easy so why take the easy way to Grays Peak.

This all leads to my route for this past weekend. My original intent was to ride up Ruby Gulch from Peru Creek and Chihuahua Gulch and then strap my bike to my back at the end of the trail(a little over 12,000 ft) and climb Grays Peak following the route the Montezuma's Revenge racers took. From there I intended to ride/hike my bike to Argentine Pass on the Continental Divide Trail some 3 miles from Grays and some thousand feet lower and from there descend the Argentine Pass trail to Horseshoe Basin and Peru Creek, making the route my own.

I knew Grays Peak was gonna be a hard push from the end of Ruby Gulch, what I didn't know was what the terrain was like on the CDT from Grays to Argentine Pass other then the fact that there were a few couple hundred feet climbs along with about a thousand feet of elevation loss in-between the two.

I knew my route was going to be stupid hard and maybe even undo-able in the time I had allowed myself since I had promised the lovely Missus Goat I would be home by early afternoon. So when it came down to inviting friends, I really didn't because I knew most of them would balk at the thought of hike a biking the southwest ridge of Grays Peak and even bailing on the route halfway through only to get a few miles of riding in for the day. Good ole Guacamole though, learned of my adventure and asked to come along saying he just wanted to be outdoors, it didn't really matter doing what.

We met at 5am and made the drive to Montezuma, getting on bike a little before 7am after getting lost for a bit finding the trail-head. Once on the bike we climbed Peru Creek and after a few miles turned onto the slightly technical Chihuahua Gulch. A few miles of beautiful scenery brought us to Ruby Gulch. Ruby Gulch is unmarked and the entrance is basically a creek-bed making it a tough find if you don't know what your looking for. The 1st mile or so of Ruby Gulch is a well bedded double-track and after a few miles it disappear into indistinct two track up to 12,000 ft and an abandoned cabin and mine where it peters out.

It was here that we exchanged our biking shoes for hiking shoes and strapped our bikes to our Camelbaks and started a due north hike up Grays Peak's southwest ridge. Immediately we recognized why the Montezuma's Revenge racers used framed packs to carry their bikes as our bikes presented an enormous load for which the Camelbaks were not designed for. This was causing the shoulder straps to bite into our shoulders and the chest strap to squeeze our chest making breathing even more difficult then it was at this elevation.

We hiked though and began a slow switchback up to the ridge. At some point Guacamole and myself separated, me taking the more north easterly route while he took the southwest. In the end he chose better route. While he hiked up Galapagos turtle sized boulders I got into a loose scree field that sifted and moved with every step, once making me slide 2 ft down the steep slope. Guacamole topped the ridge a good 10-15 minutes before I did and when I finally did, I dropped my pack and promptly dropped in a heap, just over 13,000 ft.

We sat there for a while staring at Grays Peak sitting somewhere around 1200 ft above our heads and at least 2 miles away. I think we had both given up making its summit with our bikes but we both considered leaving our bikes and hoofing it up to the top and coming back for our bikes. I asked Guacamole for the time. 11:30 am. If we were to make the summit which we figured would take at least another hour if not more I would be breaking my promise to my wife of an early afternoon arrival home. A little disappointed with myself, I suggested to Guacamole to hike back down and possibly ride up Lenawee if we had time and then shoot back to the car by 1pm.

We hiked back down Guacamole's route for ascending the southwest ridge and as soon as we hit grassy tundra off the big ass turtle sized boulders I announced I was riding. Guacamole looked at me skeptically but I was not taking another step with that damned bike strapped to my back even if it meant letting it pull me down the hill.

Once I had my wheels back on, I stepped over the bike and realized it was to steep to ride even trying to "switchback" the slope. So I took the next logical approach and went hiking straight down the slope using the rear brake of the bike to help control my hiking slide. I finally made it to a point that while still steep, was ridable and looked back up to see Guacamole far up the slope above me. I got on and rode to just above the Ruby Gulch Cabin and waited for Guacamole to catch up.

After bombing down Ruby Gulch to Chihuahua Gulch and Chihuahua Gulch to Peru Creek Road we picked up the Lenawee Trail. We rode/hiked up Lenawee Trail about a half mile or so and reached a trail to some dilapidated cabins and sat there quietly enjoying the serenity of the area. Finally we got back up, trekked another 1/4 mile or so to 11,000 ft and I declared I was done. Guacamole it seemed was done to, just not wanting to be the first to admit it.

We turned around bombed down Lenawee and Peru Creek and called our adventurous day done. We didn't complete what we set out to do but the day was definitely full of its perks and it was an adventure that has pulled us into thinking about frame packs and the possibilities of an adventure for another day that just may include the same route, just this time, one we aim to complete.

The Canadian Bacon Cometh

2010-08-18T23:02:00.002-06:00

Photo shamelessly stolen from the Canadian Bacon's worded site

Sea Level locked, the Big Ring comes in less then two weeks to Colorado to Suffer. Pushing some silly single gear set up way harder then he should but hey, who am I to tell a dude who calls himself the Big Ring that the gear he has chosen will make a mockery of him and destroy his legs on the 1st day of alpine riding. Even Dicky has chosen a 23 tooth for Breck Epic, Ringer.

My 1st rule is no wigs nor underwear exposure, tho Bad Andy seems to be enjoying the hand to his backside.

The Big Ring is a weird dude. I have no idea how his captain(Big Ring is a cop back in Ottawa, eh!) puts up with his antics, all I can figure is his "force" resembles that of the "Academy".

Anywhoo, be sure to tune in and see how the Big Ring does. I'm sure Colorado will be a lighter hearted place after this fello puts his stamp on it and of course there will be plenty of photo takin of the Big Ring in his trapeze outfits and such.

Searle Pass, Kokomo Pass, Ptarmigan Pass

2010-08-16T22:56:00.006-06:00

This past weekends ride just proves to me what I have always thought; the East Coast can produce some bad ass riders. My good friend Beefcake along with his fiance, Cissy and his Dad came to Breckenridge this past weekend after two weeks in the RV exploring Glacier National Park and the West. Beefcake was celebrating a fresh win in the Clydesdale Class of the Wilderness 101 while Cissy, took 6th place in Woman's Elite.

Beefcake called earlier in the week to see if I wanted to meet and ride. Always wanting to ride and more importantly always wanting to see a good friend I thought of a route that I heard of, ridden part of, and have always wanted to complete; Searle Pass, Kokomo Pass, Ptarmigan Pass.

Sunday we met, chatted a bit and I learned that Beefcake and Cissy had ridden the Peaks Trail and the Miners Creek portion of the Colorado Trail over to Copper Mtn and back on Saturday. I've yet to ride Miners yet myself, but I have heard it was a beast of a ride and Beefcake and Cissy confirmed this saying they hike a biked for about an hour and a half after reaching a certain point on Miners.

Knowing Beefcake and Cissy would be needing a chiller pace after Saturday's adventure gave me opportunity to ride ahead, snap some pics and hop right back on for the ride up to Searle Pass.

Just before we hit Searle Pass we ran into a lone hiker who was through hiking the entire Colorado Trail and we later realized was a speedy goat and then a group of about 14 hikers coming up from Janet's Cabin. Not wanting to get caught in the herd we made a hard push for Searle Pass and beyond.

This was my own 1st time beyond Searle Pass and as Colorado high alpine singletrack always does, it wowed beyond words so we just rode on in awe.

Beefcake and Cissy taking a moment to enjoy 12,000 + feet

a few miles of contouring singletrack led us to a short hike a bike and a fast steep descent down to Kokomo Pass

Cissy and Beefcake at Kokomo Pass

Its been two years since I've seen or ridden with Beefcake. At that time he could kick my ass in endurance and climbing but I always had him on the descents. Back then he was riding a Steve Potts Ti 26er hardtail and was a fast fella but one who couldn't hold my wheel. Now the student has become the master, Beefcake is now riding a full suspension 29er and has mastered the art of descending with a deadly proficiency. It took everything I had to hold his wheel and a few times I just had to let him go.

At the bottom of descent and many fist pumps and giggling fits later of the awesomeness of the descent we ran into a good ol fashioned east coast style waterfall. Hidden off the trail just far enough that it might be easy to miss but close enough to be heard, we found it easily and enjoyed the cooling waters for a few minutes.

Then it came...the climb up Resolution Road. The bottom few miles were a steady 3-6 percent and I started to wonder where so many claimed this climb was like having your teeth pulled in so many ways. A group of 4 wheelers saw us and invited us over to their camp for water and then proceeded to tell us how steep it got. I still laughed it off, though a little more nervously and when we finally hit that wall, I hit the wall. Beefcake and Cissy started to pull away and all of the sudden I had then urge to walk. Seeing these two, who live at 1800 ft above sea level at most, climb away while I walked chipped away at my will but true to the name of the road my resolution held fast and I did a steady ride and walk, ride and walk all the way to Ptarmigan Pass.

From Ptarmigan Pass we descended to Wilder Gulch and descended to the bike path near Vail Pass and continued on to Copper Mtn.

Off to Centennial Cone

2010-08-13T06:46:00.002-06:00

Nothing big of late, though there has been 3 local rides this past week. Last weekend I camped with the girls and on Sunday we cruised over to Eldora to watch the Mad Scientist participate in his 1st triathlon ever.

Only notable ride this week was that of Centennial Cone last night with the TITs crew.

We started in Clear Creek Canyon on the Mayhem Gulch trail and got in a nice little lollipop looping the top.

some doubletrack, still fun to ride

An old farm stead graces the top meadow

but that all quickly gives way to singletrack and the real fun of the night

Rick on his Team Yo Eddy Fat Chance, complete with a Fat Chance Fork

Meet Funrover..Dude is the linebacker of mountain biking but I've seen this snowcat pull moves in the techy that I can only dream about. Somehow he does it all with the skill and grace of a squirrel while keeping us all on our toes waiting to see what he is gonna pull next.

One last shot before the trail just became to good to stop for more pictures before darkness fell.

The Monarch Crest

2010-08-02T11:10:00.005-06:00

Perhaps one of the most dangerously overrated trails(besides Zippety Do Dah in Fuita) in the Country has to be the Monarch Crest. I'm saying this as a discouragement to all of you reading this, so that when I come back with the Big Ring in September, we can have it all to our merry selves.

As the Locals, Jerry and his wife told me as I was sitting in their "shuttle vehicle" making our way up to Monarch Pass, "its a touring trail but the hammerheads can go fast and they and the tourist, don't really get along. Its a good thing I was in touring mode but our group really didn't get passed by any hammers either. I think everyone who was above treeline just enjoyed the scenery, the buddies who were along, and the great singletrack that made it all possible.

Lubes crushed it all day as usual on his singlespeed

The Mad Scientist, Bad Andy and Jerry, along with some tourists behind getting their taste of, "above treeline"

100 percent ridable above treeline singletrack. It awe inspiring and fantastic!

The Mad Scientist is getting strong these days!

Jerry, our local tour guide for the day. Being the guy who usually is route finder and leader, I'll have to admit, it was kinda nice to sit back and let someone else play Pre K Teacher for the day

Who says Goats don't have style?

Just before we hit tree line again, we saw the ominous presence of dark grey clouds looming in the near distance

But looking back north, the skies still held strong and blue

Thunderstorms are always a constant threat at this elevation and the area has been hit hard the past few days. Keen Woo shows the art of riding through chocolate milk, not around it

a few miles later and we cross Marshall Pass and continue on the "Crest", a few miles south of Marshall Pass and we see lightening, hear thunder and the rain starts to fall, is he Yoda or Yogurt?

It was here that we bared witness to a hunched backed bigfoot

Mike the Giant goes boom with a mighty splash, so big that I wished I would've had a surfboard to ride the waves he made

A very wet Silver Creek

That had some very tasty bits of technical goodness

and it ended with a trail that wanted to be a creek that wanted to be a trail

at the end of the day, we ate at the Silver Horse's Ass as Jerry calls, and good eats it was!

It Ain't Mountain Biking Without a Little Hike A Biking

2010-07-28T06:40:00.006-06:00

From climbing snow cornices

to hiking up the edge of mountains with 2,000 ft drop offs within inches of your feet

a hike a bike makes your suffer, makes you tougher and brings you to riding great wonders

where fat tires are allowed but few ever go

and at the end of the day,you can sit back relax, and reflect on the great bit of riding you've just done

Photos by PBR

Getting High on the Divide

2010-07-26T11:01:00.005-06:00

After last year's West Empire Death March, I swore to never do the Bard Creek Trail by bike again and I have stuck to that line of thinking. There are still great treasures west of Empire though and Lubes, PBR and myself adventured to seek them out. Lubes mentioned doing Jones Pass last weekend when I was camping at Twin Lakes with my girls and when I later learned he hadn't, I came up with a route that included Jones Pass and Herman Gulch ending with Silverdale back into Georgetown. Lubes was game and when we talked PBR into it, the good times were rollin.

It began with a mean and nasty climb regularly maintaining a 15% grade and sometimes jumping up to 25%. Even with a granny while the other two suffered singlespeeds, I walked a little

Wildflowers and the views kept our eyes on the prize

least the cornice was smaller then last years

and that cornice still holds strong

The Continental Divide Trail appears and is as grand as I remember

Do you see Lubes and PBR on the Ridge?

and there was hike a biking, lots of it

But when we reached 13,215 ft, our highest point for the day, it was all worth it
(notice the Goat now has a backup ride, an Origin 8 Scout 29)

From there it was a 3,000 or so feet descent

a short bike and hike up and we arrive at an ancient glacier lake

and some more magnificent scenery

then it was in and out of the woods to below 10,000 ft

Connections are a must, PBR found a way to enjoy this one

Legs were starting to get heavy, can we catch a ride Thomas?

Guess not, time for a nap before that last bit of great singletrack

and what fun it was

Lubes with the killer guns!

Spikefest 10'

2010-07-14T06:43:00.003-06:00

Everything you wanted to know about Spikefest 2010 in a nice rounded up little photo summary...me: still on the El Mariachi 34 x 22 singlespeed and riding strong all day, about 57 miles, a variant route from Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge where thunderstorms beer and brew awaited, sun broke free and a mad dash was made to Como to get the cars after a family emergency drew me off the original course. All is well.

My 1st Moose were seen on the drive to Kenosha

On the way to Georgia Pass

Mateo on the CT Bridge

PBR coming up fast

Gummy Bears enjoy views too

CanyonRat, the great man who loaned me the El Mariachi to keep me sane, who has also never ridden any of Kenosha Pass, couldn't keep the smiles off his face

Troy railing the CT with Mt Guyot in the background

PBR and Mt Guyot

The Master of Ceremonies, Spike

Spike hiking the Flume Marsh

The Great Flume Wall...

CanyonRat on the talus slope

Mateo, Spike, and CanyonRat racing the approaching Storm

PBR crossing the Little French Gulch

Lubes at Sally Barber Mine

Lubes on the Breckenstunts

PBR on the Breckenstunts

A Rotary Snow Plow in Breckenridge, These things are cool to see in action!

Welcome to Colorado's Jungle

2010-07-06T06:35:00.003-06:00

where the forest is wet and lush, seeing a lion(mountain, that is), bear or wild Turkey is a common occurrence. This is Indian Creek. An area of unique biodiversity for Colorado within Pike National Forest. The forest is very much alive at any given time. Butterflies and hummingbirds buzz within inches of your face, singing birds of all kinds chirp a fun and blissful tune and after a hard nights shower, like last night, a rare humidity for Colorado, reminiscent of the forest of the east coast mountains.

The Falcon is indeterminately disabled, a handicap that I will spare to share but through the kindness of good hearted friends I have another bike to ride, A Salsa El Mariachi, set up as a 34x22 singlespeed. Perfect for today's 5500 ft of climbing in 30 some odd miles.

Getting to the trailhead at 5:30am is hard for any man but I do it so I can spend the evenings with my family and the only other soul I could get to join me was a man with young kids himself, Guacamole.

Our ride begins on CR5 near Roxborough State Park, a gem of beautiful landscape and Red Rock Formations

a short hike a bike on a hiking only trail leads us to the Nelson Open Space where there is a chance to ride up close to a piece of the Red Rock Formation

a bit of mellow meadow riding before the climbing begins

and Roxborough dissapears far beneath us as we climb Ringtail into Pike National Forest

where we are immediately enveloped in a lush, dark, and humid forest

that stretches on

and on for miles

Near the bottom of Stephen's Gulch, Gaucamole's chain bent in a manner that required 2 quick links and a bit of new chain from my pack to fix. It was a gimp fix but enough for him to limp out to the Waterton Canyon trailhead where we had luckily left his truck earlier in the morning.

I continued on, connecting to Section 1 of the Colorado Trail and though the South Platte beckoned I turned off at Lenny's Rest and reconnected to the Indian Creek Trail and eventually back to Ringtail where a 6 mile descent awaited.

The El Mariachi at the Ringtail shack

A quick bombing descent and I was back in the Front Range

Spikefest this weekend...just to decide if I want to do the 55 miler and hang out with the boys or go for the pain of 85 miles.

Another Wheel Suffers the Goat

2010-06-29T23:38:00.004-06:00

a broken spoke, possibly a mal~tensioned wheel. Maybe a nick in the spoke from a random rock popped off the trail. At $6 a spoke and $8 for shipping from the illustrious Industry Nine this had better not become habit forming.

The Goat suffers from an empty wallet enough as it is.

Mrs. Goat agrees!

Wheel has been completely de~tensioned and awaiting the new spoke to arrive so said wheel can be tensioned evenly all around.

Georgetown Thursday..a quest for gold!
Be there at 6:15 pm or be the hapless smuck with an empty pan in the creek.

Tour De Fraser/Winter Park

2010-06-28T20:28:00.002-06:00

This past weekend it became a search for another ride that I have to do. Living in Colorado a little less then two years, its not hard to do. Winter Park has been on my watch list for a while so I called Guacamole who was game for an all dayer, so to the Park we go!

Crossing the Trestles

Notice the Goat's Fancy outfits are back. I thought they would help me fly but good ol Guacamole talked me out of it.

Rifle Sight Notch Trestle

View of Winter Park Resort from the Rifle Sight Notch Trestle

Then we go down..down...down..Broken Thumb

a few miles of dirt roads and a connector brings us to the Idlewild Trails where I give ode to the Whoops!

and these trails give way to going wicked fast!

A barn in Winter Park

a few miles of bike path and road lead us past a KFC where the lure of a large box of potato wedges was to alluring

after a great meal of wedges it was on to the Fraser Parkway

Givelo Trail

When Guacamole looked over and saw me reading my map and route finding while cruisin a dirt road at 12-14 mph I thought he'd pee his pants from laughing so hard

This all eventually led us to the infamous Tipperary Creek

and eventually Flumes and Creekside and another dirt road to the top of Zoom

a view of the Elk Meadows

The idea is getting to be the same, a few more roads and trails bring us to the Sunken Bridge and eventually Elk Mountain where thunder storms chased but never caught us

A failed attempt at crossing Vasquez Creek, the current was moving to fast, threatening to sweep my legs out from beneath me so we tucked our tails and took a few dirt roads to get to the Blue Sky Trail.

Ice Hill, a fun little trail that leads us to Serenity and back to our vehicle some 9 and a half hours and 65 miles after we started our little adventure. I'm sure that time could've been a couple of hours shorter but a little route finding required pulling the map no less then 20 times and that nap beside the creek was delightful.

Dellusions of being a Tracker

2010-06-27T21:34:00.002-06:00

A busy day at work had me running late for the latest running of the MTBR TiTs ride. There becomes some banter of which you should read between PBR(my second wife, bitch or ho, whatever you may concede to call him) and myself that becomes humorous at points(mine) and rather sad at others(PBR).

Sidetracked as I can get, I texted him formally known as AV Boy and now forever known as Guac, short for Guacamole and asked if he could leave some arrows in the dirt so I could try to catch the group.
I show up 20 minutes after the group was set to take off and some 4 miles and a climb up Baldy later I catch Guacamole who is looking worse for the wear and PBR. Guacamole suffers from cluster headaches and one is hitting him this night, so badly that when he tells us he is bailing, he avoids the faster and funnest route of Sandy Wash and bails back to the roads. PBR and myself wished him well and took off for a fun little route of Gashouse, Redskin, CT, Green Mtn, CT, Tramway, Lower Gashouse back to Gashouse and eventually Charle's Wash and Sandy Wash. Just another bad ass night in BC.

PBR found some techy

PBR climbing Green Mtn

Being chased by the sun

Columbines are blooming!

A full Moon over BC

Vestiges of Afternoon Storms

2010-06-24T06:48:00.001-06:00

This Week in Lunch Rides

2010-06-22T22:18:00.002-06:00

Only lasting between an hour and an hour an a half but they satisfy the daily need

South Valley

The Wall in Deer Creek Canyon

View from the Summit of Plymouth Mtn

Green Mtn, notice the Carbon Bones?

Wild Flowers are blooming

The Breck Fidy

2010-06-21T22:23:00.002-06:00

Ooo La la, the high country is opening up, offering up bigger, badder rides and the Goat got to go play. 50 miles of Breckenridge is just what I needed to quell the beast inside for at least a week. I had originally intended to do some double lollypop loop into Keystone from Frisco but when I realized I missed my turn off the Colorado Trail, I decided to take my adventure deeper into Breckenridge via some old Flume trails. I was not disappointed. Just another day of adventure between 9,000 and 11,500 ft.

1st view of the day from the Peaks trail

Top of Gold Hill

Clear Cut Much?

Clear Cut from 1988, a fire waitin to happen

Random meadow on the CT

View of the Peaks from the CT

Some CT goodness

A random turn turn to some off the CT leads me to a marsh to be hiked to get to those trees over yonder'

through the trees I found the old flume I was looking for and some remnants of a winter, not so long ago

But it gets good soon enough

Where old Flume supports make a great bike stand

View from Humbug Hill above the French Gulch

Then down to Breckenridge and up Ski Hill Rd to take the Peaks Trail back to Frisco

and this is why we live in Colorado

The Idaho Springs Night Ride

2010-06-16T10:34:00.004-06:00

There is one thing still known to be true. The Goat can still lead a hell of a ride. The hell part for some being the 4,000 ft of climbing in 15 some odd miles to get to the 5 miles of descending.

I've ridden the Idaho Springs area less then a half dozen times and I always come back with a smile. Its not the endless buff singletrack of Buffalo Creek, but a mix of pavement, gravel roads, and the singletrack is a variety of wash outs, baby heads, and cliff sides. Good stuff that makes you earn your ride.

Old # 60

Lets play wheres the Falcon...its perched on that cliff somewhere

Trail 20 inches wide, cliff 200 ft high...riding it...awesome!

An uncommon view of Charlie's Waterwheel

Lubes getting chased by Torpedos

The Trail Gods have a way of playing with us. Strapping our lights on at the entrance to Warren Gulch the sky let out a mighty bellow of thunder, telling us it was time to go! Bad Ass as the night it was!

A Snowy Day in June

2010-06-14T13:20:00.004-06:00

The front range was bombarded with cool weather and rain this weekend. Mrs. Goat had a busy schedule going on and that meant I needed to be home by lunch on Sunday. With all the Denver trails socked in by mud that meant I needed to get creative to get in a ride.

To Georgetown we go. I knew there would be snow falling, I just had no idea if it would be sticking.

The ride started nice enough...a lovely moist forest

But as soon as we hit 9,000 ft...it became this

At over 10,000 ft the snow was getting to be inches thick and showed no signs of slacking off

We decided to skip the FATS trail and head down Silverdale to get to Silver Creek.

But fate decided we should cut this show short and gave Guac a flat and a chance to look like a leprechaun

While Guac was fixing the flat, this gave me a chance to take some fartsy pics

After fixing the flat, we discovered Silverdale to be covered in limbs and leaves heavy with wet snow, smacking us in the face, driving wet snow down our collars and into our gloves

Finally we broke free of the heavy limbs

But our spirits were broken, so frustrated and freezing, we called it a day and bailed on our route with 20 miles left to go

Blingy Wheels for the Falcon

2010-06-08T20:47:00.006-06:00

In my bestest Mushu voice ever, " The Falcon's got bling, Baby!"

Yes sir, I found an Industry Nine 29er wheelset on the local Craigslist for what I'd consider a steal. Every rider in the world wants one and if they say they don't, well, their in denial. I'd say it should be a prerequisite for living in Asheville, NC or being from there since that's where they are built. Not really from there but I did live there for eight years so it should count as something right?

I-9 has proven itself not only to be a blingy wheelset but one that can withstand the rigors of some of the most techincal riding in the world. Considering the wheels are built in Asheville, which is also home to Pisgah National Forest, where these wheels get tested and honed and you'll understand why they can put up with the abuse they do. There are many technical flavors that Pisgah, the Trail Goddess has to offer where there usually isn't a ride to be had there that doesn't have some sort of blood offering and if you get away with an unbroken or fettered body, then a mechanical offering of the bike is usually what takes it place.

I'm off to stare at my wheels some more. Maybe they'll give me the enlightenment to ride like a Koerber, well maybe not but at least my bike will look good while having some tough wheels rolling it down the trail.

G Town~Back to Mining Country

2010-06-08T06:01:00.002-06:00

I took the fellas on a chill ride where the air is a little thin, the views are awesome, and where some fly by trails they wish they knew were there. Georgetown is my my favorite I-70 sidelined village that just so happens to have a great stash of trails, if you knew about them. No guide book will show you what lies in these parts but if your willing to do a little exploring, G town can keep a rider sated for a day or two.

PBR sloggin up 15 + percent grades to break in the morning right

a bit of mountain history

The Mad Scientist and Guac climbing up Waldorf Mine Rd

Guac at Waldorf Mine and the high point for the day; 11,561 ft. Still a bit of snow to melt before hitting Argentine Pass which is to the left of the Peak behind Guac, Grays or Torreys, one of the 14ers, I'm lazy this morning and not pulling out the map to figure it out.

A bit of snow still left in the woods over 11,000 ft.

But the goods are gettin good

Guac rolling a bent wheel..what you don't get to see is all the techy shite we've been rollin. I'm having way to much fun on that stuff. This is just past a section of rocky goodness where my GPS recorded descents in the 38 % range. Some beyond this are even steeper and make even a techy lover like myself walk.

PBR cruisin

The fellas going down the switchbacks back to G Town

Looks like G Town is where I'm headed again this coming weekend as well. The Lovely Missus Goat has a weekend chalk full of business and it gives me little time to ride. Sunday tho, she has given me the go to be home by noon. G town by 6am, 5 hours of riding that will equal about 38-40 miles...yeah, I can do it.

The Growler, at least it came with Beer

2010-06-03T00:04:00.007-06:00

My Ayla riding some Gunnison singletrack

3:45 minutes in and I was through with 36 miles of my race. I was feeling good and was looking to be making my goal of 7-8 hours. 15 miles later and I'm suffering, my body is tired and I just want to be done. What can I say, I didn't drink enough, I didn't eat enough and on the walk up the hike a bike I was dry heaving right there on the trail.

So much for the goat, I think he'll go lay down beside the others on the porch.

I finished though, crying in my wife's beautiful Lara Croftish boobs at the finish line, I finished in 8 hours and 40 some odd minutes...feeling like I was racing that 1st 36 miles, barley riding and walking the last 28 miles.

I did earn a perk, a growler for finishing the Growler, filled with New Belgium's Seasonal Mighty Arrow. A bit of a light colored beer compared to what I usually favor but this one goes down smooth, so it suits the needs.

#34 is me, climbing Kill Hill

In the on going news, I've pulled my acceptance from the Bailey Hundo. I've only got a few months to enjoy exploring the Alpine trails that are becoming snow free so I've freed up my summer months and will be enjoying riding. Still pushing myself, discovering new adventures, just without all the hassels of racing and the money it takes to fund it.

The Crested Butte Classic is still in my sights and why not. Its free, Its in Crested Butte, and theres beer and pizza every 33 miles and if I just happen to stop riding after one or two of those loops. I don't have to feel like I wasted the money or let anyone down, especially myself.

Here's to riding you, Colorado, looking forward to the Alpine.

The Growler Cometh

2010-05-27T06:20:00.003-06:00

So I come to you to whine and bitch.

In 72 hours I will be lining up on the streets of Gunnison for the Gunnison Growler. A 64 mile marathon race in Hartman Rocks. For months I've been preparing and now the day is upon me and I have a devil cold threatening. Heavy chest, nasal dams, the fuggin works. My wife, the lovely Missus Goat who is a preacher of all things eastern and a part time medicine woman of the Aruvedic clan has me jazzed up on all kinds of herbs and steams along with chants and smokewaving.
I have to admit, this morning I feel better but I'm still only at 75 % capacity. I wanted this to be a rest week but dealing with being sick is just about as taxing as riding full bore every day and I am weary.
Nevertheless, things are looking up. I am feeling better, the sun is shining and I'm looking forward to getting my ass kicked as well as kicking some ass. If not, maybe I'll just hawk a loogie on them. Lets get our race on!

Another Day in the Saddle

2010-05-26T06:19:00.002-06:00

Section 2 of the Colorado Trail

Through desolation and destruction appears beauty

The Bailey Hundo

2010-05-15T10:50:00.009-06:00

On June 19th, 2010 the Bailey Hundo will be starting off its inaugural year of whats to be an annual event of mountain bike racing. With this being the 1st year of the event, the Bailey Hundo crew will be giving out 150 invitations of which one that I recieved.

The racing format will be about 40 percent buff singletrack including sections of the Colorado Trail and the Buffalo Creek Trail System along with about 60 percent fire road and jeep trails.

Sponsored by four Colorado State Senators; Scheffel, Romer, Brophy, and Kopp, the event will be raising money for enhancing the trail system around Bailey as well as promote mountain biking for at risk youth and High School students by supporting Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder and the newly-founded Colorado High School Cycling League (CHSCL).

This is where I need your help. The Bailey Hundo is a pledge based event where each rider commits to raise at least $100 and more if possible. I've commited $500 knowing between my friends, family, and loyal reader base that we can reach this goal and more if possible. But I need you to react quickly since the race is so close to happening.

Two ways to pledge are:

Make a check to "Advance Colorado", the non profit established to run the race, be sure to put my name in the "For" line

and send it to:

Bailey Hundo Bike Race

PO Box 181028

Denver, CO 80218

or go to their Paypal and donate by credit card securely

Be sure to send me a note to: goat shell at hotmail dot com so I can keep track of how much you donated in my name.

Thanks for your pledges and support!

White Ranch to Golden Gate and back

2010-05-10T12:05:00.002-06:00

White Ranch to Golden Gate has been bugging me for over a year now. To bad I had to cut it short due a failed rear brake. That's the Mountain Lion, Maverick and Belcher Hill descents with a front brake only, sketchy, I'd say so.

No pictures of the climb up White Ranch, its a well known fact on the Front Range, it hurts but the top could not be resisted.

Drew Hill Road, The connector between White Ranch and Golden Gate...I was hurting to keep it in the middle ring climbing back up this 20% plus beast.

Mountain Lion Trail in Golden Gate Canyon...looks to be some recent underbrush fire clearing

I just had to see City of Lights Ridge...it was pretty much a hike a bike to the top

Least the view was worth and the descent

The old homestead

The climb up Mountain Lion

and the snowy descent off the backside

It went on for a bit which meant some cold creek crossings and postholing up to my knees through rotten snow

But eventually the snow ended and whats life without a little adventure?

I stopped to get some learning before Drew Hill Road took its best shot of me

Where the Ranches had barns nicer then most folks homes

and I ended my day thinking I need to bleed

Moments in the Rain

2010-05-07T13:19:00.004-06:00

There are those magical moments in rain where everything seems etheral

You've choosen the right trail to make it all come together

and the smiles it brought are the priceless memories during tomorrow's day of work

Left Hand OHV and saying goodbye to the Alfine

2010-05-05T06:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I made a mad dash to just north of Boulder to hook up with the Redstone Crew to ride the Left Hand OHV area. I didn't take into account for Boulder traffic or the tiny road sign I missed so I blew the meeting by 30 minutes and found a parking lot full of empty cars. It was already 6:30pm and I had no clue where I was so I just took off up the steep gravel road hoping to catch them to no avail. I got to a section I later learned was called the 5 points and weighed my options. A steepish gravel road to the right beckoned and it soon became this...

MMM....so many fond memories...seriously..this is classic east coast style and I was loving every minute of it until I found out I had brought my light battery but not the light itself. Doh!

It was 7:20pm now and I knew it'd be getting dark soon so I scouted out another steep dirt road and found trail # 841. It appeared to be heading the direction I wanted to go so I jumped on it and railed the tight, sketchy singletrack back to the trailhead.

Next time Redstone!

On to the Alfine. With this year's plans of epic rides and epic races I decided I needed a granny gear again for those moments when I'm feeling the Rocky Mountain High at 13,000 + feet. So the Falcon has gone to a 2x9 as most of you already know and the Alfine is being sold to fund the squishy fork I now have on the front.

$300 gets you a Shimano Alfine newly laced within the last 2 months to a 29er/700c DT Swiss TK7.1D including a Shimano XT Centerlock Rotor, non turn washers for horizontal or vertical drops, Alfine Trigger Shifter and the cassette joint. Everything you need to go internal geared.

Give me a shout at goatshell at hotmail dot com if your interested.

The Buffalo Spiderweb

2010-05-03T06:19:00.003-06:00

The life and times of a wannabe endurance mountain biker. That was this past weekend after 66 miles and 8,945 feet of accumulated climbing and the best part, 98% singletrack baby! I've been thinking about a spiderweb route of Buffalo Creek for a few months now. At 1st I was gonna attempt this on my own but at the last minute I put the challenge out on MTBR, and got a huge response on the forum to it.

Saturday morning came and I found AV Boy's truck already in the BC parking lot and AV, no where to be found. To top it off, my truck read 18 degrees F. Fugging cold mate! Steadyflow shows up just minutes before I'm ready to take off and we make our pleasantries before starting the ride.

5 hours into the ride and I'm sitting right at 42 miles...setting myself up for a good 8.5 mph average pace. I lost Steadyflow behind me miles back and I've made up 20 minutes on AV Boy learning that he had started at 5:50am while me and Steadflow had left the parking lot at 6:10am. I'm starting to crack though. My body is refusing any kind of solid food and all that it will allow me to eat is gummy bears and my Accelerade sports drink. My original plan was to ride out to Lost Creek Wilderness but I know I don't have it in me so I take the turn off to Redskin, willing AV Boy a good ride and hopefully the win. If you didn't read it on the Challenge placed on MTBR, this is a good ol fashioned time trial, winner takes the braggin rights.

Climbing Gashouse I'm suffering and I've accepted the fact I've lost the TT for today and with that I should of just continued down Sandy Wash to my truck. But sitting there on the trail at the entrance to the new Sandy Connector at the end of Charlie's cutoff, I look at the time. 2pm. 51 miles into the ride I start thinking about the Strawberry Jack descent and the more I do, the more I loath myself because it means I'm climbing Buck Gulch to get back to where I am now.

An hour and a half later and most of Buck Gulch hike a biked and I'm descending Sandy Wash at possibly the slowest I've ever descended it, my bonk complete, my motor skills thoroughly scoured. I've survived my ride, but it has not been the highlight of my career of being the wannabe endurance mountain biker.

This was done all in preparation for the Gunnison Growler. The great thing is I now know I can handle sixty some odd miles of singletrack with some serious elevation gain this early in the season. Colorado season's for riding tends to start a little later in the year due to weather, especially for those of us who ride only mountain bikes. The bad, I have no idea how the Growler's singletrack stacks up to Buffalo Creek. I later learned that AV Boy had made it to the Wilderness Boundary but bailed on FR 543 to get back giving him around 65 miles and 8500 ft of climbing and Steadyflow bailed and ended up with 50 miles.

Photo by : PBR, me on the Colorado Trail about 30 miles into the Buffalo Spiderweb

With the Growler only 4 weeks away, my next couple of weekend's are pretty shot for continuous long distance training. Next weekend is Mother's day, the next we'll be in San Fransisco visiting family which leaves the weekend just before the Growler for the one last big training weekend.

Sandy Wash, The Virtual Ride

2010-04-27T18:42:00.003-06:00

One of the local Front Range riders just posted a video of the Sandy Wash trail in Buffalo Creek. I couldn't help myself, i stole it for my personal virtual riding experience for those moments when I'm stuck behind the computer screen. Sit back, crack open the highest rated APV beer you got, mute the sound, crank up Pearl Jam's "Animal" and enjoy the ride.

Chapter 3, The Lunch Loops

2010-04-26T06:01:00.002-06:00

Last night as I was finishing a ride in near hypothermia after being sleeted, snowed and rained upon I was thinking how I could live in the desert and be happy. Probably not entirely true as I need trees and the alpine to be truly happy riding my bike but the west or Colorado specifically has taught me to enjoy all environments that has singletrack since that which is my most beloved form, the Alpine, is only open 4 to 5 months a year.

The final bit of our adventure last weekend ends at Tabeguache trail system in Grand Junction otherwise known as the, "Lunch Loops". Bad Andy's cousin Ashley owns, The Bike Shop in Grand Junction and we met him early Sunday Morning for a ride and a tour of the Lunch Loops. I had been here once before but local knowledge is an awesome asset and I relied on him for todays tour.

We set up a Shuttle to the top of the ribbon. A Slickrock slab some 2,000 ft above the parking lot for the Lunch loops and made a speedy descent from there to the Gunny loop.

The Blasphemy of the Misfit...Gears

Descending the top of the Ribbon

Mike the Giant

Ken Woo

The Mad Scientist with Bad Andy trailing in a wash

Riding beneath the cliffs

Ashley of the Bike Shop on his carbon Cannondale 69er with a leftie

At the bottom Ashley helped with the shuttle by taking Bad Andy back get the Mad Scientist truck and Sean I decided we needed a bit more. Specifically I couldn't pass on Holy Cross which is a fun section of trail within the lunch loops that has everything from rocky ledges, big rocks in the trail, small slot canyons and a lot of speed. The guys offered to get AV Boy's truck for him and bring it down so we could keep riding so we took the offer and went out for our second loop.

Looking north from the climb up Pet-E-Kes

AV Boy on a flat section of Eagle's Wing

This is the kind of riding where I excel and where I made it through Holy Cross with one dab to my name and AV Boy came out with bloody stumps for legs and some choice words for one of the funnest trails in the Lunch Loops system.

Chapter 2, Rabbit Valley and the Rims

2010-04-23T22:23:00.002-06:00

Saturdays ride was a route originally designed by me to be a sufferfest of all day proportions. Included were to be the Zion Curtain, West Water Mesa, The Arch Loop and the Rims. Only 45 miles and close to 6,000 ft in climbing but what you must learn about the desert is it'll whip the uninitiated, break you and leave you to turn to dust and then forget about you.

Bad Andy sitting of the edge of the cliff's edge, just 50 yards from our tents

I saw Bad Andy's breaking point the weekend before and I knew Mike and Ken hadn't been riding much during the winter months either and as much as I wanted to complete the loop, I didn't have the heart to drag these poor souls into the middle of the desert just to leave their dried out corpses to be another set of relics in the sun.

So I designed the Rims loop. A figure 8 of 20 some odd miles starting and ending in our Campsite of Knowles Canyon overlook.

Trail #2

Herding cows by bike

The Mad Scientist on the Western Rim

Ken Woo

AV Boy

The Mad Scientist and Ken Woo on the Kokopelli Trail above the Western Rim

Mike the Giant on the Eastern Rim

Looking east from the Eastern Rim

Bad Andy kicking up Dust plumes on Brian's Trail

Me and the Mad Scientist sitting on the edge of a sandstone cliff