therapy

Can I call it a road ride?

Playing on the rocks

The late day sun shines on Estes

Sending out and S O S

For some reason here, the Police tune popped into my head. If there is intelligent life out there, would it be intelligent enough to avoid contact with us?

I bypassed Hygiene via a very nice dirt road that took me face to face into Longmont Suburbia. Ack, where once was fields of grass and ranches is all now mansion farms. I think I noticed one that wasn't quite beige. I quickly escaped back to the west, into the foothills and more dirt roads. It was darn near all dirt back to Lyons. The ride reminded me of many rides back in the midwest. Mmmm, good.

I got out for a little road ride tonight. I wasn't feeling like dealing with traffic, though, so I took the cross bike out. I stuck to some not often travelled roads, both paved and dirt. Tonight was a plains and foothills ride. This is looking east down the road to Hygiene.

Fear & Loathing in Aspen

August 22nd was the first Super-D race of my career at the Blast the Mass race in Snowmass. The Lemans Style group start was tricky & I made the rookie mistake of allowing a rider in between myself &eventual winner Mike West. Once we headed into the initial single-track section it was a long & frustrating ride behind this individual as Mike rode away from us without even having to pedal. While he was overshooting switchback turns and then cutting me off I eventually threw it in on him & he again cut me off putting me down & allowing another rider to get by both of us. Now sitting in 4th I finally made it around my kryptonite friend & started tracking down the 2nd place rider. After a frustrating race I took a chance near the end to pass on a loose corner trying to grab 2nd place but ended up laying the bike down in pea gravel again. The race did not go as planned but the Snowmass area has much improved the amount of trails on the hill since last time I had been there. I had a lift ticket for the Super-D so all in all I had a good time riding the hill. The bigger Blast at the Mass was the thrill of watching Hunter S Thompson’s final ride as his ashes were sprayed over the area via fireworks shot out of a cannon. From my campsite I was able to view the spotlights and fireworks as they light up the evening sky going off from his mortal home in Aspen as he had requested. Goodbye Gonzo!

FOR SALE - Specialized S-Works Epic FSR

Hello all, Dave has been gracious enough to allow me to post my Specialized S-Works Epic FSR that's for sale - Thanks Dave! Please call to swing by & check out the bike, or email chadmelis@hotmail.com for additional pictures, the more you see the more you'll like!

It's a Black Anodized 2003 Specialized S-Works Epic FSR Size Large. Purchased in July 2003 & rode until July 2004 when I bought a Rocky Mountain Slayer. Raced once & ridden once in 2005. This is a real deal race bike, unfortunately I’m done racing & want to ride a bit bigger bike. It comes complete with pedals & new replacement derailleur hanger. Includes Specialized Manual & Registration Card; both Shimano & Rock Shox Manuals are also included. This bike has been meticulously cared for, call to come to Lyons & check it out. It shows normal wear on XTR Drive side Crank arm & Chain stay, otherwise the bike is clean. This bike is an absolute rocket to race, here are additional details.

Full XTR components (Brake/Shift Lever Combo, Both Derailleurs, Cranks/Rings & Bottom Bracket, Cassette, Chain, V-Brakes)

Hugi 240 Hubs, DT Swiss Spokes & Mavic 517 Rims

Rock Shox SID Black Box Carbon World Cup Fork w/ Climb-it control adjuster

Fox Float R Rear Shock with Specialized Brain Technology

Thompson Seat Post & Stem

Specialized S-Works Enduro Carbon Bars & Titanium Saddle

Speedplay Frog Pedals & Cleats

ASKING $2,500.00 O.B.O (New Frame only cost is $2,500.00)

Call 303-823-5237 - chadmelis@hotmail.com - Chad

Cool Article in the Denver Post about Lyons

Here's the link

If you don't feel like clicking the link, read on...
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out there
Lyons as summer oasis: a river, inner tubes, sunshine and pinball
By Robin Chotzinoff
Special to the Denver Post


Is there a better smell of summer than hot sun hitting an inner tube? Is there a better short-term plan than lying on this very basic raft, the valve stem gouging a small hole in your backbone, and heading out onto the water?

That was our idea some weeks ago. We would find a river and go tubing. This, I thought, would prove the tenuous point that I'm a good parent. It was simple: I observed the way I was raised and embraced the opposite.

Parents were grown-up in my day. They didn't sit on the floor or eat with their fingers. Something happened when they married and began to reproduce - something that caused mothers to wear bathing caps covered with acrylic flowers as they minced into the water just once, on the hottest day of the summer.

And fathers meshed with their cars. My dad had a Chevrolet Impala. His idea of a family excursion was to get into his car and stay there for however long it took to cross the Hudson River, or Canada, stopping only to eat or sleep. He didn't understand the concept of adventure, which I always defined as a trip so long that if you undertook it on a bicycle, you would need to bring a sandwich. It was frustrating - adults had the key to mobility, but never wanted to do anything with it.

I vowed that when I had my own kids, we would do actual things, by which I don't mean Disney, Land or World. An excursion should involve uncertainty, the unpaved outdoors, and very little money. Inner-tubing seemed to fit the bill.

We ended up in Lyons, a foothills town north of Boulder bisected by the St. Vrain River. We arrived during the annual Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival, which meant no parking and perfect tubing. A decrepit school bus was cruising all over town, picking people up from outlying parking lots and dropping them at the festival grounds, and it so happened that every bus stop was right next to the St. Vrain. This service was free, with or without a festival wristband. We jumped out of the bus, scrambled down an embankment and stared upriver, where we saw hippies of all ages drifting down upon us, utterly relaxed.

Of course they were. At this time of year, the St. Vrain is peppy, yet shallow and unthreatening. Within minutes, we understood that you can't steer an inner tube, so you lie back and float. Pretty soon, your subconscious begins humming Crosby, Stills & Nash and wondering if there are any whole-wheat, carob-chip cookies to be had in this town.

At first, the trip's highlights were prosaic. My daughter lost a flip-flop in the mildly raging current, but some guy in dreadlocks retrieved it many miles later. We may have brushed up against a beaver dam, but maybe it was just a pile of sticks.

But then a curve in the river led us to a genuine swimming hole, with deep, still water, a sandy beach and small cliffs for cannon-balling. And then we collided with a Big Life Lesson. Here it is: Go ahead and make all the bulleted lists you want, but you really have no control over your life and should probably just chill. I tell you, it was cosmic.
How else to explain the presence of Lyons Classic Pinball? There we were, cruising down Main Street in soggy bathing suits, when it appeared: a collection of 31 classic pinball machines in a small house covered with trumpet vine. We had to stop.

Long before video arcades, pinball machines were what aspiring hoodlums did, and of course I wanted to participate, but I never got out of that Impala long enough.

We crossed the threshold into a cacophony of pings, clangs and tilt alarms, with a musical subtext of "Pinball Wizard," performed bluegrass style, running in the background. Eighty quarters later, two 7-year-olds and a married couple in their 40s had had their way with nearly every one of the classic games, some nearly 50 years old. (A history of each machine is posted on the wall behind it, exotic information for historic-pinball techno-

geeks, if such creatures exist.)

All I can say is, my wrists still twitch when I think of the extra points I scored on Gottlieb's 300, which was advertised as "a game of skill" and featured a bowling theme. The children have kept their counsel so far, but I have a feeling the experience was formative. At least I hope so. And whenever they're ready for another excursion, I have the keys.

Robin Chotzinoff is a freelance writer who lives in Evergreen.


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The details
For general Lyons information, including tubing, call 303-823-5215. Try tubing in Lyons during the 2005 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, Aug. 19-21. Contact bluegrass.com, 800-624-2422 or 303-823-0848.

Lyons Classic Pinball is at 339-A Main St. in Lyons, 303-823-6100. Open Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 3 to 11 p.m., Sunday 3 to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday.

LyonsChad adds a little flair on the way back down. Even though it was hugely long, the downhill, much like the weekend, was simply over too quick.

LyonsChad embarks on the turnaround trip.

Looking back at Searle Pass from Kokomo Pass. We were pretty high up.

Searle Pass

On the final day, we climbed from the base of Copper Mt up to Searle Pass. A few of us went beyond to Kokomo Pass. No matter how you sliced it, you got a 8 mile descent back to the trailhead. woohoo!

Just to put perspective on things, that "cabin" down there is about a 2200sf house.

Commando Run

On Saturday, day 2, we parked at the top of Vail Pass. Unfortunately, the rest area was closed but we made due. After a quick roadside fix of LyonsChad's fork filler cap seal, we were off. We caught up with the rest of the crew a the top. A right merry gang. For as many people we had, the Saturday ride ended up going much smoother than I ever would have imagined.

Last weekend was a great weekend of riding. We headquartered out of a camp spot on Lake Dillon for a weekend of R & R. 3 big days of solid riding. Here, Debaser kicks it thru a turn on the North Fork Swan/Tiger Rd section of the Colorado Trail on Friday. We road from the Gold Hill lot, up Tiger Rd and the middle fork of the Swan to it's intersection with the Colorado Trail. Then, it was a roller coaster of Colorado Trail fun back down to Hwy 9.

MTBR Gathering.

MTBR Gathering was this weekend. These are my best pictures.

Some other pictures.
Some other pictures.
Some other pictures.
Some other pictures.


It was a great weekend, as you can see. Not the typcial Lyons stuff posted here but well worth the look!