Happy Halloween

Got out for a ride outta town today with Jrog. Good stuff I tell you. Just don't fall.




Where's everyone hankerin' to ride on Tuesday? Peacefull Valley area? Lion Gulch? Pole Hill? Or even the wheel of rides?

And a happy birthday to the one and only Rockin' Ron. Great times were had at the Rockin household on Saturday, including but not limited to some amazing backyard pumptrack action. Maybe we'll have to make Rockin's house a stop on our Tuesday night adventures...

New Woolies and other stuff!

It's been long enough since the last run of Redstone embroidered wool jerseys. Enough of you have said "MORE!" and we finally caved. Check out the 2010 Redstone Woolies. In house and very limited. Get yours now!


In addition to our woolies, we're stocking up on warmers and cool weather gloves. More winter duds are showing as we speak as well.


Christmas is coming up as well. To that end, we're stockin' up on kids bikes. Right now we've got 2011 20" and 24" mountain bikes from GT. More kids bikes as well as adult mountain bikes are arriving as they become available. Don't get your kid vids or something equally lethargic this year. Get them outside appreciating the world around us on 2 wheels!

Tuesday Nighter, 10/19

Meet up at the bike shop at 5:30 for a late night Sourdough rendezvous. It's entirely possible that conditions could yield a shutout for Peaceful Valley so stay tuned for alternate plans...

Crossin on the Peak to Peak

If you didn't hit up the cross race today at Aspen Lodge just south of Estes on the Peak to Peak, you missed out!

Twin Sisters provided quite the backdrop for this fantastic venue.

So did Long's and Mt Meeker. The course was a techy mountain biker style course, too.

Pro men's field was great spectating.


Hup Hup!

Help the Lyons HS MTB team on 10/27!!!

Dinner at OB on Wednesday 10/27. Be there and bring all of your friends. Let's try to raise some fundage for our high school mountain bikers!

Consignment Bikes update

We've got a couple of very nice bike with skinny tires here on consignment.

First off, a 2006 or so Schwinn Fastback. Medium, 51.5 c-t seat tube and about a 54cm effective top tube. Aluminum frame and fork with 8sp Shimano Tiagra triple. Looking for $300 on this one. This Fastback would be a great starter bike for a smaller person. It has barely been ridden and is in great shape.


Next up is a 2007 Specialized S-Works cross bike. 54.5cm aluminum frame with carbon fork. It's build is very nice - SRAM Rival group, Thomson post, Ritchey WCS stem, Salsa Bell Lap Bars. This bike is super clean. $1300.

We're not in Summer anymore, Toto

A few pics from last nights Tuesday ride. Slush and snow above 8500' or so and perfect dirt down lower. Winter's coming.

Tuesday Ride 10/12

Bike shop at 5:30 or Jtown around 6ish. It'll be pretty much a full dark ride so bring as much light and battery horsepower as you've got!

The latest in Boulder Mountainbike Alliance news

BMA Membership Party

Wed Oct 20th @ the Draft House from 5-9pm



Get ready to do some mingling at the annual BMA membership party! It's time to have some fun and participate in BMA's Board of Directors elections. Let's celebrate another productive year and look forward to new opportunities on the horizon. Interested in serving on the BMA board of directors? Hit reply and let us know ASAP!
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Celebrate the Dirty Bismarck:

Vote YES ON 1B & Support Boulder County Open Space

On Thursday October 14th Boulder County Parks and Open Space will open up another critical link for the Dirty Bismarck off-road recreational loop. This is another example of why you should support the county open space program and VOTE YES ON 1B Marshall Valley to Marshall Mesa to Cowdrey Draw to the new Mayhoffer-Singletree trail to a soon-to-be-built connector to Coalton to High Plains to Greenbelt Plateau to Community Ditch to Coal Seam. This will make an all dirt loop mirroring the route of the Morgul-Bismarck Loop of the Coors International Bicycle Classic from the 1980s. THIS WILL BE AN AWESOME 4-SEASON LOOP TRAIL!

In the past few years, Boulder County Open Space has built miles of awesome trail that can be experienced on two wheels. Picture Rock, Wild Turkey, new trails soon-to-open at Betasso. There are more opportunities on the horizon. That's why BMA supports ballot issue 1B and Boulder County Parks and Open Space. The most important thing you can do to support BMA's closest partner in building world-class single track is to spread the word (and of course VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!). Cut and paste the following paragraph into an email and educate your friends and colleagues:

You should vote yes on ballot issue 1B this year. You love biking in Boulder County. You enjoy Hall Ranch, Heil Valley Ranch, Walker Ranch, and Betasso Preserve. This is what open space gets you. A vote for 1B will get you more trails - including another Hall Ranch sized recreational open space park and the possibility of connecting existing parks like the Picture Rock Trail did for Hall and Heil. Some of the best, last private property in the County is up for sale. If we don't buy it now, private developers will. And they won't build biking trails, organic farms, or wildlife corridors. Please spread the word. Vote YES ON 1B and support open space, recreation, our economy, ecosystems, and wildlife. For more info check out
http://www.yesonopenspace.org/
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Valmont Bike Park Update

Thank for your patience during the design, development and construction of Valmont Bike Park. BMA has been working in tandem with the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department, and we are very excited about what is right around the corner. Your generosity has made a large impact, and we sincerely thank you for the above and beyond donations.



The Parks Department, as the landowner, is working tirelessly to get the project done within budget, and as soon as possible. I am sure you will be disappointed the park is not opening this fall, but the wait will be well worth it. We cannot commend the Park Department enough on their work. There are many layers of complexities in the construction, and they have met the challenges well. We are grateful for their efforts. Please read the statement they issued below for the status and opening dates.



BMA would like to address an issue that has negatively impacted an already tight construction schedule and budget. Numerous incidents of poaching (trespassing) have occurred, and the ramifications are causing delays, damage, increased costs, and stressing our relationship with the Parks Department. The trails ARE NOT READY TO RIDE, and riding them is requiring the contractors to repair them first, before they can finish them. So it is not harmless poaching, it is causing damage and delays. We cannot emphasize this enough.



Current Project Status



Approximately 50% of the bike park features have been roughed in or completed. Many additional features and elements need to be added or completed before the park can be opened.



Please Note: The bike park site is currently CLOSED to all non-construction access. Entering this site at anytime is trespassing and violators will be ticketed. Many of the park features are not complete and riders attempting to access the park risk personal

injury and damage to the trails, increasing construction delays and resulting in diverting limited funds from park features to repair damages.



Bike Park Improvements Currently Underway

constructing terrain park features
constructing restroom facilities
installing irrigation, landscaping and erosion controls
grass seed establishment
obtaining easements, engineering and constructing bridges across irrigation ditches
improving parking lots
developing trail maintenance standards and agreements
developing and installing safety and information signs


Projected Bike Park Opening: Spring 2011 (contingent upon weather)



Again, please DO NOT ENTER or attempt to ride the park until it is opened for public use. We sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation as we enter the final months of bike park construction.
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BMA Mixer

October 17th



The next BMA MIXER will be Sunday October 17th. We will meet at the Southern Sun Brewery at 12pm. The ride will leave from the Southern Sun and head to Marshall Mesa Trail Head. After Marshall Mesa we'll head back to the Southern Sun for food and drink. If you are short on time you can meet us at the Marshall Mesa Trail Head for the ride. We should be at the Trail Head at 12:30, but it's a group ride so we could be a couple minutes late. If you can't make the ride, come meet us at the Southern Sun to plan your next one. We will be returning to the Southern Sun at approximately 3pm.

If the weather turns bad we still meet at the Southern Sun at 12pm for food and drink.

This is a fun, no drop ride. If we have some fast riders, we will make a fast group. The trails are all beginner to intermediate, no advanced or expert riding, but it's still fast and fun! All riders must have a working bike, helmet, jacket, and water.

Tuesday Ride, 10/5

Meetin' up in LYons at 5:30 or the West Mag lot off the Peak to Peak at, oh, 6:30ish. Bring lights. We're going to do a tour de West Mag. Warning - if you openly admit to having been at West Mag twice or more during the last year, you will become the default ride leader :) Otherwise, if you follow me, we'll just kinda stumble around. I know only enough to be slightly dangerous.

Big Fall Ride 5 recap

First, a little history. We started the Big Fall Ride several years ago. BFR was set to be the annual end of the season blowout ride/party. I'll never forget the first one. We were to meet up at the world's smallest bike shop, drive up to Peaceful Valley and engage in some epic riding. The day came and I rose early only to find temps in the 50s and constant rain. blech. Out of sense of duty only, I got my gear together and made it down to the bike shop expecting to see no one. Much to my surprise, a handful of hardcore showed up with big smiles ready to ride. Cold rain and all. Exactly my kind of people. Fortunately, the storm was entirely a low elevation event. We drove up and out of the rain to a bluebird day west of the peak to peak. We rode, cooked out, dranks some beverages and pretty much had a grand old time.



Since then, we've had one really disgustingly rainy and cold Big Fall Ride, but for the most part, we've been blessed with great weather. 3 BFRs ago, we found ourselves in a new situation with the creation of Picture Rock at Heil Ranch. I had been dreaming of a big ride that could start west of the Peak to Peak and finish up in Lyons. Big Fall Ride in its current state was born. Since BFR3, we've done some fine tuning and minor tweaks on the route, but it's pretty much stayed the same.

Enter 2010. Big Fall Ride 5. I can't say 5th Annual cause it's not. We skipped a year, 2007, I believe. 8am meetup time. Time to start getting the bikes into vehicles. Uh Oh. Main shuttle vehicle not hear yet. Better LOAD UP the truck!

Turned out to be a thing of real beauty. I love to see a vehicle utilized at maximum capacity.

After some minor delays, it turns out that meetup time really meant 8:45am and our main shuttle vehicle for the day arrived. We got everyone and all the bikes loaded and ready to rumble. Up to the Peak to Peak we went, destination Bunce School Road. Even got to do a little off roading with the shuttle vehicles before we could unload :)



And we were off. Finally pedaling around 9:45ish. And it felt great. Temps were absolutely perfect and the sky looked like something out of a Simpsons cartoon. The colors were going off as well.

Bunce School Road turned out to be a perfect warm up before hitting the technical climbing on Sourdough. Technically, Bunce is a county road, but it sure feels like a USFS jeep road. Someone told a story about witnessing a non Outback Subaru Legacy on Bunce. I would liked to have seen that one.

On thru Peaceful Valley and up Sourdough, which never dissapoints. All smiles.



But then again, there is hiking. It's a tough climb. I used to be able to clean it but it seems like a lifetime ago. I still think it's in me, at least one more time. One of these days. It's not mountain biking unless you're hiking, right?



And then, even though we're climbing, it's all smiles again. Love me some Sourdough.
Just a little bit more climbing...


Then snacktime.


I had received some last minute beta suggesting that the South St. Vrain trail would be closed for tree removal. Kip and I volunteered to scout ahead to check to see if SSV was closed or not. If it was closed, I had a good plan B worked out and wanted to save the rest of the riders the inconvenience of dropping down to SSV, then climbing back out and backtracking. Fortunately, SSV was open for bidness. And what good bidness it was.





Turns out, they had done quite a bit of deforesting but weren't working this day. And that's pretty much all I've got to say about South St. Vrain. Except for the fact that it smelled pretty darn good on account of all the fresh cut trees:)

From SSV, we connected some dirt county roads over to Gold Lake (what used to be a) Resort. I should've taken a picture. The current property owners of the Gold Lake property have put a big ass sign up right in the middle of the road saying no admittance, closed, etc. Don't worry about it. It's just another case of idiot property owners trying to exersise their own domain on public property typical of the BS you encounter around rural Boulder County. FYI, the road is closed (gated) but only to motorized. It's still completely open to non motorized pursuits. We ignored the signs, went around the gate and were on our way. It was time for lunch!

Onward we pressed with Jamestown as our next destination. Some good descending was in store.





I was starting to get a little tired by this point and we still had about 15 miles to go. A little road time first...

Followed by a tiny little scramble up a rock or two...


And it was time for a little more singletrack.

And it was good.


Then a little more time on the road. Despite the fact that it was on the road, at the very least, it was A)downhill, B)fast, C)scenic and well... I guess that pretty much sums up good road riding, right? Only a couple of miles and it was time for our last obstacle, one last park. Heil Ranch. Only about 13 miles to the bike shop! I've said it before. Normally, the climb up Wapiti at Heil is not a biggie, but when you've alreay got several hours, several thousand feet of climbing, and a crapload of miles behind you, it's tough. And it starts with a mile+ on a slightly deceivingly gravel uphill. Before you get to the climb.

Awesome.
But Heil is close. Good singletrack and good views.


And everytime I get to this point

I think, "ahhh, home." I rode on ahead to get the grill setup so the rest of the riders could have some food with their frosty beverages when they were done riding. But some riders were still out and relishing in a day well spent on the bike.

I believe "spent" is entirely a good word.


Big Fall Ride 5 is in the books. What's next? I don't know... Right now, I'm tired, have had too many beers and want to go to bed. All I know is that this was a long post and I think I killed about 50 flies in the bike shop during the time I took to write this. Oh, riding? don't know... Stay tuned!

Extra huge, big, major special thanks to Oskar Blues restaurant and brewery for providing beer and shuttle service. Da' Blues Bus never dissapoints and neither does the beer! You guys are awesome!!!!!

Gotta get back on the horse that threw you

This morning I made it out to Hall Ranch. I didn't have much time so the plan was to take the Tomac on a shakedown ride before Big Fall Ride this Sunday. Kids to school, down to the bike shop and I find a broken spoke on the rear of the Tomac. I had about an hour so I was going to take the full squisher up Antelope, down the rock garden, and back thru town.

With the broken spoke, though, I was relegated to the SS. My normal SS ride is out and back on Picture Rock, but I wanted to hit Hall since we'll wrap up our Big Fall Ride on PR. Truth be told, I kinda didn't want to take the SS up and over Hall since, last time I did, I burped my front tire and ended up ass over teakettle in the rocks. It left me hurtin' for days. Well, when the syrens of the rock garden call, you've got to answer.

I pushed the gear up Antelope and topped out. I lowered my saddle a couple inches, took a breather, and headed down. This time a bit more carefully than last time. Admittedly, a little slower and more in tune with the rigid GT. I made it down in one piece - a clean run without touching the ground. All good. Sigh of relief?

Oh, and speaking of sigh of relief, the "redstone" section of the lower rock garden by the parking lot is in fine condition. The dirt is hard packed and you can hit the corners hard. Much, much better than the old off camber gravel version.

BFR5 10/3!

Don't forget, Big Fall Ride Five is this Sunday at 8am. We'll shuttle riders up to the Peak to Peak and make everyone ride back to Lyons from there. The grill will be waiting with brats and the cooler with beer! See you there!

Big Fall Ride 5, Tuesday Ride, I raced for 8, etc

Going backwards in time here, we rode our annual-ish Rocky Mountain National Park ride. It was awesome. Full moon, perfect temps and zero need for lights on the entire ride. Up Fall River Road, and up and over Trail Ridge was all done in the dark. Very excellent. I even broke out the Bridgestone XO-1 for the occasion :)

I was a bike racer again last weekend at the most excellent Stone Temple 8 at Curt Gowdy State Park. ST8 is an 8 hour endurance race. I ended up racing solo and finishing 9th out of 18. I made 7 laps on a pretty technical (for a racecourse) course. Had a couple of mechanicals and I found myself on the ground a couple times, too. All in all, not too shabby for this fat out of shape non bike racer bike shop owning dad. Least I thought so.
So for future events, this Tuesday we're riding Coulsons. We're going close so we can go to the Redstone Tuesday Ride Grand Opening of Chubway in Lyons! Normally, Chubway will close around 8 or so, but I've got them convinced to stay open for us. Beer, BBQ and Burritos, here we come!

Oh, lastly, keep this Sunday 10/3 open. Wide Open. Big Fall Ride #5 is coming up! 8am at the bike shop. We'll be back around 6 or 7 to grill, drink beer, and pretty much have a good time. Yeehaaaaw!

Gettin High, Goin Big and Takin it Back to the Beginning

"He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door"

Or at least that's how the late great John Denver puts it. For me, it was 22. Back in '95, my good friend Bryan and I road tripped (with bikes, of course) from Nebraska to Boulder over Labor Day Weekend. Bryan had lived in CO that summer so he knew his way around the Front Range relatively ok. One of the goals for that long weekend was to hit up a ride that Bryan had described as legendary, or something to that effect. It was Jenny Creek to Rollins Pass and back from Eldora. I was on my Tange Ultimate tubed, Judy SL forked ParkPre at the time and Jenny Creek was about as gnarly a trail as I had ever witnessed. Technically, JC is not a trail but a Jeep Road, but it's still something to be respected. I came away from that ride in love. In love with Colorado. And in love of a strange new way of riding. Hiking up boulder fields and root gardens to get the great view at the top. And then to bomb back down in the saddle. Ahh, memories.




I think it's safe to say that without that ride, without Jenny Creek, and without Rollins Pass, I may not have made it to Colorado. Definitely a game changer. How did John Denver put it? Oh yeah, "Comin' home to a place he'd never been before, He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again." That pretty much sums it up.

Over the past 15 years (has it seriously been that long?) I've managed to make the pilgrimage up to Jenny Creek every few of years. We've done it quite a few different ways, even starting in Nederland. Bummer about that one, as starting in Ned involves a poach on private property now (well, technically it always did, but we didn't know, and now the landowners cares). Unfortunately, I think the last time I was up to Rollins Pass was probably about 5 years ago.

I started getting the itch a few weeks ago. When I get the itch, I start pouring over maps, even though I know the route. It gets me hyped up, almost to the point where I can't get it out of my head. I know, I know, I'm and addict. Admitting is half the battle, right? :)

My time came today. It was a rare occurance where all the moons aligned for me. Kid's in school and at playdates til 3, then time for Z's dance class. I can do all that and still be home by 3, right?



The ride starts right at the gate of Eldora Ski resort. Why they don't build some trails for bikes to ride in the summer is completely beyond me. They could have some great riding there, even lift accessed. But I'm not going to rant on that too much today.

After a short grunt of a climb, a nice and beautifully rocky singletrack leads from Eldora Resort over into the Jenny Creek drainage.


After not too long on Jenny Creek, a spur trail goes up the Guinn Mountain Hut. I've actually not ever been up that one so, always having a mind for adventure, I decided to climb it.


The sign did not lie. I had to hike about 1/2 of the trail. But it was great. I finally made it to the hut. A quick trip thru a meadow and I dumped out on the pipeline trail. It's not really an official trail, but it follows the gas pipeline from Eldora up to the divide. It's narrow and wonderful and super steep. Not technical, just steep. Almost to the top...

And then views! Yankee Doodle Lake below. The tallest peak in the background is James Peak.

And the Needle's Eye Tunnel that collapsed in the 80s. Rollins Pass was, at one time, intended to get a little bit more traffic than it did.


From there, it was a major PUSH up to the twin trestles road and over to Rollins Pass. Probably not a good ride for folks that don't mind hiking thru scree filled old and closed jeep roads. Probably not a good ride for folks having issue with vertigo or heights, either. Or rickety old structures that creak eerily when you ride across them.


And FINALLY to Rollins Pass. After all these years, this area kinda feels like home to me.

I actually made it to Rollins Pass ahead of schedule, which meant I had time for more riding! The thought had crossed my mind earlier in the week, but I honestly didn't think I'd have time to do it. Rodgers Pass. The start of the Rodgers Pass trail was only a few miles down the road and I had never done it, even though it had been on my list for at least the last 10 years. There's no time like the present so it was down the road and past Mount Epworth and Deadman Lake. Outstanding views towards Winter Park, too.



Rodgers Pass Trail starts on the East side of Riflesight Notch. This is one trestle that is anything but safe these days.


Once on the Rodgers Pass trail and up out of the trees, the view towards Rodgers Pass was heartbreakingly cruel and discouraging. Nothing but a looooong, windblown and rocky switchbacked climb up the side of the mountain. I entertained thoughts of turning around. The one thing that kept me going, though, was that it had taken me over 10 years to get to this point and it would likely be another 10 before I made it again. Up! The final stretch to Rodgers Pass. That's James Peak again, too. Closer now.

And finally Pass Number Two of the day - Rodgers Pass, 11,860'.

Big Big views. Heart Lake.


And James Peak was looking pretty damn big at this point.


By now, of course, I was under the impression that I was running late, so I forewent my beer and lunch and made onward progress back down the mountain. And back down the Rodgers Pass Trail to Corona Road.

And back on Rollins Pass Road heading towards the trestles. It was easier to make time going down than up and I was quickly back on schedule.

A quick stop for that Dale's Pale Ale, then back down the pipeline.

This time, after rolling by the Guinn Cabin, I opted for the "other" Guinn trail back to Jenny Creek Rd. This trail went the less direct way and would allow me just a bit more enjoyment of Jenny Creek Road. It was all too short. A quick climb out of the Jenny Creek drainage (which felt way steeper on the climb out)

and I was back to the resort. Goodby Eldora,

and thanks again. My urge for the pilgrimage had once again been satisfied. I felt fulfilled like I had not been in a long time.

Oh, I made it home by 3, too. Everyone was happy with that one.