After getting up this morning, seeing the blue sky and cold temps, and of course all the snow on the ground, I decided it would be silly to drive into the mountains. After all, we've got all this snow right here, right?

I was out for a couple hours from the Flatiron Vista trialhead (128 & 93) and pretty much had the place to myself, and a couple deer.

Guess where I'll be tomorrow...

Thursday Special, Dec 28

Marzocchi 66 SL, '06 version. Only $625 - email dave@redstonecyclery.com for more

New from Intense!

With big wheels being the rage and all, Intense has developed a couple of new designs that capitalize on the advantages of the 29er. Spawned from customer requests, Intense is now offering a 69er version of their super popular 29er Spider. It is available as I type.


But we can't forget about the all mountain goodness opportunities of 29er land. We've got to take advantage of the newer, fatter breed of 29er tires. How about throwing those new fat tires on an Intense 5.5 29er?

Here's a shot of the prototype Intense 5.5 29er. It should be available later in Spring '07.

Debaser already said that he doesn't want one...

half mast Christmas

Let's all hang our heads and think a few good thoughts for the Late, Great Godfather of Soul. Sock it to 'em, JB. The world will miss you.

I miss many things about Colorado

I miss many things about Colorado. But after seeing your snow, I'm glad it looked like this in Pittsburgh. No white Xmas for us.


But I bet the snowshoeing at brainard lake is awesome!
Merry Xmas.

holly jolly snowy christmas

We got a lot of snow the other day, so it will definitely be a white Christmas. Wednesday night, as the snow fell, I measured 21" in the yard at the house. It was one of those quiet, beautiful winter nights. We made popcorn and cozied up on the couch with a beer in hand and enjoyed the snow. We knew we wouldn't be doing much on Thursday.

It did not take long on Thursday, though, before I had cabin fever. I got out to run a few erands. It didn't matter that no stores were open with which to run errands to... I was out and about.

Main Street in Lyons looked pretty good compared to everything else I saw. The snow divider in the middle of the road was tall enough you could not see over it. Hope you made the right lane choice at the intersection!


Again the Hall Ranch urged pulled me in. I figured I'd take a quick drive up & to see how much was up there. I debated even driving into the lot, but I saw tracks so I followed. It did not take me long before I realized that I was the lowest ground clearance vehicle to have made it in there so far. I was too scared to stop so I just kept the throttle humming. I was able to stop for a photo on the way back down. Besides, I had gravity on my side that way. Bumper + deep snow anyone?

Because of the big snow, most stores in the region had shut down. I, of course, being the master of planning ahead for Christmas had not yet begun my shopping. Oops. That meant 4+ hours at the mall on Friday. Not fun. Not even remotely close to fun. I was stuck in my version of hell. The mall oozed with tons, literally tons of people - on the roads, in the parking lots, in the mall, in the stores, in line for checkout. Anytime I'm in this massive vortex of faceless people known as the mall, I'm even more thankful to call Lyons home.

And Lyons sure is pretty in the snow, too. I got out for a short run in the snow today. I ran thru Bohn and Meadow Parks on hardpacked singletracked snow. The snow was beautiful everywhere. It was good to get out. Running isn't riding but it sure beats hanging out on the couch watching "It's a Wonderful Life." Ahhh, Christmas.

Have a merry Christmas and holiday season everyone. And get outside. It's beautiful out there.

Thursday Special, 12/21

Welcome to this Thursday's special. Check out this gold On One Inbred. It's a 20" frame for 26" wheels. Horizontal dropouts only. I only have one. $199. With all of this snow, this is just the thing for a winter time project.

dave@redstonecyclery.com for more info.

Mountain Flyer Redstone Jersey

Since my scanner is of high qulaity, I decided to show my mad photo shop skillz.

High intensity riding

Super training ride tonight. I'm positive I'll add at least an inch to my waistline and lost of lot points from the wife. That could only mean I'm leading the series right? wrong. My life is spent begging for forgiveness. But I did have fun, which is what I wanted in the first place. I'm still trying to figure if its worth it or not.

Another Redstone sighting

I picked up Mountain Flyer for my airplane ride on Friday, and was flipping through looking at all the pretty pictures. In the race photos there's one of Chad hiding out in the trees behind some dude named Ariel and some dude wearing a t shirt during the Super D at Angelfire.

I'll have to remember to scan it tonight.

Little Randy Parker ready for the Wed night ride

Hopefully the wife will help me get ready for the ride.

tuesday is wednesday and boulder cross/mtb park

So, first thing - the Tuesday night ride will be tomorrow, Wednesday. Meet up at the shop at 6 and we'll figure it out from there. I'm in the middle of a cold right now and I'm not feeling too ambitious.

Secondly, I just got the following email. This is important for the cycling community at large. Check it out:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 19th - City Council will vote on Valmont Park
At the Tuesday, December 19th City Council Meeting, Council will be voting to direct Parks and Recreation to work with us in constructing a permanent CycloCross and Mountain Bike facility at Valmont City Park.

Please cut and paste the statement below and email it to:
council@bouldercolorado.gov

As a cyclist in Boulder, I support the efforts of The Boulder Cycling Coalition to build and maintain a permanent cycling facility at Valmont City Park. The facility should consist of a dirt and grass, 1.5-mile perimeter path around the northern or southern portions of the park. The goal of the design will be to create an exciting, varied course to challenge riders of all abilities and promote cycling. The facility would be open for general cyclocross riding and mountain biking at all times, and can be cordoned off for competition and events. When not in use for competitions, the facility would be an ideal cycling destination for families. Kids, furthermore, could ride to and from the track via the city’s bike path system, making it a safe and environmentally friendly venue for youth cycling. This competitive track will fill an unmet need for serious recreational and competitive cycling within the city limits, at low cost, and will not impede or deter simultaneous user groups at the park. The design would be developed to coexist with other user groups, notably trail running, disc golf, and Nordic skiing.

Thank you and please pass this on to your friends, colleagues, etc in Boulder

Thank you from the Boulder Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors:


Rob Coppilillo
Brandon Dwight
Chris Grealish
Bobby Noyes
Jon Tarkington
Dave Towle
Elizabeth Train
Pete Weber


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

email: boulderbicyclecoalition@gmail.com

zombies

Every day I ride through a cemetery on the way to and from work. Its the time of year when I ride in its dark, and when I ride home its still dark.

I think we can all agree, its just a matter of time before the zombie uprising comes and I am attacked.




I can rest easy knowing the Pittsburgh Dept of Zombie Disposal is on gaurd.

withdrahall

I hadn't been to Hall in long enough that I was going thru withdrawal. A Saturday short ride at Hall Ranch and today's extended mix at Hall on the Flux proved to be just my medicine. Conditions today were perfect. The barely frozen moist ground offered up traction a plenty while the cold temps (sub 30) this am kept the crowds away. I saw one other trail user. Coincidentally, it was another Turner, a red Burner. As I got higher, I kept seeing more flurries. You can't see them in the pic, but they are there. I like the way Blue Mountain hides in the clouds in the distance.

Glad I was able to enjoy it while it lasted, as it's been dumping snow for several hours now. Snow ride on Wed anyone?

Oh, and the Tuesday Ride this week will be on Wednesday night instead. More on that later.

Hall Ranch Conditions

I just got back from a quick, abbreviated tour de Hall. I had 45 minutes this am so I went up Antelope, over and down the front side. Everything was in good shape. There are a few parts of Antelope that will definitely be soft later, and a couple that will have mud. Overall, good shape, though. The trail looks to be fine continuing up to the loop, but I didn't have time to check it out. The rock garden is back to its usual dry self.

mo' underground

In the past couple of days, I've recieved several emails regarding next season's underground races. Sounds like there's a few good ones on the horizon, for sure. Here's a sampler.

Rim Ride Moab
and
The Colorado Trail Race.

Spread the word on these fine events. Underground get togethers like these are what mountain biking is all about. yep. Mountain biking is good.

Planet X Kaffenback

This one was a fun bike to build. Laura uses her cross bike predominately as her main ride but doesn't race cross. She was getting beat up on her Redline. Steel is real, especially if you're looking for comfort. Hence the Planet X Kaffenback. This stylin' rig was built to do it all from road riding to commuting to backcountry gravel roads to singletrack.


Check the sweet carbon FSA post. This is my favorite carbon post so far, in that it doesn't use a plug on offset head.

The new for '07 Shimano XT looks great and works well, too. Anybody else think they took a cue from SRAM?

Crosstop brake levers are key for an everyday do it all bike. It especially makes singletracking on the top a lot easier.

Thursday Special

Here's Redstone's first weekly special. Stay tuned, we'll be doing this every Thursday.

XTR 960 crank,only $295. email dave@redstonecyclery and get crankin.

Great News for Mountain Bike Access!

Well, first off, City of Boulder has approved (as in, it's a done deal) the Eldorado Trail Study Area. This is the area south of the road going to Eldo Springs and west of Hwy93. Pretty much, with the exception of the climbing trails, all of the existing trails get open to bikes. Also, City of Boulder will be cutting more multi use singletrack for all of us to enjoy! Check the map on Debasers September blog post. It all got approved.

Now, on to what is perhaps the best news I've heard in a long, long time. Anyone familiar with HP's Hermit Park just off 36 outside of Estes? Well, HP announced towards the end of summer that they were ready to sell this parcel of land. HP has owned and maintained for eons as an employee benefit. HP employees from all over the world could come to Hermit Park to camp, stay in a cabin, and generally enjoy the Colorado mountains. Since it is such a pristine chunk of land, several local land agencies, including Estes Park and Larimer County, expressed interest in the fact that they would not like to see it developed. Well, good news. Larimer County just announced that Hermit Park will be their newest Open Space acquisition. The Ft Collins paper, The Coloradoan, has the whole scoop here.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. The best part about Hermit Park is that it abutts Roosevelt National Forest. Roll thru the jeep road in Hermit Park and, voila, you are right in the middle of Homestead Meadows! Click on the map on this page. See where it says Private Property in the upper left corner of the map? Yep, I'm pretty darned excited about it. It'll probably be a bit before we're riding there, but it's a step in the right direction!

Good night ride tonight, too. Those of you reading that don't include Melis, ChrisL, and myself probably didn't miss too much, though. It was 1.5 hours at Boulder Valley Ranch in howling gusty winds. Soft dirt with a 50mph headwind does not necessarily equal let the good times roll. They did, though, but barely!

Tuesday Night Ride 12/11

Anybody have any ideas? If all else fails, we could do a little Lyons or Boulder Urban. Not that Lyons is Urban at all, though. Bike Shop at 6?

I hope everyone was able to get out on the bike a little this weekend. I was lucky enough to sneak in a quick ride Saturday morning before the shop opened at 10.It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Man, riding at 7:30am in the middle of December can be a cold proposition. It wasn't anything near the 5 degrees of last week, but 25 is still pretty darn cold. I took the Inbred 29er SS up to Hall. I rode up the frontside and was surprised that I only had to get off 3 times. Those weren't dabs either, they were full on gettin' off to push. There was still packed snow in spots, dry in spots, and soft patches in spots. I made it back down to SH7 by 8:30 and places were already thawing and getting muddy.

With 2 kids out of bed at 7:15am today, I was not able to duck out incognito this morning like I had planned. What was originally intended to be a 3 hour cruise on the crosser ended up being less than 2. Oh well, have kids, get flexible with time management. This is one of my favorite resting spots on the St Vrain. I was only 10 minutes into my ride, so a rest wasn't necessarily in order, but I wanted to take in the relaxing view.

I pedalled on to Rabbit Mountain next, hoping that it would be marginally dry. I encountered just one or two soft spots on the main rocky climb. I think it was dry because it's so rocky. I dabbed on this one a couple of times. At the top of the rocky climb, a few trails convene in a big meadow on top of the saddle. it was super sloppy with mud. I walked thru it and took the service road out. Good views, though.
After that, I still had a little time in me so I opted for a short but sweet climb. The last quarter mile or so is a pretty steep pitch. You have to turn around at the top, too, because the road turns to private. It's worth it for this, though. A few quick turns and it's over with too soon. Back into town, a quick ride thru the park and that was it. I was back by 10:30 and already had a fantastic day.

Since I'm on a roll, just a couple more things. I have just a couple of jerseys left from the new batch of Pearl Izumi long sleeve woolies. I have 2 mediums, so give me a shout if you're interested. They are charcoal black with a subtle grey embroidery. They are very classy looking, if I do say so myself. We can't get any more because PI is sold out of them!

Anyone got any ideas for the Tuesday ride? I'm thinking Boulder Valley Ranch, but if it's still sloppy, we can go for a bike path ride/semi urban ride around Boulder. Would anyone be down with that? I need to get that flask holder mounted on the Inbred...

Lastly, stay tuned to the blog this week. We'll be introducing a weekly blog special. The weekly blog special will have as smoking of a deal as we can get on cool parts and other stuff.

Thanks for reading this far, and have a great Monday!

Cross race

A bunch of Redstoners were out watching Chad rip up the competition yesterday. Chris, Dave2, me. Chad was leading with a 20+ second gap about halfway through when some double flat badness happened.

leaves to ice

In what seems like a day, it went from leaves so thick you couldn't see the trails to...

...rock solid frozen trails.

And here is proof that Subaru Outbacks and Audi A4s are at all mtn bike trail heads, not just Boulder(Deer Lakes Pittsburgh PA):

Froota Vid

Eric the Red has a sweet Fruita vid up on U Tube. Check it out.

Yep. Jason is the man and Jill's is his spot. If you ever want to taste some legitimately good food, go to Jills. Lyons' very own Jason Rogers is the grillmaster over there. He will take good care of your palate.

24-solo

So the folks who filmed Off Road to Athens followed Chris Eatough around 06 to cover his run at a 7th straight 24 solo championship. As you may recall, Craig Gordon almost killed himself (literally) making an effort to beat Eatough which he did. I'm not sure the release date, but if they do another showing at the Boulder Theatre, I say we repeat our night of fun like we did last night. I'll keep my ears to the ground to find out when its showing and where.

If this is anything like Off Road to Athens, it should be incredible.

www.24-solo.com

Thank you Dave, thank you Jill.

Tasty food, cold brews, cyclocross. That was a mighty good time this evening.

freeride brah

The Intense Uzzi is a beautiful machine. It needs no other words. Well, except that Heather is stoked to be on one!

Tuesday Ride and Wednesday movie night

No ride for me Tues. Aside from being sloppy with nothing decent to ride, I plan to use my 1 free night to go to the 'cross movie at the Boulder Theater Wed.

The movie starts at 7 or 7:30 at the Boulder Theater. We're meeting for beers and cocktails at 6pm. The place is Jill's, the restaraunt at the St. Julien Hotel near 9th and Walnut. I hear the appetizers are tasty and it'll be weird food night, or something like that. Jason has some will have some funk cooked up and is eager to serve it, or at least that's my take on it.

The Art that is Cyclocross!!!

Live & Learn is what they say. The day & course could not have been any better for a cyclocross race. I learned why the experienced crossers run simple cantilever brakes & not V-brakes with a "travel agent" adaptor. At the end of lap 3 of 7 my brakes were working like vice-grip pliers. I hopped off 4 or 5 times cleaning them out & getting the wheel rolling again. By the end of lap 4 I figured it simply was not going to let me roll on. Instead of unhooking it & trying to cowboy that baby to the finish(a death defying feat but not a bad idea that Laura shared after the fact & I had not thought of)I dropped out of my 2nd race this year. Living & Learning before tackling the season finale @ XLINX this coming weekend.


I hope to see you all at the movies & Xlinx this week

cold sunday morning

It sure was chilly this morning. The thermometer read 5 degrees when I headed out this morning. Cool temps and snow on the ground are perfect single speed conditions. It's easier to stay warm when you're forced to use the same gear for everything. All that was on tap today was an around town thru the parks cruise. I hit some of the towns ghetto singletrack too. There was a 12" packed singletrack everywhere. It was a great ride, I was happy to get out.

Good luck to everyone crossin' today. Hope conditions are epic!

The beer store called...

...your guitar is in.

If only I knew how to play!