Merry Rulz

After some closed door negotiations I was able to get
Merry Sales Co to agree I was getting fugged with a big ol pole with dung hanging from its tip by the local Soma dealer. They are now sending my new frame to The Greatest Bike Shop in the World even though they are not a Soma dealer but just all around great guys with no BS attached.

On to the Cherry Blossom Tree...seems thats where my new Soma is being grown....
No more Midnight Silver...its a thing of the past for my size 20. Spice Red is the only choice I've got but Merry and Soma both say the frame has been redesigned with a different downtube and they've seen positive results.

So that means I can do more of this



this



that



and this with no worries



Thanks for the offer of a bike Karlos but I've decided to sit on my idle ass and gain more weight until the new frame whether it be picked off the Cherry Blossom Tree or some form of Dark Steel arrives on my door step. I mean hell, I'm already giving up the greatest free race in the world....expectations had already been low for finishing but dude...I getting to be total clydesdale again at 205 lbs...Whats a few more?

I like supporting the local shops but WTF?

It still remains that in my area Green Mountain Sports still rules as the Best Bike Shop in the World. My world is the world so go suck on your peas and carrots if you think yours is better.

Damn right I'm in a mood.

Just a few miles down the road though is a dealer in Crack. Must be what the guy is smokin cause after all the BS says he should get over a hundred for shipping and handling and begins whining cause he didn't even sell the frame.

Well, sorry brah, but I was living in North Carolina at the time of purchase and I actually had this idea in my head after breaking 9 frames in the past nine years that this one would actually last a few more then the others.



Its just a frame flogger. If ya had to break it down from bike form, hell I could understand. But brah, really...to box and ship a frame....so glad Merry passed on that RA number.

I should be a frame tester. Think ya got a frame tougher then me. Fugg all your high tech gadgets for stress testing. Just pass it on over to the Goat, Gurtle, or whatever little cute in fuzzy name you've come up with for me. Come on, let me prove you've got the best damn bikes known to man kind in the form of Dark Steel.

Tangent.

Come on Merry, let Green Mountain take it. They're not even a dealer in Crack but they say they'll be a willing partner. Chain of command and policy? Rules are meant to be broken and I've only got a few months riding left before the snow falls and I'm back to get getting fat in chubby playing in cotton candy vanilla fields of pillow clouds.



Fugg it, we're talking anarchy and devience.

At the other end of the cherry blossom tree, great enhancements have been made to the newest version of Crack.

oh hell...stupid song....go away

Crack

So begs the question. Exactly how far should I push it?

I've actually been riding with the knowledge of the existence of two cracks on either side of my gusset for about a month now. I've been eying them and the one on the right side has steadily grown from a millimeter to maybe 10 millimeters...

So do I keep on pushing it and hope the downtube doesn't impale me upon its inevitable failure or do I give it up and step away for the bike for 2-3 weeks while I send it back to San Fran, wait for an evaluation, and a new frame. Then what? Do I sell the new frame and begin the search for the latest in great Two Nine steel or build up another and hope I don't see more....
Crack.

Georgetown

Canyonrat rolling an early start out of Georgetown

All great rides start out of Georgetown. So many trails, so little time and no one but a lucky few even know they exist. Somehow I became one of those lucky few, mostly because I pursue any rumor of trail I hear especially when its only 45 minutes from my house. I'm a trail whore, there's no doubt but there is a certain quaintness about G town that seems to have a magical draw on me.



Lubes chugging on the railroad

I convinced Lubes and Canyonrat to head up with me for a 6am start which turned to 6:30 since the sun has recently decided it wants to sleep in for another 30 minutes and all us of forgot our lights to break the perpetual gloom of the morning.



Still smiling after 2,000 ft of climbing and hearing we still had another 1000 feet or so to go

My ultimate goal was to loop Georgetown to Empire and come down Empire Pass but all goals are made to be broken and we ultimately did a sweet loop of Georgetown that included the Old Water Line trail(FATS), Silver Dale and an out and back on Silver Creek.



Lubes and the mine cart



The Old Waterline





So many passes to conquer and so little time before snow swallows it again till next July



The bottom of the Old Water Line trail gets rocky and steep. It forced Canyonrat to walk a few bits but this was some east coast style riding of the Wilson's Creek variety and some of my favorite trail riding around these parts.



Bridge over a creek on Silverdale



The Aspens are already getting to change. Give this a few weeks and all we'll be seeing is gold.





The Turn of Doom, not pictured continues to thwart me. Every time I think I've grown the coconut sized cojonas to make the turn they deflate into pea sized pebbles trying to force their way into my body.



Lubes on Silver Creek with Empire Pass in the background



Canyonrat hugging the Cliff Walls



For an idea of scale, look hard in the upper right corner of the photo...See that red spec...That's Lubes





Lubes on the scree above Georgetown Lake

Night of the Coyote

Last night PBR planned the TGIF TITS ride for an out and back to the Lost Creek Wilderness. Bad Andy and myself were running late and showed up at 6:50 for the 6 pm ride. The boys were gone but left us the route. Bad Andy and myself figured we lost the group for the night but since they were doing an out and back we catch them on the return trip.



About 8 miles in we saw lights in the distance. We quickly formed a plan to scare the guys and we shut off our lights and planned a ambush but we quickly realized the guys were going the the other way. They still hadn't made the Wilderness boundary. I convinced Andy for us to ride with our lights off as there was just enough twilight to illuminate the path and we made chase...I started howling like a coyote and for a mile or more kept our our pace just slightly faster then theirs with me howling every 30 seconds or so. I heard Scar yell, " Fuck you, Coyotes" and figured our cover was busted but kept at it for another half mile or so. We finally caught Scar and AV boy at the back end of the group and learned they really thought we were coyotes coming in for the kill. Too damn funny!



I was feeling frisky last night and was able to keep it about mid pack for the rest of the ride. Its the best I've felt on the bike in a while. After hitting the Wilderness boundary we back tracked to Gashouse Gulch trail and PBR was taking the group up to Sandy Wash. I decided to bail as I was about to fall asleep on the bike so Bad Andy and I took the super fun Lower Gashouse Gulch back to 543 and the cars.



Some Tasty midride treats

Rollins Pass

I am a man of few words of late. Pure exhaustion, nothing more.
Good thing I know to trust my internal compass. Coming off the Jenny Creek Trail my GPS's compass and even the sun were telling me I should be taking a left onto Rollins Pass Road. Fighting my electronic gadget and even nature itself I took a right and somehow a quarter mile later and my GPS says west and the sun is behind me. Still can't figure that out. Some sort of trans dimensional warp I reckon.
Later after summiting Rollins Pass I take an old gas line route to the top of a knob just above Jenny's Creek, seeing a piece of singletrack break off to my left I couldn't help myself and found an old ski route that lead to the Guinn Mountain Cabin and trail. I hate that I missed the upper half of Jenny's Creek but Guinn Mountain had its own bit of fun in thousands of little chicken heads mixed in a bunch of goat heads.

I give you Rollin's Pass...a photo essay

still haven't figured out if I want to see a moose or not..



Jenny's Creek is mostly a wide old road bed









self portrait on Rollin's Pass Road



Yankee Doodle Lake





Jenny Lake



The Needle Eye Tunnel



View from the east side of the Needle Eye



Hike a bike over the top of the Needle Eye



riding the old tressels







Rollins Pass







The pipeline descent

Going back to my Roots

First trail ride I ever rode was on a rigid fork and the Soma always performed so nicely with a rigid that when my buddy Jerry offered one for free he had laying around. I couldn't say no.





I'll be putting to the test in the morning with a climb to Rollins Pass from the Eldora Ski Area. If I'm reading my maps correctly, a section of the Continental Divide trail is open from Rollins Pass to Rogers Pass. Looks like some more exploring above 12,000 ft is in the works.

a few pics from the TGIF Buff Creek Ride. The new Homestead reroute is sweet. Can't wait to see that thing in the daylight.