Covert Details

I've had a lot of requests for more detailed shots of the 2007 Transition Covert. Ask and ye shall receive!

Friday's Foaming Rant by By Patrick O’Grady

BIKES, BIKES, BIKES!

Solo Mission

Got the greenlight on Sunday night to make a jaunt to the border so off I went early Monday morning. Rolled into Fruita at about 400pm, set up camp and got the bike gear on.

So I was on Kessel Run right at 6pm.




After Kessel I did Zippety Doo Dah. Riding along that beautiful singletrack and then up to the ridge while the sun is going down is something that just has to been seen for yourself. I'm speechless.





Then of course the sweet and crazy drops that make it so epic.




Then night fell and the 90 schilling and the campfire were in order



Monday night the winds blew so hard that it knocked my tent over and at 3am I found myself tying the tent to the nearest stable object.



The next night I made sure that wouldn't happen again and as you would have it, no wind.



Going on a solo mountain bike trip to the desert is good for the soul. However, now I am right back to two kids and reality. Its all worth it though. Tuesday I stuck around the 18 road area all day and did just about every trail there is around there. The wind was brutal but it was like being at a ski resort. Down Chutes and ladders, up Prime Cut, down Zippety, up the road, down Prime cut etc etc. And it didn't require a lift ticket. Pure bliss.

Finally, there seems to be a problem in Palisade.

Kemmelberg @ Ghent-Wevelgem

Good ride last night with the heady guys at Redstone. Going up Antelope to stay out of the wind, yep!

A little video of today's Semi-Classic Ghent-Wevelgem;
More than a dozen riders crashed in two harrowing descents off the narrow, twisting road. Among the victims in the spectacular, high-speed spills were American Tyler Farrar (Cofidis), who broke his kneecap, and Frenchman Jimmy Casper (Unibet.com), who suffered major cuts to his face and nose and was in hospital awaiting surgery.

Keep The Rubber Side Down - CM

Tuesday Ride is on, bike shop at 6pm

Tuesday ride is on, but I doubt Hall will be in perfect shape anymore. I bet most of it will be back to it's usual dry self, especially if it's windy. 6pm at the shop!

In other news, I just got this from Intense:

"We have dramatically ramped up production over the last few months inorder to meet the demand for our frames. ... We are now shipping the5.5 FRO frames and the Large Spider 29ers are in production! XL to follow right behind. Both larger sizes of the 29er feature a new curved downtube to clear any fork crowns. This change will gradually find its way into the medium sized frames as well.The 5.5 FRO has been getting some great press and Richard Cunningham from Mountain Bike Action recently asked to keep their test bike for his own personal ride. He liked it that much!"

Always good to hear that type of news!

Us Open Cycling

I don't know if you guys got a chance to catch live coverage on NBC of the US open but what a great race. The eventual winner who threw down on a super strong field and is on somewhat of a small domestic pro team named Svein Tuft came out on top. I have to say this race really was a blast to watch and the winner apparently won enough prize money to cover his teams spnosorship for this year and all of next year. Pretty cool story. Talk about a team hero.

Here is the canadien who stomped the state of Virginia.

Icy

Got out for a jaunt around town today: Cold and Icy. Sure felt good to get out regardless!

Hall Ranch Conditions 4/8

I never did get out to ride today. Lots of fat snow flakes and 30 degree temps motivated me to get a few things done around the house. I did, however, find myself without beer on a Sunday so a trip to the bike shop fridge was in order. I wondered what the dirt was looking like with all this on/off moisture so I drove up Hwy 7 to Hall Ranch.

To be honest, I only walked a handfull of feet up the trail, but I've seen these conditions before. I felt as if I had just rolled into town the evening before a big race and gone to the course to check conditions. I was happy to find perfectly tacky dirt. Looking up the hill, I could still see some snow high up, but it looked like it would only take a small amount of sun to burn off.

Tuesday ride is ON! Bike shop at 6pm for a tour de Hall. Should be great conditions.

new stickers are in

come and get 'em!

Mountain Bike Magazine

In case you missed it....this write up was in an issue of Mountain bike Magazine last summer...of course you would hit Redstone Cyclery instead of U-bikes....

Take this trip after university students' summer evacuation to fully appreciate its getaway vibe
By Joe Lindsey

WHY HERE, WHY NOW: Students have gone home for the summer, leaving Boulder with a relaxed getaway vibe.

DIRT: Get up early (to beat the crowds this trail can collect) and make the 20-minute drive to Lyons for the 10-mile Hall Ranch Trail, one of Boulder County's best. A long out-and-back on the Bitterbrush Trail ascends a moderately technical rock garden with plenty of fun challenges and opens up to the warp-speed Nelson Loop singletrack, with expansive views of 14,255-foot Long's Peak just to the west. More Info: trailcentral.com Trailhead: From Boulder, take Broadway (S.H. 93) south through Golden. Take the on-ramp for C-470 south to S.H. 121/Wadsworth Blvd. Go south for 4.5 miles until the road ends, then turn left onto a side road marked Waterton Canyon. The parking lot is less than a half-mile away.

SHOP: University Bicycles (839 Pearl St.; 303/444-4196), a Boulder institution, caters as much to hard-core freeriders as college cuties buying a townie. They'll also fix anything you can break.

GRUB: In Lyons, head to Oskar Blues (303 Main, Lyons; 303/823-6685) for classic brewpub fare and its unique line of canned (yes, canned) microbrews. In Boulder, Spruce Confections (767 Pearl St.; 303/449-6773) offers eye-opening java; buttery, crumbly, decadent scones; and a sun-drenched patio. The Mediterranean Restaurant (1002 Walnut; 303/444-5335) has a huge interior patio seating area and one of Boulder's most varied and affordable tapas menus with offerings from Spain (patatas bravas), Italy (bistecca genovese) and Greece (spanakopita). Hit The Foundry (1109 Walnut; 303/447-1803) for drinks on the rooftop deck and watch the sun go down behind Boulder's famous Flatirons.

CRASH: The newest hotel in Boulder, the gorgeous Saint Julien (900 Walnut; 877/303-0900) offers luxurious rooms, a superior downtown location and none of that snooty "You can't bring that bike in here" attitude ($225/ night). A less-pricey option is the Golden Buff Lodge (1725 28th St.; 303/442-7450), which is a short bike ride away from Pearl Street. ($99/ night).

Maysa Noor

Here she is: Maysa Noor. Born yesterday 4/3/7 at 12:29, 7lbs 13 ozs, 21 inches. She had a bit of a rough start, but she's doing fantastic now, as is Zana. We're so happy!

Did I mention that we went to Fruita, too? I'll have that update soon. Sorry for the delay, it's been pretty hectic around here (as always, right?).

In other news, we had a ragin' Tuesday Night Ride last night. Thanks to all who showed up. It was a 2 lapper event at Hall and we made it back to down just as it was getting dark. I did make one fatal mistake, though... Chris L is out of town so I rode his Intense Spider 29er. Loved it. Really. I am completely smitten. Anyone want to buy an Intense 6.6? :)

The Lyons Board of Trustees meeting on Monday didn't go so well for cyclists. As it turns out, a big, organized, Century type of ride will be cruising thru town this summer. Great, except that it will be rolling thru the same weekend as Rocky Grass. 5000 dirty hippies and 2000 roadies all converging upon Lyons. I can't wait. Anyway, back to the BOT meeting. In trying to figure out the logistics of such a feat, Town Trustee Dave Goransan replied with much bicycling love that the best way to take care of all those cyclists is with a 2x4 that he'll be carrying around especially for that occasion. I have yet to hear an audio clip of that particular event, but it's on the way. I'll have a transcription here soon.

Tuesday Night Ride

What is the plan this evening fella's? I just got back into town & have not heard. Bike shop @ 6:00?

Speed TV

Dave, I found this promo on the web about the show your brother is going to be in (see link below). I was trying to figure out which one was your brother, my guess is the last guy who speaks.

http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=713228110&channel=340485641

Horsetooth Mountain park

Took the Yeti north to Horsetooth. I've never ridden up there before and I have to say that there are some incredible trails in there. I only rode for a short time but climbed up the service road/Horsetooth Mountain trail and then down Wather and Spring Creek. The trails were in supreme condition. Nice and tacky with some snow and mud mixed in.

I may be back there real soon. I want to cover more of the park.

ON my way to ride tonight...

Since I'm on the short leash these days, waiting for that kid that's now 5 days overdue, I check in with the wife right after work to see if I can squeeze in one more ride. I got the okay today, and headed to hit Pipeline and Betasso since I haven't been up there since the fall. After 20 minutes of navigating the wild hippy filled streets of Boulder I'm about to head up the canyon for my ride, and the phone rings. It's the wife.

She says, "It's Wednesday isn't it?"

Wednesday. Wednesday. What's Wednesday? I start going through the mental checklist. After a few moments it hits me: Betasso is closed to bikes on Wednesday.

nsfw.

Iowa Donut Racing

http://www.triathlon.stuorg.iastate.edu/drun/resultsdr06.php
So check this out. A friend of mine sent this over to me after I told her about the Charlottesville 10-miler coming up this weekend in Virginia. See the race results in the link above and pay close attention to the components of the race listed in the heading. You'll notice that the winner, Greg Obrien, ran the 5K race in 31:23. The real winner though, in my eyes, is Matt Spaulding - who ran the 5K in 74 minutes and 18 seconds, but not before he took down 26 donuts, giving him an adjusted time of 49:48.

God Bless Iowa.

Redstone goes to Moab

I'm still recovering from this last weekend. Tonight was the Tuesday ride, too. Just a day of rest later. To say I'm tired would be an understatement. Here is why...

Let's start on Wednesday eve. Late on Wed eve. Melis and I were at the bike shop, it was midnight or so, and we were drinking beers and working on bikes. Not to mention that we weren't in a hurry, as we were also waiting on MG from NE. No sooner than we cracked open our 2nd or 3rd beer, we were witness to blinding lights shining thru the front window of the bike shop. It was our good friend Johnny. Johnny Law. He thought he'd investigate since Melis's pickup was parked right outside the door, and the Jeep was parked right next to it with the tailgate up. Turns out he was a new night sargeant and was making the rounds. Since we're suspicious enough characters, I guess, he stopped in to make sure that proper things were happening in proper places. I assured him that was the case and he was on his way. Senor MG rolled up just as JL was on his way out. It was quite the reintroduction of a good friend not seen in too long. It ended up being a late night of packing and getting caught up.

We headed out on Thursday. It was a beautiful day, just the kind you want for a road trip. The drive was quick and uneventful. After a brief stop in Vail for real beer (for Utah) and snackies, I got a call from Tucson D, aka "the wind." It is for good reason that he has been nicked the wind, and it was just our day that the wind was on our side. Tucson D was already in Moab (with a rented motorhome) and had staked us out a mighty fine spot just up Sand Flats road. After much ado, screwing around, faceplanting on the road, and remounting a dirty burped UST tire, we headed down the long road (about 1/4 mile) to Slickrock. I had a taste of it when I was out last Fall and the sample was good enough that I wanted to ride it again. It had been a long time since I was out on Slickrock. Same for all of us.
Tucson D smiles in agreement. Yes, too long indeed. Since it was a mighty fine day and the wind had already ridden in the am, we decided it best to stop for a trail break before we continued on and the wind blew back to camp.

Not long after we stopped for another break. Not too bad, sitting on the edge of the rim, looking at the Portal. Such a beautiful day.
The day was getting late, and we were hankering to get into that real beer that we bought in Vail, so we were off.
Day Two *or* The Rainy Day.

I awoke to the drip drop of rain on the motorhome. Rain sounds funny inside those things. I was certainly in a state when it was bedtime on Thurs, and a quick perusal of the innards of the Jeep revealed that I had forgoten my sleeping bag. Good thing that motorhome had a queen sized bed.

We weren't in a hurry (seemed to be the theme of the weekend), as we were waiting on another trio of riders arriving from Boulder. Despite the rain, spirits were still chipper. The ride loomed upon us. What once started as a "we're not going to ride the same old stuff in Moab" trip, turned into riding the same old stuff in Moab. With the same old smiles, of course. It was around noon before we got off our collective asses to arrange the shuttle for Porcupine Rim. Last time I rode it, I was on the 29" Turner Sultan. I was eager to get out on the Intense 6.6 to see just what a big bike can do. Anyway, I was not smiling after I dropped off the catch cars and we drove up to the Porcupine Rim trailhead. I have ridden Porc as a loop a few times, but this was not the day. Especially given the fact that the skies had opend up and were DUMPING down rain. Discussions of aborting the mission were on board, but thankfully, it had stopped raining by the time we made it to the trailhead. We found a window. We would soon find out that this window was, indeed, a suckerhole. Not knowing this to be a suckerhole (as all suckerholes go) we geared up and rode off. Simply starting on the jeep road would have been too easy. Instead, feeling guilty and all about shuttling, we pedaled 6.+ miles up Sand Flats road.

It was a great way to warm up. Easy road, beautiful scenery. Of course, the road was less easy and the scenery was a little less beautiful as we neared our exit. But that's how climbing goes sometimes. Trees and a corral in Moab? Will wonders never cease?The descent of LPS was simply too much fun to take any pictures. The dirt was perfect, too. No, none of us made or even tried the big drop, but it was sure fun on the death defying steeps after that. It made me feel like I was riding in CO for a breif moment. We stopped to collect at the everyone takes a picture here viewpoint on Porcupine Rim.

Shortly after that it started raingin. Shortly after that, I quit feeling the urge to stop and take photos. What started off as a jumpin' off of rocks good time turned into, "What's the safest, least slick line down thru the rocky ledges." I was wishing the sun would come out just a tad to dry out the rocks. Otherwise, I think that's the fastest I've ever ridden Porcupine Rim. All of the super sandy sections were tacky and faaaaast. The singletrack near Jackass Canyon was particularly interesting in the downpour. Just as we wrapped around the edge of the canyon, the skies lifted and the rain stopped. Just enough to enjoy the last little bit of singletrack with clean glasses that I could actually see thru.

the Wind eyeballs itAnd Keith gets 'r done.

Good job fellas. Looks like we'll have to come back to ride this again dry. Did I mention that I killed my drivetrain on this ride. Really. Killed it.

After cleaning ourselves and our bikes, we were off to Fruita for another 2 days of desert bliss...

Another Redstone night on the town?

http://www.boulderveloracing.com/bvr/files/DEVO_24%20Solo.pdf

A movie about 24 hour racing? Maybe preceeded by some beers at the Julian? Anyone else interested?

Desert Heat??

Hey All,
Thanks for getting the trip to Moab & Fruita together. It was a a great group, great riding &...OK weather. I ran into some snow during my drive home Saturday, hope you guys missed it Sunday.

Cheers from the land of Beer & Cheese!

cm

back in the office

Well, we returned from the desert relatively unscathed.

It was good. How about a Tuesday Hall Ranch Ride? 6pm at the bike shop. Don't expect to go to fast, though. Melis is out o' town and I am whooped. More on that later!

Desert Details

Thursday - Leave early. Meet at the bike shop (optimistically) at 7am. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to roll out by 7:45. Drive to Moab and find a camp spot on Sand Flats across from Slickrock. Set up camp and ride somewhere. After ride, eat, party.

Friday - ride all day. We'll be waiting on some Friday arrivals so we'll head out around 10. The ride is yet tbd. After ride, get back, eat, pack up camp and drive to Fruita. Set up camp in Rabbit Valley. Party.

Saturday - all day ride from camp. Get back, eat, maybe ride some more. eat. party.

Sunday. Get up and pack up camp. Roll out, hit Marys Loop stuff or 18rd on the way out o' town. Drive home. Tired.

If anyone wants to hook up for all or part, call the shop phone 303.823.5810. It forwards to my mobile.

back in black

No Thursday Special this week. In fact, Redstone will be closed this weekend, too. It's time for a trip to the desert, so expect some updates next week! We've got a big ol' posse going.
Without further ado... That's one good looking Intense Spider!

Heil

Continuing my North Boulder County Foothills trail tour, I stopped in at Heil today. Conditions are very good there as well, bordering on dry.

I sampled some Wild Turkey while I was out. It needs to age a bit more, but it's mighty tasty already.

Lefthand Good News/Bad News

I was up at Lefthand OHV tonight, and it was as perfect as that place gets. Carnage Canyon is about 90% dry, 9% wet, 1% sloppy. I went up that, up Fireman, down the singletrack to the right back to the Jeep.

Good news is that the closure notices are down from the Jamestown fire. I didn't have time to climb up to where the fence was, hopefully its gone, and if it is that opens up miles of doubletrack.

Bad news is that the printed new maps that show Carnage Canyon, but describe it as being closed. If you want to ride it you might want to do it soon before signage and or fencing closes it down.

Kerry from Longmont stopped in for some water this weekend. His bike was so cool I had to snap a couple of pictures. How about that friction shifting Suntour Cyclone? Pauls front and rear brakes. The package was complete with a Brooks saddle and shellacked cork tape. If it had lugs, Grant Peterson would be pround. Check out Kogswell if you're looking for a good all rounder and don't mind 650b tires!

I got out on Sunday, too. Rode Hall on the 6.6. Man, this winter has been tough on the old man here. I've been riding Hall on the Turner Flux, but that Intense 6.6 is a different beast entirely. The extra 2.75" of squish and extra 4 pounds definitely took a toll on me going up thru the rock garden. I'm a tired boy.

Anyone up for a Tour de Hall on Tuesday? Let's meet up at 6pm at the bike shop.

Golden

Headed down Golden way for a chance of pace this morning. Spring has sprung, the trails were excellent, and the capper was heading to the local beer store only to find the Dale's grill fired up with beercan chicken and Scottish Eggs - a mighty fine lunch!

New On One Inbred 29er

Allegedly scheduled for late April arrival. Pricing yet to be determined.

Reportedly, the ladybug is even included with the completes!

Thursday Special, 3/15

Beware the Ides of March. The Thursday Special is upon us!

15% off introductory price on all Transition frames or completes! We have Covert frames in stock/on the way for inventory and will bring in others as needed. Email me, dave@redstonecyclery.com for the scoop!

Bicycling Magazine

Keep your eyes open for an upcoming issue of Bicycling magazine where there will be an article about Tyler Hamilton. Our very own local Dr Finnoff will be featured as he was interviewed for the article. If you don't know, Greg is a doctor and was a medical advisor on Hamilton's defense team. Should be interesting.

Tuesday Ride Recap

Tuesday started great, but I knew I was in for trouble when Doperssuck showed up with the legendary Nick Martin. Nick's a good guy, a respectable fellow midwesterner, so you know he's good. Damn fast, too. The ride started off fast out of the gate. As soon as we got to the Hall Ranch parking lot, it was all systems go. I was pushing a tough gear just to hang on going up the frontside of Hall Ranch. Thankfully, we ran into some folks we know going up, so it gave me a good excuse to regroup with the rest of the gang. After regrouping, we rolled over the top past the bench and on to the backside of Hall. The big snowbank by the Antelope junction that I had to hike thru on Saturday was barely existant, but not without incident. Another rider on a Mav forked Ellsworth was going the other way and expressed, "Hmm, riding Hall Ranch at night is ILLEGAL, Hmmmm." Yep, sure is. I thought of the irony that he mentioned this as we were at exactly the same point on the trail. We kept going.

Once climbing again past the Antelope junction, Melis the Man started setting tempo on his SS and I was off the back before we made it up to the loop. Those guys rode the loop, but I pussed out. I had stopped a couple of times to bs with folks riding the trail so I opted out of the loop (which, by the way, is reportedely ok rideable shape). Luckily, I had just run into MK_ on his way down. He kept me company whilst I installed my light (for the road ride home, of course) and waited for the rest of the gang. We ripped it up on the descent and made it out before dark.

For what it's worth, if the Ellsworth policeman is reading this, we made it down to the parking lot safely without use of lights, and there were still a dozen other cars there :). Sorry to burst your authoritative bubble, occifer.

We escorted Nick and Doperssuck out of town (they still had to ride home to Boulder) and hightailed it to Oscars. The Dale's Pale tasted especially good, as did the luscious pesto burger. Yum.

Next week, same time, same place. See you there!

The Transition has Begun

Covert operations to commence shortly. Transition Bikes now at the Stone.

Tuesday Night Ride 6pm, 3/13

See you at the shop at 6pm! We can ride from there or go to Neva Rd. I heard it's totally dry now. It might be a good idea to bring a light in either case...

Why is it

that it hurts twice as much when you grind a scab off your knee as it does when you scrape off regular old skin? Hall claimed the same knee it feasted on Wednesday, and this one hurt twice as much even though it was only about half the wound size.






Sure is great weather today!

Sorry but had to say something...

I know this a waste of valuable web space and completely unrelated to cycling but I just read an article about Courtney Love.

You know you've hit rock bottom when a rehab center sues you for an upaid bill.

Rabbit Mountain

So I rode Rabbit Mountain last week. Trail was in great shape overall with the exception of the north side. It has been a few days since so It should be totally dry by now.

Here a couple of photos from the cell phone. I especially like the one that I took inside my pocket. Its a framer.

Boulder Cup

Check it out - "The Boulder Cup" television program, a 30 minute recap show of the cyclocross race last fall in Boulder will air on ALTITUDE(MT):
Saturday 3/10 11:30 AM
Thursday 3/15 2:30 PM
Monday 3/19 10:00 AM
Thursday 3/22 3:30 PM
Thursday 3/29 3:30 PM

cool stuff - cm

Warranty

MIGZ & I made it out for a shortened night ride last evening. On a great night with the stars & moon above we had the event cut a bit short. MIGZ massive wattage snapped his Raceface drive side crank arm right off. I approached the scene quite surprised to notice him holding his bike & the crank arm with pedal laying on the rocks. He was able to limp that baby home with one leg. For his work he received a beer & an introduction to my whiskey drinking roommate in his Irish best.

We should have known it would be an eventful evening as a precursor to our ride Debaser came stumbling in brandishing wounds from his ride. Word is a full on over the bars experience, nice work!

dopers suck, right?

Make sure to wear your dopers suck shirts if you go...

from bicycle retailer...

"Floyd Landis to Make Appearance at Colorado Bike Shop MARCH 07, 2007 -- BROOMFIELD, CO (BRAIN)--Floyd Landis will make an appearance at Bicycle Village's Westminster location on Sunday, March 11, 3-6 p.m., for a town hall style Q&A meeting. The public will have the opportunity to meet Landis and hear from him on the progress of the case to clear his name of doping charges.Proceeds from the event will go to the Floyd Fairness Fund (FFF), which assists Landis with his legal fees. There will also be a free autograph session and silent auction.Admission is $35 per person. To RSVP, call (303) 421-4001 or email landis@ssv.net. For more information, visit www.bicyclevillage.com. "

frorider's Intense Uzzi VPX

In Java, no less. Just looking at this bike makes me drool about riding in the forest. Intense Uzzi VPX, Rock Shox Totem (in the sweet new galvanized finish). Damn.