Sat. June 27th, 2010- Elbow tweeker and ripping w/ Ben and Gus

Sat. June 26th, 2010. Riding bikes again in WL. Gus and I ripped a morning lap on Fox Mt. before hooking up w/ the 13 yr old up and comer, Ben. We went and rallied Snakes and Ladders into Dead Sailor proper off the radio tower (nice xc pedal to get there). I tweeked my deraileur on a skinny and had to do some trail side tweeking. The DH was loose and a bit sketchy. I took one tumble and bumped my shoulder into a tree. Ben and Gus went down once apiece as well. Then we went to Fox and rode Gus's trail AgentSkully. We were having sessions on the various moves in the beginning- the step up, then the gap through the trees which I didn't think was possible. I ended up blowing the berm the first go, then sticking it second go. We got some cool pics!! Then we moved on to the 2 DJ's. Ben was casing the second one pretty good but was still given'r pretty good for being only 13!! Then the downturn of the day occurred. I followed Gus off the 3-pack that leads into a stepdown hip into a gully. I got kicked a little weird on the last set-up jump and sent the step down HUGE. I realized in the air that I was screwed. I got kicked a little weird and landed tipping over to my L side. I let out a huge HUUUUUUUUUUUUH when I landed. I luckily landed on the bike, which slowed me down a bit, but I landed awkwardly on my L elbow, then I smacked my head HARD. I was sooooooooo lucky that there wasn't a rock, root, stump, or any other hard object where my head smacked because I was at the full mercy of the wreck. I rolled over onto all fours once I realized I wasn't knocked out, and shook out the cobwebs. Ben stood on the jump and asked if I was alright. I got up and dusted myself off (I landed in a pile of duff). My head was ringing a bit, but my elbow seemed to turn into the main problem. I took my time shaking it off, then turned into photographer for a bit as Ben and Gus worked the gap into the massive, natural gap (35'). Ben was the only one who went for it. He knuckled it hard twice (I was kind of shocked the first time, and didn't even get a pick since I was standing there slack jawed w/ my camera in my hands), and barely road away. He did the classic both feet off pedals, ass on seat out of control exit move. I pulled it together after getting photos of Gus hitting the pit gap at the end, and hit it myself a couple of times. We ended up hanging out at the house that evening- Megan was busy making granola and energy bars, I made some baked tofu. I did some good MFR/body work on Gus for a good hour and a half. He is all gnarly from tree planting. Off to the good bed again!!

June 25th, 2010 Mega Sesh w/ Gus- WL

I'm Chilling at Gustav and Megan's cozy basement apartment in William's Lake, BC. I've been here for one week on the nose now. It has been an awesome mix of cool town, tons of riders, and open arms and hearts. Since linking up w/ Gus a few days ago for some riding, we've been at it all day, often sessioning stunts and jumps numerous times. Two days ago now, Friday the 25th, we had an awesome day that started on Shuttle Bunny. I had never ridden the whole trail, and it was super cool. After getting through the tree slalom course w/ my wide bars, it opened up into some stepdowns and jumps, including the mega sniper road gap. I was happy to hit it smooth on my first go, and I happily took pics of Gus sessioning it. We ripped a super high speed gully at the bottom which was a hoot, then took the connector back over to Hillbilly Deluxe's exit. Then we cruised back into town on the road, swooping through a park and hitting a few jumps before making our way to the Gecko Tree Cafe for breakfast w/ Megan. After breakfast we boogied back up, got my van off Fox Mt. and headed over to Slater Mt. We rode Clean Slate, which is the ridge above Gutterball. It was a bit pedaly at the start and after ducking under a barbed wire fence we were off to the races. It was pretty fun with some jumps and flowy sidehill sections. Gus and I made short work of it. At the end it tied into Gutterball and we picked our way through the gnar. It's tight w/ boulders and drops in various situations and at different angles. It's also loose and dusty w/ rocks regularly flying in all directions as you pass through the walls of rock. We reset the shuttle situation and rallied onto Gutterball. We hit the opening flowy berm section into the 3-pack of 15' gaps a couple of times and set the precedent for the day- lots of sessioning. We hit up the hip over the stump stepdown, the wood drop/stepdown into the gully of 2 jumps. The DH log ride into the gap over the barbed wire fence, and then into the newest feature- a berm that turns uphill and into a hip jump that you hit over the usual step up hip line to the R of it. The landing was a tangle of logs and sticks that did not invite the would-be sender. We cleared the landing after Gus was first to hit it- sans helmet on a "run in." He nearly flew into a pile of logs downhill from the landing. After stomping down the pillowed dirt (which actually had some moisture in it), I decided to hit it. I ended up hitting the ground after 50/50ing the landing and taking the tumble. We got it dialed- a combination of railing the berm at mach 9 speeds and holding it together, combined w/ timing the pop and making sure to send it over the other jump w/o eating it. We then pushed back up, climbing under the barbed wire fence, and hit the whole line, then into the next set up double and then the big hip. It's hard to sprint, hit moves, sprint, hit moves, and keep it all super precise, which is what is needed for success. We hit the whole thing a bunch of times. I was really starting to get worked so we "hit it and quit it." We sessioned the next 3-pack of DJ's, then the step down, step up. Near the bottom, Gus hit the super sniper turn under tree to hip transfer. I didn't even think about trying it. That kid is an animal!! He didn't even have a sip of water the whole 3.5 hrs of sprinting at jumps, then pushing back uphill for another go. We then did something silly. We enlisted Megan to drive us 30+ minutes to do a Godspeed on Desous Mt's backside- at 8:30PM!! Once onto the trail Gus got an immediate flat. I gave him shit (and rightfully so) for not carrying a pack w/ all the necessary tools. Once he got it fixed up we were ripping some of the most fun, flowy trails around. We railed corner after corner on perfect dirt. No I wasn't dreaming. Then came a steep trough of gnar that claimed Gus. I went by him and rode the "not as gnarly as I thought it was going to be" section. I rode it slow and cautiously. If it was super dry it would be SKETCHY!! It opened back up and I blindly hit a 20' creek gap. Then I waited for Gus for w bit. He was getting worked on his small bike. The bottom rode through a creek bed of Soapstone, and unfortunately had been subjected to a recent mud slide. It was definitely the gnarliest stuff that I've ridden in William's Lake. A couple of times I was getting bounced around HARD- one leg flapping in the breeze trying to keep up some sort of balance as I desperately pin-balled through the creek bed. The bottom opened up for a bit before dumping us onto the road w/ the late evening sun shining down on us. Oh glorious day!! We went back to Gus and Megan's house, and sipped some organic beers before wandering around a small bit of woods nearby their house. I'm back out of the van and back into a comfy bed in a spare bedroom. SCORE!!

Thurs June 24th- Ripping w/ Gus and Kyle- WL

Today was sick as hell!! After having a great dinner at David and Juana's last night, then working on David until 1am, I slept like a baby at the trail head for Mitch's Brew on Fox Mtn. I woke up around 9am (sleeping in for me these daze), and cruised in to the Gecko (my normal routine now) for breakfast. I ordered the Hungry Hippy- 3 eggs, tofu, veggies, cheese, and other goodness scrambled up together and topped w/ avocado, tomato, and sour cream. I stuggled to put it down, but it ended keeping me going ALL DAY!! I sipped coffee and perused the internet for a bit before heading over to Red Shreds. Once there I phoned Gus who promptly came over. We went to the Southside and rode Dirty Branches to Rad Bits. It was super fun and flowy w/ lots of corners to "roost" out of. Gus is a total ripper and has been riding a Specialized Pitch (with the P covered in a B) ever since he broke his Bottlerocket. Scary thought!! We rallied back to the shop and met up w/ Kyle who had recruited his mom for shuttle duties. We rallied to Desous after picking her up and rode Prime and Endless. It was super fun and flowy up top, ripping through fir forest, then got super steep with a ton of challenging corners to negotiate (in a bit of a scree field). It finished off w/ some jumps and more steeps, my brakes making a horrendous noise by the end of it (also moving to the two fingers per brake for short bits). We sessioned one hip jump into a loamy corner that you could brap. I got a couple cool pics of Gus on this section. While waiting for Kyle's mom at the bottom I couldn't help but notice that the terrain across the valley looked prime for a HUGE jump. Well, Kyle pointed me to a huge cheese wedge at the top where James Doerfling had build just that. There was also a road gap and jump to natural wallride in the same zone. Hmmmmmm.........might have to send it to the moon!!

We couldn't convince Kyle's mom for another lap, so we dropped her off and headed over to the Rad Bits zone and onto Freshly Trimmed, one of James' trails. It had a cool step down to hip to double to step up (wood to dirt). Then another jump, before a couple corners and a big wood step down followed by another wood hip. There was also a hip step down to step up that we timed just right and actually got a shot of both of us in the air at the same time. It was really fun to sesh some jumps w/ Gus and Kyle. The trail ended on some really ripping trail, complete w/ a good few brapper berms. Kyle had to bail, but Gus and I shuttled back up and rode Bell-E. It was really fun and flowy up top w/ some pedaling, then gave away to some jumps through the trees (and a couple bigger trannied stepdowns). We veered over and hit the Westsyde Road gap- probably the biggest jump I've hit here in William's Lake. Then we trained into the rest of the jumps on the trail (me hitting them blindly). THEN we veered over and hit Sick and Nasty- named after two lines down a super steep gully, into a g-out, then off a step up hip that is a bit of a lofter. It was "adrenalizing" to say the least!! We finished the ride off w/ some pedaling and ran into Masters and Nelly who were off on a xc ride. There was some talk of Smithers, which is north of Prince George, and their crazy amount of trails that they've been building w/ grant money. I hear there's really good food in town and they love to take in out of towner. Sounds pretty damn cool!! Now if only we can get Gus a big bike, which he says is mandatory (wow- he sent everything on his Bitch today- including some BIG stuff- Smithers must be bigger!!). Now I'm chilling at the laundromat after mowing a 1/2# burger, fries, a salad, and a margarita. I'm gonna go to David's and get a massage later, then will hopefully repeat the amazing day I had!!!

William's Lake Day 3- Sun. June 21st, 2010

The next morning I stumbled into Mark and Jucinda's and had a espresso w/ them before heading to town and the Gecko Cafe (hands down the best food in WL). I met Kari and Lacey as well as Cory. We got out and rode a couple A Flo Daddy laps, then a Dog Bone w/ Colin, Kailem, and Laura. I almost died on the 40' gap jump. I had hit it previously w/ the youngsters on day 1, coming up just a touch short (no really defined landing), so I really charged off it second go. Probably a bit too hard. I got a little funky in the air and landed off the trail in some weeds. I was in the air for a LONG time!! I really wanted to grab the brakes and freak out, but I tried to hold it together as long as possible. I landed really hard, bottomed the bike out, and somehow rode away unscathed. I'll never hit it again!! Dog Bone was a crazy steep switch back trail. Kailem told me to "let it go off the wallride" in one section. I got going way too fast, pinned it through some gnar, and had to jump off the bike before flying off the trail into some rocks. Hehe!! Cory and I tried to do Snakes and Ladders, but after changing my brake pads on the top of the trail, my brake never pumped back up!! I rode most of the stunts (that were left) and all of the trail, but it was sketchy when the front tire started to push!! Out to Mark's for a sweat lodge session!! I met David and Juana (who cooks at the Gecko), another Veterinarian, Jessie, Laura, and a few others who's name evade me right now. It was the first sweat I've ever been to where they pile ALL the stones it at once (25!!!). The lodge was built underground right on the water!! Between doors we got out and jumped in the lake!! It was AWESOME!!!! We sung and meditated, and SWEATED!! Afterwards we had strawberry crisp around the fire. Then a long, deep sleep that didn't feel long enough (the sun is up EARLY, and so am I these daze!!).

William's Lake Day 2- Sun. June 20th, 2010

Yesterday I went to Desous Mtn to hook up w/ some locals. It didn't start off as planned- getting lost, then getting eaten by a swarm of mosquitos at the bottom waiting for someone- anyone to show up!! After a while of getting eaten by the voracious bugs I decided to pedal up the 5.5 KM myself. It was hot and took ~45-60 minutes. I got passed by an older couple on an enduro which only added to my misery. I made it to the top and wandered around looking for the various trails. The "frontside" trails included Sunset Blvd- which I rode first- BIG mistake. The only "double black" it was NOT. Pedaly and torn down stunts everywhere......was this some sort of sick joke?!! I ended up on some random overgrown road and picked my way though some decrepit jumps, around a house on a lake, and FINALLY back to my van. I ate a sandwich stewing for a bit, all the while getting my blood extracted by the vicious bugs. They forced me into the van. Lucky for me I ran into some local kids on DJ's and they were nice enough to drop me off on top again!! I rode Oosue, which had a cool rock drop reminiscent of Tower Of Lies, a "triple black diamond" cliff section w/ a tricky off camber root move (w/ some decent exposure), and some flowy jumps (and of course the obligatory pedal at the bottom on the xc trail). I decided to bail, but ran into a group of bikers pulling in. I turned around and met Cory (and his micro van) and a bunch of locals. They incorporated me into the back (returning from a backside lap on Soo Long) and I got to ride the Original Desous DH. It was fun, but not as good as Oosue in my opinion. I finished there w/ one more lap on Oosue w/ one other guy from up north. Afterwards, a couple of the guys took me and rode Gutterball on Slater Mtn. It was the best trail yet overall for huck factor. It had a 3 pack of jumps to start, some flowy trail, then about 15 more jumps in various configurations. There was a cool downhill log ride to gap jump over a barbed wire fence, a few cool hip jumps (I was the only one to hit the biggest one), a sweet step down to step up that was big, but easy to overshoot, and a blind 20' + step-down over a bunch of foliage. It ended in a gnarly, rocky, tight, loose gully. The dude in front of me took a good digger and scraped up his arm pretty good. Pretty damn cool trail!! Afterwards I was asking where to camp when it was suggested that I cruise out to Mark's House, the owner of Red Shred's. Seeing as I've never met him I felt a little weird, but I was assured that it was fine. I cruised out toward Chimney Lake and accidentally drove past his house (looking for a paddle on the fence). After passing all the houses and hitting dirt road I turned around and asked a couple guys working on their fence if they knew where Mark lived. One of them drove down the road to show me. I rolled up and met Jucinda, Mark's GF (?). Just then, ???? showed up and swept me away to the golf course where Mark and Kailem where swatting balls around a small local course. They were just finishing up and we went back to Mark's. It was super fun hanging out w/ this group.....they had hilarious stories of sledding, boarding, biking, life, etc. We jumped in the hot tub and had a few party appetizers to boot. I had a great chat w/ Maggie from Kimberly who was a holistic practitioner and had a bunch of interesting views on health and natural medicine. Trish had a super happy baby girl floating around the party. I retired to the van and had a good snooze. What a life!!

Kamloops wrap-up and William's Lake Day 1

Well, I'm sitting at the trailhead of Hillbilly Deluxe- a trail in William's Lake, BC. I pulled in around 4:30 this afternoon after dragging myself away from Jay and Marcie's super crib. I made them a veggie scramble for breakfast and we sat around shooting the wad for a while before peeling out at ~12:30. They are some of the coolest people I've had the pleasure of getting to know better in a while!! We rode everyday- 3 laps on Rio w/ Michelle and Toby, then 3 laps of Harper w/ Ja on Tuesday. Some trail building on Jameison w/ Ja on Wed- built a sweet jump and berm on the more established trail, then ripped it. Ja was all flustered since he was late for beer bottling and ate it into the hole we dug from!! I overshot it the first go, then hit it perfect the second time. I hit the road gap solo at the bottom (smooth), then hung out at the bottom near the stream for lunch. We were supposed to get together and ride Greenstone that evening, but Ja tried to call me (I turned it off at border), so I ended up hanging out solo for a bit at the house, jumping on their trampoline w/ the tramp bike (trying no foot cans, bar spins, and one footed flatties to both sides). Thursday we rode some more Harper (thanks for the shuttles Marcie) and got some pretty killer photos of Pimpernaut (me jumping over Marcie drinking a beer, and a sweet one of me on the wood to dirt kicker). We finished off the evening by riding w/ Metro on their trail on Greenstone. It was super fun w/ lots of berm work and flowy jumps that used the natural terrain extremely well. Only one move needed some more loving (in my opinion)- the wood to dirt hip- which seemed to have logs in the wrong part of the tranny. I ended up hitting it third lap and almost eating it off the high side of the tranny. Friday I tried to leave, but just as I was saying my goodbyes, Matt Hunter called Ja to see if he wanted to ride. He didn't, but I sure jumped on the opportunity to ride again w/ Matt. He had a bunch of buddies in town- Jon-O and Michelle from Nelson, Ben (his cousin), his GF Nikki, and another buddy from Victoria. We ripped 3 laps, the last of which they ended at a sweet camp site w/ a view of the whole valley below. I sat around w/ them for a while sipping on a beer and eating chips as they cooked some "smokies" on the grill. Just before dark I peeled out and ripped the rest of Nate's Woody. Unfortunately I mistimed my braking after hitting a wood booter and ended up stacking it into a berm below. I kind of tweeked my thumb and scraped up my shoulder and back a bit. I finished off the trail a bit more reserved and headed back to Ja's where they were having a bit of a party. I choked down a couple of cold burgers and some potato salad while hanging out w/ another Ben and his wife, plus a dude I met last year at Smoke's May Long Weekend Jam. It was a glorious week full of bike talk, bike riding, good food, and great company. Thanks guys!!

Today I timed it out pretty good. I stopped at the Laughing Loon to try to find people to shuttle w/ but no luck. Then I went to the bottom of Hillbilly Stunts and ended up running into a family that was shuttling for a couple of birthday boys!! I got 3 laps out of the deal!! We rode HS, then onto Mitch's ?, and A Flo Daddy. I hit the A Flo road gap (pretty solid) and then onto the 40 footer (probably a bit less) which I aborted on the first go (decided to actually LOOK at it a bit too late and had to launch the bike off the wood kicker and jump off, deeply bruising and cutting the back of my leg (f'n ow!!). All in all a good bit of riding for the first day- not too gnarly, but still hit a couple solid moves. Their trails seem to be a bit over-rated w/ regards to difficulty (Mitch's was fun w/ some medium tabletops and was labeled expert- so was HS?!). I ate at the Laughing Loon while talking to my mama on Skype (pretty damn cool!!!), then drove around looking for a spot to camp. No real luck, plus one aborted mission down a dirt road that turned gnarly, forcing me to turn around in a bunch of bushes/high grasses. That pretty much brings me back to where I sit, typing in the dark w/ the sounds of some birds and frogs in the background. Hopefully Gustav calls me for some ripping tomorrow!! Otherwise I think I'm off to check out Desous Mtn. and/or the Westside Trails (Snakes and Ladders, plus a number of "extreme" steep stunted trails w/ "expert" jumps. I also want to try to hook up w/ James Doerfling while I'm here so he can show me how to ride a bike!! OK.....off to bed!! I'm beat!!

Kamloops-Rio and Jameson; June 15th, 2010

I slept like crap last night, even though I was in the most comfy bed I've slept in in a while. One part new house, one part excitement to ride new trails, one part early ass sun rise!! I was up for a while, went back to sleep, and then woke back up and was sure it was time to go, but no, it was 6:20AM. Jay and Marcie were gone already, and Ja and I munched granola and sipped coffee on his patio. We met up w/ Toby and Michelle (who I guess was a man at one point?), who was celebrating her 40th birthday. We jumped in her crazy rack having, lifted Tundra and crept a slow, steep 4x4 road up to Rio. We unloaded and I jumped on my bike to bounce around for a second. Only problem was that my chain was stuck on the frame and my forceful pedal stroke broke my chain and sent me to the ground, complete w/ gouges in the back of my leg. Great!! I put in a quick link and we took off down the trail. A couple nice lofter jumps got me going, and we stopped to session a step down road gap to hip road gap. I cased the second jump pretty bad, so I pushed back up and hit it again more smoothly (w/ some style). Then I hit it a third time behind Ja (for the camera) and totally knuckled the landing still hipped out. I over corrected and went cart wheeling into Ja. Nice. More bumps and bruises coming. The lower bit was super fun, and rocketed back and forth along a gully, with wallrides abound. We got a second run via Marcie shuttling us, and the rain picked up its intensity. We basically ripped it top to bottom. My face was super splattered w/ mud (I need some goggles!!), and my shorts were soaked w/ mud and water. We took a lunch break over at Frick and Frack's (Tandoori Chicken Wrap and Greek Salad), then chilled at Ja and Marcie's for a bit before getting really stoked (thanks Follow Me) and heading over for a night capper at Jamison. Ja was gracious enough to shuttle us, and Marcie tested out her sprained ankle for the first time (that girl can RIDE!!!). The first lap was super thin single track, slightly overgrown, and super fun. The bottom steep section was a little greasy and we both slid down the steeps w/ one foot flapping just in case. We rallied for a second lap and it was even more fun!! A little more rocky and rooty w/ a fun 20' stepdown that I hit. We passed a group filming that included the dude third in the Canadian DH series this year. We rallied back to the house, I worked on Marcie's ankle a little, and Ja and I took turns sharing pics, vids, and stories. I can't believe I've only hung out w/ these guys once....I feel like I've known them both for years!! I hope to sleep a bit better tonight, and I hope the rain chills for a bit, EH?!!

Kamloops!! (June 14th, 2010)

I left Bham at ~ 1:30 PM after packing, buying groceries, and helping Tom ship his door. I made it through the border with only a 2 car wait and no hassling. I took a new road (Road 0) which traversed along the border and actually popped you out past the Sumas crossing. Then I made my way onto Hwy 1 (Trans Canadian Hwy) and took it past Hope, and Merrit, then onto Hwy 3 and finally 5 N. I crossed some big mountain passes, complete w/ snow and incredible looking ski terrain. The blue skies started to hint of some rain and eventually it opened up on one of the last mountain passes. I pulled up at the Bike Cafe at ~5PM (an hour early!!). I ran into Dylan Sherrard and he somehow remembered me. He gave me some directions to Harper Mountain and the Bike Ranch. I decided to go to Harper. I got lost a couple times (went the wrong way on 1, then missed the exit and had to ask for directions). FINALLY I drove out the right road. Dylan spoke of mass shuttling, but only 1 guy was in the parking lot and only 2 cars. I introduced myself, and he told me a couple buddies were going to show up and rip. One of those buddies is the legendary Kamloops local, Matt Hunter (Roam, etc). I tried not to act star struck as we bounced up the road in his Tacoma. He showed me some pics from the cabin they're building (past Whistler). It looked RAD!! We ripped a super fast flowy bit of trail, then onto some jumps. I overshot the shit out of the first one and had to E-brake before the second. I pushed back up and cased them both second go. Oh well!! We ripped a bunch more flowy trail w/ great dirt, and a few stunts that I onsighted. We loaded up my van after a round of high fives and rallied her up some semi-rough roads. We got stopped on a steep section right before the top and unloaded. We ripped some more flowy stuff (I was trying my best to keep up w/ Matt) and then onto Pimper-naut. Matt described the jumps- a 20+ footer w/ wood lip and dirt trannie, then a wood roller to gap, then some berms and a bigger 20+ ft gap w/ a slight L hip. I on-sighted all but the last big gap. I ran back up hill and hit the last 2 features smooth to the hoots of the crew. I rallied on and we rode something-wood named trail. The dirt was amazing the whole time (I always pictured arid terrain, HUGE jumps, and lots of DUST). I guess I'll have to re-think a lot of that!! I got a hold of Ja and Marcie and got directed to Frick and Frack for dinner. I mowed down a wrap, salad, and some fries before heading over to the Westsyde and their Sage St "mansion." We hung out w/ another Jay from Vancouver Island and had a great time chatting it up about various BC hot spots and crazy adventures. Sounds like a full day tomorrow full of Greenstone, Rio, and whatever else comes our way!! SUPER STOKED!! Stay tuned!!

Sedona Wrap up and MOAB!!

Catch-up:

Sedona:

Checked out Beaverhead Flats w/ Jason and Kenny. Pretty gnarly stunts (mainly jumps and stepdowns) w/ some steep natural lines. We only saw a glimpse of the total area b/c of time limitations (Jason had to go grab his girl). I hit the two upper jumps and the first 2 of the four pack, but the wind was pushing me around a lot and I wasn't feeling great on the big bike (weird going from xc to jumps). I guess Kranked 5 was filmed a little bit out in this zone.

Rode Highline w/ Kenny and Lily- still really windy, but a fun flowy trail that rose from the Red Agave resort. We ended up riding it both ways since you would have to climb out of the switchbacks on the side of Cathederal Peak. Finished up riding at Jason's with the foam pit.

Rode Flagstaff (Mt. Elden)- 2 laps down Wasabe, Prom Night (w/ Happy Ending), and Private Reserve w/ Kenny and Jason. Very fun place w/ some chunky rock gnar abound, as well as a cool step down on Wasabe, a really cool step down to step up on Private Reserve, and of course the 60' rock face that is Happy Ending. We got some pretty good shots too.....

The shuttle road is brutal and takes longer to ride down in the car than on the bike......

Drove from Sedona right to the Grand Canyon for a sunset hike along the N. Rim (away from all the tourists). There were a ton of wildflowers and some crazy looking trees. I snapped away to my hearts content and got some pretty cool shots. We jumped back in the car and headed for MOAB!!

Moab:

Rolled up and camped on the LaSal Mtn Loop Rd. Pulled off some random dirt road and crashed. Woke up to a truck and trailer approaching. I jumped up front and still half asleep drove into Moab. We stopped at Poison Spider Mesa and tried to pull some of the droves of people away from the pay shuttle and into our van. No luck. Then onto the Moab Cyclery. Super cool shop that has a TON of solar panels on the roof. We got some Hammer Gels, a map, and lucked out w/ Nat and Aaron (from Whistler). Aaron wanted to ride, but Nat wasn't up for Porcupine Rim. Lily and I rode 2.5 miles out and back on the Slickrock trail while they did the practice loop. Then we rallied down to 191 and dropped the car off at the bottom, and back up Sand Flats Rd to LPS. I hadn't ridden this trail and within 10 minutes Aaron and I lost Lily- we checked out The Notch (a techy section up high) while Lily plunged herself down LPS. Aaron and I waited for Lily but she never showed. By the time we realized what had happened we took off to catch her. We never caught a glimpse of her. I had a flat that took 2 tries to fix, but other than that we ripped the trail hard. And were still 1.5 hrs behind her!! We rallied back to town after Nat picked us up, and ate some yummy food at the Moab Brewery. The 3.2 beer actually got me a buzz (just add in dehydration and empty stomach). We got dropped off at LPS, hung out for a while, then they took off and we jumped in the back of the van.

Next day we went to Chile Pepper bike shop, ran into Wendy (whom I had ridden with ~8yrs ago), and met Dan and Dallas. Dan and I chatted about doing Hazard County, Kokopelli, UPS, and LPS. He was a little concerned about Dallas whom had only ridden a mountain bike a couple times in his life. Dallas decided to go for it. We dropped the bottom car on 191 again, and the two Utah boys piled into the back of the van. Hazard County took an hour to get to. We drove down Spanish Valley Hwy, watched the shuttle van behind us get pulled over for passing a slow car that we passed too, and wound our way up the LaSal mtns. There were patches of Aspen trees, wildflowers, and various plant life as we ascended away from the red sandstone cliffs of Moab.

We clamored out of the van, got on our bikes and did the initial climb up to the top of Hazard. I thought we were screwed when Dallas ate shit within a few minutes of the DH. But he kept plugging away, dirt stripes and all. Believe it or not, he smoked his MTB buddy the WHOLE DAY. I cringed as he inched his way down gnarly slickrock sections......somehow finding the correct balance of brakes and body position. Kokopelli was a wide open ripper 2 track w/ some water bar jumps and LOTS of wildflowers. UPS and LPS were just AWESOME......winding along the edge of a mesa with a very precipitous drop off.......sometimes the trail would get within a couple feet of the edge....just long enough for you to force yourself NOT to look. There was a little grinding up the ridge of Porcupine Rim and this is where Dallas showed his first weakness, but only momentarily. We ripped down Porcupine Rim....pounding through the never ending rock ledges and loose baby heads. It never seemed to end....always wrapping around another corner, exposing a ribbon of red rock and dirt that kept putting a smile on your face. We finished up and headed into town to grub at Zak's. Lily and I ate the pizza buffet and stacked a mound of pizza crusts worthy of a day of riding that we had just finished. The boys gave us a ride back to the top and we ended up crashing out high in the LaSal mtns.

Next, Lily and I rode Amasa Back. We drove out Kane Creek and parked 1/2 mile from the trailhead. We rallied up the road for a second and onto the trail. It opened up with a waterfall rock section and then across a sandy wash and then gradually climbed up through sheer rock walls before topping out on the mesa. We rode along the rim for a bit, then got onto Rockstacker near the power lines. We started to ride it, realizing we were going the wrong way, but it was cool and had a number of moves that were probably better to preview. We backtracked on Rockstacker and then onto Jackson's trail (previously unnamed) which wrapped us along the edge of a cliff on flowy trail. We got some great pics. Unfortunately the creek was flooded at the bottom and we had to do a harrowing hike-a-bike to make it back to the parking lot. We finished the day off by driving down 191 to the Big Bend boulders and poking around. We were both pretty spaked and didn't really have much mojo for the rock.

We ended up eating at the pasta joint (delish) and crashing back out in the LaSals.

Lily was kind enough to allow me the honors of Hazard County solo, and I ended up rallying it HARD with only a couple of quick sops (once to help a guy out w/ his blown shock). I dropped 5k ft in just under 2 hrs. I was in the zone!!

We rallied over to the Wall St. zone on Potash Rd and met up w/ Julia and Leah. I led up the 5.8 classic "30 seconds over Potash," to start with and it definitely was a little funky with my sweaty, greasy, out-of-the-car self wigging out on my crappy gear placements. Thankfully I wasn't the only one to find it hard. Next, I led a 5.10c sport route- "Nervous in Suburbia," and walked it compared to the much "easier" 5.8 we "warmed up" on. The girls got a little worked on the long moves between holds, and I ended up cleaning it. Next I led the 5.9 Little Thailand on the road cut. It looked super easy from the ground, but all the holds were slopey, and pointed in the wrong direction. Still, you never really had to pull all that hard.

Then we caught a family with a bunch of routes on TR and I did a 5.10 slab that was pretty sparse. Lily did a 5.8 and was glad to go out on a send.

Next day we headed over to the "secret" swimming hole. Well, actually we tried to spend the night there, but that only lasted until 1 am when a sheriff clicked every light he had on our van. We tried to play dead, but he demanded someone out of the car. He let us go after running my license. We drove out and crashed past Porcupine Rim trail again. The swimming hole was PACKED (even w/ a 25 min approach and multiple stream crossings). There was a waterfall that you could jump off of, and a stream with mini waterfalls to relax in- if cold water is your thing. We lounged around for a while in the shade, then I finally convinced Lily to jump off the cliff- even if it was the small part. I went off the larger drop a couple of times- barely touching the bottom each time.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Arches National Park and climb Owl Rock (5.8). Lily had a hard time with it, and had to take off the pack with our sunset beers. I watched as the sun sunk behind the rock, spectators and all, as Lily made her way to the top. In my haste to get down I neglected to retrieve a cam that Lily couldn't get out. I remembered this when I was back in town. DOH!! I know what we're doing in the AM!! We drove out Potash Rd and camped in a legit campground (pay?!!).

Well.....we still haven't paid for housing/camping. Lily got up at 5:45 and woke me up. We quickly jumped up front and peeled out before anyone could demand our money!! Off to owl rock!! We ate granola and sipped french press coffee as the sun came up. Then onto the "juggy" and weird 5.8. I think I need to have a little "gear removal clinic" with Lily b/c the piece came out w/o a fight!! We finished it off and decided to go climb Corkscrew Summit at Fisher Towers. We met a few people from Brazil and one woman from Argentina who had just finished it up. "Classic" was all they had to offer. We hiked up and realized a couple was just starting up the climb. I chatted w/ Brian as he made his way up the first pitch. Then I met Christina at the first belay. They were from NY and were out for a few daze. They planned to climb Fine Jade the next day. We met back up at the top of the chimney pitch and I watched as they reached the summit one at a time. They were funny (Bronx humor I guess) and were comically elbowing each other as they climbed. It was fun to overhear. They offered to wait for us to summit so we could be sure to reach the ground w/ only 1 rope (no mention to the contrary in the guide book). They napped on the sunny ledge as Lily and I took turns wigging out on the sidewalk to belly flop. Basically, you walk unprotected from the belay along a narrow sidewalk until you run into the "diving board." Brian wiggled under the diving board and didn't do the belly flop, but Christina, Lily, and I did the committing flop onto the rock protrusion. After wiggling awkwardly to get on top of this rock anomaly we worked our way around the delicate rock peak, clipping a few pitons along the way. The summit is probably one of the most unique anywhere. Just enough room to stand up and maybe turn around.....with hundreds of feet of exposure on each side. Wahooooo!!!

Ledge-and-Airy

Woke up early again (7am) as Tex was heading off to work. Lounged on the luxurious back deck, gazing longingly at the amazing cliffs, spires, and towers that seem close enough to touch. Ended up staying there for a number of hours- catching up on writing, sipping coffee, and looking through pics from recent adventures. We finally motivated to do something and that was go get some ice cream!! We shoved down a HUGE amount of cold stone each, reeled for a minute, then headed over to MTBH to suit up for another ride. This time it was Ledge-and-airy. We pedaled from the shop down 89a until we hit the cultural center. Immediately climbing up and over the small retaining wall yielded us our trail. We followed it for a while before dead ending into the gnar. We took a R and immediately it WAS ON!! Techy climbing up and over a TON of rocks- most off-camber. The only time you got a break was when you were ripping down some steep and techy chute. It wrapped back and forth, following the contour of the dry creek below. Lily got bouted pretty good. It is a very challenging skill to climb steep tech gnar, and there was lots of it on this trail. She still had a smile on her face most times she popped around the corner. One last steep downhill and we were back on the Girdner trail which wrapped back around to the cultural center. We stopped and got some shots in the last glimpses of light. Afterwards we headed back to Tex's and made some yummy Mac n Cheese w/ broccoli, and corn on the cob. Tex and I shot the shit on the deck for a while over a fire while Lily lounged inside reading a book. Another day in paradise!!

HOGS!!!!

Woke up at 6:15 the first time, then realized that Tex wasn't even up for work yet. The sun makes me think I've slept in, but I haven't. I finally wake up around 7:15 and eat some granola and have some dank coffee thanks to Tex's stove-top espresso maker. We hit up MTBH by 8:30 for the Wed Group Ride. Only Johnny and Julia show up, and along w/ Lily, Rama, and I, we rocked out to some trails off the map (of course) near the shop. We chilled out at a couple of sick viewpoints and rode some really fun, flowy trails at a much more leisurely pace than usual. We cruised back to shop after emerging near the high school. Lily and I got some lunch at another vegetarian place- D'lish. It was good and the tempeh pineapple jerk burger, salad, and smoothie put me in the happy place!! We drove down Chavez Creek road and found the local swimming hole- near Buddah Beach. A rope swing greeted us and Lily guinea-d it. She hit bottom, so I changed trajectories and did a sweet inverted swing, except I slapped my nuts on the water when I landed and had to wait out the horrid pains that go w/ a good ball schwap. We got the therma-rests out of the van and took a power nap on the some rock slabs briefly before heading back to MTBH to meet up w/ Tex at ~3. I was under the impression that we were going to go to Beaver Flats to check out their jump park, but instead we suited up to do another pedal. We shuttled w/ Mark (who I rode w/ before during my first tour of duty in Sedona) over to the Broken Arrow zone (but parked at Pine-?) and met up w/ Dennis (long haired Asian). We rode up some newish climb and onto the Hog Trails. They were more techy than I remembered and Lily had a hell of a time on some sections (and rightfully so!!). We hit up Sub Rock and impressed some tourists with some steep slickrock antics. I even manned up and rode a steep line w/ some ledges in the fast runout. Lily got some videos and I took some pics. Then we climbed up higher and did High On The Hog which got even techier. There were a ton of cool moves that involved techy pedaling and utter commitment. Steep rocky DH sections inevitably had a steep, just as techy climb immediately afterwards. These trails are a clinic in tech. We finished on Szechwan Chicken which had a sweet swooping section up top, then it turned into some jumps and flow before spitting you out back where we parked. We rallied back to the top for another lap- the turnoff on the climb was just two rocks on the side of the trail and barely a hint of traffic on it. We finished up the ride and then back to MTBH. We went shopping and got some dank turkey and chicken brats, corn on the cob, and tasty beers. Kevin made a big salad and we feasted!! It was amazing- something about riding hard that makes food orgasmic. We hung out outside for a while, then bailed back to Tex's crib where Lily passed out on the floor after a massage, and I jumped in the shower before passing out around 10. What a day!!

Thunder Mtn to Chuck Wagon (Sedona)

Tuesday, May 18th

We rallied back into town, picking up a hitch hiker named Steve along the dirt road. We dropped him off at a coffee shop, and proceeded to Mountain Bike Heaven (MTBH). I got a new saddle (WTB Pure V) since my stock Specialized one was a taint torture device, and a new chain (that would be less than 10 rides in to the new bike folks!!). If only there were some Odi Rogue lock on grips I'd be really stoked. We rode from MTBH up to the Thunder Mountain trailhead, got a little mixed up (too many trails here!!), and eventually found Dry Creek Road. Thunder Mountain had a lot of steep techy uphill sections!! Good interval training!! We next hit up Lost Watch which dropped for a while through tight turns between oak trees and into some washes. This is a decidedly Sedona trait- riding through what most people would call a dried up creek bed- they call them washes. Your vision never wanders far on these sections- negotiating boulders and sand. Lots of power and finesse- requiring the complete package. We kept following trails and ended up on a small ridge top- way up high and past the pimples of land that were visible from the saddle that we dropped over initially. Then onto a rocky butte southwest of the ridge. I started to get a little worried about light and how far out we were so I called Tex. I tried to explain to him where I was- a fun task in Sedona- by that one wash with that rocky outcropping. We realized that we might have ridden the trail backwards when we had to hike a bike up some stuff w/ tracks signifying the trail flowing in the opposite direction. Undeterred we continued along some discontinuous rock bands and finally got turned downhill. It definitely wasn't a long DH and were back in the wash before we knew it. We hit the dirt road instead of climbing trail back out and were back at MTBH with a little light to spare. We made some yummy wraps w/ veggies and sipped a cold beer on the back deck as the sun faded. Exhausted we sat in complete bliss. Tex showed up and offered up his place. We followed him through "uptown" and onto 929 Circle street. We were delightfully surprised to see that he lived in a PHAT crib w/ a SICK view!! He and a girl got the place together but it didn't work out between them and she lives in CA, so he has the place for 800$/mo and she only shows up one weekend a month. We crashed in the back bedroom on a huge mat he supposedly slept on for months before getting a bed. When we woke up the next morning the views were STUNNING!! A huge rock outcropping w/ benches and jagged peaks and towers. Only some rooftops lower down among the trees hint at the settling of the land. I love the twists and turns of roadtrips!!

Sedona Day 1!!

The first morning we rolled over to the shop just in time to catch George opening up. Luckily we waited around for a few minutes because Rama showed up in his drop top Miata w/ Max living a dog's dream in the passenger seat. He remembered me and we shot the shit as he scurried around the shop. We had to buy a couple Slime tubes each to resist all the cactus spines. We rode from the shop and hit Airport to Bandit to Ridge Trail, then over to Buddah Beach, across the Red Rock Crossing, along Oak Creek and then climbed the switchbacks up to the slickrock bench at the base of the massive rock formation. We rode along it for a while, then dropped across the highway and onto Bell Rock Trail. We pedaled to the Bike and Bean and met up w/ Tex (Jeff Harris- Kevin's landscaping boss). Chewy was working and we caught up for a minute and exchanged numbers. We ate some lunch at Desert Flour (yummy chicken sandwich and salad) and took off up to ride Slim Shady. We originally were going to ride Highline, but it required climbing the switchbacks again. Slim was super fun and swoopy. We climbed back to Bike and Bean. We jumped in his truck and rallied over to MTBH and up to Skid Mark. The climbing was fun for a while, then we got onto some exposed slick rock benches and some seriously techy moves started appearing- riding onto steep off-camber rocks slabs, wallride climbs, etc. We stopped at the boulder below Tea Pot Rock and got safe before watching Tex style out Skid Mark. I scoped it, tried to commit, but after crawling across the slick rock I couldn't commit to the stair step transition into the steep sliding section w/ a "mandatory" hard R. It continued w/ a steep rock waterfall line and more steeps before spitting you out below. I chickened out on most of the whole line, but my new bike and the stock 2.3 inch single-ply tires weren't inspiring the most confidence!! I would have done it on the Sunday, but the climb was prohibitive of that idea. We rode some really fun stuff, then detoured off to check out the step-down to natural wall-ride move which I chickened on again (an emerging theme here). Wrong bike set-up. Need DH tires and plushness, not a glorified xc bike. Then we hit another trail which had a "short and long" crux section. I chickened on the short line- a drop to steep rock chunder, but rode the long line- another crawling move out some slickrock before doing a small drop, negotiating some steep rock terrain, then I accidentally aired a roller section, and had to immediately drop again- to flat this time- and "shut er down" since there was a small cliff below. Tex was pretty stoked an I was relieved to have ridden a section that I deemed slightly over my head (or my bikes head, or both). We rallied back to MTBH along a maze of trails that seemed longer than they should have been. Lily and I hit up a delicious vegetarian restaurant a few doors down from MTBH and threw down. Spring rolls, I got a falafel platter, some ginger lemonade, and a piece of chocolate ganache for dessert. She even brought us a sample of their hot chocolate which has coconut milk and honey as well as raw cacao. Off to 525, but this time across the street and down along the creek (thanks Kev!!) to crash for the night.

Vegas to AZ

Catch-up again........

Left Vegas on Friday May 14th. Went to Bootleg for some riding while Bowman finished up w/ work. Rode 3 laps- once down Armageddon to warm-up (w/ Snakeback all the way down to Reaper). It was actually flowy and I didn't have to dab or get off once. Then I tried Ginger. Still having a couple of spots that I can't "man up" on. One is a steep chute w/ multiple ledges, and the other is a steep, multi-tiered rock section w/ mega consequences. I'd need full body armor and another buddy that was talking shit to me to try those sections!! Finished the day off w/ Snakeback to Kevorkian and hit the 30' gap, then into the Love Channel (rock wash that swoops back and forth). Lily took a couple of runs and cleared more stuff w/o any carnage this time (she had a lot of bruises from not making a switchback corner). We jumped back in the van and zoomed across Hoover Dam. They're making a separate bridge through the area so you won't drive across the actual dam anymore, and traffic was a bit of an annoyance.

Once into AZ the traffic moved a bit better, and we charged along onto Hwy 40 towards Flagstaff. Near the town of Williams we made a turn north and drove some FSR's for a bit until we found Brian off to the L of the road past the normal parking area for the Paradise Forks. We hung out for a bit, then crashed in the back of the van. Woke up and headed out from the campsite to the climbing directly after some granola and coffee. You had to hike through a couple of dried up waterfalls and along the top of the cliff band. A canyon w/ basalt columns/cracks emerged from within the ground and split in two different directions up the valley. We rappelled in off a tree and began "warming up" on 5.10+ cracks- Torpedo, Retard's Recess, and another one that Lily scraped her way up (you had to climb out) that had a ledge half way up. I fell at the very top of that one- trying to make a move on face holds instead of staying in the crack- that's what I get. I made a prayer of a send on RR- a bulge at the top that required some flaring hands- Brian grunted his way through it so I knew I was in for some business. Sandra cruised all of them w/ grace, style, and barely a huff or puff. Then we moved over to the Prow area. Brian set me up so I could solo climb w/ his Mini Traxion device. You just had to use that and some "shock cord" that you looped through the device and put around your neck. The only caveat was that you couldn't lower yourself down- at all. I tested it out on the Prow-11a. There was some super solid crack climbing down low, then it turned into "ring locks" where you couldn't slide your hands in the crack, but it was too small to use fingers. You had to counter-oppose thumb and ring/middle fingers- making an A-OK sort of sign. It felt really insecure and I peeled off a couple of times. The feet were really small and required smearing along the lip of the crack- which was super polished. It was really strenuous and I was grunting, sweating, and cursing my way up it- but I made it!! Then as Brian was working his project I moved the rope over and did Jolly Roger (5.10). It was really cool- had some roof moves on big face holds, some pure hand jams, some stemming, and topped out on broken blocks. I was pretty happy to end the day on a send. Lily split out early after her rappel meltdown and working over on the one climb she got on. She graciously made a huge veggie saute, pasta, and red sauce and greeted us w/ a big salad too. We partied down for a while, then the girls crashed and Brian and I stumbled around in the dark for a while before returning to camp and crashing.

The next morning (Sun. May 16th) I felt like someone ran me over. Full body edition. Getting into all those awkward, contorted positions took its toll on my weak, unconditioned body. Everything hurt. I limped around getting breakfast, slugging down coffee as fast as I could. We made our way back to the first zone again, and Brian was already sussing out the moves on Paradise Lost (5.12a) when we finally staggered up. Lily and I sat on the other side of the canyon in a daze for a while. I was going to get some shots of Brian on rappel but he was too amped to send and charged up it before I could set up. He sent and we moved back over to the Prow area. I set Jolly Roger back up and he set up next to Mayflower. Lily and I rapped in and I went up first. I struggled a lot more than the day before- probably b/c I was climbing at my limit for a warm-up. The bulge resisted me mightily, but I found the key foot and pulled through the crux before finally scraping myself over the blocky exit moves. Lily took a LONG time on the climb and finally resorted to jugging her way up the rope. She was rightfully frustrated and gave back up on climbing at the Forks. I lowered myself back in to the climb next to it. It had a brutal roof boulder problem at the bottom that I wasn't prepared for. I struggled and had some laughable (later) moments since I couldn't lower myself down- dangling a few feet above the ground while a couple other parties sorted gear nearby and looked back occasionally. Finally I pulled through it and the climbing relented back to a reasonable level. We called it a day after Brian sent his project (I got some video on Lily's camera b/c mine died). We said our goodbyes and packed up the van- heading to Sedona next. We cruised to the 89a exit off of 17 and wound our way down Oak Creek Canyon- the red and white spires and rock bands unfolding before us like the pages of a familiar book. We passed Red Rock Slide State Park and then onto the tourist mecca that is Sedona. They changed the roads up a bit and now have roond-a-boots (round-a-bouts in Canadian) that are more easily managed. We rolled up to Mountain Bike Heaven at around 6PM and ran into George who hurriedly sold us a one page map for 6$ and shooed us out the door. We went a few doors down and ran into Kevin who had a lady friend over (he got divorced and didn't have the now 10 year old daughter around). We had some Sangria and some laughs before jumping in the van and cruising out to FSR 525 where we found a spot to crash for the night. SEDONA!!!