Yep!

For those that aren't in the front range area you missed some snow. Ended up with about 2 ft here at the house. All I know is that I have a little black and white dog that is in need of some serious exercise. 3-4 hours a day of walking through a couple feet of snow did nothing for this critter.



Maddie digs the snow and loves to bury her head in it, but she definitely needs a 30 mile ride, soon. I think I may need a few of 'em as well!

Had to dig the car out last night. Had to use the snow shovel to get all of that shit off of her. Then the old v-dub powered right through all of that other shit.

This weekend is the bicycle film festival and since all of the rides that were going on this weekend kind of got shelved, that's where I'll be. Come on out and enjoy some bicycle films. The melt is on, so hopefully in a few days we will ride again. peace!

Snow Day!

A little bit of snow at the house. Supposed to stop tomorrow sometime. Gotta love a snow day.
Happy Dog, she loves the white stuff!

Bean FeSSt VI

This weekend was the annual Bean FeSSt in BC. Two days of riding with a mexican food potluck on sunday after the ride. What wasn't expected was the carry over shittieness (snow) from last week's storm.

Woke early on saturday to drive up to BC, set up camp and be pedaling by 10:30. The plan was to ride to Lenny's Rest, possibly Indian Creek and meet up with John and Doug who were riding in from Colorado Springs. The idea was to meet up and then pedal in together to BC.

As soon as I got on trail I ran into snow. Completely rideable, just very moist. The further I went the more snow I encountered. The only snow free areas were the south facing sides through the Buffalo burn. After dropping down to the South Platte is where is the trails conditions got shittie!

Once the climbing began, the snow gradually got deeper. What started as a killer day, deteriorated very fast. I ended up pushing up to the highest point where I decided I was NOT going to make it to Lenny's Rest. I was hoping the other guys had chosen an alternate route.

So I started descending back to the river. A lot of the descent was unrideable as well, stupid snow. Had to stop half way down and ring out my soaking wet socks, eat some snacks and warm up. Once I got to the switchbacks the snow had melted and created a small river down the midle of the trail. This created a sloppy mess. 2 miles of this and then the real climb began.

90% of the snow had melted on the climb and thus very moist. Once I finally got to the trailhead/camp site, 5 1/2 hours later, Doug and John rolled in right behind me. They had run into significant snow and sketchiness and thus bailed on their original plan. What should have been a 65 mile ride turned into a 95 mile ride with the last 15 miles into a 20 mph headwind. In their words, "it was one of those rides where you didn't want to talk to anyone or look at anything, just put your head down and get it finished!"

The after party turned out to be super fun. Eight of us built a big fire, ate some grub and everyone else hit the bottle. Just kicked it for the night and enjoyed the tomfoolery.

Woke up to the sound of frozen rain drops on the tarp, which turned into snow pretty quickly. It snowed all day and the temperature was dropping steadily. The low for the day was supposed to be 30 degrees. It didn't get close to that.

We built a fire and the procrastination began. 4 of those who camped bailed on the ride, and all of those who camped bailed on the longer ride. 13 started the ride and at the first intersection 7 of us opted for the shorter route and 2 picked the shortest route possible. The trail was fairly wet with snow covering the wooded sections and just wet in the burn. It was one of those rides that you did just because you were already there and you may as well ride.

Threw down for a sweet session of eating and burnt the rest of the wood. Just kicked it 'til the fire was out and headed back to town. Another beautiful day in CO! It's still snowing, no work tomorrow due to snow, so may head to Loveland for a day on the slopes.

more pics. here

Diversify!

Thursday ended up being a full day on the bike. Started out at the skatepark on the new dirt jumper. Spent a few hours figuring shit out. Then headed to Buffalo Creek for a quick 30 miler! Ended up a little shorter than anticipated but was super fast and flowy. Left there and headed to Mateo's for a quick session on the pumptrack. An hour later I was beat. I have to say it was a good day.

Was supposed to meet up with the t.i.t.s. crew for a night ride but I didn't want to pull a late night and I was stoked with the day I was able to pull off.

Maddie has been a bit down as she ran a stick through her chest the other day. She's full of antibiotics and spunky as ever, just doesn't have the capacity for her normal rides. She was beat after 30 miles when normally she is just a little tired. Give her a few days off and she'll be ready for next week.

On a lighter note, I do know that the new ride feels, oh so good!

BRRR!!!!!

All I know is that a cold front was coming in today and I was gonna ride in it no matter what. No bitching out due to the cold, snow, rain or whatever else we me get. Hit up Spike friday night and he was game. Packed every cold weather item that I may possibly need. A 9am ride time in BC was sure to be cold. They were calling for 15 degrees but was gonna feel like 8 degrees.

Woke at 7 and out the door at 7:30. A brisk morning to say the least. Hit the highway and it was an ice rink. Lots and lots of wrecks, just coast through it and don't hit your brakes. Was definitely wishing I had put on my studded tires on yesterday. Whatever, made it with only a little sketchiness. They ended up closing 285 right after I got through, due to extremely icy roads

Ready to roll by 9 am and it was brisk. 14 degrees and felt like it was about zero. Up sandywash we went and we both realized that we were over dressed. Stopped to shed a layer, on the new section of trail, when we ran into another dude riding bikes. Got moving again, down hill-ish and wished we hadn't shed a layer.

At the top of Baldy I decided I need to put my highly visible and well marked vest back on. Dropped baldy and about froze to death. I went as fast as I could while still having functional extremities. Brain freeze like crazy, my forehead was too cold. Hit the road and climbed Morrison, it wasn't quite steep or long enough to warm us up. Got to the top and had to descend shinglemill. It was the slowest either of us had ever gone down that trail. Just trying not to freeze.

Got to the cars and decided to go to Mateo's house and get the hut warmed up and to hit the pump track for a bit. I have to admit it's a great way to spend the afternoon after a good bike ride. The hut was toasty warm and the pump track was sweet.

Doing it again tomorrow with a few more folks and it's supposed to be around 30 degrees, nice and warm.

btw, I finally built up a street ride, dirt jumping bike. With two squishy gadgets. I've been looking forward to this one for a while.

Casual Weekend

Have been riding bikes just to ride. Thursday was the board meeting for the APEX ordeal. Met up with Spike, Pbrme and Lubes for a ride at Apex before the meeting. Pedaled up, up and away in a meandering fashion. The first time I've ever really ridden there. Normally I just descend enchanted forest on my 60+ mile loop around the front range. It's actually quite enjoyable.

There ended up being over 400 mtbers that showed up to support the cause. If you're not a member you need to join COMBA, they're doing a hell of a job.

Was supposed to work on saturday but that didn't happen. So headed up to Evergreen for a pancake breakfast then on to Bergen Peak. What a stellar little climb. And yes, the coastie feels awesome! THen back to town and threw in a sweet full moon hike for shits and giggles.

Today headed up to BC with Laura and the black and white for Laura's virgin run of the flowyness we call Buffalo Creek. Giggly fun was the way of the day.

So I have had four rides on the new titanium mountain mustache bars and all I have to say is, WOW! They are everything I thought they would be and more. They flex ~2in. which is crazy. When combined with the ti fork and 2.55 front tires you get a soft and compliant front end. If you want the best feeling bars ever and are willing to throw down $270 for them, these are what you want. Absolutely amazing.