I’m leaving tomorrow morning and should be in Hurricane by lunch. Planning to ride something like Slickrock Swamp, or Guacamole in the afternoon. If you are in town and would like to get together call me 801-671-8399.

Saturday morning we’ll meet at the Days Inn in Hurricane. Let’s say 8:30a. Look for the red Ford F150 with the Lizard Skins stickers on the tailgate. We’ll be close by. If you don’t see us, again you can call my cell phone. Right now the plan is to head out to Gooseberry Mesa, ride it, then eat lunch at the Gas Station on the highway between Gooseberry and Little Creek. After lunch those who are still up for a ride will head over to Little Creek which has relatively little climbing.

Saturday night, I’d like to get together for dinner at least, We may run in to St George if we can’t agree on something in Hurricane. I might bring the Guitar Hero for a battle in the motel room so be ready.

Sunday morning I’d like to ride some variation of the J.E.M. trail. There is a 22 mile loop version if people are feeling up to it.

WEATHER: All of these trails are sensitive to rain and it has been raining a lot. If we can’t ride the trails responsibly we’ll find an alternative ride. There are slickrock trails in the area that can be ridden when wet, and some of the trails are less susceptible to damage than others. Please be flexible with your plans and realize that we are at the mercy of the weather on this trip.

Again, if you have any questions please call me at 801-671-8399 or send me an email before tomorrow morning.

Thank you for your interest.

Your Friend,

God

PS: I hear Hurricane is nice this time of year.

Is it me?

Dear God,

I know we’ve had a rocky relationship over the years.  I say rocky, because of several incidents that occurred between the years of 1992- 1997 on my part, and a handful of indiscretions on your part regarding weather as it applies to plans that I make.

I started to sense a connection back in 1995 when I travelled with my then girlfriends family to Flaming Gorge the first week in June.  They had been telling me that the weather was historically perfect that week and that’s why they made the annual pilgrimage.   Imagine my surprise when I awoke on Day 2 to eight inches of snow which had collapsed the tent onto my sleeping future brothers-in-law.  You may remember that I acted very unselfishly by getting up and shaking the snow off the tent so they wouldn’t smother in their sleep.  King Lewis(Loo-ee), my future father-in-law would later remark that he had been making this trip for twenty years and never seen snow.  The great thing was that every subsequent trip which I participated in included at least one day of snowfall and/or  significant rainfall.  The connection goes even deeper in that the years I have opted out, have been bright and sunshiney.

Ya know, it’s one thing to wreck a trip with the in-laws, or several as the case may be.  But as the years have gone by, I’ve noticed that this trend had extended to affect activities that I really cared about,  not just fishing.

There were the several early spring trips to Moab with “the wives”(by that I mean mine and my friends wives, not “the sister-wives”).  Now, with a non-riding wife, I actually anticipated a little bit of inclement weather, and figured that this gave us a chance to do a couple of things that my wife would participate in.  Maybe catch a chilly lap on slickrock, then head into town, take in Hole-in-the-rock, hike up Negro Bill Canyon.  That type of thing.  But after several years of being beaten into submission by the weekend of our trip being frigid, but bookended by beautiful, bluebird, weather on the weekends previous and following, I gave up.  My personal favorite was the year that recorded a high of 70 degrees the weekend before our trip, and 60 the week after.  While we were down there however, there was a weather phenomenon that local weatherman Sterling Poulsen would refer to as an “arctic-outbreak”  The temperature map showed an archipelago of dark blue extending from the Yukon directly to southeast Utah.   Look it up.  I know it was 2002.  I remember because my darling wife was pregnant with my second oldest.  Tent camping, with a pregnant wife.  Our fellow campers brought a large plastic thermometer for some reason.  It never broke 25 degrees the entire time we were there.

There have been others, the 37 degree day in September that I chose as the day for a shuttled group ride on the Crest.  Last years Fall Finale barbecue which took place amid intermittent snow/rain.

And most recently the Frozen Hog.  As my maiden voyage into the race organizing world, I thought I was relatively safe with this one.  What’s the worst that could happen, freezing temperatures? Snow?  Nope.  The worst that could happen was,  and is, 40 degrees and raining at 6 am the morning of the race.

Now, it’s not that I’m feeling overly tested.  After all, I haven’t broken out in boils or anything yet.  But do you think you could manage a pass for me here in about two weeks?  You see, the Annual Spring Trip is coming up this March 12-14.  And as I look at the Fruita weather conditions, I can’t help but notice that there is still snow on the ground there.  Despite the locals posting on Facebook that the season is “….oh, so close.”  I can’t help but wonder if my perceived trials and tribulations are going to rear their ugly head once again.

I know that I don’t have a lot to complain about otherwise.  My kids all have the correct number of extremities and do well in school.  My wife can’t keep her hands off me and I live in a pretty exclusive zip code(the local cemetery is soon going to start burying couples two-deep).  But if you could just throw me a break this one  time, I promise to never repeat anything I did in the summer of ‘93.

Your friend,

Josh

The Santa Cruz Blur LTc. The “c” is for crack-a-lackin’. Moving a little more towards the All-Mountain side of the Trail/All-Mountain micro-niche of the industry. Though nowhere near the Downhill arena, and not quite into the All-Mountain/Big-Mountain arena. I may need to move more towards the Cross-country/Trail end of the spectrum come 24 hrs of Moab time.  I wish somebody would invent a bike specifically geared towards the Beefy-for-a-fat-guy/ Lightweight-climber segment of the market.  What was I talking about? Oh my bike.  Yeah pretty stoked.  It’s kind of a mid-range parts build.  But I know a guy with an ultra trick build on that bike and it only shaves about a pound.  Plus,….I’m poor.  So mid-range it is.

Having this new bike creates an odd little dilemma.  It’s bright, shiny, and new.  And the weather outside still sucks.  It has been said that I have a little black rain cloud following me around.  I hesitate  to drag said shiny bike out through the mud and muck.  Daryl Devey told me today that all the lower stuff at Lambert has cleared off but is a little soggy.  So, do I really want to muddy up a bike with 140mm of travel on the lower section of Lambert.  Don’t think so.

Oh I did have an invitation to join Fuzzy in St George this weekend.  I considered it.  Checked the calendar and told him I wouldn’t be able to make it since I was on-call this week.  He left yesterday, which is about the time I realized that although I had cancelled several plans and stayed close to home, that I was off by a week and am actually on-call next week.  Meaning I could have easily joined the Great Southern Roadtrip and had a chance to break in the bike on some honest-to-goodness dry dirt.  Also, it means that not only did I blow this week, but next week is already pre-blown for me.

Even if I can’t ride dirt, maybe this would be a good time to get some road miles in.  I even arranged a demo bike from the shop for the annual Sometime-In-February-Something-To-Do-With-Brett-Rawlings-Birthday-Ride-To-Vernon with Stan and the Velo Club.  Went in to pick it up today and found that the ride had been cancelled.  Fans of “I’m too fat to ride a road bike stories” should feel bad, this ride is usually good for a few laughs.

And so I sit.  Swelling like a tick hidden in the folds of a fat guys inner thigh, waiting to pop.  A new bike in the corral, and no immediate plans to do anything about it.  It feels like dating a morally upstanding girl in high school.  Sure they’re fun to look at.  And you can always close your eyes, bite your bottom lip, and imagine what it would be like to “take ‘er out for a spin”.  But when your eyes roll back down out of your head and you come to, you realize that it was all just a fantasy.  So the best you can do is tell your friends you got further than you did and wait for prom night.

I spent Friday before the race at Lambert, building the Taj Mahal of registration tents, which amazingly no one took ANY pictures of.  But thanks to some major support from Jeff Orr and his company Stucco Works.  We roughly doubled the size of the pavilion and  had it warm and comfortable by the time racers started showing up.

Interior of the Taj Mahal

Though the drizzling rain was more of an issue than cold weather.  Yes folks, after weeks of trail prep, and accomodations for sub-zero temperatures, at 6am race day, it was 40 degrees and raining.  Acquaintances of mine who don’t know anything about this type of event would later tell me ” At least it was good weather for a race.”  Riiiiight.

The rain and warm temps made all the trail prep go straight down the toilet.  At best, the trail would be a slushy sno-cone consistency. At worst, a soggy nightmare.  Which is fine for me, because I wasn’t racing.  But for those who were, it wasn’t looking good.

New to the race this year was the LeMans start.  You may remember my first impression of a LeMans start.   For this event we made the racers run around the upper meadow, with a detour through the deep snow before picking up the bikes in the parking lot.

Go!

What kind of jerk makes you run through the deep snow?

Unfortunately, not a lot of video exists as of yet but stay tuned.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a miniature Fox in his ghillie suit gear!

I'm a husla baby.

It was hellish torture from here on out.  Reports were coming in of the trail being 20% rideable.  One fit looking young man walked up to the campfire after his first lap and plopped down.  After several inquiries about what was wrong with his bike, he stated that he just couldn’t go on.  Not sure how it made him feel when the whole field of women, 50+ , and Clydesdales finished the race, but whatever.

One by one, racers passed by the start area on their first lap.  Some smiling, others not.  At the front of the pack it seemed to be all Singlespeeders.  If I remember right, on the first lap the first ten riders were better than 50% singlespeeders.  Guess what singlespeeders? Next year, your riding the expert course.  Yeah, now that’s happenin’.

It became apparent after the first lap, that we were in for a bit of a wait.  In a race that has taken around 45 minutes in some previous years, we would see some riders taking the same amount of time for one lap.

That is except for one rider.  Enter Noah Talley.  Noah was the first to complete a lap.  He was fresh and running the sections he couldn’t walk.  Soon after, while we were still ticking off first laps for the back of the pack we saw Noah again.  Charging up the hill for the finish.

Looks young, doesn't he?

You might be thinking,”He certainly does seem fresh-faced and full of youthful exuberance.”  That would be because he is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!!!! Yeah, for those who thought that just riding the Hog meant you had some kind of credibility as a “bike tough”.  This kid beat all-comers on the sport loop.   His father said he would have registered expert if  he could have.  So here on the record, I would like to state that next year, Noah races expert 18-29.  Not because I want to see him get beaten, but because I would love to see how he’ll do.  My money is on him for that category as well.

Slowly all the riders finished their laps, and settled in around the fire.

Thanks to Papa Holder for the fire pit.

Soon after the kids 12 and under race started.  A slightly shorter race, the kids did three laps around the “LeMans” loop.  Only minus the running.  We had 12 kids competing for the grand prize.  A brand new Cannondale F9 bike, size small.  There wasn’t much more riding in the kids race than in the adults race, but there were a lot more smiles.

That kid in the Camo's father must be one ruggedly handsome dude.

Pink is for tough girls.

In the end, Jared Pflueger got first place, and the bike.  Later when I was talking to Owen(my son) about the race he said “The kid that won was such a nice kid.”  Apparently after winning he stuck around cheering on the other kids, and told Owen he had “done a great job.”  It’s so good to know, that not only is Jared a great mountain biker, but he’s also a great kid.  I do know that he and his father had been riding in the snow a lot to get ready for the race, and it looks like it paid off.

Following the race we began the raffle.  David Holding won the adult sized Cannondale F9, and the other winners were a few too numerous to mention.  Prizes from Easton/Blackburn, Rone Industries,The Daniels Summit Lodge, Red Rock Inn Moab, LaQuinta Inn Fruita, Serfas, Tifosi, Yakima,Gu,Ryders Sunglasses, and beautiful bike statues from Stone & Wire Art Creations by Daryl Devey.

All in all, I think it went great.  There are certainly a few things that I learned with this being the first year I’ve put it together, but hopefully you all had as much fun as I did.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped, especially the volunteers who did all the hard work.  Whether in the registration tent, out on the course, driving the shuttle truck, or working the finish line.  It wouldn’t have happened without all your efforts.

I would also like to thank Bob Lyksett with www.imagineitphoto.com  He took most of the photos in this post and hundreds more.  Please visit his site and take a look at what he has to offer.  These are the most reasonably priced race photos you’ll see.

And since she never reads this blog, I’d like to thank my wife especially for putting up with me being a whiny,cranky, jerk for the last two months or so.  It takes a lot to put something like this on, and she helped out with everything.  Running errands, stuffing goodie bags, and running registration.  Thanks Kellie.

At first I was off to a good start, and promptly got down into the low 180’s(182 to be exact)  Then Christmas, and laziness set in and I was back up to 188.

I made somewhat of an effort, swimming laps, sitting on the trainer.  Laying off the Taco Bell.  Eat more fruit (Blood Oranges, are bitchin).  And was eventually back down to 182.

Now depending on the status of my bowels, I am still at the 182 mark, and have actually touched the 180 mark.  Now to me, this is good enough.  The other issue is the fact that I am in charge of this damn race and stand a good chance of being a little busy during the first lap of the race.

However, if there is an overwhelming demand to see me nearly naked.  I will oblige.  With one caveat.   It will be with the 12 and unders race after the main race.  Though this may scar them for life.  I am willing to jiggle through the three laps around the upper meadow that the kids will be racing in full view of all spectators and racers.  Again, this is only if there is an overwhelming demand.  So if you sick pigs want to see a fat man in tiny shorts cavorting with underage children in the snow, it’s on your heads.

I ain't skeered

Following Bruce is like hunting birds with my Father-In-Law, they both are about a foot taller than me, and as  a result have much longer strides than I do.  I feel like a little kid trying to keep up.  Bruce and I hiked the course in Boots trying to break the trail through the snow, rather than floating on top with snowshoes.  The snow was so cold, the that crust on top actually started to cut my dog’s leg’s up.

White Dog,....Get it?

We did manage to make a complete lap and get markings up at least well enough that when Retro Bill showed up he was able to hike the course again without getting lost.

As the sun came out Mrs. Nosack and friends showed up with their bikes.  It was an all girls club of local celebrities, including Heather Gilbert who was mildly upset that there wasn’t a women’s expert singlespeed category in the race.  I explained to her that I though it might be because she would likely be the only one in that category.

Riley had shown up and so we followed the girls down the trail with shovels planning to dig out some of the deeper sections to speed up the process.  It ends up conditions were such that, we were walking faster than they could ride.  They turned around halfway so they could make it back in time for lunch, and Riley and I trudged on.  Other bikers  had already set out, and you could see what  parts were ridden, and which parts were walked.  There was a lot of walking.

There were other bikes on the trail, and several people showed up and dug in while I was out wandering in the wilderness.  Tuffguppy from the UMB board, ZenMasterKenny and family, and Jake Weber all did there best to beat the snow.

At this point the best thing to do for the trail is to get on it.  Whether hiking, or riding your bike.  Traffic will keep it beat down and help things to solidify.  The best time to ride it is in the warmest part of the day while the snow is wetter and easier to pack.  To promote traffic on the trail.  I am going to stash baggies of…..raffle tickets along the trail.  They’ll be far enough  in so that the only way you can get to them is by riding or walking on the trail.  Save them up and put them in the drawing at the race.  Thanks again to everybody who helped out, and to those who will this week.  Your the best.

I had a brand new bike, with zero miles.  I headed down early to catch a little ride before the unwashed masses got there.  After checking into the hotel, and headed over to take a lap around Horsethief bench.  About halfway through I took an ill-advised line through some rocks and tumbled over the bars.  Yes, less than three miles on a brand new bike and I had a bent derailleur hanger.  There is an odd sense of impropriety that comes from beating a shiny new bike part with a rock to try and get yourself back to the truck.  I managed to get it functional again and finished the loop.  On my way back to the truck, the Zoobie Crew showed up.  Terry, Nate, Gard, and a couple others I can’t remember were pulling on Spandex at the trailhead.  Scorched into my minds eye is the full frontal shot of Nate, and his unhurried attempt to cover himself despite being in plain view of me, a father and son duo, and a middle-aged woman on a huffy.  If you never knew Nate, let me help you picture it.

Yeah, that’s him in the ironic/quirky aviators.  Not sure what ever happened to Nate, but I think heard he aced his law school entrance exam and will soon be defending the laws of this great nation.

Soon after that, we all hooked up at the hotel, and decided to go rally downtown Fruita.  Not a lot going on at night in Fruita, and we were mocked by locals and Slyfox Moonwillow for treating Main Street as our own personal skills park.

We spent Saturday riding the 18 Road stuff.  All of it narrow gauge singletrack.  For the uninitiated Fruit-onians pride themselves on their singletrack.  And rightfully so.  Miles and miles of buff, rolling trail.  The 18 Road area is sagebrushy desert with trails weaving in and out of little gullys, and mesas.  Fun, fast, XC style riding.  Wrapped up the day with steaks at the Brew Pub.

Sunday we all checked out and headed for the Loma/Mack area.  This is where the Kokopelli trail starts/ends in Colorado.  There are also miles, and miles of trails that run a little more technical.  Slickrock, sand, and a little bit of high desert cryptobiotic soil make it a good contrast with the other side of Fruita.  Spent the day chasing Parrish and Sly around Mary’s loop, under blue skies and perfect temperatures.Oh, and if your hoping to see some super technical stuff try the entrance to Horsethief bench.  Here’s me a couple hears ago with Skyler and Papa Holder cheering me on….

One of the other highlights of the trip, was having Pam and Jeremy Jarneke along for it.  They know every trail in the country and acted as tour guide.  Shortly after this trip they moved to  Arizona, but guess what?  They are moving back.  Jeremy just had back surgery, so he might be on the maybe list, but you couldn’t ask for cooler people to ride with.

So,…..If your planning on going here’s what you need to know.

We have ten rooms reserved at the La Quinta in Fruita.  Group rate is $79/ night.  If we need more rooms we might be able to get them, but only if these fill up quickly.  Call (970) 858-8850 and tell them you are with The Bike Peddler group.  If there is any confusion ask to speak with Teena.

If you would like to make other arrangements and just meet up with us to ride you are welcome to do so.

You are responsible for your own transportation to Fruita for you and your bike.   The shop will close at 3 pm on March 12 to allow employees to travel down.  Plan to ride all day Saturday, and most of Sunday.  It should be cool enough you’ll want some cool weather gear, but temps could be anywhere from the 40’s-60’s.

We usually get together on Saturday night for dinner, and we will be holding the second annual Guitar Hero Championship in my hotel room.  Bring your a-game.

I’ll be sending emails as it gets closer and details get nailed down, but those are the broad strokes.  Make your reservation early to be sure you get a discounted room.

If you have questions shoot me an email: joshmcc@bikepeddlerutah.com

Remember,what happens in Fruita……..

I am still going to make good on my personal wager that if I don’t make it to 180 lbs by Feb 6th, I will ride the Frozen Hog in a triathlon speedo.

How am I doing?

Start point: 193 lbs.

One week before Christmas: 183.5 lbs.

Today: 189.3 lbs.

Brace yourselves,  this could get ugly.

With a nostalgic glance back I dug into my VHS collection this morning and watched this.

It’s the 1995 Greg Stump film(or half hour Specialized commercial if you prefer).  This was the year I bought my first mountain bike.  I mailed a check (which is a paper form authorizing people to remove funds from your bank account for those who can’t remember) and waited the full 6-8 weeks for it to arrive. 

At the time, I watched, mouth open, coveting the carbon fiber Judy fork one rider had.  And then later, close-ups revealed the Specialized Ground Control full-suspension design.  Not completely sure, but I think it garnered a full, two and one half inches of travel. 

Watching it now, the comedy of what was going on is glorious.  This is long before the sport of mountain biking had fractured into a million other niche sports.  Everybody who was on a mountain bike rode like this.  And rode equipment like this.  One of the features was about the Cactus Cup NORBA race, featuring guys on hard-tails with first generation camelbacks, bar-ends, and cantilever brakes.  Later, they went to Kamloops British Columbia to film Brett Tippie, and others bailing down steep loose slopes, on hard-tails with first generation camelbacks, bar-ends, and cantilever brakes.  It’s awesome.  Every single rider in the 28 min film is wearing spandex shorts, fingerless gloves, and a t-shirt.  With giant styrofoam helmets, and blade style sunglasses.

Funny thing is, they were killing it.  One guy, clipped in, pony-tail flailing, made three unsuccessful attempts at a 360° spin.  And the crashes, the most protective gear anybody was wearing was a pair of volleyball knee-pads.   These guys are flying down brushy, gravelly, cliffs and stacking hard.  Then they popped back up laughing.  The scale of what they were doing wasn’t quite on par with what’s happening today, but the uhhh…..enthusiasm they did it with was motivational none the less.

When they weren’t filming the “extreme”, there was a lot of soulful cruising on singletrack.  By today’s standards, this type of filming is pretty lame, but in the days of toe-cages and grip-shift, I was completely enthralled.  The soundtrack was surprisingly cool, if dated.  The artists featured on the back cover are Seal,Hole,Sugar-Ray, and the Charlie Hunter Trio.  Golden.

Unbox the Gimp and look for a copy, you’ll thank me.