Phil's World Weekend

It was a nice weekend to stay local and go ride Phil's World down in Cortez. Training was to be multi laps on Saturday with a  few guys from the area; Kiviok, Jeff Fox and Paul Adams. 4 laps on the race loop resulting in 65 miles and 5500 feet of climbing in 5 hours and 42 minutes. Kiviok was on fire and set a mean tempo the whole time. He is addicted to the 29er single speed. I easily forget how hard those laps are until you do a few. Mitch Fedak started off with us and it was good to see him for a few minutes.

Went back down on Sunday with Laura and did a nice recovery ride on the race loop. I think the weather scared everybody off as there was only 7 cars in the parking lot. I had Monday off and rode 21 miles at a nice tempo on the JabberWocky full rigid. Laura received her new Stan's wheel set from the bike shop on Saturday. Stan's Crest rims with the new Stan's 3.30 hubs. Pretty sweet wheel set for the price. She dropped 3 pounds off of the new build. Now a respectable 25 pounds for a steel 1x9. She loving it.

 Laura negotiating the Elbow section at Phil's on Sunday.

Laura's Bandersnatch and my Jabberwocky.

More of the same....Moab

Another long weekend in Moab after TR and I made the decision to bail on the Sedona Not so Big Friggin Loop. Just not worth the drive to ride 35 miles. I cannot get enough of Moab it seems lately so it was an easy choice to go back for the third wekend in a row. Maybe we need to buy a house there. That would cover us in three states. We have the place in Vegas already, a mountain home in Rico and a place in Moab. Sounds good to me.

Anyways the weather was far from ideal and I felt terrible due to my allergies kicking my butt for a few days. Thursday was a bust as the weather in Rabbit Valley was bad and Moab wasn't good either. Friday we met up with Fred W. and rode Moab Rim>Hidden Valley>Pipedream and back to the Moab Rim trailhead. A nice loop with 2 hours of solid pedaling. Pipe dream is a new trail and worth riding. Hidden Valley from Moab Rim was pretty cool as well and new terrain to me. Laura and the kids came over on Friday night as well as Paul Adams and we camped again on Willow Springs road. Saturday we rode the usual Sovereign trails over to Klondike/Baby Steps and back to the Sovereign area to ride some sandy 4x4 roads back to camp. It was a 4 hour ride with lots of wind in our face on the way back to camp. Laura did her own thing and rode her newly built Vassago Bandersnatch. She is loving it. Sunday was a short ball buster of a ride on the Brand Trails. There is a new trail that connects Lazy E to Bar B trail called Deadmans. TR, Paul and I hammered the loop with lots of high intesnity involved. My HR was hitting almost 180 on sections of the trail.

 Cruising along the Colorado River on our way to Moab from Rabbit Valley.

 Van Nation in Moab. Notice the arch in the background. That is Poison Spider up on that mesa as I have seen the arch from above. The van is great for long weekends. The built in bed is awesome and makes it easier to go places and have a comfy sleeping experience. TR has a true conversion van with mood lights inside.

Camped off of Willow Springs Road. Found a great spot with awesome views.

Another Moab Epic

Another great weekend in Rabbit Valley and  Moab for some good hard miles. TR and I went over to Rabbit Valley on Thursday night to ride the Zion Curtain/Western Rim/Koko Trail. We racked up 31 miles and 3K+ feet of climbing. We ran into Ryan Douglas, Jon and Joey on the Zion Curtain and rode with them for the remainder of the day. Than we cruised over to Moab on Friday night to camp and meet up with Shawn Gregory and Kiviok on Saturday morning to ride a mini epic.Flats Pass/Behind the Rocks/Hunter Canyon back to town via Kane Creek Road. 42 miles and 4200 feet of climbing. We were looking to ride Moab Rim and Hidden Valley but time was getting away from us as Hunter Canyon took longer than anticipated. It was a great ride with expected sand along the route.

Also Laura got on her new 1x9 29er Vassago BAndersnatch and rode the Brand trails. I think we have a convert to 29ers. She loved it. Very awesome.

Sedona Big Friggin Loop is next on tap on March 19th. I should be nice and tired for this one.

On the Zion Curtain.

Zion Curtain Trail looking toward Rabbit Valley and KT route.

TR, Jon, Ryan and Joey on Western Rim.

Motor bike down the cliff. Rider was OK as he had bailed off the bike before it went down 50 feet.They were trying to evac it out.

Gourmet Turkey burger with mozz cheese, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Camping cooking at it finest.

Colorado River along Kane Creek

Shawn, TR, myself and Kiviok ready for another beat down.

Typical Kiviok and mechanicals. Cleat screw gone. Shawn is looking flustered.

Micro biotic crust. Stay off.

Instead of petroglyphs that use to exist now it is a bunch of freaking idiots names scribed into the sandstone. People are retarded.

Dumb asses.

Looking to the LA Sals from Flats Pass route. Flats Pass is not flat. Give it a whirl.

Hunter Canyon scenery. Just amazing.

Shawn trying to figure out our next move.

Me and Kiv on the Pridgett route before turning on Hunter Canyon.

Hunter Canyon trail. Not so bike friendly in spots.

Vassago Bandersnatch

Just finished Laura's new 29er Vassago Bandersnatch 1x9 last night. Now there is two Vassago's in the family. Great frames and great price points. She is anxious to get on it and give it a whirl. Hopefully this weekend if the weather cooperates we can go to Sand Canyon or Phil's.

Bike-Enomics

Cortez Journal 24 HITOP Article

Here is the link to an article in the Cortez Journal covering Shawn Gregory's 1st place win in the solo single speed class at 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo.

http://www.cortezjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&TM=33047.07

Moab Big Friggin Loop

Early and cold.

WOW!! What a great weekend in Moab. As Charlie Sheen says; WINNING!!! LOL!!

6 dudes showed up on single speeds for a 5.30am training ride start on Saturday morning near the Sovereign Trail Head on Willow Springs Road. Temps were around 30 degrees or less when I awoke at 4.30 am with highs to be around 60 degrees. And these dudes know how to ride. Also these 6 dudes are the CORE of the new Kokopelli Bike and Board Bike Racing Team. Yep, they are forming a new team and they are badass!! Basic summary of the ride: Nearly 12 hours out in it.......60 miles of pedaling.....6k of climbing..........super, super, super, super soft loamy riding conditions (Deal Breaker sucked) and lots of classic Moab sand and multiple mechanicals and me having the worst crash of the day on a ledge drop on Metal Masher. No broken bones but man does my arm and hip hurt like it should be broken. Can I get a medic!!!?? Dropped a ledge and the tire hit at an awkward angle causing the tire to burp and blow out (1" rip in the tire) and me hitting the slickrock with hardly a micro second to react. I was on the rock face down. All teeth and facial bones intact. I can take a full hit as I have never broken a bone. This one should have broken something but I am like no other. Tiger blood here folks. LOL!!!

Tough terrain and tough dudes to ride with. TR Larson; Shawn Gregory, Kiviok Hight; Paul "bad ass" Adams; Jeff Fox and myself.

Happy Bday to TR. Laura baked him a cake and we celebrated out in the desert after our ride. Beer, elk burgers and steak fries were in abundance. Good freaking times!!

Pictures courtesy of Kiviok HIght and Paul Adams.

Pictures not in order but enjoy.





Cruising down Gemini Bridges Road.

Kiviok and Shawn posing.




Laura to the rescue when Kiviok had a ss problem on his 6k carbon bike.

TR and Paul having fun.

Me laughing at TR while I'm dancing.

Kiviok missing a critical part on the SS.

Me recovering after my crash on Metal Masher. That is not a smile but rather a grimace. Shit is hurting.

Little Creek Rim after climbing up Metal Masher.

TR having tire problems.

TR still having tire problems.

Shawn enjoying.

Lunch break.

Shawn fixing Kiviok's ss.

Heading over to the green monster.

Trust me guys!!! I know where I'm going.

Were going over there??? Yep.

Thanks Laura for the rescue with parts for Kiv's bike.

Paul dancing.

Classic Moab sand over on Wipe Out Hill route.

After my crash a bit dusty. As Shawn stated..."well there isn't any bones sticking out so you must be fine" or something silly like that.

TR and Paul enjoying the day thus far. It was a slow start with tire issues and Kiv's ss issue but we soon got on it.

TR looking for food.

Jeff Fox didn't want to be in the picture and rode on. LOL!!

Left to right...Paul Adams, Shawn Gregory, TR Larson, me, Kiviok Hight.

Shawn next to his new Ford Raptor that Laura drove to meet us for Kiv's bike repair.

We will be over there in 5 hours or so...............

Ergon packs breaking. TR is over it.

TR attempting a tire repair. Very painful to watch.