Zion 2009.03.19

Discussion in 'Ride Reports' started by Good_ol'_slappy, Mar 22, 2009.

  1. Good_ol'_slappy

    Good_ol'_slappy aka SB

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    A few of us just returned from four days in St. George / Zion. No RR (yet)...here are a few pictures for a little taste of what we had.
     

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  2. Iwannabinsocal

    Iwannabinsocal boutique brand elitist

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    Great shots!!
     
  3. Hanzo

    Hanzo .

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    Awesome pictures Nick. Looks like all had a good time. Wish I could of gone. Thanks for showing Tim the way.;) Looking forward to more pics.
     
  4. KBL

    KBL Powered by chocolate

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    I missed out on this one, too.

    Can't wait for the RR pics...and for a future opportunity!
     
  5. Good_ol'_slappy

    Good_ol'_slappy aka SB

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    Oddly, I did not get many pictures on this trip. Some of the other dudes will undoubtedly have more. Also I can't officially do a complete RR (skipped out on Day 4)...maybe Dell, Toby, Joe? :)
     

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  6. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Teaser pic. A lot more to come tomorrow.

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  7. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    This was my first ever trip to Utah and I'm only disappointed I've waited this long to knock this one off. For anyone who enjoys mountain biking, hiking or simply the great outdoors, there is no excuse or reason good enough or big enough to justify not making a trip out there. It has Picasso written all over it. Pretty damn close to perfection, IMO.

    There was a total of 8 of us on this trip: Nick (Good ol' Slappy), Toby (ODB), Todd (Todd), Dave (Heyheyhey), Dell (Ladd Jasper), Tim (Grandpa), Simon (Simonmtb) and myself. 2/3 of the group left at the crack of dawn on Thursday and Dave, Simon and myself followed-up a short while later. We met @ a trail head in St. George. The boys were just wrapping-up doing The Zen trail and once we united, we went-up and did Barrels. Tyler, a local rider was there to guide us, thanks to Dell, who made arrangements with locals for many of the rides we did. I can't imagine doing some of this stuff without local knowledge. Although relatively short, Barrels has some of the sickest drops, gaps and steps-ups in the area. We all watched and admired Tyler make it look so easy, followed by Dell and Tim. Nick tried but was having a douche day and almost ended his weekend that evening. Luckily, the skinny bastard knows how to tuck and roll and saved a near disaster. His game was definitely not on that day but I knew the real (i.e. nutty) Nick is coming out. The following days he surpassed all expectations and probably burned bridges (not really) with the locals as he pushed them to new heights and drops that they would not have done, if not for Nick pushing the envelop and challenging their local pride. In the following days, we got to witness, ride, experience some of the best riding I've seen in a while. Cave drop manual is still playing in my head and it was sick. Even big Ben was freaking out, thinking Nick took the wrong line but the crazy bastard meant to hit the crazy line the whole time. Luckily, all went well and he stuck it but there was some nervous moments. 8-[

    As mentioned, Dell arranged with some of the local riders to guide us on some of the rides. Thanks, Dell. That was so awesome, man! :wave: Ben, Matt, Tyler, Alan, Kevin were the locals who joined us for 3 days. Speaking for myself, they blew so many stereotypes out of the water. Some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet who can ride like you've never seen and hit ups and downs that seem nearly impossible but they make it look so effortless and easy. To boot, they're patient, gracious, humble, down to earth and funny as all hell. Ben was the leader of the Sanchez pack and he had us laughing the whole weekend. I hope to ride with these guys again sometime soon. So much to learn and so much to admire, in more ways then one. :beer: (water.)

    As for our group, we had a blast! Everybody was so cool, laid back and drama free. The smack talking never stopped but that's exactly how I like it and wouldn't have it any other way. No hyper-sensitive issues or personalities. Unfortunately, somehow, I became the "target" of the "hey bro" jokes and puns but it was all good and I didn't mind it one bit. In fact, I think I kept pouring gas on my own fire ,which isn't the smartest thing to do but oh well. :-s :lol:
    As for the riding in our group, Dell and Nick were playing tag with the locals and had the rest of us admiring some of the stuff they were hitting. Tim was right there with them but after hitting his nemeses (cave drop) on Friday, he hurt his Achilles heel on a rough flat landing and was out for the rest of the rides. I hope you're okay, Timmy. Healing vibes, bro! :)
    As for everyone else, we all stepped-up our riding and every single one of us came away with more riding knowledge and we hit things we didn't think we could. Lots of accomplishments and confidence boosters. Toby was hitting some good stuff and doing it while looking sexy. ;) Dave was a climbing machine and climbed the waterfall, which Ben said he's only seen one other rider do before. Simon was on fire and conquered his own fears by hitting some steep rollers as Dave did too. As for Todd, for someone who seldom rides, he surprised me the most. He was riding aggressively and went down everything like a locomotive. Well done by all my bro's!

    Thanks, Toby, for getting this whole thing going and planning it for us. Thanks to everyone else for making this mtb trip near perfect. I couldn't have asked for more.
    You all rocked! :beer: :bang:

    Rides completed...

    Thursday: Zen Trail & Barrels in St. George.
    Friday: Little Creek, above Hurricane in the morning and Jem Trail/Hurricane Rim Trail in the afternoon.
    Saturday: Gooseberry Mesa in the morning and Grafton in the afternoon.
    Sunday: Slickrock Swamp in Zion National Park.

    Onto some of the pics. A link will be at the bottom to see a multitudinous amounts of pictures I have on my photo hosting site with much higher resolution.

    ET, phoning home. ;)

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    Dinner in Hurricane, Thursday evening. $12.95 special was rockin' as was the cheesecake...

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    Little Creek trail head...
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    Tim had his game face on and his face read "I'm going to show Noel by hitting the drop today or bust!"
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    Start of Little Creek...
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    Play time on slick rocks was officially kicked-off by Matt (local). This picture with the blue skies in the back drop came out really nice. Nice little rock transition. Again, much more techie then it looks...
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    Big Ben hitting an unstable and wobbly rock gap...
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    Dell hitting the same thing...
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    Blowfish, jr. on same rock...
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    SB, powering through it and destroying the bridge.
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    Traffic jam on slick rocks...
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    Matt, hitting a nice drop...
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    SB on the same drop...
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    Grandpa hitting a nice steep roller...
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    Ben on a fun little kicker...
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    Reached 30 pic limit, apparently. Continued somewhere below...


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  8. Good_ol'_slappy

    Good_ol'_slappy aka SB

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    Damn JT...bustin ODB's balls. Don't make me post pictures of your wardrobe malfunction on Hurricane Rim.
     
  9. ODB

    ODB Team Sting-Ray

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    :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
     
  10. dstepper

    dstepper (R.I.P.) Over the hill

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    Nick how come no close-up pics of the cows? No pics of Grafton?

    Dean
     
  11. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Dean, patience. We have more pics then you can imagine. We have pics of cows, Grafton and then some. Stay tuned!

     
  12. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Slicky-Nicky, hitting a much steeper and more technical roller then you think. Dell, Tim and the local boys hit it too. I had Dell's on video but accidentally hit stop while he was in midst of the roll-in. Sorry, Dell.

    I just realized, funniest thing about this video is at the end. I think it's Ben who says "Nice, dick, I mean, Nick." I think he's onto something, Ndick! :lol:

    [youtube]vtrA68uWAsc[/youtube]
     
  13. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Pics, continued...

    (Pics, part II)...

    ODB stylin' on kicker...
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    Ben making this tough climb, after a tight right hander look almost photoshop'd but it's not.
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    Dell powering-up the same rock face...
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    Matt...
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    Tim on a little drop...
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    Matt...
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    Dell Latitude...
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    Tobfish...
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    Matt on the same roller as Nick's video shown above. very steep mo-fo!
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    Tim on the same roller...
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    Nick would stand behind every drop and roll-in and look for new lines to drop like a mad man, then do it.
    The locals were so nervous and he had them on their toes. No joke...
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    Dell....
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  14. Burner

    Burner WAWE

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    Man, now I'm glad I didn't go... "I'll do it, if Nick does" might've killed me.
     
  15. Sprockethead

    Sprockethead S.T.U.P.I.D.A.S.S. Member

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    Great photos guys, keep em coming! Glad you guys had fun and came home safe, I'm so jealous!
     
  16. sheclimbs

    sheclimbs Active Member

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    Love this shot, SB sits back and plans his attack...
    IMG_1672.JPG
     
  17. CalEpic

    CalEpic member

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    Looks like a great trip guys! I'm seriously jealous
     
  18. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Pics, continued...

    (pics, part III)...

    Horrible views...
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    The OG's, looking scary...
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    Dave is thinking about Powder coating...
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    for Match.com
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    Trying to look tough but it's not working to good...
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    My new white BFF and I having a moment to ourselves...
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    SB blushing, after Oh-Dee tried the ol' "look over there and fondling" trick while Dell waited his turn...
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    Lunch break...
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  19. Good_ol'_slappy

    Good_ol'_slappy aka SB

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    Hehe...the closest I could come to the cows was 4x zoom. I wasn't 100% in love with them on a ridge looking down at us with their dead eyes. OK...so I have cow issues.

    We made it down the Grafton chunk mostly without stopping. I think some guys have pictures of the playground at the bottom.
     
  20. JoeTruth

    JoeTruth Active Member

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    Pics, continued...

    (Pics, part IV)...


    Riding along the edge of the Mesa...
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    Dell has some wood...
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    Dave P playing...
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    Simon playing...
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    Toby
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    Todd...
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    Matt
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    The face of a mad man...
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    Simon doing the Euro's proud...
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    Tim on waterfall's first tight left (with Dnick right behind him seeing new stupid lines)...
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    Tim's left followed by a right roller...
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    Toby on waterfall...
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    Dave on waterfall...
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    And then he managed to climb it...
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    Matt (Nick scouting new line that he eventually hit.)...
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    Here comes the flip (NO NO NO!!!)...
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    Simon or Tim have a great pic of him at the crest of the rock, pre-manual into no where.

    Dnick on Cave Drop...
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    Tim on Cave Drop...
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    Lunch break @ some sub-par mexi joint in Hurricane. I guess peeps from the OC eat sideways. WTF!?
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    "Here's your food. I hope you don't get sick", is what the waitress said to to Dave, after handing him his veggie burrito. Not very reassuring.
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    My super chicken burrito, which I only ate 1/2 of. Not very good...
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    Onto Jem/Rim Trail for the afternoon ride...
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    Continued...
     

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