2.5 weeks in So Utah.

I found myself volunteering to drive my daughter and some of her friends to Moab for a Church youth event. They were going to raft a length of the Colorado just east of town. I thought I could bring my bike, get my gas and food payed for and enjoy a couple of rides while they were on the river. 

We camped out by Ken's lake so I thought I would ride over Flat Pass. I found a promising trail going up Mill Creek but after 2 miles it proved to sandy to continue, I did get to ford the creek twice and had an emergency get off due to the sand. The 100+ temps kept me from going to far up Flat Pass but the views where good. 

That night my daughter does not eat BBQ was complaining about what was provided. Maybe I should have made her tough it out...or, we could just hit the Moab Diner for some green chille goodness.  I took the "B" option. Maddie was thoroughly impressed with diner food.

Day two, I dropped everybody off at the guide office, from there they would take a bus to the put-in location.  I was on my own for 6+ hrs....perfect.  I had heard about the Bar M trail system but had never been out that way. Keep in mind I was on the rigid single speed, which is not the most ideal sled to bring to this type of terrain.

That is a look toward Arches NP. If you look really close, dead center you can see an South Window Arch.

The trails were great. Very similar to the type of riding we have in StG, up and down with good techy sections. Not enough vertical to blow you up and not enough down to wish I had a different bike. I rode every inch of the trail system which turned out to be just over 27 miles total. By that time it was HOT and my wrist was beginning to ache from the fall the day before.

I hit the Poison Spider for a shower, then over to McStiff's for a pizza, I ordered the Dosie Doe, because when I am alone I don't have to share with non bleu cheese eaters.

*Dosie Doe – Olive oil with a hint of red sauce, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, parsley, bleu, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.*


The following weekend was the annual Rainbow Rim Ride. You have seen it here many times before and never fails to deliver. I love taking first timers on this ride and this year I had 2 Chris P and BK.

In this picture I am standing on a 16" stump, BK is of abnormal size.

This is the only picture of Chris P that I have authorization to use, he enjoys the anonymity.

The Tuesday after the RRR I had to be in Ticaboo/ Bullfrog for a meeting with the National Park Service and some engineering types, and then a Board meeting with the TEID.

In between the two meetings I had a little down time. So I rode the ferry and took a little drive.

The confluence of the Dirty Devil and the Colorado rivers. This is where Lake Powell begins.

After a couple of weeks of driving and riding around this state I was reminded yet again how I am constantly and consistently amazed at the geography.  I love living here.

Brains

You know I have an infinity for de-animating the undead. Luckily for me, preparing for the zombie apocalypse coincides with my faiths preoccupation with food storage and emergency preparedness.

Some zombie humor from Jonathon Coulter.

KOM

I have to post this because it will not last and I want to save it for posterity.  Also because Lynda Wallenfels is actually behind me in the standings.

Tales of woe

They say that bad things come in 3's. I really hope that is true, I have had 30 days of the worst cycling luck of my young and eventful career.

First I broke a spoke on the front tyre of my road machine. 10 miles from home I sat dejected on the side of the road until my bride could find me.  It's still not fixed, Easton Wheels are hard to deal with. The company and not the product.

Then last week I got a flat on my mountain bike. I have tubeless tyres but I had not kept up on the maintenance and they were dry, totally my fault. I whipped out a tube to throw it in thinking that it had been over a year since I had caught flat. I used my CO2 to pump it up and prepared to move on but the tyre was not holding air.  The tube had been in my seatbag for so long that it had worn a hole in the side from the friction. Out of CO2 and tubes I ended up walking 6 looong miles back to the truck.

The coup de grace was yesterday. I was ex filtrating out of the Rim Runner trail system huffing my way up a particularly steep pitch, when with a loud snapping noise I was thrown unceremoniously to the ground. Stunned, I looked for the reason of my graceless dismount.

I found this.

I had stripped the bolts on my chain ring, breaking it and folding it like a giro sandwich. I could have felt just a smidgen of pride thinking that I was laying down enough power to break this.

The first thing I did? I calmly sent these pictures via email to the manufacturer. This ring had 3 rides on it. I did not expect much but I got an email back straight away saying that though they denied the problem was theirs they would replace it. Winning!

Secondly, I determined that it was 10+ miles back to the truck. Or... 3 miles mostly downhill to Santa Clara where my lovely, patient, helpful, vivacious, smart, resourceful, and understanding wife could again pick me up, yet again.

Lets all say a little prayer that these ignoble events are behind me and the rest of the summer will be clear sailing.

It's a rental

I am going to be walking the fine edge of sacrilege for some of my readers in this post. So if the words "carbon  fiber"  offend you, you may want to log off now. (I am talking to you JRuss and Steve G.)

I was bumping around the newest bike shop in town, Bike Fix over in Washington. Ian, the owner is also a SS guy and his personal sled is a Niner Air 9 Carbon. As I was admiring the bike, I jokingly asked if I could borrow it for a day. To my surprise he said yes, I must have a trustworthy visage.

This bike is Carbon Fiber everything, stem, bars, wheelset, frame, seat post, fork, everything, and it weighs a mind blowing 18lbs.
I took it out to Navajo for a run up Rattlesnake and down Stucki.

I wanted to, and was prepared to hate this bike.  I could not.  Uphill this ma'sheen is an absolute rocket and comfy to boot. Niner's geometry is spot on and it soaked up the bumps like a champ while remaining stiff under power.
I had done 42 road miles the day before and was a little toasted but that did not stop me from laying down my fastest time form the TH to the top of Rattlesnake and I didn't feel like I was pushing it.

While the climbing was a dream the descent was a horse of a different color. The ride quality suffered when I went north of 15 mph, and through the chop it was like riding a jack hammer. The bike is so light that it was difficult to hold a line, I was tossed around and felt like I had to fight the bugger through all the chunk. If I had more time with the bike I think you could get used to it's trail manners but my hands were achy by the bottom. With a squishy fork this bike could be the cats pajamas. 

But will I be spending my hard earned cash on the A9C.......no.  Did I have fun and wanted to keep it another day.......yes. 

Burrito at the bottom of the world

The title may be a little misleading but you can trust me, for those in the know it is hilarious.
A friend of mine from High School has taken the path less traveled. I love to hear or read about his latest accomplishments. I am linking a short write up, Todd is one of the guides in this story.

He recently started his own guide service, In The Company of Guides, and I wish him all the best.

Good on ya' Passey.

Good things from Arizona

Its February and those that know me well, know that February brings two things; My birthday and Old Pueblo.  Guess which one I look forward to more? 

This years team consisted of Duane, Curt, Myself and a new addition, Scott. 

24 Hour town seen from the air, we are located in the top right corner.

The course, I have become a fan of the bypass section marked in green. It could be my favorite part of the ride.

Bikes lined up at the start, this is only small portion of the bikes.

Sunrise after a long night of racing. It is always amazing to me that I can be completely partied out but when the sun shows up, I am good to go.

Home sweet home in Duane's lushly appointed, yet not overly ostentatious, tent trailer. I think he bought it just to do this race every year. Due to some slight miscommunication we placed eighth again for the third year in a row, at least we are consistent. If we had our ducks in a row we would have finished sixth, but that matters only to me.

Also in Arizona is the famed Coconino County, located within that county you can find Coconino Cycles and it's proprietor Steve Garro. I have been riding one of Steve's frames since 2009 and have been completely happy. Last year I had a malfunction with the Paragon Sliding dropouts, Steve repaired it but because he is a perfectionist, and consummate professional he was not satisfied with how it turned out. So upon returning home from the 24 HOIP I found my Coconino 2.0 with new Coco-Moto horizontal dropouts to tension the chain.

Behold

Almost twins. Outgoing bike is on the right, note the simpler design of the new dropouts.

New frame all built up with old parts, the new dropouts are awesome. They require about 35 seconds extra to set up but the bolt on hub and lack of moving parts is waaaaay better.

Big props by the way to local superstar Delena for a third place finish in the Women's SS Solo category. You can read all about that here as well as a pretty good food review for the Haji Baba's.

Ripped from that blog