Wednesday, May 23, 2007

SW Washington singletrack






Did an early morning singletrack attack with my Wife Marla. She's still getting used to her new bike. It's A Haro sonix something or other. She likes it i think but she really loves her Bianchi ss rigid. Wacky i know. Anyway...after a day or so of rain the trails were tacky and we had a great time. I think it's going to be a great year for riding and i'm planning on riding trail's I've not ridden yet . It's gonna be good.


Sunday, May 20, 2007

Back to Growlers Gulch


I finally got back to Growlers Gulch which is in SW Washington. This is one of the areas where i first started riding singletrack and it's awesome.Twisty,turny N.W. trails is what i love. So green that it could'nt really get any more green. Anyway...today was a great day because it was Havilah's first mountain bike ride. She's my buddy Jim's daughter and she's 7.What a great thing to get kid's started mountain biking at an early age. Riding today was Jim, Havilah(7) Otto(9), Louis (11) and myself. We only did about 7 miles but it was great. Rain and all. Check out a vid /slide show from the ride.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6061781556966398371 Someday when all 5 of my kid's are riding it's gonna be crazy on the trails. Look out!




Tuesday, May 15, 2007

SS in Scappoose


Took the SS to the Scappoose trails today for a quick ride. I hadn't been there since we sold our house last year. Little signs at all the trails. Cool. It was good to ride the trails again that i rode 3 to 4 times a week for 4 years. fun stuff. Looking forward to getting back out there.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Hood River, Or



It was good to ride in Hood River again. Last time was probably in the fall. Nothing beats the drive through the gorge, even when it's a bit overcast. Big group today with the usual suspects. Flying J had yet another fork on yet another bike. He's making up for always riding the same bike for the last 3 years. The Red Raja did the Egg drop for the first time, Casey too and that was great to see. The mighty East coast Eric made a showing and it was great to hang out with him again. Great ride and no rain.





Back in the North Wet (i mean west)


We've come full circle, so to speak. We're back in the North West after our mountain biking adventure. Gas prices we're killing us and that along with a few other things made us head back.The above map show our "lost wagon train" style route. We rode lot's of cool places that we've never rode before and saw lot's of great stuff. Check my flickr site for way too many pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/96958582@N00/sets Not much rain on our trip but crazy wind just about everywhere. The riding adventures will continue. I'm planning to ride many trails in this area that i've missed. Stay tunned.........................

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Boise Again







Rode today at the Table rock trails with Rock Islands thrown in for good measure. C.P. and Gary another local rider. Super fit with a Yeti 575. The ride started ( of course) with a steep climb. I made it since i was riding gears today. Cool singletrack with ton's of rock options. C.P. was riding well and schooling me on the techy rock line. I did ok but C.P. was in his element. Fun ride and fun riders. I'll be back to ride more Idaho trails this year.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Riding in Boise,Id



We're hanging out at C. P.'s in Boise and hit up a short local trail. We started at a park and climbed up, winding through the hills and then bombed back down. C.P. hit a cool rock type drop. I was rolling the SS and was getting tired. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or really hurts you. Anyway...saw Lot's of visor less helmets and that kinda freaked me out but other than that it was fun.

The Kessel Run




I'm having trouble posting lately....I'm lame.

Anyhoo....last week we ( the family) hit up the Kessel run since we we're still in Fruita. Rain prevented some riding but this day was sunny,sunny,sunny. First i went up with Louis and Otto and then they went back up with Henry and Marla. They had a good time and Henry was really pushing himself. Some sections made him nervous but he did ok. I walked with Olivia and Solomon to get some pic's and the liked walking the trail.


We love Fruita!

Monday, April 30, 2007

More Moab and stuff





It was hard to keep this up last week between riding way too much and our whole family being sick, so here's a mega update:






Thursday we went to Fruita, Co. Kinda a gong show. Too many people. We met up at the 18 road trails and started riding Prime cut up. We got way spread out and lost some people. Keith D and his soon got lost and didn’t even get to ride Zippety. Casey and I rode Kessel run like 3 times really fast. I love that trail. I hooked up with the Simi Valley guys and got shuttled up for one more kessel run. The ride up in the truck was crazy. I was almost falling out. After that we hit Subway for lunch, then off to Mary’s loop and Horse thief bench. The group was a lot smaller so it was good. It was the Simi guy’s, Rollo, C.P. and Justin, Casey, and few others. Keith P. was stoked with the view and was taking a lot of pictures. When we got to the Horse thief bench entrance I was feeling really calm. I’ve been trying to ride this the last two years so I figured I’d do whatever I had to . Rollo went first and almost made it. Really close but crashed. I went next but when I got way into it some guy was walking down and I had to stop. Arrgh! My next run was perfect. I got to the steep roll down and nailed it no problem. I couldn’t believe it. I kept rolling through the big rock’s and made it. Everyone was yelling and it was great. No one else made it. C.P. and Rollo came really close. In fact Craig was riding really well all week. Really progressing. I sure like riding with him. On the trail we we’re flying. We set a pace for about half the trail that was hard to keep up. I was really smoked We ended the ride as the sun was starting to go down. Great day so Todd and I figured we’d hit the brewery in Fruita for burger.
Fri was P. rim. We had 30 people that went up on the shuttle and a few car’s that followed. It was cold up top. Ice on some of the puddles. The ride was cool on the rim and then we got to the Hang Nail. It’s a big notch in the rock that’s really steep. Once again I had tried to ride this last year but failed. This year a kid from Seattle tried and went over the bars. Rollo tried and didn’t make it. C.P. tried but no go. So it was my turn and I nailed it perfect. Second day in a row. I was feeling really good. The rest of the ride went well . Casey crashed off the loading dock drop but Keith P caught it with his camera. Another great day and no crashing for me.
Sat most everyone was leaving so Jim wanted to do P. Rim since his buddy Hondo didn’t arrive in time on Fri. So Casey, Jim Noah, Hondo and I headed back up to do Porc rim. Again. When we got to the top it was snowing. Great. It had rained a bit the night before so I was hoping that there wouldn’t be any mud. Well…there was mud…but it was more like wet cement and my bike may never be the same. We struggled through the snow and mud and then Noah hit a tree with his face. He got a cut from where his glasses hit his face but he was ok. I skipped the Hang nail today since it was snowing and muddy. No view today, just clouds on the rim. Down lower it got warmer and we started having more fun. On the last singletrack I went over the bars about six feet from the big cliff. I really didn’t like that. Then to top it off I got a flat. The first in 2 years. So I walked the rest of the way. Fun but hard day.
We we’re all really sick for a few days so I didn’t ride until the following Wed. Terry arrived in town on Mon but I was throwing up so riding was out.
I did the P. Rim trail again with Terry on Wed. I was still really tired so it was a little slow. A fun ride ‘cause I got to ride it with Terry but I was riding not so good.
Thursday we went to Fruita and rode Mary’s loop and Horse Thief bench. Terry and Debbie really enjoyed it and so did I. I tried to re-live my great ride the week before on the Horse Thief Bench entrance but ate it hard. It’s good to land on your face once in a while. Keep’s you humble. O well…maybe next time. After that we headed to Grand Junction and rode Holy Cross and Kurt’s lane. Fun to ride that stuff with Terry. Pretty good day but I’m ready to get out of moab.


















P.S. The pictures above that are really good we're taken by Keith P. from So Cal

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Amassa Back



On Wed it was so windy. We thought some of the guys tents we’re going to blow away. We rode Amassa with the same group I think. (Except for Mike and Jim who went and rode the 5 miles of hell) I crashed off a little ledge and got kind of mad so I was in a bad mood. On the way back down the wind was getting really bad so I was standing with my back to it so the sand wouldn’t get in my eyes. All of a sudden a big gust blew me bike off the ground and almost out of my hands. I grabbed it and got down low and then it blew even harder. Crazy. Not the best ride .