Well, the weather doesn't look too promising for Tuesday, but we'll shoot for it anyway. Even if conditions are iffy, I will still drive to Jamestown and will make the call there:
Tuesday Night Ride. Meet up at 6pm in Jamestown. We'll do a nice loop to the Southwest of Jamestown. There will be some steep, steep jeep roads and a potentially deep, fast, and cold water crossing. Expect fun singletrack, too.
I plan on doing some more riding later in the week, too. Potentially looking at after work Friday, after early shop close on Sat and after close on Sunday. I'll keep y'all posted on those.
In other news, Lyons folks rocked the house at 18 hrs of Fruita. The Oskar Blues team won the overall. Lyons very own Scott Hicar got fastest lap of the event, too. Another local yocal, Scott L, was on the team that got 2nd overall. I'm sure that it's good karma that he is an avid fan of DPA... Anyway, congrats!
Oh, we got the 1st coat of paint on our house and garage this weekend. It looks great. Definitely a good change over barn red. I'm tired, though. On top of all the painting, it was also the annual Lyons pick-up-shit-around-your-yard-and-take-it-to-the-town-dump days. I got a ton of trash and brush moved out, too.
I still had to make it out for a ride after all that was said and done. I had a 1.5 hour window so I saddled up the Paramount for short climbing excursion up Highway 7. It was a fantastic ride. I climbed for an hour, turned around, and it was a 1/2 hour back home. Perfect timing. I made it to the riverside/raymond split. I feel old and slow now, as my recent times on local climbs and rides are nowhere even close to the same neighborhood as they once were. Oh well, life changes and priorities change. I had fun anyway.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
BMA Action Alert!
Hey folks - (click the title)
I posted this over on MTBR - there's a copy of the BMA action alert, along with some pics and a map. Meetings are next week - this is a huge opportunity, but we've got to work a bit for it. If you can, please make it to at least one of the meetings next week and let Boulder know that you want singletrack to ride from town, and this is the place.
See all those lines in yellow? Those could be mountain bike trails, if we show up in numbers!
Thanks -
Bryan
I posted this over on MTBR - there's a copy of the BMA action alert, along with some pics and a map. Meetings are next week - this is a huge opportunity, but we've got to work a bit for it. If you can, please make it to at least one of the meetings next week and let Boulder know that you want singletrack to ride from town, and this is the place.
See all those lines in yellow? Those could be mountain bike trails, if we show up in numbers!
Thanks -
Bryan
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
news 5/4
So, the bike shop will be closed on Saturday. We'll be pursuing a much more fun endeavor - painting our house. I'm definitely excited to see what it'll be like, but not so much excited for the actual painting. Anyway, those that see me on Sunday should hope to see some signs of relief on my face. We'll only be a few more small steps towards completion on our addition project. Finally!
Also, found out some other big news today. Kelly Bikes is throwing in the towel. You will all rememeber them as the long time California framebuilder famous for their skinny tubed bikes and green and orange logos. Cross bikes, road, mountain, they were good at it all. Better get those black rigid Kelly forks while you still can! Here's more info. It is a sad time indeed.
The Intense derailleur hangers are finally here. A bunch of you have been bugging me about them so grab 'em while they're hot. Or just grab 'em. Hot der hangers are no fun at all. I burned my leg on a brake caliper last week, but that's another story.
One last thing for the eve - the woolies have come and are mostly gone. I still have a short sleeve XL and a long sleeve medium. They will be gone soon. If'n wool just isn't your thing, though, we'll have the shop racer boy jerseys in Mid May. These will be your traditional tighty, 3 pocket, synthetic fiber jerseys that will make you look super cool racer style. We'll have a bit more of these in more sizes, too.
Over and out. If you come to the house Sat, we'll put you to work! See everyone at the shop on Sunday.
Also, found out some other big news today. Kelly Bikes is throwing in the towel. You will all rememeber them as the long time California framebuilder famous for their skinny tubed bikes and green and orange logos. Cross bikes, road, mountain, they were good at it all. Better get those black rigid Kelly forks while you still can! Here's more info. It is a sad time indeed.
The Intense derailleur hangers are finally here. A bunch of you have been bugging me about them so grab 'em while they're hot. Or just grab 'em. Hot der hangers are no fun at all. I burned my leg on a brake caliper last week, but that's another story.
One last thing for the eve - the woolies have come and are mostly gone. I still have a short sleeve XL and a long sleeve medium. They will be gone soon. If'n wool just isn't your thing, though, we'll have the shop racer boy jerseys in Mid May. These will be your traditional tighty, 3 pocket, synthetic fiber jerseys that will make you look super cool racer style. We'll have a bit more of these in more sizes, too.
Over and out. If you come to the house Sat, we'll put you to work! See everyone at the shop on Sunday.
More from Switzerland
Justification for hauling the big camera araound, I hope.
That was fun! See you guys next week!
That was fun! See you guys next week!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Switzerland
Great ride Tuesday night. We had a strong crew, too. We met up in Boulder, then caravanned up to Sunset where we did a fun little figure 8 loop using the Switzerland Trail and Todd Gulch. Thanks for driving the big rig, Chris!
After some climbing on the jeep road, we took a lapse into the unknown, something that would be appropriate for X Files. After that short stint on tv, we were back to our 2 track and heading back to make the figure 8.
Todd Gulch did not dissapoint. Well, not really. Some asshole, though, has gone in and felled a bunch of trees across the trail. We had to do a little walking in a couple of spots. It was worth it, though, to hit such a little gem. It starts off tame enough, but has some really fun, rough, rocky sections.
Once we ducked into the trees, the going got a little tougher. Here's a couple of angles on the same point:
Although the drive time was a bit longer than antcipated and the ride slightly shorter than anticipated, it was a good ride. I hadn't been in those neck of the woods in over 6 years. It felt good to play up there again.
After some climbing on the jeep road, we took a lapse into the unknown, something that would be appropriate for X Files. After that short stint on tv, we were back to our 2 track and heading back to make the figure 8.
Todd Gulch did not dissapoint. Well, not really. Some asshole, though, has gone in and felled a bunch of trees across the trail. We had to do a little walking in a couple of spots. It was worth it, though, to hit such a little gem. It starts off tame enough, but has some really fun, rough, rocky sections.
Once we ducked into the trees, the going got a little tougher. Here's a couple of angles on the same point:
Although the drive time was a bit longer than antcipated and the ride slightly shorter than anticipated, it was a good ride. I hadn't been in those neck of the woods in over 6 years. It felt good to play up there again.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Tuesday Night Ride, May 2
We're mixing it up a little this Tuesday. We'll meet up in cars in Boulder at 5:30pm. Convene 5:30 at Settler's Park (the lot just off Canyon on the right side of the road just as you enter Boulder Canyon. Last turnoff into Boulder). From there, we'll drive up the road to our National Forest destination of the Switzerland Trail area. Think of easy grade non technical jeep roads, twisty singletrack, and a few steep rocky descents in both jeep road troughs and technical singletrack. Good stuff. See you there.
on the road again
I got out a little on the roadie this morning. Freetime was limited to just under a couple hours so I had to squeeze in a quality ride in on short time. I took off from town about 8:15 in the morning. It was a nice little cruise towards the 36 turnoff. The back breeze, the day still cloudy with the sun starting to poke through, and the early morning temps made it a chilly outing until I headed south and started to climb on Foothills Highway.
I have to warm up a little before I figure out the ride. I didn't have any route planned. That's the way I like to road ride. Just go and take turns as you feel the urge. I rolled on past Hygiene and St Vrain roads. Both fun roads, but I didn't quite feel like pedaling thru the flats. That means Nelson was out, too.
Left Hand was now up on the right so I decided to head west and go uphill for a short bit. Man. The cars at parked alongside the road just kill me. Tons of folks driving up to the mouth of LHC so they can get their road bikes out and head up the hill. If I get in a car to go ride, it's with a bike with nobbies. That's the beauty of road riding, right? To leave from home?
Anyway, I road up to the Ward/Jamestown split and turned around. I took a little breather on the side of the road by the creek. Not because I needed the breather, more because Spring is here and I love sitting by the creek watching the water rush by.
The return trip was pretty fast. TONS of bikes climbing up the road as I was coming down. All ages and all types of bikes were represented. It was great to see folks just getting out on 2 wheels. Coming out at the bottom of the canyon was great. The sun was blazing on the hillsides, making the foothills even more pronounced.
It felt good to just cruise at a mellow tempo and spin. Hope y'alls rides this weekend were equally as satisfying.
I have to warm up a little before I figure out the ride. I didn't have any route planned. That's the way I like to road ride. Just go and take turns as you feel the urge. I rolled on past Hygiene and St Vrain roads. Both fun roads, but I didn't quite feel like pedaling thru the flats. That means Nelson was out, too.
Left Hand was now up on the right so I decided to head west and go uphill for a short bit. Man. The cars at parked alongside the road just kill me. Tons of folks driving up to the mouth of LHC so they can get their road bikes out and head up the hill. If I get in a car to go ride, it's with a bike with nobbies. That's the beauty of road riding, right? To leave from home?
Anyway, I road up to the Ward/Jamestown split and turned around. I took a little breather on the side of the road by the creek. Not because I needed the breather, more because Spring is here and I love sitting by the creek watching the water rush by.
The return trip was pretty fast. TONS of bikes climbing up the road as I was coming down. All ages and all types of bikes were represented. It was great to see folks just getting out on 2 wheels. Coming out at the bottom of the canyon was great. The sun was blazing on the hillsides, making the foothills even more pronounced.
It felt good to just cruise at a mellow tempo and spin. Hope y'alls rides this weekend were equally as satisfying.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Cactusy
A little ride this am... Hit it up with a few folks, including Carl who was ripping it up on his Flux and Mr. Monkey Face, aka Pablo.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Baby Steps via Klondike Bluffs
So Saturday morning we set out for Klondike Bluffs and the brand spankin new Baby Steps. This trail opened in March of this year and it was clearly evident by the trail condition. It is still very soft and if you get your front wheel anywhere near the edge of the trail, it will suck you in. But, this is singletrack in its purest form. Absolute brilliant route placement of this trail. Its like a moonscape throughout the whole ride and just flows perfectly. There is nothing real physically tough nor is there anything real technical. Just flat out fun. I can't wait til this fall after this trail has seen some moisture and some more traffic. When this baby is packed down it is going to be fast and like a roller coaster.
We rode all the way to the top of Klondike Bluffs, did the short hike for the view and then on the way back down we took Baby Steps which leads off to the right. The route was hard to stay on at times. Being such a new trail, it isn't totally established in all areas especially when it goes over the slickrock. Most of the trail markings were done with rock lines on each side. The first photo below show some this. All in all, so so sweet.
The route placement on this trail was very well done.
We rode all the way to the top of Klondike Bluffs, did the short hike for the view and then on the way back down we took Baby Steps which leads off to the right. The route was hard to stay on at times. Being such a new trail, it isn't totally established in all areas especially when it goes over the slickrock. Most of the trail markings were done with rock lines on each side. The first photo below show some this. All in all, so so sweet.
Look closely and you can see Redstone represented on the shoulders of the jersey
The route placement on this trail was very well done.
The crew getting ready to descend 
Another view of the trail
damn fine singletrack-and it doesn't get anymore single than this
More sweet Single track
Descending back onto the Klondike Bluffs and back to the car. This is the lower portion of the Baby Steps
LPS (Porcupine) in Moab
So this past weekend some folks I work with headed west for desert riding. This trip was dedicated to trying some new trails that none of us have ever done. The first one was LPS (Lower Porcupine Singletrack) which is now totally legal and on the maps. This is a beauty of a trail. Think of the section of the normal porc between the first lookout at the top of the climb all the way to "high anxiety lookout" and just multiply it by 3. There is more singletrack above LPS but is not quite legal as of yet so we opted to play by the rules. I believe there are good reasons trails are closed and I know if I was a Moab local I wouldn't want everybody from the front range and elsewhere on illegal trails. It can ruin it for everyone.
The LPS trailhead is exactly 4.1 miles from the Porcupine Trailhead proper on Sand Flats road. The trail goes left right before the cattle guard. It is such a great trail, I will never ever ever climb up the main trail again. This is the way to go and there were only a small number of other riders that did the same so we virtually had this trail to ourselves. There is a section of this trail that is over the top in terms of steepness and technical difficulty. The photo below shows a guy pinning it with no problem. Very impressive. Just below this section is some more very steep but rideable sweeping trail that is stomach on the seat fun.
Take my word and next time you are out in Moab, ride this trail.
We also did Baby steps which is a new trail as of March 06. It is a finger loop off of Klondike Bluffs. I will do a seperate post for this one.
On our way up Sand Flats toward LPS
Sample of the trail (the rim is to the left)
The LPS trailhead is exactly 4.1 miles from the Porcupine Trailhead proper on Sand Flats road. The trail goes left right before the cattle guard. It is such a great trail, I will never ever ever climb up the main trail again. This is the way to go and there were only a small number of other riders that did the same so we virtually had this trail to ourselves. There is a section of this trail that is over the top in terms of steepness and technical difficulty. The photo below shows a guy pinning it with no problem. Very impressive. Just below this section is some more very steep but rideable sweeping trail that is stomach on the seat fun.
Take my word and next time you are out in Moab, ride this trail.
We also did Baby steps which is a new trail as of March 06. It is a finger loop off of Klondike Bluffs. I will do a seperate post for this one.
On our way up Sand Flats toward LPS
Cattle Guard and trailhead for LPS
Sample of the trail (the rim is to the left)
This is one of the sickest descents I've seen. No one from our group had the nuts or the bike to pull this off. This guy cleaned it with no problems. If you ever get to see this drop, you will be blown away, the photo just doesn't do it justice.
Another trail sampler.
A look out to Castle Valley south of the main lookout where everyone and their sister hang out.
This is where the trail dumps out onto the standard porcupine trail. This is just below the main lookout area. I wonder how many times I've ridden right past this spot and never even noticed it. Everytime actually.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
too sexy for your bike.
The new Redstone jersey's are in and they are sweet. Dave's got long and short sleeve. The shorty's are nice for these cold mornings.
the redstone models show the new spring fashion:
the redstone models show the new spring fashion:
Monday, April 24, 2006
still ridin' tues
I'm riding. Well, my rule for tomorrow is that I (probably) won't ride if the pavement is still super wet. It's snowing right now, but if it clears up at all tomorrow, conditions should be prime.
Oh, and the woolies will be here, too. Short and Long. I saw the sew sample today. Sweeeeeeet.
Oh, and the woolies will be here, too. Short and Long. I saw the sew sample today. Sweeeeeeet.
Protect Fruita Trails
Fruita Trails need your help! Please visit the link (click on the title of the post) to help keep Fruita rolling.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Woods + Singletrack = Good
Had a couple great rides this weekend, back into the forest for the first time since last year for me. Exploring a bit, getting lost, and eating my new favorite trail food, it's got that "natural identical flavour." Mmm mmm Good.
Scenes from the North
Made it a bit further north than usual Saturday. A very demanding ride & unfortunately a trip to the hospital for some. Be Well!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
mary had a little lamb
Mary left to tend to her flock. In this case, a Black Sheep.
On-One Mary Bar. She's got some curves.
I got the opportunity to send Karma on it's way. Hopefully, it will come back around in a similar manner. A guy walks in - "do you have any Marta 160 rotors? I was just 15 minutes into my ride when I bent one." Well, no, I didn't have any spares but I could see it was paining this guy to not ride. Understanding his predicament, I asked him about it. Well, it turns out that he had driven down from Cheyenne to ride here. He wrecked pretty good not long into the ride and bent his front rotor way out of whack. It was beyond help - one of the rotor arms was almost broken it was so tweaked. I could see that it was paining him to not ride. Being a fellow addict, though, I understood. I pulled the 6.6 into the shop, dropped the wheel out, and pulled off a Marta SL rotor for him so he could get his ride in. I haven't seen a guy that happy in a while. It was good to help out another 2 wheeled brother in a situation that most of us have been in one way or another. He came back a bit later with an ear to ear grin. I hope he passes the Karma on, too. Karma is good but Bike Karma is even better.
On-One Mary Bar. She's got some curves.
I got the opportunity to send Karma on it's way. Hopefully, it will come back around in a similar manner. A guy walks in - "do you have any Marta 160 rotors? I was just 15 minutes into my ride when I bent one." Well, no, I didn't have any spares but I could see it was paining this guy to not ride. Understanding his predicament, I asked him about it. Well, it turns out that he had driven down from Cheyenne to ride here. He wrecked pretty good not long into the ride and bent his front rotor way out of whack. It was beyond help - one of the rotor arms was almost broken it was so tweaked. I could see that it was paining him to not ride. Being a fellow addict, though, I understood. I pulled the 6.6 into the shop, dropped the wheel out, and pulled off a Marta SL rotor for him so he could get his ride in. I haven't seen a guy that happy in a while. It was good to help out another 2 wheeled brother in a situation that most of us have been in one way or another. He came back a bit later with an ear to ear grin. I hope he passes the Karma on, too. Karma is good but Bike Karma is even better.
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