OK, getting antsy for MTB riding in CO and UT. While we will be on station in April we are thinking also about next September. Instead of Katya flying in and out of Moab I would like to pick her up at the Denver airport and do the following road trip through CO back to the familiar terrain of the Grand Valley.
We would have riding at Yeti’s HQ in Golden, maybe Vail and Aspen, LEADVILLE!, Crested Butte, and maybe try the wild trails of Ouray and Montrose before our favorite trails at Lunch Loops, 18 Road, and Kokopelli in the Grand Valley then on to Moab.
Here is the link with the trip on Google Maps. The only issue is that Hwy 82 between Aspen and Leadville is closed now so it re-routes back to I-70. We won’t do it that way.
The Toilet Bowl on the Ribbon Trail, Grand Junction, Colorado. As usual the camera flattens the terrain a lot. It is steep and scary! Damn hard to walk down.
I spent 3 weeks on an MTB road trip to Utah and western Colorado last September and October but posted nothing. Ugh. Me bad. Which many people knew already.
We did something a little different and after Katya flew from San Jose to Moab and I picked her up there we drove south to old mining towns deep in the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. We started with Telluride, no lift riding in late September except weekends, then over the next few days to Phil’s World at Cortez, CO and rode the fantastic Rib Cage Trail, Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and up to Fruita and more MTB on trails we know well. After that, of course, Moab!
Katya flew home from Moab after a couple of weeks of traveling and riding in heaven but I remained in our van around Moab. I had increasing tooth pain so saw a dentist and was diagnosed with a cracked tooth. Definitely not from MTB. So I drove back home to California to figure out whether it needs a root canal and crown or just get pulled. While I was waiting for an oral surgeon it cracked and a third fell out. So the 2nd molar got pulled. Whatever. Damn tooth screwed up a couple more weeks of riding.
The MTB was rather uneventful except for the amazing Ribbon Trail near Grand Junction. There is a shuttle now available, finally, so Katya and I went up and rode The Ribbon. Jeez, you spend about 20 minutes on slick rock descents! You don’t even think about breaking, just max out the speed of your bike on huge rock ramps!
Along the way is the Toilet Bowl, a big steep slick rock descent that looks way less steep in photos and videos. I need to nail that drop but it is scary. Very scary.
The trail descends into an amazing deep red rock canyon and we ride the scenic wash down to a trail junction. From there it is up either way but we are in Lunch Loops! There is a maze of amazing trails to ride back to the trailhead on Monument Road.
By the way, I’m warming up to the Klonzo Trails near Moab finally. They aren’t as technical as I usually prefer but there is a lot of fast flow fun with some great technical in places. Video to come. I’m not publishing my Ribbon video. It was a cloudy day and the light too flat. I’ll shot it in sun in 2020. The same year I die in the Toilet Bowl…
We’re heading to the fun Hurricane MTB Festival at the end of this month, March. Hoping that it doesn’t rain! That wiped out my Moab trip last year and flooded out 2 days of Outerbike. Totally sucked.
1) We may demo a bike or two but not a priority. Yetis are our beasts of choice and they won’t be there this year. Of course I’ve had good rides on others. Fezzari from Salt Lake City area is a very good performer. Ibis as always is strong but I’ll demo them in San Jose in April.
2) It’s a festival! So fun to hang out with other riders and the breakfasts and dinner are tasty and fun. And, weather permitting, a BBQ at the Guacamole TH! This is one of our very favorite trails.
3) We have tricked out our 97 Ford Aerostar road trip van with a cargo box and awning on top and upgraded our bike tray rack to the new Yakima Dr. Tray. 34 pounds instead of 50 for the other Yakimas and Thules. Better on my lower back. We also had the van detailed inside and out and wow does it shine! Looks almost new! Auto detailing shops do a much better cleaning job than I can do.
4) I’ve added the iPhone XS to my cameras and I added a little more equipment. The GoPro 6 and the Evo SS gimbal are still the main setup. I’ve worked all winter and didn’t produce any new videos. I’m still working on the concept for the next ones and reshooting the trails in Moab, Grand Valley, and Virgin / St. George in 4K. A lot of riding to do!
So in a couple of weeks the road trip season begins! After Hurricane Katya flies home from Vegas and depending on weather I may go on to Moab and Fruita or down to Sedona, then maybe Moab and Fruita. Such great options, heh?
I just returned from Outerbike in Moab and the end of a 3 week road trip. The first part was a visit to Yellowstone and that went well. We rode Fruita, CO a little then over to Moab where I ripped my lower back and was off the bike for five days. Ugh.
That is rare for me but when it happens I’m almost totally disabled. Even down and up on the toilet because hellish torture. Living out of our van is no worse than a motel room and at least in the van I have a 360 degree view!
Finally back on the bike for a couple of rides and then the weather turned to rain, rain, rain on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday of Outerbike. The weather looked bad for the rest of the week so I drove home. Fortunately few trips have this level of disappointment.
I was able to shoot some additional video near Fruita and the Horsethief Trails near Moab. Besides my other problems I forgot my GoPro chest harness at home. When Katya flew home she sent it to me – $40. Ugh.
We did enjoy showing off our repainted Yeti SB95c’s! They look so new and shiny! Photo on Horsethief Bench above the Colorado River.
In mid Sept we have this trip planned for 3 weeks!
We plan to ride Jackson Hole, Park City, Fruita, and Moab. About a 3,200 mile trip with all the driving around to trailheads. The leg to Yellowstone, which Katya hasn’t been to yet, is about 15 hours as is the return from Moab. Ugh.
There is one more thing! I just scored a Red Bull Rampage ticket so I’ll be riding the Virgin / St George area at the end of October for a week or so!
Thank you for registering for the REDBULL RAMPAGE!!!
This General Admission ticket allows 1 person access to the Red Bull Rampage on October 26, 2018. Access is via a rough 4-mile road and a bike valet is included with this ticket. Bicycles or walking only, no vehicles of any kind allowed. Tickets must have the name of the person attending on them. Tickets are transferable within the Strideevents.com platform for a fee of $15.
Tickets are non-refundable and will be sent digitally to the purchaser 3 days prior to the event.
This ticket includes a $5 donation to both Dixie Mountain Bike Trail Association and Wings for life Foundation.
My last post was at the beginning of the spring 2018 road trip season. I forgot to post anything here but I made two trips that included Virgin / St George, Sedona, Moab, and Fruita. Unfortunately my last trip was cut short but a very bad case of hay fever. I was struggling for a few months until I found a med that worked great. So nothing got posted because I was too busy coughing.
However, I did shoot a fair amount of 4k video with the Evo SS Gimbal on my chest. The gimbal wasn’t as awkward as I expected and the videos came out super! I’m deep into working on a project since then and no time to create some interesting videos and post them. Hopefully this winter. I want to do something different than in the past but not sure yet what that format will be.
On the drive to the Hurricane MTB Festival in Moab in March my GoPro Hero Session 5 camera died. This was the beginning of a three week shoot! GoPro said they would replace it, which they did after we got home, but we were almost to St George, Utah and the receipt was 10 hours behind us.
So in St George I went on Amazon and ordered the new Hero 6 to be delivered to Over The Edge Sports in Hurricane. I ordered on Thursday and picked up the camera on Monday. It worked great for the trip but died soon after. GoPro replaced that camera and the new one is still working.
We only biked twice during the summer. Katya’s carbon bike frame broke and her 2017 Fox Factory fork lost most of its travel even with full air pressure. WTF? She doesn’t jump off cliffs, or even 3′ rocks! So beside my working a lot it took Fox a long time to rebuild it for $180. Only a month older than one year. We are supposed to get the bike back in a few days and it is the end of August! Great fork but this sucks.
So after all those problems we are looking forward to a big fall MTB road trip!!!
The van is half packed already and heading for the Hurricane MTB Festival this Thursday March 22! Rather hyped now and ready for big MTB action!
Shooting video with a GoPro Hero 5 Session on my new EVO SS gimbal for smooth 4K action on the most interesting parts of the trails you’ve heard about. I’ll replace my current Moab trail maps YouTube series with maps + visuals this year.
I’m going to buy a gimbal and reshoot the trails of Moab, Grand Valley (Fruita), and Zion / St. George, and all in 4K. I tried working with what I have this winter and wasn’t satisfied.
Meanwhile I’m changing format and will soon have videos of me explaining the trails on maps in 4K while showing my 1080p videos as picture in picture. They will be replaced with 4K gimbal shots of trails after that for the best ever explanation and orientation of these trails.
This is only interesting if you haven’t rode the area before but want to know what is there. The next step for you would be to focus on specific trails that interest you at http://utahmountainbiking.com and YouTube.
Katya and I will be riding Sedona near the end of March then hanging out at the Hurricane Mountain Bike Festival. See you there?
I’m trying something new, basing the videos on me explaining the trails with maps and added a few images and videos at the more interesting trail sections. I’m experimenting and progress is very slow. Also swamped with work if I’m to get back on the Moab trails in April.
Somehow I have to stop coding for a while and get this done but not easy to do. Meanwhile, I’ll be in Hurricane, Moab, and the Grand Valley (Fruita / Grand Junction) for much of April.
My 2017 Fox 34 Factory was installed on my Yeti in October, 2016. I’ve biked about 3+ months since then and have not crashed. Really amazing for me. I’m really good at going over the handlebars and not getting hurt. I’m going to lose that skill.
I’m riding much more technical than previously, as is my wife who now has the same fork. Starting to do crazy shit like about half of the drop-in to Horsethief Bench near Fruita, CO and part of Flying Monkey in Virgin, UT. I’ve become fearless…
I will never ride a Rock Shox again. If a demo bike has a Pike I’m waling away.
I have a new theory. When riders say you have to have the technical skills to ride Rock Shox, it really means they figured out hacks for the poor design. Of course they are proud of their hacks, err, skills, they earned them. For the rest of us there is Fox.
