Yesterday it rained all day... really hard. That made for some big problems for us. First, we didn't get to ride. Second, when we headed for Goosberry Mesa to ride today, the dirt roads that lead to the trailhead was 6" deep in mud. We saw 4x4s turn around and head back instead of driving in. Our second choice in rides was in the high country and they got 6" of new snow yesterday while we got all that rain.
After driving around half the day, we headed off to do "The Loop". The Loop consists of Gould's Rim, the JEM trail and Hurricaine rim. It turned out to be the perfect loop. It was just under 22 miles. It started with a big climb, and finished with a big climb near the end of the loop. In between it was a really cool mix of buff singletrack, long, gradual downhills and small rock gardens. There were great views all the way around the loop. One of the coolest things is that it is a really wide open loop. What I mean by that is that you cover a lot of ground on the loop. You almost go 7 miles in one direction, turn, go 7 miles in a different direction, turn then go 7 miles back to the car.
The photos turned out great. I'll post them up when I get home.
The tough part of the trail was the way the different trail surfaces mixed together. On the JEM trail, there were long sections of swooping downhill that you just fly through like on a BMX track. Towards the bottom, however, there were some fairly large rock gardens tossed in. Jason's suspension saved him a few times when he flew into areas with too much speed. I had some good luck with a few of them... I was able to pick a good line through and bunny hop the worst of a few of the gardens. There were two in particular that pretty much ate me up though. I got two pinch flats from hitting too a rock garden going too fast. Luckily I carry tubes.
We had a blast and managed to get back in time to pick up a DVD, eat some pizza and watch a movie in the Hotel room.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Me like pain. ;)
What better way to follow an epic ride with lots of climbing than with an epic ride with even more climbing?
Since we lost almost a full day to the rain, we had to cram a little extra in towards the end of our stay in Fruita. This turned out to be one of those classic “Pete” rides that Jason makes fun of, but really enjoys. The idea is that we start with one trail and if we feel good, we go onto the next. If we feel good after that, we do another. The Kokopelli trail area has enough variety and places to bail out that you can really do that ride well. 33 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing later, we finished out the ride.
We started with a warm-up loop on Rustlers. This loop is a good, mellow and scenic ride that lets you get your legs and arms loose. After the riding yesterday, my arms needed it more than anything.
Moore Fun was next up. I think this was the ride that Jason was looking forward to more than anything we’d ridden so far. He’d heard so many good things about it and read a lot too. The lower part of the east side is pretty tough this early in the ride. Neither of us had fully warmed up and we were not really riding at our best yet. We walked a few of the rock moves and climbed quite a few too. It was really fun.
By the time we got towards the top, the riding skills were coming back to us. We topped out the first climb and snapped a few photos. There is a ¾ mile traverse between the first peak and the second. On the way there, I climbed up on some rocks and snapped a few photos looking down on Jason as he rode by. I thought about dropping a rock on his head, but I decided against it.
Then the fun began. The descent on Moore Fun is uhhhmmmm more fun than the climb. We had a blast on the rocks and switchbacks. There were some big ones we walked towards the bottom, but I rode a lot more this year than I did last.
Next up was Mack Ridge. There were more rocks and trials moves on that climb, though it is a little easier than Moore Fun. The view from the top was amazing. The descent was great, though not at all technical.
We both started to feel the miles a little at the bottom of Troybuilt. It took a little while to get used to climbing again. Jason did better than I did. I’d bruised my upper arm yesterday and it wasn’t working as well as I’d have liked. It was still good, but I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had in the past. The last climb to Lions loop was really tough. It was pretty loose and steep, so it was hard to keep a rhythm going.
The first part of Lions loop SUCKED! It had been torn up by 4 wheelers and cows after the rain and it was jackhammering me since I was riding the 0” suspension forks. Lyons would have been fun if it hadn’t been so chewed up.
Upper Handcuffs was the same way. We ended up riding for almost 5 miles on rock hard trails that were rough as heck. My arms were killing me. We pushed on and really enjoyed the rest of Handcuffs. The views from the edge of the cliffs are amazing on that ride.
Climbing up to Mary’s loop was another tough one, but really fun. By this time we’d been riding for 27 miles or so. We were running low on water and were ready for a break. Mary’s gave us that opportunity. It didn’t have much climbing and there was a lot of smooth singletrack to roll through.
Horsethief was last on the menu for the day. We’d ridden it twice earlier in the week, but wanted to ride all the trails at Kokopelli if we could. We were completely out of water by this time, but it was only a 4 mile loop. It was a blast and definitely a good way to close out the ride.
Riding down Mary’s and back over the ridge to the car was much welcomed. Oddly enough, my legs felt great. It was my arms that were hurting badly.
After all that, we went to Chic-Fil-A for pre-dinner, then Texas Road House for the real thing.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Since we lost almost a full day to the rain, we had to cram a little extra in towards the end of our stay in Fruita. This turned out to be one of those classic “Pete” rides that Jason makes fun of, but really enjoys. The idea is that we start with one trail and if we feel good, we go onto the next. If we feel good after that, we do another. The Kokopelli trail area has enough variety and places to bail out that you can really do that ride well. 33 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing later, we finished out the ride.
We started with a warm-up loop on Rustlers. This loop is a good, mellow and scenic ride that lets you get your legs and arms loose. After the riding yesterday, my arms needed it more than anything.
Moore Fun was next up. I think this was the ride that Jason was looking forward to more than anything we’d ridden so far. He’d heard so many good things about it and read a lot too. The lower part of the east side is pretty tough this early in the ride. Neither of us had fully warmed up and we were not really riding at our best yet. We walked a few of the rock moves and climbed quite a few too. It was really fun.
By the time we got towards the top, the riding skills were coming back to us. We topped out the first climb and snapped a few photos. There is a ¾ mile traverse between the first peak and the second. On the way there, I climbed up on some rocks and snapped a few photos looking down on Jason as he rode by. I thought about dropping a rock on his head, but I decided against it.
Then the fun began. The descent on Moore Fun is uhhhmmmm more fun than the climb. We had a blast on the rocks and switchbacks. There were some big ones we walked towards the bottom, but I rode a lot more this year than I did last.
Next up was Mack Ridge. There were more rocks and trials moves on that climb, though it is a little easier than Moore Fun. The view from the top was amazing. The descent was great, though not at all technical.
We both started to feel the miles a little at the bottom of Troybuilt. It took a little while to get used to climbing again. Jason did better than I did. I’d bruised my upper arm yesterday and it wasn’t working as well as I’d have liked. It was still good, but I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had in the past. The last climb to Lions loop was really tough. It was pretty loose and steep, so it was hard to keep a rhythm going.
The first part of Lions loop SUCKED! It had been torn up by 4 wheelers and cows after the rain and it was jackhammering me since I was riding the 0” suspension forks. Lyons would have been fun if it hadn’t been so chewed up.
Upper Handcuffs was the same way. We ended up riding for almost 5 miles on rock hard trails that were rough as heck. My arms were killing me. We pushed on and really enjoyed the rest of Handcuffs. The views from the edge of the cliffs are amazing on that ride.
Climbing up to Mary’s loop was another tough one, but really fun. By this time we’d been riding for 27 miles or so. We were running low on water and were ready for a break. Mary’s gave us that opportunity. It didn’t have much climbing and there was a lot of smooth singletrack to roll through.
Horsethief was last on the menu for the day. We’d ridden it twice earlier in the week, but wanted to ride all the trails at Kokopelli if we could. We were completely out of water by this time, but it was only a 4 mile loop. It was a blast and definitely a good way to close out the ride.
Riding down Mary’s and back over the ridge to the car was much welcomed. Oddly enough, my legs felt great. It was my arms that were hurting badly.
After all that, we went to Chic-Fil-A for pre-dinner, then Texas Road House for the real thing.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Monday, April 25, 2005
It takes a special kind of idiot.....
April 25, 2005: Day5: I predict that we’ll be encountering rocks today…
We went to the Lunch Loops area for a ride today. These trails are on the south side of Grand Junction. OH MY GOD What a ride!!! I’d seen Pete Fagerlin’s videos about a lot of these loops and they look pretty amazing. Most are quite technical with lots of rock stunts, drop-ins and stair steps both up and down.
After all the rain we’d had, we were looking forward to a great day with great weather. Mom Nature didn’t cooperate too well. Our goal was to climb a trail called The Ribbon. This is normally done as a shuttle run. Since we had only one car, and I didn’t want to ride up the road, we climbed lower Eagles Wings and then cut over to the Tabeguache doubletrack. These climbs were steady small and middle ring climbs. Each are punctuated with little rock steps here and there. Both Jason and I were a little rusty after an easy day yesterday. Neither of us really were handling the bikes so well. Fortunately that went away pretty quickly as we warmed up.
We hit the base of a hill called “The Widowmaker” and the clouds rolled in. It started raining. I was not happy. I had worked out some options though that would allow us to continue riding. One trail that I KNEW we would want to do was Holy Cross. This trail was designed by the same dude that did Moore Fun in Fruita. That means lots of big rocks, steps up and down and plenty of trials riding. We’re talking one freaking technical trail with some sweet sections of flowing single track between. We were in heaven.
When we got to the bottom, the weather looked much better. We started climbing up towards the top of The Ribbon again. When I say climb, I really mean climb. The trail climbs 3100 feet in about 8 miles. Most of the last three miles is climbing steep slick rock. That means that you’re in your granny gear and pedaling straight up the fall line.
I was happy to make it about 1/3 of the way up the widowmaker climb. It is steep and rock strewn. It is climbable. I got off line and sketched. I don’t know if I would have had the lungs for it or not, but I made it up the toughest section before stepping off (the story of my day for some of this).
At the top of Tabeguache, you hit the road for ¼ mile or so. A right turn down the Ribbon Connector made for a really amazing downhill. There were some sections that we walked, but others that were amazingly steep and twisty, but very rideable.
This trail skirts the base of a cliff that is home to the Eagles Wings trail. It got its name appropriately. From below we could see a nesting pair of golden eagles on the cliff. They were beautiful!!!
At the bottom of the connector, the trail turned up hill for good. This begins the last 3 miles of serious climbing.
It takes a special kind of idiot to ride this trail in the up direction. Everyone else either shuttles it or rides the road. I think going in the direction we did was a big strain on Grumpy J’s patience. I knew he’d be happy when we got to the top.
There were two sections of steep sandstone that we had to climb. That isn’t easy in cycling shoes. It was all we could do to scramble up with our bikes. The climb just kept going and going. It had me working to come up with an alternative that would give us a break when we got to the top.
I’m glad I studied my Fruita guide and Pete Fagerlin’s videos. They were very helpful. From the top, we rode down the road for about 3 miles to another trailhead. I figured we’d hit Gunny on the way down and enjoy some buff singletrack. On the road down from the Ribbon, we topped out at over 40mph. It didn’t suck at all.
Gunny is a cool mix of really buff singletrack followed by sections of singletrack peppered with rocks. Between many of these sections are little rock stunts and stair steps. It keeps you on your toes. At the bottom, there is a really sketchy downhill section that is steep, rocky and a little twisty. We had fun picking our way down it.
This trail dumps us out at the exit of Holy Cross. We’d already done the climb out from that once. It is steep and twisty, but very fun. Just at the top when your lungs are hurting and your legs are on fire, there’s an 8” step up that you have to hop before you can finish out the climb. Very fun. Very challenging.
We twisted down a few other trails and finally wound up on a new trail that rides the ridge above the parking area. At the end of the ridge it has 5 seriously tight, rocky and steep switchbacks. It was my own little slice of heaven. We took our time down this because we were both pretty tired. It was the perfect end to a perfect ride.
The rain held off. I took a jacket for both of us since I knew we’d be up in the high country and it might get chilly. We were about 150 feet below the snow line at the top of The Ribbon. We could see that it had snowed across the valley quite a bit. Those hills were white. There was a Chic-Fil-A about a mile from the car. We went and ate too much.
Jason had some great technical sections today. It was fun to watch him taking rock stairs and drop-ins with ease and confidence. There were some that we both walked, but I think we both rode a lot more than we would have a month ago.
Time to go to Borders and post this crap up on the blog. I’ll send photos too.
Pete
We went to the Lunch Loops area for a ride today. These trails are on the south side of Grand Junction. OH MY GOD What a ride!!! I’d seen Pete Fagerlin’s videos about a lot of these loops and they look pretty amazing. Most are quite technical with lots of rock stunts, drop-ins and stair steps both up and down.
After all the rain we’d had, we were looking forward to a great day with great weather. Mom Nature didn’t cooperate too well. Our goal was to climb a trail called The Ribbon. This is normally done as a shuttle run. Since we had only one car, and I didn’t want to ride up the road, we climbed lower Eagles Wings and then cut over to the Tabeguache doubletrack. These climbs were steady small and middle ring climbs. Each are punctuated with little rock steps here and there. Both Jason and I were a little rusty after an easy day yesterday. Neither of us really were handling the bikes so well. Fortunately that went away pretty quickly as we warmed up.
We hit the base of a hill called “The Widowmaker” and the clouds rolled in. It started raining. I was not happy. I had worked out some options though that would allow us to continue riding. One trail that I KNEW we would want to do was Holy Cross. This trail was designed by the same dude that did Moore Fun in Fruita. That means lots of big rocks, steps up and down and plenty of trials riding. We’re talking one freaking technical trail with some sweet sections of flowing single track between. We were in heaven.
When we got to the bottom, the weather looked much better. We started climbing up towards the top of The Ribbon again. When I say climb, I really mean climb. The trail climbs 3100 feet in about 8 miles. Most of the last three miles is climbing steep slick rock. That means that you’re in your granny gear and pedaling straight up the fall line.
I was happy to make it about 1/3 of the way up the widowmaker climb. It is steep and rock strewn. It is climbable. I got off line and sketched. I don’t know if I would have had the lungs for it or not, but I made it up the toughest section before stepping off (the story of my day for some of this).
At the top of Tabeguache, you hit the road for ¼ mile or so. A right turn down the Ribbon Connector made for a really amazing downhill. There were some sections that we walked, but others that were amazingly steep and twisty, but very rideable.
This trail skirts the base of a cliff that is home to the Eagles Wings trail. It got its name appropriately. From below we could see a nesting pair of golden eagles on the cliff. They were beautiful!!!
At the bottom of the connector, the trail turned up hill for good. This begins the last 3 miles of serious climbing.
It takes a special kind of idiot to ride this trail in the up direction. Everyone else either shuttles it or rides the road. I think going in the direction we did was a big strain on Grumpy J’s patience. I knew he’d be happy when we got to the top.
There were two sections of steep sandstone that we had to climb. That isn’t easy in cycling shoes. It was all we could do to scramble up with our bikes. The climb just kept going and going. It had me working to come up with an alternative that would give us a break when we got to the top.
I’m glad I studied my Fruita guide and Pete Fagerlin’s videos. They were very helpful. From the top, we rode down the road for about 3 miles to another trailhead. I figured we’d hit Gunny on the way down and enjoy some buff singletrack. On the road down from the Ribbon, we topped out at over 40mph. It didn’t suck at all.
Gunny is a cool mix of really buff singletrack followed by sections of singletrack peppered with rocks. Between many of these sections are little rock stunts and stair steps. It keeps you on your toes. At the bottom, there is a really sketchy downhill section that is steep, rocky and a little twisty. We had fun picking our way down it.
This trail dumps us out at the exit of Holy Cross. We’d already done the climb out from that once. It is steep and twisty, but very fun. Just at the top when your lungs are hurting and your legs are on fire, there’s an 8” step up that you have to hop before you can finish out the climb. Very fun. Very challenging.
We twisted down a few other trails and finally wound up on a new trail that rides the ridge above the parking area. At the end of the ridge it has 5 seriously tight, rocky and steep switchbacks. It was my own little slice of heaven. We took our time down this because we were both pretty tired. It was the perfect end to a perfect ride.
The rain held off. I took a jacket for both of us since I knew we’d be up in the high country and it might get chilly. We were about 150 feet below the snow line at the top of The Ribbon. We could see that it had snowed across the valley quite a bit. Those hills were white. There was a Chic-Fil-A about a mile from the car. We went and ate too much.
Jason had some great technical sections today. It was fun to watch him taking rock stairs and drop-ins with ease and confidence. There were some that we both walked, but I think we both rode a lot more than we would have a month ago.
Time to go to Borders and post this crap up on the blog. I’ll send photos too.
Pete
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!!
April 24, 2005: Fruita Day 4: Rain rain go away.
It rained last night. We took it easy in the morning since we’d been up late doing stuff the night before. We needed a break. The rain cleared off early, and we hit the trails on the single speeds. J wasn’t very happy about that. He really wanted to be riding his 5.5. He cheered up when the trails were PERFECT!
We didn’t know how long the weather would hold, so we did a spin around Rustlers, Mary’s and Horsethief Bench. About 10 minutes from the top of Horsethief bench, the heavens opened. It started raining lightly, then the hail came. It got to be about pea sized before it started to ease up. Pea sized hail is enough to sting pretty good, but not enough to raise a welt. For that we were happy.
The trail turned into a small flash flood. It was easy to see how people get caught out in something like this. In 15 minutes the trails had rivers running down them. It wasn’t pretty.
The ride was spectacular, even if it was only about 11 miles long. J did some GREAT riding in front of the camera. He did one drop that he wasn’t expecting to be as big as it was. It looked like the new fork saved him. The photo shows it completely compressed. He did a great job of riding a big rock garden. The boy’s got skills. ;)
We drove to Moab to pick up the 5.5, paid the guys at Rim Cyclery with money for the repair, and beer for their trouble. They were happy. The bike looks great.
Our dinner was just weird. We went to Eddy McStiff’s and the hostess showed that she might not have been hired for her brains. She told us to wait for her here while she scouted a table. When she came back, she didn’t know who we were. She rattled on about something to do with big tables in the bar. I said, “So you don’t have a table for us?” She looked stunned and pointed in the next room and said it was in there. The meal went’ down hill from there. Our waitress was okay, not so much because she was giving us good service, but more because she was concentrating all her efforts on pissing off the people at the tables around us. Fortunately she didn’t have enough energy to put to pissing us off. She charged us 69 cents for chips and salsa that we didn’t get and she made us wait to pay her for the meal. Those crimes were pretty mild compared to the stuff the lady a few tables over was complaining about. Lets just say it was a less than relaxing dining experience.
Jason compared it with the night before. We’d eaten there because they had free WiFi. Last night the food was good and the service was very good… maybe too good. Have you ever had a server that was really flirty? The chick serving us was a bit over the top in that department. I got the feeling that I could have had a lap dance if I’d asked and the tip was right. That weirded me out a bit. At least we got our chips and salsa.
We blazed that place ASAP and went next door for coffee. Much better place. Mondo Café. Stop there when you get a chance. You won’t be sorry. Great coffee and great breakfast food. I’m happily typing there right now.
I need to go home and clean some muddy clothes off so we can ride tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
Pete
It rained last night. We took it easy in the morning since we’d been up late doing stuff the night before. We needed a break. The rain cleared off early, and we hit the trails on the single speeds. J wasn’t very happy about that. He really wanted to be riding his 5.5. He cheered up when the trails were PERFECT!
We didn’t know how long the weather would hold, so we did a spin around Rustlers, Mary’s and Horsethief Bench. About 10 minutes from the top of Horsethief bench, the heavens opened. It started raining lightly, then the hail came. It got to be about pea sized before it started to ease up. Pea sized hail is enough to sting pretty good, but not enough to raise a welt. For that we were happy.
The trail turned into a small flash flood. It was easy to see how people get caught out in something like this. In 15 minutes the trails had rivers running down them. It wasn’t pretty.
The ride was spectacular, even if it was only about 11 miles long. J did some GREAT riding in front of the camera. He did one drop that he wasn’t expecting to be as big as it was. It looked like the new fork saved him. The photo shows it completely compressed. He did a great job of riding a big rock garden. The boy’s got skills. ;)
We drove to Moab to pick up the 5.5, paid the guys at Rim Cyclery with money for the repair, and beer for their trouble. They were happy. The bike looks great.
Our dinner was just weird. We went to Eddy McStiff’s and the hostess showed that she might not have been hired for her brains. She told us to wait for her here while she scouted a table. When she came back, she didn’t know who we were. She rattled on about something to do with big tables in the bar. I said, “So you don’t have a table for us?” She looked stunned and pointed in the next room and said it was in there. The meal went’ down hill from there. Our waitress was okay, not so much because she was giving us good service, but more because she was concentrating all her efforts on pissing off the people at the tables around us. Fortunately she didn’t have enough energy to put to pissing us off. She charged us 69 cents for chips and salsa that we didn’t get and she made us wait to pay her for the meal. Those crimes were pretty mild compared to the stuff the lady a few tables over was complaining about. Lets just say it was a less than relaxing dining experience.
Jason compared it with the night before. We’d eaten there because they had free WiFi. Last night the food was good and the service was very good… maybe too good. Have you ever had a server that was really flirty? The chick serving us was a bit over the top in that department. I got the feeling that I could have had a lap dance if I’d asked and the tip was right. That weirded me out a bit. At least we got our chips and salsa.
We blazed that place ASAP and went next door for coffee. Much better place. Mondo Café. Stop there when you get a chance. You won’t be sorry. Great coffee and great breakfast food. I’m happily typing there right now.
I need to go home and clean some muddy clothes off so we can ride tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Saturday, April 23, 2005
The first REAL Ride....
We slept in a little. We were up and around by 8am. I think we were both still on DC time… It was 10am there. Today we were heading to the 18road area. That meant a lot of short, steep climbs.
We started the day at Village Inn pancake house. The waitress laughed at my stupid jokes. She got a big tip. I ate a huge, bad for me breakfast. It was perfect. Jason was healthy. Whatever works!
We hit the trails by 10:30. We started out by going up Prime Cut to Chutes and Ladders. Prime cut was really fun, but tough for a warm-up. It was much easier the second time around.
Jason didn’t like the two tough climbs on Chutes and Ladders much. He rode both very well, but wasn’t really feeling the love for these hills. The chutes were pretty fun. I cleaned a tight, rocky switchback that I hadn’t been able to do before. The Monkey just inspires confidence.
Jason’s favorite part of the loop was heading out into the cow fields. This place was much like a BMX track. Lots of dips, jumps and berms. Jason hit almost 27 mph in this section.
We finished out the loop, climbed prime cut again, then headed for Joe’s ridge. Jay was a little scared of ithe drops on Joe’s. He’d read a lot about them, but hadn’t really seen them in person. He trooped right don them.
Lower Zippity was fun. The drops are a little worse than on Chutes and Ladders, and definitely not walkable. We had fun with them though. It was a little riding clinic in the middle of the day.
The cool part about lower zippity, is that I made it up the short, but extremely steep section in the middle. That was one of the things I was most proud of.
At the bottom of Lower Zippity we headed for Zippity West to ride all the way back to the top. This trail started out as boring doubletrack. It later becajme a perfect ribbon of singletrack heding for the top of Zippity.
We rode zippity from top to bottom. One section was sketchier than I remember… by a long shot. We stepped over the rocks, lined up for the drop and then rode it. The other drops were scary, but not impossible.
The ride total came out to 24.3 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.
The one last comment that I had about today refers to something that Jay said on today’s ride. The conversation went something like this:
Grumpy J.: I almost crapped myself on that downhill.
Pete: It’s a good thing we’re doing this trail at the end of the day.
Grumpy J.: Why is that?
Pete: Because if you crap yourself, your bike shorts will work like a diaper.
Grumpy J: I didn’t need to hear that.
We started the day at Village Inn pancake house. The waitress laughed at my stupid jokes. She got a big tip. I ate a huge, bad for me breakfast. It was perfect. Jason was healthy. Whatever works!
We hit the trails by 10:30. We started out by going up Prime Cut to Chutes and Ladders. Prime cut was really fun, but tough for a warm-up. It was much easier the second time around.
Jason didn’t like the two tough climbs on Chutes and Ladders much. He rode both very well, but wasn’t really feeling the love for these hills. The chutes were pretty fun. I cleaned a tight, rocky switchback that I hadn’t been able to do before. The Monkey just inspires confidence.
Jason’s favorite part of the loop was heading out into the cow fields. This place was much like a BMX track. Lots of dips, jumps and berms. Jason hit almost 27 mph in this section.
We finished out the loop, climbed prime cut again, then headed for Joe’s ridge. Jay was a little scared of ithe drops on Joe’s. He’d read a lot about them, but hadn’t really seen them in person. He trooped right don them.
Lower Zippity was fun. The drops are a little worse than on Chutes and Ladders, and definitely not walkable. We had fun with them though. It was a little riding clinic in the middle of the day.
The cool part about lower zippity, is that I made it up the short, but extremely steep section in the middle. That was one of the things I was most proud of.
At the bottom of Lower Zippity we headed for Zippity West to ride all the way back to the top. This trail started out as boring doubletrack. It later becajme a perfect ribbon of singletrack heding for the top of Zippity.
We rode zippity from top to bottom. One section was sketchier than I remember… by a long shot. We stepped over the rocks, lined up for the drop and then rode it. The other drops were scary, but not impossible.
The ride total came out to 24.3 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.
The one last comment that I had about today refers to something that Jay said on today’s ride. The conversation went something like this:
Grumpy J.: I almost crapped myself on that downhill.
Pete: It’s a good thing we’re doing this trail at the end of the day.
Grumpy J.: Why is that?
Pete: Because if you crap yourself, your bike shorts will work like a diaper.
Grumpy J: I didn’t need to hear that.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Arriving in Fruita....
We finally got here at noon as we went to the grocery store. I ran in, got water, apples and batteries. We headed out to the trails. We rode Rustler’s loop and Horsethief bench. The ride was perfect. We’d driving 3400 miles, lept for 4 hours and then went for an 11 mile ride pretty fast. Sounds extreme to me. :D
Ride was cut a little short because J had a problem with his shock mount. The rear shock was sliding to the side on the mount. I did a home depot fix for it. It’ll hold for a while. J is checking to see if he can find an Intense dealer in Moab, Grand Junction or St. George to get the dang thing fixed for real.
My local treasure moment of the day happened when I went shopping for apples and water. I was just going through self checkout and the grocery store lady came up to see if I needed help. When she finally figured out that I was doing okay, she decided to suggest a sale. In her own words…. “Ice and Firewood are very popular with people like you.” Bwahhahahahhahahaha She was being helpful. She was being polite. The words “people like you” let me know that I was a freaking alien to you. She didn’t mean it in a mean way. I didn’t take it in a mean way. I just thought it was really funny. She wasn’t very comfortable with me.
This brings up the question, what exactly was she talking about when se said "People like you"???? Here are my guesses...
1. People who don't bathe
2. People with more earings than her.
3. People who appear to be wearing alternate undergarments (the straps of my bib shorts were hanging out).
I'm open to suggestions if you can come up with something that she might have been talking about.
Home, Dinner, Fix bike, Sleep.
As a side note, Jason ate 7 White Castles around 1pm on April 21st. They did not make any attempt to leave his body until mid morning on April 23rd. What exactly were they doing in there all that time????
White Castles... the other beige meat. ;)
Pete
Ride was cut a little short because J had a problem with his shock mount. The rear shock was sliding to the side on the mount. I did a home depot fix for it. It’ll hold for a while. J is checking to see if he can find an Intense dealer in Moab, Grand Junction or St. George to get the dang thing fixed for real.
My local treasure moment of the day happened when I went shopping for apples and water. I was just going through self checkout and the grocery store lady came up to see if I needed help. When she finally figured out that I was doing okay, she decided to suggest a sale. In her own words…. “Ice and Firewood are very popular with people like you.” Bwahhahahahhahahaha She was being helpful. She was being polite. The words “people like you” let me know that I was a freaking alien to you. She didn’t mean it in a mean way. I didn’t take it in a mean way. I just thought it was really funny. She wasn’t very comfortable with me.
This brings up the question, what exactly was she talking about when se said "People like you"???? Here are my guesses...
1. People who don't bathe
2. People with more earings than her.
3. People who appear to be wearing alternate undergarments (the straps of my bib shorts were hanging out).
I'm open to suggestions if you can come up with something that she might have been talking about.
Home, Dinner, Fix bike, Sleep.
As a side note, Jason ate 7 White Castles around 1pm on April 21st. They did not make any attempt to leave his body until mid morning on April 23rd. What exactly were they doing in there all that time????
White Castles... the other beige meat. ;)
Pete
Chicken made into donuts... is there a more perfect food?
Until recently, I thought that A&W had the ultimate food product in their corn dog nuggets. Read on and find out that I may have been wrong...
We drove all day. I was stressed out from work enough that driving was therapeutic. I needed a lot of therapy.
White Castle: The other beige meat…. We stopped in St. Louis for White Castles. Brian helped us out with the location of the nearest one. We got 20 burgers and 4 fries and 2 drinks. I ate 1 order of fries and 14 burgers. I might have been able to eat more if I wasn’t sitting across from Jason. He makes me want to be healthy.
As a side note, Jason ate 6 White Castles on Thursday. He finally evacuated them some time Saturday morning. That can’t be healthy. ;)
They have a new product…. Chicken rings. Imagine chicken stamped into the shape of a donut. Donuts? Chicken? How can you go wrong with that combo?
We stopped again to catch a few hours of sleep right before the Colorado state line. The wind was so bad that we got horrible gas mileage. It was a fight to keep going. We finally stopped for another nap just before the Colorado boarder. We got almost 3 hours of sleep this time. The rest of the drive was cake.
The thing that was killer was the wind. We fought it the whole way. Driving at 80mph (in a 75mph zone) was a lot of work going into a 40mph headwind. My arms were tired by the time we got to Denver.
Just the thought of putting some distance between me and those chicken rings is plenty of motivation for me.
Pete
We drove all day. I was stressed out from work enough that driving was therapeutic. I needed a lot of therapy.
White Castle: The other beige meat…. We stopped in St. Louis for White Castles. Brian helped us out with the location of the nearest one. We got 20 burgers and 4 fries and 2 drinks. I ate 1 order of fries and 14 burgers. I might have been able to eat more if I wasn’t sitting across from Jason. He makes me want to be healthy.
As a side note, Jason ate 6 White Castles on Thursday. He finally evacuated them some time Saturday morning. That can’t be healthy. ;)
They have a new product…. Chicken rings. Imagine chicken stamped into the shape of a donut. Donuts? Chicken? How can you go wrong with that combo?
We stopped again to catch a few hours of sleep right before the Colorado state line. The wind was so bad that we got horrible gas mileage. It was a fight to keep going. We finally stopped for another nap just before the Colorado boarder. We got almost 3 hours of sleep this time. The rest of the drive was cake.
The thing that was killer was the wind. We fought it the whole way. Driving at 80mph (in a 75mph zone) was a lot of work going into a 40mph headwind. My arms were tired by the time we got to Denver.
Just the thought of putting some distance between me and those chicken rings is plenty of motivation for me.
Pete
Thursday, April 21, 2005
A rough start to what turned out to be a smooth drive...
As someone in a movie once said, “What a fucking nightmare!” Nothing went right when it came to getting going on this trip. Work was a pain, two stores didn’t have stuff I needed. The quick lube place weren’t open. I stirpped a skewer on the bike rack that we were taking to Utah and Colorado.
I finally got to Jasons and we got going a little before midnight. I drove till we got into Ohio. I needed a quick rest. I slept for 1:20 and awoke very relaxed and feeling great
Driving was definitely helping me exorcise some of the deamons of the last few weeks. My ribs were feeling okay and my mind was letting go a little. It is always hard to leave Laura at home. What made it harder this time is that it was my first time really leaving Gracie and Mao for more than a few days. Laura made it easier on me by saying that she needed a little extra time to study without feeling like she is neglecting me. I already miss the three of them.
More soon.
Pete
I finally got to Jasons and we got going a little before midnight. I drove till we got into Ohio. I needed a quick rest. I slept for 1:20 and awoke very relaxed and feeling great
Driving was definitely helping me exorcise some of the deamons of the last few weeks. My ribs were feeling okay and my mind was letting go a little. It is always hard to leave Laura at home. What made it harder this time is that it was my first time really leaving Gracie and Mao for more than a few days. Laura made it easier on me by saying that she needed a little extra time to study without feeling like she is neglecting me. I already miss the three of them.
More soon.
Pete
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Something Stinky This Way Comes....
This is a story about the cutest kitten in the entire world. Anyone who knows me well, knows that we've got two 1-year old kittens -- Gracie and Mao. Mao is kind of a big brute of a cat, but Gracie is small and dainty. She embodies the true essence of cuteness. Here's a photo of her when she was 5 weeks old:
Little Gracie is cute in every imaginable way except for one. She likes things that smell. It is weird to have a fuzzy little, muppet-like kitten come up to you after a bike ride and shove her head into your skanky riding shoes because they smell good to her. Smelly armpits are her particular favorites. She loves morning breath. Many a morning I wake up to her whiskers tickling my nose because she's sniffing my nasty morning breath. It's like perfume to her.
Gracie is a bit of a finicky eater. Laura and I have come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the normal cat food. She likes the stuff that smells particularly disgusting.
Leave it to me to have a weird cat or two. Mao is a whole other problem. He's a real weirdo. More on that later.
I guess that's all for this topic.
Pete
Little Gracie is cute in every imaginable way except for one. She likes things that smell. It is weird to have a fuzzy little, muppet-like kitten come up to you after a bike ride and shove her head into your skanky riding shoes because they smell good to her. Smelly armpits are her particular favorites. She loves morning breath. Many a morning I wake up to her whiskers tickling my nose because she's sniffing my nasty morning breath. It's like perfume to her.
Gracie is a bit of a finicky eater. Laura and I have come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the normal cat food. She likes the stuff that smells particularly disgusting.
Leave it to me to have a weird cat or two. Mao is a whole other problem. He's a real weirdo. More on that later.
I guess that's all for this topic.
Pete
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
A total waste of my time.
Tyler's suspension for doping came down today. I was posting on a thread with a few friends on the topic. I'll just post up what I wrote there.... Its better than typing it all out again here.
****************
Hey guys.
Jay, in a way you're right. I really fought with this in my mind as I've seen pretty much every cyclist that I at one point admired test positive for some sort of illegal substance use.
I came to the conclusion that I'm in no position to judge. I've sure done a lot of stupid things over the years. Stuff that if I were ever in a position of public scrutiny would be damned as much or worse than anything these guys do or have done. Have I ever competed at that level? No. Have I ever been subjected to the kinds of professional and career pressures that these guys have been? No. Can I even understand the pressure these guys have on them to win?... the pressure to support their team day after day for a season that lasts 10 months? Not even close.
Am I happy this is going on? Nope. It dissappoints the hell out of me. I can't condemn these guys or even blame them. We all have to live with the decisions that we make. They have to deal with the fact that there are people like me who just switch off the tour and professional cycling because of their actions.
I'm an idiot, but I'm not so daft to think that this makes a stick of difference to any of them.
I came to the conclusion that I'd rather ride than watch other people ride. I'd rather ride than watch other people do just about anything (certain establishments that provide adult entertainment excluded). Watching the tour, rooting for my favorite cyclist, buying and reading Velonudes, etc. is a waste of time for me that I could be using to get out in the woods for a ride.
I don't mean to be negative. I should just let these threads go by without comment. I tend to write what I feel. I thought it might fit here.
Sorry to ramble.
Pete
****************
Hey guys.
Jay, in a way you're right. I really fought with this in my mind as I've seen pretty much every cyclist that I at one point admired test positive for some sort of illegal substance use.
I came to the conclusion that I'm in no position to judge. I've sure done a lot of stupid things over the years. Stuff that if I were ever in a position of public scrutiny would be damned as much or worse than anything these guys do or have done. Have I ever competed at that level? No. Have I ever been subjected to the kinds of professional and career pressures that these guys have been? No. Can I even understand the pressure these guys have on them to win?... the pressure to support their team day after day for a season that lasts 10 months? Not even close.
Am I happy this is going on? Nope. It dissappoints the hell out of me. I can't condemn these guys or even blame them. We all have to live with the decisions that we make. They have to deal with the fact that there are people like me who just switch off the tour and professional cycling because of their actions.
I'm an idiot, but I'm not so daft to think that this makes a stick of difference to any of them.
I came to the conclusion that I'd rather ride than watch other people ride. I'd rather ride than watch other people do just about anything (certain establishments that provide adult entertainment excluded). Watching the tour, rooting for my favorite cyclist, buying and reading Velonudes, etc. is a waste of time for me that I could be using to get out in the woods for a ride.
I don't mean to be negative. I should just let these threads go by without comment. I tend to write what I feel. I thought it might fit here.
Sorry to ramble.
Pete
A huge waste of my time....
I was goofing on the Central VA Mountain biking board with some friends an the topic of Tyler Hamilton's suspension from professional cycling for doping came up. I've been rattling this stuff around in my brain for a while... since the Festina ordeal of 1997, but I've never figured out what it meant to me. My dissappointment is obvious. It is hard to see your heros turn out to be cheaters. I'd get depressed and vow not to watch next year. I'd always come back though. The excitement is always so much. I always wanted to think that these guys are great and somehow above all the doping. Then someone tests positive and I'm back at square one.
Here's how I responded to one of Jay's comments....
"Hey guys.
Jay, in a way you're right. I really fought with this in my mind as I've seen pretty much every cyclist that I at one point admired test positive for some sort of illegal substance use.
I came to the conclusion that I'm in no position to judge. I've sure done a lot of stupid things over the years. Stuff that if I were ever in a position of public scrutiny would be damned as much or worse than anything these guys do or have done. Have I ever competed at that level? No. Have I ever been subjected to the kinds of professional and career pressures that these guys have been? No. Can I even understand the pressure these guys have on them to win?... the pressure to support their team day after day for a season that lasts 10 months? Not even close.
Am I happy this is going on? Nope. It dissappoints the hell out of me. I can't condemn these guys or even blame them. We all have to live with the decisions that we make. They have to deal with the fact that there are people like me who just switch off the tour and professional cycling because of their actions.
I'm an idiot, but I'm not so daft to think that this makes a stick of difference to any of them.
I came to the conclusion that I'd rather ride than watch other people ride. I'd rather ride than watch other people do just about anything (certain establishments that provide adult entertainment excluded). ;) Watching the tour, rooting for my favorite cyclist, buying and reading Velonudes, etc. is a waste of time for me. That is time that I could be using to get out in the woods for a ride.
I don't mean to be negative. I should just let these threads go by without comment. I tend to write what I feel. I thought it might fit here.
Sorry to ramble.
Pete"
I'll read a few newspaper clippings about the tour this year. That's all I need. I just don't care that much. I'd rather hang out with my wife and cats or go for a long ride.
Pete
Here's how I responded to one of Jay's comments....
"Hey guys.
Jay, in a way you're right. I really fought with this in my mind as I've seen pretty much every cyclist that I at one point admired test positive for some sort of illegal substance use.
I came to the conclusion that I'm in no position to judge. I've sure done a lot of stupid things over the years. Stuff that if I were ever in a position of public scrutiny would be damned as much or worse than anything these guys do or have done. Have I ever competed at that level? No. Have I ever been subjected to the kinds of professional and career pressures that these guys have been? No. Can I even understand the pressure these guys have on them to win?... the pressure to support their team day after day for a season that lasts 10 months? Not even close.
Am I happy this is going on? Nope. It dissappoints the hell out of me. I can't condemn these guys or even blame them. We all have to live with the decisions that we make. They have to deal with the fact that there are people like me who just switch off the tour and professional cycling because of their actions.
I'm an idiot, but I'm not so daft to think that this makes a stick of difference to any of them.
I came to the conclusion that I'd rather ride than watch other people ride. I'd rather ride than watch other people do just about anything (certain establishments that provide adult entertainment excluded). ;) Watching the tour, rooting for my favorite cyclist, buying and reading Velonudes, etc. is a waste of time for me. That is time that I could be using to get out in the woods for a ride.
I don't mean to be negative. I should just let these threads go by without comment. I tend to write what I feel. I thought it might fit here.
Sorry to ramble.
Pete"
I'll read a few newspaper clippings about the tour this year. That's all I need. I just don't care that much. I'd rather hang out with my wife and cats or go for a long ride.
Pete
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Breaking my own legs off. ;)
Not really... but I definitely got a good workout yesterday. Jason and I teamed up to lead a MORE ride at Black Hills, Hoyles Mill and Schaeffer farms. The terrain isn't really technical, though there are plenty of logs and a few good rock gardens, but the ride is tough because of its distance.
I figured there might be some folks that needed to cut out early, and others that need to resupply. To make this possible, I parked my car at Schaeffer, met Alexis and Denis and the three of us rode the 7.5 miles over to Black Hill Regional park for the ride meet. Jason started riding about the same time and met us in the middle. The 4 of us got a few warm-up miles for what was going to prove to be a long day. By my calculations, my total was going to be close to 50 miles for the day. Denis was going to be more than that since he rode his bike from home to Schaeffer. Jason's too was going to be pretty long because he had a few extra miles than the rest of us in the warm-up.
Warm-up.... that is a good idea. For an April morning, it was dang cold. It was 38 degrees when I got out of the car. How do you dress for a ride that starts at 38 and is supposed to peak at almost 70? Leg warmers and a wind breaker over the normal short sleeve jersey and bib shorts was my plan. It worked with a little help from a guardian angel. (I took my leg warmers off at the trailhead and one fell out. Some kind soul hung it on a branch and I picked it up on my way back).
I wanted to limit the group ot 12 people. I knew that wouldn't happen. It never does. I let a few extra people in. Some others showed with 4 people instead of the expected one. We had a group of almost 20 for the start. That worried me a little, but as long as everyone knew what we were in for, I figured we'd be okay.
One dropped off after Black Hill. She was keeping up just fine, but felt like she was having to work too hard to do so and might not make the full distance. She did a few extra loops at Black Hill and called it a day. We picked up 4 stragglers and headed for Hoyles Mill.
First on the menu is the jump section. I'll post up the photos from that. We had fun goofing with the table tops.
The rest of the Connector was just a bunch of fun. The creek crossing was low. Bill and a few others had oodles of fun on the big rock garden. I'm happy that James gave us the lowdown on some singletrack that we were missing at the soccer-plex end of the connector. He went out and flagged it so we could follow it easily. That was great because it really helped having 17 of us riding back and forth over it 2 or 4 times. The trail is new, so it needs to get ridden in. We definitely did that today.
There's a new section of trail by the lake that is fantastic. Instead of following the road, we got to follow the countours of the lake. The trailbuilder did a great job. There are lots of little woops and berms on the ride. It will be a fun and challenging trail when it gets ridden in a little. I had a blast with it even as is.
There's another new section that isn't open yet. We didn't touch it, but it looked prettty amazing. Turn out for the work day June 4th and we'll finish it off. That will cut out over a mile of road riding. It is definitely something that needs to get finished.
Once at Schaeffer, we hit the white loop. Everyone begged me to do the Whoops section going up-hill. I don't know why. The trail sucks in that direction. I was an ass and left that section for later when it could be ridden going downhill. I knew there was some new trail there that needed to be ridden in. More about that later.
Jason blew up another pedal. I know that pissed him off. I joked when I shouldn't have. Sorry Grumpy J. I didn't mean to piss you off. Glad you got it fixed and made it back up with us later.
We rode the rest of the white loop and yellow loop without incident. I had a tire going low and blew up a BRAND NEW PUMP(!!!) trying to fix it. I borrowed someone else's to get my fixx of air. We rode the red loop which needs to be done on a regular basis to keep it ridden in. It was pretty badly eroded at the bottom. I had no trouble riding it on the way down, but I blew it on the way back up. I'm still not used to riding with gears. It was one of three spots where I sketched because I wasn't ready with the right gear. I need to do something about that. MUST LEARN TO SHIFT GEARS!
Jason joined us again below the cell tower. He was riding his beater bike (Full XT Blur) and had a smile on his face. I think he was happy to be riding again.
At the 4-way, Bob was running into a time constraint. He lead a group back to the parking lot and gave them directions back to the cars. The rest of us picked up the pace a little on the climb out to the top of the white loop. That turned out to be a tough one for me. I felt great at the bottom, but by 1/2 way into the white loop, I was bonking pretty hard. The new Whoop section on the white is amazing. I can't imagine why anyone would want to ride that going uphill. What a bunch of jerks!
We got back to the car and re-supplied. I hopped up on extran and carboom and was ready to go. Everyone had one trip on the Connector left, I had two. I didn't make it all the way. I ran into a time constraint, and I was pretty tired. I turned around at the town of Boyds, about 4.5 miles into the connector.
My mileage for the day was just under 44 miles at an average pace of 9mph (8.9mph to be precise). I think that is one of the longest rides at a decent pace in many years.
David and Denis were going to ride back over together to get a few more miles in. I don't know what happened with that. I got in the car and was driving out and I saw David with his bike on the roof. He might have given Denis a ride home. Since both of them had a ton of miles in for the day, I don't blame them a bit. We worked pretty hard.
I did a similar ride last weekend on the single speed. Even though the mileage was a bit less... only about 34 miles, the ride felt much easier. I don't know if I ate better, or if the SS makes me stronger. There's a point at which I can't push harder on the SS. The geared bike doesn't allow me to do that. I don't think my average speed was much less, but I sure felt fresher. Who knows...
Jump Trail Pics
Thanks for reading. Thanks to all for a great ride. It takes a good group of people to make a ride like that happen. You people are the best!
Pete
I figured there might be some folks that needed to cut out early, and others that need to resupply. To make this possible, I parked my car at Schaeffer, met Alexis and Denis and the three of us rode the 7.5 miles over to Black Hill Regional park for the ride meet. Jason started riding about the same time and met us in the middle. The 4 of us got a few warm-up miles for what was going to prove to be a long day. By my calculations, my total was going to be close to 50 miles for the day. Denis was going to be more than that since he rode his bike from home to Schaeffer. Jason's too was going to be pretty long because he had a few extra miles than the rest of us in the warm-up.
Warm-up.... that is a good idea. For an April morning, it was dang cold. It was 38 degrees when I got out of the car. How do you dress for a ride that starts at 38 and is supposed to peak at almost 70? Leg warmers and a wind breaker over the normal short sleeve jersey and bib shorts was my plan. It worked with a little help from a guardian angel. (I took my leg warmers off at the trailhead and one fell out. Some kind soul hung it on a branch and I picked it up on my way back).
I wanted to limit the group ot 12 people. I knew that wouldn't happen. It never does. I let a few extra people in. Some others showed with 4 people instead of the expected one. We had a group of almost 20 for the start. That worried me a little, but as long as everyone knew what we were in for, I figured we'd be okay.
One dropped off after Black Hill. She was keeping up just fine, but felt like she was having to work too hard to do so and might not make the full distance. She did a few extra loops at Black Hill and called it a day. We picked up 4 stragglers and headed for Hoyles Mill.
First on the menu is the jump section. I'll post up the photos from that. We had fun goofing with the table tops.
The rest of the Connector was just a bunch of fun. The creek crossing was low. Bill and a few others had oodles of fun on the big rock garden. I'm happy that James gave us the lowdown on some singletrack that we were missing at the soccer-plex end of the connector. He went out and flagged it so we could follow it easily. That was great because it really helped having 17 of us riding back and forth over it 2 or 4 times. The trail is new, so it needs to get ridden in. We definitely did that today.
There's a new section of trail by the lake that is fantastic. Instead of following the road, we got to follow the countours of the lake. The trailbuilder did a great job. There are lots of little woops and berms on the ride. It will be a fun and challenging trail when it gets ridden in a little. I had a blast with it even as is.
There's another new section that isn't open yet. We didn't touch it, but it looked prettty amazing. Turn out for the work day June 4th and we'll finish it off. That will cut out over a mile of road riding. It is definitely something that needs to get finished.
Once at Schaeffer, we hit the white loop. Everyone begged me to do the Whoops section going up-hill. I don't know why. The trail sucks in that direction. I was an ass and left that section for later when it could be ridden going downhill. I knew there was some new trail there that needed to be ridden in. More about that later.
Jason blew up another pedal. I know that pissed him off. I joked when I shouldn't have. Sorry Grumpy J. I didn't mean to piss you off. Glad you got it fixed and made it back up with us later.
We rode the rest of the white loop and yellow loop without incident. I had a tire going low and blew up a BRAND NEW PUMP(!!!) trying to fix it. I borrowed someone else's to get my fixx of air. We rode the red loop which needs to be done on a regular basis to keep it ridden in. It was pretty badly eroded at the bottom. I had no trouble riding it on the way down, but I blew it on the way back up. I'm still not used to riding with gears. It was one of three spots where I sketched because I wasn't ready with the right gear. I need to do something about that. MUST LEARN TO SHIFT GEARS!
Jason joined us again below the cell tower. He was riding his beater bike (Full XT Blur) and had a smile on his face. I think he was happy to be riding again.
At the 4-way, Bob was running into a time constraint. He lead a group back to the parking lot and gave them directions back to the cars. The rest of us picked up the pace a little on the climb out to the top of the white loop. That turned out to be a tough one for me. I felt great at the bottom, but by 1/2 way into the white loop, I was bonking pretty hard. The new Whoop section on the white is amazing. I can't imagine why anyone would want to ride that going uphill. What a bunch of jerks!
We got back to the car and re-supplied. I hopped up on extran and carboom and was ready to go. Everyone had one trip on the Connector left, I had two. I didn't make it all the way. I ran into a time constraint, and I was pretty tired. I turned around at the town of Boyds, about 4.5 miles into the connector.
My mileage for the day was just under 44 miles at an average pace of 9mph (8.9mph to be precise). I think that is one of the longest rides at a decent pace in many years.
David and Denis were going to ride back over together to get a few more miles in. I don't know what happened with that. I got in the car and was driving out and I saw David with his bike on the roof. He might have given Denis a ride home. Since both of them had a ton of miles in for the day, I don't blame them a bit. We worked pretty hard.
I did a similar ride last weekend on the single speed. Even though the mileage was a bit less... only about 34 miles, the ride felt much easier. I don't know if I ate better, or if the SS makes me stronger. There's a point at which I can't push harder on the SS. The geared bike doesn't allow me to do that. I don't think my average speed was much less, but I sure felt fresher. Who knows...
Jump Trail Pics
Thanks for reading. Thanks to all for a great ride. It takes a good group of people to make a ride like that happen. You people are the best!
Pete
Friday, April 15, 2005
I'm easily entertained: Part 69
I don't have to tell you folks that I'm infantile and easily entertained. I'll just prove it again. As always, Pictures say more than words.
Have a great weekend.
Pete
Have a great weekend.
Pete
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Best Cannondale Product EVER!!!
I don't really know what my beef with Cannondale is. I just never really got into their stuff. I had one of their road bikes years ago. It was a fine bike, for a lumpy weld aluminum road bike. I raced it for over a year before selling it and getting something else.
My whole view of Cannondale has changed. The came out with something so great, so amazing, so mind bogglingly perfect, that I am now a HUGE Cannondale fan.
Are you read?
Are you sure?
Really?
I must be easily entertained.
I need to get a jersey to match.
Pete
My whole view of Cannondale has changed. The came out with something so great, so amazing, so mind bogglingly perfect, that I am now a HUGE Cannondale fan.
Are you read?
Are you sure?
Really?
I must be easily entertained.
I need to get a jersey to match.
Pete
Monday, April 11, 2005
More Monkeying around...
With the sale of my Id being final, and it OUT of the house for good, my Karatey Monkey was getting lonely. They were best buds in a mutant personification kinda way. Sooooo... I got my Karate Monkey a baby brother.
I purchased......
Drum roll please.........
Another Karate Monkey. This one is going to have gears though. I'm almost done building it. It should be a really fun bike to ride. When the Truth sells, then I'll get a suspension fork for it.
I basically took all the superlight stuff off of the Truth and am making a geared monkey with some high zoot stuff on it. I know that is a weird bike, but I needed something with gears to ride in Colorado and Utah on the days when I'm not SSing.
I'll post up photos when I get bored. All i have to do is build the wheels and it is DONE and ready for the trails. I may take it out tomorrow night.
Talk to you later.
Pete
I purchased......
Drum roll please.........
Another Karate Monkey. This one is going to have gears though. I'm almost done building it. It should be a really fun bike to ride. When the Truth sells, then I'll get a suspension fork for it.
I basically took all the superlight stuff off of the Truth and am making a geared monkey with some high zoot stuff on it. I know that is a weird bike, but I needed something with gears to ride in Colorado and Utah on the days when I'm not SSing.
I'll post up photos when I get bored. All i have to do is build the wheels and it is DONE and ready for the trails. I may take it out tomorrow night.
Talk to you later.
Pete
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Blogger purgatory and a GREAT ride today.
Greetings readers. Sorry I've been away. I've been fighting with some weird stuff lately and haven't taken the time to write. I've got a week and a half of inane things to post up, but I'm going to give you a break and talk about riding. :D
Jason and I have been going through some similar stuff. Neither of us has been particularly social of late. That's okay with us because we can hang out, ride and be anti-social together. It works pretty well.
Today's anti-social ride was a big one. After getting sick on the last epic ride, Jason wanted to try and get one more in before we ship off to Colorado. That ride was today.
We rode Black Hills/Hoyles Mill and Schaeffer again. it was just the two of us. We had a blast. We just rode and rode and rode. The final mileage was just over 35 miles and we did it over an hour faster than last time. You just move quicker in a small group. We just didn't really stop much at all.
The fun part was the creek crossing. It was very high the first time through. I rode it and it was up to the top of my 29er tires. Jason was wise. He took his shoes off and hiked across. I had to ride the rest of the day in wet shoes. Oh well. I had fun.
Oddly enough on the way back, the creek level was over a foot lower. Weird!
We're both pretty tired, but enjoyed the ride a ton. I think we're ready for Fruita and Utah.
Talk to y'all later. I have some fun stuff to post up from the last week or two.
pete
Jason and I have been going through some similar stuff. Neither of us has been particularly social of late. That's okay with us because we can hang out, ride and be anti-social together. It works pretty well.
Today's anti-social ride was a big one. After getting sick on the last epic ride, Jason wanted to try and get one more in before we ship off to Colorado. That ride was today.
We rode Black Hills/Hoyles Mill and Schaeffer again. it was just the two of us. We had a blast. We just rode and rode and rode. The final mileage was just over 35 miles and we did it over an hour faster than last time. You just move quicker in a small group. We just didn't really stop much at all.
The fun part was the creek crossing. It was very high the first time through. I rode it and it was up to the top of my 29er tires. Jason was wise. He took his shoes off and hiked across. I had to ride the rest of the day in wet shoes. Oh well. I had fun.
Oddly enough on the way back, the creek level was over a foot lower. Weird!
We're both pretty tired, but enjoyed the ride a ton. I think we're ready for Fruita and Utah.
Talk to y'all later. I have some fun stuff to post up from the last week or two.
pete
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