It's official, I have removed the front derailler from my bike making it a 1x9 speed scooter. In layman's terms, I no longer have the option of shifting between the 3 chainrings up front. I removed the biggest ring about 4 years ago and have been hanging on to the "granny gear" for reasons that I can't explain. I never really used it so I removed it.
Secondly the devil has again used the internet for his own evil purposes. May I present chainlove.com. One killer bike deal available at a time until it is gone. If I had any money I would have spent thousands since they opened the site on last Monday. I must check the site about 30 times a day, I would hate to miss a single item. So if you are looking for a good gift for yours truelly you can find everything I want at one place and it's cheap too.
For the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about how to connect two known points in the wilderness with a bike trail of epic proportions. Saturday at 6am I started out to make my dream a reality. This photo is at what I expected to be the trail head, there was a fire up there last year which makes trail building much easier, no sagebrush to fight.
The first couple of miles where perfect, great views with long sweeping downhill sections, just what I was hoping for. Then the good times came to an abrupt halt as I ran into some very soft dirt and very steep ravines, one after another. At one point I actually blew my front tire right off the rim and had to put in a tube. After 4-5 miles of bushwhacking across the desert I made it to a drainage system that I was familiar with and was able to use the dry washes to pick up the pace. I eventually made my way to the Santa Clara river and crossed over into the River Reserve area that I was looking for.
There are many petroglyphs in the area that you can hike/bike to. I took this picture sitting on my bike.
This next photo is a little grainy as I had to zoom in as far as I could. You can make out some large petroglyphs and 3 pioneer names. A.P. Hardy 1859, S.G. Hardy 1880 and some guy named Tom. Funny how their graffiti is really cool today.
I made it home after 3 1/2 hours and 15+ miles. To bad that my trail dreams were dashed but there is a lot more desert out there looking to be tamed.
Madelin is 11 years old and has found the radio. She has been starting her mornings with a healthy dose of "cool" from the two morning hacks on Planet 94.1. I think the DJ's are Chris and Larae but I could be way off. Their careers are obviously blowing up since they can be heard almost to Hurricane every morning. When I was Maddie's age I got my first " ghetto blaster" and would listen to Rock 103 with John Carter and Dan Bammes. In my 11 year old opinion those guys were the coolest cats on the planet. Everything they said was hilarious. To this day I would probably laugh at the bit they did on Magnabrau, goofing on the water that comes from Magna city or the Mr. Roberts Neighborhood sequels. So when 94.9 announced that Drake Bell from was coming in concert Maddie was using every angle she could to finagle tickets. Every morning at 7:45 she would be working the phone for the free giveaway tickets. Needless to say she did not win so she moved on to begging Sarah and I. She had enough of her own money to pay for half of the ticket so I relented and Sarah was more than happy to let me go with her. Here is a vid from Drakes newest album.
You that took the time to watch that piece of crap might be thinking; "he's not so bad." Well he is. Am I fine letting my daughter listen to him? Yes. Do I think his career will last another 20 minutes? No. According to Andy Worhol it's 14:55 and counting.
The concert was at Dixie college and was supposed to start at 7pm. According to Utah tradition at least half of the attendees showed up at 7:10. This is when the nightmare began, I believe that Dante's 3rd and 4th circles of hell were to be found in that arena. Mothers with 3-4 kids in tow ranging in ages from 2-13 moved through the building like a swarm of locusts devouring T shirts at $20, popcorn, soda, candy and the ubiquitous glow sticks could not be kept on the shelves. I am pretty sure the family of 5 sitting next to us spent more money than the payment on their double wide in Dixie Downs. The few Dads with daughters that I saw were a solemn group, we nodded one to another in silent appreciation of the others misery.
At 7:45 the prepubescent, preening, wanna be rock star finally graced the stage. The kiddies went crazy as he started his first song. Between the screaming and the horrible audio quality I wished for two ice picks, one for each ear. Honestly I don't know if the speakers were provided by the college or if Drake brought them himself but I am sure that they were original equipment that Cheap Trick used live at Budokan in 1976.
Here are some of the 40-odd photos that Madelin took during the show. Those of you with a more discerning eye can enjoy the composition and subtle use of lighting.
As you can see we moved around the arena to get all the angles. Maddie was amazed when I walked past the "security" and got us onto the floor. I gave the 20 year old manning the gate my patented " I dare you to stop me" look and he decided that it was not worth the $7.52 per hr they pay him.
On a side note; I took a trip to use the facilities and found this bit of comedy gold taped to the wall. Click on this picture for a close up.
More evidence that men should not be cheerleaders. Two of the guys on the team have less hair than me. The dude in the glasses looks 40 and the 15 yr old kid right below him is flashing what could be gang signs. The girls look like cheerleaders, vapid and happy. If you can also read under the general info heading they have recommendations for dress. I bet those guys look great in form fitted tops and shorts. No man should ever wear form fitted shorts. Did anyone know that you had to have a letter of recommendation from 2 teachers to try out? And why should you have to pay $25 to try out? Maybe I should call Aaronee.
Back to the show, just as we made it to the floor he wrapped up his playlist and left the stage. All the kids started leaving, I told Maddie he would be right back for an encore and used the time to maneuver closer to the stage. Sure enough after 4 minutes he was back to finish us off with two cover songs. Mello Yellow and She ain't worth a dime. I am pretty sure I was the only person in the building that knew that the second selection was from the Stray Cats circa 1986. He played both very well which proved that he doesn't really suck as long as someone else writes the music.
Madelin loved every minute of it and I was careful to not let my true sentiments show thru my carefully crafted facade. The show only lasted an hour and in spite of my bad attitude I would do it again tomorrow to make my kids happy. In fact the next day I took all 3 girls sans Sarah to the kite festival which is a colossall waste of time and money unless you have kids that you want to make happy.
I have a little game for you. There is enough info in this picture to tell you where it was taken. I will need the name of the town for you to claim your prize.
Admittedly I am a bike snob. So for Megan's 9th birthday I thought it would be a great idea to get her a real bike, not a pile of junk like they try to sell to the kids at Costco or Walmart. I decided on the 20" Kona Makena from my local bike shop. Madelin has been riding Sarah's old Jamis Expert and they both have expressed an interest in doing some legitimate mountain biking with their old man. Last Saturday we took of for their first adventure in dirt on the Bearclaw Poppy Trail. We rode up the hill until they wore out and wanted to turn around.
Madelin was not as happy as Megan about the uphill but as soon as she turned around I never saw her again until the bottom.
Both girls decided that going down was worth the climb.
Mike Curiak is the toughest man I know. I have know Mike for a couple of years now, he comes down to St. George every 3-4 months to ride with us regular human beings. He builds 29er wheels for a living, I have a set on my new bike.
This is Mike at Gooseberry Mesa last fall.
So I know your asking what does he do that makes him so special. How about an 1,100 mile, self supported trek from Knik Lake to Nome in Alaska...... On a bike. You can read a brief write up on Mike in the Grand Junction Journal. Mike also has a blog that shows just how ridiculous this trip is.
This is Mike and his bike loaded up to leave.
He still holds the record for the fastest time on this trail. It is the same trail that they use for the Iditardod. Some folks just race it on bikes instead.
So what are you doing with your life? He makes me feel lazy and out of shape. I think I will go ride my bike so that when he comes to town next month I won't make a fool of myself.
Spring has sprung in St. George, the temps and trails are superb. I took the camera with me for the second ride on the new scooter. This is the Barrel Roll trail just above Santa Clara named for the Barrel Cactus that you find there.
You can actually see my house in this photo if you know where to look. Pine Valley Mt still has a little snow as you can see. All you suckas' that live in the great white north can put this up as your screen saver and dream of being me.
I took a shot here commemorating the first scratch on the bike. I chunked the fork into a rock in the crevice you can see above the rear tire.
As I suspected this bike is a load of fun and an absolute rocket on the smooth, twisty trails.
