Ride Report Memorial Weekend Cram Session

[tkblazer]

pics of justin's crib and various items scattered around the yard

ok here goes....

thursday afternoon i cruised over to playa bubb supreme Dell "the road warrior" bishoff's pad and loaded up the bikes and gear. we had a fairly uneventful drive over to vegas and chilled, watched tv and drank some beer... fast forward to the next day and we leave vegas to head over to Hurricane, Utah. We decided to hit up JEM trail since it was not already on the trip plan and get a little warm up ride in.... well things were going smooth until i noticed some flexing on my bike.... sure enough one of the pivot screws were loose, an easy fix. I took off the chain rings off and was in the process of tightening the screw when the head just snapped off ](*,) surprisingly i was not pissed off and just told dell to continue and i would meet him back at the truck... now, i'm not sure if anyone has ever seen the movie... the hills have eyes, but i kind of wished i never have since i was freakin walking out of a valley similar to the one in the movie... 100 foot walls with caves all around me and i'm walking my bike back to the truck #-o as you can guess i didn't stick around long and hiked out of the valley and rode back the last few miles...once i got back to the truck, a group of nice students from BYU were just returning from their loop around the trail and we chatted for a bit... nice peeps.
after the ride we headed back to st. george to try to get my bike fixed and at the third and last bike shop in town we scored and found a giant dealer that with some teeth pulling was able to get me the right part....he even didn't mind me putting my bike on the rack and tearing it down to get it fixed. :beer: right after fixing the bike we dashed over to slickrock swamp to do a late afternoon ride. finally my first real taste of what utah had to offer on this sweet ride that i've never heard of. dean ended up with four punctures in his stanatized tube and i pinch flatted shortly after that in what would end up being a hike out in the darkness for the both of us... thanks to dell for picking us up :beer:

off to gooseberry on saturday, now i was really feeling the pain of being sick and the goose would take all the energy i had left in me today... i can now see why this is considered a "must do" ride. there is just so much stuff you can ride here with all the slick rock... its a lot different then riding singletrack or fireroads. i think within the few mile or so dell had a mechanical which resulted in a bent hanger... i believe that was all for the day, not bad if u ask me considering we had 12 riders.. i dont think there were any big crashes, a few OTB's, dabs and the like....

thunder mountain.... wow what a beautiful place, the place is freakin scenic and so nice out there. there was a bike path you had to ride for a few miles to get to the actual trail head and for being a bike path, it was a hell of a ride... as you can see from the pictures, just huge red rock canyon walls and hoodoos on one side and picturesque mountain side on the other. this trail has some good steep climbs and some decent exposure in which the wind did not help with! the downhill ride was smooth although a bit loose in spots which isn't a big deal if you watch your speed. the last part of the trail was under the tree canopy and super smooth, fast and flowy singletrack... from the pure fun factor, this was the sh*t... all the little hills you could pump and really get your speed up faster...we all regrouped at the lot and the others continued on to ride cassidy while i took a much needed nap...

the last day of riding consisted of little creek, similar to goose, but has more flow with less steep climbs... now after 3 solid days of riding, i was totally wasted.. i seem to have to freakin best luck and was sick the day of the trip ](*,) after about 4 miles i was ready to retire and it wasn't until a few miles after that was i able to split off. thanks to scott for leading dean and myself back to the cars. from what i've heard, there was some good carnage in that last quick loop :bang:


some pics from fridays slickrock swamp ride

looks like a little oasis doesn't it

a sign of things to come #-o

 

[roadkillross]

if they seriously try to pull the FRO card...thats pretty weak

 

[dstepper]

Very nice trip, thanks Allison and Justin for your hospitality and setting it up.

You guys have posted some amazing pictures, THANKS!

Cassidy Canyon is the only new dirt for me and I want more of that side of the road. Little Creek Mesa always seems like new dirt to me. It weaves around and goes up and down so much it is a hard trail to memorize. Of all the places I have been this is the easiest to get off the trail and not easy to find it again. One could get seriously lost on that Mesa.

Much as alreay been said so here is a few pics. I like the picture of mullet man standing by the Thunder Mountain sign.


Dean

 

[Pain Freak]

I knew I'd cry when I see what I missed. Great RR's guys and gals. So sorry I missed it, but I did get some quality time with my son.

 

[allison]

Videos

Justin riding the stunts @ Bootleg Friday night

[youtube]6qFYJgA9yxU[/youtube]

Sauce and I playing around while Dell rebuilds his bike

[youtube]gCpfHCfw2kg[/youtube]

[youtube]xqWwIEmSA6w[/youtube]

...gawd it takes awhile to upload to youtube.

Mark on the bridge and drop at Bootleg on Monday evening

[youtube]LCcAGgiCSbk[/youtube]

[youtube]qyQIJceNOWE[/youtube]

[youtube]aaB19OGyZKo[/youtube]

Okay, Little Creek vids coming up.

 

[Collette]

That's it, as soon as hubby-to-be and I are settled in SoCal, we' are soooo on the next trip. Great Pics-it's Allison, duh!!-and great vids, as usual.:clap::bang:

 

[allison]

Justin's drop

[youtube]RTS4UvludUo[/youtube]

 

[roadkillross]

that drop looked nice...nuthin too bad, but i can tell u bottomed it..

 

[icon]

NAM you lucky you!!!

 

[mazer75]

Wow, AWESOME pictures! Looks like you guys all had a blast. Thanks for sharing! Beautiful out there, truly God's country...

 

[Sprockethead]

Sweet ride reports everyone! Dell, if you go back in the fall, let me know, I'm in! Doesn't look too hot from here and you guys just look so happy to be out there, I'm jealous.

 

[dstepper]

Sweet ride reports everyone! Dell, if you go back in the fall, let me know, I'm in! Doesn't look too hot from here and you guys just look so happy to be out there, I'm jealous.

Fall trip, I am in. I want to ride more of the Cassidy Losee Canyon area and maybe get to ride Bunker Creek.

Dean

 

[Edog]

Thanks for the pictures

I was trying to convince my wife that a trip to Utah would have been fun, no dice! We did have a fun weekend in Idlewilde, Danielle made it up Thomas mountain. Nice job as she ride about once a month!
Fantastic pictures, Gooseberry is always fun ( Unless it's 110*). I have to get to Thunder Mountain:clap:

 

[allison]

Fall trip, I am in. I want to ride more of the Cassidy Losee Canyon area and maybe get to ride Bunker Creek.

Dean

I wouldn't mind going up in like August to get some Brianhead riding/shuttling in The bike park and runs are probably pretty cool as well!!

Hey I forget who I was talking about this with, but Aqua posted pics of his buddy doing the "blowfish" this weekend.

Mtbr.com Forums - View Single Post - It always delivers!

 

[tkblazer]

I wouldn't mind going up in like August to get some Brianhead riding/shuttling in The bike park and runs are probably pretty cool as well!!

Hey I forget who I was talking about this with, but Aqua posted pics of his buddy doing the "blowfish" this weekend.

Mtbr.com Forums - View Single Post - It always delivers!

that was I and i did see that thread when i was browsin yesterday :lol:

scott pointed out the cool looking rock to dean and myself on the way out of little creek.... sure enough one of the sanchez guys hit it :bang:

[youtube]MzcsZNJ_Ve8[/youtube]


here's a pic of what started the hunt for the LBS

 

[Chaos]

I think that was tiSS'er from AZ.
That's a freakn sweet drop!
Mark was chatting it up with him at the Thunder Mtn trailhead...
man, Jason and I definitely missed out on LCM.

 

[Keith B]

Friday: After filling the red rocket to the brim we blasted off down the 91 like a beetle through warm syrup – thankfully the congestion was very short limited to a short section of the 15 and we made great time. Funky tunes playing and some great laughs en route.
A welcome Margarita or two in Boulder :beer:was a prelude to a quick look-see up at the Bootleg skills park. It looked like a lot of fun although some of those jumps looked pretty intimidating. More road trip fun chasing the Tahoe up to Mesquite before hitting the sack in anticipation of Utah and biking nirvana………

Saturday: Our 1st taste of Mcdonalds hell! I think its safe to say that Sarah and I only frequent Macs for the choccy topped ice cream cones after a ride and stomaching the slothful service and greasy Mcmuffin’s wasn’t easy. Heading out of Nevada through the edge of Arizona and into Utah was a stellar drive – the scenery was breathtaking, in places it was a twisting race track slicing through canyons of jagged red rocks. Not your usual SoCal scenery!
The SVT didn’t feel very at home crashing down the dirt trails to Gooseberry Mesa, over tiredness and mechanical sympathy had me wincing and cursing in equal measure. Thankfully it wasn’t long before we headed off for my first ever taste of slickrock. Baptism of fire !!!! not what I was expecting at all. It seemed mega technical to my XC tuned brain and I wasn’t into it for a long time 8-[. Each section seemed like a challenge distinctly different than the last. It took a long time before my noggin managed to recalibrate itself to the point where I felt comfortable that the rock was super grippy enough for me to be able to just stand up and nail the steep ups. Mark was telling me that the entire area was once underwater which made total sense, you could almost sense that the rocks had become that smooth due to millennia of tides, waves or crabs body surfing down them. Thank you grandfather time for making those rocks so curvy for us – allow us to smear some of our finest Kenda rubber on them for you :bang:
The Mesa’s highest point is almost 8500ft and many of us could feel the altitude – its not your usual kind of riding. I headed back slightly earlier than the main group and took a much needed nap after downing 2 ice cold Sierra’s J Nothing like that to revive you!
STR descended on a sports bar/grill for sustenance – Utah folks are so nice and polite! Motors fired up and it was another road trip over towards St. George (Patron Saint of England BTW) Grabbed some extra food and beer from a store and then it was another stunning mountain pass drive to catch the sunset up at 10,000ft on the mountain. Various Deer vied to be the latest members of ‘EXIT’ by waiting at the side of the road for us to come by. Plenty of snow up there too. A perfect end to the day was curling up on the sofa with some cold beer to watch ‘Roam’

Sunday: Thankfully batteries got recharged with a bit of a lie in before a nice breakfast and a short drive down the road to ThunderMountain. After a slight mishap with adjusting Sarah’s brakes Mark stepped in to save the day with his brake bleeding skills. The pavement warm-up was pretty welcome and had plenty of ‘Martian’ type scenery to blow your mind. A fire road climb took the warm up to the next level before we took a break and looked forward to the 100% bufty singletrack.
During the break we saw a Camera lying on the floor that no one seemed to own. We decided it must have been dropped by the guy that had just came through and decided to check out what they’d been photographing so that we’d recognize them when we saw them. It seemed a bit odd that these guys had pictures of Nam on them….were they stalking him?! Erm no it was Dell's camera which explained why he was looking at us like we were a bunch of muppets:lol:

Allison and I were secretly onto the winning ticket with the photo gig because we got to ride ahead on clear trail then rest, have some photo fun then get more clear trail until you catch up with the stopped group again – repeat until you’re happy (or you unexpectedly fill the freakin memory card!) The singletrack was rolling for the most part, fast, flowing with stunning views that dared you to look away from the trail just when you shouldn’t – dilemma heaven!
Great descent from Thunder Mountain apart from the masses of dust getting sucked into the air from the riders in front – another one of those dilemma’s……….you want to streak on down the trail as fast as you can to catch the people in front but the closer you get the more the air is chock full of sand. Oh the hell for us contact lens wearers!

A quick break back at the car park then a quick out and back lollipop loop guided by Mark over on the Cassidy/Loosee trail. More fun steep ups meant for a fast descent – I think everyone was pretty glad to get back to chez Mann for some BBQ-ing and cold beer.

Monday: A 6am start before packing up and heading on out to Little Mesa for some more slickrock riding. Mark and Sarah practically ripped the door off the gas station coffee shop – don’t get between Mark and his caffeine infusion! If anyone is any doubt about the lack of muscle charging oxygen up at 10,000ft then your car will let you know the truth – the normally peppy red rocket felt positively asthmatic trying to keep up with the larger displacement Tahoe. All RPM’s and very little go. Little Mesa trail was like a more flowy Gooseberry Mesa. Dell gave me a great pep talk about hucking and I broke my official hucking cherry on one of the stops…..its just a matter of time before I’m leaping off all kinds of drops right?!
Little Mesa seemed a bit ‘unofficial’ compared with the white dotted trail that’s easy to follow over at Gooseberry – if you didn’t know your way out here you could very easily be lost for days. Luckily Mark and Scott’s local knowledge of the area was impeccable. Sarah met her current hucking goal and did a smooth 4 footer 8) - next mission??. Great riding here and incredibly tiring, both mentally and physically as in places the obstacles are one after another in a relentless fashion. You could ride this loop forever and never be bored I’m sure.
Another stop for some 91 Octane (gasoline not Marks coffee) and it was off to find a Pizza place (Thank you Jesus!!). From here the loonies among us high tailed it over towards Vegas and waited out the traffic whilst trying out the Bootleg skills park.
After this mornings huck I figured I’d try the ladder drop…..with pizza and rockstar coursing through my veins I eventually decided I could do it and hit the woodwork at what seemed to be simultaneously light speed and slow motion…..the drop from the end of the wood to the ground must only be about 2 feet….however it slopes down and with the speed you hit the wood at you find yourself at a pretty high altitude.
Thoughts going through my head: ‘Speed, speed, pedal, pedal, here comes the end of the ramp. OH. MY. GOD. HOW HIGH UP AM I???!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!' The floor came up to meet me at an alarming speed and it felt like the suspension just kept on and one sinking into the floor – will it never stop??!!
After that the bridge, drop and teeter-totter seemed to be a piece of cake and I even discovered that my forte was the balance beam – I cleared that 5 times in a row – could it be that all that holds me back is fear of getting all busted up?!
Before leaving we practiced the table top. Sarah’s final run carried a ton of speed and she cleared the entire thing!!! I was happy just to get some slight air – it felt pretty good!! (Oh God I kind of liked it and may have to do it again soon!)
Final run home from Vegas should have been a cake walk…….however after a cram session of this magnitude the riding, altitude, schedule and driving may cause you to drive a good 20yards up the freeway slip road……..in the wrong direction!!!! OMG! You know when you need a Starbucks and some food!
Great weekend, great company, great memories!

Thanks to the following:

The Manns: Great trip and generous hospitality.
Lynne: I’ve never seen anyone so glad just to be out and enjoying the ride. Do you ever stop smiling?! Thanks for your calming words.
Scot: Crazy skills and some crazy lines over the slickrock!
Mark: Total composure in the face of overwhelming rock and gradient
Dell: Mr. Smooth, thanks for the great tech skills advice
Dean: Is there an area of the USA you don’t know about? Great local knowledge
Nam: Aalways looks so laid back and contented despite being in the midst of a cold.
Sarah: Endless enthusiasm and just for being there, ahhh!

Pics coming up.........

 

[Keith B]

Road trip underway....Photographer Sauce on the lens

STR road train into Utah

I discover that the red rocket doesnt have Fox suspension - more like SID team circa 2002

Getting ready to hit the Gooseberry

Mark and Scott on point

Allison hits the vertical limit

Ubiquitous shot of the rear of the year

Allison tastes slickrock. Nam laughs like a merciless hyena and goes in for a close up shot - mean!

Rolling the slickrock

Scott contemplates a line that will take him on a 50ft drop into trees. Mentalist!

Rodell goes large on the highline

Beautiful scenery

How can Nam look so comfortable on that top tube?!

Rodell on a roller

Synchronised breakdancing

Scott takes being a weight weenie to a new level by catching his lunch out on the trail. It was certainly hot enough to cook out there.

Taking a break

Lynne smiling as usual

 

[Chaos]

love the captions Keith. great pics!

 

[tkblazer]

great captions.... after that day of riding tho, my ass was killing me and i made sure everyone knew it... i'm gonna need a 2 ft wide saddle for these long rides