RR: The Goose is loose!

[Lor]

I still can't wipe the smile off my face.

[grandpa]

This was my first out of state riding trip and it was awesome!
The temp was in the mid 70's and the views from Gooseberry and Littlecreek Mesa were spectacular to say the least.
If you have the chance I highly recommend going up there, you won't regret it.

Toby and Todd unloading and getting ready to ride the Goose

Todd mashing

Toby making it with a smile

Lor at the top of another climb

out on the edge



Toby giving hand signals

Lor

Todd


Lor rolling it

Toby doin the same

me on the edge at Littlecreek

Lor and Noel dropping down



You can barely see Toby in this picture. This is the J.E.M. Trail that runs along the Virgin River


Many thanks to Toby for getting this ride together!

[VTVic]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

Wait, why is Nick (Ol' Slappy) not in any of the photos? Oh wait, that's right...he flaked on you all big time!!!

There was an Ol' Slappy sighting this Tuesday at JPL...seriously, no kidding around.

[ODB]

Like everyone else has said, this was a fantastic trip. Tim's mechanical on his last day was the only real bummer. We had no major crashes and just one flat in over three days of riding. The hospitality of the locals who advised and/or guided us on the St. George trails was superb (big thanks to Kurt Walker and MTBR's DustyDuke22). On to the pics ...

DAY 1: GOOSEBERRY

Hanzo goin' up:


OpusKat climbs:


Grandpa takes it all in:


Grandpa speedin':


OpusKat follows:



DAY 2: LITTLE CREEK & JEM

Hanzo thru the tight notch before the waterfall drop:


Grandpa drops while Lor says "Peace" (but not "Peace out")



Hanzo off the ledge:


Lor rollin':


My bro powers up:


The Grandpa Special: pancake PB&J:


OpusKat is so above it all:


Lovin' the ST:


OpusKat calls others "pu$$ies" for not cleaning this quick up:


Spoke too soon?


:


I volunteered to play shuttle b!tch on JEM, so no pics from me. But I did enjoy climbing up to the first road crossing and riding back down along the edge of the Virgin River with the guys as the sunlight faded.

More to come ...

[ODB]

DAY 3: ZEN/FLUFFY BUNNY, RED BULL COURSE & GUACAMOLE

The plan initially was to ride both Zen and the stunt-laden Barrel (not Barrel Roll) trail this a.m., but we had a difficulty finding the spot to meet our guide for the morning, DustyDuke22 of MTBR. We'd end up doing only Zen, but with an added surprise. After a couple days riding flat mesas, today would be a new challenge in that Zen has the same quick ups and hops over boulders and other obstacles, but you're doing it on a sustained 1,100-foot climb. Really fun but tiring stuff. As Hanzo has already mentioned, we lost Grandpa on the way up cuz of a failed rear hub, so he would not get to see what we had in store. Bummer.

OpusKat near the top:


Once at the top of the climb, Dusty offered us three options: Back down the way we came (with an offshoot down some rock faces), the traditional Zen descent down the other side of the hill, or his preferred route: down a little somethin'-somethin' called Fluffy Bunny. The trail was so named after much back-and-forth about giving it an ominous name deserving of the trail's gnar factor. In the end, everything sounded ridiculous to the locals, so they went the opposite direction and called it Fluffy Bunny. Believe me, there's nothing cute or cuddly about this trail. Dusty said only a handful of riders have been privvy to this most technical descent off the Zen. How could we pass it up?

The trail starts off much like the techier parts of Birthday at Aliso, with a fair amount of chunk and small ledges to negotiate.

Hanzo coming down:


OpusKat not far behind:




After a while, the trail pretty much disappears. It's up to you to pick your own line down the next section, dodging cactuses and scrub along the way. There are also a couple three- to four-foot drop options (have vid of Hanzo hitting one, but i haven't had time to put it on YouTube yet; sorry).

After that, things start to get scary. The trail heads down a steep wash lined with boulders, rock slabs and thick sand that will stop you dead in your tracks--which means you MUST stay on the chunk to keep your momentum going.

Dusty makes one of the toughest sections look like a stroll down the sidewalk (pic does not do justice to the gnar here):




Lor gets it done with a little dab:


Hanzo takes a STEEEEEEEP line and kills it :


After finishing off the Bunny and thanking Dusty for showing us around, Lor, OpusKat and I bid farewell to Grandpa and Hanzo, who were headed home. We decided to head back toward our base in Hurricane and go do the tourist thing at the old Red Bull Rampage course in Virgin, just to see the monster drops so many famous riders have hit. Someone who looked a lot like Josh Bender was out scoping lines, but we didn't see any riding cuz it was such a blustery day out there.

Time to get some more miles in, so it's down the highway just a bit to the Guacamole Trail for some more mesa riding. Guac resembles Goose and Little Creek, with barely any elevation gain and lotsa slickrock playgrounds linked by singletrack. A large portion of the mesa burned at some point, giving segments of the ride a a post-apocalyptic kinda feel. We would have the entire mesa to ourselves this day, as there wasn't a single car in the parking lot when we arrived (probably owing to the really steep, uneven, cliff-hugging final ascent you have to drive to access the trail ... scary). The lollipop loop is a little over 7 miles total, but it packs in a ton of fun obstacles, rollers and huck-to-flat opportunities.

Our destination:


Off a little overhang:


I consider a steep line:


Then wuss out and take an easier one:


Lor cruising ...


... then powering up this steep notch:


This place must've been stunning before the fire:


OpusKat on the return trip:



Day 4 to come ...

[ODB]

DAY 4: BEARCLAW POPPY

Our plan was to hook up with local Kurt on our way out of town and do multiple shuttle runs of the Bearclaw Poppy Trail in St. George and possibly hit the Paradise Canyon loop, but work got in the way for Kurt and he ended up only giving us trail advice and directions for Bearclaw. We ended up doing a self-shuttle, with one rider sitting out each run, and called it a day so we could get back home.

This wasn't a traditional DH shuttle, cuz Bearclaw has sections that require a good amount of pedaling, especially in the wash section near the beginning. Options abound as there are various offshoots from the different sections, which include the "Three Fingers of Death" (more like a dozen fingers), the "Acid Drops" and "Clavicle Hill." My favorite section of the 'Claw was the "BMX Track," which resembles a two- or three-mile pump track (or kinda like a flatter Kenter Whoops, but for wussy riders like me who cower at big doubles) where you need to hammer on the cranks to get through the chatter and keep your speed up. The trail rises and falls, rises and falls, with tons of little jumps and low-bermed turns. Great stuff!

Lor gets some air time off one of the "Three Fingers" ...


... and again on the steepest of the Acid Drops:


Me on another of the Acid Drops:


OpusKat zooms through the turns on the BMX track:


My weak attempt at style on the BMX:


All in all, four great days of riding on a huge variety of terrain. Can't wait to get back again sometime with this great group of riders.

[tkblazer]

great pics toby.... after seeing some of those pics, Noel can officially be called Hunkzo

[Burner]

damn, i need to get out there.

[Hanzo]

I agree with you Nam. A big THANK YOU to Toby for all the pics and for throwing it together. Toby was killin it on almost everything leading us around. I was toast after the first ride on the 2-a-days, but not Tobeast he wanted more.

Looks like we missed out on the 2nd half of day 3 and 4. Oh well

Originally Posted by bajamtnbkr

Glad you like Lupita's, you made it to Hurricane by 2:00 pm so how early you took off? Isn't at least a 7 hour drive?
I loved the JEM trail, we did it combined with the Gout(sp) loop.
Great RR and thanks for the pictures

MMMM! Chimichangas

We left at 630am and got there around 1230 our time, dumped our stuff in the room and got to the trailhead around 1. Google maps said it would take 6 hours so amazingly it was close.

Originally Posted by tkblazer

lupitas is dope... was hella hot inside the last time i was there tho... how did you like little creek?

All the trails were great coming from SoCali. Little Creek and Goose were both nice in its own way, both slickrock and amazing views. But like Todd said Zen and Fluffy was the shizzle because of the chunk and the views of course. I think you'd like it, but dont tell Tim cuz I told him it sucked.

from utahmountainbiking.com-
Zen Trail
"This trail is probably the most technical ride in the St. George area. It has quite a few little rock tricks that challenge the rider. I recommend it for advanced riders, or for intermediates with a good attitude and a sense of adventure. It doesn't take that long to walk your bike through a spot that spooks you. The ride has much to offer. It's much like Gooseberry Mesa, if Gooseberry were tilted onto a slope.
Ah, tech rock. We'll roll over a small drop, turn left and plunge down a steep narrow ramp, swing right, then pivot left and try to squeeze the bike through the pedal scratcher".