the all-mountain rider can’t suck by himself, he needs a bike to help him with that, preferably an expensive one that sucks just like him.

he needs a bike that can do a little bit of everything and a lot more at the boundaries, to compensate for his boundaries. unfortunately, bikes are at their best when they are specialized. so in the quest to overcome every boundary, he buys a bike that will suck at the common, or at least most of the common, or pretty much everything but a few things, which is guaranteed to be the exact terrain on any particular ride. 6/6 is great for everything but more work than 4/4, except for when you need 8/8, except for the hadtail spin home. the bike climbs like a hungry goat but its timid descending, its point and shoot down but a truck going up, the pedal bob going up is what makes is stable going down, its too light for DH and too heavy for XC, it is tight in the trees but too snappy on a long straight descent, switch to a longer bike that is like a train on rails in the descent but too sluggish in the trees, it cant do a goddam thing, but it can do everything! why do i need a new bike?!?!?!

Its marketing!

The marketing wizards have titillated the compulsion and the shame of the all-mountain rider by promising a cure-all to his woes. tapped into the desire to get better by promising the “One Bike.” What is the One Bike? It does not and can not exist, but we get drawn to its bold promise. here are a few snippets from the Santa Cruz website:

The Nomad: “If the VP-Free and the Blur LT spent a dirty weekend together in Whistler, chances are that nine months later there’d be a little Nomad running around. “

The Heckler: “If bikes could be thought of in human athletic terms, some could be compared to marathon runners, and some could be thought of more like wrestlers. Somewhere in the middle, you’d find the Heckler. A damn good rugby player. Even got a built-in bottle opener…

what the fuck does this have to do with a bike?!?! Its no wonder I can’t find a bike to test ride, let alone decide what to “build up to be what I want”. I don’t know what I want because what I want does not exist and can not exist, how am I supposed to build it? woe, the ride of the all-mountain rider.

I rode in Flag last weekend. Beckie had a conference, a free hotel, and a need for a babysitter. Thurs afternoon and Sat afternoon were mine to ride, the rest of the time split between hanging out with G at the hotel, sponging food off the conference, and some work.

the goal for Thursday was to ride Jedi as part of a big Elden loop, and make it back to the hotel by 6:30 so Beckie could get to dinner. i was going to climb Schultz en route to Ricochet on Saturday, so I figured this time for variety I’d take the steeper shorter route up Rocky Ridge to Lower Brookbank. i knew that would suck, but it really sucked worse than I remembered. so much summer powder on the trail i was getting totally bounced around on Rocky Ridge, which I thought was pretty easy last time I had done it. I let a little air out of my tires on the way up Brookbank, continued to suffer, and was at the bottom of Hobbit Forest in about an hour. i love Hobbit Forest but again its a different trail in powder. Last year at Rancho Relaxo II i got the whole thing but one spot climbing, this year it was like I’d never seen a rock before.

“wow, i’m out here from the midwest, we dont have anything like this here. Like this rented Specialized?” said by tourist as he\she wipes blood from elbows.

that is what I felt like anyway, except for the blood. Some days you’re just not riding so well, better to accept it than fight it. a well-deserved break after 7 miles and 1:15 of climbing, then down Hobbit Forest, down Little Bear will cure any feelings of inadequeacey. A deer or something about that size bolted off the trail right in front of me, i really got into carving the turns, and then after skidding out on one I realized I had a pinch-flat…letting the air out on the climb…it figured.

I had fallen off my pace to get back in time for Beckie and also hit Jedi (3:30 hr), so I tried to decide if I should bail or hit the road to save time or what? I was having such a disappointing ride from a skills perspective, I really needed the newness of Jedi as a pick-me-up. So, whatever, Beckie could wait a little…I waited for her to get on the road earlier this morning, compromises had to be made! Going up Little Gnarly and i was feeling all that climbing and it hurt, but figured if I was standing my girl up I damn well better be riding and not pushing, and soon enough Little Gnarly topped out in Dry Lake Hills and I made my way to Jedi based on some guidance from a rider earlier in the day (thanks bro!). At first it was pretty ho-hum, mostly flat with an ocassional log obstacle. They were constructed and had 1-2 feet up\down each, but were pretty easy. i started to get a better feel for these types of obstacles which I never get to hit, and that was quite fortunate cause soon enough a genuine tester appeared. It went 3-4 feet up by means of a thin – maybe 6-8 inch wide – board propped up against the obstacle. First time I went up tentatively, and got up top ok but off balance with no momentum, which led to an awkward get-out. Next time I went back and focused and zero’d in on the board…up, over, down…sweet! The trail got much harder as it traversed and descended back around to Little Gnarly. I got all the downs but some of the up-slope obstacles i passed on; i was alone, loose conditions, end of the day…it was the smart move.

Back down on Schultz I flew down, flew down 180 into town and called beckie to learn she had left all of G’s clothes at home, so was at Target, buying G a new wardrobe including swimming pants for about $35…its nice to be a tinyHuman. Back to the hotel!

That night, Friday, and Saturday am I got to spend lots of quality time with G. We swam, hiked, played, and she helped me clean my bike. After the conference ended and we checked out, it was back to the base of Elden for another ride. Again Beckie ran with G, this time I was exploring a new route up Schultz, Weatherford, then Ricochet to Supermoto.

Schultz was a fun, slow climb up for 4 miles until intersecting with the road and the Schultz Tank parking lot. I found Weatherford, and this is where the exploring began. On the map, Weathorford looked to be about 2 miles and 800 feet up, and that was basically the deal. What the map didn’t show was how loose the trail would be…it was 30 minutes of mostly unredeeming blue-color work, a long grind to the top. There were a few moments of nice passages through lines of trees, but mostly I gave a sigh of relief when I got to the National Forest boundary and the turnoff.

A quick downhill with some whoopdees, then a mostly-hidden turn onto the much-ballyhooed Ricochet. Ricochet did not disappoint; it was tight and twisty singletrack through the woods with an ample helping of rock obstacles, staircases, and log obstacles. Not a lot of elevation change, but a gradual downhill over a great variety of challenges. I faced another BIG log crossing, and was pleased to see myself making improvements on each tough challenge — hit it hard, go up with confidence, find the line down before you crest the top. Ricochet ended too soon, but with some map help and instructions I quickly found more sweet singletrack on the Secret trail lower down the ridgeline.

Secret was not quite as technical, but still had its share of short, hard ups and a few technical downs. More log obstacles as well. There was one giant one not long after a hard, fast up. I was just barely recovered as I rolled up on it, but was feeling good about my prior success and figured “all the others have been well built…just hit it strongly and look for the line down!” Turns out the log on the downside had a giant rotted hole in the center. I did such a good job spotting the far side when I came over the top, I saw that gap the whole way as it swallowed my wheel. Fortunately I reacted enough to pull back and just have a bad sideways dismount — a prong to the groin from the saddle, but otherwise a damn good save.

Secret gave way to Supermoto, which had been the talk of mtbr for the season. It lived up to the hype and then some. The top half was flowing tech riding over a rock strewn lava field. The slope was perfect, and for 2 miles you worked the bike around all manner of rocks large and small to earn every few yards. It then opened up into a swooping, track-like downhill to the bottom of the mountain. Probably the best run end-to-end I’ve done yet in Flag. Except I got lost by heading right and not left at the bottom and came out on the wrong side of a neighborhood. i worked back to the Rt. 180 and a couple mile spin out back on the road. i can totally handle that with the payoff being the rest of the ride. Can’t wait to go back again this summer after some rains wash the trails.

Byron had to cancel last night on our AM ride. He is incontrovertibly weak and has his priorities wrong, but its crucial to our ongoing jockeying for bragging rights to determine if he flaked or if he simply bailed.

The Facts:

1. he waffled all week, but committed to the ride Thursday night
2. he took an ugly spill on National on Thursday, PRIOR to committing.
3. he sent me 2 emails asking for directions and clarification to the parking area on Friday
4. his cancellation occurred just outside of the 8 hr window for a decent night sleep.
5. he has a longstanding reputation for being wussy about getting up early
6. he is a better technical rider than me, so had at least one huge advantage in his pocket for in-ride heckling.

The Analysis:

1. In for a penny, in for a pound. Once you commit, the door to second-guessing has been opened.

Verdict – flaked

2. He said the fall was no big deal.
   • Point: a spill on The King can have lingering physical, equipmental, and psychological effects only discovered later much like a concussion. One must be respectful of this power.
   • Counter-Point: Byron said the wipeout (which I did not see, but only heard and shit it sounded bad) was a long extended save and really resulting in nothing but broken rhythm.
   • Point: Byron lies to show how tough he is.
   • Counter-Point: Byron is tough

Verdict – push

3. The emails indicated a clear pattern of commitment.
   • Point:One might say they were necessary to the information gathering required for a competent ride decision to be made.
   • Counter-Point:While he might not have known the exact trail head, he darn well knew mostly where he was going and could not claim it was soooo much further than he originally thought.

Verdict – flaked

4. 8 hours is 8 hours.

Verdict – bailed

5. Byron’s prior sleepy-headedness can not be held against him, since he did give fair notice. But we know he is a soft little meatsack about crack’o’dawn. hmm…stupid fair notice trumps all, grrr, stupid fair notice.

Verdict – bailed

6. Cancelling a ride where you can whoop-up on your buddy’s skills is poor strategically, but actually to my benefit. Byron would never miss a chance to acknowledge how he got something that I did not :-).

Verdict – bailed

The Conclusion:

As much as I hate to acknowledge this and not be able to lord it over Byron on subsequent rides and \or siteeations, this was a clean bail.

I was supposed to ride Pass Mtn. today, but some mtbr hookups fell through and then Byron bailed at the last minute.   Karma for this ride was bad so I would do my roadie.   No overhead, to make up for all the planning for naught.

Got up at like 4:15 and puttered around, got rolling at 5:15 and it was just getting light. I hit 39 going down the hill on Power, and then ran into the sweetest blast of cold air coming off the river. for almost 10 minutes until the short climb out of the riverbed it was like winter! the sun framed perfectly behind 4 Peaks, it looked like the AZ license plate. Some point into this 10 minutes of bliss something darted across the road about 100 yards in front of me…hard to say what it was, but it moved like a bobcat. Before I could reflect further on what the critter was, I got smacked in the face by 5 minutes of near-blindness. It was only a question of when i’d be riding into the sun, but the actual event was so much more tangibly unpleasant than the idea of it, it was like a physical blow. it hit me like…like…like staring straight into the sun…orange wave of squint and burn everywhere at once. Eventually the angle improved and I could see again, and noticed a dead skunk in the road that was hit but not run-over…hoped it would stay that way until I returned.

Worked my way up to the B-line, down to Butcher Jones Beach, and then down down back to the river all still in shade! An hour and a half of great weather so far…and the skunk was still intact! Had a good climb up Usery managed to stay above 11 most of the way, and a workmanlike finish to the ride in 2.5 hrs for 44 miles.

all-mountain
— adjective

1. of or pertaining to the entirety; every terrain; the whole of the environment
2. from cycling, snowboarding, climbing and other outdoor sports; one that will ride all facets of trail capably and with competence
3. to suck at everything and be great at nothing

i used to just be happy to ride. happy to roll with Tsaina to Fort Lowell park, pop through the washes and have a smoke, ride Chiva with Larry Heater, ride TRW without crashing. it took me a year of living next to it to have the balls to ride Mine Trail! but i’ve ridden a bike my whole life, so it was inevitable living out here, where there is so much to ride.   and i kept riding. I kept going further, up harder, down faster, over nastier, and a funny thing happened on the way to getting better: I got good enough to realize how not-good I was. I could be always be spinning faster, dropping further, climbing stronger, cadenceing smoother, railing harder, gnaring gnarlier. There was always a boundary out of my comfort area, even as the comfort area got bigger and bigger. There was nothing special about my riding, other than I did a lot of it, a lot of it. Some call this above-average, some call this being an enthusist, some call this obsessive compulsive.

what do you ride? I ride everything. and I ride it all badly. I am the all-mountain rider.

Woe, the all-mountain rider

Today was the day.

Got up at about 3:30am, quick shower to loosen up and was mostly ready to go from the night before. Took the Acura this time and despite the rack being a humongous pain in the ass damn that was the finer way to travel. Easy riding, XM…beat ths hell out of the truck. Got to Whiskey Row in Prescott about 5:50, scoped out parking etc. Prescott has added a big ole parking garage, free on the weekend…that is so smart its always cool to see a city use its brains to promote commerce.

I had called Epic a few days before to find out the skinny on AM checkin, it was uncomfortable they were not and never have been fans. Last year th woman working checkin was such a bitch about it that it got my day off to a terrible start. Its crappy to get mad at volunteers, but I’d gotten bs from this chick in the past for several events, so it was such a welcome change to meet Kat this year who was all good times and good energy to start my day. I know it puts a burden on the organizers, but until Epic gets serious about its mandatory pre-ride-night-before meetings and includes useful information not present with a beer in one’s hand, I don’t see why they can’t accomodate? This year almost 100 riders checked in AM. If I had the time I’d have loved to have made a weekend out of it, but having the AM checkin is super good for me and my busy schedule. I was just so psyched after the downer of last year to see a happy person so early, I donated a few bucks to the food bank to say thanks — would gladly pay a few dollars extra for my fee to have that convenience.

Got right near the front for the start and fuck lotta that good seemed like everyone and the fat kid was passing me at the beginning. Whatever…it didnt taste good but I knew from last year I had to go my pace up the first 15 miles. 2500 feet of climbing, waterbars, pitch — I had to go my speed. So I sucked it up…was feeling depressed, and then my bud Dustin Wardle who I hadnt seen in a year and heard left town goes rolling by. Cool! We said hi, then he was like “well, see ya later” (he is much faster). Its all good, that is what is neat about a race, the focus on yourself goes up. Its that much more intense, even if you are just out to finish strong.

Rolled through the road climb and the couple miles of singletrack climb pretty good. Gobbled up a bunch of folks during the climb, and started to feel less terrible about myself.It should stop surpising me now, but its just the way it is: you better at something, you pass em; they better, they pass you back; the best riders are good at everything. Me goodem at tech climb compared to roadies, me goodem at speed compared to dh’rs, me suckem compared to those that are good at anything. I have been thinking about a post on this, the lameness of the all-mountain rider. But I digress…soon the climb turned to dh rocky babyheads and it was sketchy in some spots. I rode it pretty well, a little smoother than last year, had a scary quick dab out in one spot which I think was the same spot I almost lost it last year. No worries this time, but a couple dudes passed me and then I had to wait for them through some subsequent tech drops. Oh well…others passed who I had climbed by. Or got me afterwards on the fireroad climb. I remembered from last year, this was the leadup to the first big peak roughly halfway throug the climbing…had to stay loose and stay focused.

Rolled right by the rest stop and on into Skull Valley. Tried to note the route on the way down, to see where I could think my way through stuff and where I should just relax and not get mad about the difficulty. Miles 1 and 2, (8-9 going up) were gonna be ugly, as they were last year. The rest seeme doable.

And it was. Same as last year every mofo I saw coming up as I went down shamed me and every mofo I passed coming up as they went down sucked ass and made me better. What can I say…your mind gets weird on these races. And fine it went, 45 min to finish mile 7 a fabulous pace, and then…Skull Valley reintroduced itself to me. Miles 8-12 took me an hour, it was ugly, not as bad as last year I never broke and didnt walk as much, but gawdamn that took the wind out of my sails. I’m just going to cling to that it was better than last year and be happy with that.

Right after the rest stop mile 9-10 I managed to go without stopping, small victory that gave me a little boost, getting closer getting closer, but I kept looking around every little rise praying to see the end of the climb at Sierra Prieta Overlook. At one point when I was pushing, some girl behind me snapped “pick a side.” That was so random it took my mind off the grind. Maybe I misheard her, maybe she said something totally different, maybe I was exhausted and imagining things. But I was like “why do you want me to pick a side, I’m walking and you’re passing“. She was either a very pissy bitch, or I misheard, cause every single rider all day had been friendly and good on either side of the passes. Its one thing I really like about these races, everyone makes such an effort to be cool about sharing the trail, that it totally works and you almost never have conflicts. Most of us are racing ourselves and not eachother, we’re all doing the same event, but also everyone seems to buy into the “Be Nice” plan and because of it everyone benefits. You put it out there, and what goes around comes around. So this nasty comment was so totally out-of-place…I decided she was not going to drop me, kept her close for the last mile of the climb, and when she hesitated getting on the single track at the top I rolled inside her line and off I went. She seemed pissed, but that move was totally fair, it is still a race after all, nothing others hadn’t done to me. Does it make me a dick if I get angry but keep it on the inside and am still nice on the outside? I don’t think so, but either way it didnt matter 200 yards up the singletrack and within sight of the end of the climb my left knee cramped so bad I had to stop and poke at it for a minute. She passed, but I rolled by again on the first technical shot. Heehehehe, roadie chicks on the mtn bike scared of the first rock face they see that explained a lot of things including the attitude, ok vengeance was mine, she is not passing me again, and I still was nothing but polite through it all. The whole drama lasted about 15 minutes, but it got me through the climb. And now finally I was onto the last few miles of singletrack.

Just like last year, this stretch was the payoff for the whole event. Fast, tight, and just techy enough to keep you honest. I let it rip and had fun, and kept having fun, so much fun that I started to think I was riding extra miles. I didn’t know it at the time, but the course added 2 miles in this stretch, which really was just enough to seem a lot longer then I wanted when you think you are almost at the end. The one little climb I pushed for a bit, but rode most of it and again was better than last year. It became clear that the course was longer and I would miss my goal of 4:45, but the track was fun and I was riding it well. There was one dude I passed again, for the 4th time at least. Every time he was resting when I passed and I was rolling when he passed — who is faster? who cares, I passed him 5 miles from the end and just said no matter what my point of pride today will not be letting that little bastard pass me again. Not that he is, or was, or I even exchanged a word all day with him…it was the exhausted id doing all the talking now. The next guy was my best friend and soul-mate, before his miss on a rock and the stroke I had to take instead of carry momentum transformed him into the great-satan-baby-killer before my very eyes. Everyone was my brother, except for everyone I hated…yeah, it was time to get this ride done.

Popped out onto the road finally, and hammerred with all I had. Which was not much, there was a slight grade for about half a mile that felt killer, and right at the end it seemed like I was going backwards even as I saw the cones and road closures telling me the finish was around the corner.

I ended up with the same time as last year 5:03. The course was 2 miles longer, and according to TopoFusion was about 2 points harder on the difficulty index (39 vs. 37 last year). So I figured it was actually about a 15 min improvement after crunching the numbers between the 2 routes. So woohoo! that was my goal and I was happy. Only 4 min non-moving time. The good to take out of this was that my climb was a tad stronger, and doing a long ride every month has really helped. But despite being a better rider, and doing about the same hrs and miles, I don’t think I did enough big climbs. To excel at this event, I need to do more road climbs. Maybe next year.

The Whiskey Offroad is this weekend, and I have been training pretty hard. My “normal” routine of spinning about 8hrs a week on the bike of pretty much whatever type of riding I feel like. On Beckie’s advice I have been making more long rides on a regular basis, and probably have had about a 4 hr ride at least once a month for like 6 months now. Been keeping a good log so its easy to check…yup 5 4 hr rides this year plus a coupla 3s (Quad Bypass, East Mesa Epic, 6 Shooter Canyon, 4 Peaks and Porcupine Rim).   I’m about 3lbs lighter woohoo finally shed the few lbs I have been stuck with and I think I can keep them off.   That the impetus to shed them was a 3-day case of ass-pissing from something I ate is not important, though I was down to like 142 during the worst of it.   Also stronger, and I got a fast fast rear tire on my bike for a change.   I asked Bill at Adventure “what would be faster than a Nevegal” and with a straight face he said “Everything.”   Last year I did 5:03 and cracking on the Skull Valley climb is what burned all my time. My training rides times have not been so good timewise on 4 Peaks and Saguaro Lake, there have been good reasons like weather for most of that, but I need to not let that get in my head. Hopefully I will be better this year with all the little improvements and tweaks.

The Blur was in the shop since Moab, and was ready today. Had a really good talk w. Bill about where I’m going w. the blur and about a 6/6 bike. The SC Heckler is for sure on my short list and definitely being able to buy from Adventure would be a selling point…we’ll see. Going to be doing some test rides next week, and found some hookups for a Titus MotoLite, an Ellsworth and a nice Turner. So Bill and I had a good talk there, and about one of his mechs who is a nice guy but sometimes too aggressive and ping-deaths me…its great when I can deal w. Bill I just tell him what I want, he tells me what I need, and I know I get a price that’s fair for both of us. I don’t ask, he just gives me the bill and I pay it.   Sucks that the shop is so hard to get to now, but everytime I get in a twist by that it seems I have a great experience there to keep me coming back.   Definitely that is better than starting fresh with a shop if I dont need to, cause all shops are going to piss you off at some point about something.

So brought the bike home, swapped some tires and tubage and went for a quick sprint down TRW wooooohoooooo it is riding fast.   Made it from home to the end of TRW in 18 minutes, that’s about 5 miles of singletrack…mmm mmm fast fast fast you go RickyBobby.   Stopped at the RMR pool for a quick swim and that was so so sweet, and now I may even watch Breaking Away like I need any more psych right now. Hope this weekend goes well.

Fri-Sun we rode in Moab. This was my 6th trip, and 5th time on Al’s Moab Tour, 7th Al’s Tour alltogether. The group grows out of Phx ultimate frisbee, but over the years has connections with lots of other riders in the Valley, SLC, Boulder, etc. via work and people who moved. Lots of good people, and each year I see old friends and new. This was the first trip Beckie missed, which was too bad cause there were a lot of women and they were as forceful as the guys in setting the tone for the rides. Probably 35? people all together, about 10 women, which is a huge change from the normal 9:1 sausage fests. Its weird going to Moab so many times — I never tire of it or the trails, but now its like an old friend. My *wow* over Moab is different, but I still love going there every time. each trip has been special in its own way, but I didn’t take a lot of photos this time around.

Rode up Friday early with Stan Marks and Kevin Hatch. It worked out good to meet at Stan’s near 51 and 101, but like everything when you have different people in the carpool, it took awhile. Mellow ride up mostly, except for the most bizzare gas station incident ever. The shut-off valve on the pump didnt shut off, and gushed like 10 gallons of gas onto the parking lot. The “manager” gave us great shit about having to pay for it, threatening to call the cops when I threatened to contest the charge…he actually told us it was our fault since we did not pay attention to the sign that said not to leave pump unattended. Stan carefully noted that there was abosorbent all aroundt he pump, so clearly this was not the first time. Much finger-pointing, call to the owner, finally Kevin just paid the $15 difference and we got out of there. Still, gotta call the AZ dept of weights and measures and report that f*ing crook.

We got to Moab finally about 3:30, just in time to unpack for Slickrock. I committed this year to no-car-in-town, so hoofed it 2.5 miles up to the parking area. The weather was err 50-60 maybe and overcast. From the start I just felt good, not so much physically though the strength and wind were there, but the flow on the bike was smooth. I was descending fast (for me) and taking speed through turns really well. I could tell all the night rides on National and the other rides I’ve been doing with faster MTBR riders had helped a lot. I just flowed over the bumps descending, and it made the whole ride so much easier to have that boost going back up. Slickrock can get in your head cause you risk going otb but if you dont carry speed you go ot-seat on the uphills. Choosing the right gear is usually a nonstop angst-ridden nightmare of doubt and remorse. But really, none of that happened this time. I just flowed flowed flowed. Stood strong on the steeps and cleared everything but one, the nearly ungettable double-hump-out-of-sandy-wash taking the loop counter clockwise. I actually slid down the hill on that and got some nice burn to show for it. The weather was just a whisper of rain but windy and sand in the air, so lots of sliding out on the trail. Plus my shoes are getting so old there is like no rubber on the bottom anymore. Bloopers video would have been quite amusing for some of the slides, but we didn’t get too many. At the top of one hill early on, I found a super nice fleece hat and a compression headband someone had obviously dropped. Though I tried, no one claimed it, and it was a godsend cause I managed to forget all headgear for the weekend. Wore those things practically all weekend cause it was cold cold cold the whole time except the morning we left. About halfway through Slickrock, I lost my little gear on the rear. Rick later told me it was just my old-ass drive train, and that I should just get through the weekend and replace it. Which it was, and I did, and I did. Halfway through when we were just about at the Arches lookout about as far away as you can be, the wind picked up and I thought for sure we were gonna get dumped on, so I hammered from the far point of the ride all the way back and down to the condos. It was cool as I was alone for almost all of that, and that never happends on Slickrock. It was so worth it, made the social pace worth it to have some personal time as well. Hit 30+ on the descent back. Dinner at McFisters, then crashed knowing we would likely sleep in to let the weather clear.

Woke up at 8, saw it was raining, rolled over. Woke up at 9, repeated. Woke up about 10ish, got some coffee, and slowly motivated to do Sovereign trail. Sovereign is a neat 14 mile out-and-back, mostly singletrack, with a taste of everything Moab on the way. We did it about 3 years ago, but this time started from the other end…it was cool I mostly forgot the trail that way, so it was exciting and felt like a first time. The flow over the slickrock fields and in between the rocks was awesome, again I felt good carrying speed and carving turns. I mostly yo’yod at the front of the pack with John Roach riding his 6/6 Rocky Mount. Apparently this was his first ride on the bike, and first ride all season. He did great, and we had a good thing rolling. Couple other guys got in our little pack, and we had a blast tearing through the terrain. One spot I carved so hard the bike slid out – i put a foot down and saved myself, but was more scared about getting pounded by the fellas behind me then falling. Near miss, all was well, fortunately I had ridden with Justin and Sean the week before at Black Canyon Trail, so I was pretty comfortable with them by that time. Right after, near the end of the outward leg, I punched whole through my aging rear Weirwolf, which worked out good the pack caught us as I was changing it. At the far point on the out, a lot of our group got worried about weather and took the road back to the cars. Me and John said screw that we are here to ride, what’s an hour of rain?!? that moxie lasted about 15 min til we started missing lifts with the trail and our tires covered in red sand. The weather threatened and misted, and John and I agreed to hammer home and not much stop. Light bike, pride, competitive friendship…whatever, I dropped him quickly :p! Right about when the weather was making me grumpy, we ran into Guy and Karen, Aaron, Kathi and Ally, who all had started later from the other side. Was just the lift I needed, and we all played around on the trials up the one big climb for awhile. Guy is blast, just like snowboarding he’s a nut in his special way — man I like my friendship better with him now that we don’t play ultimate together anymore, likely he says the same thing. The weather cleared up a bit to where even the mist stopped, brake preservation was in order and actually worked out well by heading for the sand pits every time I needed to slow down. Again we had the trail mostly to ourselves woohoo. Bombing the last DH was great.

Kevin coming up the first climb\last DH

how I spent my time ahead of the pack

Back at our condos, the partying started early. Karen, Kathi and their friend Ally brought the Boulder ultimate tradition of carbombs to the party, and it was a huge hit. at least I think it was, I really lost track after the 3rd one. The Utah basketball game was on, so I didn’t have much idea about the extent of the drunkeness until Guy stumbled into our condo all sloppy blaming Freight Train (renamed Light Rail by Kathi during the carbome extravaganza). Maybe it was the rain driving everyone inside, but after a couple of carbombs it felt like being back in college. All of us crammed into one condo, loud as shit and sloppy drunk. There was broken stuff, there was vomitting, there was a subsequent nasty letter from the management. It was almost as good as our wedding, and best of all, I managed not to be the cause of any of it!

Amazingly, we managed to motivate for Porcupine Rim in time to get back for the start of the Suns game at 1:30. This year me and only Ray opted to ride the 10 miles to the trailhead, and it got plenty cold and dreary on the jeep road up. Around mile 8 with the trail getting slushy and the wind chill getting in my head, I had my doubts. the additional hour-long technical climb to the Castle Valley overlook really hurt, and I felt cold all over. but it was such a fun climb as always. snow patches were mixed in with spring wildflowers of red, yellow, purple and white. Some stuff I didnt try knowing I’d slip off in the wet sand, but mostly I just spun slow and cleared it all and had fun working my way up the hill. At the overlook, there were maybe 30 people at the top, a far cry from the hundreds you usually see there. So while we didnt stop long, and it was cold and muddy for the first 1000 feet down, the trail was virtually ours alone! My little group of 5 (John Roach, Al, Nick from Park City, and Greg ??) took full advantage and sailed down everything — I actually tried to avoid braking as much as possible to save my pads from the destructive sand. The little bit of jumping I’ve been slowly adding to the repetoire was a big help, and I really started wanting a bigger bike to launch off of things. We got in “the zone” like a few years ago when Matt Westfield, Alex, Beckie and I tore ass down this run. 5 miles of descent went by in no-time, we stopped when John had a little slide-out on the sandy rock, but were glad to give our hands a break. It was still cold, so after just few min we were off again and were past the Diving Board and onto the singletrack in maybe 45 min total. The single track was divine — John and Al a few hundred yards in front, Nick and Greg a few hundred behind, and no one else in sight! This never happens!!! It was total blast just focusing on the technical descent and the river 400 feet below and not worrying about running up on someone or someone riding my butt. I was able to be patient and let the lines appear before me instead of worry about crowds, a few things I went back and hit twice. I got in a great zone, just going with my flow, and nailed everything but the stuff that imo is unridable — the best run down that trail I’ve ever had!! Bad memories of my endo 2 years ago just faded away and I just was in the moment rolling through this incredible, beautiful trail.

We were far ahead of the group, and it was still cold. Al wanted to synch up, but I talked John into coming along as my part-time puller. He didnt take much persuading…Back just in time for the Suns game. More partying, more friends, virtually no blood or bruises the whole trip!!! A great weekend cant wait for next year when I hope to tack on 2 days in Fruita!!

The WOR training continues…

18.5 miles up, 4000 ft climbing and 3000 ft elevation change. It typically takes me about 4 hrs for the whole 37 miles. Yesterday we had hellacious rain, and there was a lot of moisture in the ground. I started about 45 min later than planned to let things dry out and warm up, but the trail still rode slow. I bought a new tire from Rage Cycles yesterday — wanted to get rid of that crap-ass Kenda Kinetics, and also see what another shop is all about. Adventure is getting harder and harder to get to, and while Bill is great I’m not sold on some of their other mechs still. Would not have made it on the slow tire, fer sure.

The ride was cool and pleasant the whole way through, at time it got downright chilly. There was a dusting of snow on the peaks near the top, rode through some vapor clouds — neat seeing the vapor hanging over the hills during sunrise. I’m going to miss the East Valley. Driving out to the trailhead, the views from the jeep road, the top…we may be in Mormon hell but it sure is pretty. Oddly enough, this is what I always say about Utah. The river is going to be what I miss most, it leads to so much diversity in the terrain and topography. Byron keeps saying T100 is just not close to Hawes — I’m hoping based on many other good reviews that he just doesnt know the cool stuff. Still its hard to think of a prettier area.

My time for the ride was almost 4:15, almost 30 min off my best time. And I was worked from the ride. Knowing that I was going slow made it harder to keep hammering through the climb. One muddy stretch — the rocky part at about 14 miles — took a lot out of me, and I had to push up the following mud expanse. Fortunately, the rest was just a bit moist in places.

A bunch of vehicles, I was out in front of most so I wasnt sucking exhaust following them. Seems like the road has a fair amount of powder on it from all the traffic.

Came upon a ~14 yeard old kid who crashed on his dirtbike and messed up his knee — his dad and brother felt he could ride off the hill on a quad while the bro rode his bike…the whole thing was weird, Dad seemed pretty cavalier about the knee and didnt want much help from me or 2 nurses who drove by right about when I did, like as long as there were no broken bones the kid was fine. the way the kid was moaning…there are a lot of things that can go wrong with a knee in a fall. I suggested they bracket the boy on the ride home and give him breaks if he started getting sloppy, but hardly anything else I could do 15 miles out on my mtb. Further up the road I saw all manner of donuts and stuff treaded into the road…not my place, but seems common sense to me that a boy with a powertoy is going to play with it and eventually fall? Its not like I’m trying to sound insensitive, and maybe its that I’m biased having never ridden a dirtbike, but man it seems dumb to give a dirtbike to a kid. This road also draws a lot of rookies and fools…who knows? The nurse were typical midwesterners I almost had to laugh when they were like “Aw geez I had some ibuprofen but its in my other car.” They seemed pretty content to let these guys on their way once it was obvious there was no immediate danger and Dad didnt want help. I had ibu and a vic, but I was also alone and didn’t think it was smart to give my security away, certainly not to stupid-Dad. Call me a dick…but its the little decisions that lead to the wilderness crisis, and I fell hard coming down on this road last time in September.

The climb was tough and took almost 2:45, the downhill 1:30 but I was cool and in control the whole time — always a good feeling. Back at the house I am feeling spent.

I rode the Squealer on Saturday. This is an independent, fun race across National. I heard about it from some folks on MTBR and free time worked out perfectly. Pre-ride meeting was Friday night at a bar near REI, where I kicked in my $25 and got my “number.”

the paper plate came with access to art supplies. G came along in the backpack carrier, and she was great for the 45 min and Fat Tire I spent there. I had swung by Ray’s and Adventure to get some armor, just in case, and the carrier seemed to be just the thing to keep the baby friendly while I took care of things. 19 meant I was the 19th rider to start, at 6:19 am. Riders started every 1 minute at the end of the fire road at Somo. Starting here and not at the parking lot was a useful detail to have learned at the pre-ride. G and I cut out early since I had to be up around 4:45 and at Somo by 5:45.

got going in the AM with enough time to hit the “public” baffroom at Denny’s…which is still better than the blockhouse at Somo…tweak a breakpad, strap on my pads, and fix a near crisis where my MP3 player was frozen. I hammered up the first climb, but really didnt ride it so well. The mentality was more about moving forward than how good I could ride tech. Stuff I’d try, or try twice, I didnt just so I could keep moving. Once I got off, I’d just run through a seciton instead of getting back on to try the next obstacle. I did nail a few things I hadn’t hit in a while, since my last 4 National rides were all at night. That at least made me feel like less of a cheater before The King.

Made BV in 45 min, passing about 5 people along the way, and kept hammering towards Telegraph. There’s about a mile after BV that is pretty tame, and I tried to use the time to take mental stock. I felt good, was making good time, the pads were hot as ass but so far were serving me well. I wasn’t worried about crashing in the first half, but figured the aggressiveness and running up formations would lead to some bumps so protection would be a smart call. But gawd they were hot. The stretch to Telegraph is still pretty new to me, and I couldn’t shake memories of my horrible wipeout in ’04 on that trail, so I tried to focus on just being chill and not overthinking the trail. I know I’m solid, and I know its all rideable. I dabbed and walked a few things I could have made, wrote it off to 2 years since having been on the route and not having anyone to follow. I kept telling myself to be patient, let it come to me, the lines would be there…and mostly rode it all til Telegraph from thereon. So far, so good…1:15 down.

The next stretch started with a major HAB, and soon after that was a short hike to get our eggs. It was about 5 min and 100 feet up a steep formation.

C’mere lil guy let me tuck you safely in my pack

The last descent off National is loose and steep, with just enough drops to make it pretty hairy places. I endo’d once in a nasty spot, but the pads saved me hear. As I was going otb I thought to put out my forearm and it totally eased the fall. Along with the kneepads, there was no carnage! Its going to make me think about wearing them a lot more. But there were still ass-hot all day long.

Grinded out the XC finish and made it in about 2:32. I thought I’d be a little faster, cause its not like I’m slow, but wow these epic events really bring out some good riders. I lost a lot of time on the stuff past BV that I didnt know so well. This “race” was won in the downhills for sure, and those guys who were under 2hrs really handled their bikes well. In the last 1/3 of the race, the guys who passed me came and went so fast I never had the opportunity to follow their lines! Next year will be better if I ride this route some more.

Everyone collected and chilled for about another hour as all the riders came in. I found the smoking lounge which was surpisingly popular. Then it was about an 8 mile road ride to Spokes restaurant at Central & Dobbins. I felt good and just wanted to get some rhythm for a change, so got into the lead pack on the road which quickly dwindled to 4 of us. MTBrs are not roadies, they don’t do nuthin right. Met a few of the Missing Link guys and had good chatter. Funniest comment:
“Some roadies were asking me ‘Is this the paper plate race?'”
“Did you tell them yeah, but the entry fee is $200. They’d love it.”
“Yeah tell em roadies almost always podium in this event.”

Spokes is a neat place, a small restaurant that is all about being bike friendly. Really friendly, like 75 bikes piled up everywhere friendly. Had some beer, the hugest burrito ever, got to talk with some of the MTBR folks I’ve been message-boarding with, and the Awards ceremony. Good times, lots of fun. Ironic that I was drunk at 11am, but if you start your day at 4:30am and ride for 3 hrs, I don’t think that should be construed as a sign of alcoholism.

The 30 min ride back to the start was long, but I got to get to know a friend who wound up totally helping us with info on the Shea\51 area the very next week. Yet another reason this was a great day on the bike.