Just a little.
That's Martyn Ashton on a $16,000 Pinarello Dogma 2. The fence ride was what impressed me. And I can't even jump a curb anymore.
Six
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
12 October 2012
16 May 2012
Jem Trail With The Kids
With the kids having a few weeks on two wheels to practice and hone their skills it was time for the next step. Trail ride. We chose the Jem Trail because there's a very nice section of double track/ fire road that's pretty flat (considering it in the actual mountains) with a little loop of single track that's as non-technical as you can get out here. The kids loved it. I am positively giddy with delight. They took to it immediately, flying down declines, swooping over whoops, standing up and taking on ruts head on and powering up inclines. It was a ball. Both of them even crashed a couple of times. No tears, just dusted themselves off and on to the next section of trail. No whines, no crying, no complaints. Just good old fashioned fun in the dirt and a couple of band-aids.
Warning: the word awesome will be used extensively in this post.
The day was bright, hot and clear. As you can see here, The Boy jumped into the lead right out of the gate and stayed there the whole day. Angus spent most of the day running back and forth between the two groups. We guys were naturally way more awesome of course. "Hey, you guys coming or what?"
There was one climb that was just a bit beyond them and they ended up pushing. It was all good as Angus promptly went back to show them how it was done.
This is where you turn off the double track and pick up the single. It was also where we had the endos that I was afraid was going to screw up the entire day. Biker chicks are so awesome.
Aftermath of the endo. Ok, here's Lu and The Princess at the endo site. Here's what happened. If you look closely you can see there's a small drop off just behind the girls. It's probably 6 feet down, not too steep, then flattens out and goes into a great little berm. At the bottom of the drop there's some soft dirt. I explained how to traverse the obstacle and then demonstrated it. The Boy sailed through but The Princess hit the soft dirt and promptly went right over the handlebars. It wasn't serious, just a slightly skinned knee, though it was awesome (sorry, it just was). I freaked thinking this was going to be it. She'd walk back to the truck and never ride again. Nope. She made the pain face, checked herself out, then remounted and rode on. This pic was just after the crash. The Princess and Lu were still discussing the spectacular endo and how to get around the berm. Have I mentioned how cool biker chicks are?
Both of the girls decided that discretion was the better part of valor and walked the berm. Of course they did have the benefit of watching The Boy make the attempt. I did mention two endos? Well this was where The Boy ate it. He got about halfway through the berm but didn't have enough speed and augured in at the mid point. It wasn't so much an endo as a get off but it was pretty cool. The Boy is getting to the point where he truly appreciates a really spectacular crash. Even his own.
The end of a really great day. The kids are now certified mountain bikers. Next year we'll be upgrading from those cheap big box bikes to something much better with suspension and good hand brakes. At this age the first thing that flies out of their heads in a braking situation is the ability to actually brake. Good hand brakes will go a long way toward alleviating that. We ended the day with ice cream at the local DQ. Nothing tastes better than after ride soft serve with a side of good, clean dirt.
Since these pictures were taken I took The boy out to the trail for another run. He fell heavily twice but both times popped right back up, dusted himself off and took off again. He also made the berm. The Boy is really learning how to ride. The great thing is that both of them love to ride. They've made approximately a million laps of the circular driveway and are now riding to school, which they seem to think is awesomely awesome beans.
Hey, only a few more days before they have to go home to Florida. We need at least one more good Jem Trail ride. See you guys later. We're going for a ride.
Six
Warning: the word awesome will be used extensively in this post.
The day was bright, hot and clear. As you can see here, The Boy jumped into the lead right out of the gate and stayed there the whole day. Angus spent most of the day running back and forth between the two groups. We guys were naturally way more awesome of course. "Hey, you guys coming or what?"
There was one climb that was just a bit beyond them and they ended up pushing. It was all good as Angus promptly went back to show them how it was done.
This is where you turn off the double track and pick up the single. It was also where we had the endos that I was afraid was going to screw up the entire day. Biker chicks are so awesome.
Aftermath of the endo. Ok, here's Lu and The Princess at the endo site. Here's what happened. If you look closely you can see there's a small drop off just behind the girls. It's probably 6 feet down, not too steep, then flattens out and goes into a great little berm. At the bottom of the drop there's some soft dirt. I explained how to traverse the obstacle and then demonstrated it. The Boy sailed through but The Princess hit the soft dirt and promptly went right over the handlebars. It wasn't serious, just a slightly skinned knee, though it was awesome (sorry, it just was). I freaked thinking this was going to be it. She'd walk back to the truck and never ride again. Nope. She made the pain face, checked herself out, then remounted and rode on. This pic was just after the crash. The Princess and Lu were still discussing the spectacular endo and how to get around the berm. Have I mentioned how cool biker chicks are?
Both of the girls decided that discretion was the better part of valor and walked the berm. Of course they did have the benefit of watching The Boy make the attempt. I did mention two endos? Well this was where The Boy ate it. He got about halfway through the berm but didn't have enough speed and augured in at the mid point. It wasn't so much an endo as a get off but it was pretty cool. The Boy is getting to the point where he truly appreciates a really spectacular crash. Even his own.
The end of a really great day. The kids are now certified mountain bikers. Next year we'll be upgrading from those cheap big box bikes to something much better with suspension and good hand brakes. At this age the first thing that flies out of their heads in a braking situation is the ability to actually brake. Good hand brakes will go a long way toward alleviating that. We ended the day with ice cream at the local DQ. Nothing tastes better than after ride soft serve with a side of good, clean dirt.
Since these pictures were taken I took The boy out to the trail for another run. He fell heavily twice but both times popped right back up, dusted himself off and took off again. He also made the berm. The Boy is really learning how to ride. The great thing is that both of them love to ride. They've made approximately a million laps of the circular driveway and are now riding to school, which they seem to think is awesomely awesome beans.
Hey, only a few more days before they have to go home to Florida. We need at least one more good Jem Trail ride. See you guys later. We're going for a ride.
Six
20 March 2012
It's Spring! Gooseberry Mesa
The weather is starting to warm and our rainy season is now mostly over. It's time to get the bikes out, knock off the rust and get riding again. Toward that end, last weekend Lu and I went to one of my favorite places; Gooseberry Mesa.
Gooseberry is one of the most beautiful and technical rides anywhere. It's become a destination ride location for mountain bikers from across the country. It's also about half an hour from my front door. Yeah, there are some benefits from living in Southern Utah. Here's a good link for the ride.
We loaded up and headed out on Saturday. The weather was bright, warm and clear. We decided on Windmill Trail. This was Lu's first visit and only my second. The first was with Car Guy a few years ago. Since that time he's become an MTB master who can ride me into the ground. I'm counting on the elevation working to my benefit when he visits again and I bring him back up here.
First up the obligatory touristy picture. Hi Lu! Isn't she cute?
Why is it called the Windmill Trail? I have no idea but this structure is at the trail head.
Six, you get down from there immediately! Have you lost your mind? Er wait...Lu? Kids, can't take them anywhere. You'd think she'd know better than that. And be more mature. And stop teasing me about being a big sissy.
Windmill runs along the west side of the mesa with 1000 foot drop offs and spectacular vistas.
As I said the trail runs right along the rim edge. It's fun but you do have to exercise at least a modicum of caution.
Hey, I said exercise a modicum of caution! Sheesh, she really is making me look like a weenie.
It's not all rim riding. Most of the trails are either moderate or advanced technical. Fun but dicey at times. I endo'd at least once (that I will admit publicly). That's Lu coming out of the trees and approaching a rough section of singletrack.
Which she cleaned! Steady guys, she's taken.
There are steps and stairs everywhere. Fun going down but going up? Not so much. Luckily we hit at least as many step downs as climbs. The ride is slow but full of great obstacles and fantastic terrain.
It's not all breathtaking views and technical trail. We hit some doubletrack and fire road on the way back. Fast if a bit boring.
The trail ends back at the windmill. I took a few more photos of the works.
I have no idea who Red jacket is. Don't they have a TV show?
The pump has lines that run to a concrete cistern.
Which is old enough that it's collapsed. The mesa is at 5200 feet and is in the middle of nowhere. Everything used to build this site was trucked or otherwise carried in by hand. I have absolutely no idea what the water table is here or to what use they put the water pumped though I suspect it was cattle based. 8 feet wide, 15 long and 5 deep.
Yes, I was actually there and here's the proof. That's me standing on the cliff edge and most definitely NOT being a big wiener.
It was our first MTB ride of the year and a good excuse to scout the trails. The Car Guy and his lovely wife will be visiting soon and bringing me my new bike! When he upgraded I bought his Giant full suspension to replace my rigid frame Gary Fisher. As soon as I get my sweaty paws on it the Fisher will be finding a new home. We had a great time and even stopped for lunch at a small stop&rob/diner just down the road in Apple Valley. The food was so so but the menu was all firearms and famous gun guys related. When they come I'll do another post and get some photos of that menu. It's classic and a sure sign I'm now living in Free America.
Six
Gooseberry is one of the most beautiful and technical rides anywhere. It's become a destination ride location for mountain bikers from across the country. It's also about half an hour from my front door. Yeah, there are some benefits from living in Southern Utah. Here's a good link for the ride.
We loaded up and headed out on Saturday. The weather was bright, warm and clear. We decided on Windmill Trail. This was Lu's first visit and only my second. The first was with Car Guy a few years ago. Since that time he's become an MTB master who can ride me into the ground. I'm counting on the elevation working to my benefit when he visits again and I bring him back up here.
First up the obligatory touristy picture. Hi Lu! Isn't she cute?
Why is it called the Windmill Trail? I have no idea but this structure is at the trail head.
Six, you get down from there immediately! Have you lost your mind? Er wait...Lu? Kids, can't take them anywhere. You'd think she'd know better than that. And be more mature. And stop teasing me about being a big sissy.
Windmill runs along the west side of the mesa with 1000 foot drop offs and spectacular vistas.
As I said the trail runs right along the rim edge. It's fun but you do have to exercise at least a modicum of caution.
Hey, I said exercise a modicum of caution! Sheesh, she really is making me look like a weenie.
It's not all rim riding. Most of the trails are either moderate or advanced technical. Fun but dicey at times. I endo'd at least once (that I will admit publicly). That's Lu coming out of the trees and approaching a rough section of singletrack.
Which she cleaned! Steady guys, she's taken.
There are steps and stairs everywhere. Fun going down but going up? Not so much. Luckily we hit at least as many step downs as climbs. The ride is slow but full of great obstacles and fantastic terrain.
It's not all breathtaking views and technical trail. We hit some doubletrack and fire road on the way back. Fast if a bit boring.
The trail ends back at the windmill. I took a few more photos of the works.
I have no idea who Red jacket is. Don't they have a TV show?
The pump has lines that run to a concrete cistern.
Which is old enough that it's collapsed. The mesa is at 5200 feet and is in the middle of nowhere. Everything used to build this site was trucked or otherwise carried in by hand. I have absolutely no idea what the water table is here or to what use they put the water pumped though I suspect it was cattle based. 8 feet wide, 15 long and 5 deep.
Yes, I was actually there and here's the proof. That's me standing on the cliff edge and most definitely NOT being a big wiener.
It was our first MTB ride of the year and a good excuse to scout the trails. The Car Guy and his lovely wife will be visiting soon and bringing me my new bike! When he upgraded I bought his Giant full suspension to replace my rigid frame Gary Fisher. As soon as I get my sweaty paws on it the Fisher will be finding a new home. We had a great time and even stopped for lunch at a small stop&rob/diner just down the road in Apple Valley. The food was so so but the menu was all firearms and famous gun guys related. When they come I'll do another post and get some photos of that menu. It's classic and a sure sign I'm now living in Free America.
Six
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