Awesome ride Dave!
Monday, June 29, 2009
L'epic avec JG: musings de la musette
He all, wanted to pass along the chance to follow one of the newest redstoners through the Breck Epic.
The Breck Epic, July 5-10 2009, is a 6-day ultra-endurance mountain bike stage race held in the sprawling backcountry of Breckenridge, Colorado. After a 10-mile time-trial on day one athletes will contest 5 subsequent stages spending 4-8 hours on course each day, most of it over 10,000 feet...check out the course profile HERE.
The race does have a tender side: Proceeds from the inaugural “B.E.” benefit local open space initiatives and trail improvements. Registration for 2009 is still open!
Join us at the Oskar Blues Brews & Bikes Blog for L'epic avec JG: musings de la musette. DPA/Spot Brand Bikes pro Jen Gersbach will provide day-by-day insight into what it takes to tackle one of Colorado's most grueling bike races. Along with Jen's smile & insight we'll keep you in the action with images from www.photo-cycle.com, Tour de France banter & contests as well as many gonzo giveaways & antics as we can muster the energy to throw your way. The race starts on July 5th but preparation has already begun, stick with us as we prepare to tackle Colorado's biggest & baddest Mountain Bike Stage Race. We'll also be posting updates via the Oskar Blues Facebook & Twitter pages, so check them out as well.
Keepin' it in the family....we also have SPOT homeboy Jeff Carter's SPOT BRAND blog HERE.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday Ride Schedule
Tuesday, June 30 - 5:30pm at the bike shop for Coulson Gulch out and back. Or maybe we'll do it as a loop.
Tuesday July 7 - trailwork on Picture Rock. We will be armoring trail and doing some finish work by the silo. Bike shop at 5. Ride to the silo for work. If you can't make it to the shop at 5, come join us when you can. Please RSVP to dave@redstonecyclery for this one so we can make sure we have enough tools.
Tuesday July 14 - Buchanan Pass. Bike shop at 5:30.
Tuesday July 21 - Bike shop at 5:30. 20 min or so drive. fun stuff.
Tuesday July 7 - trailwork on Picture Rock. We will be armoring trail and doing some finish work by the silo. Bike shop at 5. Ride to the silo for work. If you can't make it to the shop at 5, come join us when you can. Please RSVP to dave@redstonecyclery for this one so we can make sure we have enough tools.
Tuesday July 14 - Buchanan Pass. Bike shop at 5:30.
Tuesday July 21 - Bike shop at 5:30. 20 min or so drive. fun stuff.
Gold Tour 09 recap
[EDIT - I think my photo uploading skillz are lacking. Click in the pic for a full sized view. Some of them got cut off.]
As part of our big rides summer tour, we ventured towards Gold Ridge for stop number one on the tour. The goal was a big ride. I don't think anyone left dissapointed.
We started with the days most major climb. The climb is an old jeep road that meanders alongside a beauty of a creek. The road was closed to motorized 20 or so years ago and continues to grow more single every year. I've been riding it for 11 years or so and am still amazed every spring. At this particular moment after all of the rain we've been having, the stream was a raging river, full of rapids with some spill over onto the road.
Normally, all of the road is dry except for one spot where the river runs over every spring. It was a bit different this Spring. The river wasn't just running over, it had fully overtaken anything left that resembled a road or trail.
Fortunately, there was a way around
I normally dislike hiking in mega steep terrain over volkswagon sized boulders, so I figured I'd try to walk up the road/creek. Normally, it's only 6 to 8 inches deep. On this occasion, I was up to my nuts a couple of times in deep, swift water. Turning around looking back down the road, here's what it looks like right where the creek spills over
The climb continued to be a wet one for a while.
And then, we got to one of the most dangerous parts of the ride. It was time to cross the creek. Normally, you can shoulder your bike and walk thru, as the crossing is at an area where the creek is wide and relatively flat. Not this time. There was the possiblity of carnage and we saw an omen.
We opted for the log. There's bridge over the river a bit upstream. It's a narrow log, about 3-4' off the water and is slippery. We went with the assembly line option. Thank goodness for teamwork.
After an hour and 45 minutes of climbing and adventure, we reached the top of the days first big ascent.
The views didn't suck. We also had our first mechanical. Lee snapped off his derailleur, but we were able to fix it with an assortment of zip ties. Originally thinking Lee would have to head back down the hill, we rode for a bit and realized that not only was he still able to use his 3 rings on the crank, but Lee would be able to ride the remaining 4 hours to finish the ride. Thanks for the trail fix, Brian!
The derailleur wasn't the only carnage at that point either. So long sucker bee!
Some of the riders had gone ahead. We found Jen perched in a tree downing a snack.
Then we were in for more descending.
and more climbing.
and more descending.
Floating thru big open meadows
and some technical terrain, too
But we new that the days 2nd biggest descent would not last forever and we'd have to start climbing again. Back to the road riding. Road pictured here.
Remember, it's not a mountain bike ride unless you are hiking. We were about 4 hours in at this point.
After some more uppy downy singletrack, we were back to climbing in earnest again. Last climb of the day.
We had a snackbreak and naptime at the top. Just like kindergarten but without the mats and the graham crackers. This was 5.5 hours plus at this point.
Another crappy road section led us back to our vehicles
Cardoor to cardoor was 6 hours and 15 minutes. I think everyone wasn't feeling too bad at this point. It didn't hit me until after a couple of Go Fasts, a Dale's Pale Ale and dinner. Damn, I was tired.
Woke up feeling it a bit today, but still managed to make it out for just over an hour with Dirty Doug. After a quick post ride dip in the river, I was feeling good as new. Well, sort of.
See you Tuesday for another adventure!
As part of our big rides summer tour, we ventured towards Gold Ridge for stop number one on the tour. The goal was a big ride. I don't think anyone left dissapointed.
We started with the days most major climb. The climb is an old jeep road that meanders alongside a beauty of a creek. The road was closed to motorized 20 or so years ago and continues to grow more single every year. I've been riding it for 11 years or so and am still amazed every spring. At this particular moment after all of the rain we've been having, the stream was a raging river, full of rapids with some spill over onto the road.
Normally, all of the road is dry except for one spot where the river runs over every spring. It was a bit different this Spring. The river wasn't just running over, it had fully overtaken anything left that resembled a road or trail.
Fortunately, there was a way around
I normally dislike hiking in mega steep terrain over volkswagon sized boulders, so I figured I'd try to walk up the road/creek. Normally, it's only 6 to 8 inches deep. On this occasion, I was up to my nuts a couple of times in deep, swift water. Turning around looking back down the road, here's what it looks like right where the creek spills over
The climb continued to be a wet one for a while.
And then, we got to one of the most dangerous parts of the ride. It was time to cross the creek. Normally, you can shoulder your bike and walk thru, as the crossing is at an area where the creek is wide and relatively flat. Not this time. There was the possiblity of carnage and we saw an omen.
We opted for the log. There's bridge over the river a bit upstream. It's a narrow log, about 3-4' off the water and is slippery. We went with the assembly line option. Thank goodness for teamwork.
After an hour and 45 minutes of climbing and adventure, we reached the top of the days first big ascent.
The views didn't suck. We also had our first mechanical. Lee snapped off his derailleur, but we were able to fix it with an assortment of zip ties. Originally thinking Lee would have to head back down the hill, we rode for a bit and realized that not only was he still able to use his 3 rings on the crank, but Lee would be able to ride the remaining 4 hours to finish the ride. Thanks for the trail fix, Brian!
The derailleur wasn't the only carnage at that point either. So long sucker bee!
Some of the riders had gone ahead. We found Jen perched in a tree downing a snack.
Then we were in for more descending.
and more climbing.
and more descending.
Floating thru big open meadows
and some technical terrain, too
But we new that the days 2nd biggest descent would not last forever and we'd have to start climbing again. Back to the road riding. Road pictured here.
Remember, it's not a mountain bike ride unless you are hiking. We were about 4 hours in at this point.
After some more uppy downy singletrack, we were back to climbing in earnest again. Last climb of the day.
We had a snackbreak and naptime at the top. Just like kindergarten but without the mats and the graham crackers. This was 5.5 hours plus at this point.
Another crappy road section led us back to our vehicles
Cardoor to cardoor was 6 hours and 15 minutes. I think everyone wasn't feeling too bad at this point. It didn't hit me until after a couple of Go Fasts, a Dale's Pale Ale and dinner. Damn, I was tired.
Woke up feeling it a bit today, but still managed to make it out for just over an hour with Dirty Doug. After a quick post ride dip in the river, I was feeling good as new. Well, sort of.
See you Tuesday for another adventure!
Friday, June 26, 2009
duzer does america
By now, I'm sure everyone has seen the youtube video of that dude doing some sick, sick, sick trials moves. Great bike handler, but he doesn't have much on this man. Ryan VanDuzer from Boulder, CO is riding from Oceanside, CA to Washington DC to raise money for Community Cycles and awareness for our dependency on cars. No biggie you say, plenty of folks have done that. Not on a 3 speed cruiser, though. Yep, cross country on a 3 speed cruiser towing a BOB trailer. That's dedication and bike love.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday Night Solstice-ish Ride
Man, what a great ride! We had daylight, we had night. We had bikes with broken parts, slow leakers, lights that didn't work, and we even managed to get off trail and freestyle it a bit. Oh, and rain, too. Wet rocks on technical trails. In a sense, just a great ride. The only thing that was a bummer was that Oskars was closed when we got there. So we had after hours at the shop with Dale's in a can and a bag of chips. Here's some shots from the the ride:
Monday, June 22, 2009
Lyons to Boulder Trail comments needed/open house!
Hey All, on Tues 6/23, there is an open house meeting for the Lyons to Boulder Regional Trail. This is a regional connector that will run loosely along the feeder canal that runs from Lyons to the Boulder Reservoir. 2 years ago we, as voters, approved an additional transportation tax (ie not open space) that provided for this connector specifically. It is meant not only as a recreational trail, but as something commuters could use off of the road to connect Lyons and rural parts of Boulder County to Boulder and beyond.
The open house is from 4pm to 8pm at Barn A of the Boulder County fairgrounds in Longmont. It will be a walk thru open house with no formal presentation. What does that mean? It means that they are soliciting feedback on the trail alignments they've come up with thus far. Boulder County has been soliciting information on this trail for months. They've come up with 3 different possible trail alignments. We have version A, version B, and version C to familiarize ourselves with. Take a look at the entire deal at the Lyons to Boulder Trail website. Please read over everything and be informed.
After reviewing all of the information, I think it'd be great if we all rallyed for option C. Option C will, without a doubt, be the most politically difficult option, but it is also the option with the least amount of existing road. Option A and B both line out alignment alternatives that use existing roads, dirt and paved. We want this to be a regional trail, not a route. I did not vote for that tax thinking we'd get some spraypaint on a road, let's do this right.
If you can't make the open house (and that's ok) make sure you send a email to Lyonstoboulder@bouldercounty.org. They are accepting public comments for a short period longer.
Here's a copy of the letter I sent. Feel free to copy. You'll have to change a couple of things, though :)
"Hello. First off want to say thanks for working on the Lyons to Boulder trail thus far. It's a huge project and we (Lyons area cyclists) are very appreciative of it. I'm a family man, a bike shop owner, a bicycle rider, and a resident of Lyons. Based on all of these things, plus relying on input from Lyons area bicycle commuters, I support option C.
Option C makes the most sense for several reasons:
Families - Option C has the least amount of existing passenger car and truck road possible. I understand there may be some small sections to get this completed, but we are looking for a trail that is not part of existing road - not a "route" of mostly existing roads. I want to feel safe if I take my family on a bike ride to Boulder Res. With a 6yo and a 3yo, I am not comfortable with alignments on the road.
Bike Shop Owner/resident of Lyons - The amount of people that will use this route is inversely proportionate to the amount of road. More road, less users. Less road, more users. More users of this regional trail would support my business and my town. Doing so would yeild more sales taxes for the state, the county, the town of Lyons, and RTD. This is one real area where transportation spending can yeild huge profitable benefits. Boulder County et all will be paid on the cost of construction. This is an investment.
Bicycle Rider/Commuter - The more I ride my bike on the road and drive my car on the road, the less I like biking on the road! I feel unsafe on the road and am looking for a seperated trail to use for commuting as well as recreation. The on road alignments are primarily on two lane/no shoulder roads or on existing dirt/farm roads. Neither are optimal for bicycle use. Please keep in mind that this trail will see a lot of use by night time commuters from Lyons and rural parts heading to Niwot, Gunbarrel, and Boulder. Less roads will make for safer night time passage for all.
Option C also meets the most objectives in the Draft Decision Matrix Summary. These objectives are:
*User Experience
*Safety
*Public Landowner Impact (ie the NCWCD will see improvements all along it's ditch)
*Connectivity
*Cost (it is important to look at the long range picture, not strictly the up front cost of building. Think investment).
I understand that there are several issues facing this trail, mostly with regard to land ownership and land management. The transportation tax that we passed that provided funding for this project meant that we are serious about connecting Boulder County via non automobile alternatives. Let's do it right."
Please, please, please, please get on this!
The open house is from 4pm to 8pm at Barn A of the Boulder County fairgrounds in Longmont. It will be a walk thru open house with no formal presentation. What does that mean? It means that they are soliciting feedback on the trail alignments they've come up with thus far. Boulder County has been soliciting information on this trail for months. They've come up with 3 different possible trail alignments. We have version A, version B, and version C to familiarize ourselves with. Take a look at the entire deal at the Lyons to Boulder Trail website. Please read over everything and be informed.
After reviewing all of the information, I think it'd be great if we all rallyed for option C. Option C will, without a doubt, be the most politically difficult option, but it is also the option with the least amount of existing road. Option A and B both line out alignment alternatives that use existing roads, dirt and paved. We want this to be a regional trail, not a route. I did not vote for that tax thinking we'd get some spraypaint on a road, let's do this right.
If you can't make the open house (and that's ok) make sure you send a email to Lyonstoboulder@bouldercounty.org. They are accepting public comments for a short period longer.
Here's a copy of the letter I sent. Feel free to copy. You'll have to change a couple of things, though :)
"Hello. First off want to say thanks for working on the Lyons to Boulder trail thus far. It's a huge project and we (Lyons area cyclists) are very appreciative of it. I'm a family man, a bike shop owner, a bicycle rider, and a resident of Lyons. Based on all of these things, plus relying on input from Lyons area bicycle commuters, I support option C.
Option C makes the most sense for several reasons:
Families - Option C has the least amount of existing passenger car and truck road possible. I understand there may be some small sections to get this completed, but we are looking for a trail that is not part of existing road - not a "route" of mostly existing roads. I want to feel safe if I take my family on a bike ride to Boulder Res. With a 6yo and a 3yo, I am not comfortable with alignments on the road.
Bike Shop Owner/resident of Lyons - The amount of people that will use this route is inversely proportionate to the amount of road. More road, less users. Less road, more users. More users of this regional trail would support my business and my town. Doing so would yeild more sales taxes for the state, the county, the town of Lyons, and RTD. This is one real area where transportation spending can yeild huge profitable benefits. Boulder County et all will be paid on the cost of construction. This is an investment.
Bicycle Rider/Commuter - The more I ride my bike on the road and drive my car on the road, the less I like biking on the road! I feel unsafe on the road and am looking for a seperated trail to use for commuting as well as recreation. The on road alignments are primarily on two lane/no shoulder roads or on existing dirt/farm roads. Neither are optimal for bicycle use. Please keep in mind that this trail will see a lot of use by night time commuters from Lyons and rural parts heading to Niwot, Gunbarrel, and Boulder. Less roads will make for safer night time passage for all.
Option C also meets the most objectives in the Draft Decision Matrix Summary. These objectives are:
*User Experience
*Safety
*Public Landowner Impact (ie the NCWCD will see improvements all along it's ditch)
*Connectivity
*Cost (it is important to look at the long range picture, not strictly the up front cost of building. Think investment).
I understand that there are several issues facing this trail, mostly with regard to land ownership and land management. The transportation tax that we passed that provided funding for this project meant that we are serious about connecting Boulder County via non automobile alternatives. Let's do it right."
Please, please, please, please get on this!
Tuesday Ride, 6/22 - Solstice Ride!
Ok, so this Tuesday isn't the longest day of the year, but it'll be the most daylight Tuesday Rides '09 sees so we're goin big. Bring your lights, aka LIGHTS MANDATORY this time. We'll be heading to the Sourdough universe again, although I have yet to really finalize the route. Bike shop at 5:30 and we'll hope to be riding by 6:15 or so. Light off until it gets dark, then we'll click our lights on and ride some more. It will be a late night.
This will not only be a day/night ride, but we'll be covering some really technical terrain. If riding hard technical rocky terrain in the dark is your bag, come on out!
This will not only be a day/night ride, but we'll be covering some really technical terrain. If riding hard technical rocky terrain in the dark is your bag, come on out!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Big Summer Ride Schedule
Seems like the Redstone crew and friends likes our big rides so much, we're going to start doing them once per month. We'll officially "end" them with our big season capper, the Big Fall Ride in September. These will be definite all day'ers. Meet at the shop at 9am and back for dinner. We'll see about finding some adventure, too, as all rides will be left to on trail interpretation and possible route exploration. Sound like your kind of fun? Sounds like my kind of fun. Read on.
Saturday June 27
The Gold Tour. Not Golden the town, but golden lakes and ridges between LHC and James Canyon. Good stuff. Not as brutal technically, but will have a legitimate crapload of climbing. To be honest, I'm too ascared to preride it. So I won't. 20 min from Lyons
Saturday July 25
Peaceful Tour of the Dick. How about almost everything between Peaceful Valley and Brainard lake? A little Buchanan Pass? Some SSV? Sure. Sourdough? You bet. Little Raven? Got it. We'll only get around 20 miles, but it's 20 miles of the rockiest, most technical trail around. Exhaustion guaranteed for all but the most excruciatingly fit. 30 min from Lyons
Saturday Aug 22
Wildcard. I've been contemplating climbing 3k' in vert to the top of a pass, then dumping down the backside just to see what's there for quite some time now. Every time I've attempted, it takes so long to get to the top, I'm always too tired for more climbing so I've turned around. I would love to do a loop on the other side, then back to the top of the pass. Once you're down the other side though, you are committed to a serious climb back up to the top o the pass. Think of it as a lollipop loop with a mystery flavor wrapper. 45 min drive from Lyons.
September date TBA, probably 26
Big Fall RideIV. We'll drop you off somewhere in the forest and you'll have to ride back to Lyons on as much dirt as possible. Last year was about 8hrs and folks were hurting. We're thinking of adding another hour or so this year. Just for fun.
Saturday June 27
The Gold Tour. Not Golden the town, but golden lakes and ridges between LHC and James Canyon. Good stuff. Not as brutal technically, but will have a legitimate crapload of climbing. To be honest, I'm too ascared to preride it. So I won't. 20 min from Lyons
Saturday July 25
Peaceful Tour of the Dick. How about almost everything between Peaceful Valley and Brainard lake? A little Buchanan Pass? Some SSV? Sure. Sourdough? You bet. Little Raven? Got it. We'll only get around 20 miles, but it's 20 miles of the rockiest, most technical trail around. Exhaustion guaranteed for all but the most excruciatingly fit. 30 min from Lyons
Saturday Aug 22
Wildcard. I've been contemplating climbing 3k' in vert to the top of a pass, then dumping down the backside just to see what's there for quite some time now. Every time I've attempted, it takes so long to get to the top, I'm always too tired for more climbing so I've turned around. I would love to do a loop on the other side, then back to the top of the pass. Once you're down the other side though, you are committed to a serious climb back up to the top o the pass. Think of it as a lollipop loop with a mystery flavor wrapper. 45 min drive from Lyons.
September date TBA, probably 26
Big Fall RideIV. We'll drop you off somewhere in the forest and you'll have to ride back to Lyons on as much dirt as possible. Last year was about 8hrs and folks were hurting. We're thinking of adding another hour or so this year. Just for fun.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
something for Friday - shots from this years Fat Tire Fest
So, the 9th annual Lyons Fat Tire Fest is dead and gone. And good times it was. Here's a few random shots, mostly from the Deathmarch on Crosier Mt.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A Mile in my Boots. Or shoes. Or pedals. Or...
This last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to participate in a program sponsored by Boulder County Open Space called a Mile in my Boots. Or something like that. The name was kind of catchy-ish but not catchy enough for me to remember. Basically, we got together a bunch of outspoken hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians to all enjoy trails, tales, and hopefully to learn a little about each other. We all met at the Joder Ranch, a private area north of Boulder. Trails were all new and the horses were familiar to the trails so as not to get too spooked. It was a cool place. We started with a briefing of the days activities. We would split into 2 groups. Each group would have a few hikers, a few mountain bikes, and a few equestrians. Each group was to head out on a 1.5 mile loop in opposite directions, ensuring that we would meet in the middle. Every 1/2 mile on the trail, everyone in each group would change mode of travel. Every time we'd change mode of travel, we'd discuss what we learned. I learned that horses think for themselves too much.
View from the cockpit.
Yours truly on a horse.
We can really all get along.
Pizza ensures cooperation.
Really, at the end of the day, what we really learned, we knew all along. Communication was paramount above all else. Regardless of the "trail pyramid" of who yeilds to whom, what really seemed to matter most was that we communicate with our brethren trail users be they on a bike or a big assed hoofed animal, or on foot. We even got some died in the wool, old school equestrians on bikes, and I think it really helped. They saw that speed and control are not mutually exclusive, and that most of us actually know what's up. It was a good excersise.
If you see a horse, talk to them, make them know your human, and talk to the rider. Most of them are pretty cool and will allow you the leeway you need to enjoy your day. Don't bomb past them. Horses get a-scared easily and can throw the rider. Not good. Guess that's why I prefer my horse to have 2 wheels and rubber tires. At least it's my fault if I get thrown.
View from the cockpit.
Yours truly on a horse.
We can really all get along.
Pizza ensures cooperation.
Really, at the end of the day, what we really learned, we knew all along. Communication was paramount above all else. Regardless of the "trail pyramid" of who yeilds to whom, what really seemed to matter most was that we communicate with our brethren trail users be they on a bike or a big assed hoofed animal, or on foot. We even got some died in the wool, old school equestrians on bikes, and I think it really helped. They saw that speed and control are not mutually exclusive, and that most of us actually know what's up. It was a good excersise.
If you see a horse, talk to them, make them know your human, and talk to the rider. Most of them are pretty cool and will allow you the leeway you need to enjoy your day. Don't bomb past them. Horses get a-scared easily and can throw the rider. Not good. Guess that's why I prefer my horse to have 2 wheels and rubber tires. At least it's my fault if I get thrown.
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