bldr county

Riding front range trails on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is usually a test of patience for obvious reasons. That said, it is not often that a new trail of any significance opens in these parts so, despite the inevitable crowds that would surely be testing their skills out on the new trail from Heil Ranch to Lyons, CPM and I decided to utilize it to do a long ride from my place and combine a few different local trails..

Backing up a bit, I originally was hoping to get out of town this weekend to ride but Jessica has been very busy getting ready for open studios and nobody else seemed up for a journey. GITA was calling me but needless to say, I decided to stay up here and enjoy the incredible weather and leave the car parked.

I had no idea how long it would take and we knew we would be stopping quite a bit due to heavy rider traffic so I was hoping for 5hrs or so. A quick handlebar change and a noontime shot of espresso and we were off to see what the new trail was all about. After a short shot on the Wonderland trail, we climbed over Old Stage Rd to Lefthand Canyon and down to Heil. We rode under the fringe of a storm that was briefly concerning us but the thunder soon rolled off into the distance leaving beautiful Indian summer skies for us to ride beneath.


On the edge of the storm.

We took the long way up to the start of picture rock. This trail is in it's infancy and has only been open for 5 days. It was interesting to see the transformation that is already starting to take place as the trail gets worn in. Eager to make short work of inner tubes, copious amounts of healthy cactus lined the trail making veering off course something to think about.



heading into lyons



The trail flowed "fairly" well for that area and climbs slightly better than it descends. There was quite a bit of rock just as there is on Heil and Hall, making the whole ride a wrist numbing workout. Linking the whole thing to Hall is a solid ride if you are going out and back from town.

52 miles with an elevation gain of 7632ft. Moving time was 5hrs10mins some of which was due to being new to the trail and the abundance of riders we shared the it with. I was actually pretty impressed that the BMA had the resources and fortitude to get through all the red tape involved with building a new trail in boulder county. I know this was in the works for several years and appreciate a 50+mile mtb possibility from my house with minimal road. It may not be epic trail we are talking about but it's right in the backyard and will be a good option for early and late season.

monopoly

Where are we heading?

and so it goes

"I am a patient boy..."

While Paulson and Bernanke are chomping at the bit to fire up the presses, I am still waiting on the IF to come home so I can ride some trails. The rest of the parts arrived Saturday from Formula so the brake rebuild will commence Monday and my wheels can once again glide through the hills of CO. I am a bit bored with road riding this time of year but you gotta do what you gotta do. The fixed commuter has been a welcome reprieve to formal road riding and I think I will be spinning to the garden this afternoon then head around town the long way. This is always a fun spin in the early spring or after a few Southern Sun pints.


If you didn't get the post title, sorry. I was lucky to be part of the crowd who saw Fugazi's first live show outside of DC which was played in our very own Charm City, it was killer! I have many fond memories from my teen years of seeing punk shows in b'more! Sure you can find a clip with better sound on youtube but this one captures the moment.

I may get one of these setups for when my 29er is down in the future.

I figure I can use the training wheel with the handle as a walker when I get old and need assistance.

Or, I could further simplify things by keeping one of these in the closet for bikeless times. Hard to believe you could dumb down the unicycle but there you have it.

Trying to solidify plans for next weekend. The snow is coming to the high country so we need to take advantage of everyday we can before the trails are covered for the year. We have been discussing possible NM rides, as well as a few others. See we shall.

ps:a new boulder county trail opens tomorrow. Picture Rock connects Heil and Hall Ranch which are not spectacular rides in themselves but it does give a nice option to create a long ride from town. I am hoping to ride from the house one day next week and complete the whole thing. Should be a great time!

lament for DBT

Literally and sometimes in reverse order. That pretty much sums up the last two weeks.

Time is not on my side to make the DBT in Taos this Saturday. After last Sunday's crash, my brake was left inoperable when the handle ripped out of the actual handle body during the tumble. Still no parts from Formula and it's Thursday night. This pretty much means that DBT is going to be a no go for Saturday unless parts hit tomorrow morning. I am super bummed thinking about missing it but things happen and I suppose there is always the following weekend. The weather does look nice so hopefully everyone has a great time down there.


Today's harvest from the garden.

I am excited to see the bursting carrots, beets, arugula, and lettuce growing quickly from my late summer plantings. The broccoli has been interesting with the two varieties I planted being extremely different. One was more of a Rapini type variety that actually grew on one huge stalk and took up more room than it was worth. The quality was rather pleasant but the room it took compared to the yield has me thinking I may pass on it next season and stick to more traditional varieties, like the one pictured, and a more traditional rapini. Those Wink's New Mexican hot peppers (yellow ones) were quite a surprise and highly recommended. Pretty hot up front but the burn does not linger on the taste buds making them quite useful in many dishes. What does a half ass bike blog have to do with gardening you ask? Exactly

keep on truckin!

funday

A few days behind on posting and finally getting finishing this post I started Monday. Big ride plans were trimmed short as we awoke to the sounds of light rain falling Sunday morning. We let things warm up and begin to clear before heading out for a mid day ride and although it was not the ride we were planing to do, is was huge on fun and great trails. I rocked my SSO longsleeve for the first time and it was perfect for a fall ride. It even passed my durability test which included a shoulder skid on the trail for several feet.


We ended up seeing one of Jessica's friends and her partner at the beginning of the ride and they ended up spinning with us for a good part of our journey.


Jessica concentrating on the trail.




Christopher enjoying the trail


Someone is having fun


Not a bad background

Yet another enjoyable ride in the books. The first trail we hit was a seldom ridden gem that would not stay open if discovered by the masses so we wanted to lay down some unspoiled memories of it before it ends up closed like many of the trails we loved. It was hard to follow at times but well worth the time spent navigating. I was having an outstanding ride that unfortunately ended with a crash and broken brake handle. I was unable to get it back together and rode out with one brake. The parts have not arrived yet...NMES DBT ride may be out of the picture.

several beers later

Politics, ride plans, and pics

Thomas Jefferson believed that “all power is inherent in the people . . . it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” Personally, I believe this includes being armed with information to make proper choices as well as being literally armed. Politics feeds heavily off the ignorance of our population and it is sad. I will not post about politics often, I promise.


This character always good for a smile or three.

Speaking of politics, we are choosing between two not so great choices in this election but it is extremely clear that I could never get behind McCain and Palin is a joke. People who only vote party from election to election are the reason our country is a mess. We need to weed through the lies and BS and pick who we feel will best represent ourselves and the general American public when voting. I admit it is rarely a Republican for me even though I always give them a chance. That said, it is not always a Democrat either. This year however, it will be a Democrat. Obama's poise and class are making the desperate and trivial attacks of the gop look infantile. Who would you rather have in Iran, Russia, or Venezuela rebuilding foreign relations? It is a no brainer for me at this point. If by some wacky fixed off chance, McSame slips into office, we will move to Nicaragua and trade our bikes for surfboards, actually that may happen either way.

The whole energy issue is just frustrating. Republicans want the sheeple of america to find some pseudo solace in their words that all our fuel worries will soon be a thing of the past as we punch holes in every virgin piece of ground this country has to offer. McSame. Gas is never really going down in price, we need to face that fact. The supply was never endless. Why is McCain in favor of keeping tax breaks for oil companies and avoiding regulation of the entire industry as they rape the citizens of earth and votes against tax breaks for companies who employ solar and wind power? I suppose the fossil himself just likes fossil fuels. The formaldehyde will drain out of McCain soon and if he were to somehow get into office, would anyone really want the most unqualified and inexperienced person in the entire election on the puppet strings if/when he did pass away? Think about it.

Enough of that crap, time to live in the moment. It is going to clear up this weekend and we will be riding. There are suggestions ranging from Kenosha Pass to the mythical yet real Woolly Mammoth ride which is close to impossible with newer forest regulations, but is it impossible? Maybe we should just go to Fruita. Either way, I will have a new toy this afternoon to take with us. I am really excited to get my garmin and I am very grateful to Jay at Geoman Gear for the great customer service. I highly recommend them for all of your GPS gear and will slap a link up on the blog. Thanks for the Geoman referral Timmy!


Sam really wanted to head out on our ride last weekend as we packed Chris's car but she soon changed her mind when she realized she would actually hate it.





She did miss the homemade pizza fest at yankee Doodle lake though. Sorry, we were too tired to walk around the clump of trees to get a clear shot. All photos by Jessica.

For someone who studied fine art photography for several years, I sure seem to post some average pics here. I am trying to get back to shooting on a more serious but more importantly, more personal level, print and digital. I may set up a separate place down the road where they can be viewed and I would love to find a quality darkroom to work in. I have worked in a few in bldr and denver but never for more than a handful of times at each as most were pretty shabby. True printing can only be learned in a darkroom and I miss printing tremendously. I do own a nice digital SLR that I suppose I should be utilizing a bit more. I think I will stop there for now.

Enjoy the weekend!

god is dead and lance is coming back

While contemplating the selection and mass quantity purchases at value stores like Costco, there are many who most certainly have missed this story. Scientists hope to recreate the big bang in a 17 mile long underground tunnel. Now,at the risk of being perceived Socratic, I will be the first to raise my hand when asked who in the room is not at all a scientist. That said, should we really be trying to create black holes? Switzerland may end up getting a one way ticket back to future. The findings will most likely be interesting if all goes as planned but I can not help but imagine what we could have done by investing $10 billion into energy solutions?

Most have heard Lance is rumored to come back for the 09' season to compete in a handful of races. Is he riding the coat tails of the excitement he experienced prepping for the leadville hundo or is he hungry like the wolf? I guess we will see if cycling is still "in his blood"or not. Wait, is that the name of Tyler's post cycling career autobiography?

We did a couple rides this past weekend. Saturday was a nice little singletrack excursion up in the mtns. We took Jessica's camera but I forgot to upload the shots so I have no pics at this time. We had a good time and we ended it on an old technical favorite. Sunday was a big 6hr day in the saddle up up up and down down down . I banged my knee and pedaled on some dirt road, it was sweet.

I will have a Garmin soon.

slacking

I have been a little slow to post lately but back on track. The foot has been much better and the rides are happening again. I am only experiencing discomfort out of the bike shoes now which is a good sign, depending on how you look at it. As we head into fall, I am excited to get in as many trips to the mountains as possible before the snow starts to fly. We skipped King of the Rockies last weekend due to my foot issues and decided that it is just too nice out to pay $45 each + gas and drive time to Breckenridge to do the last MSC event this Sunday, even though the masochist in me likes the long nasty climb in the first half of the course. There is just too much great riding here right now and this is the perfect time of year. Plus, homie CPM is heading out Oct 1st for 3 months so we need to get some rides in before he heads down to Costa for waves, Imperials, and tan euros.



A big thank you to Bob and Marilyn for an extra something on top of the already generous gift they gave me for watching the boys (pitbulls+1 kitty) while they were away. I have wanted a pair of UV arm protectors for a while and the Assos version is just top notch. I feel the spf 30 does little to protect the skin here in CO after many miles but my arms are now that much safer when the sun is beating down, thanks MK, BK, Duc, Toro, and Francis!



Hopefully we will be out exploring a few new trails I have been eyeing up and just putting down a big day in the mountains this weekend. There are those who will be in Salida to test the limits of their mental fortitude at the VP125. This event is really starting to pique my interest. I would need to break into my saving account to get the lights and extra batteries worthy of the 10pm start time, but maybe by next year I will be ready to attempt to complete this course. Best of luck and much respect to all who are heading out Saturday night at 10pm! I will raise my beer in your honor.


tree photo by jes

As all of you have heard, the SSWC will be in Durango next year. I don't care if I have to pretend I am the Turkish singlespeed champion to get an entry or finally apply for Italian citizenship, I am getting into this one. The 08 event in Napa looked like it was a fun time but I didn't get in due to my citizenship, location, and gender so I never even thought about making the trip after that. I understand it is impossible to make everyone happy but the way they handled the entry process last January was just rot, hopefully next year is better. All I know is I am in 09 like a whirling dervish, true dat.

cheers