Turner 5 Spot Bling

How about a very nicely equipped large 2010 Turner 5 Spot for sale that is "used" but has never been ridden? For only $3500.

Turner Demo recap and new 2010 DHR!!!

Thanks to everyone that came out for the Turner demo yesterday. It was a big success, especially given the short notice we had in planning. Thanks Moe for driving the rig to Lyons!The new DW Link Turner 5 Spot
closeup of the dW linkage on the 2010 DHR.
The 2010 DW Link DHR in all its glory. Sam gives the thumbs up.
packed up and ready to go to Oskars!
thanks Moe!

Special on a Turner 5 Spot blem

I've got a red medium 5 Spot with a very minor paint chip behind the head tube on top by the top tube. It also has a miniscule ding in one of the forgings. Both issues are strictly cosmetic. Since it's a blem and a closeout, it's yours for $1150 :)

Two Elk and Meadow Mountain trails

I was able to get out of town for Labor weekend for a couple rides in the Vail valley. On Saturday we rode Two Elk trail via Shrine pass road and Bowman's Shortcut off of Vail pass. The climb up Bowman's Shortcut is pretty brutal but rideable. The reward is the view at "The Top of the World":

Dave set Beau up with a new Turner 5 spot. He broke it in well on this trail!

The descent past Vail's back bowls was beautiful with plenty of flowers still in bloom.

When we got down to the Orient Express lift, my camera battery died. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the technical parts of the trail in the gully leading to Minturn. It's the kind of riding we're used to riding around Lyons; lots of rocks, some steep exposure and some hard falls!

On Monday Beau and I got out again and rode Meadow Mountain from Eagle Vail. This trail had a steep 2000+ foot climb for the first 4.5 miles. This part of the trail was especially craptacular:

We took a break at this near mint condition homestead at the top. The single track started to the right of the cabin.
This is where the real fun started! The single track was twisty and tight through the aspens.

I'd definitely like to hit this trail again before the snow flies. Below is the route we took and elevation gain.

I put the icing on the cake by riding a lights mandatory Tuesday night ride. 3 rides in 4 days, what's not to like about that!

bikes time

I've been neglecting to put up some bikes we've done recently. Enjoy.

Mike's Turner RFX turned out great. It was the perfect build for a big travel all arounder mountain bike.

XC bikes don't get to be much sweeter than Andy's full XTR Turner Flux.

Pam's small Turner 5 Spot was a fun one. I wanted to take it to the dirt jumps when I was done building it. Compared to my large, it rode like a bmx bike.

And talk about mac daddy. Rich's Intense 6.6 Slopestyle turned out crazy good beyond all belief. I really liked the blue bits, down to the Goodridge brake hose and the Nokon cable housing.

finally got a big ride in

Lots of pictures today. I finally was able to get in a quantifiably large ride today. The only rule was home by 1pm. I could leave as early as I liked. Seeing as how I'm normally not a morning person, I was pretty happy to make it to Peaceful Valley and be pedaling by 7:15 am. I know, I know - all this about PV? I guess I can't get enough. I wanted to get my fill today, though. The addiction to PV is costing me bucks when gas is $4 a gallon!

So I pedaled off with neither coffee nor warmup. It was a rough start to the day. I was all over the place, dabbing and floundering in sections that I normally do not. It is a tough climb right out of the gate, though, full of all the good stuff like roots, rocks, steeps and babyheads. Guess I'd have to warm up first.

The plan was to head south on Sourdough, past Brainard Lake Road and up to the Little Raven Trail. I had tried a few weeks ago but got denied. Too much snow up high relegated me to a mostly out and back on Sourdough. I had received recent information that indicated Little Raven was finally dry. It took me about 2 hours of climbing to get there, but I made it. Good views abound at the start of the singletrack.

The trail was wet at first, but it didn't take long to turn into sweet, sweet singletrack.

I don't think too many people ride Little Raven. That's ok with me.

The Forest Service even let BMA get creative on some bog sections.
Don't think of Little Raven as much of a descent. It's a tough traverse with a descent that is oh, too short. It's a shorty but a goody, and definitely worth the effort it took to get there. Another reason I hit the Raven was to dump out at Brainard Lake. Ever wonder exactly which peaks are the "Indian Peaks?"

Another beautiful thing about Brainard Lake is that it's also the highest elevation start of the South St Vrain Trail. SSV is almost too good for words. It's hard. Lots of natural rock gardens, funky lines, and other sorts of punishment. To make it down the upper SSV without breaking something is good news. I was feeling good, but not that good. A few dabs and I was back down to SSV's intersection with Sourdough. It was about 10am by this time. I really still wanted to ride Buchannan Pass today, too, but made a mental note that I had to be back to Beaver Res Road by 10:30 for that to happen. Otherwise, I wouldn't have time to climb to the Wilderness Boundary and back again. I made it to the road by 10:37 so I figured what the hell.

I think it's also important to note that I had been riding with my Ipod so far that day. As I approached Beaver Res, I had Willie on the jukebox singing "Uncloudy Day." Just as the song ended, the potd quit on me. It'd been a while since the battery recharge so I stuck it in my pocket. I think this was an omen. Just then, it started to rain. heh, heh. Thanks Willie.

I knew I could make it back to the car by 12:30 but I had to boogie. I had my sights set on Coney Creek Road. Let me tell you that all of those babyheads that make up that road don't do anything to make you feel more fresh at the end of along day either.

Finally, the boundary of Indian Peaks Wilderness. From here, a quick descent would bring me to the Buchannan Pass Trail. There's lots of water up there, too. Good thing for all of the foot bridges. To ford the water crossings on the jeep road entails sloshing thru a 20 yard water bog that's about 3' deep. I was happy for the board walks. I was tired so I walked them, too.




Buchannan Pass was sweet and suculent. Definitely worth waiting for. I had to flintstone it thru all of the rocky mazes at the top. I had nothing more to give and was feeling pretty tapped out at that time. Good thing it looked like this.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Buchannan Pass is also one of the wetest trails we ever ride. It doesn't matter what time of year you hit it either, it's always wet. This season seems even wetter so far.

By now it had been raining on and off since Willie left me down on Beaver Res Rd, about 45 minutes. I had never ridden Buchannan Pass in the rain, though, so I guess it was about time. It was good. I managed to make it down to the upper trailhead by the time the thunder got too loud. A few more minutes and I was back to the car.

I got a little muddy on that one.

I felt pretty wiped out but not as much as I thought. I was also happy with how I rode. When I was adding up the ride last night, I figured it would take me about 6 hours. My late start meant I had to bust it to get the ride done. I kept the snackin' and the breaks to a minimum and rolled in at 12:15 on the nose. 5 hours! I was pretty stoked to beat my forecast.

If anyone has read this far, remember the Big Fall Ride that I try to do every year? It's coming up and it's going to be bigger this year. 5 hours just isn't long enough :)

Spot Time

Todd's new Turner 5 Spot is a beauty. A stealthlike beauty. We opted on this one for the slight upcharge and the rear triangle painted to match.


Painted to match in the smoke black. What a cool paint finish.

Along with cool turner only details, like the 1 piece forged rear chainstay yoke.

We laced up some custom Chris King/DT 5.1d wheels for this creation and topped it off with Formulas Oro K24 brake. It's hard to beat that brake for the performance and money.

way too many 2007 Turner Spot pictures (unpainted)

But first - the Tuesday Ride!

Meet up at 6pm at the Lion Gulch trailhead. We'll go for attempt #2 and hopefully we can all be alive and well enough to ride.

The good people at Turner pulled this one out of the line before it went to paint. It's a beautiful bike. Medium and naked.