Yeah, I know. I’ve been busy. For those that don’t know, I’m currently working 2 jobs right now. I’m still doing a little bit of Bike29, and doing a little bit of Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles. Yes, that is what my sudden trips to the west coast have been all about, although I wish I could say it was because I won the lottery and have been taking lavish mini vacations. I guess in a way, I have, because I did get to do a couple of cool things on this last trip besides learn a new operating system and drink lots of really awesome tequila.

I flew to San Diego (German for a…) just before Thanksgiving. My mission, to pick up a bunch of bikes and a big assed truck, and drive back east. It seems that every time I fly these days, there is some form of unplanned and unappreciated delay, and my last flight out was no different. Thanks to a certain airline, I missed my connecting flight and had to spent a bonus night in Philly. The plus side, the bar staff and patrons of the near airport hotel bar were extremely entertaining.

After finally getting to San Diego, I ended up getting delayed again due to the truck needing a couple of things fixed, and a cap installed. It wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be, but hanging out in South Town for about 4 hours was not that much fun. Once I was finished up, it was time to load on up and head out. Driving. In this.

Kitty!

It’s awesome. His name is Moby (after the great white whale) but I call him Big Kitty. His diesel motor purrs, and like a kitty, if he decides to do his own thing, you gotta pay attention to get him back on track. I like him. Its fun peering down into the cabs of other full size trucks as you pass them…

my bike has those too!

So my first stop was Tucson. Damn. I hate that town. I took a little time out of my day to ride Fantasy Island after a dealer visit. I decided to ride a 26″ bike just for hahas. I took out the Moment, a 160mm travel all mountain sort of a bike. The bike was a medium, so I was sort of all over the place, but it was the only bike I had with me that was already built up. It felt weird to ride a small wheeled bike on terrain I was so used to riding a 29er singlespeed on, but I figured why not. It reminded me that I really like 29″ wheels for a reason. Its been super dry in Tucson, and the trails were very loose, I got bogged down by the sandy conditions where big wheels would normally carry me through (maybe…). Fantasy Island is the sort of place where you dont need all that suspension, it’s kinda flat and not technical at all. But it is super fun, and it requires ninja like maneuvers to ride quickly lest you have a run in with the cholla. The Moment was fun in that it was very agreeable to sudden direction changes. Actually, the bike is very playful despite the huge amount of travel on both ends of the bike. One day I’ll ride one my size on more appropriate terrain. I spent almost 2 hours tooling about the place, avoiding cows and learning where all the sweet spots were on setting up the suspension. I also managed to avoid any run ins with the local vegetation.

a peaceful Moment in Tucson

The next day was Thanksgiving, and I spent 7 hrs driving east to Albuquerque, but I’ll tell you more about that next time.

It seems as if it were only yesterday that I was hovering over my computer, furiously trying to come up with a submission for the Green Mountain Showdown. I had run into MTBVT head honcho Ryan at Interbike, where he gently twisted my arm into participating. It wasnt that hard, as this was after 5, and I was on my way back from the tequila hour at one of the booths.

Of course, I put it off until the very last minute.

Which is sort of funny, cinsidering. Anyway, one of the hardest things about it was coming up with the right “tone”. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I tend to be a bit overly self conscious in these situations. I had an idea, but no point of reference. I agonized for days on how I was going to execute it, what content was going to be in it, was it going to be mixed media, what music to use etc to the point where I almost went batshit. Oh, and I had to make it run in a time format that wouldn’t send people towards the door. Had I not procrastinated so hard, it might have been better.

So what we have here, is my submission. I ended up just going with a photo slideshow set to music. You’ve seen some of these images on this blog before. I wanted to come up with a little something that not only showcased  my pictures, but was also a sort of photo diary of the last 18 months of my life.

As we all know, my last 18 months have been rife with change, some of it not so good. These are images from my escape. I never stopped riding my bike, for a long time it was the only place where I felt like things were OK. It took me places I can only partially tell you about with pictures. The music I selected tells another part of the story. No one creates soundscapes like Ennio. Plus I’m a big sucker for Spaghetti Westerns. It’s a story of the big open spaces I’ve navigated through on my bike, both mentally and physically.

Unfortunately, the night the Showdown was to take place, it decided to rain cats, dogs, geese and chickens sideways. This pushed back the start of the event, and I was ultimately bumped from the line up. I was a little bit miffed, but stuff like this happens, sometimes you just have to roll with it. There were some really good submissions, and it was good to see so many people turn out in spite of the deluge. The best part about it, was that I got a little bit of validation in my efforts. My submission was different, but at least as good as some of the others.

This has me thinking about the next Showdown…

This will be my last post regarding how much I love AZ and all the hoohaw that goes on out there. At least until my next trip. But I had a bunch of pictures on my phone, and some of them are good. Since my computers and phone do not really want to talk to each other, I have waited until now for the photo dump. And by now, I mean a time when I need an easy blog post to write as I didn’t have time for a quality one due to having to deal with my car this morning. But the good news is, a picture is worth 1000 words right? Get ready for a long post…

On my recent trip out west, I decided to try a new-esque tire, the Syncros FLavor K. Something about it intrigued me from the get go, but our local trail conditions do not really lend themselves to taking advantage of this tire’s attributes. It’s definitely a dry conditions tire. It features a round profile with widely spaced, stepped blocks grouped in repeating chevrons. The casing is very pliable, and the sharp edged knobs are soft, allowing the tire to conform and bite into what ever it’s rolling over. I was cast many a sideways glance on this tire choice, but I have to report that my suspicions were confirmed. This tire is friggin’ awesome.

a good choice for the desert

My Topeak digital pressure gauge decided to run out of batteries while I was setting the bike up, but I ran them around 26 psi front and rear. This seemed to give the tire a pretty good balance of pressure and compliancy. Just pinching the tire caused the blocks to spread out, making me think about how on octopus’ tentacles can wrap and grip an object.

I got a chance to ride this tire over a little bit of everything out in AZ, and I can safely say that I would pick this tire again in a heartbeat provided the conditions were mostly dry and loose. I did have one run in with an isolated patch of slick mud in Prescott that was pretty terrifying, sullying my initial impression of the tire, but after a few wash crossings back in Tucson, I managed to figure out that if the ground was wet and coarse granular, like say in a wash crossing, they hooked up like velcro. In Sedona, they had a tendency to dart a little in the powdery dirt, giving me the impression that dirt particle size has everything to do with how well these tires hook up. Rocks, pebbles, sand, the traction was very predictable. But the smaller the dirt particle, the less predictable they become, making them a pretty regional choice. On everything I rode in the Tucson area, these were money, but the next time I’m in Sedona, I’m bringing big knobbies.

It’s a new term I came up with.

Moving slowly on Monday, Dough, Ginger and I checked out of the hotel, and rallied over to Dejay’s for the third leg of the trip. We were going to head up to Oro Valley to stay at the truly amazing WOW Arizona retreat, owned and operated by one of Dejay’s friends, CJ. Dough and Ginger took off to do some Tucson sightseeing before they had to leave town, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Michele was also leaving, and needed a ride to the airport, so we dropped her off before heading north. Our numbers were diminishing.

We were treated with a feast when we got there, and we just sort of hung out and swapped stories about what happened over the last year. We all retired relatively early, so we could get our acts together to go for a ride the next day. CJ’s place is right at the base of the Chutes of the 50 Year Trail. What a fun place to ride.

We rode all the way to Catalina State Park, before we decided we would press on and try and find some more trail.

ancient native pottery

After a quick stop to eat some space food and admire the trickling stream of water at a wash, we decided that rather than go back the way we came, we would go out in search of adventure. I know, I know, a Jedi craves not these things… but we wanted more of a ride. Having somewhat of an idea of where we were going, we set off onto some “uncharted” trail. There was a little bit of hike a bike, but there were these pretty yellow poppies to admire.

it's a wash

poppies!

bike a hike

Then the trail got pretty technical, and the higher up we got, the more rocky it became. And inevitably, more hiking was required to keep going. There was a weather front moving through, so there were some clouds, which made it less blisteringly hot during our hike, but almost magically, the sun popped out just as we reached this giant exposed slab of granite in the middle of a dry creek bed. This was another good spot to stop, and wouldn’t you know it, a tiny creek was flowing. Helmets off, heads dunked we sat like lizards on the big rock, taking in the view.

slab

terrible scenery

We were still pretty far out, but someone said “beer” so we knew it was time to go. We got back on our bikes and ended up taking the Sutherland Trail, a gnarly rubble strewn access road back towards the 50. It was hard. Nothing but rocks, some big, some small, many that moved. I highly recommend avoiding it. A game was necessary to clean it, but there was not a lot of A game to go around. Fortunately there was only minimal calamity.

Eventually we got back to the 50, and headed back. Some of us were on the verge of bonking, but we knew that we were close to home. You could tell, because we only did one lap on the Chutes. Bonking or not, the Chutes were run at full speed and we got back to CJs in record time. A huge bowl of queso awaited us, and we made it disappear at a horrifying rate.

The riding out here is excellent. Feeling pretty smoked from the big ride the day before, and reeling from my $120 bar tab at the Wench, we decided we would have a nice easy ride. We had already ridden Fantasy Island, so we were in the mood for something else, something low key and in the middle of a bunch of Saguaros. Well, there just so happens to be a place like that, called Sweetwater in the northern part of the Tucson Mountains. Mandy took off with some friends to Sedona, leaving Dough, Ginger and I to shred amongst the cacti. We donned our METAL kits and took off.

the riding is sweet out here

It took us a little while to remember how to get there, but we eventually figured it out. We got a solid couple of hours of lackadaisical riding, stopping often to snap pictures of the fantastic scenery.

cactus dodging

Spot the Rocker

The new gearing on the Spot Rocker was once again to my liking. I found that it quickly reached speed, and was just spinny enough to  pop over the chunky rocky outcrops that randomly appear in front of you on this trail network. Dough had his video camera going, so I’m hoping there is some good footage.

pop rocks

It was a great afternoon for a ride, to be followed by good food and good beer at our traditional Superbowl Sunday haunt, The Barrio Brewing Co. We got there a little later than the rest of the gang, but still with plenty of football to be watched. They have a pretty delicious IPA. I kept in check this year though, and was even able to beat Dejay at shuffleboard. Heck, I even remembered leaving the Buffet, which is our other traditional end of ride haunt. I might have learned my lesson last year…

 

Feb 4th was the day of the race, and what a day it was. 48 miles, 9000ft of climbing, 6.5 hours, 6 beers, 2 shots of tequila, 4 crashes, a little walking, and a ton of fun. I didn’t try and beat any land speed records or anything, instead I focused on one goal. Finishing. I haven’t ridden the entire ride since my first ride in 2009. Last year my knee was messed up, the year before my calamity on the Plinko section of the Upper Chiva Loop ended my ride rather abruptly. This year was somewhat of a personal victory.

About 80 or so singlespeeders gathered at Aqua Caliente Park for the neutral roll out. Seemed like a good time to have beer #1. Dough, Mandy and Emily were out there from Team 29. Michele was going to ride the roll out and then head back and hike up to the Tequila Tree, and Ginger was going to drive the truck up and ride part of the course. It was a cool start, but the sun was out, and we were headed towards a big hill. I left my Camelbak in the truck, figuring I could grab it at the top and have an unfettered climb.

I took the main climb at my own pace, not in any hurry to blow myself up. One of the benefits of knowing what I was getting myself into I guess. Still, it went by amazingly fast. There were the usual suspects on the sides of the canyon shooting at things, dust, and lots of sun. I had forgotten to put on sunscreen, so I was going to cook. Meh.

AZT South

At the top, I loaded up on snacks, refilled  my bottles and grabbed my Camelbak. It was turning unto a gorgeous day, I knew Dough had probably finished the race already, so I didn’t try and catch up. I did swap places with Mandy a few times, but as I said before, I was in no hurry. I really just wanted to finish. I walked a lot of the steeper climbs, my legs were le tired from the main climb so I opted for a consistent pace. I had also stuffed a beer into my pack, and I was on the lookout for a place to enjoy it, I found a lone tree at the bottom of the elbow shredding portion of this loop, so I hopped off the bike and cracked open a Dales to celebrate my safe passage through it (I walked this time).

this beer's for me!

The course had changed a bit over the previous one, we ended up climbing out a different way, mostly jeep roads, and mostly up, but it put us right back at the comfort station at the top, instead of having to re-climb the last 4 miles of the main climb. I like it.

Then it was time to refuel, and take off down Milagrosa. This was where my head battle was taking place. I had a long standing debt to deal with, and this trail can be a real bear. The first 5 or so miles are quite amazing, awesome singltrack ripping through t he hight desert, lulling you into a comfort zone that is almost immediately shattered when you reach the turn off to La Milagrosa. Then it becomes evil. The trail demands blood. It’s like that part in Indiana Jones, when they open the Ark and the ghosts start flying around, captivating you before turing into demons and melting your face.

a "no falling" zone

The it sure is spectacular out there though, holy cow. Once again, knowing what was ahead made it easy to keep going, and perseverance was to be rewarded at the Tequila Tree. I got the last shot! Then it was more rubble strewn descending through cactus, clunky rocks, cliff edges and burning sun. After a few more miles, I reached the finish. YAY! I had done it. I got my patch, and proceeded directly to shade and pizza. I’d done it.



After about an hour of hanging out, it was time to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up for an evening’s worth of debauchery at the Surly Wench. I brought my A game to that.

 

Due to iffy internets connections, I’m not able to put up a decent post. Yet. But don’t worry, it’s coming…

So much to talk about .

ghost snow

At last! The swelling in my knee subsided enough to where I could make a complete pedal stroke without wincing and buckling. This was good as this was to be the last day in Sedona for me this trip. It was pretty chilly when we woke, so Bruce and I set off to get some breakfast, and run a couple of errands in hopes that it would warm up.



We met up with a crew that Bruce knew from Harrisonburg, VA who were vacationing in Oak Creek. It was going to be a 2-3 hr ride, which based on my past experiences out here, was going to be about the max I thought I should subject my gimp knee to. We got ourselves ready and headed on out towards Cathedral.

When we set out, it was grey and spitting snow. Yes, snow, we were dressed for cold temps, but by the time we made out first climb up to singletrack, the sun had popped out from behind the clouds, and we started to roast. It was time to de-layer. My knee was feeling good, and I was able to make some of the ledgy ups and switchbacks pain free. I didn’t really know where we were headed, but after a while it was clear we were headed for adventure. After a while, the trail got a little too steep and chunky for the gear I was riding, and I ended up walking.

it goes up from here

We “topped out”  right at the base of where the buttes went vertical, after a pretty rugged hike-a-bike. The scenery was gorgeous, but the riding was a little bit on the edge of my comfort zone. We were pretty high up, and the trail was narrow and there was a good sized drop to my right. I had to keep in mind that my trail skills are pretty rusty, and I would not have been stoked with a tumble. Caution was the name of the game.



After some skirting around Cathedral we came out on some slickrock and dropped off the back into Verde Valley. It was rough going, and I was doing a lot of walking. Don’t get me wrong, it was a ton of fun, but I really had to pay attention to my knee. I didn’t come all the way out here to not ride SSAZ again. And the group was pretty much riding at a level far and above what I was capable of, so I decided to bail on the ride 2 hrs in. I knew where I was and slowly spun back to base.

The weather was pretty crazy, sunny and hot one moment, windy and snowy the next. It was absolutely awesome though.

A note on the Rocker:

Rocking out on the rocks

Upon setting out, I felt that the new gearing was a bit on the spinny side. Upon getting on trail, it was a lot happier. The wheelbase is a bit tighter so the bike had a quicker feel to it. It was almost a bit too quick for me, but then again, my skills are lacking right now. I hope by the end of the trip this will be worked out. The Syncros tires haven’t fully earned my trust yet, but they are growing on me.

…when you aren’t riding. The knee was not feeling super awesome, so instead of burning whatever matches my knee might have left, I opted to take a rest day. Hard to do when you are in such a beautiful place synonymous with epic riding. Oh well. I couldn’t bring myself to go shopping for crystals, or get a photograph of my aura. Instead I elevated, iced and ibuprofenized it, and watched some crap TV.

I met up with recent VT>AZ transplant Patrick Kell, once the illustrious Executive Director of VMBA, now a territory boss for IMBA. Talk about movin’ on up. He’s going to be out this way making mountain biking better in the southwest, as if it wasn’t awesome enough already. He will be missed by our little corner of the world. We met up for a beer at the local Irish pub and reminisced about how crap the weather is in VT right now.

I did however, have the best carne asada I’ve ever had. On a recommendation from one of my clients, we hit up Elote Cafe. Holy schnikies. It was so good, I wanted to get another one and roll around in it. I will be riding bikes soon though. Soon.