The Bike Peddler

In Case You Missed It

2009-11-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Somebody told me that I should make a post about moving the blog. Here is a post about moving the blog.
www.bikepeddlerutah.com/blog/

Utah Cyclocross 2009 Race #3

2009-10-17T15:54:00.001-07:00

About a year ago, I did my first Cyclocross race at Heber's Wasatch County Fairgrounds. And now, I've got like six races under my belt, so I'm pretty much an expert. Okay, at least I own my own bike now. That's 95% of it right? Anyway, it was good to be home.
Early this morning, we picked up Riley,(and his girlfriend Camilla. Yeah, I know.) piled into the family wagon and headed to Heber. This is probably the first time I've made it to a race with plenty of time to get ready. And I had my smokin hot wife and three adorable children with me. So I had a built in cheering section.
The race organizers kept warning people about the goathead thorns all over the course. I run airlock/slime tubes, and have never had a problem with thorns. This leads to a cockiness about flat's. I just don't get them. And when they warn people about thorns in certain sections, I take it as a cue to go faster on those sections because, as I said. I don't get flats.
With that in mind, they shouted out one of the famously random start times and we were off. I got a good start and was hanging on to the lead pack. I was dieing, but I was with the lead pack. We had gapped the rest of the group and I made it to the end of the second lap still in sight of them. In fact, I managed to pass my second favorite Texan(Cobes) while I followed them. I didn't know where my Team Clammy Chamois Teammates were, but Kellie was keeping track of them.
Wes and Riley at the top of "Mt. Heber"
That coupled with the fact that the Slyfox Cash Zone was in play. Dollah, Dollah Bill Y'all. Here's me stashing one of the four singles I picked up in the race. The good news was, I always suffer on the first two laps, then level out and feel better from the third lap on. So, since I was still with the front pack at this point I was starting to think I might actually finish respectably. Then I took a hard right turn on the grass and heard my tire make a buzz that at once told me I was both low on air in that tire, and probably not going to finish well.
As I ran up "Mt. Heber" to my cheering family I mentioned my slowly deflating tire, and my wife(Kellie) screamed,"Just Ride It!!" I took this as permission to buy a new wheelset if I destroyed the wheel. By the beginning of the fifth lap I was completely flat. But I found I could still go pretty fast I just couldn't turn for beans. I figured, I'd just go into survival mode. I still had a pretty good gap on better than half of the field.
If I could hang onto that, I'd still finish respectably. Here's me losing ground on the leaders.
Survival mode was working. Coming into the final lap, I was still in between packs, and had only lost three or four places. I headed through the straightaway into the 180 degree turn before the triple barricades, right in the apex of the turn, my tire came off sending me violently over the bars. The guy right behind me faked left, went right and rode right over the top of my bike and I(not his fault). My front wheel was bent, with a wad of tire and tube jammed into the brakes, and my rear wheel was so bent it wouldn't turn through the frame.
I was going to give up........
A lesser man would have..........
But I........decided.........to run. Okay,.......walk....... mostly.
I am on a team after all. And I owed it to them to finish.

I pushed onward as the rest of the field blew by me. Even the guys we had lapped passed me. Luckily, the shame of last place was saved because the lapped riders have to stop after the lead riders final lap, and I placed in front of them, because I got in one more lap. They were pretty much done when I came in. I actually heard the interview with the winner of the heat, over the loudspeaker while walking in.

But then,.... in the distance........

I want to thank all the "Team Clammy Chamois" members for sticking with me. To the cheerleaders, both my family, and friends from other teams(Thanks for lending me the little french girl Cobes) It was truly, a monumental 31st place. Or likely a 33rd place finish once they post it on UtahCyclocross.

We stuck around for a few more of the races. SlyFox busted out the ghilly suit and handed out the sniper cash to the ladies. He is a special kind of crazy

24 Hours Of Moab

2009-10-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

After two last minute personnel changes, and a last minute impulse purchase of a new light, I packed up and headed for Moab with our newest team member Wes Friday morning.

Ryan had driven down Thursday night with his wife to secure a good campsite. Ryan did this race last year so he knew everything you needed to do for a good race. Glad he drove down a day early. We were closer to the start/finish line then almost 5 of the 400 or so teams there. But at least we were in tents, between two RV's with generators running 24/7. And without any tape or rope indicating our campsite, one of the RV's stole our campfire ring. Let's hear it for race experience.

After Wes and I pulled in, we unloaded and hustled to get a pre-ride in before it got dark. I had never ridden this "trail" before so it was a good thing we did. The course was pretty crowded with people doing the same thing. First impressions included, "This is going to suck." And "Wow, there's a LOT of sand." In between the sand, there were techy sections of slick rock. Not the smooth grippy slickrock you find on the other side of Moab that's fun to climb because it grabs your tires and lets you climb impossibly steep pitches. This slickrock is of the rough, broken loose variety that gives you a choice of the hard, rough line, or the "I guess I'll get off and walk line." Later in the race, I would choose the latter quite often. The first two miles were like that, and then it got a little better. But you still had these tricky, ledgy descents that a lot of racers walked, followed by sand pits, followed by steep ledgy climbs that a lot of racers walked. I did fine on the descents, and had planned to pass skinny guys carrying there bikes and make up some time. I'm no downhiller, but I can go down the rough stuff better than some of the cardio crowd. Once you hit about the 5 mile mark, the course turns into more of a road. There is an awesome, steep descent with berms you can get completely horizontal on. All the sand sluffs into the bottom, so it behooves you to carry speed into the corners and get as high on the berm as you can. This is followed by a brutal climb up a sandy hill. I would go on to walk this climb every single time.

The second half of the course is where you have to be able to spin big gears. At mile 7 you cruise on mostly roads. This takes you out and around this big rock formation. One ledgy descent and then you start the final major climb. Not granny gear steep, but long enough to have you looking pretty anxiously for the top. Crest the top and start the last three miles of the course. These are 30+ mph hardpack roads. (If you've got 30+ mph in your legs.) But you have to be careful, because when your going that fast, a deep pile of sand can send you ass over teakettle in a hurry.

Also on this final descent you start to catch glimpses of the tent city at the start/finish line. It's a pretty welcome sight day or night.

We finished the lap at dusk, and headed into town for dinner. Not sure if it was the lobster enchilada at La Hacienda, pre-race jitters, or the cacophony of generators,bagpipes, and keggers, but I wasn't able to log much sleep friday night. This would later come back to haunt me.

Parrish who had joined the team after Rone dropped out, was going to head down Friday as soon as he and Riley could get away from the shop. Surprisingly, when there is a Wednesday night group ride that no one in the shop goes to, they are able to completely vacate the shop at 4pm. But for an internationally known event three hours away that they have known about since April, they couldn't get away from the shop until after 9pm, and so, decided to leave early Saturday morning and get there before the race started. They decided to leave early, and then left at about 9:30 am. So, interestingly, when the start cannon sounded at noon Saturday, our five man team only had three members.

So here's where we talk about the start. A "Le Mans" style start. I don't know who Le Mans is, but I'd like to kick him in the "Le Balls" because I got conned into doing the first lap. Riders line up, in a crowd of 400+, by rows of bike racks where you've strategically staged your bike before the start. There were a lot of strange costumes, and pre-race rituals going on. I had my phone with me and snapped this picture of the guy in front of me. I don't know if he got carried away with the Chamois Butter, or what, but everbody behind him was quietly elbowing everybody else as white foam slowly oozed out of the back of his shorts and eventually began dripping on the ground. Who am I to judge? Turns out he is Ben Koenig. He took third in the Men's Solo Championship. Yeah, he rode 15 laps by himself with a total ride time of 12:45 minutes. I'll have to get me some of whatever that stuff is.

Cannon sounds, and everybody runs, 300 yards across the desert, around the designated tree, then back to the bikes. Grab your bike, jump on and go. Wes snapped this picture of the start. I'm in there somewhere choking on dust and trying not to get knocked down and trampled. Luckily, I've been in enough mosh pits to be able to stay standing in a violent, hostile crowd.

After the run, you ride a slightly modified first section of the course. Staying on the road and bypassing and single track from the start line to the jeep trail. The idea is to let the crowd funnel into a line. It almost works, but that nasty first two miles I told you about was like the return line at Wal-Mart on Dec 26. The tricky parts become hike-a-bikes because, if one person puts a foot down, everybody has to put a foot down. I managed to stay pretty mid-pack in the first few miles. Sure enough, I passed a lot of people on the rocky downhills. Unfortunately, most of them caught me again on the climbs and giggled as they rode past. I made the first lap in
1:32. Better than I expected, but not incredible.
Here is an impressive shot of my gut as I came into the start/finish.
Handoff the baton to Ryan and head back to camp. This is where I should have taken a nap, but didn't.
He turned in a slightly faster time, followed by Wes with a similar time, and when Riley was out, Wes pulled up the results on his blackberry. We were in 10th place.

I hadn't really hoped to do anything but keep from embarassing myself and my teammates, but it was looking like we were going to have a top ten finish in a field of 26.(5 person mens category).

So now it was serious. Riley and Parrish turned in good times and we moved as high as seventh place at one point. Parrish being the bottom of the batting order, finished his first lap in the dark and it was my turn for the first full night lap. Staying true to club tradition, I had laced glowsticks into my spokes which create a wheel of light when they spin. I actually was asked where I had bought my wheels. I think they were confused when I said, Macy's Sack and Save. There two for seven bucks.

And so began my toughest lap. With delusions of a high ranking finish in my head. I rode sloppy and aggressive. Bobbling on the climbs a lot, and having to put a foot down on stuff that I should have been able to ride. One crash caught me hard in the bad place, and I ended up with a constant urge to urinate for the rest of the lap(and most of the rest of the race). I actually stopped four times to take care of it with a disappointing result. In the dark though, you caught these surreal images of lights in the distance. The most incredible was from the top of that bermy downhill. A line of bobbing lights weaving it's way down one side and up the other. With others in the distance showing you both where you had been, and where you were going. For the first time you actually felt like part of a huge population of similarly minded individuals instead of one maggot squirming past another alone on a hillside. Sprititual enlightenment notwithstanding, I was still hurting.

The lights on my handlebars created some kind of interference with my wireless cyclocomputer causing the display to scramble so I had no idea what kind of time I was making. When I finally made it to the last technical downhill, I was trying to make up some time, and when I took the line I had chosen the day before, the rock I had been using to roll off the ledge and into the sand had moved out a couple feet. Creating a hole, followed by a rock. I manage a decent nose wheelie for about two milliseconds, and then piled over the bars and into the rocks and sand. adrenaline and gymnastic ability rolled me back up to my feet, and when the guy behind me asked if I was allright, I barked back "YES!" and jumped back on my bike. Actually I was crying on the inside. My whole left side was in agony. He wasn't so sure I was fine, and stayed with me until the road smoothed out and then blew past me and disappeared into the night. Shouting back "Nice Wheels!". I finally rolled back in to a 1:48 time.

I had decided that instead of sleeping between Riley and Parrish's cots in the tent, I would stretch out in my recliner style camp chair. I grabbed my sleeping bag and cinched the mummy hood down over my eyes. Tuned into a little Don Williams on the headphones and managed about two hours of sleep. Our night strategy was to have the incoming rider wake-up the on deck rider when he got back to camp. This worked out pretty good and we didn't miss any hand-offs in the night.

My next lap would begin around 4:30 am. Parrish had turned in a killer lap and he rolled in much earlier than I was expecting. To answer your question, yes, it does piss me off that a guy who rides a bike like three times a year, and shows up to the race late, not only turns in the fastest time of anyone else on the team overall, but only lost twelve minutes on his night lap.

At this point, I was feeling feeble. I resolved to just go as hard as I thought I could maintain for the whole lap. That wasn't very fast. I tumbled into the sand about a half mile in and when I picked up my bike, I realized I had forgotten to grab a water bottle. I had a semi-liquid food packet(Enervitene) in my pocket, and planned to drink it at the halfway point. With the cold temps water wasn't too huge of a priority so maybe I would be fine. By the four mile mark I was parched. Probably due to the fact that I knew I couldn't drink but still. I was diing. On the next rocky section I picked up one of the dozens of bottles that had been bounced out of other riders bottle cages and drank long and deep. Jammed the rest into my cage and moved on. I rode conservatively and relaxed. I thought for sure I was going to be turning in a two and a half hour lap, but actually managed a 1:54. I rolled in just as the horizon was turning purple. When I caught my breath I did the math and realized I was done. Unless Ryan, Wes, Riley, and Parrish all turned in times just over an hour(which was not possible, even for Parrish) I would be done. I have never been so relieved in my life. I bought a huge breakfast burrito and piled on the jalapenos and hot sauce. I took a shower, and got dressed. And waited for noon.

In the end, we came in a respectable 9th of 26 teams in our category. And 142 out of 400-some-odd teams overall.
The sick thing is, since I woke up this morning,I've been thinking, "I think next year I'll......"

Cross, Then A Day With The Kids

2009-10-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 6:30 and plopped down in front of the computer. I had pretty much talked myself out of the hour drive to Ogden to get my ass handed to me at Race #1 in the Utah Cyclocross Series. Just then I saw Ryan Cobourn, a.k.a. Cobes, a.k.a. Slow Burn, a.k.a. Don't Mess With Texas, had posted his Facebook status as "Cyclocross!". This shout out from a fellow fat Irishman was all I needed to inspire me to go embarass myself.

I rummaged through my bike stuff, shuffled pedals around, did a minimalist operational check of my "new to me" cross bike, slapped the old Ford on the hind-quarter and headed for Ogden. On a normal race-day I would have been way too late to get in a pre-ride, but since Ohran had apparently spent the night binge drinking the course was still being laid out at 9:15 for the 9:30 start. And it wasn't finished when Ryan and I rode it. Upon returning to the start, Ryan's tires both blew. 12 goathead thorns and no spare tires. In my haste, I hadn't grabbed any extra tubes and even though he had friends offer to loan him some "B" wheels, incompatible drivetrains gave him a DNS. So, I beat him.

Weber Fairgrounds is a fun, if simple course. No run-ups, and only one log barrier that couldn't be ridden over. A fairly long paved section that was my only saving grace. I passed a couple people on it and gapped a guy on a mountain bike that was nipping at my heels the whole race. Still finished far back in the pack, but I'm glad I went.

"I.......need........a........doughnut!"

My Dad frequently asks why I do races that I can't win. I don't really have an answer for that. If you can't see the joy in pushing yourself either too the brink of puking, or occasionally to the actual point of puking, on a crisp autumn morning with 40+ other guys in the mud, and the blood, and the muck. With hundreds of people you don't know, cheering from the sidelines while ringing cowbells, and sipping coffee and hot chocolate. There is no way I can explain it to you in terms that you'll understand.

I rushed home and started gathering things together for IMBA's "Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day" The idea was to get a bunch of kids up to Lambert Park on their bikes with their parents and other people who enjoy mountain biking and try to pass that along to the next generation. The cooler weather had some effect on turnout, at least that's what I figure since I had a lot of emails from people who said they were coming and then didn't. But thanks to IMBA we had some stickers, number plates for kids bikes, and kids Clif Bars. The Kids Clif Bars, for the record, are better than the adult Clif Bars.

The shop had cleared off the Kids cycling apparel rack and pitched in some water bottles, and a gift certificate for the raffle. By my count there were about a dozen kids(counting kids in diapers who didn't do much riding). The Goathead thorn rose it's ugly head again at Lambert park and anybody without slime in their tires didn't get very far.It was a fun day. My son Gavin had his first exposure to singletrack. Which was pretty daunting for him at first. There were some tears shed, and a lot of walking. But by the bottom of Rodeo he seemed to be getting the hang of it.

The Weber family had the strongest showing of riding kids. Jake's nine year old, who is a veteran of the BPW Race Series, spanked my nine-year old son and ten year old nephew. And all the way down to his 20 month old J.D. who pushed his strider along in the dirt for awhile.

Justin Nelson brought his boys for their first ride on dirt, and they both walked away with some new bike shorts. Perfect for a 50 degree day.

Paul Zimm-the-Man and Eric Somer both showed up a little late with their teenage daughters which was cool. Paul's daughter made her first successful descent of Rodeo and I believe she did so without any tears. Unfortunately Eric's daughter left a little bit of herself on the trail with a good digger at the top of Middle trail.

For the most part, nobody was any worse for wear, and pizza helped to calm the nerves of all involved , thanks to everyone who came and the shop for pitching in with some schwag.

Countdown To Mo-Town

2009-10-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Next saturday, I will be riding with four others in the 24 hours of Moab. It seemed like such a good idea back April or so when we signed up to get the discounted entry fee.
That early in the season, I figured I would certainly be in shape for several laps of the 15 mile course by October. Piece of cake. Take a lap, rest for a few hours while the skinny kids from the shop bring up the average. Maybe eat a little barbecue. Keep warm on the trainer while waiting for my next lap.
Back then I figured I'd be like 15 pounds lighter, have a resting heart rate of 35 or so, legs that looked like some kind of action figure. You know, I figured I'd probably catch the eye of some pro-team or sponsor and have to tell them no, I can't race professionally, I could never give up the exciting world of commercial building maintenance/heating and air conditioning repair.
Wellllllllll, that was back in April.
I actually spent the summer riding pretty much only with the club, only twice a week, and rarely for any extended distance or time. As you may or may not have noticed, I tend to shoot the breeze a lot while riding with the club, and I don't exactly maintain my target heart rate for any period of time. Also, I tend to prep for a big ride with McDonald's or equivalent and wash it down with a Full Throttle, or Rockstar if I'm really feeling it.
In short, as with life in general, I didn't really end up where I thought I'd be.
To make it worse, Rone dropped out and now Parrish is on my team. So now I get to be shown up by somebody who only rides twice a year, but still manages to maintain his girlish figure and be able to throw down without really trying. Also on the team is Mark. Pretty sure he's been secretly training all summer, luckily for me, he fell into a hole or something and is doing the race A.M.A. Riley has decided to stop chasing his "not girlfriend" for one weekend and buckle down for the race. Riley is always faster than me and I'm sure it will be no different next weekend. Which leaves Ryan. Who says he's in bad shape, but I'm not so sure. He didn't seem tired at all after a day of wandering around Interbike which is more than I can say for me. At least his expectations are realistic. Earlier this week he suggested that I take the first leg. He later admitted that it was just because he thought it would be funny to see my moobs jiggle on the Le Mans style start.
I guess the best I can hope for at this point is the "Miss Congeniality" award. I intend to be grilling deer steaks in between laps, and I'm stocking up on glow sticks for the night laps. It's going to be the return of the techno rave night ride for this dancing queen.
It should still be cool though. I plan to greet Tinker Juarez like an old friend after last weeks introduction. Maybe he's got some tips for me. Maybe next year I'll be so inspired and in shape I'll enter the Solo category.
Maybe not.

Interbike '09

2009-09-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

There is a huge difference between the people who are supposed to go to Interbike and the ones who sneak in under the fence. The one's who are supposed to go, have to spend the day in meetings, and seminars. The one's who sneak in under the fence, wander around like a tweeker locked in pharmacy. If you haven't figured it out by now, I snuck under the fence.

Nick and I drove down Monday morning and got into town just in time to catch the tail end of the first day of the Dirt Demo. We drove out to Boulder City and started wandering. The original plan was to ride road bikes monday, and then ride mountain bikes tuesday. We lost a little time not knowing where or what we should be doing. We got checked in and hit the tents. For some reason we headed straight over to Specialized and tried to get on the new Enduro's. I struckout and ended up riding an S-works TriCross. Which was sweet. Not quite what I was looking to ride but sweet anyway. Then I realized that I should ride stuff that the Bike Peddler doesn't carry since this may be my only opportunity. I strolled over to the Rocky Mountain tent and jumped on a 29" Altitude. I won't bother with reviews here. I was mostly just trying to see cool stuff. In fact, as day one was ramping down, we just wandered around. Which is how I ran into this machinist. The next day we hooked up with Ryan and Parrish. Day two at the dirt demo was a little chaotic. This is the big day when everyone shows up. The result, is that it is tough as hell to get onto the bike you want. We actually got so caught up in the Cannondale giveaway(Ride a bike from C-dale,Mongoose,GT, and Schwinn, and get a free pair of Oakley's) that we didn't get much actual ride time in. But I got a free pair of Oakley's. By lunch there were so many people it was hard to walk let alone get in on a bike you wanted. I rode a Spot touring bike with a belt drive and a Rohloff internal hub that was the epitome of bike geekdom. That was probably the coolest thing I rode. Then it was just watching people and checking out booths. Good thing I had on the bib tights. That's okay, they gave me a little street cred when I wanted a photo with this guy. Tinker looks like a Brooks Saddle up close. All brown and leathery. He is the first racing star I remember knowing about when I started reading the magazines back in the nineties. It was cool to see him even though Oilcan Larry thinks he's washed up.

Once it got hot, and we got hungry, we bailed on the dirt demo. The only other really noteworthy thing that we did at the Dirt Demo was plow through the pizza that filled this box. It was huge, and we killed it.The next day was the actual beginning of Interbike. We made our way to the convention center and soon discovered that due to a mixup and our badges reading exhibitors from Lizard Skins instead of highly important decision makers for the Bike Peddler. We were shunned like lepors by the exhibitors. No schwag, no respect. We remedied the problem by ganking some "attendee badges" from Timp Cyclery and were soon getting shoulder rubs from beautiful models. Not really, but we were loading up on schwag and were actually allowed into the Specialized booth. We only got a few weird looks because our badges said we were Brett and Ashley Edwards. Nick took one for the team and claimed to have the girls name.

After a few laps, we were wrecked. That's when you start noticing all the cool people just milling around at Interbike.

I sat on a bench by the Sram booth and noticed Tara Llanes was like two feet away from me.And she was incredibly cool in the couple of seconds I got to talk to her. Two years ago, she broke her back in the Dual Slalom semifinals in Colorado. I was actually watching it on TV when it happened. And I have paid attention to her recovery and story since. When I asked her how things were going, she said "Awesome, I'm training for Ironman next year." That's pretty impressive. I bruised my hip once and still haven't quit whining about it.

Later I walked past a booth with some couches and what looked like a bunch of Metallica Roadies just hanging out. On second glance it was Cam McCaul. Of big-hucking, wise-cracking, gnar-core freeride fame. He kindly obliged a phot as well

All in all it was an awesome trip. It was a bike geek's fantasy camp. Rubbing elbows with people you read about on the toilet everyday is something everyone should try. I also saw but didn't actually meet, Ned Overend and Steve Peat. I did meet Fuzzy the Bike Guy, a host of scantily clad booth babes, and a really aggressive chain lube salesman.

Maybe next year, I'll get to ride some more bikes.

Dig It

2009-09-19T17:27:00.001-07:00

I have an image of Forest Service workers. College kids with beards, sure. Lanky old skinny guys with leathery skin and thick glasses, check. Matronly middle aged women with loud voices and ill fitting khaki's cinched so tight at the waist that you would expect Grover to step out of the trees and say "This is the letter "B"boys and girls." And, minus the last one in the list, all the stereotypical versions of USFS employees were represented at today's trail work day up on the Mill Canyon Trail.
But as we were milling around the trucks this morning getting ready to go dig, Steve Winters introduced me to Sheryl the volunteer coordinator for the USFS. I had heard Steve talk about Sheryl before, he never described her, but I had an idea of what I thought she would look like. It was the Helga version that I had in mind. So when this petite little twentysomething turned around I was very surprised. She was friendly, and funny, and well......young. Then the rest of the trailwork crew started to put things together. Not a single menopausal woman in the bunch.
I am of the opinion, that the Forest Service would have no problem getting volunteers if they would make a poster with all these ladies that said " I Want You!....To Volunteer For Trailwork." They'd quadruple their teenage boys and middle aged men volunteers. One middle aged volunteer who will remain anonymous walked up and elbowed me at one point, and said, "I'll bet you never knew there were so many attractive young ladies in the forest service, did you Josh?" No I did not. It's like when your watching a horror movie and all the camp counselors, or ski patrollers, or whatever, look like they just stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue.
Anyway, we did actually do some trailwork. A lot of trailwork actually. While I was the sole representative from the Bike Peddler Weekly group(slackers) the URMB contingent was well represented. Along with a ton of motorcycle guys. Next time you mutter under your breath as a motorcycle passes you on a climb up there, don't. They outnumbered mountain bikers by about 2 to 1. You can still grumble about horsemen though, there was only one of them. But he was a very cool guy so they get extra credit. And while your at it don't complain about at-risk teenage girls either because there were like a dozen of them up there digging under the direction of their counselor while you were scratching your butt on the couch this morning.The Mill Canyon reroute, is an ambitious project. The route has already been flagged, cleared, and scraped by a mini-dozer. We were working on grading out the 4-5 foot swath and pulling the uphill side in to narrow the usable trail, and clearing the berm on the downhill side to allow drainage.
They are taking the very steep, and direct route of the Mill Canyon Trail and adding several miles to the existing three. For now it only redirects the upper section before the intersection connecting to Tibble.
Honestly, I was a little sad to see the changes happening. Upper Mill Canyon has always been a blast to ride. It is a steep, rocky, rooty, chainsaw of a trail. And to get to it you have to climb a really steep grunt from the four-way intersection on Ridge Trail. The new trail will be similar to South Fork Lower Deer Creek. Smooth fast goodness. Plus it will be a couple miles longer. It will still be a great trail, but the character is going to change dramatically. In this poorly lit photograph you can see what I'm talking about.
On the left is the new trail being cut in. Smooth, and fast. On the right is the existing trail. rocky and treachorous, but in a good way.
The best part though, is that it will be climbable. Not in a, make sure your toe spikes are in tight and your bike is shoulderable kind of way, but in a gradual, doable grade kind of way. I am imagining a loop that starts and finishes at the summit trailhead. Ridge Trail down from the top of Mill could become a favorite new downhill. Or you could climb from the Mud/Tibble intersection and then turn around and bomb all the way back down to the reservoir. It's gonna be cool.
Oh, and here is a photo of the biggest damn wasps nest I've ever seen.
If you love the trail the way it is, relax. You've got some time to say goodbye. The Forest Service crew mentioned that proper protocol says a new trail has to settle for a year before it can be officially opened. So it will likely be awhile. I plan to ride it before the snow flies, and as much as I can next year before it is officially closed. You can come with me if you can pry your butt up off the couch.

Pleasantville

2009-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Initially, it looked like this ride was going to crash and burn. I was running late, and then RetroBill called and said he was running late. Then I misunderstood him and waited at the shop for half an hour. Ay-yhi-yhi.
Eventually we all made it to the water tank trailhead. There was me,Paul Zimm-the-man, Nate, RetroBill, Sally, and The Nosacks.
Since we were running a little late, there was concern that we would run out of light before finishing the Dry Canyon-BST run. We headed up the dirt road towards Ireland which is where Bill had wanted to climb. The sane among us talked him out of it and we continued around over to Betty.
Now, while I wasn't necessarily charging up the hill, I did feel better than I had last week. The feeling of impending doom in the first few hundred yards actually went away this time and I was able to settle into a groove. After last week I had considered going to the doctor to see if I had a legitmate reason for almost diing on the last two ride. But after tonight, the good news is I don't seem to have anything wrong with me other than being a fat guy. The bad news is I'm still a fat guy.
It was a good mix of riders tonight. Sally and Jolene kept it balanced, and there wasn't nearly the profanity that I had spewed on the "Depic". Just a nice, friendly ride.
Also, I was "runnin' lean" tonight. A water bottle, a tube and Co2 strapped to my seatpost, and my Cannondale HeadTube Multi Tool, kept me from having to use a Camelbak. It was liberating. Not sure I was completely prepared for any mishaps, but it's nice to not have 15 lbs of water and sweaty balistic nylon on your back.
We took the new connector trail from Betty, over to Frank. Dubbed "Fretty" by Kris, who I think gets naming rights on trails up there because he has taken the time to map them. There was a lot of discussion about which way we should go up, but I'll tell you a secret. All those trails point straight up. There is no easy way to the top of the Timp Trail system. Once we got to the the top of Lament though.......
The view was awesome.
The "Sailors Delight" clouds were the source of some concern though since only one of us had lights.( I was runnin' lean) So, Retro Bill and Nate continued to Dry Canyon, and the rest of us dropped down Crank over to Ireland. The trail, not the country. I hadn't ridden this trail since it was green and the grass has dried out a lot. The cool thing was with the setting sun, the yellow grass started glowing, it looked like it was being lit from inside. This didn't make it any easier to see the trail however and it took a little brake action to keep it between the lines.
We got back to the truck just in time to see the sun drop behind the horizon. Just before than happened, RetroBill and Nate pulled up to the truck off of BST. It ends up there was plenty of time to make it. I don't know if Bill would have made it if he had been on his trusty Rockhopper, but he sure was grinning after riding a full squish bike down Dry Canyon. That's all I need, for Bill to get faster than me on the downhills.
These are the rides I enjoy the most. I think Sally enjoyed a little break in the testosterone and being able to chat with another girl. And I got to ride with a couple people I hadn't seen in awhile, namely Paul, and the Nosacks.
Thank everybody, what a pleasant evening.

Zees Ees Not Mah Mod-eh-ret Pace-Uh.

2009-09-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

If you decided you didn't want to come on the ride heretofore referred to as the "Depic" because you weren't sure you could handle it. I have one question. Why didn't you talk some sense into me?
A month or so ago, Ryan Coburn posted on UtahMountainBiking.com that he had an idea for a major ride across the Wasatch. This "Dipshit Epic" aka "The Depic" was going to start at Alta and end up somewhere over by Park City.
As things got organized, Mike, aka MoodDude, from the UMB forum mapped out a route which would start at Alta, climb up over Catherine's Pass, drop down through the west side of Brighton, over to Solitude, up over Guardsman to Puke Hill, take the Crest Trail past Desolation Lake, over to the Mid Mountain Trail above the Canyons, Down to Rob's, then roll pavement over to Glenwild, get on 24-7 to Jeremy Ranch, up little Emigration to the Mormon Trail, up to the Big Mountain Monument then down to Little Dell Reservoir.
For some reason, I was interested in this. I cite lack of intelligence as the primary cause.
That morning at Little Dell where we would drop the cars there were six. Myself, Ryan,Jake,Retro Bill,Mike, and a guy who goes by the name Spider on UMB, met at 6:30 am. As we got loaded up for the shuttle over to Alta, Mike mentioned that another rider had talked to him at length about whether or not he thought he could handle the ride, and had called that morning to say he was coming. He was now pushing a half hour late and just as we were getting ready to abandon him, Mike called and told him if he was still coming to meet us at Alta.

As the sun was rising, I took this picture with me blocking out everybody but the two fat Irish guys.
The other guy, whose name I never caught, showed up looking pretty interesting. Glasses, knee high socks with shin-guards over them, Cargo shorts, and a bandana tied around his neck. When he spoke, it was apparent that he was not from this country. I think he was French, but Ryan thinks he's Eastern European. Ryan thinks just because he's married to a french chick he's some kind of accent expert.
Short story long, we started up the dirt road to Catherine's Pass. Any time I start out climbing right from the truck, I feel like hell for at least the first half mile or so. This generally passes. But with my experience last Wednesday. I wasn't surprised when I didn't feel great for the whole climb. It wasn't terrible on the road, just steady and the elevation got tougher with each turn of the pedals. It wasn't long until Frenchy, heretofore referred to as Peppy LePue, was off the back. Ryan and I waited for him where we joined the singletrack part of the climb, and when he caught up he said, "Zees Ees Not Mah Mod-eh-ret Pace-uh". As had been promised by Mike on the phone. He told us he was familiar with the area, had a GPS, and not to wait for him. Luckily, he also left us with a mantra for the rest of the ride. I suffered through the rest of the climb over Catherines. Just didn't have any legs for some reason. I cite lack of fitness as the primary cause. Once we made the top, I adjusted a rubbing brake that couldn't have been helping, and ate a little. I was soon feeling better. This helped and I figured I would try the next leg.
The views were incredible. Ryan made a comment that with all the Granite it looked like we were in the Dolomites or something. I've never been there so I'll take his word for it.
The descent from here was very technical. A lot of hike-a-bike, for the first mile or so, but it eventually broke out into rideable but technical singletrack. This was a blast to ride, but Mike got offline and piled over the bars at one point. Not even a mile later, he would tear the sidewall of his tire on a bad line. We didn't lose much time stopping but we weren't setting any records. Of note, were the many trail runners we kept meeting. There was some 100 mile stage race and at this point they were 77 miles in. That looked like less fun than what we were doing.

I think this is Mary's Lake. One of the more scenic parts of the trip. Also, one of the few pictures I took. Ends up as I get more worn out, the scenery becomes lost on me.Once we made it down to Solitude, day hikers became the order of the day. Several stops to chit-chat, and brag about our big plans for the day.The wildest stand of Aspens I have ever seen.Once we made it to the base of Solitude, we went to Mike's place. He lives in the condo's in the village at Solitude. Refilled water, pounded some banana's and rested. How would that be to live at 8200 feet, with the pool and hot tub right out the window?
I was feeling a lot better now, though not too excited for the climb up Guardsman. We set out again, keeping it "Mod-eh-ret" and though I was at the back, I was doing okay. Right up until it got steep. It didn't take long to realize that I was still in a bad way. The rest of the pack pulled away, and Ryan stayed back with me for awhile. Then eventually he dropped me. I was alone for much of the climb, and just when I was about to make it to the dirt connector to Puke Hill and the end of that particular climb, Mike spun back and told me that we were going to the top of Guardsman to make it officially a fifty mile run. Dick. I finally made it to the top, and was considering my options for a bailout. I felt like an idiot and was obviously slowing the group down. I decided I would push up Puke Hill and then bailout down to MillCreek, and catch a cab or something back up to my car at Alta. Then everybody got all encouraging and Mike explained that if I was going to push up Puke Hill that I might as well drop off Park City and it was all downhill to Redstone and the next pit-stop. I agreed and began the push up Puke. Now for the record, I have cleaned Puke Hill before. It's not that tough. But this was not the case. Still blown from Guardsman, I was unable to keep on the bike once the trail tilted up at all. I walked at least half of it. It didn't help, that several girls, and old men passed me.
But, all horrible climbs must come to an end. And after a rest at the top, we began the Crest trail. I don't ride the Crest much. Way too many people, but there were only a few today, and it started to perk me back up to ride such a fun trail. Everybody rode the Spine and Retro Bill had a spectacular pileup near the top. He brushed off the dust and ended up riding it. Fun stuff.
From there we rolled over to the turnoff to the Canyons.
I have never dropped over the Park City side from here. In fact, I don't ride Park City very often at all. But once we dropped down, it was incredible. Mid-mountain to Rob's was like a neverending downhill. I have no notion of the actual distance, but it was like we were at the downhill store with lots of downhill dollars. Mike managed to flat again, but soon we were flying down this smooth and fast trail again. A great way to recover from a climb that almost killed me. When we finally spit out on the pavement, everybody was giggling like little girls at the major descent we had just made.
A seemingly quick buzz on the road over to Redstone Village and Ryans office's for Backcountry where he had stashed some groceries. Refilled water again, and raided his office fridge for some RedBull's. We were all pretty blown, and it was tough to scrape our butts off the soft couches in the lobby.
But since I had to be back to work Monday, we rolled over to the tunnel under I-80 and headed up the Glenwild loop towards 24-7.
I was leading the pack, and I think this was because everyone learned in the Boy Scouts that the slowest guy in the group sets the pace. Strangely when we looked back Retro Bill was gone. I didn't think for a minute that he couldn't keep up with my pace and sure enough when we looked back he had his bike flipped over with some major mechanical. Bill rides a '95 Rockhopper(thus the name RetroBill) and I think the V-brakes with all the descending had somehow caused a major wheel issue. His back tire was so out of true it was rubbing on the frame.
We waited for ten minutes or so, and then Jake was getting antsy because he needed to be back. Mike rolled back to Bill to see if he could help. Spider and Jake decided they were going to go and Ryan and I tipped over in the shade for another ten or twenty minutes. Eventually Mike came back, and Bill had said to go on ahead and to call him when we got done to see if we needed to pick him up.
And then there were three.
It was getting late, and I was tired. After you get to Jeremy Ranch, the dirt road up Little Emigration is at least flat, and some sections of downhill. After you cross the Morgan County line you come to the Mormon Trail parking lot. The best part about this trail is that it is at least 15 degrees cooler than anything else. It follows a stream and is completely shaded.
I still had a little juice and was rolling along pretty good. But not as fast as Bill who actually caught up to us about half way through. This trail on any other day, with fresh legs, would be a middle ring, easy climb. We found a couple other riders who were smiling and enjoying themselves. There was little laughter coming from us. We did take the opportunity to explain to those who would listen that we were in the last leg of a major day. This was the longest three(according to Mike, it was actually four) miles of my life. Then the cramps began. Spin,spin,spin, cramp. Get off, walk, stretch, get back on, spin,spin, spin, cramp. Lather, rinse, repeat. The last half mile up to the Big Mountain monument was all walking. Not just me, Ryan and Bill did a little walking too, Mike however waited triumphantly at the top cheering us on. At the monument we all, simultaneously ran out of water and food. All we had left was the descent back to Little Dell. Another fun, smooth downhill. Or it would have been, if I wasn't just struggling to keep upright. Just running the brakes was getting tough. And this was a long downhill, I don't know if it was just my skewed perspective and wanting to see the cars, or if it's actually that long. For the first time in the day, I was wishing the downhill would end.
It finally did, and we made it to the cars. It was almost seven at this point and we had been out for eleven hours. By the time we picked up the shuttle cars and got headed home, it was almost eight thirty.
Upon stopping, I actually started feeling worse. I got dizzy, short of breath. Enough that Bill was worried enough to follow me home. I did start to feel better on the drive home. And the stop at Del Taco once I got to American Fork was a Godsend.
All in all, the official stats vary, but more or less, we rode 53 miles, climbed about 10,500 feet, and descended about 13,000 feet. This morning after my morning constitutional and fully re-hydrated, I have lost eight pounds since yesterday morning. This is far and away, the biggest day on a mountain bike I have ever had.
I don't actually wish I had been talked out of it. It was the definition of an "epic" ride. And the guys I did it with I now consider great friends. That was until Mike said "Next year lets do a 75 mile one." Dick.

Sally Gets Stuck With Bill

2009-09-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently, people were too busy putting away their white clothes after Labor Day and we had a thin turnout for tonights ride.
Well, not as thin as I thought, it turns out. Adam and Jake were at the shop, and when we got to the turnoff, no one was there. I'm so used to running late, I just figured that was it, and we headed up to Timpanooeke. While Jake and I were shuttling back up to get my truck after the ride, Adam met up with Bill and Sally who had just missed us at the bottom. Not to be denied a ride, they headed up to the Summit and had their own adventure.
Sorry kids, that ones on me.
It wasn't a very glorious ride for me. I was feeling pretty off for most of the climb. I have felt sluggish on a lot of Wednesday rides lately and I figure it's because working all day removes all the joy and enthusiasm from my soul,......sending me into a black pit of despai.......Oh wait a minute,...what just happened? Did I black out?
Anyway, a rough day at work, coupled with a connubialis malum(unfortunate rug burn) and my normal fat guy problems left me gasping for air and sweating like Parrish at the Hair Salon. I can do better than that,.....my heart was pounding like Brady's at the House of Denim. That's more like it. Suffice it to say, I was hating it.
Usually this problem goes away when gravity tips in my favor. But about half way down Mud Springs I was still feeling lousy and was pretty sure I was going to vomit. Not cool. I put my foot down a half dozen times between the Mud Springs intersection and the dam. Just to get my balance back. It felt a lot like it did back when I had to put a foot down out of the bed to get rid of the spins. That was a long time ago. Aaaaah memories.
Finally caught back up to Jake and Adam at the bottom though and managed to get home without hurling. I think I must have got a bad breakfast burrito or something, still a little off. At least more than usual.
The good news is, I've signed on for a gut-wrenching death march Saturday so that should be interesting. I'll let you know if I survive.

Strawberry Is My New Favorite Flavor

2009-09-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Penthouse, I never thought it would happen to me. Ooops. I mean,....

What a spectacular ride. As I continue through this post, I will try not to repeat the adjectives used to describe the Strawberry Narrows Trail.

First off, the drive kind of sucks. I think it was something like 60 miles on the road to get there. But that is the only thing that sucked.

The UMB Trail Guide was spot on. Drive all the way around Strawberry, and turn right. Drive till you cross the dam and your there. In fact, when we pulled into the Marina, a guy walked over and advised us to pull up the road and park in the day use area to save the fee. Apparently there has been a steady stream of dirtheads out there since Bruce first posted the trail report. We followed his advice which skips a minor amount of single track before you get on a doubletrack for a half-mile before the trail begins in earnest.

Note: In the future, I'm going to just drive to the end of the double track and park there. Nothing interesting about a half mile of dirt road.

Here's where we parked. At the beginning of the dirt road.

Once you get on the singletrack, the fun begins. The eastern eight miles of this trail are pristine. Here come the adjectives, buff, fast, loamy, smooth, interesting, challenging, rolly, flowy, perfect......okay, I'm out. Oh wait,....sick, yes this trail is sick....in a good way.
You skirt the southern shore of Strawberry reservoir. You average a pretty consistent elevation, but you are constantly rolling up, and down. There are a few steep sections, but they aren't very long and you are immediately rewarded afterward by quick little descents. There are just enough rocks to pop off of and get your wheels in the air. None of it is super technical, but I guarantee you will not be bored.
You find all these little inlets, and, being Labor Day weekend, there were boats camping in them. We got a few strange looks, especially from the people who were just waking up and watching us lift our bikes over the ropes they had staked onto the trail to anchor the boat for the night.

The total trail distance is twelve miles, but Captain Argyle suggests only riding to the eight mile mark. At this marker (Renegade Point) the trail heads through bare, sagebrush and flattens out.

This is Renegade Point. Sorry for the crappy photo.After we headed out into the sagebrush we decided Bruce was right.
Now, not being a fan of out and backs in general, I was a little skeptical. However, this trail is a blast to ride either direction. Gun to my head, I would have to say I prefer west to east, but they are both fun and It doesn't seem like your covering the same ground twice. The flow of the trail is so good, it begs to be hammered. I was winded and dripping with sweat, and I still felt compelled to grab taller gears and spin faster. That is an awesome way to ride a trail.
Okay, truth be told, Riley was doing his ride your ass until you go faster technique. What I mean is, I was being pushed. That's okay, it was a hoot.
Another bonus is the multiple photo-ops.

Ask yourself,....what could possibly draw the attention of Riley,Josh, and Pizza Bill over this ledge, while keeping Sally far enough back to take this picture?

Answer: Jake making us all glad I take blurry pictures. And Retro Bill glad that he was miles ahead of us all. Despite being traumatized for life. We all made it back to the truck. Just before we got there we passed the only other bikers we saw the whole time. Two women who were grinning as much as we were.

Then the debate began. Should we go check out some of the other trails in the area? I abstained from the vote which gave me plausible deniability if nobody else was feeling like it(I was exhausted). Retro Bill was strongly in favor of more riding. Sally also abstained from the vote, and Pizza Bill's Mom said he had to get back.

Then stupid Riley said, "Yeah, let's go for it."

We loaded back up, minus Pizza Bill and drove over to the Willow Creek Trail head on the North side of the reservoir.

There we found a new friend. Chalk another one up in the creepy crawlers found while riding column.We unloaded for what was supposed to be a five mile or so loop on single track. The first half of which was uphill. And sandy. And overgrown. And rough. I had my pouty face on. Retro Bill however was giddy. And way out in front. I was the only one who was whining though and we continued around for what ended up being only a 3.8 mile loop. The second half of which was smoother, buffer, downhill, and had about a half dozen stream crossings. I was like a little kid who didn't want to admit that it was fun because I was still pouting. But it was fun. Even though we ended up covered in mud, and now I have to scrub my bike again.

All in all, this was easily in my top three best rides this year. I will definitely be going back. And everybody should check the Narrows trail out. It's that good.

First Annual BPW Beginner Bike Rally

2009-09-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

I posted on Utah Mountain Biking awhile ago that I was interested in something like this, and it is sort of falling together.

This is what I've got so far.

Saturday, Oct 3, 3 pm

Lambert Park, Bowery Pavillion.

Pizza, and S'mores afterward.

I just registered this event as an official IMBA Take A Kid Mountain Biking event. On Oct 3, there will be events like this all over the country and the world.This is an international effort to get kids on bikes, there will be some schwag for the kids who come from IMBA. I tentatively told IMBA there would be approximately ten kids. I have no idea how accurate this is.If you are planning to come, please let me know BEFORE SEPT 15th!!!! so I can amend the numbers if necessary.

Leave a comment or send an email to peddlermtnrides@gmail.com

Anybody and everybody is welcome. Especially kids, but also adults who are new to mountain biking or your wife that's cranky about all the time you spend on your bike instead of with her. But also adults who love mountain biking and want to pass that along to a bunch of kids.

This is going to be a really open format. I chose Lambert because it's got the most entry level stuff, from flat dirt roads, to smooth singletrack. And tougher stuff if people get excited. Ideally, kids will ride together in approximate age groups with adults to help, and encourage.
I'm pretty excited about this, hopefully there are other people who are too.

Benny With The Bills

2009-09-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't normally try to get down to Payson Canyon on a Wednesday night for the group ride. It's a lot of driving, and with the daylight hours being shorter and shorter lately, your ride time is kind of limited down there. But I got an email from Jeremy Jarneke who is a good friend of the club/shop who moved to Arizona awhile ago and was going to be in town this week. He and his wife Pam wanted to ride Benny Creek with us. The short version is that he wrenched his back and they ended up not coming.

However, nine other people did show up, including two different Bills. Pizza Bill, and Retro Bill.We got a late start trying to figure out where Pam and Jeremy were, so we rode an abbreviated version of the Blackhawk to Benny Creek shuttle. We drove past Blackhawk Campground and started where the trail crosses the road to the west. We lost a couple of miles of a stout climb, but we made it out before it got dark.

Even though it's only September 2, there is already a slight tinge of fall in the air. Coming into the aspens above Jones ranch. The quakies are already losing some of their leaves. Not much color yet, but you can tell it's coming. I love mountain biking in the fall.We were plagued by a few mechanicals. Nate was "just riding along" when he completely tore his derailleur off. On an uphill. Crossing a road. What the what? Good thing we had professional bike mechanic with us. Also a good thing that Nate was carrying a spare derailleur hanger in his pack. I know, huh? Strange that he's that prepared for a mechanical, but hasn't lubed his chain since June.Just after we got him rolling, and started the downhill in earnest, I took an ill-advised line through a ditch, and tore a gaping hole in the sidewall of my tire. I had a tube, but the hole in the tire was so big I had to boot it with a $10 bill. Some people might have used a $1 dollar bill, but I've always been willing to pay more for quality. That's just me.

I hadn't been to Payson Canyon since the 4th of July. There was a slight difference in the area, that you might be able to pick out from these two pictures taken of the same place. Study them closely.

Here is the picture from two months ago.............

And here is the picture from last night........... Did you catch that? It's pretty obvious isn't it? Yes, Parrish was in the photo in July. The difference being that he said he was going on both rides, but he actually showed up way back then.

I guess the scenery is a little different too. Last time, the flowers and grass were shoulder high in some places, by now, they've all dried up, and been tromped down by the cattle. To everything, there is a season I suppose. Turn, turn, turn.

Mountain Bikers Are Better Than Roadies

2009-08-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have discovered the true difference between roadies and mountain bikers. I have known it for awhile and most people I ride with have heard this, but here it is.

Mountain Bikers are much more social.

I have ridden the road with big groups of guys, and usually, when you get back to your car, or where you started, they can't get the Felt loaded back into the Audi fast enough. I presume so they can go home and fill out their training log. "Dear Diary, Dropped everybody on Suncrest today,.....it was a great Saturday."

Mountain Bikers, on the other hand, tend stand around more. Shoot the breeze. Discuss the ride. Talk trash.

Today for example. Myself and three others who had met at the shop actually pulled into the Glenwild on time. Only to find that Larry(Oilcan if your nasty) Had run back to his house because he forgot his geared bike,.......I mean shoes. No problem as people were trickling in anyhow. Somehow today's ride turned into reunion for the Thursday morning rides from UMB. It felt like some kind of dork convention as we all tried to figure out who was who by screen names on the forum.

We did however figure Oilcan(cause I'm nasty) could catch up, and started up toward Flying Dog counterclockwise. It's a good climb, ten miles of steady grade. But not horrible. Eventually however, we realized we had lost Adam. We waited. Then we waited. Then Steve went back. Then Steve came back, with Oilcan. Oilcan hadn't passed anybody since the parking lot. ????? I called Adam, but his phone was in my truck at the bottom. We figured the Skinwalkers had gotten him or something. And so we pressed on. He had had a flat in the parking lot and I figured he may be having more trouble. Lost rider #1.

After we decided to roll on, we got into a pretty good groove.

It continued on like this, until we realized, we had lost Justin. I was worried, but honestly, figured if nothing else he could turn around and go back. Lost Rider #2. I am ashamed to say, we never saw him again. Perhaps the Jackalopes got him. Call me if you survived man. I am sorry.

Putting our painful losses behind us, we finally topped out of Flying Dog. Another extended BS session and soon we were sailing down the west/north slope of Flying Dog. Wow. Super smooth, super fast, minimal, though present oncoming traffic. It was cool to be in the middle of the pack and just trust the wheel of the guys in front who know the trail really well. In and out of the Aspens. It was, as one foul-mouthed Texan put it, "Re-donk-u-lous". It was definitely a heavy flow day,.......in a good way. Once back down to Glenwild, we took one of Bob's XC, oops, I mean DH options. Imagine the Ruin trail up at Lambert but with sharp turns immediately after all the jumps. Meh.

Luckily we did reconnect with Adam coming the other way, and rode the last part with him. He missed a turn, and figured he would find us on Glenwild. My fault, that's what the email I sent out said. I think final count was eleven(then ten) so a good turnout for a Saturday.

Afterwards, and to prove my original point........we all headed over to Maxwells for some damn good pizza, and a little more BS'ing. I had a great Saturday,....did you?

Trike-urious

2009-08-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this video,......watch it first.

Okay, now that your interested. You can be jealous of me.
I got an email from Ryan Thompson the other day telling me they were doing one of their Big Wheel Shuttles on Squaw Peak. He offered to let me borrow his rig for a couple of runs. I have heard about these for quite awhile and I had commented on Ryan's Blog that I was really interested in them.
The Big Wheel/Trike/Mario-Kart is actually a Trek Mod. A production big-wheel that's souped up with a pneumatic front wheel, and sealed cartridge bearings in the back. That's where you start. Then most of these guys add high rise BMX handlebars, and since Trek no longer makes the spoked wheel with the freewheel hub, you either have to scavenge a 16" front hub and mount foot pegs, or do a really complicated conversion that involves some machining and patience. Neither of which are on my list of skills/qualities. Since the six inch cranks become completely worthless once you break five miles per hour, I'm thinking pegs are the way to go.
But on to the ride.
I was told to bring a light, it didn't occur to me that this was actually going to end up being a night ride until I was driving there and it was getting dark. This isn't just for fun, it's actually strategic because it makes it easier to see cars coming when their headlights come around the corner up ahead. After dark, the only people driving up Squaw Peak Road are Zoobie's going up there to give each other something to tell the Bishop about. So they're minds aren't exactly on the road.
As Ryan was running a little late, I met up with Randy from Mad Dog Cycles. He had a 15 passenger van pulling a trailer to run people up the road. Since somebody had to drive the shuttle he offered to let me ride his while we waited for Ryan. So off we went.
From the top, the only advice was to lean into the corners. Once I picked up my feet, I was instantly doing like 30 miles an hour. This is not an exaggeration. You accelerate so fast it's scary. The first thousand feet or so heading into a ninety degree turn, were frankly terrifying. And I immediately spun out into the bushes on the first turn. After that I fell back trying to get a feel for it. The best way to corner is to pull a Tokyo Drift, sliding your hind-parts out while leaning hard to the inside. When they brake traction you have to immediately turn into the skid to avoid spinning out. Just like Doc Hudson in Cars. The first run was a little slow, but I made it. The regulars were looking at me like I was an idiot for wearing shorts and a t-shirt. In hindsight, they were right. I know I broke 45 mph with nothing between me and the asphalt but some Old Navy Khaki and a DKM tour t-shirt. At least I was wearing a helmet.
The second run was better. I began to get a feel for the turns, but still nowhere near keeping up with Ryan and the boys.
On my third and final run, I got cocky and actually spun out several times. Oh well. Somebody has to suck to make the other people look good.
The best part of all is the looks you get from oncoming traffic. A mix of surprise, interest, and anger.(Apparantly there was a bit of a run-in with a mini-van refusing to let them pass at the front of the pack).
Now, when Ryan sent that email, I thought I was getting special, preferential treatment, for being pretty much world famous with this blog. After all, I get like 0-10 hits a week. But it turns out, Ryan is trying to raise some money for the LiveStrong Foundation by letting people take a spin on his Big Wheel for a donation on his LiveStrong page. Make an appropriate donation and you too can tempt death on two plastic wheels, three inches off the ground.
I highly recommend it.

Yabba-Dabba-Doo

2009-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts about this group is the ability to call an audible when necessary. Thanks to those who supported my lifestyle decision to ride on Tuesday this week. Even more thanks to those who braved the lousy traffic to head out to Eagle Mountain to ride. Especially Spencer's dear mother who carts him all over to make it to these rides. Thanks Mom!

We started at the Bike Park, but instead of the long climb up to the back of Hidden Valley, we took a vote, and decided to shortcut over the ridge and ride down Flintstone. If you haven't ridden it, it's a technical, downhill trail with several wooden features. A couple of ladder bridges, with little drops at the end. A skinny that always will terrify me, and at the end some rocky gap jumps. Luckily,.....er, umm, unfortunately, my camera has not been replaced yet so I didn't get any shots of me sending it off any of the sweet jumps.

Okay, truth be told my mangina was all inflamed since this was the first time I've been back to Eagle Mountain since,.....the incident.

I couldn't even talk myself into the little gap jumps at the bottom. It didn't help matters, that one of the locals and his kids rolled over and nailed both gaps right after I rode around them. Tyler Jolley managed to save our pride as a group by nailing them. And he brought two new guys Clay and Mark. Nick also brought an investigator/prospective convert. But I can't for the life of me come up with his name. Red hair though and quiet.

Once we made it back to the park, we were going to go up to the top and ride the Juniper trail down. On our way over, Spencer spotted something on the trail.......

Say hello, to my little friend.

I will hug him, and kiss him, and name him George. Much like my wife, he kind of lashes out and tries to attack me when I try to pet him. But maybe with time, he will grow to love me. My kids headed out with flashlights to find grasshoppers to feed him and we're hoping the screen on the top of an old aquarium is secure. But just to be safe, he's sleeping out in the shop behind the house until we figure out a proper home for him.

Cool huh?

Also, thank you to My son Owen for letting me borrow his camera when I got home to photograph the spider.

Psycho-Cross

2009-08-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

I had a hankering to ride the cross bike I bought this week, so I loaded it up for the Wednesday group ride up Hog's Hollow.
No, I have never ridden a cross bike on anything other than a cross race. Thank you for asking. Also, I have been riding a five inch travel bike all summer, with a Camelbak, and 2.4" tires. And baggy shorts, and hairy legs. Okay, I still have hairy legs, but I did get all decked out in spandex for the occasion. Mostly out of fear that I would have to dismount suddenly, and I didn't want to catch my baggies on the seat and die.
From the end of Hog Hollow Road, we set out. Nate, Sally, Retro Bill, and Riley. Oh, did I mention that I talked Riley into riding his cross bike too? More on that later.
The first few hundred yards were a little disconcerting. Much rougher than a five-inch full-suspension bike in case your wondering. But I settled in and grabbed the low gears to climb Hog's. No granny gear on this bike, but I do have a compact crankset(36T). How'd it climb.
Here is a photo of me at the top of Hog's..............It was frickin' awesome. The taller gears forced me to go faster to keep up my momentum, and the rigid frame was efficient as hell so it all went to the wheels. It just felt.....fast. This is the best I have felt for weeks on a bike. Maybe it's just because I was on a new bike, or maybe it's because that bike is seven pounds lighter than the one I've been riding, or maybe it's because I was in spandex(Crossdressing?), or maybe it's because I finally got to the top of a hill in the front of the pack for once. Either way, it's a blast to climb dirt on. Interestingly, the skinny little tires grab like crazy on off camber stuff. Much better than any fatties I've ever ridden. I found myself looking for sketchy ruts to try it on.
In fact, it climbed so well, I just kept going up to the top of Jacob's Ladder. Looking back, that wasn't a very wise choice. Because by going up Jacob's I would most likely have to come down Jacob's.
Riley's climb was not so glorious. You see, he caught a really bad case of IBoughtASingleSpeedCrossBikeItis from Ryan, which in and of itself isn't so bad. But, he is so burly, that when he puts a lot of torque on that single gear, the rear of his bike flexes, and the chain comes off. Not a convenient thing to have happen. He is currently re-thinking his life choices. So he turned around and went back the way we came. He does win coolest bar-tape award though. Twenty year old green and purple Vetta tape. It's the dope show.
And Sally had taken a different route so she wouldn't have to see me in Spandex anymore.
I figured, "how bad could it be?". It was pretty bad. 35mm tires at 90 or so psi aren't meant to take rocky ledge drops. Oh, but at least there are cantilever brakes being operated by road bike levers. Upper Jacob's Ladder was pretty damn scary. But, I made it, without putting a foot down. Okay, I made it with only one over-the-bars tumble. But it was into soft sand, so not a biggy.
Lower Jacob's was better, though the tight switchbacks were a little tough with those big ol' 700c wheels(read 29er). And I did discover another thing about the larger diameter wheels. At least with narrow drop bars, if you hit anything sideways, you are on the losing end of the leverage battle. Throwing you either off your bike, or down an unplanned line. So the rest of the downhill was an exercise in line-picking.
Ghost Falls was nice, again with the stupid switchbacks though. And with the weak brakes, I was a little timid about how fast I dared go. But I made it to Not Brock's and climbed up. I even made up the time I lost on the downhill to Bill and Nate.
Eventually, I picked my way back down Hog's. Which was also interesting, but with the road being so wide, it was a little easier to pick a cleaner line. I didn't win any downhill races, but I made it.
All in all, it was a hoot. I don't think I'll be taking it down Tibble or Mud Springs anytime soon, but you just might see it on some of the smoother rides.

Defeated By Single Speeds

2009-08-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

There are few things in this world quite as humbling as being passed on a climb. So much more so when the ones passing you are on fully rigid singlespeeds.
I've never fully understood the singlespeed impulse. I have set out to build a singlespeed before. But as with most of my "I'm gonna build one up" projects, the frame ends up hanging in the rafters without any parts on it. Then as I'm chugging up a particularly painful climb, I often think "Why, in the name of Zeus's butthole, would anybody want to do this without the benefit of multiple gears." I get simplicity. I get lightweight. But honestly, who among us has never been trudging up a steep climb and kept looking down to see if there wasn't one more gear you could grab.
Last night we rode South Fork counterclockwise in the dark. It was a "Stars of UMB" event, with Oilcan, Cobes, TacoTim, and newcomer Noobyu along with Retro Bill and I. After an already long day, I was slightly less than enthusiastic when I pulled up to the trailhead. Without any thermometer, I would gauge the summit at a frosty 45 degrees. It was colder than a stepmother's heart. I kept a t-shirt on over my jersey and pulled on some arm and legwarmers. And we dropped down the two miles Cascade Springs road. I was running my crappiest light on my helmet which was a mistake in hindsight.
Cobes had some kind of oxyacetylene/plasma job on his head and hadn't quite perfected the nuances of looking just below the face of the person your talking to. Which resulted in a searing headache for me. I officially bestow the Light and Motion Arc as the brightest light that has ever shown up for one of our night rides.
Then came the climb up South Fork. I'm cruising along, minding my own business. When the bobbing solar spot behind me gets so close I can hear his lycra. Vwip,vwip,vwip.
Now anytime you hear me say, "Just let me know if you need to get by." There are two possible, acceptable reactions. Say, "Now" and pull around. Or sit up and fall back. My delicate ego can't handle somebody right on my rear wheel, and like dog forced to race, I feel compelled to try to go faster. This is how Riley usually makes me puke. Eventually, Cobes did pull past, followed shortly thereafter by Oilcan. Both on singlespeeds. Then Retro Bill. Then I uhhhh stopped to check my bike, and soon I was at the back of the pack. With minor variations, this was the way we rode up to the four-way.
At this point Retro Bill was looking for any takers to drop down Tibble and then climb back up Mud Springs back to the Ridge. Like riding a single speed, I'm not sure why anybody would voluntarily want to ride up Mud Springs. But Nate, aka Noobyu, jumped like an excited puppy and they both disappeared into the night. Leaving four of us to pick our way back across the ridge and eventually back to the truck.
It did my heart good to hear Cobes complain about the disproportionate amount of climbing to descending. Even though he did it after kicking my trash all the way up the mountain. On a singlespeed. Noticeably absent was any complaining from Tim who had expressed concern about being able to keep up prior to the ride. He just quietly ground away like a good soldier.
At the trailhead, we shot the shit for a good half hour or so. And with no sign of Retro Bill or Nate. I felt like I should be concerned. Normally, I try to make sure everybody makes it back. But since they took an alternate route, of their own volition, and I was freezing. I left them to the bears.
Bill or Nate, if your still alive let me know.
No pictures of this ride. After all the crashes my camera has survived, it was finally destroyed after being dropped on the concrete while taking pictures of a frame I was posting for sale online.

South Fork,IMBA, And Old Pics

2009-08-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

I was pouting about how few people showed up for last nights ride. Then I remembered that last year, the Wednesday rides were the ones that nobody showed up for. I would have been stoked to get three people. Apparently I was still pouting because I didn't take any pictures. Actually that was because I didn't bring the camera, but still.
Sally, Nathan, and Wes showed up. It was an uneventful trip around South Fork, but a nice cool evening, with a couple of rain drops thrown in for good measure. I did come to the conclusion that come 'cross season, Wes and I are going to be battling it out for 30th place in the C flight.

As a point of interest, I just signed the group up as an "IMBA affiliated" organization. I had often wondered what qualified other clubs as affiliated. Surely it must mean that they are out digging trails and organizing pep-rallies four times a week. Nope. It ends up that it's a lot like an individual who goes to the IMBA website and punches in their credit card. And then gets a packet of information in the mail. Actually, it's exactly like that, only it costs a little bit more. Thank Brian Fruit(the founder of the feast) next time you see him. There are a few modest perks to being in an affiliated club, which I will let you know about once I sort through the info. And the money does go to a cause that we can all get behind.

Finally, Nathan let me know how disappointed he was that I didn't post about last weeks ride. I think he just wanted to see pictures of himself. Ironically, none of the pictures I took are of him. Sorry buddy.

Here's Chef Scott from Park City(Go to Easy Street Restaurant in the SkyLodge on Historic Main, you'll be glad you did.),Tyler, and Kyle at the top of the Love Climb.Speaking of the "Love Climb". Here's Brady enjoying Kyle's nipple. Notice how Kyle can't look him in the eye. Maybe if we all pitch in a dime, we can buy Brady a water bottle and a cage so he doesn't have to beg water. Ever wonder where the trail that drops off to your left immediately after you cross the dam from the bottom of Tibble? It goes here.

No, it's not ridable.
Remember, we're riding South Fork counterclockwise Saturday night at 9pm. Meet at the summit trailhead and don't forget to charge your lights.

No Bikes Allowed

2009-08-09T19:47:00.001-07:00

In order to find a reason to talk about what I did this weekend on this blog, I had to find a link to mountain biking.

Here it is.Join your local advocacy group today.

That being said, my sons Owen(9) and Gavin(6),my dog Cockleburr(age unknown), and I set out on our annual backpacking trip. Heretofore and affectionately referred to as "Man Camp". We started going a couple of years ago, and this was by far the most successful trip.It's a short hike. Only a mile from the Crystal Lake Trailhead. And as a consequence it can be quite crowded. I have considered going further in to avoid the crowds but even though this is Gavin's third year, this was the result of the hike in.They both perked up a little later. The dog isn't too crazy about having to pack in his own weight either. Plus he hasn't quite fully recuperated from his near-death experience a few weeks ago.

We found a little more secluded site this year. It involved a steep scramble up from the lake shore, and you could still hear the loudmouthed scouts down on the lake shore all night Friday, but Saturday night things quieted down considerably.

I am by no means an avid backpacker. And I hate dehydrated food. So we tempt the laws of food storage and pack in things that might make it all weekend without refrigeration.

These are our new favorite "Campfire Chicken Quesadillas".Saturday, we hiked over to what I had always thought was Clyde Lake. Turns out it's Cliff Lake. When we figured this out, and tried to find Clyde Lake, we ended up at the bottom of the Crystal Lake trail. Which was......where we had parked the truck.

So, we scooted back up the Notch Mountain Trail to Wall Lake for lunch. Then I suggested another adventure. I packed up what was going to be dinner that night, and all the fishing stuff(fishing sucks at Wall Lake due to high traffic and a giant rock that people are constantly jumping off of into the water). We would go looking for Clyde Lake as the crow flies instead of following any trail. We had some good information, and would follow the many trickling drainages that feed into Wall from Clyde. This turned out to be much more direct, but a rough, steep hike. At this point, it became obvious that we had better catch some fish or I was in trouble. Luckily, the sun shines on a dogs butt every once in awhile, and while I was cooking Mac and Cheese on the shores of Clyde Lake, they started biting.Since I am obviously no fisherman, this was a pure dumb luck coincidence. I haven't caught a fish in years unless you count the times my father-in-law has tied all the knots, told me where to drop the hook, and wiped my nose for me at Flaming Gorge. In all we caught six fish. Three of them came off and flopped back into the water as the kids and I scrambled around like a bunch idiots. Those three we kept made it to the campfire, and our bellies. I hadn't had fresh-caught trout since I was a kid. It was awesome.

The fact that we caught fish, no one puked in their sleeping bag(Man Camp 08) and it didn't rain constantly(Man Camp 07-08). It was a fantastic trip. Just like most of the mountains around here. The long wet spring left the hills lush and covered in wildflowers.

This little purple thing was everywhere once you got above the 10K ft mark.

After the trip to Clyde, the clouds rolled in. Luckily they didn't have much rain but it did hail for about ten minutes. Owen isn't triplets, but he wouldn't hold still for the auto-stitch series of photos.

All in all, a good excuse to not have a group ride this weekend. By the way, we won't be having one the first weekend in August next year either.

Do Some Good

2009-08-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

I sat down to write a report about last nights ride, and noticed a theme among the other blogs in my sidebar.
After a long and hard fought battle with cancer, Susan Nelson wife of Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist, passed away last night.
I've only ever met Elden in person briefly. Though we traded barbs in the comment section of his blog a few times. But I have been following with great interest he and his family's story and the trials of the terrible disease that has taken his beautiful wife.
If you haven't read his blog, it might do you some good to scroll through past posts about his wife's cancer. The one that hit me the hardest when he posted it is here. Though it was not as starkly painful as the brief note that he left last night.
As a cyclist in the Utah area, or anywhere else you might be, you will no doubt hear suggestions to donate to the Lance Armstrong Foundation in honor of Susan. Let me echo that thought. It has become a passion of Fatty's and is a fitting tribute to Susan.
It might also do your karma some good to head over to Fatty's Blog and leave a note with the thousands of others who have done so.
And when you get up from the computer, find the person/people you love the most, and take the opportunity to give them a big hug, and tell them that you love them.
Fight Like Susan.

This Used To Be Easier

2009-08-01T14:43:00.001-07:00

Back in 1995 I purchased a 20"(read: too large for me) Giant ATX 870. Fully rigid, aluminum frame. 21 speed STX drivetrain and brakes. Clips and straps on the pedals. I picked a lycra seat cover that came free with my purchase at Gorilla Bikes in Orem. Then I bolted on some HUGE ski-bend wrist-breaker bar ends. I was set. As I looked for places to ride my new, and first real mountain bike, I found a book titled Mountain Biking Utah's Wasatch and Uinta Mountains by Gregg Bromka. He described many routes through AF Canyon and I zeroed in on anything that was an out-and-back or a loop. Because I had even less riding buddies than I had trail knowledge. And loops meant I didn't have to have another vehicle to shuttle.

One such trail was the Forest Lake loop, way up above Tibble Fork Reservoir starting from Dutchman's Flat. You bounce up the road to Mineral Basin which is an adventure in and of itself. The road is very rough and has about a one mile section which is bench cut on a steep slope, and only one vehicle wide. Meaning that passing on it usually requires someone to back up until they can get over. At the time I drove a '85 Bronco and I'd throw my big purple (Clinton was president it was a crazy time)monster size bike in the back so I didn't have to worry about it bouncing off the roof rack on the way up. And I would drive up this road fast enough that I usually skipped the back end around the corners. I could get up there in 30 minutes from the mouth of the canyon. I used to ride the nine-mile loop in about 45 minutes.

You climb the road from Dutchman's up to Pole Line Pass where you intersect Ridge Trail. From there you ride over in the direction of Mill Canyon, but before you get there, you fork right and drop down to Forest Lake via a steep, technical trail that spits you out right on the shore of Forest Lake which is really more of a salamander pond than a lake. Then skirt around the north end of the lake and down the gnarly jeep road back to Dutchman's. The road is not horribly steep, but it is rough and rocky. You might not make it down without crashing. Think Amasa Back with more loose rocks. Cross the river at the bottom and your back at the beginning.

As my bikes got more expensive, and my knowledge of other trails grew, that drive became more of a hassle than it was worth . And consequently I hadn't been up there in many years.

So today I ventured forth again to see how it compared with my memories. Without a computer I would estimate the climb on the road to be about 4 miles. Hairpin County and Switchback city. You just settle in and climb. You are constantly buffeted by dust and exhaust by ATV's blasting up and down the road. In fact last time I rode it, I was struck from behind and knocked off my bike by a four-wheeler.

But somehow, with a much fancier bike and 14 more years of experience the climb got harder. Maybe it has something to do with the giant gut that I'm packing now. We took several rests on the climb and I could have used a couple more.

Here Chad discovers why this section of Ridge Trail is called Sandy Baker Pass. Because it's sandy. Once you top out of Sandy Baker, you level off and if you look back you can see the top of the tram at Snowbird. You can't see it here, but you can also see the tunnel they just cut through the mountain.You rise and fall several times, and after coming out of the trees, you can see Forest Lake down below. The problem with Jeep roads,.....are all the damn Jeeps(or Ford Explorers). Once again Sally earns points in this season's "Most Improved" category. She blasted into the water and cleaned the crossing first try. Then I put my camera away and promptly put a foot down right in the middle. That's her, relatively dry on the other side.The singletrack was actually in great shape. And the roads were just as I remembered them only longer and steeper. It's a fun ride to do once a year or so.

Sorry to Chad who caught a case of the angry wife from me, by being home later than planned on his anniversary. Good Luck Buddy.

Ride Leader/Follower

2009-07-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of people who seem to think, erroneously, that as ride leader, I am some form of expert. I get a lot of mechanical questions that I stumble through. I get a ton of trail questions which usually reveal that I have the as little or less knowlege than the person asking the question. And most people would assume that as a ride leader I should be one of the fittest people in the pack. Those who have been on one ride with us know that this is not the case.
Last night, we rode up Hog's Hollow and over to Corner Canyon. At the saddle/overlook we decided to head up Jacob's Ladder. Delightfully, I was the only one who had ever ridden it. I like taking people on a new trail and having them unanimously agree that it's a good one.
This photo proves my point about the fitness. The reason I am filming the majority of the riders reaching the top of Jacob's Ladder,...is because I was one of the last one's to reach it.

Sally felt bad for me and hung back.

This was after she had hung with Jake and Riley(leaders of the pack) on the majority of the climb.

Proving that my trail knowlege is lacking, we took at least one major, and several minor wrong turns on the way to the top of Jacob's.

But Jacob's Ladder is it's own reward. Fast,swoopy, tech sections, tight corners. Killer trail.

Continuing on to Ghost falls, we kept up the tradition of somebody overcooking the corners and heading into the rhubarb. This time it was Nathan.

At the bottom we took the North Fork and did a little out and back down BST.

Here is the result of Riley's launch off one of the sandy rollers on the double track leading to BST.

Before we turned around at the closed sign on BST, Sally headed back as she was low on water. Once the rest of us headed back, I was proven ignorant and slow again by falling off the back of the pack and when we returned to Ghost Falls, I couldn't tell which way they had gone. Noticing a cloud of dust heading down towards the silica pit, I headed that way wondering if they knew something I didn't. Once I reached the bottom, I realized I was alone. The smart thing would have been to just head up Clark's and meet up with everybody else at the top. Instead I tried to pick my way up to the "Not" Brock's Point trail.

Ever climbed the south fork of Ghost Fall's? It's a bitch. And not knowing if I was even going the right way, I had my bottom lip out in a full on pout. Just as I was about to cry, I heard somebody yell my name. Luckily I was just about 50 yards from the intersection with "Not" Brock's Point. And that's where they had waited. Jake asked if I needed a rest before we started and my pride said no. The result was a huffing,puffing painful climb up to the road.

But, I made it. Those whose computers had not been recently torn off by excessive trail overgrowth said that we covered about fifteen miles which was pretty good for a Wednesday evening ride.

At least these rides keep me humble.

R.A.T. Ride(a.k.a. The Rat Bastard)

2009-07-26T06:00:00.001-07:00

R.A.T= Ride Around Timpanogos.

Joined Kerry Smith and the U.R.M.B.(Utah Rocky Mountain Bikers) for their annual-ish attack on the Timpanogos Perimeter trail. Why would you do this?

Here's why. Okay, I stole the Auto-Stitch idea from Oilcan, I admit it.

Initially, I understood the info I got from Kerry to mean we were meeting at Timp Park at 6 am. No big deal I get up at 5 am most mornings. When I got home from Pioneer Day celebrations the night before, I was checking emails before I went to bed, and realized he wanted to be riding by 6 am, and wanted to meet at 5 am. It was midnight at this point. Luckily, I was unable to sleep for the next four hours which made things interesting. For the record, my rides aren't the only ones with "flexible" start times, Kerry arrived just before 5:30 am. Not to be bothered by such things as accuracy, the ride length was also a little "flexible" and this 30 mile ride worked out to just about 22.5 or so. Not that I was begging for more by the end.

I was a little worried when Nathan showed up, and he a Kerry busted out the cone wrenches and started working on Nathan's hubs. They ended up giving up on the front hub and Kerry loaned him a front wheel. This ended up being the only mechanical we had the whole day, and it was before we even turned a crank.

We piled into my truck and hauled up to the summit parking lot on the Alpine Loop. From here we rode Ridge Trail to Upper Pine Hollow. Ho-Hum, nothing new there. But the rain the night before had made the trail tacky and the flora soaking wet. We ran into TallSteve coming up Pine Hollow and convinced him to join us.

Soon we were grinding up Timpanooeke Road. So far I had ridden trails I knew and a road. Not the most epic thing I had done in awhile.I was hoping things would improve.

And improve they did, we opted out of the run up to Julie Andrews meadow and stayed on the road until Rock Canyon. This skirts the road just below the rock slide.

A nice trail and probably fun to ride if it's clear. Ends up that's a big IF. There are several places with gi-gumbous deadfalls blocking the trail. Kerry took some photo's to forward the forest service and I 'm hoping they get right on that. After making it back up to the road we began the climb over to the west slope. It's a steep technical climb. I think I walked at least a quarter of it. Not miserable, just tough. When I came over the top though I was floored. Wait, let me give you the Auto-Stitch version.

This is the back side of Mount Mahogany. You can drive here, there's a road through the bottom, but I'm betting most people don't. It was stunning.

From here you begin the first big descent. The freakishly wet spring has left the trail wildly overgrown. You can only just vaguely pick the trail out of the vegetation. And with the rain, you get soaked through before too long. By the end of this descent, I couldn't have gotten any wetter if I had jumped in a pool. But the wildflowers were like something out of Wizard of Oz. Not just the scale but the colors. It's not so bad getting your legs whipped into a blazing rash, when it's by lupines, and coneflowers. You'd have thought we were a bunch of florists riding through this place. Stopping to take pictures just so people would believe us. Nathan took a good digger because of the obscured trail, but it was all good because he crashed while laughing at Kerry's trip over the bars. Eventually we came around to the multiple intersections of the trails that run down onto the benches.

Here's the top of the Grove Creek Trail. It's tough to take it all in while you ride. The Lake and Utah Valley stretch out on your right, but if you focus on that, you miss what's behind you. Now from here things got interesting. The flowers started to thin out, and the trail got harder and harder to follow. And by harder to follow I mean, "Where the hell is the trail?"But, when you've been doing the "Pardon me,....Excuse Me." On Ridge trail for a month, it's wild to ride something so close, that obviously hasn't had any traffic yet this year.

Some bushwacking, some hike-a-bike, and you enter Floating Grass Meadow.

After the meadow, you can see the saddle between Mount Baldy and Timp. It looked like a long way. And it was.

You wind in and out of the individual little canyons. I think Nathan is crossing Battle Creek here.Then it points up. Holy hell, it points up. So much so, that I only took one more picture the rest of the day.This was about halfway up the switchbacks to the Baldy saddle. Pushing my bike, water squishing out of the top of my shoes with each step. Watching TallSteve scamper up the hill despite supposedly being in "recovery" from the Swine Flu. The brutality of this climb has got to be against the Geneva Convention. I kept looking up and realizing I wasn't getting any closer to the saddle. Eventually we did make it. And took a lunch break.

Thinking the hard part was over, we pointed our bikes down and headed for Provo Canyon. The trail was still covered with grass but now it was also steep and technical leading to sudden, violent trips over the bars for most of those involved.

Things started to open up a little at the top of Dry Canyon. And we picked up speed, all the way over to the Altar at the top of the Timp Foothill Trail network. The sun finally came out, and the climate went from a humid, steamy, rain forest. To an arid, oven-like, desert. Luckily, we were at the last leg of the journey. We picked our way down Betty, to the Race Course and finally back to the cars.

All in all, this was the toughest ride I've done this year.

I would have to say it's like a colonoscopy. There are a lot of unpleasant parts, but you really should do it once in awhile. And you usually end up with some pretty good stories.

Lazarus Trail

2009-07-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

There has been much said lately about the Tibble Fork Trail being "dead". Damage from motos has convinced some people that it will never be the same.
They're wrong.
We started at Timpanooeke and headed up to Ridge Trail. We had eight riders who started with us.
Here's Chad, Paul Zimm-the-man, Whitney(yes he's a dude) and Spencer.Tyler and his girlfriend Laurie were there again. Not a good shot but whaddyawantUp the trail a ways, Brady and Kyle had started early. Brady is a little self-conscious about his climbing skills and his fashion choices. Since SomeDude made fun of his shorts the other night, he made another bold mountain bike fashion statement. Riding in 90 degree heat in a black t-shirt and jeans. Nobody ever accused Brady of not being willing to suffer for his fashion.
Not long after we arrived at the four-way, Spencer came rolling up a little off the back. It ends up that his crank had stripped out and his right pedal fell off. So he now faced the prospect of the descent to the reservoir without a pedal. Though he is getting used to limping his bike back to the truck, I'm not sure he's been on a ride with us that he hasn't had some sort of major mechanical. Kid's hard on bikes.
Which brings us to the Tibble Fork Trail. We rode up Tibble on my Birthday Death March. And at the time I was too bleary-eyed to pay attention. But this is the first chance I had to check it out as normal people ride it(down). There were/are exactly two ruts on the trail. About 20 feet long, and maybe eight inches deep. I did however find a way to jam my wheel into one and crash. I would even go as far as to say that I have seen the trail in worse shape. So, I would say that although it was dead, it has risen back to life. There's an object lesson in there somewhere.
I don't want to say I was right, but I was right. This trail gets so much traffic, that once it dries out it gets tromped into moon dust which mostly settles back into the ruts and fills them in. Tibble's fine, quit whining.
The evidence of the trail quality is in the smiles of those who ride it once they get to the bottom. Oh look, it's Gard Nelson joining us for a ride. Still no granny ring on that 35 lb bike.
Also note that Brady not the only doughhead that rode in jeans.

Lions, And Tigers, And Bears,...Oh My

2009-07-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Slight logistical error on my part. When I said to meet at the shop for last night's ride, I failed to realize that Main Street was closed for the Classic Car Cruise. Hopefully no one gave up because of that.So although nobody showed at the shop, we met at Timpanooeke Campground and there were seven of us. Me, three shop guys, and three civilians,...Tyler, His girlfriend, and Mark. When we got to the first intersection Ryan and Mark bailed because Ryan had a curphew. They took off at the Salamander Flat turnoff and then there were five. I soon found out that Kyle and Brady, are like a couple of Girl Scouts in the woods. They are petrified of lions, and tigers, and bears. As we made our way up to the Ridge Trail, this became apparent and so once I had a chance to get up ahead of them. I turned off all my lights and hid in the bushes. I did my best Grizzly Bear impression and they both screamed like little girls. I think Brady peed a little.
When we finally made it to Ridge Trail. Two things happened. Tyler and his girlfriend turned around(I think they said something about going to watch some submarine races), and we met up with Curtis and his friend Whatshisname(I think it's indian or something). After chatting a bit, Curtis and Whatshisname joined us for the rest of the ride. Curtis was battling some intestinal distress and kept threatening to puke, but never sealed the deal. Once over the top, I failed to warn them that South Fork has several sharp switchbacks. This oversight manifest itself when Whatshisname overshot one and piled up in the corner. I left Brady and Kyle, and went to offer assistance. No harm, no foul, and just as we were getting ready to saddle up and head back down to Kyle and Brady, we heard girl screams and there were bouncing lights charging up the trail to us. Apparently, the two of them had heard something in the bushes. And they swear they saw eyes. From here out I was elected lead rider. Secretly in the back of my mind I was flashing back to another night ride in this area.
We bottomed out at Cascade Road and ground out the climb back to the summit. It was surprisingly hot for a night ride and I was sweating like a pig by this time.
We began the last descent back to Timpanooeke and hadn't gone 300 yards when I heard a ruckus and looked back at a pile of lights and dust. Brady had apparently out run his lights and went down. Everybody was concerned for his well being.
I was just happy that the crash-mojo had finally moved on to somebody else.

The Children Are The Future

2009-07-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Had a little relapse of my stomach problems today. It made for a long day at work, and I almost bailed on the ride.Glad I didn't.
Luckily it was a pretty mellow crowd that showed up. Paul Zimm-the-man, Spencer and Bill showed up. Bill brought his step-grandson from Oklahoma, his Brother-in-law(?), and his dog. It was a pretty casual ride up Hog's Hollow and down Ghost Falls. Spencer managed to blow another switchback for an unplanned dismount. Then up the trail formerly known as Brock's Point. And on the way back down Hog's, Spencer managed to find some hidden giant mud-puddle/cow-terd swamp and sink his bike into it.
I still don't even know where it was, but he ambled up after everyone else was back at the truck reeking of poop and covered in mud. Possibly the driest ride we've been on this year and junior finds a mud bog. 15 year olds,.....whadduya do?
By comparison Bill's grandson, made the climbs, managed to maintain proper upright riding parameters, and almost caught a lizard. So,....I'm thinking he wins.

Trailgasm*

2009-07-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

*Trailgasm is a copyrighted trademark of John J Fofonov Inc.
The First Annual Josh's Birthday Death March was a howling success.
First, Kenny and Meg showed up late, but brought me cake. Real cake too, they didn't even make it with kale or anything. After pounding some sugar and carbs. Including the licorice and Thin Mints on top of the cake. (They knew I loved Ladybugs) We began the march. If you have evere ridden up from the dam you know that it is one of the least pleasant ride there is. On top of this, you have precisely the distance from your truck, across the dam to get warmed up. This is not adequate.
So for the first half mile or so, you can't get your breath and your all sketchy. Then for the next couple miles, you can't get your breath and your all sketchy because of the steep trail, and lack of technical climbing skills.
There were a few bright spots. Fofonov cleared a climb that I had previously declared unrideable. We trudged up to the four-way and regrouped. Now, on Utahmountainbiking.com Grizzly Adam recently lamented the passing of the Tibble Fork Trail. Here is what we found. The trail is 90% just fine. The trail had one muddy section which is rutted out. But I believe the the moon dust fairies are going to repair it before the summers out. Most of it had already ridden in pretty nicely. Once it dries I think it'll be good.
Fear not, for this restoration will come, and not a hair on it's head will be lost, and everything will be restored to it's perfect frame.
Moving on, from the four way we dropped into South Fork. Most of my rides on South Fork have been marred by mechanicals, sick dogs, and mud. So imagine my surprise when the trail laid out before like a perfect ribbon of flow and speed. It's easily the best shape I have ever seen that trail in. Just wet enough that the dust doesn't get out of control if your not the leader, and no mud. Railing this sucker at 25 mph or better feels like it should be illegal. This is where Fofonov coined the term "Trailgasm".
Once we got to the bottom, we got to check out the new re-route above mexican flat. It's cool to ride and it looks like it will probably solve the mud-bog problem for good. A lot of work went into it, thanks for that TallSteve, PGGary and everyone else.
Once back to the summit, we climbed Ridge Trail, and wouldn't you know it, I kept up the tradition of bringing the rain. Not a bad rain though, and it helped cool things down a little. The clouds were out most of the morning and these intermittent storms were little more than an inconvenience. With the Tibble climb already in our legs I was feeling it more than usual. But we made it. At the Mud Springs turnoff, we did find some crappy trail. The first mile or so of Mud Springs is wrecked. Roots, ruts, rocks everything that makes a climb tough. It eventually cleared up though and we found ourselves ready to begin the descent of Mud Springs.

The top of the Mud Springs climb.As Paul put it, it's like falling down an elevator shaft. Lots of little lips, and roots to jump off. You know, all the things that make a downhill awesome. And fast too, tears running down your cheeks fast.
At the lower four way we took the lower Mill option. And more of the same. When I got in the front, I just kept grabbing gears. I was definitely going too fast. This point was driven home when I survived the second major crash of this season for me. This was easily the most spectacular crash I have ever had. At speed, I hit a root that knocked me off my line, I got out of control, and was heading for a downed tree with a sharp end facing me. I went right to avoid getting impaled and ended up going over the bars hard, and fast. Into a tree in fact. Kenny said that I actually hit the tree, perfectly vertical and completely upside down.

Here is a re-enactment. I think my Camelbak saved me from a spinal injury. I rag-dolled, tumbled, and landed in the bushes.
Despite a little disorientation, I walked away mostly unharmed which is unbelievable. Other than knocking my computer off, my bike was fine too. I figure I'm either being humbled or protected, I'm not sure which.
Down to the reservoir and across the river. It was a surprisingly short 13.3 mile ride but there was a hell of a lot of climbing in there, and some awesome downhills too. A pretty good way to spend the day after my 33rd birthday.
Thanks Jon, Adam, Paul, Kenny, and Meg. It was a blast.

Best Day Ever.

2009-07-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

The following is a true story. The names haven't been changed because I'm trying to drag everyone down with me.
I had originally cancelled the Saturday ride on the fourth because I didn't know how much interest there would be and figured I try to catch a ride sometime during the weekend. When I sent this email out, I got a reply from Kenny "What happened to Payson?". Apparently between crack pipe hits, Parrish thought he had talked to me about riding the Blackhawk loop down to Bennie Creek on the fourth. He hadn't.
Then we discussed it being Kenny and Parrish's thing, with the emphasis on Kenny. He asked if I'd send out an email and let people know that it was going to be a fast, long, ride. Not for the weak of heart, or legs.
Using this information, I deduced that since we were leaving at 6 am I could definitely be back by noon and keep my marriage intact.
"Can I go if I'm back by noon?"
"If your back at noon."
Ten people showed up so we loaded up and headed south. I stopped for gas and Parrish noticed that my rear tire was low. As I was airing it up, I noticed it was pretty weathered, and realized it was probably time for new tires.(That's called foreshadowing).
We parked a car at the mouth of Payson Canyon, and I hauled bikes up to the Loafer Mountain Trailhead. Once everybody got rolling, we headed up the trail and soon came across the first challenge, no...... opportunity of the day. You see many sections of the trail are currently a swamp. Luckily there have been possibly millions of horses on the Trail to leave it with that postholed play-dough effect.
Although there are advantages to one of the rainiest Junes ever.I have never seen so many wildflowers in my life. And where there aren't flowers, there was foliage. A lot of foliage.
Here are Meg and Sally pushing their bikes through the shoulder high greenery. Imagine at this point the sound of feet, sucking out of the mud. Sort of a reverse fart.Now, in addition to being the only photographic evidence of Parrish being on a bike since Bush's first term, The above photo with the flowers was also the last time we would see Parrish,Riley, and Evil Kenny(Paul) for many hours. Some say it's because they took a wrong turn. I think it's because one of them took off the front and those three skinny bastards can't let anybody get ahead of them without answering the attack.
So, then there were seven. Myself,Kenny,Meg,Sally,Laron,Tyler, and Gabe grunted our way around the Blackhawk loop. Which until yesterday I had never ridden in it's entirety. I am now of the opinion, that it is a geographic annomally in that it is mostly uphill, no matter what direction you ride it.
Although there were bright spots..........
The midway point in the loop. We made one navigational error and ended up at Jones Ranch just below where we had started. This meant we had to roll pavement to get up to the top of Bennie Creek. At this point Laron and Tyler bailed down the road. They were done climbing for the day.
Less than a mile later we were back at the truck getting ready to descend Bennie Creek. Suddenly, out of woods, Evil Kenny appeared grunting and grumpy. Apparently the three of them had picked their way through an unfamiliar trail and ended up at the Cattle gate at the top of Bennie. They were waiting to see if we would catch up, and Evil Kenny took the opportunity to make a B, double E, double R,U,N(He had a cooler in my truck). He was angry, but after 12 oz of frosty mexican import he was no longer angry, but still evil.

We rejoined Parrish and Riley and blasted down Bennie Creek. There weren't many frowns after a descent like that. Rocky, rooty, fast goodness. We buzzed down the road from there to Camp Maple Dell and took the horse trail back down to the cars at the bottom.

Now, at this point it was 12:30 pm. Yes, I was already late, and still had to go back up to Loafer Mountain to get my truck, load up bikes and drive home. After the shuttle scramble, I headed north, and as soon as I got back into cell phone range, the voicemails started chiming. It was now after 1pm.

I drove as fast as I dared with the Po-Po sitting at every mile marker waiting to ticket holiday travellers. Made it to American Fork, signaled and as I changed lanes to get off the freeway a rumble began. Not a good rumble, like the Sharks and the Jets. A bad rumble, like uh-oh, that's not good. In my rear view mirror I could see chunks of rubber flying up, luckily I was at the exit and rolled to a stop off the ramp. Just before I got stopped, Riley noticed the tire, now free from the rim rolling past us.

This presented another challenge, I don't carry my gigantic spare tire, because it's gigantic. So now I had to call my already fuming wife and say"Do you think you could get that spare tire into the back of your car?" I think she said yes between expletives and she hung up. At which point, I realized that I was also missing a jack. I usually make fun of people like me on the side of the road.

But, if your going to break down on the side of the road, it's always good to have three bikes in the back. Riley offered to ride to the shop, and grab the 4.O.D.(4-runner of Death) He had a Jack, on board air, and tools.

After awhile, my wife pulled up, I unloaded the spare, we discussed our relationship a bit, and she headed home to wait for me.

Now Evil Kenny and Parrish pulled up(either to make fun of me or because I still had Evil Kenny's hitch rack on my truck). Behind them was Riley. And we began the change. Soon after that, Zen Kenny passed by on his way home and pulled over to help/mock. That makes four cars with varying numbers of bikes mounted to them on the shoulder of the off ramp. Then a UHP trooper pulled over. He made a comment about how many mountain bikers it took to change a tire and left when nobody laughed.

Oh, it's not over. Once we got the old tire off, the axle hole on my spare was too small for my rear axle. I have used this spare on the front and never realized this little incompatibility. So now we had to change the front tire for the spare, and move the front tire to the back.

It was now 2:45pm.

I did make it home, got cleaned up and made the drive to meet the in-laws in Park City. It was a quiet drive.

We did finally arrive at our destination.............four hours late. Actually, it was kind of a quiet rest of the night, too.

The Bruise, Day 5

2009-07-02T18:27:00.001-07:00

I am now obsessed with my leg. It(the bruise, shut up Jon) now extends down to my knee.

You have to admit, it's pretty cool. I didn't want to go to the doctor because historically when I go to my family doctor with "owies" he tells me that he's had worse ones and I'll be fine. Then he says, "That'll be 50 bucks." But after a bunch of horror stories from people about their second cousin who had a bruise that killed him, or made him retarded,I finally caved in and went to have the doctor look at it.

He yawned, and said "You'll be fine,......that'll be fifty bucks."

Adventuring

2009-07-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Set out to do the old Hog's Hollow to Corner Canyon shuffle with a detour up the new Brock's Point trail.
And as I pulled up to the shop at 5:30 the skies opened and God rained down his fury on me. The little black cloud that follows me around whenever I load my bike into the truck was in rare form tonight.
Immediately the phone began to ring with people wondering if we were still riding.
I wasn't all that optimistic given that past few weeks, but I figured I go up Hog's Hollow and turn around when I hit mud.
Tyler Jolley, and Oilcan(or as I like to call him....Larry), followed me up there and rains came down. There was actually a garbage can floating down the gutter on Center Street. Chad Yates called and said he'd chance it if we were going to be there.
When we pulled up it was still raining, but as we unloaded the clouds parted. And the strange thing was. The trails were completely dry. Not just rideable, completely dry. We met up with Chad and the four of us cruised up Hog's. Once we got to the Draper overlook we decided to check out Jacob's Ladder which I had never ridden. Chad had ridden it before and showed us the way.
What a cool trail. I don't know why I have ridden past it all these years. We did happen across what I can only assume was the entire Draper/South Mountain Stake hiking up it, but other than that not much traffic. Crossed the road and dropped down Ghost Falls.
At the intersection we head up Brock's Point. Or "Not Brock's Point" as the case may be. According to Dr. Bruce Algyre this trail has been being called by the wrong name for some time now. A rose by any other name I guess.
As an alternative to climbing Clark's, I liked this trail. it's still a little rough but it's a gentler grade and you get a lot of nice little rollers to rest on. It is a lot mellower climb and I liked it.
Tyler on the SX didn't like it so much, but he got his reward when we topped out and he got to bomb back down Hog's Hollow.
Turned out to be a really pleasant ride. Saw some new stuff hung out with some cool guys and didn't injure myself at all.
Thanks to Chad, Tyler, and Oilcan.
Apologies to Tyler Ward and his girlfriend who we apparently left behind at the trail head. I promise it wasn't intentional.

When Hope Overpowers Experience

2009-06-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

If you weren't at the race Saturday, you didn't hear this story, and it's worth telling. With Lehi Roundup in full swing, my wife's family were all in town. It's kind of a big deal with them. Her cousin Kyle, who rides with us on occasion and his brother Brian were at the Friday BBQ/parade watching party and we started to talk about riding.

Brian is a Firefighter in Logan and had brought his bike down in hopes of checking something new out.

Kyle suggested we go check out the Eagle Mountain Bike Park. So it was decided that we would head out there in the morning.

Brian was a little tentative at first. I happen to know he is a motocross guy and actually jumps a lot further than the puny by comparison dirt jumps at the park. We farted around on the ladders and stuff and were actually going to go check out the Flintstone trail.

I should point out here that I am by no means a jumper. I can jump provided the conditions are right and the landing is assured, but I'm not exactly pulling Superman-Seat-Grabs. In fact, I was clipped in and had to take my Camelbak so I wouldn't look like a dork. Or at least less of one. I made a couple of runs at it, but I wasn't quite clearing them. My back wheel kept bouncing of the table top.

So I took a deep breath and tried one, more, time.

I hit the first jump and had the same result, so between it and the next jump, I pedaled for all I was worth. I pedaled so furiously in fact, the I didn't stop soon enough to level off and prepare for the jump.

The result was that when my wheels left the ground I was unbalanced, and on about a 45 degree angle to the line I was trying to hit. I sailed through the air sideways-ish and it occurred to me that this was probably going to hurt.

I soon learned the reason that serious dirt-jumpers, don't do it while clipped in. You see, when you are attached to your bike, it is an extension of you, or you are an extension of it rather. and as such you become the end of a bullwhip of sorts.

Once the tires made contact, I was slapped to the ground with not only the 6-10 ft of gravity that I was falling from, but my forward momentum converted into centrifugal force,(Are you writing this down) magnifying the impact.

Kyle and Bryan described the sound as though a truck had hit a moose. I hit the ground and immediately became a pile of rags. Brian being the EMT that he is came down to assess the situation. I was convinced at that point that I had broken my hip. And my shoulder wasn't doing so hot either. After Brian convinced me that I wasn't actually broken I got up and hobbled over to the picnic table.

To add insult to injury, a bunch of guys showed up and started pulling 360's and huge flairs of the very same jumps.

I now have the familiar feeling of a separated shoulder, (my good one this time) not bad, just enough to make it tough to do anything. My helmet is broken........And yesterday morning, my hip began to bloom. The colors are lovely this time of year. The upper bruise actually wraps around into the hooterfud area, but as this is a family site, I opted for the pictures you see below. The lesson?

If you are a 32 year old man, with a Camelbak and clipless pedals.

Stay off the jumps.

I'm gonna see if Cougar will put that on the sign.

Pizza,Pizza

2009-06-28T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Legacy

Once again Jake dominated in the BPW race series. But this time he brought along his son Nathan. Nathan rocked the 20" Hotrock. I think the other racers were intimidated by his full UMB Race kit. And man, can that kid put away the pizza. He dominated his category.
While I think this format has merit, there are still some bugs to be worked out. For example, it seems to take about a minute to eat a piece of Pizza, which is worth a minute. So basically it was just a break to eat pizza. Jared however was able to pound a few slices sandwich style and make up some precious time.

Nick made a disappointing run. All the bravado at the beginning, and predictions of "10 slices" fell short. And he got skunked on the Snitch as well. Those honors, and the 31 point bonus went to Travis. Who also showed excellent strategy by telling Austin he would pick him up and then not doing it. This meant Austin had to ride his bike from Highland and he just missed the start of the race. Although he did make a valiant effort and finished mid-pack.

I am still compiling results(actually they are out in my truck and I'm writing this in my underwear, so after I get dressed, I'll go get them and post them up.)

Thanks to all who participated.

Short Version

2009-06-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Good Ride.
Ten People.
Three Women.
Two Major Mechanicals.
Four Thousand Horses.
Six Thousand Motorcycles.
Very Little Mud.
Yay.

Rain Song

2009-06-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Holy hell, I am sick of the rain.

I thought we lived in a desert?

Met up with Paul, Justin, and Chad at the shop then headed up to the new(?) trailhead type thing for Hog's Hollow. As usual, the road up Hog's was pretty clear. Wet but not muddy. It started raining as soon as the pedals started to turn.

The plan was to follow a new route that Kenny had taken up around Suncrest, duck in and out of the high-rent district and then pop out at the Maple Hollow DH trail. Once we decided the rain wasn't going away, we figured to just go up until the trail got mucky and then turn around. With a few extended regroups, we finally made it to Suncrest. The last section of road/trail was an absolute mudbog. Carry your bike and scrape out your shoes type stuff. There are all kinds of signs that say no motorized vehicles, but there were Jeep/truck tracks about four feet deep all the way to the road. Strangely there are also galvanized roofing nails distributed evenly across this section. I certainly hope they weren't intended for us.

The roadies were out in full force on Suncrest though. Big Rick's wife was the only one who didn't look away and aggressively ignore us as she rode by. In fact she waved and said hello. I think she was also the only one who wasn't still rocking a number from the last race she did. Maybe there's a connection. Hmmmmm.

Justin, Paul,Chad and Kenny at Suncrest Road.

A quick jump across the road and we climbed on the trail that wraps around the south side of Suncrest. It was surprisingly clear. In fact it was a smooth and steady middle ring spin through waist high grass and wildflowers. I don't know if these flowers are naturally ocurring or if the rich truly do just live better, but they were beauty-ful. The tall, wet, grass had the added effect of a car wash. Wiping away the mud from Hog's Hollow, and soaking my socks and shoes. When we topped out at the first Cul-de-Sac. We decided, that was enough rain for us so we turned around and headed back. The car wash was now a high speed leg whipper. My shins are on fire still from the millions of tiny abrasions. A few of the scrub-oak branches were a little more aggressive than a mere "brusher" and Chad ended up with blood running down his arm.

Hike-a-bike, or Jump-in-a-puddle for us adventurous types, until we got back to the Hog Hollow Road and began the bomb back to the truck.

Over the years I have usually ridden around the big puddle/pond at the bottom of Hog's Hollow. Not anymore, at least not when it's raining. I ran right through the middle of it. I'm sure my Bottom Bracket bearings didn't appreciate it much but it looked cool.

Between today and Wednesday, my truck is now covered with mud inside and out. It might be time for the annual wash..........

Nah.

Two Rowdy Chicks, And A Whippersnapper

2009-06-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Left to Right: Spencer, Tyler, Moriah, and Sally.Don't tell any trail-nazi's but we did South Fork tonight. Yes it was muddy, no I don't think any damage was done that won't dissappear into the moon dust as soon as the sun comes out.

Moving on, there were some new faces along for the ride.

Spencer, (the whippersnapper), is a 15 year old kid from Lehi. His Mom dropped him off at the shop and he rode up with Jake.

Now far be it from me to criticize anybody's parenting but what kind of judgement does that show, to drop your kid off with a guy who looks like me and a guy who acts like Jake? Honestly. But, the kid can ride. He hung with the front of the pack the whole night, and aside from not having much to say, he fit right in.

Then there were the ladies.

Sally has been a regular since this season's first Wednesday night ride. And here's the thing, she has gotten exponentially faster each time I've seen her. I know she rides a road bike, and she's been secretly training with Oilcan. But each time she shows up she feigns inexperience, asking for pointers and tips, then drops the hammer. At this rate she'll be leading the pack by July.

Also along for the ride tonight was Moriah from Tahoe. New to Utah, she beats up teenagers or something for a living and heard about us through Utah Mountain Biking. Once she finally made it to the Canyon, she was surprised to see that Utah is not all barren wasteland. If I can get her to stop buzzing my rear wheel on the steeper climbs I might let her back for another ride sometime. She's fast, friendly, and fun. Basically she's like McDonalds but dressed in pink.

Jake, Adam, Bill and Tyler rounded out the crew and we had a good time. We did discover that it is hard to find a good place for a burrito at 9:30 pm when your covered in mud.

For the Record: Costa Vida, chicken burrito, sour cream and guac. Mud friendly service. Closes at 10.

Vernal.....Who Knew?!?

2009-06-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

You may or may not have heard me bitc....., I mean talking about my wife's families annual trip to Flaming Gorge. Historically, they go the first week in June, and since I started going in 1995 it has been "unseasonably" cold. Meaning it generally snows. And yes, my father-in-law has noted the coincidence that the years I started coming the weather started being lousy.
The In-Laws are big into fishing and that's why they go. I, on the other hand, am fishing challenged and generally spend the time either being shown how to tie knots like a mildly retarded 1st grader, or sitting in the trailer staring at said in-laws. It's a strong family tradition and something I have grown to accept in the 14 years I have been going there.
I have drug a bike along many times. But to this point I had only ever pulled the kid trailer around the campground, and pretended I was a trials rider on the picnic tables.
The only real trail I have ever ridden there is from the dam down to Little Hole. That was fun, and they promptly banned bikes from that trail the next year.
But this year I had a plan. When I was down in Price for Trailfest, I met Tree Hugger. He told me I needed to come out to Vernal and check out what he and Troy from Altitude Cycles had been doing out there. That coupled with the article in last months BIKE magazine about the area, got me excited.
So Thursday morning, I loaded up my bike, talked my way out of going fishing and drove the 35 miles into Vernal to find Tree Hugger. We got our maps and info, and a ration of crap from Tree Hugger, and set out for the McCoy Flats area 6.5 miles west of Altitude Cycles.
The trails all spider out from an ancient group of corrals in the middle of the wasteland between Vernal and Roosevelt. Based on allotted time, we started on the mellow but smooth as glass Milk and Cookies trail. We rode counter-clock-wise from the corrals. At first I was getting inklings of Luke's Trail down in Price. Pretty flat(HA!) but then you start rolling up and down. The compacted red clay is like a really narrow sidewalk. Once we got over to the west side it begged you to grab a bigger gear and gun it. At one point I looked down and was doing 18 mph on a flat. By the time we got to the intersection with the More Hoe's trail, my max speed was right around 22 mph. Then we started riding More Hoe's. The trail gets more technical here. Nice drops off sandstone ledges and tricky little climbs. Eventually you grind your way up to the top of a mesa. The views actually rival Moab and St. George. I never thought this area was beautiful until I rode this trail. Once on top, you loop around the rim until you get to the south side. Then the mesa thins out until your riding an eight inch trail on a two foot spine with pretty healthy tumbles waiting on either side. Stopped off for a second to sign the log-book at the bike part windmill, and then bombed back down the mesa.
We hooked back into the final section of Milk and Cookies and headed back for the truck. Just before we got back to the trailhead, we noticed a little option trail. It headed for a killer 5-6 foot drop with a beautiful transition at the bottom. My brother-in-law Lance hiked up his skirt and slayed it. In a show of wisdom, I passed. It's the type of thing that I would normally try, but figured now was not a good time for a dislocated shoulder. Wish I had a camera Thursday, but I didn't.
We headed back to thank Troy and Tree Hugger for the info and they recommended the Canyon Rim Trail that starts at the Red Cliffs Visitor Center for our next ride.
So, Friday morning, We loaded up the bikes plus a women's FSR XC for my other bro-in-law to borrow.

This photo is titled "When hipsters borrow girl bikes". Note the skinny jeans. My wife dropped us off at the Red Cliffs Vistor Center. The trailhead is located behind the outhouses so it's easy to find. It begins as a nature trail, complete with plaques and scenic viewpoints, here's Lance Enjoying the view....It then, quickly evolves into a technical, fun forest service trail. Here's Lance playing turtle on a tricky little climb......... It took just a little bit of route-finding to pick our way back to the Greendale Overlook and the highway.From there we got on a jeep road that circles the historic Swett Ranch. It starts out rough and fast and eventually smoothes out into a steady smooth spin connecting to highway 191 just about a mile or so from where we were staying. It's a beautiful technical trail. Right around 9 miles the way we rode it, and along the way, we saw lots of deer, a bighorn sheep, and a bedded down cow elk. It was a blast.

So next year when we load up the Griswold Family Truckster and head for the Gorge, I might "forget" my fishing stuff and see what else is out there.

Here's a taste of the Canyon Rim Trail.

Guest Leader/Blog Poster Jake

2009-06-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

The following is the report for Wednesdays ride as told by Jake Weber. He filled in for me while I was out of town Wednesday. Allow him to regale you with his adventure.
When I left my house it was raining cats and dogs. I really doubted that anyone would show up for the group ride and I figured that I'd either be riding solo or going home. Driving to the shop I could see that Provo Canyon had a small spot of grey sky (much better than the black everywhere else). I hoped that if anyone did show, we could change venues. Getting to the shop there was a car and rider I didn't recognize from any previous rides. His name was Bryce and he lives in Saratoga Springs. His wife gave him the go-ahead to ride and no matter the weather, he was going. Glad he did. We loaded up in my truck and headed down to Provo. Bryce had never ridden in Provo Canyon before so I decided to give him the full tour. We started up the BST near Bridal Veil Falls. Pretty soon into the ride I came the the conclusion that everyone who didn't ride with us today because of the weather is a moron. No rain, no mud, and everything smelled great. Bryce hates me I think for taking him uphill on his freeride bike but he made it. At the top of the climb we met a rider going the other way. Rick had been doing the Sundance weekly races but since today's was cancelled, he figured to go exploring. After talking for a bit, he chose to stick with us. We rode out past Squaw Peak road to the overlook area. While waiting for Bryce, Rick and I were talking and I found out that he too is from Saratoga Springs. I told him that is where Bryce is from and Rick says that he thought Bryce looked familiar. So, come to find out, they live two houses apart and Bryce had once borrowed Ricks Ladder. Small world and I think it is funny that they didn't recognize each other right away. Continuing our loop, we did the Provo Canyon race course once, parted ways with Rick and then rode up the Canyon trail back to the truck. We never got rained on at all, and we had a blast.

The Night Time, Is The Right Time

2009-06-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

First a disclaimer:
Due to an incredibly busy week, the race that I had scheduled for last night got backburnered a little and I didn't really think about it until yesterday afternoon. That being said, it became sort of a throw-together affair.
The good news is, it was still a blast.
With Jake out of town, the points race was on. And, I'm not gonna lie, there was a lot of headway made in closing the gap between Jake and the other contenders.
Could it be because it was double podium points? Huge amounts of bonus points? Riley helped me get my dog off the mountain points?(Dog is doing better now by the way.)
Well, all of the above.
The format was this. No Golden Snitch/Booby Prize/Immunity Idol. Because I was concerned it would be too hard to find. Instead, I pre-rode the course, which was the 1.86 mile loop from the Bowery to the top of Rodeo and back down. Along the way I tossed out glow sticks. Not hidden, just placed at the side of the trail so you'd have to put a foot down to get one. Of the four colors of Glow Sticks, each was assigned a point value. The point values were not revealed until after the race. Purple=4, Red=3,Yellow=2, Green=1.
We voted at the start as to how many laps to ride and ended up at two. I know, it was a grueling race.
After a quick start, Austin Somer came coasting back. His chain had snapped and fallen off. Luckily I had an extra bike sitting there and he was able jump back in and go for it. Unluckily, his cleats were not Crank Bros so he couldn't clip in for the ride.
Moments Later, Eric Somer, Austin's father came rolling up the road at the end of his first lap. We then waited about ten minutes for the next person to roll by. I was thinking that was a pretty impressive lead. We didn't see Eric again until the race was over. Apparently on the first lap he had taken a bit of an unintentional shortcut. Upon realizing his mistake he rode the full course again twice in a show of incredible sportsmanship/masochism.
When the lights of the first place contestant came bobbing up the road for the finish, it was Riley in first. Which was good, because the date that he brought said she was going home with Austin Somer if he didn't win. Ryan made his first full race and came in second. Which makes me pretty happy that two of my 24 hrs of Moab teammates were the top racers of the evening.
Recovering from the late start, Austin rolled in third, with no water and a scrape or two from falling out of the mistmatched pedals.
Also for the first time, we had fans. The rest of the Somer family was there, Ryan's wife Bethany, and Riley's Date(Camille I think?),and my son Owen (Who helped distribute the glow sticks), were all there cheering them on.
A fun night all in all. Especially as there were S'mores for spectators, and racers.
See, don't you wish you were there.
No pictures since I learned that my camera won't do night pictures worth a crap. Imagine darkness, the smell of burning marshmallows, lot's of heavy breathing, and glow-sticks.
We're lucky the cops didn't show up to break up the rave.
Oh yeah points.
Riley- 60 points podium, 28points for glow sticks.
Ryan- 40 points podium, 18 points for glow sticks, 15 points for helping me setup race.
Austin- 20 points podium, ? points for glow sticks(email me), 15 points for come from behind glory.
Eric- 20 points for Sportsmanlike conduct, 23 points for glow sticks.
Everybody else got 10 participation points, and their points for glow sticks.

Pray For My Dog

2009-06-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

In a glorious return to the Ridge Trail/American Fork Canyon area, eight of us rode South Fork last night. Nothing fancy, just a clockwise loop from the summit.
We had some new blood. Bill and Travis showed up with a handful of regulars. That's Sally in the back ground checking out the view. I think Jake and riley are thinking "......am, happy" or they are stoned.The wildflowers are starting to explode. I say explode because it offsets the wussiness of being impressed by flowers Those were the pleasant moments of the ride. The following photo is where things started to go wrong. Some of you may have ridden with my dog Cockleburr before. He's always up for a ride. I can't roll a bike out of the yard without him whining and barking and trying to come along. Usually on South Fork he charges up the climbs and waits for me at the top. Then on the downhills he is in a full sprint until I stop to let him catch up and get a drink.
Once he followed me for 24 miles in Fruita. He was exhausted at the end and slept for the next twelve hours without moving. When I rolled the bike back out to the truck to go home he popped up and was ready for more. I never worry about him keeping up.
But last night when we got to the top of the first big climb, he was dragging a little. I actually made a joke about me not being the only one who got fat over the winter. The next downhill had him a good five minutes back from me. He kept trudging along but by the time we got to the four-way, I was worried. He was laying down whenever he caught up and could see me. At this point we were about halfway through the ride so he had a ways to go no matter what. I sent the group ahead and figured I'd take it easy back down to the road. I was going a quarter mile or so and stopping. Each time it took him longer to catch up.
I took a couple extra long breaks hoping he'd recover a little, but by the time we started the last big descent to the meadow, I was walking my bike and having to constantly whistle and call him to get him to move forward. We came to a little mud bog, and he stopped to drink a little, then he laid down. I improvised a leash thinking I could motivate him with a little tug, but soon he was laying down and pulling against the leash. I was hoping I could get him down to the road, lay him in some cover and haul ass up to my truck and come down to pick him up.
At this point I was carrying him. Try carrying a 55 lb dog and walking your bike at the same time. It's pretty slow going. I was starting to get pretty anxious when I heard Riley yell "JOSH!" He and Jake had raced to the top and finished ahead of the group. And being the Eagle Scout that he is, he came back to check on me. Upon seeing there were no dog tracks at the bottom of the trail he rode up to find us. So he walked both bikes, and I carried the dog.
When we got in sight of the road, Wes had also swung back to check on me. Which was a good thing because after a roll in the creek at the bottom, Riley wasn't too excited about putting my stinky dog in the back of the 4OD (4runner Of Death). So we put him into Wes' truck and headed up.
He hasn't moved much since we got home, and he acts like he's really sore. I don't know if it is just that he overdid it early in the season, or altitude sickness, or what.
Tomorrow morning, I'm taking him to the vet, I hope it's nothing serious.
So, even if you aren't overly religious, pray for my dog, I'd really miss him if I lost him.

Plump Bicyclist

2009-05-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

FYI: I am not Fat Cyclist.
Now just because I am about to talk about how great Ghost Falls and the Corner Canyon area trails are, and I'll probably spice it up with some self-deprecating humor about me being fat and out of shape, don't mistake me for Elden Nelson.
No, there are several important differences between myself and the esteemed Fatty.
First, I am poor. I live downstream of his Alpine toilet flush in American fork. When I park my truck at the end of Hog's Hollow Road to head up to Corner Canyon, I am genuinely concerned that the lovely folks who live there may mistake it for abandoned, and have it towed before I return.
Second, I am actually Fat(this term may be copyrighted by Elden). I'm reasonably certain that Mr. Nelson has never hovered at the 200 pound mark. When he says he's fat, it's more like the skinny chicks in high school that used to say they were fat so you'd say "oh, your not fat...." When I say I'm fat, it means that my gut has a nickname around my house, (Hairy Belly-fonte if you must know) I haven't been truly skinny since that girl in high school used to fish for compliments.
Third, I am hairy. I have read several references on his blog to the fact that he shaves his entire body including his head. I try to shave my face once a week whether I need to or not. I firmly believe that Bics are for chicks. It's true, I only use Schick's. I find much more satisfaction in the discomfort of scrubbing mud and/or blood out of the hair on my legs than from the exhilaration of wind whistling around my Mr. Sexypants shaved legs. Plus my wife never finds it exciting or funny when I "surprise" her with my version of a full brazilian.
Fourth, I like gears. I own a single-speed. It's even a fixie. And I do ride it even if it's just around town. But I only do it so I can look hip without having to cram into a pair of skinny jeans. When I am on the mountain, I've got to have gears. Low ones to go up, and high ones to go down. And while we're at it, I will never convert to a 29er either.(Sorry Ron and Randy).
Fifth, far fewer people care what I have to say. Let's just say, if I ever crash at the beginning of a race, the other guy in the picture won't exactly have to worry about death threats. Rest assured Louis Baker, you can take me out anytime. My 0-10 person weekly readership has yet to garner me a single check from Ad-Sense.
Sixth, I am not a racer, nor do I hang out with anyone named Racer. While I masochistically enjoy the odd cyclocross race or Frozen Hog, You won't see me in the lottery for a 100 mile trail/dirt road race any time soon.
I could go on ad nauseum about such things as our differing views on the sanctity of boulders,his cute little bike-mobile truck vs my tribute to rust and fumes, how a Gary Fisher is considered boutique and special, but Specialized is the "Corolla" of the bike world, the list goes on.
But I've got a ride to report on. Hopefully, the completely imagined confusion some people may have about the two of us has been laid to rest.
Last night we had six for the evening ride.
Nick killed the climb up Clarks.Paul, Sally, Wes and Jake were there too.
It's been awhile since I descended Ghost Falls. My Lord that's a beautiful trail. Wildflowers, and tunnels through the trees. I have not yet figured out how to jump on it without either hitting my head on the trees above or locking up the brakes before the next turn but what a fun way to spend an evening.
Here is some crappy video of us coming out at the bottom.

Thanks to all who came out. Wednesday's continue to be more popular than Saturday. Who knew?

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me....

2009-05-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am going to start charging the farmers in the Price area. I think this is only fair because each time I set out to ride down there, the skies cloud up and the rains come down.
Highlight of the day?
"Your home early..."
"Yeah it rained all day."
"It hasn't rained here at all. Maybe that's God's way of saying you shouldn't drive two hours each way to ride your bike."
"Thanks honey."
I think it's God's way of telling me that when I have a chance to ride with Marshall, I should stay home and take advantage of it.
Kenny,Meg, and I left this morning to take a grand tour of the P.A.S.S. trails. Start in town head up to Luke's, out to Floating Rock, check out Shamrock and Roll, get on the Kenilworth Road, over to Wild Bunch and then go up to Dead Dog Mesa, down the spine and then roll back to the truck.
Insert ominous music here.
I didn't bring anything for weather except a long sleeved jersey. It was drizzling when we started, and it continued pretty constant all through Luke's and up to the bone's. It wasn't particularly cold, and the rain did little more than make the rocks slick. On the way up to Floating Rocks, I made the comment that "It was raining worse than this each morning at Trailfest." Which promptly called forth raindrops the size of cow terds. Lots of them. We crept up to the end of Lollipop where we had intended to drop down Shamrock and roll to the road. By the time we made it to the bottom(a little bushwacking since the trail isn't quite complete) we were soaked through. The road was muddy, and the sky was black in all directions.
We made the decision to bail and headed south towards town on the dirt road. This was the fastest we had moved all day. My eyes,ears, and every fold of fat on my body is now carrying a fine grit of sand flung off my tires. If I don't wash thoroughly here soon, I'm going to start forming a pearl.
We arrived back at the truck, defeated and broken. But through the grace of Grogg's Burgers. We were rejuvenated enough to head for home.
You know, where it didn't rain.

Brilliant!

2009-05-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

I just realized something. I wield phenomenal cosmic power in that I can make up rules about the point structure for the race series at any time.
That said, I noticed that there are several regulars who show up not just for the races, but also for the regular rides.
So, starting last night and in perpetuity...........showing up for a regular ride gets you five points in the race series. So Sally, Wes, Adam, Riley, Tyler, everyone who shows up just to see my ruggedly handsome face and ride with us. Will now climb in pole position each time they show up.
This may seem like a desperate ploy to get more people out to the group rides.
It is.
Although the pattern of Wednesday's becoming the more popular rides continued last night. Six people showed up to ride Big Spring Hollow and it was a good time. It's so nice to ride through shady trees, on honest to loveliness singletrack.
Word is it won't be long until Ridge Trail is open. It's like waiting for Christmas.
I've been good, but I can't last,....Hurry Ridge Trail, hurry fast.
Gate opens June 1.

Saturday Is A Special Day...........

2009-05-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

I always thought that Wednesdays were the challenge. It's tough to get people out when they've had to work all day, have to work the next day, kids, family, name your excuse. But the last few Wednesday rides we've done have been wildly successful. I'm sure the races have had something to do with it, or maybe it's because the shop rats haven't been coming.
So in what Bizarro world universe is it, that Saturday's are the ones you have to drag people out to?

Meet Paul.

Paul is the only one who showed up for today's ride. I almost didn't let him in the truck since he abandoned me in Vernon a few months ago. But other than that he's basically a cool guy so we jumped in and headed up to Big Spring Hollow.

A week ago I was talking to Max from Timp Cyclery and he said he had ridden Big Springs. I thought I knew what he was talking about so I just nodded my head. But after I thought about it I wasn't so sure. I had ridden a trail, up South Fork, years ago. But I wasn't sure it was Big Spring. I had followed a buddy and we kind of got lost and ended up doing a lame little out and back. When I said we were riding it in the email, I really wasn't sure where we were going. But with the "Quick and Dirty" trail guide in hand we set out.

Wow! what a beautiful trail
This time of year suits the trail. It looks like Endor or something. Only on this planet, the part of the loveable friendly Ewok's was played by hikers. A lot of hikers. With kids in backpacks, and young women's groups, and scouts. I guess that means that the part of the Storm Troopers on speeders was played by equestrians. I think this trail gets a LOT of traffic. Which no doubt leads to the buff condition of the trail. But, it is a little bit of a waste to have perfect, fast, smooth, beautiful trail, and have to stay on your brakes so as not to become a horse enema. Or at the very least take out a family of four.
After we climbed up to the Big Spring intersection, we opted to go check out the trail leading to the Cascade Saddle. From the intersection the trail pointed straight up. It is a loose, steep, pig of a climb. Luckily Paul was feeling at least as chatty as I was. So it was easy to find an excuse to stop a shoot the breeze for a bit. There were only a couple of snowy spots as we headed up, and other than that this trail was pretty dry. We eventually gave up about half way through the 3.5 miles that the trail ran. We flipped around, returned our chairs and seat trays to their full upright and locked positions, and headed down. The rocky steep climb paid off in a riot of a downhill. Plenty of little roots and rocks to kick you into the air and play with. And for some reason,(probably the steep loose conditions) there weren't any hikers or horses to worry about.
Soon enough we were back at the intersection and trying to see as far down the trail as possible so as to confidently bomb it. Even with the traffic, I would recommend this ride. I think it would be fun to go up there and just do laps until you got tired on the lariat loop.
Maybe next Wednesday, we'll get some other people to check it out with us.
Or maybe the next race will be on a Saturday. Hmmmmm.

Race #2

2009-05-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Another fun night at the races. I was actually a little concerned at 6 pm, when we only had about five people. But people started showing up, one by one and we ended up with a dozen again. A few returning favorites and some new faces.The format was a little different this time. Instead of a set course and fastest time wins, it was more of a scavenger hunt. I placed five buckets at random places throughout Lambert. One at the top of Rodeo, one at the bottom of Corkscrew, one at the bottom of Poppy, one on High Bench(sitting on a bench) and one at the top of Ruin. First one back with all five items intact wins. One of the items was a filled water balloon, but my wife was a little too nice and didn't fill them very full. The other items were a water bottle, a silk flower, an easter egg, and a wiffle ball. Racers were given a map with the locations marked and they chose their own route.
Oh, did I forget about the Golden Snitch? That's because I have started calling it "The Booby Prize" Surprise, surprise, it was another Stumpjumper Anniversary book. The hint was that it was on a downhill. That's all Nick needed because he promptly climbed to the top of Rodeo, and slowly descended until he saw it. Not only did he find it, but he was the first one back to the truck. 31 points! +20 for beating Jake!The other racers all scrambled off in different directions. Those who had the best advantage were the three teenagers that showed up. They all live right next to Lambert Park, and ride it all the time. Do you think they knew where they were going? Well, they did. Because the next person to return was Austin Somer. He made his Daddy proud and got first place. He also scored "Beat Jake"points so he is packin 50 points after his first race. Oh and the good prize I mentioned in the email? A Camelbak Havoc.

I am tickled that Austin won for several reasons. First, he won because he knew Lambert Park the best. That's what I was going for. Second, he battled it out with Jake and beat him out at the last minute. Third he's a kid. Fourth, he seemed genuinely stoked about winning the Camelbak. Fifth, he brought his friends. He is my favorite rider of the week this week.

Jake made a good showing too, if it wasn't for Austin's familiarity with the area I think Jake would have won.

Here is a picture of all the winners(not that your not all winners in my book)

Austin Somer-First Place 30 points, +20 Beat Jake points.

Jake Weber-Second Place 20 points,+ 5 helped me gather up buckets points.

Taylor Bradshaw- Third Place 10 points.

Nick Blackburn-Booby Prize 31 points,+20 Beat Jake points. Everybody else got 5 participation points.

Jolene and Sally got 5 bonus for being women. FYI: women get bonus points at every race where men outnumber women.

Several people got 5 bonus points for helping me gather up buckets.

Don't forget, the next two races will have 20 point bonuses for anybody that beats Jake to offset his winning double points, and finding the Booby Prize in the first race before I made the rule about not being able to do both.

Thanks to everyone for helping out and especially my wife for printing the maps, holding my hand at the dollar store and putting up with my unpaid part time job.

Nothing But Blue Skies....

2009-05-09T15:37:00.001-07:00

Had a great morning out on the Timp Trails. Five people showed up and we met Kenny and Meg up on the trail. We cranked up the road to the race track for your standard run of the mill wander around the area.
Here's Steve Winters showing us how it done on one of the climbs. I'm starting to wonder if the shrubbery is ever gonna leaf out.
We missed the turn to Blackbird from RollerCoaster(were we even on Rollercoaster?) I think rather than Timp Trails they should be called, "The Trails With No Signs" But, afterwards Steve hauled us over to the Dragon's Back trail. It's fun, fast, downhill. Lots of rocks and sharp turns. Yeah I overcooked a couple of them and ended up in the rhubarb. From the bottom you just jump on the pavement and buzz back to the parking on the river trail.
Quick and easy, mac and cheezy.

Dorothy, The Tin Man, And JoJo Too

2009-05-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we had the biggest turnout I think I've ever seen for a Wednesday night ride. It was me,Kyle,Grant,Jake,Adam,Oilcan(TinMan),Bill,Sally,Dorothy, Jolene,Sam, and Clint. That's a heckuva turnout for Wednesday at Lambert Park.
In fact I didn't even bring my camera because I expected such a low turnout. If you need proof, got to Oilcan's Blog. He didn't forget his camera.
It was fun checking out the new stuff where Ziggy got tore up. There is a slick new little gap jump that's a blast.
First time I've ridden Lambert this year that I wasn't just looping up Rodeo with my boy.
Thanks for everyone that came out it was a blast.
And now this Announcement:
Next week, Wed May 13, Race 2 in the BPW Race Series.
Be at the Bowery Pavillion at Lambert Park at 6 pm ready to ride. Instructions for the race will be given, and the race will start @ 6:15.
Remember there is a 20 point bonus to anyone who beats Jake in the next three races.
This is a very slow-poke friendly race so come and play.

TrailFest '09 Day 3

2009-05-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Fuzzy was so gracious as to send me a couple of pictures he took to help tell the story. First, this is Greg and George. Greg in the hat, and George looking like a Live Strong Ad. You can't quite get the full Dennis Hopper effect for Greg from this picture but in person, it's there. And George, well,....Fuzzy just thought it would be good to be able to see George coming.

And in this unretouched photo, we see my championship Huffy Toss. You can just see the Huffy leaving the frame on the left. Tree Hugger said it was a lucky bounce. Pfffft. I killed it. And I have cash and prizes to prove it.

Sunday morning it was raining again, which led to a very late start for the breakfast. That's right, Fuzzy bought breakfast again. Pancakes and eggs again at the park. Slowly people trickled in and the numbers grew. The plan was a world tour of the Price Singletrack. Just like the day before, the weather started to clear about 11 and people saddled up. The route kept changing, but I had my heart set on Dead Dog Mesa. Specifically Dead Dog Spine. Fuzzy was heading there, and it looked like the main group might not make it there, so I went with Fuzzy, and the guy who works for the DNR. It's easier to remember goofy nicknames than real names.

The three of us and Buster the Dog drove out to the base of the mesa. The main group left from the park and rode up to Luke's, Floating Rocks,Lollipop, they checked out Shamrock and Roll, then did the Kenilworth Loop. We rode up to the Wild Bunch. A flat, (HA!) meadowy ribbon that runs through cow pasture down to a little canyon, crosses the stream and pops you back out at the base of Dead Dog Mesa. Up the road a bit, we headed into Ben's switchbacks. It's only a half mile or so to the top of the mesa, but it is a grind. It's rideable, but tough. I only cleaned two of the dozen or so switchbacks. At the top of the mesa, we ran into this....... We had piddled around for so long that the other group topped the mesa about the same time we did. Left to right that's the Canadian Lady, her Husband, Tree Hugger(wear a helmet bonehead) East Side Scalpel Rider, Prince Valiant, MattL from UtahMountainBiking.com, and SJB from UtahMountainBiking.com. I just realized, I don't know anyone's real name from down there. It's nothing personal, I just suck with names.

At this point their group split, half of them heading down the Spine and the other half riding with us to do the rest of the mesa loop.

So, Fuzzy, Me, the DNR guy, Tree Hugger, and SJB from UMB.com(he's also a chef at Easy Street in Park City) This is some of Fuzzy's original work. Pretty flat(HA!) but with a bunch of obstacles and features. Most of them were tough to do without putting a foot down. We all had a bunch of do-overs. We looped back around and headed down Dead Dog Spine. This is where it gets crazy. It's not particularly steep, but it's technical, and if you fall, you could tumble quite a ways down on either side. Then you come to the Dead Dog Rock Pile. I had heard about it. I had seen pictures of it, I really thought I was gonna ride it. Then I saw it. First you have to get your bike onto the first plank. This is easier said than done as there are a couple rocks right before it, and it's only a 2X8. Then you have to move left as you cross the next rock to line up on the second plank. Oh yeah and you are on top of a 15 foot rock pile. If you manage the two planks, it's a straight run down a ladder ramp. I crashed twice just trying to get on the first plank. So I tried to start on the second plank and just roll down the ramp. Couldn't get my left foot in, balked and went down the ramp like this.......................

Nuts on head tube, right foot clipped in, left foot furiously swinging to find something solid. I made it to the ground without going down and landed in the tree on the right of the picture. Perfect.

There are a few more features as you make your way down the spine. A ramp off a rock that is about to fall over. (Fix it Fuzzy) A three-way ladder drop that I wussed out on. I was still a little shaky from the Rock Pile debaucle.

Then there's this gap. Probably a ten foot gap, you roll into it from a loose offshoot of the main trail. Fuzzy says he hasn't ridden it, but he's seen it done. Pretty sure I won't be doing it anytime soon. We finished the Spine and made for the truck. What a great time. If you haven't been down there you definitely should go. It's less than a two hour drive from Utah County and you can ride whatever type of trail you want 9 months out of the year. Their biggest problem is that the trails don't get enough traffic. Cows had practically trampled out the Wild Bunch trail. You can stop into Fuzzy's shop on the East end of Main Street and he'll get you started.

Here's a parting shot of the Grandaddy of the Price scene. Fuzzy himself. Thanks Fuzz. See ya next year

TrailFest '09 Day 2

2009-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am mortified that I forgot about Joe G and Adrian. I was not the youngest one at the campfire. Joe G is a hippy in every regard. He has a Uni-bomber beard, rides a 24 speed bike that only works in one gear. And conspiracy theories aplenty.

Adrian is his girlfriend(?), anyway they came together. She is a young hippy-chick that works at the Canyons in Park City, sweet and friendly. I can't think of anything rude to say about her. But I'll keep thinking. They rounded out the campfire crew.

I mentioned that Kenny and Nick would come "if it wasn't raining."

Behold the view of the ter-lets, from the back of my truck at 6:45 a.m.

After the late night, I couldn't sleep. I was tossing until about 2:30 am I finally dozed off. At 3 am it started raining. I spent the rest of the night listening to the rain beat on my tarp and fending off the occasional trickle of water onto my head. I managed to stay relatively dry but got no rest. After I took the picture above, I texted Kenny and Nick a weather report. Both decided to bail. I feel like I owe them an apology. I honestly thought we may have washed out. I lay there until everybody else woke up, broke down my little nest and headed to breakfast. That's right Fuzzy bought breakfast. Pancakes and eggs chuckwagon style. I noticed something odd. Everybody from Price was in riding gear. We shot the breeze while the sky fell around us, and then about 10:30 the weather broke. Everybody scrambled to get their stuff together. They were heading up to ride Luke's. There were more people that hadn't ridden it before, or recently, than had ridden it the night before. Being tired as hell, and having ridden the Luke's loop three times in the last three weeks, twice the night before, I was not completely stoked. So when Fuzzy asked who wanted to do trail work, Joe and Tree Hugger made me, I mean asked me to go help them with a new section. I didn't ride with the group again on Saturday. Here are some pics that Fuzzy took, I'm not in most of them.

Joe, Tree Hugger, and I headed up to a new fork off the Lollipop that was recently built. It was still pissing rain when we got out there, but we grabbed the tools and bushwacked up the side of the hill to where they had roughed out a section. We walked from the top down to where it still needed to be broken.

Here's Joe bench-cutting the new trail. Not sure why the pic turned out sepia tone. Blame the camera phone.And here's Tree Hugger, not hugging a tree.( I think he cut it down).Anyway, I noticed this rock. Big rock. Just above the section we were working. Mentioned it might make a good feature. Joe and Tree Hugger graciously offered to let me bust my ass all afternoon building the approach, armoring the landing, and clearing the spot you'd land if you went down. Okay, as some have learned out at Eagle Mountain, I talk more than dig usually, but I did do this mostly by myself with technical support from the Wis-kan-sin boys.

This shot is with it about 95% done (It's the big one on the left) My bike gives you an idea of it's size.

After awhile the boys came up to admire/criticize my work. They liked it I think. Because Joe said "Well we'll name it after you." I thought "Bitchin!" A feature named after me after just an afternoon's work. Then Joe said, "Naw, we'll name the whole trail after you." Suddenly I had an overwhelming urge to kiss Joe full on the mouth. It's the closest thing I'll ever be to being famous. This trail will connect the Lollipop circle off Floating Rocks to the little canyon between two mesas. Eventually crossing over to a mesa with an old trail already roughed in that will creat a huge loop back to Lukes. It's kind of a big deal. And by extension, I will become "kind of a big deal around here".Since Josh is not a very original name for a trail or a biblical figure, Tree Hugger asked me if I had any nicknames or anything. I really don't, but when he wanted to call the feature "Obnoxious Rock" I offered that I am probably best known for my Ireland Jersey in the Velo Club, I'm Irish,...... a theme was born. Immediately Joe suggested the feature be called "The Blarney Stone" hell yeah. The name of the trail was debated for a bit, but officially it will be known as "Shamrock And Roll" (Thank you Dropkick Murphy's)

And now ladies and Gentleman. The first ever roll of The Blarney Stone on Shamrock and Roll.

It looks a little tame there because I built it so beautifully smooth, but it is intimidating coming over the top. I also added a big rock above it and there is a small rock below it. I don't have the cojones or the skill set to pull the hat-trick on it at this time. But Fuzzy says he'll let me know as soon as somebody does .

Further down the trail Team Wis-kan-sin cut trail to and built this feature which will be known as The Sham"rock". Both features are spurs off the main trail, so you can easily ride around them, if your a wuss.

There will be another one below this called "Pot o' Gold".

I couldn't drag Joe and Tree Hugger off the hill to go eat, so I left them and headed to the BBQ, That's right, Fuzzy bought everybody dinner. Brats hot off the grill and Tater Salad. The High School was having prom so cars kept pulling up to the park and getting out to take pictures, it's a good thing Tree Hugger wasn't there yet, or some local kid might have gone home alone. We had a Huffy Toss, and I won. No lie. This was becoming one of the best days of my life. Okay at least the best one this year. Fuzzy passed out Schwag and some people headed home. After the BBQ we headed over to the Holiday Inn for a free concert. Locals "The Mad Love Spell" and a Moab band called "Barrel" played it loud and long. Attendance was a little weak, but that didn't stop Fuzzy. He broke his hair out of the pony tail for the first time since the Clinton administration and whipped it around for a full two sets of 80's metal cover tunes. Not hair metal. METAL. Think Slayer, Danzig,Pantera. These weren't top ten hits. Fuzzy knew them all by heart and left me feeling like I had been listening to Radio Disney my whole life. I thought I was rock and roll. Apparently, I am not.

Another night around the Fire with Greg and George. It was deep man. Did I metion George spent time in Papua New Guinea? Then suddenly we were invaded by rednecks on four-wheelers who had ridden the back roads from Helper all the way to the Luke's trailhead. At this point I was about to fall asleep standing up since I had dug all day and not slept the night before. So I went to bed.

Stick with me...To Be Continued,......Again

TrailFest '09 Day 1

2009-05-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

I think this last weekend was one of, if not the, most interesting of my life. A few weeks ago when Riley and I went to Price, we met Fuzzy, rode Luke's, got snowed on and went home. It was all well and good, but it didn't prepare me at all for what I would experience this weekend.
For a "festival" I spent a good amount of time alone, or with very few people. Since Riley had to work, I drove down alone planning to camp at the Luke's trailhead. And by camp, I mean sleep under a tarp in the back of my truck. Nick was going to come down Friday evening but thought better of it when he got off work a little late. Both he and Kenny were going to drive down Saturday, "if it's not raining".
I met up with a dozen or so people at Luke's but wasn't ready when they started riding. I managed to catch the back of the pack, but we never found the rest of the group. I must have missed a side loop or something, because I rode the whole Luke's loop back to the trailhead and never saw them. But I met up with Stretch from Utahmountainbiking.com's forum, and a guy from Bend, Oregon. Stretch and I had just finished and he asked if we wanted to go again so we did. Once we got back, the rest of the group had returned and the campfire was going.
Ron and Randy Dailey from the group ride had arrived and were preaching the 29er gospel to all who would listen. Spent the rest of the night discussing/arguing politics with Fuzzy and a secret agent from the Denver area.
I also met the cast of Characters for the weekend.
Joe from Wis-kan-sin,is an honest to God, Soil Scientist who spends his time harassing cows and building the trails in Price. His glasses could stop a bullet, and he is probably more sarcastic and insulting than me....probably.
Tree Hugger is also from Wis-kan-sin, but now lives in Vernal. He works at Altitude Cycles, and drives to Price every couple of weeks to build trail, and ride Lukes when he's not looking for dates in the High School Parking Lot. His real name is unknown, I'm guessing Wendell. Don't tell him you think Luke's is flat or you'll get an earful.(Like I said, he's from Wis-kan-sin)
Also in attendance was Greg. Greg is nearly fifty and rides a ten year old Trek OCLV. Oh and he hauls ass. Oddly, even though he could be Dennis Hopper's twin brother, he doesn't know who he is. He lived in Kauai for 15 years and I guess the local video store didn't have a copy of Easy Rider.
Then there was George. I can't even really begin to describe George. You just have to meet him. Ask him about Papua New Guinea, and one pound Spiders.
It had the feel of a High School kegger, but at 32, I was the youngest one there. We finally gave up around 1 am and went to bed.
To Be Continued.......

Jolene.....Knows What Value Means

2009-04-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

That title was for my mother, who never reads this blog, but shops for fabric a lot. I assume there are three people who know what I'm talking about.

Moving on.

Had a good turnout tonight at Timp Park. I think it is because I raised everyone's hopes that Kris Nosack would be there to lead us triumphantly. It ends up that he got a better offer.

I hereby nominate him as "Most Popular Mountain Biker In Utah". Fatty invites him to RAWROD, some dude invites him to ride Jem Trail. I just can't compete with that.

The good news is that he sent his wife, Jolene, in his stead. Or as I like to call her, the other Nosack with shaved legs. Remember Bics are for Chicks.

Kris was kind enough to lay out a fun course for Jolene to lead us on. Kris has been working on a map of the trails in this area and it has come together nicely. The only problem seems to be with the naming of the trails because everybody that rides up there calls them something different. If you have a name you think a trail should be called, I suggest you arm-wrestle Kris for naming rights.

Back to the ride, we had a record number of shop employees there, Nick,Riley,Evil Kenny, and Brady. I'm pretty sure that's some kind of a record anyway. So we started off with ten or twelve, and at each intersection we lost on average two riders. Some people wanted to go faster, some slower, some gave up. By the end it was Me, Riley, Gard, and Jolene at the water tank road. And technically Jolene left at the water tank road to take the downhill home. Leaving the three of us to head down Cliff and back to the truck.

For those who are wondering, we rode the Race Track up to Betty,down Roller Coaster, back up Blackbird and Crank, down Ireland, took the road over to Cliff, and down to the parking lot. Whew.

A fun loop, I'll be riding some variation of it each evening @ 4 pm starting Monday (excluding Wednesdays of course) until I'm not a big fat pig anymore if anyone is inclined to join me.

Thanks Kris for letting your lovely wife hang out with a bunch of stinky vulgar guys.

Oh, and a side note, Jolene is like Kris in that she feigns weakness then smokes everybody. Here is evidence. A steep climb that Riley and Gard couldn't make. That's her in the distance pedaling away from us. I just stopped to take a picture, it's not like I couldn't do it.

WTF?.....Or, What's Trail Fest?

2009-04-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm heading back down to Price Utah for Trail Fest '09. And so should you.
I'm spending the week trying to get the 1979 Nomad 24' Love Shack in street legal order. Failing that, I'm tentin' it.
Supposedly the Luke's trailhead is going to be like something you'd see at Burning Man. Fuzzy told me it would be a cross between Burning Man and Apocalypse Now.
After Riley and my trip down there a couple weeks ago, my interest is piqued. I figure we only explored less than half of what is down there. The other side is supposed to be all freeridey, downhill, and stunts. You know I'm gonna own that. Or end up with a broken hip. One of the two.
"What will I do down there?"
Glad you asked.
Friday is a mellow group ride leaving the Luke's trailhead at 4:20(huh-huh I'm guessing Fuzzy picked the start time). It's supposed to be a loosey-goosey affair. Just hangin' out.
Saturday is breakfast, and all different types of trail riding. "Something for everyone". There will be new, temporary, artificial, features on some of the trails just for Trailfest. And at 4pm(not 4:20?) There is beer and brats at Pioneer Park. Included in the festivites is a Huffy toss, and a flat changing contest.
Then at 7pm Get ready to "rock your ass off" with Barrel and Mad Love Spell at the Holiday Inn. Bring your moshing boots.
Sunday is the last hurrah. With shuttles and rides leaving Pioneer Park at 10 am. These rides will include the stuff that gets built on Saturday.
Riley and I are leaving Friday, and I've got room for at least four more if you can stand two hours in a noisy truck with questionable air conditioning.
For more info on Trailfest go here.
Mosh pits and mountain bikes, two great tastes that taste great together.

Race Day

2009-04-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Sweet Kellie Baby: "So how did your race turn out?"

Josh: "Frickin Awesome, thanks for asking."

If you count all the latecomers (and I do) We had about a dozen people show up for the first Not Race,....oh screw it, I'm just gonna call it a race until I get into trouble.

Anyway, despite some jerk tearing up my trail markers,( I won't say which shop's team he rode for, but their initials are Mad Dog Cycles.) the course was good to go. A last minute starting line change, aaaaaaaaand they're off! I rode the first lap with everybody and then ducked down to the finish line to officiate.

If you've ridden the race course lately you have smelled and seen the place I hid the immunity idol.

Not in the dead elk but near it. I thought it would be in a place that the leader would not be looking since he was in the lead and worried more about going fast than finding it. More on that in a minute. Kanyon Kris and his lovely wife Jolene showed up. Here is Jolene shredding the downhill at the end of the first lap.

Dorothy in pink showed up just as we were starting. She didn't know there was a race but joined in and got participation points anyway, way hardcore.

As to winners, I blame myself. I fully intended to have two winners. One for actually winning, and one for finding the immunity idol. After Brad Thurgood led the first lap on his singlespeed, he pulled off and Jake took the lead. Then Jake found the damn immunity idol. Ends up the tough part of finding the immunity idol was getting it back to the finish line. Here is a shot of Jake touching the finish line(my truck). So, about the double winner. This being the first race in the series, it was worth double points. 60 for first, 40 for second, and 30 for third. The immunity idol was worth 61 points. So now Jake has 121 points. As I said, I blame myself. So I was trying to think of a way to yank his points without making it seem like I was just yanking his points. So I'm not going to, but as this series is a living document and subject to amendment. There is a 20 point bonus to anyone who beats jake in the next three races. You may then choose the 20 point bonus or your podium points. Bonuses forfeit podium finishes..

Also, from this point on, officially, you may win first place, or get the idol points, not both. Perhaps it is more appropriately called, the golden snitch. Because when you find it, your done. If you want think you have a shot at winning, go for the actual win, if you find the snitch, head for the finish and forfeit the podium.

It's nothing against Jake, he rallied the course, but the spirit of the race is such that you can come whether your fast or not and still have a shot at winning.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, other than the double winner thing, it went exactly how I wanted it too.

Podium went like this.

Jake Weber: First place and the snitch. 161 points, And a set of Lizard Skins Elbow Pads.

Kris Nosack(kanyonkris): Second place 40 points.

Jake's brother whose name escapes me, Oh wait, now I remember, Andrew(Dru if your nasty): Third place 20 points.

Only's:

( It's my race, I'll give points however I want.)

Jolene Nosack and Dorothy in Pink: Only women=20 points each.

Brad Thurgood: Only Singlespeed=10 points

Brad Thurgood: Only Rider under 13=10 points

Sam The Chocolate Wonder,Wes from Timp,Clint Anderson, Kerry Thurgood,Ryan Huntington, Ryan's friend Mark, Nick Blackburn: Participation points=5 points.

Another thing that is changing in the future is everybody has to sign in so I can keep track of points. If I missed you let me know and you'll get your 5 points.

Expect the next race within two or three weeks, I'm thinking Clark's.

This Is Not A Race.

2009-04-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Frank's(Or Frank. If your cool) Tomorrow I will go up and make sure that the route for our NOT RACE is marked.
If you are riding in our NOT RACE. Be at the Timpanogas Park parking lot at 6 pm. I will be up there a little early putting things together so I will not be able to pick people up at the shop as originally stated. But if you really need a ride stop by or call the shop ahead of time and I'm sure we can work something out.
Details of the NOT RACE:
It's short. If your fat like me you can do it.
It's easy. If you have the downhill skills of Ryan, you can do it.
It's fun. If you are Speedy it's still gonna be fun and you'll probably win(even though IT's NOT A RACE)
There are extra points available to motivate people to come to the first in the BPW NOT RACE series.
If you are familiar with an Alley Cat, you know what I'm going for with these NOT RACES. I guess that you might call it a Mountain Lion, you see what I did there? Alley Cat,.....Mountain Lion. Clever huh.
Anyway, come on out and don't race with us.
See cause if this were a race, we'd need a permit.
It's more of a group ride,....with winners.

Beat Up By Frank

2009-04-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

The day started innocently enough. Went up to Lambert to ride a bit and make fun of Brady who was up there with the truck-full-o-bikes for Demo Days. Adam, Nick, and DJ Jason showed up for a little ride, and once the sun came out it was a beautiful day. Plus I got to take a little spin on the Carbon Blur XC. One word, Sexy. Not exactly the ride I'm looking for but if I was a skinny little racer I'd be all over it.

Actually rode amazingly little this morning. Other than a couple of solo spins on the Middle, and River stuff, I made one pass up Rodeo and back down. This is probably the longest Rodeo loop in recorded history. First I made Nick take a shortcut so we'd beat Kenny and DJ Jason. We beat them, but then they stopped to wait for us because they thought we had gotten lost. Once we regrouped and started down, Nick flatted. Who flat's on Rodeo? Honestly. We stopped and waited. And waited. Then DJ Jason suggested calling LifeFlight because they could get to Nick quicker than he could climb back up to him. Luckily he finally got it put back together and we finished the final one minute and twenty seconds of Rodeo. Back at the truck Kenny and Brady were loading up to leave. We were gonna ride some of the other stuff but before we could talk DJ Jason into it, Nick flatted again. Keep in mind Nick is a bike mechanic. I'm just sayin'.

Called it a day and headed to the shop. Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have any excuses to not work on my basement.

New Kenny and Ryan were feeling saucy and wanted to go ride Frank's after work. That gets me out of the basement for the whole day! After a solid two hours of quality family time(sitting on the couch). I loaded back up and went to Orem. Brady and Grant were my insurance policy. You see, if there are two high school kids in jeans and big dumb hats, odds are good I won't be the slowest dude there. We rode from the Park and Ride at Wil's. Grant and Brady gave up before we made it to the dirt. Traitors.

Once we hit dirt, we climbed. Strait up for several hours. Okay, about thirty minutes, but still. Since New Kenny really isn't new anymore, and he is a sadistic, soul-patch havin', cardio demon. I now pronounce him "Evil Kenny". So Evil Kenny plays a game of "Follow Me Or Your A Wimp" Ends up,.....I'm a wimp.

Riley's narrow little ass is always up for a climb. He's like a big dumb puppy. He kept charging up and up and up. Evil Kenny, not far behind talking about how great he looks and feels. And Ryan bringing up the rear for the three of them.

Me? I was off the back. Waaaaay off the back. "Should we go back and look for him" off the back.

But we all made it to the top. Eventually. Which was pretty cool. Sorry for the crummy pictures, all I had with me was my phone. Then we bombed down this super-fast downhill. Smooth, tacky fun down hill. This led to more fun downhill. And eventually to the best named trails ever. Peterman to Poop Chute. I still giggle a little when I think about it.

All in all, not a bad ride. I don't want to make any excuses for my performance on the climbs. But I have been sick, and I was wearing new gloves. For what it's worth.

And since the down was so fun, maybe I should rethink calling him Evil Kenny.

Naaah.

Parrish.....Putting The "Emo" Back In Demo

2009-04-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

First item of biz-nass:
Don't steal from the Bike Peddler. Unless you want to have Riley and Parrish all up in your grill. Or you'll be all up in Riley's grill more specifically.
Short version of the story. Paul(New Kenny) and Brady thought that a group of juvenile delinquents had stolen a wheel from the shop. The real question is,....how do you conceal a 20" BMX rim while you walk out with it? I think the kids last name was Houdini. Anyway, Paul(New Kenny) and Brady were apparently afraid of the pack of Junior High Skate Rats, so they went and told on them to Parrish. He grabbed Deputy Riley and said "Let's Roll." They piled into the 4Runner of Death(4OD) and went huntin' shoplifters.
The following security footage has just been released by the Cops.

The part of Riley is played by the tall guy in the black shirt. The part of Brady is played by the screaming kid in the red shirt. The good news is, items were recovered and the "perp" was last seen having his head pushed down into the back of a squad car.
Second order of Biz-nass:
Demo Days are here again. That's right, now you too can ride all the bikes you dream about while leafing through the pages of Bike Magazine until your legs go numb on the can.
Weather permitting, All this years new bikes will be available for test rides, this Saturday from 9-12 at Lame-bert Park. Look for the Bike Peddler Box Van(of Death) at the Bowery, sign the release and take it for a spin.
Coincidentally this Saturday the group ride is going to be at Lame-bert Park too. I knooooooow.
We'll meet there at 9 and ride whatever bike you want, on whatever trail you want.
The following bikes are available for demo:
Cannondale Moto Alloy 4: 1 Med, 1 Large.
Cannondale Rize Alloy 3: 1 Med, 1 Large, 1 X-Large.
Cannondale Scalpel Carbon 2: 1 Med, 1 Large.
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er: 1 Med,1 Large,1 X-Large.
Specialized Enduro SL Expert: 1 Med,1 Large,1 X-Large
Specialized Safire FSR Elite(Women's):1Small,1 Med.
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Elite: 1 Med,1 Large,1 X-Large
And Yes. They will have that sexy new Santa Cruz Blur XC CARBON Size Large available. But you might need a note from your bishop, or maybe an interview after. Sinner.

Now This Is Happenin'

2009-04-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

You may or may not have noticed, but I have been dropping some subtle hints about THE FIRST ANNUAL BPW RACE SERIES.
First let me describe to you what you can win.
A fantastic, albeit not yet built, trophy.
Fabulous, albeit not yet negotiated, prizes from the Bike Peddler.
And I'm putting fifty bucks on it.
Now let me tell you how to win.
As a fat man, I do not like races where only the spandex clad, 0% body fat crowd are contendors. So, if you have been thinking about riding with us but were afraid that you wouldn't get your heart rate into zone 5, and you're past your base mile quota for the spring then this is not the race series for you.
If however you are either quickly adaptable, or man(or woman) enough to push someone over as they pass you, listen up.
There are going to be several races. The first of which will be April 22nd at Franks trail. Many of you may not have ridden Frank's. Neither have I(at least not since '98). That's why we're riding it next wednesday. Call it a pre-ride. Final details(# of laps,bonuses,etc.) will not be disclosed until race day. Each race will take place at a different venue, and have different rules.
Points will be accumulated for participation, podium finishes, and double secret pinky swear bonuses unique to each race. Possible examples include, finding the immunity idol on the trail(this will be equal to one point more than a first place finish), best crash(judges discretion), and best race kit(Speedo's will not be allowed). Knowlege of specific trails will be beneficial. Races will be announced at least one week in advance but details about individual races and bonuses will not be announced until the beginning of the race. If your the only one who shows up, you win!
Trophy and prize presentation will be at the Fall Barbecue Ride in October.
What if I don't want to race or act like an idiot?
Well, these races will be considered "drop" rides. While every other group ride is a "no-drop" ride, meaning someone will make sure that everyone makes it back to the truck/trailhead. On Race days, each rider is responsible for themselves. You are welcome to come and ride with us racing or no, and you might stumble across the idol and leap into the points lead!
Confused? Good. Come to the rides and all your questions will be answered. You might even find out where babies come from.
But wait, what about shop employees? I (Josh) am the only person ineligible for the trophy and the money. We have to find some way to make employees other than Riley come on the rides.
Now, go start training.

Josh And Riley's Excellent Adventure

2009-04-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

It just goes to show, you can't trust Kerry for trail condition reports.
Despite blizzard conditions on highway six, we made it to Price this morning. The drive got downright treacherous coming over Soldier Summit. And Riley almost started crying when he saw how much snow there was on the ground. But I rubbed his belly until we got into Helper and the weather started to break. And as we got closer to Price the ground cleared up even more. We pulled up to Fuzzy's at about 10:30 and met Fuzzy. Fuzzy is a cool guy. Pretty much what I expected after swapping comments on the Utah Mountain Biking Forum. Picture my buddy Matt Robinson with a pony tail and a pinstripe goatee. Really helpful and he even offered to share his breakfast burritos. He handed us a map, wished us luck and we were on our way.
The trailhead is literally 5-10 mins from Fuzzy's shop. A left, a right, a left, look for the pump jack and park. This was where we started riding Luke's. Here is where Kerry's crappy trail info comes in(He claimed they were a "muddy mess"). Even with all the weather, these trails are immaculate. Fuzzy had said there might be some puddles up high but not to worry about mud. I can't remember seeing even one puddle. The dirt is sandy. Really sandy. Beach on a mountain sandy. I can't even imagine them getting muddy. We saw two other guys just getting back to their car as we pulled up. These were the only other bikers we saw the whole day. Apparently the trails get ridden, just not on Saturday, or maybe when the weather sucks. Luke's is located on a mesa/plateau(whatever). As you may or may not remember from your Geology class, this means it is flat. Flat as hell. Flatter than the back of Kenny's head. I read somewhere that it has 650 ft of elevation gain. I think that is if you climb several trees along the way. But it does roll pretty good and it twists in and out of the trees keeping it interesting.
An interesting side note, Luke was Fuzzy's Dog. When they were building the trail, they pretty much just followed him around and cut trail. Luke passed away last year and is buried somewhere along the trail. Buster, Son of Luke, has taken the reigns as shop mascot.
As recommended we rode to the second entrance to Allen's Alley and rode it CCW. Honestly, I don't think direction of travel has much impact on the experience. Did I mention it was flat? You travel around the perimeter of this mesa so there are some cool rock formations and such.

Here Riley shows us an example of said Rock Formations. I talked him out of jumping.Once you get to the top of this section of Luke's you reach another pump jack. There are so many pump jacks around there I was half expecting to see Dick Cheney building a cabin there. This is where we missed one cool loop. Apparently fork left and you get to "The Bonus Loop" A playground type area with a bunch of features. We crossed the road to the Mead Connector. This is where things get a little less flat and a lot more fun. You roll up a wash and start to encounter natural and man-stacked "features". I have always been complimented on my man-stacked features. But these were good too. A lot of smooth up and overs to get past big rocks. There are a couple fence crossings that are just mashed down barb wire with rocks armoring it enough to get you over it. I am assured that all the points have been clipped off the barb wire. Eventually you come to this, Quite possibly the coolest trail marker I have ever seen. It's one of about a million little "totems"that are hung in trees and rocks, all along the trail. Dolls, cheese grater's, old skateboard decks, teddy bears, tin men, and action figures. Next time I'm going through the DI box before I go down so I can leave my mark.

From here we headed left (As the Cow Flies) out to Meads Rim. More rim riding and obstacles. We stayed on the trail to see where it goes. By this point we were kind of winging it. Just seeing where stuff went.

We eventually found the entrance to "Bomberella". Experts Only. Your not man enough. But we were. Bomberella is a triple dog dare of a trail. It pretty much just shoots straight down. Loose and gnarly. When we talked to Fuzzy he asked what we were riding and said we might not want to ride that. I took that to mean that he didn't figure we had enough bike/travel. I was wrong. He was talking head tube angle. For Bombarella, I would recommend approximately a 45 degree head angle. As my bike was slightly steeper than that, we settled for slamming our seats down and laying our bellies on them. This made for a few impacts with the groinal region but we made it. Okay, we Holder'd it, but we made it. Riley is either the stupidest, or most manly dude ever. Because he accidentally rode it with his ProPedal switch on. We actually stopped at the little saddle in the middle as it began to snow. Now we had to decide whether to let gravity take over, or haul our hinder's back up to the ridge. We didn't have any idea where this spine ended up so we chose the latter. We chalked it up to CX training for this fall. Remember how steep I said it was? Now picture pushing your bike back up that. We stayed on the rim until we found a deadfall blocking our way.

As weather conditions had changed dramatically............

We flipped around and headed back for the bones. This gave us a chance to ride down all the obstacles. There was a lot of "Let's go back and try that again" going on. We kept score on the obstacles, and final tally was 3 to 2. I forget who won.

Eventually this trickles out back onto the mesa, but now your on the east side. Flat again but a little more interesting to ride. You loop all the way back down and then get spit out at the parking lot for Luke's.

We missed the trails to the east which is where all the North Shore type stunts and long downhills are, but guess what.......

We're going back down for the first annual TrailFest May 1-3. There will be big group rides, a beer and brat fry, and live music at the after party. Plan on going down with us and you can check these trails out for yourself.
Correction: As usual I am way behind. Apparently they have been doing this Festival for awhile. Not the First Annual Trailfest, but probably the last one you can go to and say you were there before it blew up. Go Here to signup.

Eastern Promises

2009-03-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

"We're riding Saturday, okay no we're not, it's too cold. Oh wait, the sun came out, let's ride." Okay I know, sorry for all the back and forth. I suppose that's why not too many showed up. Luckily, I brought my son and nephew along to Eagle Mountain.
Riding Eagle Mountain Bike Park was a tactical maneuver because I figured, not only was it going to be cold, but there would be snow on higher less exposed trails(Corner Canyon). One of the cool things about EMBP is that it clears off quick and dries out before anything else. Rone Incorporated showed up with his neighbor and his neighbors kids. Ends up he is better than Brady or Grant on the jumps. Since they were on BMX I took my son and nephew up onto the Juniper trail.

Here,Owen(my son) demonstrates the bike handling skills he inherited from his father.

Here, he demonstrates his future blogging skills that he inherited from his mother.

This is a shot of the Juniper trail. It's fun, all the forks take you to either a stunt, or the opt out line.

Darren Garrett and Whatshisname from WAFTA were out there remodeling the pump track.

So, all things considered, a good day. Playing with my kid on the trails. I am a bit bothered by the fact that last week, I went out there with two high school kids and this week I went out there with two elementary school kids, but whatever.

Many of you know Kenny from the shop. He is very knowledgeable about eastern medicine and philosophy. He's very Zen. Earlier in the day I stopped at the shop and we were discussing the trail network that Fuzzy and the boys are building down in Price.You may or not be aware, that next week is LDS General Conference. And,as a member of the local dominant religion, I am being encouraged to watch the sessions, and attend the priesthood session. I am being reminded that Conference weekend is not a weekend "off" from church. I was facing a moral dilemma, because, I really want to go down to Price and check out the trails. Feeling conflicted and looking for guidance, I took my family to Won Won Wok in Saratoga Springs after the ride(Awesome Sushi,The Fantasy Roll is just that.). I opened my fortune cookie afterwards and I think I received my answer.

My Big Fat Mouth

2009-03-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

As I read back through the last few posts. I have realized something. About every other post somebody gets pissed at me.
Whether it's because I complain about them leaving me behind, or if I remember the first time I met them, or say they can't dirt jump. Somebody always gets the panties in a wad.
This creates a potential problem. You see, as an ambassador of good will for a commercial entity.(The Bike Peddler) I am tasked with putting a friendly face on. It is in their financial interest to have people smiley and happy after an experience with "the shop ride".
What then, happens if somebody comes on a ride and then is mocked afterward? In my mind, they chuckle heartily and shake their head and say to themselves...." He got me there." But what I am seeing more clearly is that what actually happens is, that person gets a knot in the pit of their stomach, and hatred begins to brew. They weep, they wail, they gnash their teeth. Frequently they begin to text me with things like "Ur a jerk! I hate you." Sometimes they leave a comment along the lines of "Take it easy, I was just playing around".
Either way, it usually means that they don't ride with me again anytime soon.
And therein lies the problem. If I keep offending those who come on the rides, it follows that soon there will be no one to go on the rides. And if no one goes on the rides, no one stops in at the shop to buy the necessities like tubes, and gu. And if no one stops in at the shop, then there isn't really a reason to have a group ride. And if there isn't a group ride, then I can't be the group ride leader. And if I can't be the group ride leader, then I don't get first pick of the stickers after Parrish gets back from Interbike. And if I don't get first pick of the stickers, then I don't have any reason to hang out at the shop like a groupie at a Whitesnake concert. And if I don't hang out at the shop then I have to come home and work on my basement.
And nobody wants that.
So if I make a joke about you on the blog, understand that it is just because I am a jerk. I always have been, it's something I really should get therapy for. And it keeps me off the meth. So really you should be glad to be made fun of in a sick way.
But please keep coming on the group rides. It's the only way I am gonna get that sweet NiteRider sticker I've had my eye on.

Where My Dogs At?

2009-03-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

48 hours notice and nobody showed up to go dig/ride Eagle Mountain. Honestly sometimes I don't know why I even try. Just kidding, I kind of figured, lazy jerks.

Luckily, things went kind of crappy for me anyway.Brady and Grant showed up. Which makes me look like that creepy guy in the neighborhood who likes to hang out with high school kids....."So,.......are you guys on MySpace? Awesome."

It ends up that the WAFTA contingent didn't exactly overwhelm neighborhood traffic out there either. I think there were about a dozen or so people out there. We did get the lower section of the Slopestyle course smoothed enough to ride though. And by we, I mean mostly them. I am a slacker.

And the jumps,..... now I want a Dirt Jump bike. Since I didn't bring the correct footwear, I borrowed Brady's bike with the flats and hit them up a couple times.

I know, it looks like Grant, but it's me,... really.

I keep being asked what they are like, and honestly before I rode them I thought they were huge. Upon further experience,.....they're not huge. If I can jump them, they aren't too big. I wasn't exactly pulling backflips, but if I would have been in shorts and something other than work boots, I know I would have at least cleared the tops. They are fun though, and once the slopestyle course gets done, I'll be spending a lot of time out there. There has been a little work done on the trail stuff up above, Justin Komoroski, and Colton Bridge showed us some nice steep berms, and a couple ladder drops. They looked like fun, wish I had different shoes.

But the best part of the day was Brady getting schooled on the jumps, I think the following video speaks for itself.

Disclaimer: Brady does not feel this accurately represents his skills. And now he says he hates me. Just FYI.

More Moab

2009-03-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Bill Heder sent me these photos he took on our trip. Good stuff.

I also posted them on the Facebook group. If you are on facebook the group is Bike Peddler Weekly. I will post ride information and events on it and we'll see how it goes. Maybe I'm just using this to jack up my friend count. Ryan has more than me and it bugs me.

Reviewed: Cannondale Rize 2

2009-03-18T20:00:00.001-07:00

I am trying to pretend I am a big time cycling journalist and that people care about what I think. For the purpouses of this post I will also pretend to be rich and good looking(instead of just ruggedly handsome). Also, people keep asking me what I thought of my new bike now that I have officially broken it in. By people, I mean Parrish, and Kenny. Nobody else seems to care. But Ryan said my Moab report was a lame post, so I am going to try to bring the funny this time.
First of all, on the advice of several people who have ridden them, the 2.1" Maxxis Rendez tires that came on the bike only made it as far as my driveway before I replaced them with Conti Mountain Kings. 2.2" in the back and 2.4" in the front. They are UST's with nice thick sidewalls.
Secondly, I had planned to trick the bike out with white Nokon housings. The housings got here before the bike did. Thing is, Nokon sends you approximately 8 and 1/2 inches of housing in your $100 kit, which was not nearly enough for the bike since the shifter housings are practically full length. The other purely bling upgrade I wanted was the white Juicy 5 brakes that were on the size medium bike on the sales floor at the shop. I guess I'll make do with the Elixir CR's. So basically other than putting on a quick release seat clamp, it's pretty much bone stock.
The first real ride was Friday's Slickrock night ride. I set out in the dark and before long realized that the rear suspension was too soft. As I was riding in the dark, after a three hour car ride and was only going two miles, I figured I'd just tough it out. I did however get to experience the Lefty Max fork. Is a Lefty really a fork? If you broke off all but one tine on a fork would it still be considered a fork? Certainly it doesn't meet the criteria for what motorcyclists refer to as "forks". I therefore am referring to it as a shock. Sorry to go all Seinfeld on you. I've got to say, it's smooth like buttah. Coming off of two seasons on an air fork/shock it's nice to be back on a coil. No stutters, or sticking at the beginning of the stroke and that killer, linear feel of a coil. I did miss having a travel adjustment on the fork. It will take some getting used to, not being able to drop the front end an inch or two at the base of a big climb.
I didn't get to do any real climbing until Saturday on Porcupine. And I discovered that locking out a fork to climb is the most unnecessary, waste of time in the world. The only thing you accomplish by doing this is making it so when you do hit the odd bump, it throws your front end up. On steeper climbs this throws you, ass over tea kettle. On less steep climbs it shakes you out of your "groove". The good thing, is that I realized I'm glad I didn't waste any extra money to get the PBR (Push Button.... something that starts with R) lockout.
With the rear shock sag setup correctly the bike feels good. It climbs okay without pro-pedal, and with pro-pedal on it's like climbing on a hardtail. Compared to Brand S's spike valve, I missed not having to think about the rear shock before a climb. Like Ron Popeel said, "Set it..... And Forget it!" I think with a little training, I'll be climbing as good as a fat guy can, and if it gets really sketchy, I can always reach down and flip the switch.
Now, about the downhill. The reason I chose the Rize is that when I rode the demo, it felt nimble, smaller, kind of like a BMX. You can't help but boost every little bump you see and whip the rear end in the air, just because you can. The fact that the rize is three pounds lighter than my last bike didn't hurt either. Coming down off of Porcupine was a kick in the pants. I was a little worried that I might regret having one less inch......of travel. What did you think I meant?
I wouldn't say I miss the extra inch(Hee-hee). But it was nice to have it there when you needed it. It's an even trade. The Rize is almost twitchy compared to my Enduro. Much better in the tight stuff. I was really happy with what I could do on the tight, choker type obstacles as you descend to the river on Porcupine. And I rode at least one drop that I couldn't have cleaned on a heavier bike. I rolled up to it too slow and had to kind of manual off it. It wasn't pretty but I made it. The Enduro would have dropped like a stone and I would have landed on my head.
All that quickness bit me once,... okay twice though. On a couple sections, I faked left, went right and ended up on the ground. Yes, there are scratches on that beautiful glossy finish now.
I liked scratching up the shops demo bikes a lot better. Even though I had to act like I felt all bad, at the end of the day, it was somebody else's bike getting scratched. And I managed to rip one of the grips. I officially recommend any new bike getting a set of lock-on grips before it leaves the shop. They are superior technology.
All in all, I'd say on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being craptastic, and 10 being pimpalicious. I'd give it a nine. (By comparison, my Enduro SL was a 9.01 when the suspension wasn't being repaired under warranty)
Okay, I guess it's pretty tough to bring the funny when your talking about an inanimate object. I need to have someone to make fun of if I want it to be interesting.
That's it, my next post is about how Parrish is a metrosexual, and Brady has a man-crush on him.

Moab Pics and Recap

2009-03-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

What a cool trip. Some things went as planned and some things didn't quite.

Things that went right:

The Friday night ride: We had a dozen or so people who started riding Slickrock Friday evening. Kenny, Kyle, Riley, and I were not among them however. As usual, we planned to leave at 3 and ended up leaving at 4:30. Luckily Ryan had driven down Thursday and was able to round everybody up and get things going without us. We actually went up and rode. We met up with them on their way back in. Ron and Randy Dailey were there with their homeade lights and they had left the rest of the group. We rode on, even though everyone else was done, it was a little tough, riding my new bike for the very first time, in the dark, on slickrock. Rather than piddle around with the suspension in the dark, I just rode along with a squishy rear end. I am somewhat experienced with a squishy rear end so it was no big deal. And yes, we busted out the glow sticks for a rave party night ride.

Porcupine Rim: We met up with the shuttle Saturday morning and they took us up to Lazy Man's trailhead. New Kenny and his friends had started at UPS earlier that morning, and the Dailey's and Ryan started from the main trailhead. We all made it to the top one way or another.

Amazingly we all reconnected at the overlook for the photo op. Then we made our way through the rest of the trail, without major bloodshed or mechanicals.

Dinner at La Hacienda: The concensus was that La Hacienda was the best food in Moab, that may or may not be true but it was pretty good after a day's ride. I recommend the Lobster Enchilada's. Ask Brady about the Ranch Burger.

Guitar Hero Challenge: Clint Anderson brought the Guitar Hero, and the challenge began. Numbers had fallen by Saturday night, in fact it was just Me,Kenny,Riley,Brady, and Clint. Let's just say I owe myself Breakfast at the Pancake Haus next time I go down there.

Things that went wrong.

Leaving on Time: Next year I'm going to ask Parrish to close the Shop at 10 am so we can be gone by 3pm

Riding Saturday Afternoon: Once we got done with Porcupine, they started dropping like flies. Nick and his buddy DJ Jared had to be back to put out fires, New Kenny and his buddies had to go be hardcore. And everyone in the Lizard Skins truck(Kyle,Kenny,Riley, and Me) was hearing the call of the hot tub. Ryan and Mark did take off with the ladies and go for a quick ride on Bar M I think, But mostly we just wanted to eat, and rest.

Riding Sovereign: As the makeup of the crowd started to change, I started to try to convince everyone that riding Sovereign was maybe not that important. There were people(Robert and Clint) who had never been to Moab, and hadn't ridden Slickrock. In truth, I suddenly had an irrational desire to ride it myself. So after all my lobbying, it was decided that we'd do Slickrock Sunday. Then Robert packed up the RV and headed home early while I was in the hot tub, and Clint decided to head home Sunday morning because he was all fun'd out. By Saturday night, everyone had pulled out except for Ron, Randy, Kyle, Kenny,Riley and me. So pretty much, it was just me that wanted to ride Slickrock. But everyone else was good sports and let me have my way.

Breakfast at Pancake Haus: Since I won the Guitar Hero tournament, I was the only one I was buying breakfast for, so I settled for the Continental Breakfast at the motel, so we could get a little quicker start on the ride.

All in all I had a blast. Thanks to everyone that came and rode with us. It's cool when things work out as well as they did.

If anyone has photos or anything send them to me and I'll post them. All my photo's are in my albums on Facebook if you want to see them.

Dateline Moab:

2009-03-14T17:01:00.001-07:00

If your not down here with us, your missing out.
Today we slayed Porcupine, Last night the Slickrock in the dark.
We're so cool.
Pictures when I get home.

Details, For The Last Time,....Again

2009-03-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

First off, the lights are in at the shop. I know a couple are already gone and a couple already have dibs, but they are in and ready to go to a good home.

Here is (another) brief rundown of this weekends itinerary:
Friday: Get there and get checked in, I talked to Clint Anderson today and he mentioned not being familiar with Moab. If this is the case for you, meet me in the hotel lobby at 7 pm and we'll head up to the Slickrock Trailhead. If you are meeting us at the trailhead, be there with your lights charged and ready to go at 8 pm.

Saturday: We will be at the Continental Breakfast of the Sleep Inn around 8:30 or so. I made a reservation with Porcupine Shuttle to pick us up at The Poison Spider bike shop at 10 am. Cost is going to be $10 a head cash. I had to reserve this with my credit card so if Ryan doesn't use the shuttle and wrecks the group discount for everyone you have my permission to slap the crap out of him. We'll ride from the main trailhead due to snow on the higher stuff. I am planning on this taking as little as a few hours, or as much as the whole day. I will be bringing up the rear because a: I am slow and fat. and b:because I want to make sure we don't lose anybody. If we finish with enough time for another ride we will head over to Amasa Back.
Saturday evening I would like to get together for dinner. Location TBD. Then back to the Sleep Inn for some Guitar Hero if your cool.

Sunday: After we get all checked out, I am buying the winner of the Guitar Hero Challenge, breakfast at the Pancake Haus in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn. I don't care if you don't like the Pancake Haus, it's what I do when I go to Moab. Then we will ride Sovereign. I have never ridden Sovereign so I don't know what to expect time wise, but after the ride, we'll hug, wipe our tears, and head for home.

Provided I have cell phone service in Moab, you can reach me at 801-671-8399 if you can't find us or need information while we are down there.

NOTICE: I will have copies of the Utah Velo Club Assumption of Risk Waiver. Everyone riding with us on any of the rides will be asked to sign one. I figure the easiest way is to have everyone sign it, regardless of whether or not they have done it online. That way nobody gets sued. Especially me.

Bike Swap......Bike Shop, Whatever.

2009-03-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

I headed up to the State Fairpark this morning for the Big Bike Swap today. I have seen the signs come up every year and meant to go, but I've never made it. So, since I didn't have anything going on today I took my oldest boy and checked it out.

Now, I have been to exactly one swap meet in my life. It was a scroungy, dirty affair with, acres of garbage for sale at a slight discount that most often didn't cover even the cost of entry. And so that is what I was kind of hoping for,....a bike culture version of that.

What it ended up being was four or five Salt Lake area Bike Shops with truckloads of last years model bikes, and racks of XS,S,XL,XXL, and womens bike clothes. There were a couple of tables of independent guys with old Campy parts, and used tools. And three tables for clubs pimping their charity centuries. Bonneville Bike Club gets credit for handing out free Bandana's promoting their Little Red Riding Hood ride. Don't tell my son it's a women's only thing. He was just happy to get a free bandana.

I was hoping to find some parts for the cyclocross frame I bought awhile back. All I found was a pair of used tubular cross tires. I passed.

The only way I could salvage the trip I thought was to find primetime and take advantage of his bailout plan. If you don't know who he is, let me tell you about him.

I met Primetime/Sly Fox/Bike Husla on the 2nd annual Bike Peddler Spring Trip to Fruita. Matt Ohran, the Cannondale Rep brought him along. At the time Primetime was sponsored by Cannondale and was apparently pretty fast. We didn't meet him the first night we were there because he was holed up in Ohran's room talking trash about us on his blog. I couldn't find it in his archives, but he was making fun of us because we all jumped on our bikes to go rally downtown Fruita(not a helluva lot else to do in Fruita at night). If I remember right he made a crack about us ".....jumping curbs on six inch bikes."

The next day we all headed up to the 18 Road stuff. He jumped out of the Oh-van (with techno music pounding on the stereo)in a full team kit, no helmet, no granny ring, no water bottles. And didn't have much to say.

Here is my first encounter with him.

He spent the day out in front. Way out in front. You might say, he didn't ride with us. When we came to the fork he and a couple others took off toward Joe's Ridge and that was the last we saw of him that day. We all went to dinner that night but he wouldn't go with us.

So the next day we headed over to the Loma/Mack area to catch Troy Bilt or Lion's maybe,on our way out of town.

We started riding and of course he's out in front again, you gotta give it to him he was strong. But then Parrish got pissed. Now I am about to do something I don't do very often on this blog, compliment somebody. Parrish rides his bike precisely twice a year. The spring trip and one club ride. But he can throw down anytime. So with Primtime as his rabbit, and 1% body fat, Parrish pulls out and will not let him get away. I wouldn't say Parrish dropped him, but he definitely went crank for crank with him.

Up until a few months ago, that is all I knew of the silent racer. Then I hit a link on Kanyon Kris's blog and realized it was his. The weird thing that happened is that now I think he's cool. He is the self-proclaimed #1 cyclocross fan.

And he passes out money. At races,.. while he's in races,.. after his races, if you ask him for it at the Bike Swap. I don't understand it but he gets a huge jolly out of handing out money. Somebody told me once that he sold everything he owned just to see what he could get out of it. I don't think he races much anymore(his body-type is a little closer to mine now) but he is at the races, and he is all about bikes. I think that's all he does for a living is buy and sell bike gear on the internet and at swap meets. And his blog is pretty interesting if you remember to click off the techno music that pops up as soon as his page comes up.

I ended up buying three jerseys for thirty bucks($25 if you count the $5 he gave my kid) and that was all I could find that I wanted. I was a little disappointed with the Bike Swap but I'll proabably go again next year.

Moab Light Special!

2009-03-05T17:19:00.001-08:00

I just left the shop and Parrish ordered a limited number of lights for BikePeddlerWeekly members at a special discount. The deal is good if you mention the blog, but it's better if your going to Moab with us.
Mi-Newt Mini: Reg Price $100, Josh sent me price $90, Moab Price $80!

Mi-Newt Plus: Reg Price $130, Josh sent me price $115, Moab Price $100!

Mi-Next X2 System: Reg Price $210, Josh sent me price $185, Moab Price $165!

Make sure you mention the blog for the discount and be able to prove your going to Moab for the Moab price.(They are renting a Polygraph machine) And once they are gone, they're gone so act quickly.
This is a good time to pick up a light if you don't already have one for the trip, and we are already planning more night rides for this season so there will definitely be many more chances to use them.

Apostasy

2009-02-26T13:46:00.001-08:00

Brothers and Sisters,

I feel that in the spirit of honesty it is time that I came clean with something.

First you must understand that I was not raised a member, and by member I mean Specialized rider. My first mountain bike, was a fully rigid aluminum behemoth. A Giant, both in brand, and in size. It's 21" frame towering over my friends bikes and making me stick out like some sort of freak. I guess I was a little embarrassed, and that's what made me look for something to grasp onto. Something more, ya know?

After many years of toiling and searching I finally found hope in the big red "S". It was as though all my questions were being answered. As I began to take the discussions. Beginning with "the first horst-link" and moving on through "FSR-together forever". I began to feel a stronger and stronger impression that I should become a member. And so, after much personal searching, I took the plunge, and on February 17th 2001, Specialized and I joined together, for what I thought was time, and all eternity.

Those early years were blissful, I was quickly becoming indoctrinated. I soon wanted my family to find what I had found and be happy. Soon there were Specialized bikes of all shapes and sizes, a road bike, a 20" mountain bike for my son, a women's model for my wife, a Hotwalk for my baby girl, a fixie, and a BMX.

Stickers,posters,T-shirts, a banner out in the shed. I was becoming not only a model citizen of the Big Red S army, but one of it's strongest advocates. Preaching to my friends and anyone who would listen about how much it had meant to my life. "What do you know about the Big Red S,....would you like to know more?" But soon, I began to have feelings of doubt. I had grown to dislike,no, hate other brands. I didn't just not want to own other brands, I didn't even want to swing my leg over one.

Then it happened, I bought a new Specialized. It was not just a Spesh frame, but Spesh brand suspension, I worried I might be getting in too deep. First, I was delirious. A whole new happiness washed over me, but then came the first problem with the fork. A minor oil leak, nothing to worry about. Handled under warranty and in quick fashion. But then another problem, this time a clunk at the top of the rebound. Once again handled under warranty, but now I had a small seed of doubt.

It is important to remember that a small seed is all it takes. I began to speak against Specialized, and read anti-Specialized literature. Soon I was secretly swinging my leg over other brands, not just a few but every other brand. Months later, I sold my soul,.....I mean mountain bike and was test riding nearly every weekend. I once rode two different bikes on the the same day,on the same trail! I was out of control. My friends and family could sense a change in me. I was no longer the same person. Big travel, cross country,all-mountain bikes. I was lost in a blur.By now I was too ashamed to even test any Specialized bikes. I began to feel like they didn't want me around. The irony is, that now I am the only non-member in my family. And then it happened, I rode a bike with slightly less travel than I was used to, but it felt good. Fast and responsive, and light. It weighed three pounds less than any other bike I had ever ridden. And to add to my shame,.......It was a Cannondale.The very brand I had sworn I would never become...I mean ride. I had to have it.

It may mean that I will never again be able to be a member of the Specialized family. It's not something I went looking for, it just sort of happened.

I am told the Bike Shop is not a museum for perfect riders, it's a hospital for sinners. Or something like that. So some day I may return and change my ways. But for now I am on the outside looking in......On a tuned carbon front triangle, with five inches of travel baby.

D.F.L.

2009-02-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I told you about how I was fat and had to ride with Aaron who is skinny. Happened again today, okay technically I only rode with Matt,.....I mean Aaron, from the Smith's parking lot in Saratoga Springs to the stoplight just outside said parking lot. You see, our friends the roadies that we all met on our Fall Barbecue ride showed up in their fancy full kits,(Castelli this time, not Assos, times are tough for everyone.) So Matt,....I mean Aaron, had to make a good show. And I didn't feel confrontational as I was wondering if I was going to survive this ride in my current condition.(See image below). They paid me no mind as I was on an aluminum bike.

That's cool, right? There were almost forty other people there, certainly I can find somebody to swap wheels with.

We had joined the Utah Velo Club for their annual "Sometime in February ride to Vernon".

It is important to preface this report with the fact that, yes, I am still thirty pounds overweight. And for some reason I chose to ride from my house in American Fork to Saratoga Springs where we would begin this 88 mile(or less as I later found out) ride. This only added a total of 14 miles but, as I said, thirty pounds over weight.

So we started riding and immediately things went wrong, a bit ahead of me in the pack, some dude plowed into an orange construction barrel, taking down another dude and causing widespread panic. Some of us regained our composure and refocused, others of us, like Matt,....I mean Aaron, surged ahead taking the opportunity to put the smack down on those of us on,gasp! aluminum bikes. No worries, I settled into a groove with Paul Zimmerman and we talked while we rode. We were about ten minutes behind the carbon fiber crowd and about five minutes in front of the Desperate Housewives club who had brought their own Sag Wagon and did not intend on riding the whole way.

We caught them at the Cedar Fort Store and chatted for about 13 seconds before they all apparently heard an inaudible starting gun and charged out onto the highway. I thought my new friend Paul was with them, so I jumped as well, to try and catch up. I got on their tail for the long downhill heading into Fairfield. Which is precisely how long I stayed with them. As soon as the road pointed up, I fell off the back and rode alone until Faust. Where Paul caught me, and we stayed together into Vernon.

Now if you've never been to Vernon, it is a one horse town with precisely one commercial building. A tiny little store with a cafe inside. We pulled up and the Carbon Fiber Crowd were all discussing vertical compliance, lateral rigidity, and lactate thresholds. Apparently when you crest the $5K mark on a road bike you gain the ability to lactate.

Now this store has a dirt parking lot. Which is currently a mud parking lot. I briefly noticed a few people walking on their heels but thought nothing of it. I am used to mountain bike pedals and haven't worried about muddy cleats for better than ten years. The carbon fiber crowd again,suddenly, all looked the same direction and jumped on their bikes. Strangely all the dogs in Vernon began howling. I figured there was no point trying to keep up with them and Matt,.....I mean Aaron. So I waited for Paul and the other slow pokes like me. The number of riders had dwindled by this point to maybe twenty. A lot of people turning around early for one reason or another. Then all of us slow pokes heard a cow moo and figured that was as good a starting gun as any so we set out.

Here is where things went south. My speedplay cleats had a little mud in them. This rendered them impossible to clip into. I quickly dismounted and sluiced them out with my water bottle. They looked clean so I tried to start again. Still can't get in. I pedaled for a bit to hopefully catch the other slow pokes and get them to wait but kept slipping off the tiny little pedals.

Et Tu Paul Zimmerman?

So I pulled off again. It took me a good three tries and twenty three minutes to get both of my pedals to clip in.

Now by this time, it was me and the cows in Vernon. The Sag Wagon stopped, but I told her to go ahead as soon as I got clipped in. And so began my lonely saga back home. I never saw another rider until the Sag Wagon circled back with a couple people who had thrown their hands in the air.

But not me.

I defiantly waved them on and trudged along at a blistering 14 miles an hour. I stopped three times for cramps and took an extended break when I got back to the Cedar Fort store.

I remember an episode of Webster where he ran a charity 10K and even though it was dark, and Ma'am and George told him he could stop, he trudged on. He finished long after the cheering crowds were gone, long after the post-run party, but he finished.

Call me Emmanuel.

A mere seven and a half hours after I left my house, I finished. The kick in the balls is that I didn't even get to do a hundred miles. I came in at 95. I was tempted to circle the block for five miles but didn't feel like I had it in me. Then dejected, tired, and sore. I walked in and my wife said "Where the hell have you been?!" Thanks for your concern honey. Your no Ma'am and George.(Just kidding, she called me and I ignored the phone because I thought it was Matt,...I mean Aaron.)

Split A Room?

2009-02-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

Nick Blackburn sent me an email. It seems he has reserved a room but will only be using it Friday-Saturday. If somebody is coming down on Saturday and staying til Sunday you could take his second night and split the cost.
If this interests anybody, send me an email and I'll put you in touch with Nick.

Fourth Annual Bike Peddler Spring Trip

2009-02-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the plan, we are going to stay at the Sleep Inn. And we have ten rooms. They have a hot tub and a continental breakfast. Hopefully you got the email with details about getting one of the rooms reserved. If not, send me an email (peddlermtnrides@gmail.com)
I am getting a lot of questions about where we are planning to ride. We do not have everything set in stone yet, and are open to suggestions. It ends up, that everyone has things they love and hate about Moab. So we will try to make most people happy possible. But mostly me.
Here are some random details.
You are responsible to get your own butt and bike down there. The shop will be closing early (4 pm) on Friday the 13th and be closed Saturday the 14th. So the guys from the shop won't be there until Friday evening sometime.
We would like to do a night ride Friday so bring your lights. The practice loop on Slickrock has been suggested. If you have Friday off and want to head down earlier and catch a couple rides before the rest of us get down there that's cool, because, how could we stop you?
Once we all get down there, we can carpool to get everybody and their bikes where they need to go. We will do a longer ride Saturday(like Porcupine) and if there is time after we'll catch some of the shorter rides near town(Amasa Back?).
Generally we like to get together for dinner Saturday night. The bad news is, I called The Branding Iron and they don't have saturday night karaoke anymore. I was crushed.
Sunday will be either a half day ride so we can head home by lunch, or a bigger ride and head home by dinner. We'll play Sunday by ear to see how weather, bikes , and old fat guys like me are holding up.
I would love as much input as possible so leave a comment or send me an email and we'll talk about it. But most importantly get your room reserved!
Oh, and if your an isolationist and don't want to stay in the same hotel with us you are welcome to make your own arrangements and just hook up with us for the rides. And if you don't want to ride with us,.....Then why are you going?

It's Cold, and I'm Fat

2009-01-31T15:21:00.000-08:00

I used to think I was a hardcore, ride all winter kind of guy. See, here's the proof. Note the frozen snotsicle. But, this winter I have slacked. In fact, I haven't been on any bike since before Christmas. And I haven't been on a road bike since Labor Day and Stan's First Annual Labor Day Century. So, In the meantime I have been porking it up. I am officially twenty pounds overweight,.... okay thirty.
And I have actively been avoiding invitations to ride. Mostly from Aaron Luck. Who is a jerk, and rides every day, and weighs 150 lbs minus a spleen. So I finally caved in. Only because he said other old fat guys were coming. He lied. It was him and Matt Bright. Matt's another skinny dude that rides constantly. He spent some time in Belgium on a pro team. Just ask him he'll tell you. Then he'll tell you what you should be doing to be fast like him. He was visibly unhappy with having to take it slow for the fat dude.
These two are going on about how today is strictly a Zone 2 ride. Zone 2? I have one zone....Mountain Standard. Luckily it was a flat ride. The only hill we even climbed was from University Ave up to 800 North. But good Lord I am out of shape. I think I clocked in around 35 miles. This is roughly the same distance as the Tues and Thurs night rides that the Velo Club does in the summer. Not that I have ever killed it on those rides either, but by the time we got back to American Fork I was done.
The moral of the story is........
I'm not doing the Frozen Hog this year. So bite me.
The second moral of the story is.......
It's time to sit on the trainer a few nights a week.
The third moral of the story is......
I may need to rethink making the Bacon Explosion for the Super Bowl tomorrow.

We're Hammering Down The Prices

2009-01-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

Ryan, a.k.a. Little Ry(Riley is big Ry),a.k.a. "The Zoob With The Tude", has fasted and prayed about it, and he and John J. Fofonov have decided to drop the price of the Hammerschmidt/Turner bike to $3000. This is a 25% savings over the original asking price. And, if you act now, they'll throw in a custom pair of Lizard Skins knee pads. At least I think they should. If not knee pads, maybe John J. Fofonov will give you a neck rub. Or Little Ry will help you with your homework.
All things considered this is a killer price. If you consider that the cost of the build would be well over $6000. It's a nice bike. Go take it for a spin. Stop by the shop or call Ryan @801-310-7133
Remember: Hammerschmidt means blacksmith in German.

Facebook?

2009-01-26T18:29:00.001-08:00

You probably got the email from Stan about trying Facebook for the Roadies. I have had a few people mention that it would be easier or better for one reason or another.

I don't know what the specific advantages are. It seems like the best thing would be that people could "hook-up" in the non-coital sense to ride together outside of scheduled rides.

I have personally held the belief that Facebook was for lonely teenagers, Desperate Housewives, and people who eventually end up on To Catch A Predator ala "I was just here to warn her about how dangerous it is to meet up with guys she meets on the internet." You know, pedophiles.

Admittedly, Stan has a lot more people to connect with. And a lot more people who ride with him. Not that I'm jealous.

These little polls haven't shown much in the way of interest but if you check this blog for updates like I wish more people would, leave a comment if you want to try it. I don't have a facebook account, but the guy in the van that hangs out by the playground down the road said he'd show me how if I wanted to come over to his place.*She's not the pedophile. But she did date Skyler for awhile, so she probably has flawed judgement.

Stop,..Hammer Time a.k.a.Shift For Brains

2009-01-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

I just rode the new coolest thing ever.
A few months ago, Ryan from the shop, and John J. Fofonov(pseudonym) cooperatively won a drawing at Interbike for a Turner RFX outfitted with Truvativ/SRAM's new Hammerschmidt Technology. It finally showed up and I got to ride it before some jerk buys it off of them.

For those who don't know what it is, Hammerschmidt is a new way of shifting gears in the front. And, hold your hotdogs, it does it without a front derailleur. I know, right?! The theory is a lot like an internally geared rear hub. It uses a planetary gear, which means that it is able to let the chainring spin at the same RPM as the the cranks, a 1:1 ratio. Or spin faster than the cranks, a 1:1.6 ratio. They call this overdrive.

This equals out to the equivalent of 22/36 double ring setup, or 24/38 depending on which of the two models you buy.

This is all well and good but what ,you might ask, is to be gained through all this? Well for one, you automatically become the coolest one on any given trail. And secondly, you don't have to think about when you can shift. You can shift while you are pedaling, you can shift while you are coasting, you can shift standing still, you can shift while your bike is on the roof rack, and be in the gear ready to go when you start pedaling again.

Now you might be wondering, how does it ride? And my answer is: beautifully. It is magical. Shifting is instantaneous. The second you click the shifter the gear ratio changes. No lag time at all. I took the bike into the parking lot and played with it. I intentionally grabbed the smallest cog in the back and then shifted out of overdrive with a lot of tension on the chain. The ratio changed so quick I had the sensation of a breaking chain, until I realized that it was still there and still turning the wheel. Shifting back into overdrive was just as slick.

Imagine this scenario: Your cruising down a smooth fast downhill, like the one after the big climb on the Tibble Fork Trail and then you come to that wicked little switchback about a hundred feet before the four way. You know the one. The one you always forget about until you've scrubbed all your speed trying to keep from overshooting it, then have to stand up and mash because your in the smallest cog and the big ring from the downhill. You can't shift because the chain is under too much tension. Now you can. The other cool thing is that the chain doesn't move to the left or right at all up front. It is set up right in the middle of the cassette so you have all nine gears in either setting.

Right now, it's targeted more for the gravity set, they have an all mountain version, and a freeride version. And there is a small weight penalty. By the time you subtract the weight of a derailleur and some chain it comes out to about 80 grams, which is respectable. And your bike needs to have chain guide mounting holes.

However, I happen to know where you can buy a medium Turner RFX that's already setup with one.

Hint: 24 E Main , American Fork Talk to Ryan. Tell him I sent you and he owes me.

Training

2009-01-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

I'm getting stoked about the Frozen Hog.
Here is some footage of my training regimen.

Auld Lang Syne

2009-01-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.
The last few days of 2008 sucked for me. Lets just say that I spent at least three(so far) of my eight days off, dealing with crap. Specifically, crap breaking. On one day I had multiple plumbing leaks,a dead car battery, a computer meltdown(of the catastrophic virus infection variety), a flat tire, and now I have discovered the heater core in my wifes car is leaking.
Fan-frickin-tastic.
To top it all off, the poll ended and I suspect that hackers,(specifically Ryan and Brady) have intentionally swayed the voting for where to go on the spring trip. I'm just saying that a last minute surge of voting turned a few vote spread in favor of Moab, into a resounding win for Fruita.
As stated, this was a non-binding resolution however but it's good to know what people think.
Personally, I voted for Moab.
My reason is basically that I haven't been there in a few years. And I have been to Fruita at least once for each of the past five years. Don't get me wrong, I like Fruita. It is just that I started going there because I was getting burned out on Moab. Now I have gone too far the other way. Also, in all the years I have been going to Moab, there are a few must ride trails that I have never ridden(Sovereign, Behind the Rocks, etc.). I know, this sounds like a personal problem. But, you haven't lived until you've sung Karaoke at the Branding Iron in Moab. It's a Cowboy themed restaurant with a bar. And nobody takes karaoke more seriously than drunk cowboys. I would like to open the floor for discussion. I want to hear from people who are likely to go about why they want to go to one or the other. I have made my case now make yours.

Freebird

2008-12-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

It's a Christmas miracle! Okay, it's a bird, but you know, tis the season.

Coolest stray ever.

2008-12-23T19:41:00.001-08:00

I came home tonight and fired up the snowblower to clear out the driveway where the snowplow buried us. And as I went towards it I saw something sitting there. As I got closer it jumped a little. But when I shut it down and walked over to it I was able to pick the bird up. I thought it was a robin or something but when I got a good look at it, I realized it was some kind of falcon. Since I am stupid I thought it was a peregrine, after a little research I found out it was a kestrel. It has a bare, bruised patch on it's breast but it's wings seem fine. I brought it in the house and made a few phone calls, people who know said it was likely dehydrated and told me to use a dropper to give it water. I borrowed a cat carrier from my Mom and it's starting to perk up. When I took these pictures it wouldn't move at all. It didn't even hold it's head up. Now it fights me a little when I take it out to give it more water. I'm going to keep it here overnight and if it seems healthy in the morning I'll let it go. If not I'll take it somewhere that can take care of it.
Cool huh!?

Spring Trip

2008-12-17T06:10:00.001-08:00

It's time to start thinking about the spring trip. Mostly because I am cold and want to be warm. You may have noticed the poll to the left here. Be sure to vote where you would like to go. This is a non-binding resolution however so we may just end up going where I want to go. I won't taint the results by saying where that is just yet.
There is a box marked "other" and I notice it got at least one vote. Please use the comment section to describe where "other" might be. If it sounds good we will consider it to be the "other" option. Keep in mind this will be an early spring trip, so it should be somewhere warm, and realistic. (Kauai is not realistic)
Here are some pictures of past trips.

Puking At A Race, And Holding Up A Shovel

2008-12-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

I went and had Riley (and others) spank me at the last cyclocross points race of the season this morning. I was feeling saucy from beating Riley by a nose hair last week so I was going to see if I could do it again. It ended up I couldn't. I don't know if it was the new course, or if my fitness has fallen off that badly in the past week. But I was toast! Searing chest pain,drooling,snotty, delirious, puke in the parking lot after the race, hurting. Yes, I did puke in the parking lot.

To add insult to injury, I was full of advice for Kris before the race, then on the third lap he ran past me on the run up. Don't ever believe him when he talks about how he's slow. He rocked better than half of the C flight on his full-suspension mountain bike. And now, I have to dislike him forever for beating me. Which is tough since he's such a cool guy.

And as a point of order Riley got 17th. We count this as 2nd because Matt Ohran, the race organizer, says that the top fifteen in the C flight are sandbagging. I'll take his word for it because that makes me feel better. Ryan came in respectably at 33 which is impressive since he had a bad case of "I bought a singlespeed cross bike". But, when I got home, waiting on the front porch was this......Now all I have to do is get it built before Jan 3.

After the race, I hustled out to the Eagle Mountain Bike Park to help with their work day. I'm not gonna lie.....I was the only BPW guy out there. So much for me thinking I have any organizational skills. But man that place is coming together. I spent the day with Darren Garrett working on the jump track. I did a lot of B.S.ing and Darren did a lot of work. Between he and I and a bunch of my old neighbor kids(from when I lived out there) we got 2 or 3 of the jumps shaped and dug out. There was a Bobcat out there piling up the dirt.......

Then we shaped them by hand to create three different levels. One for little kids and me, one for people with some level of skills, and one for the gonzo hardcore dudes. There are some big lips out there. You've got a bike. Do you ever take it off any sweet jumps? Luckeeeeeee.

Eagle Mountain Bike Park/Trails

2008-12-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

This Saturday we're going back out to Eagle Mountain to work on the Bike Park. I will be a little late so we'll just meet out there for some work, and then a little riding. If anybody would like to carpool, use the comment section to communicate or shoot me an email and I'll try to help everyone get connected.

Debate Cancelled Due To Lack Of Interest

2008-11-30T16:26:00.001-08:00

Okay,
I guess nobody cares about the Moab trail issue.
Sorry Laron.

Drill Baby,Drill (Or Not)

2008-11-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have been following the debate over land use down in Moab. Laron McGrew who is a member of the club and a good guy sent me an email about the issue. It is as Follows:
Josh
Can you forward on this message to all of the MTB's out there? I came across this issue two days ago on MTBR.com. ....................... To sum it up....It appears that some of the drilling leases that are up for consideration could potentially impact some great rides in Moab. Namely....Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back and Bartlett Wash. I'm not sure how the drilling leases will affect the aforementioned epic rides but I would hate to lose the opportunity to ride them. We need to voice our concerns to the BLM before the deadline of Dec 3rd. IMBA has made up a form that can either be faxed or mailed to the BLM before the deadline. I agree with Stan that energy exploration is vital to our future and that biking and energy exploration can co-exist. However, I don't agree with his approach. If we don't voice our concerns to the BLM, how will they know that these trails are important to the Mountain Biking community? It's very similar to Stan's continued endorsement to voice opinions to UDOT about their Corridor expansion and the addition of safe biking lanes. The only difference is that we are discussing access to trails to the BLM instead of UDOT. The important thing is to let the BLM know that we are concerned!
Thanks Laron
I also received an email from Stan Swallow regarding the issue. He has a little different view:
Hi Josh,
Since you run the MTB portion of the club I'm going to pass this message on to you for distribution if you would like to. I do not endorse the position of IMBA on this issue and believe that energy exploration and continued use by mountain bikers can co-exist without significant conflict. If you want to forward the message it is fine with me. It is your call.
Regards,Stan
Obviously there are two sides to this debate and I feel like I am getting into the fray pretty late. There has been a lengthy discussion about it on UtahMountainBiking.com.
I would encourage everybody to do the research and decide for themselves. I have not decided where I come down on it just yet.
There is a deadline for input to the BLM of Dec 3(this coming Wednesday). Here is a link to IMBA's form if you agree with them. If anybody else can provide a link to the opposing sides argument, I would be happy to add it to this post. I would also love to get some comments to find out how members of our group feel about it.

Torn Between Two Lovers

2008-11-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

So I have been gathering aluminum cans and saving my allowance for a new bike. I'm pretty sure I know what I want and how much it's going to cost. I was/am a week or two from pulling the trigger.
Then this damn cyclocross thing happened.
It's like I was cruising along just fine being addicted to prescription pain pills then all the sudden somebody introduced me to black tar heroin. I didn't get the same charge of addiction when I started road biking. Sure it was fun, but not sell your kids on the adoption black market to get a new bike fun. In fact, I have very little desire to upgrade my laughably cheap and outdated road bike any time soon.
But cyclocross,........oh sweet, pure, exhilirating cyclocross. It's like all the best parts of mountain biking with the added fun of unrideable sections and 40-60 other people chasing you down.
I feel like in the interest of full disclosure I should mention here that I am by no means setting the cross(that's what us cool kids call it) world on fire. Finishing firmly in the final third of the "C" category pack in both races hardly means I'll have sponsors beating down my door trying to drag me to Belgium any time soon. But after the first race I knew I needed to buy a cross bike.
You see, like a dealer giving you your first "taste" free to get you addicted,Ethan at Timp Cyclery has been maintaining a small fleet of cross bikes for people to demo at the races. These are the bikes I have ridden both times, and they are good bikes. They feel right. I never thought that a bike with skinny tires and drop bars could feel comfortable on dirt,...or mud for that matter.
My first inclination was to jump on ebay and try to pick something up cheap. Easier said than done. Ebay has become a wasteland of Buy It Now's and snipers who outbid you by a buck at the last second. Then I talked to Ethan about buying one of the demo's after the season was over. I could get a good deal on a bike I already know I like.
The problem is twofold. This would put a serious dent in my mountain bike budget. And the cross season will be over. So it will be almost a year before I actually get to use it. And I won't be able to afford the mountain bike I want. At least for now. I could get a lower level of the same bike that I was going to buy and still get the cross bike. Or I could spend the next year frankenbiking together a cross bike for next season. A quick check of my credit history shows that I have a problem with delayed gratification and waiting until I can actually afford all the shiny things my heart desires. Darn kids and their"I'm hungry, I need new shoes..", big babies.
Oooh the torment! As with drug culture, it's not so much the damage that the drugs do to the individual but the incentive to commit crimes by the poor who cannot afford them that are the detriment to society.
Any thoughts on what I should do?
Or even better, anybody got a 54 cm cross bike for sale cheap?

Things to do on a Saturday

2008-11-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

So, the weather has taken a turn and attendance has wained. This by no means signals the end of the group ride.
If you have been keeping track there are two Saturday activities that are wholeheartedly endorsed by the shop, the club, and me.

Saturday option #1:
Each Saturday morning,(weather permitting) Cougar Hall and Darren Garrett meet at the Eagle Mountain Bike Park. Things get rolling around 8:30 and there are tools available. If you have your own picks,shovels,rakes etc. Bring 'em. There are a lot of cool things going on out there and as a whole, I think we want to be part of it. You can probably score a guided tour of the trails that have already been built if you suck up to Cougar.

Saturday option #2:
Hike up your skirt and go do a Cyclocross race. There are a few races left this season and I speak from experience when I say that it is a blast. The races start at 9:30 am(weather be damned) You can ride any bike, it doesn't necessarily need to be cross specific. I recommend the lightest thing you can find and the skinniest knobby tires available. You can register early at http://www.utahcyclocross.com/schedule.html and save yourself five bucks. You need to buy a number for your first race which costs $10 and is good for the rest of the season. If you have a low center of gravity(i.e. a gut like mine) I recommend you enter the "C" category. It is an awesome community and as much fun as you can have without laughing right out loud.. I bought a new cowbell for this weekends race. I am so excited.

More Cross Pics

2008-11-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Our professional photographer Beth was a little slow getting these pictures to me but Riley wanted to be famous for his cross skills. Here are some more pictures

Also, this just in, if you happen to check the results on Utahcyclocross.com You may notice that I beat Riley and Ryan. This is because our numbers(Riley and mine) got switched in the pits before the race. Of the three of us, I was the slowest. There,.....I'm glad that's off my chest.