At 9,000 Feet, Nobody Can Hear You Scream

To say it's been a bit of a hectic few weeks would be an understatement, heck even the weeks leading up to the Lazy Horse were pretty hectic but since then it's been even more so. Gravel events and friends weddings have kept us pretty busy and things don't look to be settling down all that much in June either with both the Solstice and Coast to Coast coming up. To quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."




In an attempt to try to embrace those words, we loaded the 1120s on the back of the Jeep and headed out to the Winter Park area in Colorado for a few days of riding and relaxing.




They had really good snowfall amounts over the winter in the area so many of the creeks were flowing at or slightly above capacity, nothing flood level just yet but they were full for sure. Heck there was even still a little bit of the white stuff in the valley along some of the shaded paths and there was plenty still to be seen in higher elevations.



Day one of riding was just a casual ride up to the Winter Park ski resort on the gravel and paved paths. With the all but one ski run closed for the season the resort was pretty much a ghost town but as soon as Trestle opens for the mountain bike season it'll be back to it's normal crowds. It was kind of nice to roll through there and not have to duck and dodge people and the Fraser River Trail is a fantastic trail for sights and sounds. As is often the case, after a day of riding we finished up with a stop at Camber Brewing for a cold one. Camber is definitely our favorite spot for after ride refreshments but if you want to try something different there are probably half dozen or so other breweries in the Fraser/Winter Park area to wet your whistle.






Day two we got in a little single track, some new at "Phases" and some familiar just up the road from us. Phases was pretty fun but had a lot more climbing than the single track in the Fraser area. The 1120s did exceptionally well on the somewhat technical single track despite not being the best tool for the job, there were plenty of times during the weekend we wished we had the full squish bikes but we opted to bring only one bike each this time and the 1120s are great all around bikes. Of course with all that climbing and single track called for a cold refreshment, Fraser River Brewery got the nod on day two.





Took the following day off from the bike and got in a little hiking around the Grand Lake and Adams Falls area, also checked out the town of Grand Lake for a little change of pace.





The last full day there started out bright and early with a coffee and muffin stop at a new to us coffee shop in Winter Park and then about 14 miles of new single track before meeting up with Jackie's sister's family for lunch. This was some of the more technical single track we've encountered in the area and while the 1120s never complained we both were wanting for a little suspension again on this ride. It was also some of the bigger climbs of the weekend and we both were wishing we had less flatlander lungs on several of the climbs, 9,000 feet is no joke.




After lunch we got a wild idea to follow the Fraser River Trail the other direction to Grandby and back. On paper this sounded like a great idea, in reality it was still a great idea but it was a little more exhausting and intensive than I think we expected. FRT heading to Winter Park is a great trail of smooth gravel and pavement with gentle climbs and lots of shade. By contrast the trail heading to Grandby turns to single track and is rocky, technical in sections and has an adundance of climbing and it's 32 miles round trip. Probably should have scheduled that ride for a bit earlier in the week but we got it done and ended the week with a solid full day of riding.


The cherry on top of the day was a cold one from Camber Brewing while soaking away the aches in the hot tub.

 

Dirt Coaster

Group ride was out at Lewis & Clark this week, I hadn't ever been out there so I wasn't sure what to expect. The views from atop the monument are pretty spectacular even on a hazy, overcast day. 
Pretty good turn out considering that L&C is a good 20 minutes or better from Omaha and the warmer temps from earlier in the day were fading fast. I think Feagan is telling fish stories here or giving flamenco dance lessons... could go either way.


Not knowing what to really expect from this trail I was nowhere near prepared for it, the camera never does justice to just how steep or twisty the trails are but this trail is literally a roller coaster from start to finish, at no point in the entire trail can you just sit and coast. The down hills beg you to just let go of the brakes and fly...  the tight, tree lined corners that seem to crop up out of everywhere quickly put an end to that exuberance.

I am sure once you ride this trail a few dozen times and learn the flow of it, it would be a blast to ride but riding it for the first time it was a complete suffer-fest. Dug into the sides of the bluffs for most of it, you are never more than a few inches away from potential disaster but not to worry, all those cushy trees would surely slow you down before you made it all the way to the bottom, and the hills; some are short and steep, some are long and steep and then others you think are going to be short and steep only to find out it's a false peak and it's really long and steep. There are those who say that breathing is overrated, I'm not one of those and truly enjoy every breath, this trail makes you take lots of them, mostly wheezy, shallow ones but it's all about quantity and not quality right? 
This was my view for the entire ride, Feagan would let me get just close enough and then take off again like a sadistic leprechaun on a mountain bike, I swear a couple of times I even heard him say "you'll never get me gold" as he seemed to effortlessly fly over the trail. Super leprechauny powers of forest flight is the only explanation I can come up with as to how he made it look so easy.  At the top of the trail was a pretty cool memorial to one of the founders of T.H.O.R., never met the guy myself but he sounded like he'd been a really cool guy to ride with. 

Officially met Randleman for the first time... on a singlespeed... seemed like a good enough guy or at least when you're not in his way, more on that in a bit. As I sat there trying not to cough up a lung the two of them chatted as if they'd just ran into each other in the grocery store, I suspect our levels of fitness and endurance were not quite the same.  We took off just a bit before Randleman as he was waiting for someone else, which is the only way I was ahead of him because it didn't take him long to catch us, I pulled to the side to let him pass... and then he proceeded to sneak out an elbow and knock me over on his way past. Nah, not really, somehow I thought it'd be a good idea to pull over to the side and do some sort of track stand on the side of the trail while he passed, the side was much softer than I had anticipated and I lost all momentum and over I went. First day riding bikes, new shoes, just a gomer, whatever you want to call it I ended up not getting clipped out in time took the rookie tip of shame. I guess you don't really break in a new pair of kicks until you get them all muddy anyway so I guess I did that.  On that note, shoes actually felt really good and performed awesomely even if they don't release as easily as my former shoes. As for L&C, I think it's a keeper, I'll need to visit it way more often to get to the point where I can use the downhills to my advantage for the uphills but even if it makes you pay for the slightest mistake it really is a fun trail. 

Always In The Wrong Gear

It's often said that a singlespeed is always in the wrong gear, which is pretty spot on unless you happen to be riding on a flat trail with a tail wind. Today that sentiment was probably more true than usual, took the singlespeed out to Swanson Park, not having been out on it much lately the 32X15 gearing was just a tad steep for the trail. I'm not sure what it is about this bike, it's certainly not made out of the sexiest material being made out of plain old steel, it's definitely not the lightest and certainly not the most expensive but it just rides like a dream, something about that heavy ass steel frame just seems to smooth out the bumps. Despite not being ideally geared had a great ride out there, trails are near perfect and the weather actually stayed pretty good despite the clouds and threats of rain.

TNNDDR - That's a Wrap

Days are getting shorter, summers drawing to an end, soon the leaves will be falling and the cold temps are just around the corner but you certainly wouldn't be able to tell that from today. Today was the last Official TNNDDR of the season, you always know it's coming but it always sucks when it happens. Wilderness might not be the most technical place to ride but it's close and it's fun and it's made even more fun with a great group of people to ride it with. I personally am very grateful that Cycle Works decided to do the ride a few years back, I know they don't get paid to do it so they are basically volunteering their free time to help boost the sport and give local riders like myself at least one singletrack group ride a week to look forward to. Great shop and great group of people.
 
Traffic on the way to Cycle Works was unusually heavy today poor, poor suckers.


Heat kept the group relatively small but small usually means fast and today did not disappoint. At least I was smart and brought the right bike, had gears and everything.


Did I mention it was hot, humid and windy... I guess dude didn't get the memo, must have been almost hotter than I was.


Quick tight group tonight. Thanks to Nate for the pic... although I didn't necessarily ask.

Halfway point turn around, catching a quick rest and some water before shooting back through. 

Get Dirty...

It's coming... the sound of bike chains, sweat and good old fashioned dirty fun!!

Psycowpath you know you wanna look! If you build it they will come! I have been racing the series for about 3 years now, haven't really made it to every race yet but who knows maybe this is the year... then again maybe not, life can sometimes get in the way of play. The series has been getting more popular every year and now it looks like they are finally breaking off from the Nebraska cycling news site and starting up one of their own, now I am all for biking in any way, shape or form but I am all about the dirt.  I am really psyched for the site since it will be all single track rather than needing to sift through the roadie things, no news about criteriums, no skinny tires a new site all about the fat tires and the people who love them. This is my site, it is almost better then porn... almost!

River City Shoot Out...

The second race of the season is officially in the books and I gotta tell you the day was absolutely perfect for racing, I am so glad they waited that extra day because yesterday was cold and overcast… who wants to race in that? I finished 6^th again which seems to be my spot since that is two races in a row. Whenever I start to think that 6^th is not all that good, that it is middle of the pack I stop and realize that it is a top ten finish and that the other five guys that beat me are not your average Huffy riding folks on the street they are guys just like me, guys that ride for the love of it, guys that put in the hours and miles during the week guys that share a similar passion. In that perspective 6^th place is actually pretty good, especially when you consider that I am not 20 something anymore, hell there are people who are my age working on their first heart attack, some working on their second heart attack, sitting on the couch eating, drinking and smoking themselves to death… me I’m trying to kill my self on a bike, not a whole lot of different except it leaves a much better looking corpse. I have friends a lot younger then me who won’t even ride with me because they think I will try to kill them, I won’t but you might wish that you were dead since riding works a few different muscle groups then what they are probably used to giving a good work out to.

I guess there is always room for improvement in everything I just got to figure out how to get out of the number 6 slot and by that I mean upwards because 7th place would not be 6th but it also isn't the right direction. 

Got a lot of great pictures... look here to see if your mug is one of the lucky ones.

"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe."

~Anatole France~

Sometimes it really is up hill both ways...

Flat it was not, 800 feet of climbing is what it was, 70 it was not, 50 if you were lucky is what it was, sunny it was not, windy and over cast is what it was; one lie always seems to turn into another and another and another. The kick off to the Psycowpath season was today at Maskenthine Lake and other then the fact that I was out on the bike doing what I love to do it sucked; but a crappy day on a bike is better then a good day off of it. Over all the whole experience was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip as it got me out of Lincoln, I got to spend time with good friends and I got to leave my sweat on a new and strange soil… what more could you ask for? Remember when your parents or grandparents used to spin the yarns about how they had to walk everywhere and it was always uphill? Well other than the walking part the course seemed to be all uphill, not sure how that is possible one would surmise that what goes up must go down but it just never happened, there were little sections of downwardish hills but nothing compared to the uphill, the course was either bumpy as hell, wet and tacky or tight and twisty; it seemed like every time you started to maybe gain some speed one of the afore mentioned obstacles would get in the way causing a rapid and complete loss of speed. This definitely was a challenging course that probably would have been better suited for later in the season. It did however point out that I need to work harder.

The trip up was good and we got a few funny stories from the whole event (that I may share later), memories that will last a life time… and free shit, you gotta love the free shit.

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

From The Wonder Years