journeyvision

Finally popped the lift cherry!

2011-07-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Best of Videos

2011-04-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

wwkd from Jaydude on Vimeo.

wwkd part II from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Good Times Mule Trail from Jaydude on Vimeo.

MH 3.5.11 from Jaydude on Vimeo.

K-52 from Jaydude on Vimeo.

more MH from Jaydude on Vimeo.

3.9.11 captin jacks at night from Jaydude on Vimeo.

3.9.11 captin jacks at night part II from Jaydude on Vimeo.

First overnight of the year.........

2011-04-03T21:19:00.001-07:00

After a late night of finishing the build I got to ride my new 29er that has been in the build process for what sems like forever.

A couple days on the CT should be a great way to break it in.I cant believe its the first weekend of April and we are doing overnight ride on the Colorado Trail.

Finished the build at about Midnight on Friday

New Bike is done and I cant wait to ride it!

The next morning I drove out to the Platte Valley Trail head of the CT. Decided not to include Indian Creek since we were getting mixed info on conditions and if it was even open. Ran into ShortBus on the way out, that was cool.

Grab the pack and its time to go.

The climb out of the burn area is tough. Basically 4 miles of uphill.

We get to the "Top of the World"

and its time for a little break.

And throw down on a delicious tuna wrap in a jalapeno cheddar tortilla.

So we hauled ass through the BC area and did not take many pictures. New bike was super fun to ride on the smooth Buff Creek section of the CT. To many good things to say about how the first ride went on the new 29er.

A quick set up of camp.

And we head out for some more riding

Back to camp for some well deserved R & R

It was a windy night of sleep and woke up to a very cool morning.

We decided to throw in Green Mountain for the ride back.

Climbing

No snow

The temp drops about 10 degrees and you can feel a storm front moving in.

It starts to snow on us pretty good for the final hour or so of the ride.

It was a great trail to try out the new ride and the weather was crazy, Summer on Saturday and Winter on Sunday.

Gotta love Colorado and love my new bike!

Custom Love

2011-04-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

I love to ride, live to ride, and ride to live, Only once in a lifetime will I ever get a chance to build a bike like this.

It all started at a Christmas party of 09' and my buddy Mike had just got his custom built dirt jumper frame and brought it to the party freshly painted green, ole #3 we call it. It was a fun party lots of great beers and full of cyclist friends. Ben the builder was there and as I complimented him on the nice work on Mikes frame. I asked him to hold me a slot in the build que for a 29er steel frame of my own. Well fast forward Winter of 11' and the frame is in process of being built!!!!!!

After a careful selection of parts a bike was born that not only was very fun to plan and see the build process, it turned out to be an amazing bike to ride. Fast nimble, responsive, smooth uber fun. All the quality's you would love in a Mountain Bike. Well here is the story of my custom steel 29er hard tail being born, and a chance to share the experience with you.

Ben and I meet at Trinity Brewing to go over final plans of the bike over a tasty nitro charged Flow IPA . We had a great discussion of how I wanted the bike to ride and it seem Ben had given some deep thought into the geometry.

Ben zapping (should say brazing) some metal on the main triangle

Head Tube

Seat Tube

Bottom Bracket before brazing

The rear axle mounts are really cool nice choice Ben!

Front triangle all brazed up...now comes the cleaning

"cleaned" frame being fitted for rear wheel

Parts start to arrive! A lot of thought, research, and care went in to each and every amazing MTB component selected for this bike.

Industry Nine Enduro 29er Wheelset... BALLER!!!!

Fox F29 Talas

Truvativ Noir 1:1 Carbon Cranks

So the frame comes back from Spectrum Powder Works painted "matte black" and looks great really slick and stealthy!

More parts arrive

My favorite saddle of all time

xtr pedals

10 Speed XO shifters and Derailleur

couple of last little things.....

and.......

a late night build thanks with the precise hands of Chris the months of waiting are over and the bike is finally built!

Wow everything came together really nice and the bike fits perfect. There is something to be said about a bike that started as a dream and becomes reality made just for you. I look forward to all the adventure me and this bike will share.

Time to go RIDE. Now I just need figure out a name for it?????

BUILD LIST
Frame: Custom Samadhi Cycles 29er Steel
Fork: Fox F29 Talas 95mm - 120mm
Wheelset: Industry Nine Enduro Wheelset Pewter
Tires: Specialized Captian 2.0 Rear Purgatory 2.2 Front
Crankset: Truvativ Noir 1:1 32t ring
Cassette: Shimano XT 11-36
Stem: Thomson 80mm
Seatpost: 27.2 Gravity Dropper
Seat: SDG Bel Air Ti Rails
Handlebars: Sunline V1 762s
Headset: Crank Bros Cobalt C
Brakes: Shimano XT
Rotors: Shimano XT 160mm Rear 180mm Front
Pedals: Shimano XTR
Bottom Bracket: Truvativ GXP
Seatpost clamp: 33mm Flip lock
Rear Derailleur: Sram XO 10 Speed Short Cage
Tubes: 2 Scoops-Stans Notubes Sealant
Chain: KMC X9SL
Grips: Odi Ruffian
Shifter: Sram XO trigger

.

Epic Fail on Freeride Trail

2011-01-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

So after a Arctic air cold-spell and a hefty snow storm last week the nice high altitude trails we have been riding are let buried in snow and ice. It was time to migrate down to Pueblo for some dry trail and rocky shale technical goodness. Its been close to a year since I have been down to the South Shore Trail system so I was really excited to ride some of my favorite routes.

I ended up eating it going down the wooden ramp on Freeride trail. What are the chances that the first time I hit it the wood is covered in a nice slick coat of slushy ice? I knew as soon as I went over the rock I was in trouble and had no idea how I was going to slow down. The video below shows the means I ended up using to stop my self.

After dusting myself off I carried on and still got a great day of riding in.

The day started with some of this.

And rode past a few of these.

After taking in the views its time to descend some crazy trail!

I rocked Hooters Canyon!

FAIL ON FREERIDE TRAIL!

WIPEOUT VIDEO!

Fail on Freeride Trail from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Here you can see the lovely coating of ice that caused me to go down!

A quick mending and Im back on trail.....

I cant believe how I have it made.

Ran into a few others on the trail

I zipped along the singletrack despite my earlier flail.

Looking behind Im leaving some great trail.

Waterfall/Logdrop from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Video of Waterfall/Logdrop

Outer Limits Time Lapse from Jaydude on Vimeo.

1min time lapse video of Outer Limits Trail

Rockin time in Red Rocks Canyon

2010-12-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

It is still December and we are still riding dry trail! So I have been playing with my new GoPro Hero and have some great shots and a time lapse from my ride yesterday.

Good Times

a little Round Up to start!

This feature will keep you on your toes!

Time to add a layer

Rippin

Back to some ole fashion climbing

And descending too keep the flow

The Quarry

This section is great really techy!

We call this trail "White Line"

and to the trail head we arrive

I have been playing around with the time lapse function with my Go Pro and here is the whole ride condensed down to 2 minutes!

Red Rocks Canyon from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

Unbelievable December!

2010-12-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

This December has been amazing for riding this year. Today it was sunny and 50deg riding with some good friends!

The new camera is working great. Not bad for a first time try.

Here is a fairly good first attempt at video editing. Looking good. I like this vid!

Good Times Mule Trail from Jaydude on Vimeo.

What goes up...

Untitled from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

Must come down.

Mule Trail Monument Co from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

New Xmax Present from Seth.. GoPro HD 960!!!

2010-12-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Little Mark~

First Go Pro xmas 2010 from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

My first time lapse!

Untitled from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

Lower Sand Creek Lake and Bishops Castle

2010-08-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here we are getting ready to head out for the hike. Seth got to drive the 4 wheel road up and it turned out to be a bit hectic for a new driver!

I made a trip to Lower Sand Creek Lake in Sept of 2008 and could not wait for an opportunity to go back. The hike is fun but not to strenuous and the views and camping are about the best it gets. Seth and I were in full swing with summer and up for the challenge. It was the longest and toughest backpacking trip that I have taken Seth on to date and he did extremely well outdoing his ole man on several of the steep parts of the hike. All in all it was a blast and a great time with my son. I was really proud of him on this trip.

Here we are starting to get the hike going. Probably about a mile in.

Here is the view at the top of Music Pass. One of the best out there! Music Pass is about 3 miles in from the hike. Its hard to see but to the left is the basin the Lower Sand Creek Lake and to the right is the Upper Sand Creek Lake. I have not been to the upper lake yet but looks tempting.

Seth

Me

We descend on the valley below Music Pass and cross Sand Creek. Sand Creek flows all the way to the Great Sand Dunes!

After hiking up for about another 3 miles you get to the lower lake. Seth takes a minute to take in the unbelievable views.

Here is the view of 13,604ft tall Tijeras Peak

As we arrived at the lake we were greeted by a heard of Mountain Goats. It was a big highlight of the trip to see these guys scurry up the side of the mountain.

Our campsite was awesome and we spent a good bit of time and effort cleaning up the area and making a cool, comfortable camp spot. Cant wait to go back and enjoy it some more!

After a great nights rest and some good times chillin around the lake and at camp we start to pack and get ready to head out.

Seth leaping over logs

One final look at Tijeras Peak. Killer View

And we cross the Sand Creek again

Taking a look back at the Peak and Basin we were just at.

Seth kicked my butt badly going up the hill to Music Pass.

And here we are back at the trail head. We did not get any good photos but while we were taking a break on our way down from Music Pass back to the Jeep we came across a Amish Family of about 10. They had the works, Bonnets, suspenders, pants that pulled up to their chest. One guy even had a corn cob pipe. No Joke

Bishops Castle.

On our way back we stopped by Bishops Castle. I have never been there and Seth said it was worth checking out so we did.

An old model of the castle on a trailer.

Children playing by fire.

We explore and wind our way up the spiral stair case. I kept bumping my head.

Interesting Art laying around the castle.

Hey whats up Seth!

No way in hell Im going up there. All the wire scaffolding scared the crap out of me. If you look up in the globe you can see a kid playing up there.

Kings of the Castle!

What a great weekend with my son!

A Mountain Bikers Dream. Five Days on the Colorado Trail

2010-08-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

The top of Searle pass on Day 5 and my favorite picture from the Journey. To me this one says it all.

Wow what can I say about this adventure. Well it was one of the best experience of my life! I was in the best riding shape of my life. I had my best bike ever and rode what seem like endless incredibly buff single track trail for 5 days straight. It all started in '05 when my dad bought me The Colorado Trail Official Guide Book and spent may days and nights studying the sections and dreaming that one day I could ride a multiday adventure on this amazing trail system. The Colorado trail spans 500 miles from Denver to Durango over the best parts of the Colorado Mountains. We chose to ride the first 9 sections of the trail from Denver to Leadville. These first 9 sections are considered some of the best for Mountain Biking.

The Colorado Trail had it all. Long descents grueling climbs, high alpine meadows and plenty of buff single track. There were several occasions where I caught myself gasping at the amazing beauty of the trail and the scenery surrounding it. I was in love!

Mechanical
Believe it or not we rode 180 miles without a single mechanical. Not a flat tire, broken spoke or chain. Hats off to our Mechanic Chis Kuhn for setting our bikes up perfectly for the ride.

Food
Our food planning has gotten really good. Although we were running low on day 4 prior to getting to Breckenridge to resupply. My favorite would be the tuna wraps I have been bringing on my backpacking and bikepacking trips. It consists of a packet of albacore tuna, tortilla wrap, and mustard/mayo packet. Mmmm good stuff!

Camping
My favorite camping spot was in Lost Park. Such a beautiful valley tucked away next to the Kenosha Mountains.

Best Day
By far day 5. I felt like superman this day. Somehow everything was clicking and the riding was phenomenal this day. There was a 4 miles stretch of alpine riding from Searle Pass to Kokomo Pass that was to die for.

Worst Day
By far day 2 when we made the choice to disassemble our bikes and strap them to our backs to cross a 6 mile wilderness section. It took 5 hours to cross this and was one of the most painful experiences in my life!

Most Memorable Moment
Before Kenosha pass I remember zipping through this aspen grove that was lush with thick green ground cover all over. There was mist floating along the ground. It almost seemed almost supernatural.

The Gear

I really feel like I got my gear dialed in. Most bike packers these days are running bike bags to carry most of their gear. Personally I feel bike bags are going to take away from your bike handeling. By using backpacks and a small seat bag I could rip the descents like no other. Also since we had two people we could divy up the gear between the two of us. In the past we each had a stove, waterfilter, tools etc. Now we share and just bring one of what we need. This really lightens up the load.

Packing List:
REI quarter dome 2 man tent minimalist set up. This means just the rainfly and footprint.
Katadyn water filter
Jetboil Stove
Jacks Quilt with a Thermolite liner (awesome warm comfy combo)
Big Agnes Insulated aircore pad
Maps Tools and Headlamp

Day one Waterton Canyon to Buffalo Creek

Here we are at the official CT Trail head. We left the day before the closed Waterton Canyon for a reclimation project. We were pumped!

One of our few wildlife encounters on the trip. This scraggly looking goat needs to eat!

I have never ridden section 1 of the CT. We finished riding the 6 mile dirt road though the canyon and started the singletrack. Good stuff!

The Colorado Trail was marked ok. I had brought my GPS and downloaded the official waypoints that corresponded with my map. Turned out to be very handy and made navigation a breeze.

Here overlooking the South Platte Canyon. Off in the distance you can see the burn area which we hit at mid day. I knew we were in for a hot climb.

Indeed it was hot. And the heat was taking its toll on both of us.

Still some really nice trail. The climb through the burn area was about 4 miles.

Mike taking off his helmet to try and stay cool.

After what seamed like forever we reached the top of the world area and we were making a good pace again.

Here we are at the day one campsite in buffalo creek. It felt good to rest after battling the heat all day. Next time I will plan the ride differently so we don't hit the burn area at the peak of the day.

Day two Buffalo Creek to Lost Park

It rained non stop the first night. For the most part we stayed warm and dry. Our gear ended up a bit damp but no biggie. Here I am filtering water for our next segment.

Buff single track that seemed to run forever.

Les Grills says "A positive mental attitude is key to survival"

Being minimalist bikepackers we used our cell phones as cameras.

We stopped for a minute to let our gear air out and prepared for what turned out to be the most difficult part of the journey. We are at the Lost Creek Wilderness boundary and you cant ride a mechanized vehicle in the wilderness. So we took the wheels off our bikes, strapped the frames to our pack and hiked for 6 miles over some tough terrain. This turned out to be a bad idea and we should have taken one of the suggested detours from the guide. Our packs were not designed to carry the weight of the frame and the straps dug into our shoulders with excruciating pain.

This is how it went for 5 hours. Walk 100 feet. Stop and lean forward to shift the weight off your shoulders because they were screaming in pain. Rest for a minute then repeat.

This picture shows how beat down we were. Talk about suffering. But looking back you forget about the pain and remember the adventure.

Tired and weary we set up camp in lost park. Here we are inside our tent. It was roomy and often we cooked inside because it rained every night.

Day 3 Lost Park to Middle Fork of the Swan River

So we woke up to one of the most amazing views. Lost Park was beautiful. Day 3 was off to a great start. We aired out our gear, ate some breakfast and got ready for another day of adventure.

Right off the bat we had a sweet descent.

We exited the trail briefly to detour a short wilderness section.

A quick check of the GPS and we are back on trail.

The Section of CT on the East side of Kenosha pass was really nice. We were running a bit behind schedule and was hoping to make it to Breckenridge this day. Judging by our pace we were not going to make it. We were worried about the amount of remaining food we had. Lucky we met a very cool thru hiker named Tony that was kind enough to part ways with one of his dinners. The extra food turned out to come in very handy. Tony if you ever read this Thanks!

We hit another really good descent before crossing Kenosha Pass. Zipping through aspen groves is one of my favorite things you can experience on a bike.

We crossed Kenosha Pass and came upon the "real South Park"

Here we stopped for some lunch. Spagetti!

We are climbing again. This time up to the 11,800ft Georgia Pass.

The air was getting thinner and we crossed treeline. A little hike a bike never hurt anybody.

Ahhh! Nothing feels better than reaching the summit of a high alpine climb.

We descended a few miles on the backside of Georgia pass. It was getting dark so we found a cool campsite and got some rest. Day 3 was great. Lots of great trail and I recall 3 amazing descents all in one day.

Day 4 Middle Fork of the Swan River to Breckenridge

Here is a shot of our Campsite. It only rained a couple of hours that night. Not bad compared to the nonstop rain we were used to. For the most part we were lucky and the rain would hit us as soon as we would crawl in the tent.

Getting some much needed water.

So we had one good climb before getting to Breck that took us over 11,000ft. We ate the last of the food that Tony had given us the day before and were very anxious to get into town for a real meal.

The descent down to Horseshoe gulch was one of the best. You could tell this section of the CT was ridden frequently and there were lots of fast buff sections of trail with nice banked corners. We both had huge grins on our faces during this section.

Finally! Heading into Breckenridge for some much needed R&R. I couldn't peddle my bike fast enough on the 4 mile bike path into town.

After eating a plate of nachos and a huge hamburger in Breckenridge we found a hostle to stay in for only $31 a night. An easy choice after A cold front had moved in and it was rainy and quite chilly. A warm dry bed sounded to good to pass up.

The folks at the fireside in were very nice and even washed our clothes and let us use wear some comfortable threads while we stayed. We grabbed a six pack of PBR's and relaxed in the hot tub for for a few.

Picture of our room.

Day 5 Breckenridge to Leadville

So we skipped Segment 7 of the CT and took the 10 mile bike path detour to Copper Mountain. It was nice. Here we are starting to ascend the first part of the Copper section.

Here we stopped for some water before climbing some more.

The climb up to Searle Pass was really chill.

Dank Trail!

The Carins were huge!

We crossed tree line and were feeling the anticipation of reaching Searle Pass.

Alpine Time!

We had reached the top of 12,040ft Searle Pass and celebrated a bit. Also we made a furry friend! We knew from here the hard part was behind us and were going to make it to Leadville this day.

After Searle Pass we were treated with about 4 miles of smooth Alpine riding to Kokomo Pass. Mikes having such a good time his tounge is sticking out!

After what seemed like a quick descent we stopped for a rest at a waterfall by Camp Hale.

Mike contemplating his life on one of the CT bridges.

Some final Single track before reaching Tennessee pass.

Hy 24 off in the distance

And here we are at our finish line. Completing one of the most amazing journeys of my life. After this we rode about 10 miles of highway into Leadville. We stopped at the Pizza Hut and waited for Mikes girlfriend to pick us up. 180 miles total!

Now Thats a KOKOPELLI!!

2009-10-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

At our campsite on North Bever Mesa and my favorite shot from the ride.

Unable to shrug off the upset of not 100% completing the Kokopelli supported last April Mike and I gave another attemp this time self supported and in the last week of September. I really got my pack weight down this year. My pack weighed about 12 pounds dry. Last year it probably weighed 20 lbs. 8 lbs makes a Big difference over 150 miles.

Here we are at the start. We stayed in Moab the night before and got up at 0 dark thirty to take a shuttle back to the trail head in at Loma. There was a group of girls that were getting ready to ride the Kokopelli the same time we were at the trail head, they were from Taos NM. One of them took this shot. Thanks! We never saw them again.

This year my pack consisted of the following.
1 Down Summer Quilt
1 REI Minimialist Bivy
Big Agnes Air Pad
Katdyn Hiker Pro Water Filter
Silk Thermals
Hat
Tools
3 water bottles (one on bike)
Food

My Bike Preformed unbleivelbly well. My suspension was soft the first day but after I gave it several shots of air from my new uber light shock pump it made for a perfect ride. We had 0 flats no broken chains nothing nada....

Here we are in Rabbit Valley already. Seems like we are making good time but it is HOT!! Its has to be in the mid 90's and water conservation was a must.

We had made a costly wrong turn in Rabbit Valley getting about an hour off course. We were already low on water and had the toughest part of the day ahead of us since we take the Western Rim option. Western rim is a blast but there is a tough hike a bike out at the end. I cramped on this one since I was out of water by the time we got to the hike a bike. The first day was the most difficult due to the wrong turn and heat.

Releived we arrive at our night one campsite at Westwater. Westwater is a drop in point for rafters on the Colorado River. Lots of rafters camp there and its always an intersting crowd. Plust there is a water spout there. This year we got offered free beers and and some of the best brownies I have ever had by the rafters.

I had my first rattlesnake encounter. There were tons of lizards and snakes on the Kokopelli. We camped night 2 at Cowskin Campground about 4 miles up Entrada blufs road. It made for a nice slog finish for day 2 but was well worth it. Cowskin was peaceful and very beautiful. We had stashed water food and some cans of Old Chub. It was one of our better improvements made vs. the self supported trip in '08

Les Grills says we have reached the national forest boundry. I rode with my helmet in my pack most of the trip. It was just so hot and the bandana kept my head cool and the sweat out of my eyes.

This is the third day. Even though it was a full day of climbing it was probably the best day.

One of the zillion lizard friends I made on the trail.

At the top of Fisher Valley looking out at sundown. This was our night 3 campsite. We ended up getting rained on and I was not prepared for it and ended up getting wet in my bivy. Should have brought the rain jacket oh well.

So it was a great Kokopelli adventure. Self Supported is way more fun. The elements were the most challenge on this run. Scorching Temps, getting rained, Hailed, sleeted on made it that much more interesting. We made it!

My Backyard Pumptrack

2009-09-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple of vids of my friend Chris riding my Backyard Pumptrack. I have been meaning to get a post up on it for a while now. It been a blast to ride and a great workout. It has changed my riding style.

Pump Track from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

Pumptrack from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

Kokopelli 09'

2009-05-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

This year was a new approach to the Kokopelli adventure that turned out to be an action packed highly relaxing fully supported multiday mountain biking adventure. Those of you that are not familiar with the Kokopelli Trial it is a 150 mile routh the the desert following much of the Colorado River through dusty, twisty, rocky, ledgey exposed single track and jeep road. This route packs some of the most rugged unforgiving yet spectacular terrian I have ridden. I love spending time in this part of the country. Our crew was fourtunate to find campsites with the most amazing vistas right along the Colorado River boxed in by steep canyon walls.

We started our adventure at the Loma Trail head. This year I was much more relaxed.

Jen is on the right our support driver. Steven Mike and Myself on MTB's. Oh and of course our Kokopelli Mascot dog Roxi.

And we are off here is Mike leading the way on Marys.

Steven just getting done ripping a techy spot on Horsethief Bench.

Wow look at the Colorado Down there!

Notice my pack is much smaller this year. They joy of having a support vehicle is you can carry much less stuff and really rip the trail.

Handcuff Loops is a fun section that included one of a billion cliffs we rode along.

You can see the Handcuff loops down there. If you ever have a chance to ride this section I would recommend it.

We stop for some traffic. You can see the riders off in the distance.

No complaints so far.

Dont ask me what this guy was thinking!>!??

Here is that crazy hike a bike out of the canyon that Salt creek runs through.

Here we all arrive at our totally kick ass day one camp spot. I cant believe how lucky we were to get this cool location. It was in Knowles Canyon Overlook Campground and had amazing views of the canyon below and the Colorado River.

Not a bad way to wake up on day two.

And we are off for Day Two. This was one of the best sections because we were able to hit the Western Rim trail for the first time with perfect weather. Last year we missed it due to no trail markers and strong wind.

I cant begin to tell you how fun the Western Rim trail was to ride. Easily one of the best singletrack options in the region.

This trail scared the bejezeze out of me. We got off trail and it squezed us right up aginst the exposed ledge!

More of the Western Rim

Yes the trail skirts along this cliff

Wesern Rim from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

This section of the western was highly fun. Whoop de doos everywhere and lots more small drops.

Steven, Mike, and myself stop to have lunch. It was hot and sunny this was the only patch of good shade for miles. Steven and I packed tuna sandwitches. What a bunch of dorks.

Here I am cleaning a nice tech climb section. We decided to finish off the day on the Overlook trail that turned out to be a bitch. It was had to follow and had lots of soft sandy sections combined with rocky ledges and tech sections. It ended up finishing us all off for the day. Good thing camp is only a few miles away.

Day 2 camp site at West Water. Not quite a senic and remote as Knowles but still fun. There was another group of riders taking a guided tour through one of the small tour companies and they had along with them a talented singer/guitarist that played some great songs till bed time then woke us up again the next morning at 7:00am sharp. I slept about 10 yards from the shore of the colorado river.I feel like a I am starting to bond with this river a bit.

Ahh the joys of a supported trip. Fettachini Alfreado! Self Supported I would be eating a frezed drid bag of somthing. All of our meals turned out excellent and our breakfast mostly consisted of breakfast burrito stuff.

So here we are ready to tackle another section of the Kokopelli. Today we had Westwater to Cowskin Campground This was a tough day battling strong head winds and hot sun. It was a constant push for about 30+miles.

We managed to have a blast despite the windy conditions.

Wide open spaces. For some reason this is the most erie section of the Kokopelli to me.

Good ole county road. I drafted mike as much as possible this day.

Here is an old foundation that we came across and took a break in the cellar.

Here we are taking a break from the wind gusts. It was creepy down in this old cellar.

It was nice to have other people carrying the camera on this trip. I got lots of good shots with me in them.

Mike and I pressed on the complete the Yellow Jacket Canyon section. This turned out to be one of the trip highlights.

It was late in the day and I shoud have been beat from riding head on into wind all day but some how I was energized and had a great climb and amazing decent down YJC. Lots of slick rock and really cool sandy section that you can surf over.

I was getting low on water.

Here is our cool campsite for Night 3. This was by far my best nights sleep. I had the rain fly off and fell asleap to the stars. We were not at cowskin but at a campsite by the Delores River.

So we ended up skipping a day on of the luxuires of a supported trip. We were all tired after 3 days straight of riding and the day prior was full of harsh wind. Also we got bad reports that the Polar Mesa section may be closed and still coverd with snow. So we skipped a major part from basically Dewy Bridge all the way to the Beginning of UPS, LPS, Porcupine rim trail.

Rested rechared and full of excitement we got dropped off by Jen at the start of the commonly shuttled Porcupine Rim. Lying before us are some of the best sections of the Kokopelli route, the Kokopelli connector, UPS, LPS, and the classic Porcupine rim trail.

This is the only picture I got on the super fast decent on the Kokopelli Connector Trail. The Kokopelli Connector trail is the trail between Hazard County and UPS. Last year this was muddy but quite the oppisite this year, hard packed, smooth, and scary fast!

Oh lookie here the UPS is official it has its own sign. This section of singletrack is to die for. Whom ever laid out this trail did an amazing job of utilizing the terrain for maximum fun.

Time to reflect.......

Steven skirting along the Procupine Rim.

Ummm group photo I guess.

And its time to wrap up the Kokopelli. When we got to the bottom we met Jen and got a ride back into town.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park 3.1.2009

2009-03-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

It was a warm and mild March 1st day. Spring as come early this year and it has been great to get some early season riding in. Today we had a group of 4, me Mike, Steven and Haven. All of us had fun and Haven and Steven had a good wipe out or two. That just means we were pushing it.

At the top of the Talon Loops there is a really cool roller coster section that rips fast through a heavily wooded section of the trail and offers and string of fun jumps. At the end of the post are a couple of cool videos of Haven and Steven Ripping the section.

This section is a must to hike up and hit the the jumps once more

Steven floating off of one of the many bumps

Haven catching some nice air.

Here Comes The Crew

Me comming down the end of Cougars Shadows

Mike being Mike

Video of Steven riding smooth

Haven hitting the same section

Backpacking Pikes Peak in November!

2008-11-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhh Beautiful Pikes Peak off in the Distance. As a native to the Springs I have always been fascinated with this Mountain. Barely touching any of Barr Trail throughout my whole riding career and exploring singletrack surrounding Pikes Peak, I have always dreamed of a chance to ride my mountain bike up and down Barr Trail summiting Pikes Peak. After many years of this dream I finally managed to hike the peak only because I broke my hand this summer and got more into backpacking. Being very late in the riding season and Mike having issues with his suspension fork on the front of his mountain bike he suggesting hiking the peak. The weather forecast called for 74 deg on Saturday and about 74 deg again on Sunday and since I had so much fun backpacking the peak solo in September, hiking the peak on a beautiful weekend in November sounded like a dam good idea.

So we thought starting off on the Incline would be a fun way to start the trip. Maybe fun is not the best word to describe hiking the incline with with a pack on. Our quads paid for this later!!

Whats the name of this Peak? Its killing me I will have to look on my map.
UPDATE: Its either Palsgrove or Marys Mountain.

Good ole Bar Camp These people are very friendly and we we grabbed a soda and candy bar. Barr Camp is halfway up Barr trail and an excellent resting place.

Dis be me. I dig using trekking poles while hiking. Somthing about it makes it more technical and fun.

We are starting to get up in elevation. I would say we are close to 11k feet and not to far from the A Frame when this picture was taken. Spectacular views are non stop on this route.

One of my favorite shots from the trip. We just got done setting up camp at the a-frame and pushed on to finish the summit. Getting from the a-frame to the summit then back down to the a frame proved to test our limits.

One of my favorite things about this trip is the massive time you get to spend above treeline. It is a diffrent world so close to home.

Honestly I have no idea why I am laughing in this picture but I am sure it has somthing to do with the high alititude euphoria.

A cool Rock Pile above Treeline

Blair Rock or somthing like that.

We are getting closer to the top. The snow is not to bad. Trekking poles help keep you steady on the icy spots.

America the Beautiful!

So we summited right at dusk and had a good 2-3 hour hike back down to the A Frame on what turned oout to be a dark and icy decent. After a windy nights sleep we made a fast pace back down to the trail head. We stopped by Amandas Fonda on the way back home and I cant tell you how unbelieveibly good a smotherd burrito and margarita are after hiking 26 miles with about a total of 16,000 ft of vertical.

Lower Sand Creek Lake

2008-09-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

Lower Sand Creek Lake is one of the most beautiful places I have ever explored in Colorado. The Photo below is of Tijeras Peak Located in the heart of the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness. I definitely want to go back soon.
I woke up right at the break of dawn and saw the peak glowing unlike anything I have ever seen.

Ryan is signing us in at the Music Pass Trail head. There is a short 4WD road to get here

The hike up to the top of Music Pass is pretty easy. I could start to feel the altitude and the weather was perfect!

Here I am at the saddle of Music Pass and the wilderness boundry. The panoramic views here were amazing.

I brought my two small dogs on this trip and they did great. Lucy (aka double back Lucy) did double the miles because she would trot ahead of us then run back, trot ahead run back over and over.

Here is a shot of trail on the switch backs aproaching the lake. The forest gets damp and dark through here.

This is one of the first views you get as you come out of the woods to the lake shore. Spectacular! I ended up picking a fishing spot back along the scree field below the peak which turned out to be a great idea. I was catching the most beautiful trout left and right and was planning on having a delicious trout dinner. Unfortunately the three beautiful trout I had on my line escaped. Oh well maybe next time.

A view of the lake looking at the north shore. My camera certainly did not have a wide enough lens to capture everthing the area had to offer.

So the weather went from sunny and clear to cold and rainy in what seemed like 5 minutes. Despite things getting soggy I loved this camp site. I like the well constructed fire pit and seating.

A picture of Sand Creek on our way out.Overall about 6 miles of hiking and not too much vertical. I would highly recommend this trip. It would be good to stay an extra day or two stay a night at Upper Sand Creek Lake. Cant wait to make another trip.

Backpacking Pikes Peak Solo

2008-09-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

My first trip up and down Pikes Peak. I am goinng to try and add Data to my trip reports from now on.

One thing I will never forget is camping at 13,000 feet and having a Pika attack my bivy all night. He did not like me camping up in his patch of rocks.I also made a wrong turn about 2 miles up the trail and ended up climbing the top half of the Incline in the dark. Also there was the Pikes Peak Challenge going on. You cant tell from the pictures but there was easily about a 1000 hikers climbing the peak that day.

America The Beautiful
The lyrics to this America the Beautiful were written by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) an instructor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, after an inspiring trip to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1893.

Here I am after making the Summit. Even though I have been to the to via car in the past this one had much more meaning.

The Cirque, its scary to look over this edge.

Here is my camp site at 13,000 feet just 1 mile from the summit. I was attacked by a pika all night and it was extremely windy all night hence a night of camping that I will never forget.

Here is the GPS data layerd over google earth. Pretty Cool! Round trip was 26 miles and tons of vertical. I was beat and did the whole trip solo with a cast.

Yellowstone/Beartooth 2008

2008-07-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Another awesome trip to the Beartooths this year with new adventures and a trip to YNP. For some reason the Island Lake > Beartooth Lake trail has it out for me. Seth brought along his friend Haven and my Dad got up there without his Bronco breaking down.. ha ha The weather was perfect but our backpacking trip to Beauty lake did not work out as well as planned thanks to the constant mosquito attacks!!! The river behind the cabin offered non stop cast and catch fishing for a couple of days. The river was high and there was a good bit of snow up on the Beartooth Plateau that made for muddy hiking and biking. Unfortunately I wiped out on one of my bike rides with Haven and broke my hand leading to 5 screws and a plate to put it back together again. No worries we still had a great time and had lots of fun. I will never forget the 2 day long risk battle that ended in a stalemate between Seth and I (:

As always great food, amazing adventure, unreal fishing, and great company made this another grand Yellowstone vacation.

This is a long slide show but worth it. You can make the slideshow full screen by clicking on the button in the lower right corner of the frame. I managed to get some good shots off this year. Seth and Haven did there part to capture some good photos also.

Ring The Peak Trail an Out and Back

2008-07-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

After a couple of years of seeing the Ring the Peak signs on Bear Creek Trail and over off of the Intemann Trail I thought it would be cool to investigate further into the route. I thought that the concept was awesome but was a bit put off by the fact that there was a good bit of riding Highway 67 and most of Gold Camp Rd. So after a checking out the route further, a 2 day out and back would be an excellent idea making sure we link the best sections of single track with out having to touch our tires to a road.

The plan was start in Chipita Park at the Mt Ester Trail Head, ride around to the Catamount reservoir and head to the Crags. From the Crags travel through HorseTheif Park finishing at Pancake Rocks to camp for a night then retrace our route back to Chipita Park the next day. It turned out to be an excellent bikepacking trip and one I foresee doing at least once a year. It is a great way to get up close and personal with the North and West Side of Pikes Peak. Plus it’s about a 20 minute drive to the trail head for me to start this awesome local adventure.

Here is the Trail Head for Mount Ester. This is a grueling hike a bike with about 1.5 miles of pushing your bike over steep rocky switch backs. Turned out to be a little more than a warm up with our packs on.

Ryan Pushing his bike up a steep set of stairs. I will say that coming down these switch backs is a whole different story.

Starting to get up in elevation. It is at least a good 1000 feet of vertical up this section. You can see Ute Pass Below and as you hike up you constantly hear Harleys sputtering up the pass.

Here is the start of the rideable single-track. From here things get really fun. Not too many Springs Mountain Bikers have ridden this tasty section of trail.

There is a really cool meadow up on this ridge above Chipita Park/Green Mountain Falls. It was hot and the skies were crystal blue.

Here is one of the few sections of fire road. The Ring the Peak route is very well marked you can see the marker off to the right..

After a bit of fire road you intersect a sweet little connector trail that takes you towards Crystal Reservoir and the Catamounts. I loved this section!

You could tell this trail is rarely used, baby aspens were sprouting all over the trail.

So there is a good bit of dirt road riding nearby Crystal Reservoir until you get to South Catamount. This is looking back at where we came from. There was a step section of dirt road to get here.

Once you get to North Catamount Reservoir you get to ride one of my favorite sections of single-track on the RTP route.

This is a interesting section of trail. It must have been used for a gravel pit. There was a marked trail but not much vegetation sprouting around here.

An inlet for the North Catamount Reservoir.

After you finish the flowy and very fun section along the shore of the North Catamount you can skip some dirt road by riding some double track called Mule Deer Trail. This trail connects you to the Limber Pine Trail, the same trail I had raced on back in the late 90s when the Local Sand Creek series was going on.

Here is the start of the Limbering Pine Trail. Recently the forest service must have cleared much of dead fall as there were wood chips everywhere.

This is the start of the down hill section of Limbering Pine. It was a blast to descend! Short but a blast.

So after of finish Limber Pine trail you head off to this really cool valley that starts off as a dirt road that transforms to double track then eventually single-track.

Cruising further down the valley which happens to be full of beaver dams and marsh. You can see the Crags off in the distance.

Close-up of the Crags

Colorful Colorado! Here is our state flower with bugs on it

So after a few hours of riding and the heat starting to get to us we came across this stream to take a break and filter water. Since I have started carrying a filter on my long rides I no longer run out of water and get cramps.

And we are off, this cool section of trail lead us to the Crags Campground area.

So at this point we have passed the Crags Campground and connected with a section of single track that proved to be tough but extremely fun. Lots of elevation to tackle and plenty of twisty technical single-track. We are now on the West side of the peak and the forest is much different that what I am used to on the Front Range side. The west side is more fertile and dense without the large amounts of decomposed red granite that dominates the Front Range.

After about 20 miles of what felt like 40 we came across this valley in hopes of finding a cool camping spot. 20 miles may not seem far but when you are carrying a pack full of camping gear and food it gets tough.

After a short excursion up the valley we came across this picture perfect meadow with a really cool fire ring already built. Nobody is around for miles!

Mikes 4 season tent. I got a new sleeping pad for this trip trading in my painful Thermarest for an inflatable Big Agnes pad that proved for a much more comfortable nights sleep.

I slept like a rock and whipped up some coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. The plan was to ride down the valley further and explore Pancake Rocks then make our way back to where we started.

To get to the top of Pancake Rocks there was a good hour of hike a bike. This is pretty much were the single track ends.Hopefully someday FOTP connect this section with Gold Camp Road. This way you do not have to go down and ride the Highway.

The trail up by Pancake Rocks was fun especially coming back down. We ended up getting bad directions to where the actual pancake rocks were. We never saw them. Not a big deal.

So we turned around at the top and headed back the way we came. There were about 24 tough miles ahead of us. Our packs felt heavy this day.

Sentenial Peak

One of the many Beaver Dams along the route.

?
Shot of the single-track going up Horsetheif Valley. This is a very beautiful area that can be easily accessed at the Horsetheif Falls Trail Head off Highway 67.

What make the Ring the Peak Route so fun is riding all the well built connector trails that link the route. Here is a nice section filled with aspens.

I think if we would have found the Pancake Rocks they would have looked something like this.

I love riding along the Shore of the South Catamount Reservoir. I would describe this section as entry level Rampart Resivoir-ish riding.

Riding along the dam of the North Catamount Reservoir about 2/3 the way back.

Here we are crossing over the outlet of Crystal Reservoir. For some reason the trip back goes by quick.

A dank little section of trail getting us closet to the Mt Ester trail.

Taking a break before the final push back to the car and finish up this grueling but fun 2 day bikepacking trip.
So from here it is mostly down hill all the way back to the car and not to many more photos were taken. All in all we ended up riding about 45 miles over two day with large amounts of elevation. I was beat and it took me a week to recover even being in good shape. I look forward to doing this one in 2009.

2nd amendment

2008-05-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Kokopelli Experience

2008-04-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

The Kokopelli Experience

There is many was to experience the Kokopelli, everything from comfy outfitters setting up support camps full of food and complete with massage therapists. To uber endurance athletes completing the trail in 12hrs straight. The Kokopelli Trail is really not a trail but more a well marked route on singe track, jeep roads, county roads and a bit of paved. The majority of the ride is rough jeep road that is fun to ride, but there is a good amount of wicked single-track and when the paved sections come up it’s a nice relief. I would say pavement was only about 10% of the route..

Leveraging my bikepacking experience from last year, me and my riding buddy Mike decided to do the Kokopelli self supported over 4 days. More accurately we did the ride in 4 ½ days to get an early start on the Fruita side of the trail. We invested a lot of time planning and picked the last week of April hoping to get a good balance of weather. I purchased the Lat 40 maps and the Bikerpelli guide book, made a meal plan, booked a shuttle from Moab back to Loma via Coyote Shuttle, (BTW they were super friendly and did great job) and did as much research as I could on water holes to filter water from and the route. Water was my biggest concern seeing how the ride was in the desert. As we found out it is possible to get water along the route but be prepared to have enough water to cover 30 – 40 miles between water spots. Also the Colorado River turned out not to be a good option to get water from. With the water being so silty it clogged our filters in minutes and completely shut down my Katadyn filter for the rest of the trip. The water got so hard to pump my handle broke off. Good thing we had both brought a filter as Mikes water filter had a clay cartridge that you could at least clean the silt off but was still very time consuming. The spots we ended up getting water from were Salt Creek. The spicket at Westwater ranger station. The Colorado River at Dewy bridge (took 3 hours to fill 2 camel backs). Hideout campground and a stream up on Beaver mesa. For food we purchased dehydrated dinners from REI and found them to be quite tasty and super easy to prepare on the trail using our Jetboil stoves. We also placed a cache to resupply food under the highway 128 bridge right next to the old burnt down Dewy Bridge.

Mechanical

I was the only one that broke down with 2 flats and 2 broken chains and pedal that the spindle was coming loose. Mikes bike had zero problems. Also my water filter broke lucky we brought two.

Food

My favorite trail food was beef jerky and powdered Gatorade. The best freeze dried entrée would be Mountain House Chicken Breasts and Mash potatoes.

Camping

My favorite spot was a backcountry spot past the LaSalle National Forest Boundary. Westwater was would be the runner up just because of the water spicket.

Best Day

The best day by far would be day 3 Westwater to Dewy Bridge. The weather was perfect and the trail was flat and fast. Yellow Jacket canyon was a lot of fun. Runner up would be the last day. Riding the Kokopelli connector UPS LPS and the Main Proc trail was as fun as ever. Even with our packs we were ripping it.

Worst Day

Day 4 Dewy bridge up into the La Sals. We got a 3 hour late start due to water filter problems and the entire day was up hill except for the short and rough downhill before Rose Garden Hill. I was starting to get monkey butt and my energy level was a bit low. Also we really had to conserve water this day.

Most memorable moment.

When we ran into a couple of motos on UPS. They asked us where we started from. I told them we started in Fruita and you could see the wheels turning in their head. They asked us when we started and I scratched my head and thought for a moment and said we started last Sunday. It was Thursday at this point. The moto guys thought we were crazy. Runner up. When I got up early to pump water out of the Colorado River at Dewy Bridge Campground, I was standing by the river and two calves came up to me and stared me down for a good 10 minutes and they gave me the WTF is this idiot doing look. Only if I had my camera.

Day One Loma to Salt Creek

The official Trail Head. We were super excited at this point and just got done driving from Colorado Springs and Taking a Shuttle from Moab back to Loma

Right away we start of with amazing views

And a flat. It was so windy I was swerving off the trail and must have hit a couple of goat heads.

Twisty singletrak with plenty of exposure to keep you on your toes

The Lions Section was tasty

Cool sign by the Salt Creek Bridge

Pictures of night 1 campsite right along side Salt Creek

Day Two Salt Creek to Westwater

A nasty hike a bike out of the Salt Creek canyon and the start of day 2

Desert Beauty

Here is the start of the county road that takes us into Rabbit Valley

Cruising into the Rabbit Valley area

Cool Rock that stood out in Rabbit Valley

Here is a good view from the top of Bitter Creek. You can see the Western Rim Trail below that we planned to ride but missed due to the poorly marked trails in Rabbit Valley. Also it was super windy this day and could only go a max of 10mph even down hill with the killer head wind we encountered. You can't tell from the pics

On our way to Westwater we came upon a herd of sheep

Up and over, there were tons of rolling hills on the first half of the ride

Our night two campsite at Westwater

Mike enjoying his beans and rice for dinner after a tough and windy day two

Here is me getting ready to enjoy a cup of coffee at the morning of day three. Did I say I love my Jetboil stove?

Incase anybody is looking for their neoprene mask we found it in the bathroom at Westwater

Day Three Westwater to Dewy Bridge

Cruising by a bit of farmland as we leave Westwater

We hit a little slickrock patch one of many slickrock playgrounds along the Kokopelli

Day three was a piece of cake. Perfect weather no wind and mostly flat terrain this day went by fast.

Some cool looking rocks by Cisco Landing

One of the nicest things about the Kokopelli is how well marked it is. The frequent signs let you continue riding in your groove instead of stopping to check your map/guide at each intersection

Sweet! A nice long fast downhill on our way to McGraw Bottom

Another flat tire. This pic shows how big my pack was. Believe it or not the pack does not get in the way of your riding very much. Mike and I use the CamelBack Alpine Explorer

These are all pics of McGraw Bottom. To say the least this section of singletrack was sick!

This shot is on our way up to Yellow Jacket Canyon. It turned out to be a fun climb. You can see the La Sals off in the distance.

A little more slickrock up near the top of the climb to YJC

Yellow Jacket Canyon is easily bypassed by taking a 4 mile detour down Hy 128. There is some controversy if YJC is a good option because of how sandy this part of the Kokopelli. I say Do It! If you go South to North the major sandy sections are down hill and you can just sail through them. Also there is some wicked techy sections, one of them I went OTB with my pack on. Luckily I landed in soft sand.

One of my favorite shots from the trip near the end of YJC

Fear and Loathing Rocks

A gate crossing at the end of YJC. This picture is ironic, as the exact same picture is in the Bikerpelli guide book that Mike is checking out. You can see the burnt down Dewy Bridge in the background and Hy 128 Crossing the Colorado

Oh so sad. I was actually looking forward to crossing the Historic Bridge

What's this? Cans of Old Chub and a stash of Food. Our one and only cache point was under the Hy 128 bridge

Night 3 Campsite at Dewy Bridge Campground

Day 4 Dewy Bridge to somewhere in the La Sal National forest

The next morning we went through all our of stuff and repacked for the remainder of the Kokopelli. This was the day we had water filter problems and I took 3 hours to fill 2 camel backs from the Colorado River. We got a late start this day

The long climb begins up Entrada Bluffs Road

Nipple Rock or that’s at least what I called It.

The climb gets steeper and rougher

CRYPTOBIOTIC!

Starting to gain some elevation

That’s Onion Creek down there. We just hit some gnarly down hill right before this point.

We ran into about 30 ATVs trying to get up the infamous Rose Garden Hill. This was the only guy we saw make it.

We are down in Fisher Valley at this point and just about out of water. The plan was to refill our water in Fisher Creek. Problem was Fisher Creek was completely dried up. We started to get nervous and was unsure where we would find water next. It was hot, windy and dry and we were starting to get a bit fatigued

We ended up finding water at Hideout Campground. Relieved we pressed on

The scenery is starting to change and we are climbing again into the La Sal National Forest

YES! The National Forest Boundary. It is late and at this point almost 7:30 pm. We are beat.

We finally arrive at our backcountry camping spot for our final night on the Kokopelli. Does Mike look a bit worn out?

It felt good to get some food in our system and rest. There was no water source near by so with careful rationing from the water we got at Hideout Campground we made it work.

Day 5 Final Day La Sal National Forest to Moab

So we pack up from our final night of camping eat breakfast, lube the chains, and got an early start on the final day. We still have a long way to go to make it to Moab

I still managed to take a minute to capture shots of some cacti macros. Did I mention how tranquil the desert is?

Wow talk about a change of climate. This area looked a lot like where I ride in Monument Colorado. We are truly in the mountains now and it is chilly. The La Sal Mountains that look so distant just a couple of days ago are now right there

Finally water! This stream is up on North Beaver Mesa and we got enough water to make it the rest of the way

Lots of snow up here but nothing that kept us from pressing on

Nice view of Fisher Valley

A different perspective on Castle Valley. You can see the Nuns and Priests formations in the background

The whole Porcupine Rim. I can't wait to get there!

Many people should recognize this sign. The Kokopelli Connector, a common shuttle destination and a point of major reward. All the hard climbing is over. I felt rejuvinated and full of adrenaline, anxious to bomb some down hill. And bomb we did!

Shots along the Kokopelli Connector. You can take the Connector to Sand Flats Road back into Moab or take UPS, LPS, Porcupine Rim. For us this was a no brainer

UPS was unbelievable! I have ridden LPS before but UPS was a total blast. Lots of tech and slickrock. I know some say the trail is closed due to Raptor conservation but it looked pretty open to me and Mike.

All shots coming down the famous Porc Trail. We tore it up even after riding five days in a row with our packs on! It felt good and sad at the same time knowing the trip was almost over.

And we are done! What an amazing adventure! The toughest ride for both of us to date. Total Mileage 152!

We went straight to Fiesta Mexicana restaurant in Downtown Moab for the best dinner and margarita I have ever had in my whole life. I hope you enjoyed the post. A lot of time and planning went into this trip.

Monarch Crest to Cotopaxi

2007-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here was the plan start at Monarch Pass, ride the crest to the Rainbow Trail then stay on the RT to the Big Cottonwood trailhead outside of Cotopaxi Total ride about 70 miles lots of vertical and 3 days to get it done. We had our multi day gear with us and camped in some really cool spots.

With a late start on day one and a couple of mechanical problems we ended up running out of time to complete the ride via the Rainbow Trail. We had to bail out and follow the Arkansas on day 3 to make it back to the shuttle vehicle in time. Day 2 also kicked our arse taking the RT from hy 285 to Bear Creek Trail head. Lots of pushing on this part and I ended up bonking. Day 3 ended up being a cruise along the Arkansas River, it was actually cool we found a jeep road right along side the river and it ended up being a good cruise and stayed away from the Hy 50. We did get to ride 2 of what I would say are the best parts of the RT, the Section by Silver Creek and the 6 mile section by Bear Creek. Both sections were like candy. The Crest was awesome also. It has been awhile since I have ridden the whole thing.

We are going back this weekend to complete the final 2 sections and after that I can say I have ridden the entire RT!

A familiar intersection at the start of the singletrack

It was raining on us Day 1 but the Crest was o so sweet!

Another familiar spot, the hunters cabin. With our late start it is about 6pm and nobody is on the trail.

Day one we camped at about 11,000ft right off of the Colorado trail about a mile from the Silver Creek Junction. I will say it got a bit chilly this night.

Not to many streams this high up but we did stumbe across this natural spring and camped here and siphoned some water

View outside my hammock the next morning

The Descent down Silver Creek rocked!! Perfect weather and I forgot how pretty this Valley is, lots of beaver dams

The beginning of the Rainbow Trail! This section was Primo

These pics are from the Methodist Mountain/Poncha Pass section of the RT. The pictures do not do justice for how difficult this section was. Out of all the sections of the RT I have ridden this was by far the toughest plus it did not help I bonked this day

Day 2 Campsite man we packed alot of Chit.

This was out bailout point on day 3 the Bear Creek trail head. There was a possibility of completing the ride via the RT but it would of been about 36 miles of rough single track and decided it would be easier to head down to the valley and get to the car via dirt roads. Easy decision after 2 days on the trail. Plus we dropped about 2k of vertical on this road and hit a new top speed record of 40mph, not to hard when you are loaded down with gear

The Arkansas and a nice spot for lunch

Random pics through Howard and Cotopaxi and the end of day 3. That dear leg was at the very end of the ride. Not sure who ate that feller and glad I was not around (:

Beartooth Mountains 07

2007-07-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

For about the past 6 years I have stayed out here for a week and have had a chance to really explore the area on my mountain bike. I dont see how the scenery can get much better. The Absoraka Beartooths Mountains are on the NE corner of Yellowstone on the border of Wy and Montana.

There are two rides posted here. I did the ride a couple of diffrent ways, the first day I got rained on wrecked and broke my rib. The second day was just picture perfect.

Start of the ride

Cruzin along lots hopin it does not rain

Somehow my front tire got wedged between the side of the trail and this rock

Ended up OTB and took a handle bar to my rib cage OUCH broken rib

Plenty of water features

Fork in the road

And the Downhill Begins

Mud kept clogging up my fork

And a quick wash to get the mud off and this completes the first ride

Perfect weather for day two!

Dank Trail to start off on

Every great ride requires a bit of Hike-A-Bike

WOW!

Not my best self timer shot

More climbing

Cruzin Along just blown away with the scenery

Time for a little break and siphon some crystal clear glaicer water

Getting close to the top

Start of day two downhill no mud this time!

Nice Shot Jay!

More DH Shots

The last part of the ride was all marsh around the lake but rideable

And the Final Stream Crossing

So I hope you enjoyed the show. I spent extra time trying to get good shots with my MTB Peeps in mind!

Splish Splash at Rampart 5.26.2007

2007-05-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Colorado Trail Molas Pass To Hotel Drad

2006-09-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

9.2.2006

This trip to Durango was one of our best of all time. Early into backcountry mountain biking this area offered up a sweet section of the Colorado Trail. Most of the 20 mile section of the Colorado Trail we rode was at or above tree line. Eager to test my abilities against a plush section of high alpine I picked to ride the section of the Colorado Trail from the top of Molas Pass to Celebration Lake. I plan on a multi day trip connecting about 70 miles of singletrack from Molas all the way back to Durango.

Our campsite was cool we got in late the night before and randomly fell upon a spot in the middle of a cow pasture. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of a cow ripping up grass just outsitde the tent. I could hear it breating and chewing the grass and ocassionally it would trip on the tent guy lines shaking the tent.

Engineer Mountain. I want to thank my dad for lending me his camera to capture the spectacular trip.

The start of the Ride. Mike is on his brand new Session 7 after the Raliegh got stolen this summer of 2006.

Twisty Colorado Trail. It was a bit dry.

My favorite Jersey

Go figure Mike with a flat. He must be gay...

Here is a pic of me right after I had Lasic Surgery. Man it was cool to wear sunglasses again. I will say my night vision was off as I hit a Mountain Lion driving on HY160 at dusk.

Ah the ole Stupmy. This may be the ride that made me realize 100mm of travel aint enough

Mike bombing a cool alpine section of the Colorado Trail I was chillin at the top of the pass when i took this photo. I need to look at my map and see what the name of this pass was. I know it was well of 12k feet.

Dank ass woods. Check hot the girth on that pine!

Mike checking the map one last time to finish the ride and get us back to camp. Is he wearing a snowboard coat? I remember my bike falling over after leaning it aginst the post.

I love the San Juans unlike any other range in Colorado. This was the tail end of the ride and it was about 90% downhill from here back to camp.

And were done. Mike busted out the celabatory beers! Notice Mikes zipper is down from touching himself.......

Random Old School Moab Pics

2005-04-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Excessive ammounts of lycra in this post!

Some of these are old! Gotta love Moab. Enjoy! (: