Great weekend of riding in Breck.

Johanna and I just spent the weekend hanging out with friends and riding in Breckenridge.  We shot out of town a little early on Friday to beat the traffic and did a couple of great rides on Saturday and Sunday.  Before this we had only been to Breckenridge twice so we were still on our first handfull of rides in the area. My favorite thing about the trails is how much it reminds me of Virginia riding.  Don't get me wrong, the chunky, dusty front range riding is awesome but we came up riding the loamy, rooty, swoopy trails of central Virginia.  Breckenridge is much like VA but about 7,000ft higher.

The first day Johanna really wanted to try and get up to the Continental Divide.  Her first (ridiculous) ride plan involved climbing up to 14,000ft...which just wasn't going to happen.  Our friend Rebecca wisely suggested an alternative that would get us just under 12,000ft at Georgia Pass.  We started on Tiger Run Road in Breckenridge and did a 16 mile out and back.  8 miles up, 8 miles down... Sort of. The first half of the climb was really just some nice rolling terrain to soften you up for the real gut kicker.  The next two miles were brutal basically making up the bulk of the 2,000ft of climbing. The last 2 miles of climbing we fairly chill gradually bringing us up to Georgia Pass.

Day 2 was a dog-friendly loop that topped out at about 11,000ft with much less climbing all around. I was feeling surprisingly good until the last road climb but after that it was all perma-grin downhill.

If you care about the details you can see the Strava info for the Georgia Pass and Burro/Spruce Rides.

MTB Week 2012:Sedona

Last year 8 Virginia mountain bikers descended on Fruita like a swarm of fat tire locusts.  We had a great time camping in some amazing places, packing more people and bikes in a pickup truck than is likely legal and bombing down Porcupine Rim.

This year we opted to go a little more posh and "base camp" out of a VRBO in Sedona, AZ.  You may be wondering..."Why Sedona? Moab, sure, Fruita, Yup! But what's in Sedona?"  Oh, only about 300 miles of trails and mind blowing scenery right from your doorstep.

It was pretty nice to be based out of a house where we could roll out of the garage and ride to most of the trail heads.  We did drive one day when we wanted to check out some trails on the North side of town.

We basically all landed in Arizona on Saturday and made it to the house Saturday evening.  Team Vegan did have a slight delay and rolled in a day later.  Sunday's ride was HOT!  We got a bit of a late start and were out in the desert cooking during the heat of the day.  By 2 or 3 in the afternoon we were pretty much all in survival mode just looking to get back to the comfort of our little resort on the golf course.

We did meet a couple of characters on day 1.  A local who kind of had something to prove with a buddy who rides in denim. I think we also suffered from a flat or two on that first day.

Day two was pretty similar.  We got out a little earlier to try and beat the heat but we were still out there when it was close to 100 degrees.

On Tuesday we decided to head for higher ground and meet up with a Charlottesville buddy that recently moved to Flagstaff.  Unfortunately, Chris had befriended some local riders who had been pent up all winter and hadn't just spent the last two days trying to cook their brains in the desert sun.  All things considered it was a great ride and a good day in Flag.

Wednesday was a rest day for some of us.  Johanna, Fenton, Kyle and Richard opted for a little pre Grand Canyon ride.  I think they were out the door by 6:00 and a few hours later we were all headed up to the Grand Canyon for a little day trip.

By the end of the week temps had cooled down into the 70's and it was pretty ideal for riding.  I think we had some rain in the early part of Thursday so we waited it out and the group split up for two different afternoon rides.  J and Richard explored the Airport trails and the rest of us (minus Fenton who was beginning his own personal journey into hell) rode some of the stuff closer to town.

The last ride of the week was just a bit North of town and was pretty much perfect.  Being the last ride of the week I decided to throw the gauntlet down as we approached a short rise before a decent descent.  As I expected, Kyle and Richard answered the call and the three of us were tearing through baby heads like nobody's business.  I did manage to bonk myself about 300 yards from the car...which I would say is just about ideal.

Denver Veloswap...

...is only the world's largest consumer bicycling and sports expo.

But that didn't really give me an idea of what to expect.  All I knew is that back in March a local cyclist told me to keep an eye out for it.  So I did.  I found the date and set it on my calendar.  All I could gather was that it was going to be an epic gear swap of old, new and in-between cycling gear.  Individuals, shops, retailers would all be there to peddle their wares.

We wanted to get there when the doors opened so at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning we rolled out of Choice City to The Mile High to start our morning at a great little diner. We got to the doors about 45 minutes before they opened and we had a pretty good spot in line.  It wasn't quite backed up to the freeway yet (but it didn't take long to get there).

So...it seems like there are two strategies, but before I talk strategy...I've gotta talk layout.  As you walk in, you first go through all of the major manufacturers and sponsors...we are talking about folks like Rudy Project, Subaru...then you get to the big retailers (Mavic, Panda Bike, Full Cycle, Big Shot Bikes) then it starts to get to the guys with piles and piles of used shit, well it's not all used.  Clearly some of the gear might be unused stuff from a sponsor, or maybe some equipment that has one season of use, or stuff that was ridden within an inch of its life.  There's also a LOT of really vintage stuff out there.  I was looking for some odds and ends and was definitely ready to pounce on a good deal if one popped up.

Right, so strategy...it's really not that complex.  Either you can start at the front and work your way back or bolt to the back and work your way forward. I opted to head for the used stuff since I was looking for a deal on some mechanical brakes.

This shot gives you an idea of what the inside looked like.

I actually only spent $25 at the expo but I did score two Avid BB7's with levers, a nice ear warmer and two blinky lights.  Not a bad take for 25 bucks.  J managed to raid the Pearl Izumi women's medium bin to find several pairs of shorts (including two baggies) and three pairs of socks for one Mr. Benjamin.  She also scored 4 handlebars for 5 dollars.

I'll definitely be back next year, ready to deal.  It may actually be worth getting a vendor pass to get in the doors a little early so I don't have to battle the masses next year.  It was amazing how many people piled into the building in just 20 minutes.  I think also for next year, I may actually print out the map.  I got disoriented more than once and J had to navigate me to the guy with the $5 disk rotors...I would have been in the far corner with the 65 year old couple trying to sell their trek tandem for $650.

Oh, this was pretty awesome too.

Day Six - Honkytonk Badonkadonk

Today was the Monarch Crest Trail.  35 miles of riding, 3,500 ft of climbing with most of the climbing above 11,000ft and almost 7,000ft of descending!  It's a really gorgeous ride with some phenominal views and even a little East-Coast style riding.  One of these days I'll tally my observations between Colorado and Virginia riding but for now I'll just say it was nice to ride in the trees a little bit and railing corners.  I was quite surprised that a good bit of the ride was actually shaded. It didn't feel like hot, exposed CO riding until the very end.

If you are thinking about doing this ride I have a few thoughts.

• It's awesome, do it. 
• It's quite fun with a group.
• Even though there's 3,500ft of climbing it's all very mellow.  Nothing too steep until you reach the last 10 miles where there's some short gut busters.
• Get on the trail early to beat the heat and afternoon thunderstorms.
• A shuttle is necessary, plan accordingly.
• A map is a good idea.  Absolute Bikes in Salida has an excellent map.

My recap from a non-trail perspective

1. The King hub performed flawlessly, even missing a ball in one of the bearings
2. I overpacked.
3. I do not like Ergon grips at all.  My hands were both numb and in pain at the bottom of a 5 mile descent.  

Oh, if you've gotten this far and you are wondering what the hell the title is about.  This song was playing when I went into the restroom before the ride.

A Weekend in Sunny San Francisco

Our good friend Sally moved from Charlottesville to California several years ago.  She started out in L.A. working for Yahoo and ended up moving to San Francisco a couple of years later.  We've kept up with Sally a little bit over the years, making an effort to hook up with her when we were in Monterey for Sea Otter.  The last time we were out there we met her (then) new guy, Tommy.  Tommy seemed pretty cool, but Sally already knew that, she didn't need our stamp of approval.

Fast forward ~3 years later.  We are living in Colorado and we get an invite to Sally's wedding in San Fran.  Well, we are already halfway across the country and San Fran is an easy direct flight, and Sally is awesome, so it was an easy call.  As an added bonus, we got a chance to hang out with another C-ville friend KP. We actually stayed with KP and fam in Marin over the weekend.

After a day of chillaxin' and eating in Marin, we geared up for the wedding on Sunday.  The ceremony was held at the UC Berkley Botanical Gardens.  It was a very cool venue.  A small amphitheater nestled in a redwood forest.  After a short ceremony we headed over to the cocktail hour.  The highlight of the afternoon had to be when they introduced Tommy & Sally for the first time as a married couple.  The small crowd started with some hearty applause and was showing no signs of letting up...the applause continued...and continued...and people started standing...clapping louder and louder.  I didn't set a stopwatch but I am pretty sure it was at least a 2-minute standing ovation for Sally and Tommy.

After the reception we rolled mack to Marin to recoup and gear up for the party that evening.  It was an "Under The Sea" Nautical-Themed bash.  The DJ was more into his custom mixes than entertaining the crowd, but it was a fun-loving crew that embraced the nautical costume recommendation completely.  I think none so completely as Johanna though. She really pulled off a great fish costume from head to toe.  I wasn't so motivated but I did wear my captain's hat all night long.  I even got a nod from the toll booth attendant on the GG bridge.

We had a little bit of time before our flight the next day and went on a great hike with KP and little G.  It was a short walk out to a great little beach.  We had some lunch, threw some rocks into the ocean and just enjoyed the wonderfully humid air.  It wasn't Virginia humid, but just about anything beats the dry Colorado air we've been living in.  

We are now back in Fort Collins, recovering from last weekend and gearing up for next...we've got a visitor coming!