The first day I ever rode a mountain bike was the same day Princess Di cashed it in. August 31, 1997. I was with the two guys who got me into the sport, Dusty and Chris. We were in Durango CO with our wives visiting Mesa Verde and camping out. We rode a 30+ mile trail in named the La Hermosa trail. I completely destroyed the piece of junk bike that I had bought, cramped up so bad that I still have bad dreams about it and had a great time. We met our wives at Pizza Hut for the apre ride meal where they told us about the unfortunate passing of Lady Di. We still talk about that day every year when the news starts to remember the anniversary of her death but we remember it for a different reason. The three of us are rarely able to get together to ride, neither one of them has kept up with the sport the way that I have but with some not so gentle coaxing from me we made it happen last week at Little Creek Mesa. None of my pictures turned out very well, what I really need is for Racy Straw to just follow me around and document the minutia of my life. Every thing looks better thru her lens.
Dustin hiding in the shade.
Looking north towards Little Creek Mesa and Virgin
I wanted to get a shot of the huge area of slick rock, this doesn't do it justice and you have to look really close to see Johnson bringing up the rear. In his defense, he forgot his shoes and rode the whole day in running shoes on clipless pedals....ridiculously hard.
Another shot of Dusty, this time on his bike.
Probably not this year due to the sudden increase in my families proportions but next year I am going to plan a trip with these yahoos back toDurango at the end of August. I hope no one dies.
Last week I was just getting back to the pavement after a mt. ride when I was stopped by a Santa Clara police officer. He told me that another officer in the dept. had lost the a fully loaded clip to his gun somewhere in the area and was hoping maybe I had found it. My first thought was, "sure it was another officer." I didn't find it but I'm sure some socially unconscious, juvinile delinquent probably did. They seem to only hire the best and brightest to be Santa Clara's finest.
That got me thinking about all the stuff I have found on the trail or street while riding. Here is a list of some funny things I can remember and where it was;
Cell phone by the Santa Clara Cemetery. A huge ring for Top of the Mountains Bowl. Which is apparently a junior college thing. Snow College won it that year and I found it on the side of the hiway by Quail Creek reservoir. Water bottles (3) La Hermosa trail in Durango CO. Bearclaw Poppy trail St George and Porcupine Rim trail in Moab. $5 Ivins city cemetery Small silver Mag-light, Ivins city by the firehouse. A pair of Addidas running shoes, just my size. The hiway in Moab as you cross the Colorado River. Sun glasses, gas station junk brand. Veyo Utah An insulated camo vest. Anasazi trail STG
It's a veritable garage sale out there so keep your eyes open.
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.
