Captitol Reef

Temple Mountain at the heart of the San Rafael Swell. Picture by Mary.

Mary is taking some really cool tree shots lately. So, despite having a motorized beast on the back of our truck, we quickly left The Swell because there were so many ATV/Moto chuckleheads ripping around. Our hope was that they would all be leaving late Sunday, but most seemed to be planning on a Monday holiday too. It looked like a trailer park, because apparently folks can't camp anymore without a TV, AC, or a DVD. Gone are campfires and tents in favor of all the comforts of home. And, gone too is the experience, ya know, camping?And camp we did. After driving 50 miles out of the way for gas (man I love Utah) we headed up and over some pretty tall mountains to drop into 3 awesome little towns near the entrance of Capitol Reef Nat. Park. Bicknal, Loa, and my favorite, Torrey UT were in a line as we dropped back down towards the cliffs of Capitol Reef. We found a perfect campsite nestled in some rocks which sheltered us from the wind. It was a darn cold night, but our new two person bag works perfectly and can even fit a Gustifson if needed. Sunrise turned the cliffs pink as pink can be.Before breakfast Gus and I headed up a trail near camp. I was quickly in heaven as I realized it was an old mining trail blasted into the rock. I was having dreams of someday riding my bike down it and connecting to this trail by way of the distant slick rock I could see in this far away view, pictured below. We drove through Capitol Reef like good tourists and even stopped at the visitor center and some marked view points, like "The Goose Necks" below.


It was quite a good trip and we packed a lot into only 1.5 days off. We for sure will be going back. There is a lot of rock out there to explore.

80's Night Re-Visited

If we were an 80's Punk Rock band the above shot would be on our "record" cover.

These pics were just too good to not post. Thanks, (or no thanks) to Dave Nash's fish eye lenz.

These two guys are only Gay for one night a year. At least thats what they tell me.

Notice how cool my 1989 Nike Force shoes are? Really, they ARE COOL!

Whoops, thats a nipple shot, I thought this site was rated PG-13?

THROWDOWN RACE REPORT....

Flyin Ryan wins yet another Throwdown! Free Lunch trail proved to be more difficult than any of us expected. It's a hard trail to go FAST on. Greg was out grabbing what shots he could in the fading light.

Group shot below of those who dared to THROW DOWN, except Brad who forgot about the race. As usual it was not without carnage. Troy took a hard digger leaving some ugly gashes and swelling on the shins, and Noah, managed to only explode ONE tire this time. We now change his name from Double Pinch Flat Noah to SNAKE BIGHT NOAH!

Times are as follows...

Flyin Ryan: 5:05

Snake Bight Noah: DNF

Jared the Thunder: 5:32

The Hammer who is Troy: DNF

Comandn' Landon: 5:33 (ONE FREAKIN SECOND!)

Keith the Killer: 7:54

Micha the peeing Heeler Dog: 7:54

Thanks to Mary for timing and waiting in the cold!

Oh yea, and none of this really happened, because Throwdown doesn't exist.... right?

MARCHing along!

Bull Canyon, Moab UT. This was about 3 weeks ago, and I was in the middle of being sick as heck, but it was a great ride anyway. We ended up riding all the way back to town, roughly 28 miles. Not a bad early season ride. Riders are Keith, Tim, Nancy, and Anne The sun set behind the Henry Mtns as we picked up the truck to drive home. Just another average desert sunset.Blue Tires?????????? Who would have thought they would actually look cool? Well, Mary of course! Adelaide the Amsterdam shows off with the Colorady River as a backdrop.

Above---Mary glad to be out riding, even if just a little bit.

I got this great shot of Greg out on the Gunnison Bluffs trail a week or so ago. Just another average desert sunset. LOL!

Rabbit Valley--- On a more cross country ride I managed to find some stuff to jump off of. Keith, Greg, Trina and I had a great ripp this day, and an even better burger afterwards!

5 in a Van

After leaving Sedona we drove as far as we could through "The Rez." Near Kayenta AZ, Travis began weaving so we pulled over for some sleep. It was bitterly cold and sleeping in the tent sounded really bad. Sooo, we all scrunched into Travis's van. Yes, Noah, that is a seperate sleeping bag between Nancy and I. Missing from the photo is Travis, and Gustifson who slept warmly beneath our feet.

We awoke early driving through Monument Valley at sunrise.

Notice the houses at the base of the rock. Perspective?

And thus ends another 3 weeks of Arizona bliss.

A stop in Sedona....

On our way back towards home we stopped in Sedona for a late afternoon ride. Travis and Nancy met us there. They were working over the locals trying to get some secret trail info. They succeeded in getting local ripper "Chewy" to ride with us and show us a trail. Trail name? Dammed if I know? Me, near the beginning of Dammed if I know?

Sedona is like Moab and Zion morphed together. Or, as a buddy put it, "A snooty little town where a national park should be."

Notice the size of the wee little bikes at the bottom of the photo.

The descent from the high point of the trail was an absolute blast. I can't wait to go back now that I know what to expect.

The video below is of a very steep roll in near the end of the trail. What you can't see in the video is a log booter jump after the roll in. SWEEEEEET!

Pump Trackin it....

After a sweet tear down La Milagrosa we ended up at John and Emily's for some Pump Track action.

Chuck D in the corner.

Travis VanDenBoost shows us how to rail a corner.

Thanks to John and Emily for the sweet eats and a good warm fire and place to play.