Winter Time

Got out yesterday afternoon on my day off for a winter time ride. The temperatures were hovering around 32 degrees at 3.30pm. Soon the only cycling available will be on the road when it is not too snowy or traveling elsewhere to ride. I need to embrace the thoughts of getting on the snowshoes, xc skis and tele's.

My picture quality on my blog hasn't been great of late (well never really has been) due to using the Blackberry cam most of the time as I have been too lazy to grab the real camera.

Also Laura and I went back to Moab this past weekend for a few days with the dogs and had a blast as usual. 38 miles on Saturday and 20 miles on Sunday. Our neighbors, Sue and Mike from Rico were there as well with some friends and we all had a chance to ride both days together. Super fun with lots of laughs around the campfire and many beers to boot.
Also received the new White Brothers front suspension forks from Matt so I spent Friday afternoon in the Moab desert cutting steering tubes to mount the new forks. Laura loves the feel of the 100mm fork on her Ti FS Titus. I already had a WB 80mm Magic on my Ti 29er Airborne but a fresh new one is hard to beat. These boys rocked right out of the box with not a better place to test them but on the Sovereign Trails in Moab. Nice job on White Brothers producing a fantastic product.



The light was fading fast. 4.30pm and it seemed like 8pm at night.

At the overlook above Rico. Some new fencing was put up lately to block people from going up this mining road. I suppose I'm not bothering too much by just riding the road so I just climbed on over and kept pedaling. No laws broken if nobody saw me. Right!?!

Moab

Laura and I and all of the kids went out to Moab last weekend to camp and ride. The weather was pretty good until Saturday night when some rain and high winds hit for a few hours. Otherwise both Saturday and Sunday were sunny and the temps around 60 degrees for riding.


Nacho having a good time.

Laura having fun on the Sovereign Trail.

Our campsite somewhere North of Moab without a body around for miles.

Having fun on the rocks.

EXUSTAR Products

Exustar, the bicycling component company that selected a picture of me for the back cover, yes, not the front but the back of the 2011 catalog from Brian Leddy's Photography has provided me some great deals on some of their products. I rode last weekend with a pair of their mtb gloves and they seem pretty good. More testing to come on the longevity of the gloves. I tend to burn through gloves quickly. Also I received a pair of mtb shoes. I'm going to give these puppies a whirl this weekend in Moab and see how they hold up to some burly cycling and hike-a-biking Moab style. They are definitely a color (Brown) that I would not initially pick out for myself but after seeing them in person I think I'm sold on the color. Than again I looked at them after working 17 hours on election day. Anything looks good at midnight when it is shiny new in a box. LOL!!!!




Injected carbon fiber sole
Upper Synthetic microfiber leather, breathable mesh, molded heel counter.
Fastener Forged Microlock buckle, Trihook straps.
Sole Injected carbon fiber with TPU tread.
Insole Washable, Dupont Engage EVA.
Compatibility SPD
Weight 680 g


http://exustar.com/index.php

Almost Famous

Well, I will never be famous but being on the back of a catalog is close enough for me. This picture was taken back in April during the 12 Hours of Dawn till Dusk in Gallup. This same photo was in issue # 17 of Mountain flyer. Photo taken by Brian Leddy.

Vegas Century Ride Pics

A little late but pics are always good no matter how old. Anyways, these are pics TR had taken and I just now have gotten around to post them from the Las Vegas Century ride.


Here is the 6.30am start. Always be at the front of a road ride. Stay safe and away from the crashes which usually happen in the pack and with 1500 riders anything is bound to happen in the Fred convention going on in the back. LOL!!

Heading back to Boulder City after riding the new bypass bridge at Hoover Dam. Lake Mead in the background.

The finish.

TR and I at the finish.

Mountain Flyer Zuni 100 Write-up

Here is the link to Mountain Flyer's Zuni 100 post race write up by Brian Leddy.

http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/zuni-mountain-100.html

note: I was quoted as stating that this is harder than the Crested Butte 100 but that was stated by Danny powers whom had just recently raced the CB100. I have yet to race the CB100 and compare the two. Just saying.

Phil's World

The weekend involved both days at Phil's World. Saturday was a trail building day to finish a new singletrack loop off of the Trust Loop called Hippie House. I hauled my chainsaw around cutting trees for nearly 4 hours. Approximately 25 people showed up to volunteer for this project. Amazing how fast a trail can be cut with a big effort. Trails 2000 was the supporting group. Went back down on Sunday to ride as well. The parking lot was packed to the gills. Seems like the Durangotangs are really enjoying this trail system. Everyone I spoke with was from the Durango area. Good times.