Mountain Flyer Number 17

DEFINING THE ROCKY MOUnTAIN CYCLIST

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

High School Bike Teams Might Migrate Your Way

UNTAPPED ADVENTURE The Beauty of Solitude in Del Norte, Colo.

HARAKA HARAKA

Crazy Cycling Escapades in the Wilds of Kenya

THE SENATORS’ UNDERGROUND

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editor/publisher brian riepe publisher steve mabry managing editor caroline spaeth art director chris hanna creative editor james e. rickman roving artist gloria sharp copy editor trina ortega writers T. Herb Belrose Christina Buchanan Marty Caivano Jordan Carr Eddie Clark Stephen Eginoire

Scott Leonard Shawn Lortie Rob McPherson Matthew J. Nelson David Ochs Laura Puckett

James E. Rickman Noah Sears Kurt Smith Phil Stake John Starr

photographers Devon Balet Marty Caivano Eddie Clark Mitchell Clinton Stephen Eginoire

Ed Ellinger Kevin Krill Brian Leddy Shawn Lortie Rob McPherson

Matthew J. Nelson James E. Rickman Robert Ward

illustrators

Jesse Crock Dave R. Delano

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During the 2010 Chile Challenge downhill race, Dante Harmony of Sedona, Ariz., blurs through a rare smooth section of the World Cup downhill trails at Angel Fire, N.M. Photo 2010 © Devon Balet

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Craig Pickett Lange

The cycling community lost one of its own on Friday, June 4, 2010. Craig Pickett Lange died from injuries sustained during an accident at the Mountain States Cup Chile Challenge in Angel Fire, N.M., just a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday.

By all accounts, Craig was a vibrant young man who brought joy to the lives of those around him. He loved being outdoors with every ounce of his being, and he relished every opportunity to be there. His passion for cycling began at an early age. Craig set up a maze of jumps and trails on his family’s property. Soon he was jumping the driveway on a bike or a snowboard, and neighbors learned to keep their eyes peeled for the boy who had learned to fly.

In addition to riding and snowboarding, Craig earned his black belt in taekwondo at the age of 9. His interests seemed to span from the mountains to the seas—leading the young man to pronounce that one of his goals was to one day live on a sailboat. Craig was a good brother to his siblings, and he spent time playing guitar and singing for several bands. His love of riding bikes was legendary.

From Craig’s own journal, we can learn a simple truth: “My life has been very happy so far, but the happiest time is whenever I am riding my bike with my friends.” Craig’s last ride took place at one of three places that he listed as his favorites: Sol Vista, Colo.; Angel Fire, N.M.; and his own backyard.

Craig Lange left the world far too early, but he did not do so before knowing about love. He loved his family, his girlfriend and his sport. And because he had had the presence of mind to check the organ donor box on his driver’s license, Craig had learned to love his humanity. His heart still beats inside another person, and his gift of life has saved numerous others as well.

In his journal, Craig wrote, “I would like to be remembered as that kid who was never sad and brought happiness to everybody around him.” We have no doubt that Craig accomplished so well what he set out to do.

Courtesy Lange family

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Courtesy Lange family

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what’sinside number seventeen

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Craig Pickett Lange by James E. Rickman

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Editor’s Note

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A Town with No Pie—Fruita Says: No, Thanks by Noah Sears

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Profile: Kate Rau, Devoted and Driven by Marty Caivano

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High School Cycling: It Could Happen by Marty Caivano

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Recipes: Bring Back the Bacon by Christina Buchanan

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Riders Journal

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Haraka Haraka, A Bicycle Adventure by Matthew J. Nelson

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Gears and Beers: Partying it up in Paonia by Rob McPherson

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A Chance to Ride the Volcano by James E. Rickman

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Remnants of a Race in the Wild, Wild West by Phil Stake

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The Senators’ Underground Invitational by Shawn Lortie

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Paraphernalia

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Chris Kopp Custom Road Bike by Caroline Spaeth

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Specialized Expert Carbon 29 by Brian Riepe

102 Santa Cruz Tallboy by John Starr 106 Moots Vamoots RSL by David Ochs 120 The Beauty of Solitude in Del Norte, Colo., by Laura Puckett 130 Tailwind: The Other Side of the Creek by T. Herb Belrose sixteen Kate Rau

twenty-seven Riders Journal

ninety-three Paraphernalia

one hundred twenty Del Norte, Colo.

Mountain Flyer Magazine (ISSN 1944-6101) July 2010 is published quarterly by Secret Agent Publishing, LLC, 125 N. Main Street, Suite A, Gunnison, Colo. Periodicals postage paid in Gunnison CO and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Mountain Flyer, PO Box 272, Gunnison, CO 81230

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[editor’snote]

Honoring Our Friends

After publishing 17 issues of Mountain Flyer, this is by far the most difficult editor’s note I’ve written. During the course of work producing this issue, two riders lost their lives while participating in separate events we were covering.

On June 4, Craig Lange of Morrison, Colo., died of injuries sustained during a crash in a practice run at the Chile Challenge Mountain States Cup race in Angel Fire, N.M.

Later, on June 24, just days before bringing this issue to a close, Dave Blumenthal of Montpelier, Vt., was killed in a collision with a vehicle on a rural road in Routt County, Colo. Blumenthal (pictured at right) was competing in the Tour Divide bike race, an unsupported endurance event starting in Canada and finishing at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lange was only 17 and had a lifetime of adventures ahead of him.

Blumenthal, a husband and father, left behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter. Their family and friends will miss these extraordinary individuals dearly.

Before the news of Blumenthal’s accident came to me in an email from Eddie Clark—a freelance photographer who had been following the race for hundreds of miles, much of it on the heels of Blumenthal, through the Wyoming Basin and into Colorado to chronicle the event for Mountain Flyer—I had already deliberated over the best way to handle the news of Lange’s passing.

The last thing I would want was for Mountain Flyer to sensationalize—in any way—these events in print. However, when faced with the decision, the answer was clear.

With input and blessing from Lange’s family, our creative editor, James Rickman, carefully composed a memorial piece for Lange to be

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Eddie Clark

published in this issue. James is a skilled and experienced writer—one of the best I know—and he still struggled with the piece, placing immense pressure upon himself to make sure it was respectful, tasteful and, most important, honored the family and the life that was lost. I think he did a fantastic job.

Blumenthal’s passing came too close to our print deadline to publish a similar memorial for him, but our thoughts are with his family.

It is with great sadness and deep reflection that we report these events. It is without solace when I say that I don’t believe either of these riders or others who have been lost in similar accidents would trade the adventures they pursued for a life with less possibility.

Craig Lange and Dave Blumenthal were the kind of people who inspired others through their energy, stories and enthusiasm for everything they did. It is easy to see they enjoyed every mile of life.

The best way we can honor them is to take their lead and do the same.

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Fruita Says:

by Noah Sears

No, Thanks

For much of 2009, the economy wasn’t the only thing depressed in the sleepy farm-town-turned-mountain-bike-Mecca of Fruita, Colo.

The downtown had dried up: eight of 18 street-level commercial buildings on the two-block strip were left vacant. Each new boardedup shop window took a slice out of the town’s soul, including when the owners of the local restaurant icon, the Hot Tomato, were considering shutting the restaurant’s doors for good.

A town with no pizza is a depressing thought indeed.

The Hot Tomato, founded five years ago by former Over the Edge Sports employees Jen Zeuner and Anne Keller, has been both a cornerstone of the local community and mandatory retreat for visiting cyclists and adventurers. Its birth came from necessity.

“We were looking for a way to both live and work in Fruita,” Zeuner said. “After three years of fielding the question, ‘Where can we eat?’ during long days at the bike shop, it seemed obvious the need was there.”

The Tomato quickly became a critical thread of the Fruita fabric.

Over the next few years, locals and visitors made sure that while they sampled the renowned local dirt they also sank their teeth into the Hot Tomato’s legendary ’za.

The variety of customers is what local Gary Smith loves most about the place: “It’s always full of characters. I always see friends here.”

Despite all the love, Zeuner and Keller faced constant headaches dealing with a building that, while cute and rustic, was nonetheless dilapidated. That reality, along with an increase in rent, forced the women to re-imagine their future when they opted not to renew their lease.

Following a successful fundraising party on their final night of operation—a demonstration of just how much the local Fruitians cherished the services—Zeuner, Keller and their staff made the conscious decision to temporarily close the restaurant and find a suitable new location.

“We raised about $3,000 on our closing night, which helped, but the huge turnout was more of a morale-raiser for us,” Keller said of the event. “That really showed us how much our customers wanted us to stay open.”

Boosted by the community’s support, they found an ideal space in a former dry cleaner directly behind the old location. It took eight months to transform the bland, cinder block structure into a polished but quirky restaurant replete with eight New Belgium beers on tap, a long bar and an open patio. The construction crew, most longtime customers, often did the work pro bono or at least at a substantial discount.

“We had a rotating crew of over 20 volunteers who would just stop by to see if we needed help,” Keller added. “That made the biggest 14

Courtesy Hot Tomato

Courtesy Hot Tomato

Top photo: The ladies of the hot pizza pie (left to right), Jen Zeuner, Anne Keller and Lisa Lieb, stand in the newly relocated Hot Tomato Cafe.

Bottom photo: The restaurant’s new location is hip, funky, fun and the center of good eats in Fruita, Colo.

difference of all.”

The project’s emphasis was clearly about getting the pizzeria back in business to breathe some life back into the community.

Fruita Mayor Ken Henry has been a supporter of the Tomato from the beginning, both as a customer and an ally in getting the local establishment back up and operational.

“Our goal is to make downtown Fruita a fun place to hang out,” Henry said. “Keeping the Hot Tomato open, or any number of businesses we have in Fruita, is a key to that goal.

“More than anything, it was the endless enthusiasm and hard work by Zeuner and Keller that made it possible,” Henry added. “I watched them in there late at night stripping the walls themselves. It’s their way of life. They are doers, and they are givers. And they make a darn good piece of pie.”

Another time, when the restaurant owners mentioned to Henry plans of cleaning up the alley adjacent to the new building, no more than a week went by before city trucks rolled through and leveled and re-graveled the unsightly alley. “Ken helped keep the permit and inspection process moving along” according to Zeuner. “It was small but important things like that which made it possible to get the place up and running full steam.”

The night of the grand re-opening in April was one for the restaurant’s record books.

“We prepared four times the amount of dough we usually do for a weekend night and still ran out by 7 p.m.,” Zeuner said.

Today, Fruita feels substantially more cheerful than it was at this time last year. The resurgence of life in downtown has been boosted by several other new businesses, and there’s gossip of a new brewery.

Fruita’s historic downtown is becoming reason enough for locals and weary travelers to stop by and grab a slice of life.

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Kate Rau

&

Devoted

Driven

by Marty Caivano

If you need to make something happen, Kate Rau is your woman.

Of all the people wanting to start a high school mountain bike program in Colorado, Rau became the director of the new Colorado High School Cycling League simply because she started doing it.

“That’s how most of my jobs are,” said Rau, who has used her persistence not only to work in organizations for kids, but to found two of her own.

And her interest in starting a Colorado league, like a lot of things in mountain biking, can connect its origins to Gary Fisher.

Rau met Fisher at the opening of the Boulder Trek Store in 2008, and since she had learned of the California league some years before, she asked him how to get one started in Colorado.

He told her, “Oh, that’s easy,” and sent her the video “Children of the Dirt,” a documentary about the Northern California high school league. That league had been founded in 2001 by Matt Fritzinger, then a teacher at Berkeley High School.

Fisher “sent it to me, I watched it, and I went straight to the NorCal website and invited myself to their coaching conference,” Rau said.

Kate Rau is the new director and founding chair of the Colorado High School Cycling League, a new high school mountain bike program.

Marty Caivano

16

About the same time, Fritzinger had organized a founding committee to help other states form leagues, and he encouraged Rau to attend the 2009 California state championships.

Even though Rau was buried in work from other commitments, she caught a red-eye flight to California on the weekend of the championships.

“It was the most amazing thing. Six hundred kids were racing their bikes, and close to 100 were females,” Rau said. “It was the most phenomenal thing I’d ever witnessed.”

When she got back, she began an email campaign with Fritzinger, who is now the executive director of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, the governing body for high school racing. “I kept saying, we have to do this, let’s meet,” Rau said.

In July of that year, Fritzinger came to the National Mountain Bike Championships in Sol Vista, Colo., and Rau had dinner with him to discuss the idea further.

“He had heard from a lot of people in Colorado already, but I was always bugging him,” Rau said. She invested even more of her personal time, making trips to Interbike, the annual bike trade show, and again to California to see how NorCal ran its CycleFest fundraiser.

After that, Rau said, “Matt basically started mentoring me on how to run a league, and I made myself available to do it.”

In January this year, her position became more formal, with Fritzinger referring to her as the director, although Rau says her title is founding committee chair.

Rau, 47, arrived at this place with a substantial background in working with kids and riding a bike as a kid herself, of course.

“I had a bike in second grade, and I was teaching myself how to ride against a wall because I was determined to get my training wheels off,” Rau said.

The child of an Air Force dad, Rau lived in Massachusetts, Afghanistan and California before the family settled in Bellevue, Neb.

Much later, after moving to Colorado in 1980, Rau spent some time as a ski bum in Summit County then went on to study geology and political science at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“I really got into biking when I moved to Boulder because I didn’t want to have a car,” Rau said. “I rode my Sears Pursuit everywhere.”

At the same time, she was influenced by Colorado’s road racing scene. “I would watch the Red Zinger Classic and the Coors Classic.

This was before mountain biking,” she said. “I remember on my birthday being in North Boulder Park, watching Jeannie Longo win the overall, watching Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney and all those people. I was so mesmerized by them.”

After graduating from college, she got a job at the consulting firm Walsh Environmental, where she worked as a project manager on hazardous Superfund sites.

“We were a really outdoorsy firm where we liked to ride our bikes a lot,” Rau said. “I was working on a site in Leadville, and our routine was to work in the field all day and then ride our bikes around.”

As mountain biking gained traction in Colorado, Rau took notice.

And she decided she had to try it, so she got her co-workers involved.

“I planned this whole excursion where we rented mountain bikes and did the Wheeler Trail in Breckenridge,” Rau said. “It was awesome. I don’t know how we rode half the stuff we did; there was no suspension then.”

She continued to ride on dirt, with classic trips to Moab and the Colorado mountains, and soon realized that she wanted to spend her time connecting young people with nature.

Marty Caivano

Kate Rau (left) helps Max Neuman, 14, with some pointers at the start line at the Battle the Bear bike race in Lakewood, Colo. Neuman plans to join the high school mountain bike team at Boulder’s Fairview High School, where he will be a freshman this fall.

So in 1995, she decided to become a ski instructor at Eldora Mountain Resort near Boulder to see if she enjoyed teaching children.

She discovered she more than liked it. “Once you work with kids outside, it’s the coolest thing ever,” Rau said.

About the same time, Rau connected with Matt Tomasko, who founded Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures (SMBA) in 1993. At that time, the independent program for juniors was mostly focused on weeklong trips to Winter Park, Colo. Rau wanted to be part of it, so she stepped up to offer her services.

“I asked him if he needed a cook, since I had catering experience,” Rau said. “I would get all the food ready for the week and then cook and ride with the kids.”

The next year, Tomasko asked her to work as an assistant coach, and Rau has been with SMBA ever since. Now the program director, she leads rides, coaches the kids and goes with them to races. She also organizes the group’s girls-only program.

Rau decided to make her career change complete, so in 2002 she went back to school. She earned a master’s in education from Regis University, where her graduate work focused on engaging youth in healthy activities during after-school hours.

“I strongly believe that connecting kids to the outdoors in an experiential, visceral way will promote a strong sense of environmental stewardship, regardless of one’s adult path,” Rau said.

Her devotion to young people led her to many other opportunities: she helped launch AIM House, a residential mentoring program for young adults; she held various teaching and coordinating positions within the Boulder Valley School District; and she cofounded Vive, an organization that combines youth mentoring with parental coaching.

Today, she’s still involved at Eldora, where for the last two years she has been the training coordinator for the ski and snowboard instructors.

And now her ability to jump in and make things happen has brought her to the Colorado High School Cycling League.

“That’s my true passion, impacting kids in a positive way, and the bike seems like a great way to do it,” she said. “I just think that whatever lure you throw out to a kid, whether it’s Lego robots, theater, music, biking—if it strikes a passion in them, it’s a huge gift to our world. And on a bike, you just learn so much about yourself.”

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High School Cycling Leagues?

Yes, It Could Happen

by Marty Caivano

Imagine if your local high school had more kids on its mountain bike team than its football team. It sounds far-fetched maybe, but when the new Colorado High School Cycling League gets rolling, it could happen.

This year, Colorado became the first state to join California—which does have a school in that situation—in creating a racing league for high school students.

“Colorado is a no-brainer,” said Kate Rau, director of the newly formed league. “Of the 45 mountain bikers that represented the U.S. at Worlds in 2009, 15 of them call Colorado home.”

The high school program will take place in the fall (unlike California’s spring leagues), with four races spread over September and October. The final race will constitute the state championships. Prior to racing, students can spend the summer participating in camps and training rides.

Although racing emerges as the final result, inclusion of all levels of kids is a main goal of the program.

“We’re not trying to raise Olympic athletes here,” said Gary Boulanger, board president of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), the governing body for high school mountain biking. “Sure, we want the kids who could be superstars, but we really want the fat kid who is 50 pounds overweight. We want the kid who has no other chance at sports.”

But at the same time, Colorado isn’t lacking in talented junior riders. They just need a place to fit in.

“I’m super stoked [about the league],” said Alex Willie, 14, of Longmont, Colo., north of Denver. Already an avid mountain biker, Willie plans to attend high school in nearby Lyons because the school already has a coach lined up with kids ready to join the team.

“I’ve never really been in sports in school. I’m too busy training on the bike because that’s my passion. I’m not that interested in team sports,” Willie said.

Willie currently rides with Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures, a junior program Rau manages. He attends races in both cross-country and gravity disciplines with his younger brother, Chase, 10.

“Before SMBA, I would ride with my parents, but it’s just not the same,” Willie said. “It’s awesome to ride and race with people your own age, who you can relate to. It’s super fun.”

For risk management reasons, the league will hold only crosscountry races in which all skill levels can handle the course. The more advanced riders will simply do more laps.

“We’ve looked into using Bear Creek Lake Park [in Lakewood, a suburb west of Denver] as a venue, as well as spots in Salida and Summit County so the mountain teams don’t always have to drive so far,” Rau said.

But first, the teams need to come together, and schools need to get on board.

Both public and private schools can participate and probably will consider it a club sport, outside of their established athletic programs.

However, many schools in California treat it as a varsity sport in which kids can earn a varsity letter. (continued on page 20)

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(continued from page 18)

Courtesy NICA

High school cycling league members line up for the 2009 California State Championships. High school racing leagues started in California, and the founders hope the program’s success will spread to other states, as it has now done in Colorado.

Although it’s difficult to predict how many Colorado teams will form this first season, the most important thing is to get the league started, said Matt Fritzinger, executive director of NICA.

“School district acceptance can vary drastically,” Fritzinger said.

“Some embrace it, and some, based on false perceptions of the sport, may not allow it. That makes it harder, but it won’t stop us.”

The league is organized under the banner of NICA, a nonprofit formed in September 2009 to help spread high school cycling programs beyond the West Coast. The organization’s goal is to develop leagues coast to coast by 2020.

“There’s a revolutionary aspect to it,” Fritzinger said. “We’re not asking for permission. We know it’s good for the kids, we know it’s good for the community. Even if [the schools] don’t support it, the teams will form. Usually, later, the schools come around.”

Fritzinger started the California NorCal league by first organizing five young riders into a club at Berkeley High School, where he was a teacher. By 2001, there were enough riders to support the creation of the league, and today there are 700 riders in two leagues, with a third on the horizon.

And at Sir Francis Drake High School in Marin County, the Pirates have 50 students on their team, a squad larger than the school’s football team.

The leagues have sponsorship, as well, through a host of companies including Specialized, Clif Bar and Trek. Clif Bar intends to spread its sponsorship wherever leagues form.

“It’s a movement we want to get as many people behind as possible,” said Eric Russell, national sales manager for the company.

“It teaches kids to love nature and love health, two really important things for our youth.”

The students’ involvement in cycling often spreads to their family members, added Boulanger. “Fifty percent of the families have bought bikes for themselves and are riding, too.”

Professional mountain biker Dave Wiens, a member of the NICA board and chair of the venue committee for the Colorado board, said that at the end of the day, the structured racing is sometimes the secondary benefit for the students.

“It appeals to a different set of kids, and the sense of belonging is so important,” Wiens said. “Everyone plays, there’s no one sitting on the bench, no one getting cut. They make friendships and relationships. Mountain biking gives them something positive in their lives.”

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recipes

Brin

Sometimes just a little bit of anything goes a long way.

ack gB

Like the hint of green after a long winter, a patch of blue sky after a storm or a quick bike ride snatched before the sun goes down.

And although the folks at Bacon Today (they advertise everything from bacon-flavored coffee to beer-battered bacon) might be a little upset to hear me say this, you don’t need a lot of bacon to transform any dish.

The bacon theme for these recipes was hatched during a dinner I had with some friends. We were discussing how cool it would be if bacon was a super food—foods high in antioxidants and phytochemicals (both considered cancer-fighters), such as spinach, oranges, blueberries and Swiss chard.

Alas, bacon is far from a super food. But where bacon falls short in antioxidant power, it makes up with super taste. And good-tasting food makes for good eating, which leads to good riding. Hopefully you enjoy these recipes, and they help fuel your passion. Happy riding.

the Pasta Carbonara ala Holly n ana h c Bu a n i rist Ch y b

This dish makes a great pre-workout or pre-race meal. It is high in carbohydrates, protein and taste. Using soft goat cheese makes the sauce very creamy. If you dislike goat cheese, you can substitute with shredded Parmesan. Adding some cooked spinach, if you like, boosts this dish’s green power.

Ingredients: ¼ pound bacon 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 eggs, lightly beaten 5 ounces soft goat cheese (chèvre) ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped ¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes ½ cup onion, finely chopped 2–3 cloves garlic, minced ½ cup white cooking wine 1 pound pasta (any variety) Parmesan cheese

Instructions: Cook bacon in olive oil until crisp. Remove from pan and chop into small pieces. Save olive oil/bacon grease combination. While bacon cooks, bring water for pasta to a boil. Combine eggs, goat cheese, parsley, black pepper and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Sauté onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil/ bacon grease until onion is translucent, about five minutes. Add wine and reduce by half; when reduced, add bacon back into pan.

Drain cooked pasta and add it to the egg-cheese mixture. Toss well (Hot pasta cooks egg mixture.) Stir in bacon mixture, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and more pepper to taste.

Serve immediately. (continued on page 24) 22

STRENGTH IN SIMPLICITY

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Bring Back the Swiss Chard and Bacon I love Swiss chard, but I realize a lot of folks out there don’t especially like it. The solution to making this super food more fun to eat is bacon. Who knows, after you eat it a few times with the bacon crutch, you may just be ready to try it on its own. This side dish pairs well with salmon and roasted potatoes. Mmmm.

Ingredients: 4 pieces bacon 1 pound Swiss chard, rinsed well and cut into 2-inch ribbons 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup water 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions: Cook bacon until crisp, crumble and set aside. Place Swiss chard in a sauté pan with the olive oil and water. Mix in garlic. Cover and cook on medium high for about five minutes. Cook until just wilted. (Be careful not to overcook.) Remove from pan. Sprinkle with bacon just before serving.

Kelly’s Gril ed Cheese This was my best friend Kelly’s favorite sandwich when we were in college. The good fat in the avocado helps balance the bad fat in the bacon. This is a nice post-ride treat. Kelly (right) passed away in May, so it seems fitting to include this signature sandwich in her honor.

Ingredients: 2 pieces of good sourdough bread 2 slices of medium or sharp white cheddar cheese 2 thin slices of tomato 2 thin slices of avocado 1 piece of cooked bacon, crumbled Butter or olive oil

Instructions: Melt a pad of butter or pour a bit of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Assemble the sandwich as follows: slice of bread, slice of cheese, tomato, avocado, bacon crumbles, slice of cheese, slice of bread. When the pan is hot, place sandwich in butter or oil and weight with a heavy plate, a small pan or even a full tea kettle. Cook each side until browned, about five minutes per side. Be careful not to burn. I say enjoy while hot. Or, as my husband prefers, wrap it in tinfoil and put it in your biking pack.

24

Kelly Cockburn Feinberg and her son, Ari Feinberg

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25

27

Haraka Haraka A Bicycle Adventure

on Mt. Kenya Words and Photos by Matthew J. Nelson Illustrations by Jesse Crock

My first experience using rod brakes, which I would have been wise to test in less than critical circumstances, happened as I approached terminal velocity on a rough jeep track descending from the second highest peak in Africa. As cool and retro as rod brakes look, they don’t really work. I pulled and pulled as hard as I could, and aside from a slight grinding sound, nothing happened. As the road steepened and the surface deteriorated, the bike bounced and shook out of control. I held on for dear life.

28

The baiskeli (Swahili for bicycle) is an important part of life in rural Kenya; it’s the peoples’ mode of transportation for hauling supplies to and from market and as low-budget taxi service for those without wheels. This family is out for a ride near the town of Nanyuki, Kenya.

My head rattled like a rag doll in the hands of a temperamental child, making it difficult to see what was around the next corner.

Soon I felt the bike moving faster, much faster, and I knew the crux turn was coming up. All I had to do was carve the turn, get over the bridge without crashing into the river below, and everything would be all right. That’s when I saw a local Kenyan Kikuyu herder moving his animals up the road, halfway across the bridge. A dozen cattle and twice as many goats filled the roadway and the entire width of the bridge. My path was blocked by thousands of pounds of hide, hair and hooves. I screamed.

Hijacking a Boda-boda It’s rare that I spend more than a few days away from my bicycle. Most vacations and adventures involve two-wheeled activities, but when the opportunity to travel to Kenya for three weeks to assist with a crosscultural education project presented itself, my bike didn’t make the list of essential items. I figured if I needed some time in the saddle, I’d try to rent or buy a bicycle while I was there. The last thing I expected to be doing on this trip was rocketing down a dirt road on a turn of the century one-speed built for staid trips to the market not unplanned downhill kamikaze descents.

In East Africa, as in most places around the world, the bicycle powers the rural economy. The baiskeli is how people get from place to place, a means to haul produce from garden to market and a way to make extra income as a bicycle taxi service. The bicycle is the ultimate utilitarian mechanism. On every rural road in Kenya you’ll find bicycles—some are being ridden, some are being walked and just as many are upside down getting a roadside repair.

After seven days and seeing hundreds of bicycles rolling along the dirt roads of Kenya’s central highlands, I just couldn’t hold out any longer. Starved of bicycle-induced endorphins, I found some adventure in the form of a boda-boda, a bicycle taxi on which the passenger sits on a steel rack suspended over the rear wheel. Sometimes the rack is padded, and sometimes you rest your rear on raw metal. There are often foot pegs so you can relieve the pressure from time to time, but that is a luxury. Most people just dangle their feet and hold on for dear life. Boda-boda drivers are almost always young men, in their late teens or early 20s, and have developed a reputation for their speed and lack of concern for safety. They reminded me of most of the guys I ride with back home.

In the rural area outside Naro Moru where I was staying, bodaboda drivers hang out in the foothills of the mountains and give people rides into town for 40 Kenyan shillings (U.S. $1). What would normally take two hours of walking can be covered in about 20 minutes on a thrilling downhill ride past farms, fields and flocks of exotic birds. Judging by the look of shock on the face of Maina, the boda-boda driver I had asked for a ride, it’s not often that a mzungu (Swahili for foreigner) hops on the back of a boda-boda.

After just a few minutes of rolling casually down a dirt road, I pleaded with the boda-boda driver to stop. “What is the problem?” he asked, assuming the ride was more than I could handle. When I told him I wanted to drive and that he should hop on the back, I thought he was going to fall over. Not entirely comfortable with the prospect but curious and adventurous enough to give it a try, he gave up the driver’s seat and let me take control. Seconds later we were rocketing downhill.

29

Haraka Haraka

30

We must have passed by 30 people on the road to Naro Moru, and every one of them burst into laughter when they saw a mzungu captain and a Kenyan passenger. The looks of astonishment were hilarious, and I continuously pedaled faster to increase the shock value. As the grade steepened and the bike began to seriously pick up speed, Maina stopped laughing. “Polepole,” he said, “Slow down.” I just laughed and pedaled until the singlespeed on his rig was completely spun out, then got into a tuck and let gravity take over. “Polepole…polepole…

POLEPOLE,” Maina urged.

After a few exhilarating minutes, we sailed into Naro Moru, and I hit the last corner much faster than Maina ever has, or at least that’s what I assumed based on the volume of his scream as the wheels skidded over dirt-covered pavement. We came to a screeching halt beneath a large eucalyptus tree where all of the boda-boda drivers hang out, and a dozen young men roared with laughter as their colleague peeled himself off the back of the bike, wide-eyed and shaking. I gave Maina a few extra shillings, both for the pleasure of the experience and because we had snapped a few spokes along the way.

Beware of the Black Mamba Feeling lighter from the downhill ride, I wandered across the main street and into the Naro Moru market in search of local goods, which were abundant. Inside each of the tiny wooden stands were colorful displays of bananas, passion fruit and leafy greens big enough to wrap a baby in, all of which were grown by family farmers just a short distance away in the fertile soil at the base of Mt. Kenya. Almost everyone grows the majority of the food they eat and raises a few animals for milk, eggs and meat. For locals, going to market is more of an opportunity to hang out with friends and to sell what excess their fields have produced. The market has everything you could want— beans, bananas, even a few bicycles.

When I first saw the bike leaning against a wooden fence, I knew I had to have it. I engaged its owner in conversation and talked for

a while about this and that before inquiring about the bike and if he would sell it to me. “You want Black Mamba?” he asked.

“Uh, I think so…” I answered, not really sure what he was referring to. Come to find out, that’s what people call this type of bicycle in Kenya. They are called Black Mambas because, like the deadliest snake in Africa, the bikes are black and have been known to cause paralysis and death. He must have thought that my hesitation in committing to the purchase had something to do with the price, so he reduced the ticket to 1,500 Kenyan shillings, about US $40. “That’s less than the cost of a new tire back home,” I thought to myself. It was a done deal.

I pedaled away from the Naro Moru market happier than a child at Christmas. Laughter erupted from each person I rode by, and it wasn’t long before I realized what I had gotten myself into. The Black Mamba, like every other bike in rural Kenya, is an unbelievably heavy singlespeed workhorse. Most of the weight lies in the lugged steel frame, perhaps the only sturdy part of the setup. Its 1930s technology features cottered cranks, rod brakes (no cables here, folks), fenders, a hard plastic seat, wrought iron and recycled steel racks and, best of all, a bike bell. The Black Mamba is the kind of bike you ride for a day, then tune up at night.

The hill back to Batian’s View, a guest house where I was staying, was a long haul. Sweat dripped off my forehead, and I found myself climbing out of the saddle most of the time just to give my crotch a rest. Even though it had springs to give a little extra cushion, the saddle felt more like a paddle. The Black Mamba’s one gear wasn’t intended for pedaling uphill, so my lower back and knees were cranky by the time my ride came to an end. But the pain quickly faded, and that evening I found myself looking at maps of the area and planning a two-wheeled adventure.

Mt. Kenya Kamikaze Shortly after sunrise the next morning, I walked outside with a cup of coffee and, for the first time since I’d arrived, I got a clear view of Mt. Kenya’s 17,058-foot summit. I was instantly enamored. The volcanic massif towered above the forested highlands like a hand forced up through the Earth’s crust, reaching up toward the heavens. I saw it as a sign and decided to ride uphill toward the second highest peak in Africa. Minutes later I was tightening the spokes of the Black Mamba

31

The Black Mamba, a utilitarian bike the author used to ride up and down the steep roads around Mt. Kenya National Park.

and airing up its leaky tires for an ascent into unknown territory.

From Batian’s View, a rutted dirt road climbs uphill for 17 kilometers to the entrance gate of Mt. Kenya National Park. Bicycles aren’t allowed beyond that point, I discovered after talking with a park ranger, for three reasons: you’re more likely to be taken by a large predator if you’re moving fast, like prey; the roads are too steep for bicycles; and nobody is allowed to enter the park alone, again, a predator issue. I have been known to break a few rules when it comes to riding my bike in far-out places, but when two out of three rules have something to do with being eaten alive, I tend to obey.

Mt. Kenya National Park is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and was named a World Heritage Area by UNESCO for its biodiversity. There are seven distinct life zones, from the cultivated farmland near Naro Moru to the ice-covered twin summits of Mt. Kenya. All along the way there are signs that this is indeed wild Africa: I rode through piles of elephant dung, followed the tracks of cape buffalo, chased chameleons across the road and watched as black and white Abyssinian colobus monkeys bounced through the treetops.

As I rode uphill, I studied the terrain closely, knowing that I would be riding down it at breakneck speed in just a few hours. Most of it seemed just fine. Stay out of the ruts, hop over the nicks in the road where rain has gouged tiny canals and avoid large animals. No problem. The crux would come at the end of a long, steep downhill stretch where the road curved sharply then crossed a wooden bridge over the Naro Moru River. If there was a danger zone on this descent, that would be it.

The uphill effort was arduous, and I stopped often to catch my breath and give my knees a break. Mt. Kenya shimmered like a 32

diamond in the sky, its vertical black cliffs adorned with glaciers. I can’t say that I have ever seen a mountain more beautiful. My slow pace gave me the opportunity to look around, and within the montane forest I caught glimpses of bush buck, the endangered mountain bongo, and a common duiker, an antelope that barely stands 20 inches off the ground when fully grown.

Just before the entrance gate to the national park, a flurry of movement drew my attention toward the deep cover of the forest, and I saw baboons of every shape and size among the trees. Most of them ran away for a short distance then turned around to see if I was giving chase. The only one not running away was a large male that ambled down the middle of the road. He looked over his shoulder occasionally, and after realizing that I wasn’t going anywhere, found a comfortable spot in the trees where he sat down and stared right at me.

As I lifted my camera to snap a few photos, he opened his mouth long enough to show off his giant incisors. I knew then why leopards don’t mess with big baboons. As if their powerful arms (strong enough to tear the door off a car) weren’t intimidating enough, now I was staring into the maw of an animal that looked gnarly enough to chew right through the car if its arms were tired. And I didn’t have the security of being inside a car, which was strongly recommended, by the way, if I was going for a trip up this mountain.

Scared as hell, my uphill ride ended right there, and within seconds I was sprinting downhill. I rode for a few solid minutes before I felt safely out of harm’s way. But then again, baboons can run much faster than I can ride, so if that big boy had wanted to whoop ass, I wouldn’t have had a chance.

The Black Mamba rattled like a box of tools in the back of a

Top Left: In East Africa, as in most places around the world, the bicycle powers the rural economy.

Top Middle: You need to be careful when you find yourself face to face with one of Kenya’s wildest residents.

Top Right: Children from Manyatta Primary School run alongside the author as he rides up the road to Mt. Kenya.

Middle Left: Blue monkeys are a common sight along the road toward Mt. Kenya.

Middle Right: When in Kenya, the local market is where you’ll find everything you need, including beans, bananas and bicycles.

Bottom Two: Seeing a mzungu on a bicycle brought smiles to the faces of everyone the author encountered.

33

Top: Mt. Kenya, seen here at sunrise, is the jewel of East Africa, rising 5,199 meters (17,058 feet) into the sky.

Bottom: A baboon shows its massive incisors, proving why this is one of the most dangerous animals on Mt. Kenya.

Fred Roberts

pickup truck as it bounced over the mountain road. It was riding pretty steadily, though, and I gained confidence as I gained speed. Bunnyhopping the beast was another story and took a lot of effort to get up and over the nicks. I could hear the wheels shrieking as they landed back on the road and a few popping sounds as spokes pulled out of their nipples. Okay, I thought, time to slow down.

That’s when I realized that rod brakes weren’t going to do anything to help my situation, and I held on to the handlebars and let gravity have its way with me.

The herder looked up to see a mzungu kamikaze riding toward him at high speed. Between the Black Mamba and the dirt road, I stood a chance of getting off the mountain alive, but throw a few dozen animals into the mix and suddenly the game gets a little bit more dicey.

Add the fact that the loss of a domesticated animal for a Kenyan herder is tantamount to stealing his family’s savings account, and the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a cow or goat, even if you can withstand the impact, begin to narrow.

These were among the many thoughts that raced through my brain as I approached the bridge over the Naro Moru River, screaming uncontrollably.

From the back of his herd, the Kikuyu herder ran straight up the middle with his whip flailing unmercifully. He yelled and hissed and whipped until he had created a channel through the middle of the animals barely wider than his own shoulders. He made his way to the front of the herd and jumped out of the way just as I flew by, our bodies 34

narrowly missing each other. For one long second, I was careening through a mass of animals, hoping that I wouldn’t meet a cow head on or flip over a goat as it stepped into my path. The bike rattled across the bridge like a train over loose tracks, and my wheels hit the dirt again.

I turned around long enough to see an ocean of brown and black hides moving across the bridge, tails swinging behind them, and a pair of big white eyes staring at me from the front of his herd. “Asante sana!”

I yelled back, thanking him for saving my life.

I held on to the Black Mamba until a slight uphill brought it to a stop. The brakes had completely disengaged from my earlier effort to use them, the chain had fallen off and I had broken several spokes.

The rear tire was nearly flat, and I am sure every nut and bolt on the entire bike was seconds from falling out of place. I stepped off the bike, lay down on the ground and stared up at the sky. I can’t recall a moment when I was happier, or luckier, to be alive.

An hour later, I arrived back at Batian’s View. Mary Wairimu, the matriarch of the guest house, met me at the gate and asked how my bike ride was. I tried to recount the story, but I was still full of adrenaline and in shock from the near-livestock-collision experience.

She shared an old Swahili proverb with me: Haraka, haraka, naisha baraka.

It literally means, “Speed, speed, there is never any blessing in it.”

Matthew J. Nelson is a professional outdoor guide, writer and adventurer who lives off the grid in the Sierrita Mountains west of Tucson, Ariz.

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35

John Eckert, the “town guru” of Paonia, Colo., owns a small bicycle shop, Overgaard Bicycle Repair, which he operates out of a converted school bus—one he and his family lived in for months. Eckert is one of the key organizers of the Gears and Beers Festival in the small city in western Colorado.

Words and photos

by Rob McPherson

I recently picked up a broken down cyclist looking for the West Coast. I would have never guessed I’d spend the next dozen days navigating the finer coasts of Northern California with a perfectly good stranger. We talked up our hometowns and vowed to visit each other’s home stake for a town rager. His hometown of Paonia, Colo., had the Gears and Beers Festival coming up in a month, and my new friend, John Eckert, promised it to be a huge party with excellent trail riding.

36

PIVOT

CYCLES LIKE RIDING

A UNICORN

INTO THE

SUNSET performance redefined

Michael Meadows busts out an impromptu acoustic song and dance before grabbing his old Trek 850 and heading out for ride on Paonia’s hidden trails.

I was currently residing in the Mecca of Moab, so it was a morning’s drive across the 70, down the 50 and the 133 to Delta, Colo.

I’d ridden plenty in Moab this spring, and the 3.2 was making me groggy.

Rolling into Paonia you can’t help but feel a good vibe about the place. Stashed off state Route 133, Paonia and your initial impression of it can be deceiving, but all it takes is a stroll around town, and you begin to see the magic: alleys lined with generations-old bicycles overtaken by organic growth, small delis with fine fare and the smell of fruit in the air.

I got into town in the early afternoon during a pleasant rain shower, the kind that you can walk around in without getting pelted. The kind that you know buffed out the trails. After a homemade slice of rhubarb pizza at John’s house, we went for a short trail ride with street clothes on—the standard run in Paonia. On the short ride through town to the trailhead (or more accurately, the road’s end to a gap in a fence leading to a trail), we stopped by his buddy Michael Meadows’ house where an impromptu acoustic song and

dance broke out: “Bike guy in the bus/ bend it, twist it, that’s how you fix it/grins and bear it, installs some lightweight shit/treats your chain with some oil so it doesn’t holler/that’s how he rolls.”

Mike grabbed his old Trek 850, threw on a helmet and joined us. Third Street in downtown takes you up to Old Gully Trail where you ride a short distance to a power line, branching off into a small trail network from there. Since our afternoon priority was really more about getting to the brewery than an epic ride, we rode a short loop on Wapitiwhip, a giggly-fun trail winding and dipping through sage and juniper.

I was in for another surprise, not so much for the evening’s short beta ride, but for the pint I had afterward at Revolution Brewery. Owners Mike and Gretchen King brew up tasty beer (and root beer) in small batches served in a cozy, renovated downtown house. My favorite was the Sepia IPA with big floral hops and instant post-ride gratification.

Indeed everything was fresh in town. You have to look around a little, but the smiles 37

[paonia fest]

Above: Good times were on tap at the Paonia Gears and Beers Festival.

Right: “Peace, Brother” is what Paonia is built on.

on the patio at Nelle’s are unmistakable. Americano coffees with local milk and honey and a yaya breakfast sandwich, and you’re golden.

Here, you’re in the “Golden Triangle” of Delta, Montrose and Gunnison counties, the land of plenty, home of the free. Paonia has been home to organic farming for decades before it was cool, producing delicious fruits and herbs. Local restaurants take advantage of this by using local goods in their recipes, and I’ve got to say I ate some of the best pizza here that I’ve ever had in my life.

The next day, strolling around, I wandered into the Flying Fork Café for a bite. I ended up devouring an entire 12-inch thin crust pizza and home-baked brownie. Fat and happy, I went for a ride, then back to Revolution.

I quickly found out that my Cali-Coast co-pilot and new buddy, John, is the town guru. Not just a cycling guru, but The Town Guru.

He owns a small bicycle shop, Overgaard Bicycle Repair, which he operates out of a converted school bus, one he and his family lived in for months. John is closely associated with the local community radio station, KVNF, where he makes regular guest appearances, and he was one of the key organizers of the Gears and Beers Festival, the attraction that drew me in.

38

NINER BIKES THE GRASS

IS GREENER

WHEN ITS

3 INCHES Riding in Paonia, Colo. isn’t so much about having the latest and greatest or being the fastest or most bad ass.

It’s about unconditional partying, stripped down egos and having fun.

A bigger ride was promised and then delivered that afternoon. We joined a group of a dozen riders at the town park where we rode out to the power line. From there we climbed a killer trail called Slant-n-dicular, a namesake for the cattlemen in the area, and summited at the Grassy Knoll.

The previous day’s rain packed the trail down well for plenty of traction, and though the trail has few technical moves, the climb will get your attention. I didn’t descend the trail, but it would be a ripper. Once up to the Grassy Knoll, the group gathered for a celebratory high five before going in different directions. Some shredded back down Slantn-dicular while others took the steep Ridge of Doom down The Plunge as we watched the carnage from above.

John and I were the only two left standing with the time and mojo to traverse/ climb up the the “Hammock.” What’s the Hammock? Well, it’s a hammock at the highest point for your relaxation before a ripping descent. Rock-n-Roll, a trail routed specifically for its namesake of two rocks forming a bridge that you ride under, was the crux of the day. The trail has a steep descent that has you rear-wheel steering through loose, high-speed turns and on guard for sleeper rocks hidden in tall grass inches off trail. Blow a turn and you’ll meet your fate.

So many fun trails right out of town link up for a full weekend of riding: Plumber’s Crack, Desolation Basin, Horseshoe Ridge… all killer singletrack through sage, piñon and juniper with high-speed turns, g-outs and anti-g’s. It’s fun on any kind of bicycle and

ideal for hardtails and singlespeeders.

That Friday afternoon marked the kickoff of the Gears and Beers Festival with a big party back at Revolution and decoration bash at the Paradise Theater in downtown.

I could not believe all of the people in the community that came out of the woodwork for the parade. Over the last couple of days in town, I got to know a dozen or so folks who were routinely on the trail and about town, but Friday’s turnout spoke mountains for the communities of the “Golden Triangle.”

People numbered in the hundreds were out in elaborate costumes with kids and families on decorated bikes, trikes, trailers and customs for a parade ride through town before live music and entertainment in the evening. We partied and grilled well into the night. I woke up in butterfly costume, blearyeyed, wondering if I could keep up with these folks for another day.

In fact, I had to work back in Moab the following day, and as much fun as I was having, duty called. I wasn’t ready for the 3.2 or the shuttle runs, but I was rolling out on a White Rim trip and the wildflowers were going off. I loaded up the dog, got a triple Americano to go and made the trip back to the red rocks.

Unlike so many towns teeming with gear shops and a certain Kavu natural fabric look, Paonia is a place where people are having more fun—and on ’95 mountain bikes and cotton clothing. It’s not about the latest and greatest in Paonia or being the fastest or most bad-ass. It’s about unconditional partying and stripped-down egos. Leave that at home and ride here like it’s 1999.

TALLER

39

[chile challenge]

Racers on a downhill course, through the forces of nature and good tires, work to keep the rubber side down and momentum moving downhill. Here, a pro racer at the Chile Challenge downhill race at Angel Fire Resort, N.M., keeps it together in a fast blur on a dusty berm.

40

INTENSE

BIKES JUST LIKE REACHING FIRST BASE

ALL OVER

AGAIN intense for life

Devon Balet

41

[chile challenge]

Downhill racing requires an intense amount of focus on the course ahead of you, with all of its rocks, roots and ruts. Here, the focus of Jacqueline Harmony’s eyes led her to the top spot at the Mountain States Cup Chile Challenge at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico in June.

Harmony has been having a phenomenal race year so far with 10 top-five finishes in downhill, dual slalom and four-cross races.

Devon Balet

42

GOLDEN BIKE SHOP

SO MUCH

FUN WE’RE

BANNED IN UTAH

AND PARTS OF CANADA bike junkies

43

[pajarito punishment]

Alexander Leonard of Albuquerque, N.M., rips an inside line to hammer through a sketchy portion of trail during the 2010 Pajarito Punishment cross-country race. The effort netted Leonard a fourth place in the Expert Senior Men 19–29 category.

James E. Rickman

44

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M.—It may be one of the less-celebrated stops in the New Mexico Off Road Series, but the Pajarito Punishment sure has a loyal following.

Maybe that’s why the victors keep riding faster every year.

Men’s overall winner Damian Calvert crossed the finish line in 1:43:18, two minutes ahead of his winning time from last year. Not bad for two laps on a physically and technically demanding course that throws out 3,200 feet of climbing and nearly as much descending over 18 miles of twisty, rocky singletrack.

Nina Baum, another Albuquerque, N.M., racer, also scored a repeat win at the Punishment. The amiable racer slaughtered her previous year’s time by almost 12 minutes, finishing in 2:02:36.

If Baum decides to forego retirement for one more year, she could become the first woman to shatter the two-hour mark on the course, based on her ever-faster performances the past two years.

For many racers, the Pajarito Punishment isn’t as much about beating others as it is about beating the mountain itself. The folks at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, located just outside of Los Alamos, N.M., have created one of the most challenging—and just maybe one of the most fun—racing courses in the state.

As if the merciless climb to the top of the mountain over roots and rocks on soft, loamy dirt weren’t enough to contend with, the steep, technical downhill demands that racers stay mentally and physically sharp and way behind their saddles.

Consequences for a miscalculation can be brutal if a rider is hurled onto the sharp rocks that punctuate the mountain like the groans and victory cries of the racers.

Nevertheless, the common denominator after the race seems to be a sea of smiles on the lodge deck as riders relive their achievements over a cold beverage, plotting how to shave 30 seconds off their times next year.

–James Rickman

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45

[valles caldera]

In the early hours of the 2010 Valles Caldera Double Cross 200-kilometer ride, Damian Calvert of Albuquerque, N.M., and Clay Moseley of Los Alamos, N.M., make the climb out of Bandelier National Monument while Frijoles Canyon is still in morning shadow.

James E. Rickman

46

[valles caldera]

WHITE ROCK, N.M.—The Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico provide a picturesque playground of pavement for twowheeled pursuits.

As the third ride in the eight-part New Mexico Brevet Series, the Valles Caldera Double Cross through the Jemez provided a full-day challenge for 20 riders hailing from New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. The event offers cyclists an opportunity to experience some of the best scenery the area has to offer along a 200-kilometer route that packs in 10,000 feet of climbing.

The centerpiece of the ride is the Valles Caldera, an expansive bowl-shaped grassland spanning 12 miles in diameter—the remnants of a massive volcano that literally blew its top and then collapsed in on itself more than a million years ago. These grasslands are home to some of North America’s largest elk herds, and the caldera is one of the world’s best examples of a volcanic collapse crater.

Riders in the Double Cross, as the name suggests, get two chances to view what some consider to be the crown jewel of Jemez scenery, providing a first view of the caldera in the morning and a final peek during the soft light of afternoon.

Even though the Valles Caldera is the headliner on the scenery playbill, nearly every segment along the route provides breathtaking views and climbs that take the breath away.

Beginning in White Rock, N.M., the bedroom community of the Atomic City of Los Alamos, riders immediately begin climbing from lava cliffs overlooking the Rio Grande to the entrance of Bandelier National Monument—home to well-preserved cliff dwellings that housed a thriving community of North America’s Ancestral Pueblo people from 1150 to the mid-1300s. Once through the park’s entrance, Brevet riders plunge into the cool confines of Frijoles Canyon, the hub of early Native American activity.

From there, riders turn around and begin a tortuous and taxing climb to the Valles Caldera. The initial climb out of Frijoles Canyon back to the park entrance provides a good warm-up for the eventual slow, steady climb to the “Back Gate” of Los Alamos,

which served as the westernmost guard post for the secret city during the days of the Manhattan Project.

Instead of descending toward town, however, riders continue to climb a merciless incline up the western exposure of the Pajarito Fault. This geologic feature still unleashes small temblors from time to time as the Earth’s crust stretches and slips toward the Rio Grande rift to the east. A series of switchbacks reveal a rideable, yet painful, path to the top of the first pitch.

More climbing follows until riders have gained nearly 3,000 feet from the starting point 20 miles earlier. A prolonged descent to the edges of the Valles Caldera provides sweet relief, allowing Brevet participants to catch their breath and some sensational scenery for the next 20 miles or so.

Riders head north and continue to skirt the edge of the caldera until they reach the hamlet of La Cueva. Were they not riding the Brevet, most sensible riders would use this as a turnaround point or head downhill and south toward Jemez Springs. But the course sends riders on a western spur that requires about another 1,000 feet of climbing to the top of Fenton Hill—where scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory harnessed the

The bike leg has been suspended for 2010 due to road construction.

36th Annual Los Alamos Triathlon August 21st, 2010

7K Run 400M Swim 5K Run $1,550 in Prizes To register go to www.active.com, call Recreation at 505-662-8173, or visit

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47

[valles caldera] Riding out in front can be a lonely place. Mike Englehardt of Los Alamos, N.M., approaches the summit of Fenton Hill past a reminder of the frailty of human existence.

James E. Rickman

Right: A trio of riders makes its way past the wide expanses of the Valles Caldera, the brevet’s namesake. Redondo Peak, the highest point in the area, can be seen in the background.

heat of the still volcanically active Jemez Mountains for an innovative geothermal energy experiment back in the 1970s.

As riders pass the now-abandoned facility, they descend 1,000 feet to Fenton Lake, only to turn around and re-ascend the hill they just came down.

After the second ascent of Fenton Hill, Brevet participants enjoy a 2,500foot descent to Jemez Springs, home to geothermal hot springs, the famous Los Ojos Bar and a rare order of Catholic nuns whose scarlet habits match the nearby red-rock formations inhabited by residents of Jemez Pueblo. The unique setting is the 70-mile checkpoint for the event and the gateway to 3,000 more feet of climbing as participants make their way back toward White Rock. Mercifully, the final 20 miles is mostly a descent, save for a climb out of Ancho Canyon 10 miles from the finish and a final stretch of rolling terrain.

As one of the more moderate distance rides in the New Mexico Brevet Series (www.NMBrevets.com), which challenges participants with routes as extreme as 600 kilometers, the Valles Caldera Double Cross is approachable to most riders possessing a decent degree of early season fitness. The first rider to complete the ride was Los Alamos resident Mike Englehardt, finishing in just under eight hours. Most other riders rolled in somewhere between eight and 10 hours. Only two of the 20 participants did not finish.

Race organizers are quick to point out that each event is a ride, not a race.

Each rider must be self-sufficient, so it isn’t uncommon to see riders’ jerseys bulging with food and supplies necessary for the long day in the saddle. For the 200-kilometer events, riders must complete the circuit in 13.5 hours; the longest events have a cutoff time limit equal to most people’s 40-hour workweeks.

To complete a ride like the Valles Caldera Double Cross, riders must have at least as much fire in their bellies as the Jemez Mountains themselves. –J. Rickman 48

James E. Rickman

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49

[la tierra torture] Tim Gallegos of Albuquerque, N.M., makes it up the first giant whoop-de-doo with Pete Stillwell of Los Alamos, N.M., hot on his tail during the 2010 La Tierra Torture cross-country race.

James E. Rickman

SANTA FE, N.M.—For some, the first days of May conjure up dewy visions of maidens in gauzy dresses dancing ’round the Maypole; for riders in this year’s La Tierra Torture cross-country race, this vision was obscured significantly by a blinding snowstorm.

As racers waited on the line for the starting pistol in 38 degree temperatures, a near-blizzard covered them in a thin veneer of ice. Once again, the Santa Fe, N.M., race had lived up to its name.

Meteorological nightmares seem to plague the La Tierra Torture. Last year, it was only a cold drizzle. This year’s snow seemed over the top.

But there’s an old saying that if you don’t like the weather in New Mexico, wait five minutes. Sure enough, shortly after the start, the snow ceased and the rest of the ride was done under a damp canopy of gray clouds punctuated intermittently by blasts of bright sun. The bit of moisture and parade of shivering riders ended up packing in the trail nicely.

Local racer Michael McCalla wore short sleeves and a thin jersey, which might have explained why he finished the Men’s Professional field nearly four minutes ahead of second-place finisher Damian Calvert; it was just too damned cold to ride slowly.

Albuquerque racer Nina Baum finished first in the Professional Women’s category as the sole rider. As usual, Baum looked calm and 50

cheerful as she completed three laps on the nine-mile course. Other than the cold, the trail was in excellent shape. The fast, twisty roller coaster ride offered by the La Tierra trail system is always fun, despite the weather.

The trail did manage to hurl several riders off their bikes. A series of whoop-de-doos, a narrow bridge fashioned of piñon logs, tight turns through thick piñon and juniper trees, and a slurry of snow, sweat and sand caking the lenses of riders’ glasses made opportunities for spills plentiful.

They couldn’t call it the La Tierra Torture if the course itself were not challenging. The race tests aerobic fitness with an uphill finish and rolling terrain. It’s a challenging course for a singlespeed. Santa Fe rider Michael Raney selected the right gearing and pushed the pedals hard enough to prevail in the Men’s Singlespeed category. Virginia Fretz of Santa Fe took first place among women singlespeeders, displacing fellow Santa Fean Cheryl Holloway, who had a pretty good season up to that point in the New Mexico Off Road Series as one of few New Mexico women riding one gear.

When all the riders were off the course and enjoying brews and trash talk near the timing tent, the morning blizzard seemed like a strange memory that had melted away under warm skies. It was the perfect setting for the Kid’s Race, which was an ideal ending to a great weekend of racing. The only thing missing was those sun-dappled maidens weaving in the rite of spring. –J. Rickman

[la tierra torture]

Steve Yore, race director for the 2010 La Tierra Torture, uses a gentle hand and a lot of body English to help steady his son, Eyob Grayson Yore, during the Kid’s Race.

At 23 months, tiny Eyob was the youngest participant of the day, but his speed matched that of many of the bigger kids.

James E. Rickman

51

[la tierra torture] American flags were everywhere. With two laps to go, Barry Wicks didn’t notice anything but the pounding in his chest. I think we all dream of being in the top 10 at the U.S. Cyclocross National Championships, but in reality I think it must feel really, really bad.

Robert Ward

Riders at the start of the La Tierra Torture braved heavy snow conditions, making the race live up to its name once again.

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[tour of socorro] Josie Jones of Las Cruces, N.M., enjoys some air on her way to first place among Category 1 women during her first of three laps on the Cerrillos del Coyote crosscountry race in the Tour de Socorro Omnium.

James E. Rickman

54

[tour of socorro] Douglas Schneebeck of Albuquerque, N.M., rides the horrible hill out of the arroyo while another rider hops off to watch. Schneebeck, 50, was one of only a handful of racers who managed to clean the climb.

James E. Rickman

socorro, N.M.—The Quebradas Backcountry Byway near Socorro, N.M., is no country for old men. Nevertheless, the nearby Cerrillos del Coyote mountain bike course lured a handful of hardy codgers and younger folk alike for a romp through the hardscrabble wasteland of spiny plants, busted shale and box canyons.

The Cerrillos del Coyote snakes its way through the rugged hills east of Socorro. The area is the northern edge of the upper Chihuahuan Desert that extends deep into Old Mexico. Strewn with the cobbles of prehistoric shallow seas that once drowned the landscape, the locale is now arid, mostly home to plants with prickly attitudes that draw their moisture from the air and draw blood from any warm-blooded creature who happens to get a little too close.

But in the wake of April showers, eye-catching blossoms of red and purple pop up amid the thorns, tenuously sinking shallow roots into the gravely ground. The landscape is as inhospitable as it is beautiful.

Out here among the jackrabbits, lizards, bobcats, quail and occasional outlaw, the land offers a circuit of fine primitive

singletrack—the Cerrillos del Coyote course, the centerpiece of the two-day Tour de Socorro Omnium and the second and third races in the 2010 New Mexico Off Road Series.

The nine-mile loop is about two-thirds singletrack, relying on a few stretches of old dirt roads for completion. The course is fast and not very technical, but sand pits, sudden drops and an endless supply of ever-moving baby heads make the 18-inch-wide scrape of trail exciting to ride.

This year, about 220 people raced the Coyote. About 130 of those racers had participated in the previous day’s South Baldy Hill Climb, which was particularly miserable due to a steady drizzle that created epic stream crossings in at least two locations and cold temperatures that stung exposed flesh.

Coupled with a huge snow pack at the top of South Baldy mountain, the miserable weather and mud helped motivate race organizers to shorten this year’s hill climb to five miles with an ending point well below the traditional finish line at the gates of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory.

But, the rain brought with it other blessings as well as brilliant blooms of desert wildflowers and shortened hill climbs.

The moisture put the Cerrillos del Coyote in prime riding condition. The sandy soil was nicely packed, not muddy. As the sun rose over the starting area, the pungent aroma of damp sage and mesquite slithered through the silent desert air.

55

[tour of socorro] Riders in the Cerrillos del Coyote cross-country race probably weren’t paying much attention to the small bits of beauty blooming among the harsh surroundings of the Quebradas Backcountry outside of Socorro, N.M.

James E. Rickman

The race drew a strange collection of pros, amateurs and the just plain curious, all of whom were eager to sharpen their spring skills on the course. Albuquerque racing strong man Damian Calvert had won the hill climb, finishing about 30 seconds ahead of Trek’s racer-inresidence and real-world product tester Travis Brown, who seems to be enjoying a lot of recent races in the New Mexico desert—a marked contrast to Colorado’s buff high-country singletrack.

The women’s professional field offered up no racers in either event this year. Some speculated the dearth of female pros might have had to do with Sea Otter occurring the same weekend. Others postulated that women’s racing is on the decline in the state—bad news for race promoters and bike shops, but good news for women with a competitive drive.

Rebecca Menke, who recently moved to Albuquerque from Boston, was enjoying the fact that the Tour de Socorro was her first mountain bike race. Menke placed first among Category 2 women 30–39 in both events. The cross-country race, she said, was a good one because the course wasn’t too technical and was lots of fun.

Perhaps due to the rain the day before, the course did seem relatively well behaved. Riders didn’t report any major injuries, outside of some nasty scrapes, gouges and welts from desert plants that seemed to jump onto the narrow singletrack at times. Race organizers had plenty of volunteers available, and one sat ready at the base of the 56

second hogback ridge, where one rider broke a collarbone last year after going over the bars.

Calvert flatted twice during the cross-country race. He voluntarily disqualified himself at race’s end after admitting to officials that he had accepted some canned air from a friend. Trevor Downing of Durango, Colo., snagged first place from the rest of the Professional Men’s field; but that wasn’t enough to take top honors for the omnium among Professional Men. Instead, Matthew Beaton from Louisville, Colo., came out on top after scoring second in the cross-country and third in the hill climb. Beaton edged out Brown for top honors when Brown finished fourth in the cross-country. (A third-place finish by Brown would have clinched a tie for first place in the omnium.)

Cheryl Holloway of Santa Fe was the sole woman singlespeed participant. She ground her way to the top of the South Baldy Hill Climb and finished the Cerrillos del Coyote in prime form, netting a well-deserved first place.

Those who haven’t ridden the Cerrillos del Coyote course yet should consider taking the time to give it a whirl. Rumor has it that four-wheel off-highway vehicles are burrowing their way into the BLM land where the trail is located like maggots wriggling their way through unprotected flesh. Scars like that don’t easily heal, so it may be just a matter of time before the extremely narrow singletrack treasure of the Quebradas becomes as wide as the Western sky. –J. Rickman

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[whiskey off-road] Christopher Mertens and hundreds of other racers get ready for the 25-Proof start. In true Old West fashion, a gunshot marks the start of each race, which begins in downtown Prescott, Ariz., not far from the town’s Whiskey Row.

Brian Leddy

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Legend has it that when a forest fire swept through Prescott in July 1900, patrons of the pubs along the infamous Whiskey Row picked up their drinks and moved the party across the street. They stood in the courthouse square and watched flames engulf a city block.

This year, some thousand-plus riders of virtually every stripe replaced the flames during the seventh annual Whiskey Off-Road, which was held April 24. That same Wild West spirit took hold again, if not during the race then certainly afterward when parched racers lined up at the barrelhead of the pubs along Whiskey Row and watched the concert put on by event organizer Epic Rides.

There was no genuine fire, fortunately, but it’s hard to imagine that even a great conflagration could have interrupted the party. And much like in 1900, Prescott residents stood in the courthouse square and watched as the cyclists roared through Whiskey Row at sunrise 58

for the annual ride.

Festivities started Saturday morning, when Prescott’s elite descended upon the park surrounding the Yavapai County Courthouse, a grassy tapestry where Epic Rides’ emcee and Whiskey Off-Road organizer Todd Sadow drew the starting line.

A local man smoking a cigar on a park bench later explained that Prescott hosts a bazaar on the courthouse lawn every Saturday.

Confectionery vendors and pamphlet peddlers do business from under the shade of canopies. The city hires a harmonica-strong blues band to wail from the south side of the park. The mayor and his wife saunter lazily across the lawn, shaking hands and smiling at their bourgeois brethren.

This weekend, their collective gaze eventually settled on the north side of the park—where some alien herd of mountain cyclists had congregated for water and carbohydrates to await the gunshot.

And, in true Old West fashion, there was a gunshot. In fact, there were several.

A performing arts group called the Prescott Regulators and Shady Ladies initiated each of the three races with a mock gunfight on Goodwin Street. Riders watched anxiously, apparently uninterested and filled with anticipation, poised in rows eight abreast at the starting

[whiskey off-road] Days before the race, an early spring storm blanketed the desert hills with fresh snow. Race day conditions couldn’t have been better though, as clouds evacuated the sky and the sun beat down with vicious persistence.

Brian Leddy

line. After the gunfight, Sadow began the countdown. Then racers lit out for some three-plus hours of intense pedaling.

The 50-Proof race launched sharp at 7:30 a.m. Knobbies hummed up the pavement toward the forest. City streets accounted for the first and last five or so miles of the race, and not a lick of it was flat. Lazy journalists motored up the race route and observed the least fit of the bunch gasping for air before they’d even hit the dirt.

Once inside the forest, racers enjoyed a mix of fast and flowing singletrack, groomed forest roads and, eventually, a miles-long uphill over Skull Valley, which provided many epic vistas, viewed through the sting of sweat in the eyes. A week earlier, snow had fallen on the Prescott National Forest. It left white patches in the trees and mud holes in the shade, but on race day, clouds evacuated the sky and the sun beat down with vicious persistence.

The 25- and 15-Proof races launched in one-hour increments following the first race. Each one started and ended the same way: the grueling stretch of steep pavement that climbs out of the city and into the forest. Toward the end, racers welcomed the pavement, which brought with it a smooth and breezy, downhill coast to the finish line.

Then the party started. Riders, their kin and friends who came for

emotional or financial support or simply to see the spectacle scattered to one of a dozen watering holes and then meandered, some still in race garb, back to the north side of the courthouse square, where an eclectic lineup of musical performances sailed seductively into the Arizona afternoon.

The bands—all with roots in the Grand Canyon State—provided a welcome background to the race. Sadow’s choice of musical accompaniment started mellow at 11 a.m. with a country, folk and fiddle hodgepodge known as the Tortalita Gutpluckers. As racers filtered in, the tempo increased.

At 1 p.m., Sweet Nasty took the stage and filled the air with soulful funk crossed with country. Next up was Distant Fury, a classicrock cover band whose magnetic tunes attracted crowds to the stage.

The event ended with nearly two and a half hours of original rock

by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, headliners for the Whiskey Off-Road party. Rock licks laced with mariachi and reggae rhythms set the stage ablaze. The sound drew swarms of Saturday-night pub-goers, who found places amid the race rabble.

Together, with beery breath, they witnessed the tail end of yet another firestorm, which had cut through Whiskey Row and drifted pleasantly into dusk.–Phil Stake 59

[whiskey off-road]

Brian Leddy

Shannon Ardaiolo buys another round at the Firehouse Kitchen. Considered a party as much as it is a race, the Whiskey Off-Road takes place in downtown Prescott, Ariz., with easy access to Whiskey Row.

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[12 hours of mesa verde] Jamie Morgan rides the Lemonhead section of Phil’s World during the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, a solo and team race that runs on a 16-mile lap on the trail system in Cortez, Colo. Just beyond this section is a way-too-much-fun roller coaster section of singletrack called the Rib Cage that, for no other reason, should be the motivation for you to enter this race.

Stephen Eginoire

62

[12 hours of mesa verde] Dave Wiens cruises during an early lap in the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde. Wiens joined other endurance race gurus and Mountain Bike Hall of Famers Travis Brown, John Tomac and Daryl Price to form The Local Legends Team. Even as racing legends, Wiens’ team had some serious competition in the race.

Stephen Eginoire

CORTEZ, Colo.—Nearly 480 teams from points near and far gathered in southwestern Colorado on May 8 to bike at the fourth annual 12 Hours of Mesa Verde endurance race. The all-ages grassroots event is hosted just east of Cortez, at Phil’s World trail, home to some of the buffest singletrack in the region.

With the course ticking in around 16.5 miles and an elevation gain of almost 1,600 feet, folks were able to sample some tasty terrain.

During the event, the 586 racers out on the course tallied up a total of 1,866 laps, for a final 30,807.6 miles and 2,974,404 feet of climbing.

Donning plastic daggers and other swash-buckling apparel in spirit of this year’s pirate theme, teams and solo riders competed for most laps completed over the 12-hour period. Of course, the real winner was the beneficiary, Montezuma County Partners, a Cortezarea nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to mentoring at-risk youth for the past 18 years.

Attendees in this year’s race included the usual cast of hammerheads, notably a team dubbed The Local Legends, composed of endurance race gurus and Mountain Bike Hall of Famers, Dave Wiens, Travis Brown, John Tomac and Daryl Price.

“Stephen Barnes who does a lot of advocacy and trail work with the Kokopelli Bike Club first suggested the idea of a legends team, and it sounded like a lot of fun,” Brown said. “I helped him get everyone together.”

The four former professional mountain bikers were never on a team together, and this was the first time that they had competed as a team in a 12-hour race.

“Daryl Price and I were teammates on Trek/Volkswagen for a few years, and all four of us competed against each other a lot when we were all full-time racers,” Brown said. “It was a lot of fun to get back together and tell war stories. Johnny and Daryl don’t compete much anymore, and it was just fun that we were all out there together without any pressure.”

Also pounding out laps on the racecourse were the legends’ wives, a team suitably named The Better Halves, making the day a “full family affair,” according to Brown.

As it turned out, the pressure was on when the legends found themselves in a full tilt bike-off with Durango team, Directory Plus/ Zia/Trek (Miles Venzara, Cale Redpath, Andrew Ferguson and Nick Gould). “I could see JT getting competitive when we ended up in the hunt for the overall,” Brown said.

The two teams rode neck and neck throughout the entire race, and it wasn’t until the bitter end when Redpath scored a two-minute last lap lead, giving the team a winning 10 laps in 12:28:11.

–Stephen Eginoire 63

[12 hours of mesa verde]

Stephen Eginoire

Solo Male riders Leslie Handy (front) and Josh Vaughn keep a solid pace on the 16-mile lap in the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde. Handy earned a fifth-place finish in his category.

64

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[the original growler] Sixty-four miles of trails comprised of decomposed granite rolling through seas of sagebrush create the perfect storm to slowly drain the life out of racers like Yuki Saito at the 2010 Original Growler endurance mountain bike race in Gunnison, Colo.

Saito chugged his way to a sixth-place finish in 5 hours, 53 minutes and 18 seconds.

Devon Balet

66

[the original growler]

Devon Balet

Fish Timon, bib number 88, powers his singlespeed up the infamous Kill Hill in the first miles of the 2010 Original Growler. With your choice of 32 or 64 miles, this race packs a first punch followed by a sneaky backhand. Most riders would agree that the climbs are deceptively grueling, but the views are amazing, and the top-quality singletrack sends everyone home with a warm fuzzy feeling after they finally finish. Competitors go home with a big smile on their face to go with their cramping legs.

That mix of challenge and charm has been attracting more high-caliber endurance athletes each year, but it took three tries before anyone could best former National Champion Travis Brown in the race. In the 2009 race, Kelly Magelky placed third after fading in the final miles and giving up second to local rider Jeff Irwin. But in 2010 Magelky came back with purpose to dash any hopes Brown had to pull off a hat trick.

Magelky credited his performance to his ability to eat. Last year, he hit a major wall because he did not eat or drink enough. At the start of the second lap, he could start to see an opportunity going uphill. Magelky was surprised to see a gap gaining over chasers Jake Jones—who later finished third—and Brown. “I told myself if I can get to the top of the road climb coming out of Bambies Trail without imploding, I think I can win this race. But it was soooo steep!” He kept it together and took the win. In the women’s field, Melissa Thomas of Boulder crossed the line first.

67

[the original growler]

The Hartman Rocks Recreation Area in Gunnison, Colo., was formed by a geologic anomaly known as a ring dyke—a massive intrusion of igneous rock— and its huge granite features and fast-flowing technical singletrack make for insanely good mountain biking and a perfect venue for an endurance mountain bike event.

Dave Wiens, six-time winner of the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race and long-time local resident, brewed up the idea of an endurance race on his local trails after watching past local events—and their economic benefits to the community—fade away.

What started out as a modest event with 100 riders has grown enormously in just three years, and this year, the 2010 Gunnison Growler capped its rider numbers at 350 to maintain the quality of the singletrack experience, filling up in less than two days after the online registration was announced.

Like many small mountain towns in the Rockies, Gunnison has its economy riding a rocky trail to recovery, and events like this one bring in a welcome boost to the hotels and restaurants. That economic boost has not gone unnoticed by the city of Gunnison whose city manager, Ken Coleman, sent the racers on their way to either 32 or 64 miles of pain, suffering and fun with the blast of a shotgun. As Coleman put it: “All right racers! Saddle up! The first blast is a warning, and the second one means GO!” 68

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[dawn ’til dusk]

Brian Leddy

In the pre-dawn glow of dust and haze hanging over the staging area, a rider heads to the starting line during the Dawn ’til Dusk 12-hour race on April 10 in Gallup, N.M. Held among the area’s ancient high desert mesas, the race course is lined with precariously balanced rocks, hoodoos and beautifully sculpted sandstone features. Additionally, Anasazi and Navajo ruins are scattered throughout the area that makes up the High Desert trail system, which means as you rip through the smooth, rolling terrain, you can imagine people living among the breathtaking scenery. The area’s culture is reflected in the awards handed out to those who make the podium: Native American pottery, Native American carvings called shalakos and Kachina dolls serve as trophies.

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[dawn ’til dusk]

Brian Leddy

Full of confidence, Steven Yore hits the brakes on a ripping and precarious descent on the backside of the Third Mesa Trail during the Dawn ’til Dusk on April 10 in Gallup, N.M. For many who take part in the summer endurance races throughout the Southwest, this 12-hour race is considered to be the unofficial season opener. Rolling terrain and a friendly vibe mean it’s the perfect start to racing season.

And unlike last year’s event, there were no early spring snowstorms to muck up the course. Racers went home with smiles on their faces instead of mud in their drive trains.

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[dawn ’til dusk]

Brian Leddy

Jeff Hemperley makes it look easy on his singlespeed 29er as he climbs up one of the course’s more notorious switchbacks during Dawn ’til Dusk 12-hour race in Gallup, N.M. A regular face around many of the races in Arizona and New Mexico, Hemperley is zen when it comes to racing. “It keeps your mind free and open. It keeps you fit. It’s just a good feeling to compete,” he says. Hemperley also completed 10 laps on the 13-mile course. The race attracts its share of talent and continues to be a grassroots event known for its great vibes and friendly atmosphere.

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[tour of the gila]

Taylor Phinney tries to get a breakaway going with a few laps to go in the stage four criterium at the 2010 Tour of the Gila in Silver City, N.M. No one would work with him so he went for strategy option number two: make them all work even harder, then crush them in the final sprint. It worked.

Mitchell Clinton

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[tour of the gila]

After finishing the dreaded stage one Mogollon road race in the Tour of the Gila in southern New Mexico, Garmin Slipstream rider Tom Peterson— racing under the team name DZ Nuts to comply with wacky UCI pro team status rules—awaits the post-race phone call from team manager Jonathan Vaughters. Peterson presumably worked his tail off for more than 90 miles to keep teammate and podium contender Tom Danielson in position for a stage victory. Danielson came close, placing a second on the day to race favorite Levi Leipheimer, so Peterson’s efforts were not in vain.

Mitchell Clinton

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[bailey hundo] After nearly 50 miles of singletrack and 15 miles of dirt road, racers faced hot, steep riding in this year’s inaugural underground ride known as The Bailey Hundo: The Senators’ Underground Invitational. The invitation-only race, limited to a field of 150 endurance riders and, conveniently, a few state senators (who can obviously ride), raised money for Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder, the new Colorado High School Cycling League and trail system improvements in the Bailey/South Platte area, southwest of Denver where the race was held.

Shawn Lortie

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[bailey hundo] One of the women in The Bailey Hundo was tripping the light fantastic on this singletrack section. Although much of the race traveled through a large area burned in a recent forest fire in the area, there were also sections on which the racers could grab a bit of shade.

Shawn Lortie

The idea was hatched as an unsupported, underground group ride with 30 or 40 riders who wanted to link together a big chunk of the singletrack trail system in the Bailey and Buffalo Creek areas southwest of Denver. But the idea quickly grew into one of the more coveted endurance races in Colorado.

With a field limit of 150 riders, an invitation-only format and the promise of miles of world-class trail riding, the underground ride became known as The Bailey Hundo: The Senators’ Underground Invitational.

The race was not announced until mid-April, so no one was really sure how the event would unfold. Mention of the event began to appear in quite a few cycling blogs in Colorado and around other states.

A promotional video shot on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol featuring state Sens. Chris Romer, Mark Scheffel and Mike Kopp fully clad in cycling kits and state Sen. Greg Brophy dropping a set of stairs on a Superfly 100, appeared on the Web. The secret was out, and the race was on.

With the proceeds of the race going to Trips for Kids Denver/ Boulder, the Colorado High School Cycling League and the improvement of the trail system in the Bailey/South Platte area, the race was full of nonprofit lovin’. Racers were asked to make a minimum donation and urged to participate in the fundraising effort. The 150 spots were quickly filled with talent like Dave Wiens, Jeremy HorganKobelski and Travis Brown, all ready to test out the local trails.

When race day finally rolled around, the day broke to perfectly clear Colorado skies. The double-barrel shotgun set the racers down the road at 6 a.m. After about six miles of rolling dirt road, the group had spread itself out then hit the Colorado Trail for the nearly 50 miles of singletrack.

It didn’t take long for Horgan-Kobelski to pull away and begin his solo time trial for the day. By the last section of singletrack before the long dirt road climb back up to Bailey, Wiens and young gun Bryan Alders were about 15 minutes behind Horgan-Kobelski, with the rest of the pack spread out for miles behind. After more than three hours 77

[bailey hundo] The Bailey Hundo scoreboard says it all with the finish times of the top 10 racers—marked as the time of day they finished after the early bird 6 a.m. start.

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski rocked it. Will we start to see the Gary Fisher World Cup rider at more of these stateside endurance events?

Shawn Lortie

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of racing, these positions remained the same, and Horgan-Kobelski won the inaugural Bailey Hundo in six hours and 37 minutes.

Gapping the rest of the women’s field soon after the start, Sonya Looney won the overall women’s category with a finishing time that placed her 28th overall. Eszter Horanyi, newly transplanted from Boulder to Crested Butte, rode her singlespeed to victory in that class, saying, “The long dirt road climb was perfect for the singlespeed. I was really able to keep it rolling.”

After the race, everybody was raving about all of the amazing singletrack, and earto-ear smiles were plentiful. Speaking of the last section of trail before the race hit the road to Deckers, Colo., Wiens said, “That was some of the most memorable singletrack I have raced on.”

Horgan-Kobelski, when asked about the long climb up the often steep and always exposed jeep road back to Bailey, said, “I really suffered for the last hour and a half, but it was an amazing course.”

After the race, Romer talked about the future of the Hundo, saying that the organizers will allow more riders in the coming years but want to keep the numbers relatively small, gearing the race to mostly elite endurance racers.

Romer also spoke of the importance of enhancing the already amazing trail system in the area, which he feels will have a positive impact on the economy of the town of Bailey.

With a sparkle in his eye, the senator said, “We would like to make Bailey the Crested Butte of the Front Range.”

After watching the day’s events unfold, seeing the involvement of the community and the participating politicians, there is no doubt that Bailey is destined to become a hub of mountain biking on the Front Range.

–Shawn Lortie

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[palisade classic]

Go this way! Palisade Classic Bike Festival riders who were racing in the new mountain bike race called the Grand Mesa Grind on Colorado’s Western Slope in Palisade, Colo., were treated to everything from sandy desert to alpine singletrack.

PALISADE, Colo.—There is a new classic mountain bike race on Colorado’s Western Slope, and it’s called the Grand Mesa Grind.

Located at the entrance to the Grand Valley, Palisade, Colo., is truly a gateway to the valley’s mountain biking and also an excellent location for this genuinely grassroots race.

Featuring lush wineries and orchards that stretch for miles and can be enjoyed by cruiser bike on the Fruit and Wine Tour, Palisade has been gaining a reputation for technically challenging but still fun singletrack with unmatched views. Working in close partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, local riders have been developing several areas with great mountain biking near the western Colorado city.

Unfortunately on race day, unexpected rains turned the course into an unridable quagmire, postponing the race. No stranger to a challenge or to pioneering a new singletrack frontier, event organizer Rondo Buecheler overcame a rain-out on race day to keep the event 80

Eddie Clark

alive by rescheduling the race for the following weekend.

“We’re really happy so many people turned up after the rain postponement. The town of Palisade is very helpful, and we’re all committed to making Palisade a premier mountain biking destination,” said Buecheler.

The Grand Mesa Grind featured two main loops for racing divided between experts and sport/beginners. Sport and beginner racers competed on a lollipop-fashioned course through local wineries, orchards and fresh singletrack that was close to 19 miles in length.

Expert racers took the line at 7:30 a.m. for an adventurous 39-mile course, which crossed several swollen streams on its way up the Grand Mesa and then back down into newly cut high-desert singletrack before returning into town.

Brent Steinberg put his local knowledge of the climbs to good use in winning the Experts race. “It was a fun course, and it really helped to know the climbs,” said an elated Steinberg. –Eddie Clark

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[palisade classic]

Eddie Clark

With spring runoff raging through what should be a small creek crossing, organizers of the Palisade Classic Bike Festival took extra precautions in their Grand Mesa Grind bike race by adding a safety rope. Losing a rider downstream would be embarrassing indeed.

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[18 hours of fruita] Hours after their midnight start, two riders enjoy the sweetness of Fruita’s singletrack during the 18 Hours of Fruita.

Eddie Clark

FRUITA, Colo.—Spawned from the ever-popular Fruita Fat Tire Festival, 18 Hours of Fruita offers up excellent high desert racing in Fruita, Colo., for those who like to ride bikes for a really long time, not to mention the fun mountain biking on sweet singletrack on which Fruita has built its reputation as a premier mountain biking destination.

Featuring a midnight start, on-course camping and even hot showers, the race is held on roughly six miles of singletrack that dips and rises on mild hills and navigates around Highline Lake at Highline Lake State Park. But unlike most racecourses, an errant wide turn in the dark could easily place a wary racer head first into the cool lake waters.

All of the registration brackets consistently sell out year to year, making this day and a half of racing

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practically a cult classic for endurance freaks.

“It’s an interesting race in a quirky package, which is what we love,” says race organizer Troy Rarick.

A wide range of team and individual classes make the event accessible to expert and beginner mountain bikers alike. Indeed, factory racers like Ross Schnell and beginner racers stoked about their first mountain bike race all soak up the good times.

Leading the charge on every lap was Darion Binion on his stereo-equipped singlespeed. Pedaling to the rhythm, Binion turned out incredibly consistent lap times for the entire 18 hours, which also put him at the top of the list when the racing was finished.

Binion completed a jaw-dropping 28 laps to take the overall solo win. –E. Clark

[18 hours of fruita]

Eddie Clark

Riders at the 18 Hours of Fruita, a race spawned from the past Fruita Fat Tire Festival, light up the singletrack while the oasis of Highline State Park glows in the background.

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[18 hours of fruita] After the midnight race start of the 18 Hours of Fruita, the temperature continued to drop, forcing some racers to pull out fashion choices they wouldn’t dare be seen wearing in daylight—or would they? You never know with mountain bikers.

This racer broke the fashion barrier to make the practical choice and stay warm.

Eddie Clark

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[grassroots cycles ranchstyle] If there were an award for style at the Grassroots Cycles Ranchstyle competition, Ben Glassen, who rode a perfect line through this berm, would have easily won it with his silky, smooth style. The dirt jumping and dual slalom racing competition, open to amateurs as well as pros, is held every spring on privately owned land near Grand Junction, Colo.

Mountain bikers with a penchant for dirt jumping and dual slalom racing are sure to show up at the Grassroots Cycles Ranchstyle weekend every spring near Grand Junction, Colo. Now in its third year, Ranchstyle has gained an even better reputation as the place to be for a great weekend of mountain biking, attracting local pros as well as a contingent of factory-sponsored pros from Canada.

The ranch where the event is held is privately owned by mountain bikers with a vast network of friends and colleagues, who put hours of sweat equity into creating a first-rate dirt jumping and freeriding paradise.

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Numerous trails with jumps and man-made obstacles for all abilities interlace the property and can be sessioned during all hours of the day. A rider favorite is the famous step-up where everyone congregates to practice new tricks and cheer each other on. Even though the step-up isn’t an official part of the weekend, it’s a sure bet for finding good friends and good times.

Ranchstyle really shines in its ability to successfully provide a satisfying time to a variety of mountain bikers. Riders even have the option of camping on site for an exclusive bike-only weekend. Tasty food and beverages from local vendors make it easy to stay at the ranch all weekend.

Event activities kicked off on Thursday and Friday with trail rides and shuttled runs on fabled trails such as the Gunny Loop, The Ribbon and the Lunch Loop south of Grand Junction. Friday’s activities also

[grassroots cycles ranchstyle]

Eddie Clark

featured skills clinics and a “Ride with Pros Bro Down” that provided ample amounts of stoke for the groms. For evening entertainment, campers were treated to mountain bike films and campfire stories.

The two marquee events that separate Ranchstyle from other mountain bike events and festivals are the dual slalom, which is raced on Saturday, and the slopestyle, which is run on Sunday.

Women’s dual slalom winner Tammy Donahue sums it up best: “Ranchstyle has the best dual slalom course ever. It’s so fun to ride, and there’s no way I’m going to miss it.”

Winded and feeling lucky, men’s winner Petr Hanak narrowly took his first victory of the season on a course that was considered long at 45 seconds. Numerous perfectly bermed turns were mixed in with a lot of pedaling at the top and bottom, and the middle section pushed racers to be patient and hold their lines for the fastest times.

For 2010, Ranchstyle turned up the flow and intensity of the slopestyle course. The upper half of the course featured man-made obstacles that towered almost 20 feet above ground. The mid-section gave competitors a choice between a large wall ride, a 40-foot monster gap or the funky “Fruit Dish” in which to jump in and out. The lower section contained perfect doubles with lots of pop and also another wall ride that had an ominous entry line.

To encourage development in the slopestyle community, competition was split into an Amateur and Pro class. The Pro class attracted talent from near and far with its $3,000 cash purse. Dominic Megalli won the Amateur competition, and Graham Aggasiz won the Pro’s Best Trick award of $750 with a cork 720. Consistent gutsy riding and huge amplitude were the winning ingredients for Casey Groves to claim his second Pro slopestyle win at the ranch. –E. Clark 89

[grassroots cycles ranchstyle] Eric Lawrenuk transformed into a crowd pleaser with his massive 360s at the Grassroots Cycles Ranchstyle competition earlier this summer. The two marquee events that separate Ranchstyle from other mountain bike events and festivals are the dual slalom, which is raced on Saturday, and the slopestyle, which is run on Sunday.

Eddie Clark

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paraphernalia

Framebuilder Chris Kopp makes a final check of one of his Chris Kopp Bicycle Works custom road bikes. Based in Denver, Kopp spent years building racing cars for the Indianapolis 500 but was pulled away by his passion to build two-wheeled racing machines.

James E. Rickman

chris kopp bicycle works www.ChrisKopp.biz

Custom Road Bike

Cyclists, Start Your Engines

When you come across a road bike that speeds down the road, swoops through corners and motors up hills as effortlessly as a race car, it’s tempting to enthusiastically call that bike a racing machine.

In the case of riding a Chris Kopp Bicycle Works bike, the race car metaphor has more backing than just impressions of the ride.

Kopp, a custom framebuilder in Denver, brings to his brand 20 years of experience fabricating and welding components for Indianapolis 500 race cars. (He also worked in the aerospace industry for a defense contractor making items for the government, including one of those infamous three-letter agencies. About that time in his life, all he really can say is: “We made stuff.”)

His experience in manufacturing and welding is so impressive that when he decided to leave the Indy 500 world and called up the owners of Yeti Cycles to ask if they needed a framebuilder, they thought he was joking. He had to call back and tell them he wasn’t.

A Minnesota native, Kopp grew up in a family involved in the Indy car racing business. He worked for the highly ranked Patrick Racing team that won the Indy 500 three times. He traveled to races around the world, even working as the race spotter for some of the 94

Price (as reviewed): $4,735 Price (frame, fork, headset): $1,450 Weight (without pedals): 16.5 lbs.

best drivers in the world. And he experienced the slick, high-dollar corporate world of car racing where every decision is organized down to the second on precise military-style schedules.

Ironically, during this time, Kopp loved to ride his bike. In his 30s, he was picked up by a racing team (bike racing, that is). But the one thing he couldn’t fit into his busy Indy 500 schedule was enough time to train. “Riding around a race track, after a while it becomes a little boring,” he says.

So when he turned 40, he decided, “I had enough of that life.”

The folks at Yeti did finally grant him an interview, and Kopp became the master framebuilder at the Colorado company, where he worked for more than four years, primarily on the Yeti AS-R, ARC and 303 mountain bike frames.

Two and a half years ago, Kopp started his own brand and now builds road and cyclocross bikes—“because I’m a roadie,” he says— and an occasional time trial or track bike. He’s also working on a hardtail 29er and offers singlespeed and fixie frames.

I tested the Chris Kopp custom road bike. I filled out a form detailing my measurements and my current bike measurements and talked to him about riding style and ability. He, in turn, worked up the geometry and set to work choosing the butted tubing to fit the

It wouldn’t be hard to break the law speeding down the road on this Chris Kopp Bicycle Works sleek and fast custom road bike.

James E. Rickman

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This custom steel bike from Chris Kopp Bicycle Works, built with True Temper OX Platinum (True Temper’s premium, aerospace-grade steel), weighs in at 16.5 lbs.

James E. Rickman

geometry, rider weight and riding style.

The beauty of a custom bike is getting one that fits and handles just as you’d like, rather than a one-size-fits-most, and Kopp takes this part seriously. I live in a mountain town where roads twist up and down at various inclines, so a lightweight bike and one that handled well at speed was important. I’m getting older, too, so a geometry that is kind to my back was needed.

In his framebuilding experience, Kopp has built more than 4,000 frames and under his brand builds about 40 to 50 frames each year.

He chooses to build with True Temper OX Platinum (True Temper’s premium, aerospace-grade steel), primarily for its quality and ride feel, but also because of its many options in tubing weight, butting lengths, etc.

Larger manufacturers don’t have the luxury of choosing specific tubing for each frame, but Kopp will use a different tube set for each frame he makes. For this frame, for example, he chose tubes with shorter butting lengths because as a lighter rider, I don’t need as much torsional stiffness in the frame as a bigger person.

My steel test bike came in at 16.5 lbs (without pedals) for a 52 cm bike, shattering the persistent myth that “steel is heavy” and putting this bike in the lightweight category of many current carbon bikes. I definitely felt like I had an edge on the uphills, and on the downhills, I felt what I can only think to call a “flow,” a smooth, consistent stability at all speeds.

Kopp’s experience fabricating parts for Indy cars zipping around corners at ridiculous speeds taught him that a lower center of gravity is always better in the tight stuff. He dropped the bottom bracket about 96

10 mm lower than average, and I found that the bike really pulled through corners confidently and effortlessly.

For this bike, he also increased the seat tube angle to a steep 74 degrees to bring me over the bike for a more centered fit and shortened the top tube length for me just slightly. The head tube angle is 73 degrees. I mention this because the only minor issue I had with this bike was the little bit of toe overlap. Turns out the worry was worse than reality, and I never noticed it riding.

His frames are designed for (and so come with) Chris King headsets. The brand’s consistent stack height gives him the assurance that the head tube angle won’t vary, thus keeping the handling just as he’s designed for you.

The build kits for his frames are typically Campagnolo components, but he also offers Shimano and SRAM components as well as many topof-the-line wheels, forks and accessories. He now makes his own steel forks because he hasn’t found one up to his standards.

Even though I’m not a racer, it’s obvious this bike would handle well as a racing bike. I enjoyed it at any distance or speed on the road.

Kopp said he wants customers to feel confident on it “whether you’re going into a turn with 100 crit racers or on a coffee ride with friends.

You always want to feel comfortable.” I’d agree the bike paid off in this respect.

Kopp is still racing, preferring the madness of criteriums and the mud of cyclocross. No doubt, the speed and risk of the Indy car racetrack still runs in his blood. Obviously so, too, does craftsmanship in building bikes. I think you can definitely wave the checkered flag on your choice to go with a Chris Kopp. –Caroline Spaeth

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Tom Leahy of Gunnison, Colo., splashes the Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29 through Rosebud Creek after nearly five hours of grinding in Crested Butte’s high country. “The bike was fast on those trails,” Leahy said of the hardtail 29er after the ride. “But after hour four, I was thinking a full-suspension bike is what I need.”

Brian Riepe

specialized

Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29

www.Specialized.com

The Glory is in the Long Journey

There’s a level of pride, well, I’ll be honest—egotism—intrinsic to longtime local riders in Crested Butte, Colo. My introduction, or indoctrination, came when I moved to the area in 1993, thinking I was a hotshot up-and-coming expert racer, and I’d be one of the fast guys in town.

I was naive. I was a chump. The seemingly inconspicuous crew of local dudes—weekend-warrior construction workers, schoolteachers and ski patrollers—quickly schooled me on Crested Butte’s celebrated epic singletracks. I’d never heard of any of these people, and they never showed up at the races (or could give a shit), but they could ride me into the ground, slowly and methodically until I was left bonked and dejected, gaping up at another 2,000-foot climb as I watched them ride away from me. It was a form of initiation inflicted upon me for being a punk kid wearing a flashy race kit. It was a great lesson that would shape my riding philosophy forever.

These riders had earned the right to be arrogant, mostly because they didn’t ride for glory but instead they rode for the journey. The pride was more in who could pack the most adventure into one ride, linking together the longest list of classic rides in a day. And starting from home was part of it.

98

Price: $3,300 Weight (tubeless, w/pedals): 24.5 lbs.

If they set out to ride the classic “Reno-Flag-Bear” loop (a good two-hour loop if you were hammering), they road from home, up Brush Creek Road, climbed above tree line over Hunter Hill to Reno divide, then hit Flag Creek, Bear Creek, Deadman’s, Trail 410 and returned to town on the wind-exposed pavé of Highway 135, making it a good six- to eight-hour day on the bike. It was a ruthless culture of earned respect. Anyone was welcome to ride, but you either hung on or got dropped.

It’s during these types of endurance riding benders where the truth of a bike’s efficiency really comes out. This is the stuff 29er hardtails are made for.

My mentors in Crested Butte were also among the first to adopt 29-inch wheels because the hardtail 29er is the ultimate bike for simply covering ground: ticking off the miles as efficiently and effortlessly as possible on any combination of pavement, dirt road or singletrack, from desert to high alpine terrain.

That inherent efficiency is why we are now seeing riders like Specialized’s Christoph Sauser riding an S-Works 29er hardtail to the top of World Cup podiums. Another Specialized racer and a top U.S. rider in the World Cup, Todd Wells, is also racing a 29er with great success.

It’s been generally accepted for some time now that 29-inch

At $3,300 retail, the Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29 offers a hightech, lightweight frame and a decent mix of components. The quality and the snappy ride of the frame justifies the price.

Brian Riepe

wheels offer certain superior traits over 26-inch wheels, but weight and component limitations kept them off the radar of World Cup racers, that is, until recently.

Why the new interest? The bikes and components are getting better—a lot better—and Specialized has applied all of its hard-earned latest and greatest technologies into its new carbon fiber 29er frames, making them incredibly light, strong and stiff.

The frame on this Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29 isn’t quite the same as the pricier S-Works 29 frame Sauser and Wells are racing on, but it does incorporate much of the same technology, and the geometry is identical.

The main difference is the frame material. The S-Works model uses Specialized’s 10M carbon fiber, and the Expert Carbon frame uses 8M carbon fiber. The M just signifies mountain-bike-specific, and the number is a measure of the grade of carbon fiber. The higher quality— and much more expensive—10M carbon fiber has stronger, stiffer fibers, providing greater strength with less material.

To give the 8M Expert Carbon frame the strength and ride characteristics similar to the 10M S-Works frame, Specialized simply needs to use more material and different construction techniques. The S-Works frame can subsequently be made with lighter/stronger unidirectional carbon tubes (giving it a smoother look), while the Expert Carbon frame uses multi-directional carbon fiber tubes. The good news with the Expert Carbon frame is that you get nearly the same ride quality and a very durable carbon fiber frame for a price that won’t drain your kid’s college fund.

Like Specialized’s other competitive cross-country bikes, the

Expert Carbon 29er has an aggressive stance with a relatively steep 71.5 degree head angle, low bottom bracket (304 mm), short chainstays (436 mm)—so short they needed to put a bend in the seat tube to allow room for the rear wheel—and a tight cockpit.

Specialized did a fantastic job balancing the geometry of the bike, keeping it quick and agile while still taking advantage of the positive traits of the 29-inch wheels. Interestingly though, their 29ers are only offered in three sizes: 17.5, 19 or 21 inches. I’m guessing they didn’t like the way the geometry worked out for smaller sizes but they will be offering a 15-inch size in 2011.

For $3,300 off the showroom floor, this bike is entry-level race-ready. The company did the best it could to balance decent components without pumping up the price. What you get is a great quality SRAM X-O rear derailleur, SRAM X-9 shifters, a comparatively pedestrian Shimano crankset, good ol’ Avid Elixir disc brakes and a decent mix of Specialized components.

One thing I very much appreciated was that the spec’d custom DT Swiss X450SK rims came fully tubeless ready. The rim strips were already installed, and the bike came with replacement valve stems, so with the included Specialized S-Works tubeless ready tires, converting the wheels to tubeless took less than 10 minutes.

The bike is equipped with a standard setting Fox F29 RL fork, and Specialized opted for a DT Swiss 9 mm thru axle hub. Its skewer is stiffer than that of an ordinary hub and works with standard fork dropouts, which is cool but that’s the only change I would make in the spec: I’d go ahead and spec the bike instead with Fox’s F29 15QR thru axle fork and a DT Swiss 15mm hub. The 15QR system is hell-a-stiffer 99

Brian Riepe

Top: The frame’s tapered head tube is key to giving the bike solid, reliable steering.

Left: The substantial custom BB91 press-fit bottom bracket makes this bike accelerate out of corners and up steep climbs with great speed.

Brian Riepe

and with its pre-set stop setting on the threads—much faster and easier to remove and re-install on the trail.

Overall, this bike’s price and spec are right on, and the quality of frame alone could justify a higher price tag.

From the chainstays to the head tube, the Expert Carbon 29 frame is well thought out. Specialized didn’t miss a trick. A custom press-in, oversized Shimano BB91 bottom bracket provides optimum frame stiffness to weight and a 1.5 inch tapered head tube keeps the front end stiff and provides reliable steering.

Specialized knows carbon fiber well and pulled out all the custom tube set tricks on the frame design. This bike has more curves than the late Anna Nicole Smith and—just like Anna’s—all the curves are functional. The graciously curved top tube helps provide liberal standover height, and a bend where the voluptuous down tube and tapered head tube meet provides great fork and wheel clearance while keeping 100

the head tube length reasonably short. For a full-bodied bike, the Expert Carbon 29 somehow manages to look graceful and diminutive on the trail.

The efficiency and comfort of the Expert Carbon 29 inspired me to ride big and ride from home—eating up miles of pavement and endless hours on the dirt. On the trail, the bike rips. It’s all-day comfortable, accelerates quickly, rolls on smooth singletrack like a locomotive and climbs like a road bike, and the big wheels still keep it feeling stable on the descents and sticking to turns with surprising agility.

This is the bike for riding Moab’s 100-mile White Rim Trail in a day, racing the Leadville Trail 100 or linking together as many of your local trails as possible in one day while chasing whichever egomaniac friends you choose to ride with—you’ll wear them down methodically until they cry uncle.

Some things haven’t changed for me. I still have huge respect for riders who push the endurance limits of the bicycle, I believe in riding from home whenever I can, even if it means logging many miles of pavement and double track, and I still believe the real glory is found in the journey. I wish I had this bike back in 1993 when I was so mercilessly educated on these values. I still would have gotten schooled, but it sure would have helped ease the pain. –B. Riepe

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2/13/10 12:05:48 PM

read it

on the potty

101

John Starr raced on Santa Cruz’s Tallboy at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde near Cortez, Colo.

santa cruz

tallboy

www.SantaCruzBicycles.com

The Tallboy Loves the Long Haul

I don’t compete in a lot of races these days, maybe a half dozen throughout the year. When I do, I’ve always chosen 26-inch wheel bikes. I am probably one of the last holdouts to try 29-inch wheels.

Why? I guess there are a few reasons.

First, I was always afraid to give up the quickness and maneuverability in tight, winding singletrack. I had it in my mind that 29ers would feel sluggish and slow and not respond as quickly as a 26inch bike.

Second, I did not want to apply the extra energy to get 29-inch wheels rolling uphill. They roll over everything, but it is harder to get a 29er rolling. And, I could not conceive that a 29er full-suspension bike would be light. I’m pushing my mid-40s and have problems keeping up with the guys I ride with already. More excuses are not what I need.

A few weeks before the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde in Cortez, Colo., 102

Stephen Eginoire

Stephen Eginoire Price (as tested): $4,699 Bike Weight (SPX build kit - without pedals): 27.2 lbs.

Frame Weight (XXL size - with shock): 5.2 lbs.

one of two spring races I decided on, I was given the chance to test the Santa Cruz Tallboy 29er. I was immediately blown away by the beauty of the frame. The carbon bike has no unsightly joints, just smooth onepiece triangles, much like the extraordinary sub-22 pound Blur XC Carbon that Santa Cruz produced in 2009. The Tallboy is Santa Cruz’s first 29er. Unlike the Blur XC, the Tallboy was designed as a long-haul, have-a-blast bike.

The Mesa Verde race runs on Phil’s World trail, a psychologically as well as physically demanding course. The other spring race I settled on was the Original Growler, a 32- or 64-mile race held on my home turf of Hartman Rocks trails in Gunnison, Colo. I rode on a threeperson team in Mesa Verde and opted for the shorter version of the Growler. These races will push you to the limits, if you so choose, and I planned to test ride the Tallboy on these courses.

For its carbon frames, Santa Cruz uses a method that lays out and cures the triangles all at the same time instead of bonding tubes together, thus eliminating overlapping joints and excessive material.

The process is expensive, since each frame size requires its own

Santa Cruz put a lot of time and effort into making its first venture in the world of 29ers a good one. The Tallboy’s carbon frame and Virtual Pivot Point rear suspension design make it a uniquely light and smooth racing machine.

Brian Riepe

Right: To keep the Tallboy light and stiff, Santa Cruz chose carbon over aluminum for its inserts at the suspension linkage points.

tooling, but saves weight.

The frame’s strength comes from the continuous fibers around tube junctions and integrating mounts for shocks and pivots, dropouts and tabs into the structure instead of bonding after the curing process.

As such, the frame has a higher capacity to distribute and absorb impact forces.

On the Tallboy, the upper suspension link is carbon, while the lower is forged aluminum. Both use angular bearings and largediameter axles, while providing grease ports on the lower linkage.

Like other successful Santa Cruz designs, the Tallboy uses a Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) suspension design. VPP suspension is all about balance and finding the “sweet spot.”

Pedaling a bike forces the suspension downward. The VPP linkage and the path of the axle apply chain force to counteract the downward forces of pedaling, while still allowing the bike to absorb bumps.

When the rear wheel comes in contact with an object in the trail, the VPP allows it to move up and back. Once you find the “sweet spot,” or proper “sag,” a bike equipped with VPP is virtually bob-free. Finding that spot, however, requires meticulous adjustments.

During my first rides on the bike, the handling seemed sluggish.

After a few more rides, I no longer noticed it. It wasn’t until I rode my 26-inch suspended bike again, that I realized the 29er didn’t have a sluggish feel, but a smooth, predictable “know where you are going” feeling.

Where my 26er is nervous, the Tallboy sticks to the trail and keeps you flowing. Helping out up front is a 1.5 inch, tapered head

Brian Riepe

103

Stephen Eginoire

Reviewer John Starr gets the Tallboy cruising at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race in Cortez, Colo.

tube, 15 mm thru axle fork and the large-diameter hub that offered an über-stiff, flex-free steering platform.

Suffice it to say, the Tallboy was a great option for Mesa Verde and the Growler. The bike performed flawlessly on the rocky, twisty singletrack of the Mesa Verde course and the more sustained climbs and banked turns of the Growler. In each, the Tallboy handled stepups, small drops and cornering with ease. It was not a problem to keep the front tire planted on steeper climbs while in the saddle, and out of the saddle was like climbing with a hardtail.

On the 16-mile Mesa Verde laps, I kept the suspension in the pro pedal mode, opting for a stiffer platform and, hopefully, quicker acceleration. In the 32-mile Growler, I opened the suspension and sat back to enjoy the ride. I found that the open suspension provided a bob-free platform even when I hammered out of the saddle.

The Tallboy is better suited for the all-day endurance ride or race, giving a smooth, enjoyable ride that makes you want to ride longer.

It will be my bike of choice for the upcoming Fat Tire 40, an epic one-lap course in the heart of Crested Butte’s singletrack heaven and the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, Colo., which has 10,800 feet of climbing and some ripping descents.

The Tallboy would also be the perfect bike for the Crested Butte Classic, our local 100 miler, in the fall. That being said, with the lighter build kit and with its quick and responsive ride, this bike would excel at shorter courses as well.

The SPX build kit is decked out with an XT drive train, Fox FIT RLC 100 15 mm thru axle, Mavic TN719 hoops with a Chub hub in front and a DT Swiss 340 in the rear and Avid Elixir CR’s for stoppers.

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Brian Riepe

Thankfully, 1.5-inch tapered head tubes are becoming the standard, and Santa Cruz didn’t miss that improvement on the Tallboy.

The rest of the SPX kit is fitted with Thompson, Easton and WTB. Santa Cruz offers two other build options at a lower price point. Or you can purchase the frame separately with a RockShox Monarch 3.3 shock or the Fox Float RP2. Santa Cruz has different options available for kits, shocks and forks, offering refreshing flexibility for your budget and riding style.

This is the first 29er that I have ridden for an extended time. Santa Cruz banished all of my 29er myths to the deep reaches of my mind.

Now comes the hard part, convincing my wife that this is the bike for me and that I need to spend more time riding it. –John Starr

OSPREY HYDRAULICS™

105

The furry legs of Dave Ochs powered the Moots Vamoots RSL road bike through the streets of Silver City, N.M., during his escapade at the Tour of the Gila five-day stage race. “I was honored to fly this flag at such a worthy road race,” says Ochs of the RSL. “It will reside in my dreams until my next bike purchase.”

Mitchell Clinton

moots

Vamoots rsl

www.Moots.com

Oh, sweet, supple, sexy titanium, I salute thee!

When my addiction to bicycles began about 10 years ago, a Moots was on my wish list but was not always affordable. I did eventually ride a Moots YBB for a year or so, and to be honest, I’ve missed titanium ever since. Nothing compares to titanium.

When Mountain Flyer asked me to test-ride the Vamoots RSL at the Tour of the Gila, a five-day stage race in southern New Mexico, I was drop-jawed and wide-eyed.

With the ever-growing carbon craze still leading the charge in the bike industry, titanium seems to have found a lower place on the popularity tree, especially with professional road racers. That could largely be attributed to the amount of research and design money going into carbon tube sets—leading to road bikes weighing 15 lbs.

With the RSL, Moots addressed the weight issue effectively with a customized tube set, cutting weight without sacrificing the ride.

What Moots got was a competitively light frame set that will outlast a 106

Price (as tested): $8,714 Price (frame only): $4,425 Weight (MD size - without pedals): 15.25 lbs.

carbon frame by decades. The company is still holding strong and true to its credo that nothing balances weight, strength, stiffness, vibration dampening and durability like titanium. Moots is right on.

What stood out first after throwing a leg over this beauty was the ride quality on the gnarly New Mexico roads. This bike yearned to ride over cracks, chip seal, bumpy roads—whatever was thrown at it. I couldn’t get over how supple it rode. The Vamoots absorbed all kinds of road funk and had an ever-lasting dampening that made all-day riding feel so good.

The 3/2.5 Reynolds double-butted tubing (6/4 micro-diameter seatstays) is not only beautiful, light and responsive, but so smooth.

With perfect Moots welds and the standard Moots laid-back seat post and RSL stem, this bike rode like a dream.

My first day at the Tour of the Gila was the Inner Loop Road Race, a 64-mile stage with nearly 5,000 feet of climbing and descending. A bit dodgy in the Category 4/5 peloton, there were crashes left and right descending Pinos Altos, but the Moots was glorious.

I had reliable brakes and burly grab from the levers, which made for a very responsive machine. Between the rough roads, the

Courtesy of Moots

Courtesy of Moots

You can’t tell by looking at the bike, but Moots was able to cut the Vamoots RSL frame weight by 20 percent in the top tube and 15 percent in the down tube compared with the RSL’s predecessor, all while adding stiffness to the frame.

Using a Truvativ PressFit30 bottom bracket delivers a claimed 38 percent more stiffness while reducing weight by 5 percent.

squirrely 4/5 peloton and some pretty nasty descents with 180-degree switchbacks, I was damn happy to be on such a trusty steed. The RSL would lie down in the corners and accelerate out of them with reliable efficiency.

I became rather familiar with the shifting through all the firstday nerves and mayhem on the descent. With the SRAM Red group, I liked how the shifting is controlled from only one lever and that the lever has a groovy taper on it for an easy grip. The shifter also swings independently of the brake lever, so you can move it closer to the bar for an even more convenient shift.

I’m still getting used to the big ring shifting, and I’m not sold on it yet. It seems a bit more forced under any load applied during shifting and doesn’t seem to ramp up to the big ring like a Shimano shifter does.

Blown away by the “all-day” ride aspect, I was eager to see how this kitty steered. The seemingly laid-back frame (73 degree seat tube, 73.75 degree head tube) was matched with a more aggressive fork, the Alpha Q carbon fork. The fork and the ti combination was like a cheetah turning to kill its prey: raaawwwwhhhhh (cat noise).

On the third day of racing, I was nervous riding this $8,700 bike in the Silver City Downtown Criterium, but it was worth it. The Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels were stiff and reliable, and the bike would pounce out of the corners.

Truvativ’s PressFit 30 oversized bottom bracket delivers a claimed 38 percent more stiffness while reducing weight by 5 percent and gives the bike the muscle where it’s needed: during sprints and hard climbs.

The Downtown Crit takes on a bit of both with some really tight

corners and 80 feet of climbing per lap.

The Moots truly showed its persona here coming out of the tight and poorly surfaced corner No. 2 and up the climb with precision. All input to the pedals went right to forward momentum.

This bike’s ridiculously low weight obviously didn’t hurt. I weighed it on the home scale at 14 lbs, 3 oz without pedals, 5 lbs less than the bike I left hanging in my garage at home in Crested Butte, Colo. I was going to focus on laying off the sauce before the Gila started, but no reason with that weight.

According to the company, the Vamoots RSL saves weight over its predecessors with a 20 percent lighter top tube, a 15 percent lighter (and 9 percent larger) seat tube, a 2 percent lighter (and 7 percent larger) down tube and the 9 percent lighter (and 22 percent larger) chainstays. It also takes on an increased strength with a 32 percent lighter Breezer-style dropout. I call it the supermodel of road bikes— actually more like a supermodel all hopped up on Fen-Phen and speed; she’s fast as hell, too.

On the climbs, it was like having another gear or getting a little push. The RSL charged on the inclines and was so efficient. It accelerated with the easiest touch of the pedals, and it descended, you know…raaawwwwhhhhh!

On the last day, the Gila Monster Road Race covered 71.8 miles, more than 5,000 feet of climbing and 4,000 feet of descending. The race included some sweet descending into Pinos Altos and what a rush it was on this plush ride with dependable and aggressive steering. I may have been getting a bit cocky in the corners, but time and gaps were on my mind, and the Moots delivered.

107

Mitchell Clinton

Dave Ochs warms up on the streets of Silver City, N.M., preparing for battle in the criterium at the Tour of the Gila stage race. “I was scared riding such a nice bike with a bunch of Cat 4 thugs in a criterium,” lamented Ochs. “But the bike’s handling saved my ass.”

As for other components, the Deda bars and the SRAM Red hoods were easy on my back, neck and arms. There wasn’t really anything on this bike that didn’t feel like it was snuggling up to you and inviting you in.

Topping it off, I was pleasantly surprised by the Fi’zi:k Arione saddle. I had tried the Fi’zi:k Gobi saddle on the mountain bike but was not such a fan. I was worried about starting the bike season on a new saddle. But the Arione’s long, slender style provided multiple positions for comfort and variable seating. A great saddle for the time trial, it got me right up there on the “rivet,” if you will (borrowed from road race commentators Phil and Paul) and got me back when it was more comfortable for flat-land riding.

I was honored and proud to fly this flag in such a worthy road race, and it will reside in my thoughts and dreams until my next road bike purchase. A tremendous asset for the quiver, a Moots really doesn’t lose value.

It’s pricey at $4,425 for the frame and fork, but the titanium will ride as well 20 years down the road, and Moots backs the bike with a lifetime warranty. A lifetime warranty on a bike says quite a bit—that’s unparalleled craftsmanship right there, folks. And it’s handbuilt in the Rockies. –Dave Ochs 108

Courtesy of Moots

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109

magura:thor 140am fork $899 | www.MaguraUSA.com

There’s probably a lot of baggage that comes with naming a bicycle fork after some superhuman Aryan guy who slays giants with a hammer that spits lightning bolts. But Magura’s Thor all-mountain fork may be poised to wreak some havoc on some of the giants in the bike suspension business.

The German-engineered Thor fork offers 140 mm of travel (that’s 5.5 inches to us weenies stuck in the English measurement system) that is best enjoyed while thundering down the trail. In other words, I liked the feel better at speed than meandering around slowly—something you probably won’t be doing anyway on a fork with this much travel. Thor has a pretty linear feel throughout the stroke, which, after niggling for quite some time with the adjustments, provided a very satisfying ride throughout the nine-month test period.

It took a fair amount of fiddling and fussing to get the fork set up just right, but when I finally dialed it in—using a little lower air pressure than recommended—I had nice feel through small bumps even at reasonably slower speeds and enjoyable plushness though the big hits.

For climbing, you can drop 40 mm (a little more than 1.5 inches) of stanchion height on the fly using Magura’s Flight Control Remote (FCR) thumb lever while pushing down on the fork. The handlebarmounted remote was great for reducing travel on the go, but not as good for getting it back, unless you’re really good at doing a wheelie.

To return the fork to full travel, I had to stop and completely unweight the fork while holding down the FCR lever. I didn’t find it to be such a big deal since I usually make fork adjustments standing still anyway.

Another on-the-go adjustment for the fork that really does work well is Magura’s Albert Select+ feature. This damping adjustment is a snap. With a half turn of the knob on the top of the right leg, Albert Select can be switched on—your ticket to bob-free pedaling. Properly set up (another tinkering expedition), the Albert Select feature made for an overall stiff platform that had a smoother feel and more smallbump compliance than many other fork “lock-out” adjustments I’ve experienced. If desired, a person could ride with the Albert Select turned on all the time. But with such sweet travel in standard mode, I can’t figure out why anyone would want to do that.

The Thor has several nice features that the manufacturer makes a big deal about. The fork has a dual set of arches above the lower legs that Magura says adds super stiffness to the Thor. I don’t know what it would be like with a single arch, but I found the fork to be nicely stiff and stable. In addition, the fork is designed to allow adapter-free mounting of brakes with a 180 mm diameter (7 inch) rotor. I found out that Magura’s excellent brakes can be mounted directly to the fork for this size rotor, but Avid brakes apparently require an Avid adapter.

The fork can accommodate a rotor as large as 210 mm (8 1/4 inches).

The large rotors made for excellent stopping power, and yet the fork didn’t dive under breaking except in uncommon panic-braking conditions.

People who enjoy looking at manufacturing spec tables and setting up their forks accordingly with the hope that they’ll never have to touch the adjustments again might not like the Magura Thor.

Those of us who enjoy the rigid precision of the Germanic mind and the heroic promise of thundering through the hillsides astride a mighty chariot flanked by bolts of electric invulnerability can find kinship in a suspension forged a continent away. –J. Rickman

110

bontrager:rhythm elite wheelset cole:massif enduro wheelset $598 set | weight: 1,857 grams | www.Bontrager.com

$695 set | weight: 2,337 grams | www.ColeWheels.com

On the face of it, these sturdy hoops, with their 28 mm wide rims and a thru axle front hub, have the ride of an all-mountain wheelset.

But at 1,857 grams, they are lighter than many comparable wheelsets, and they can justifiably cross over to cross-country use for someone who just wants a good, strong versatile wheel.

The front hub can be adapted easily to a 15 mm or 20 mm thru axle by switching the end caps. The set comes tubeless ready—rim strips and valve stem included—making tubeless conversion simple.

An asymmetric rear rim offsets the drive train forces and wheel dish, keeping the rear wheel stiff through compressions and tight corners. The 28 mm rim width allows the tire to expand and creates a wider contact patch for the tire, which leads to improved traction, amazing cornering and added protection against pinch flats.

The Bontrager wheelset makes you wonder why 22 mm is the standard for cross-country wheels. This is a quality, well-thought-out wheelset at a fair price. –B. Riepe

The Cole Massif Enduro wheels are downhill-bred wheels for your trail bike. Their straight-pull FatHead spokes allow for extremely high spoke tensions because of a progressive taper on the hub side of the spoke that has a sizable, load-bearing surface. The company has dubbed this design “Dynamic Spoke Alignment” and claims it distributes tension evenly and alleviates stress points when loaded, twisted and battered.

The front hub has swappable EZ Snap end caps: spacers that snap into the bearing cup and accommodate 15 mm, 20 mm thru axles or a regular skewer. The rear hub uses a hollow chromoly 10 mm thru axle.

The quality of the Cole rims, hubs and Swiss-made butted stainless spokes is exceptional.

The immense rigidity of the wheels and the added chassis stiffness from the front and rear thru axles is immediately apparent on the trail. When you tip the bike on edge, you turn in; when you charge rock gardens, the bike tracks dead straight through terrain that would otherwise push a cross-country wheel around. The Enduros encourage a deliberate, aggressive riding style: look ahead, go fast and let your suspension do the work. –Scott Leonard

bontrager:xr2 2.1 tires

duro:h-bomb 2.3

Because these tires had a tread pattern reminiscent of those on my first mountain bike, I was a little leery about how well the XR2s would perform in the dirt.

My first serious race on them was a 12-hour race in dusty and dry Gallup, N.M. The tire is a lightweight tubeless-ready tire, and I was pleasantly surprised to be able to thrash it all day in the solo race with no trouble at all. Mounted up with sealant, these tires were perfect for the high country desert, offering great traction and durability.

The XR2s corner extremely well on loose, ball-bearing-type terrain and dig into loamy soil while still offering a very fast-rolling feel on smooth-packed soil. As the soil continued to dry up and loosen during the heat of the day, turning the trails into sandy beaches, these tires continued to work surprisingly well.

Overall, the XR2s offer a great combination of lightweight, fastrolling tread and great dry traction. These tires come in 2.1 and 2.3 widths. –Jordan Carr

The H-Bomb 2.3 tire is designed for four-cross, downhill or aggressive trail riding. It is a compliant, weight-saving, single-ply tire with a rounded profile.

The grip these tires deliver is exceptional on loose-over-hard pack and semi-hard pack trails. However, the limited sidewall and tread stiffness made them prone to pinch flats. The pressures needed to alleviate that compromised their “rail-ability.”

In riding these tires, I found that the tread wear on them was excellent. The H-Bombs held up well, for example, on the rough trails of Fruita, Colo. I used the tires for general trail riding as allaround tires on a 5-inch-travel trail bike, and they were okay for that application.

For a lighter rider in a more controlled environment, such as a four-cross course or smooth downhill trails, they would be an excellent choice. And they are reasonably priced. –S. Leonard

$60 | weight: 565 grams | www.Bontrager.com

$50 | weight: 820 grams | www.DuroBike.com

111

sram xx:20-speed xc group Complete Group: $2,430 | www.SRAM.com

Part II Our assessment of SRAM’s XX group comes in two parts: Part I, in our last issue (Issue No. 16), discussed the technical innovations and intricacies of the group’s overall design. In Part II, here, we dig deeper into how it performs after racing on it extensively.

With the riding season finally under way in the Colorado mountains, I was able to get an ample amount of racing and riding on our SRAM XX test bike. After our technical review in Mountain Flyer’s previous issue, our goal here was to give the mountain bike group— designed around a 2x10 drive train—some real world, rubber-on-dirt testing. With the opportunity to put some huge miles on the setup, I must say I am pleasantly surprised.

Testing consisted of not only some local training rides but also a variety of racing. A 12-hour solo race showed that the XX group worked harmoniously as one, allowing for quick shifts from big gears on descents to easier gears for steep climbs. The system not only offered quick shifting but performed flawlessly all day in extremely dry, dusty conditions.

With SRAM’s X-Glide technology for the two chainrings, the chain 112

Above Top: SRAM’s XX 20-speed drive train is designed so a rider can use all 10 cogs in the back with either chainring up front, giving it 20 useful gears. That means super fast shifting through a substantial range of gears with less weight. If you ride it, you’ll never go back to a triple.

Right: Pictured here is SRAM’s 2011 X-0 cranks. If the XX group is out of your price range, don’t sweat it. SRAM will be offering its more affordable X-7, X-9 and X-0 groups with a 2x10 setup in 2011.

remains fully engaged on teeth from both rings during shifting. Not only does this provide for smooth, quick shifts, but it also allows you to shift under full torque. This feature proved extremely helpful when I found myself pushing too big of a gear up steep climbs.

One of the biggest benefits I found with XX was the ability to ride in the big chainring almost exclusively. The 2x10 drive train offers such a large range of gear options in just the big ring alone. As an added bonus of this, I found I had a super quiet bike even on the rockiest of descents.

After riding singlespeeds for the past few years, I found it hard to come back to gears because of the common rattle associated with derailleur-equipped bikes. But XX was quiet, without the clanking and clattering that drove me away from gears for so long. Could XX actually be bringing simplicity and technology together?

During my test, I often changed between the XX test bike and a traditional 3x9 geared bike. On the 3x9, I found myself almost uncomfortable with the workings of its drive train. I felt as though I was either over-geared or under-geared, and 27 gears almost seemed like too many options. By comparison, XX felt as though it filled all my needed gear options while not offering unnecessary combinations.

Along with the shifting quality, the XX package combines technology from SRAM’s sister companies, Avid and RockShox, allowing for clean integration of all components.

Elegantly placed atop the Avid Matchmaker handlebar clamp sits the XLoc, RockShox’s hydraulic, remote lockout mechanism for the suspension lockout. With its placement near your hands, XLoc not only makes locking out the fork easier, it makes it much more tempting. ITarma-Dec09.pdf found myself using XLoc every I got, from 1 the 11/13/09 5:30 chance PM smooth singletrack to short, out-of-the-saddle climbs.

As a mechanic, I can only wonder what maintenance may be needed after long-term XLoc usage. And although the XLoc is a great feature for front suspension, a similar mechanism for a rear shock would pull the system together.

One minor issue was that the brake system leaves something to be desired. The stopping power is there, they are light and they have a lot of adjustability. But, in general, the brakes are a little finicky; they seem to fade a bit on long descents, and often will change modulation mid-descent.

Overall, the brakes work well but could benefit from a few upgrades. The XX brake is basically the same brake as the Avid Elixir with a few weight-shaving additions. With the drive train system teetering on excellence, an updated brake system would complete the package.

After riding XX for a few months, I must say it is a package that will outfit my next bike. It works well in a variety of situations, it is lightweight, and, most of all, it brings simplicity back to gears.

I would recommend the group to anyone looking for the next step up in bicycle technology but also prefers a functional, everyday setup. With Shimano scrambling to catch up and 2x10 crank options immediately coming available from aftermarket manufacturers, you could call the XX group revolutionary.

This group also fits nicely on any high-end race bike since its weight comes in 400 grams lighter than a current Shimano XTR or SRAM XO drive train. With a retail price tag approaching $2,500, the XX is still only for the financially committed.

If the ride properties sound great but the price drops your jaw, just be patient. SRAM will be offering a more affordable XO group with a 2x10 setup in 2011. –J. Carr

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yeti • Wilier • pivot • orbea • santa cruz • specialized 113

osprey:raptor hydration pack

vaude:juicy air 7+3

Osprey did its homework and brought its 35-plus years of pack manufacturing experience to the table with the new Raptor line of mountain biking hydration packs. The Raptor’s design is well thoughtout and has a bevy of useful features.

I tested the Raptor 10, which has a 90 oz capacity and is the company’s largest cycling pack. The fit and stability of the pack are excellent, and the bladder design has a lot to do with it.

The pack, designed specifically for cycling, uses a Nalgene bladder and has a suspension system that enables the bladder to keep the water load distributed flat and evenly along your back. As the bladder is emptied, the pack squeezes together like a single-cell accordion. The bladder sits in its own pocket, located directly against the foam frame element of the pack.

The bite valve can be opened and closed easily by turning the mouthpiece 90 degrees and has a slick magnetic keeper on the sternum strap—both features do their jobs well. The shoulder straps, back of the pack and waist belt have a floating mesh surface that allows for excellent airflow.

This pack has a lot of compartments, so it’s easy to keep your gooey energy foods away from your camera and tools. My two favorite compartments are the top accessory pocket and the stretchy “jersey” pocket on the outside. The accessory pocket has a flap that covers the zipper and has a keeper notch for the zipper end to keep it securely closed. The jersey pocket is easy to reach and you can take items in and out while riding—no need for a traditional three-pocket jersey when you have this pack.

The one superfluous feature that I take issue with is the LidLock, a plastic oval on a bungee that holds a helmet securely to the pack. A light hydration pack doesn’t need to hold a helmet, that’s just a good way to smash your helmet—or your head. But overall, this pack is a great cycling tool to have. –S. Leonard

The name Juicy Air leaves me, well, it leaves my imagination entirely blank. But Vaude, a German family-owned company, must have had something clever (or klug, as they’d say) in mind. Vaude is the second largest producer of outdoor goods in Europe, and it’s been making quality packs longer than I’ve been eating solid foods. All those years of experience and good old German design ingenuity went into its relatively new line of hydration packs.

The compact Juicy Air 7+3—meaning the pack holds 7 liters (237 oz) of liquid plus 3 more when expanded by a zippered bellows around the main pocket—is packed with well-calculated features like a retractable rain cover, removable zippered coin/key/phone pocket, sternum strap, padded hip-belt pocket and a clip for a safety light.

But the best thing about the pack is how it fits.

Most notably, a mesh membrane stretched on a light, wire framework suspends the pack a half-inch off your back, keeping your back sweat-free and retaining the pack’s shape when packed full.

I rode with this pack in Sedona, Ariz., in 98 degree temps, and it was refreshingly cool on my back. I also appreciated the pack’s shape; instead of sticking outward like a round blob, the pack has a wider, flatter profile, spreading the load out evenly and keeping the center of gravity closer to your back.

The Juicy Air is small enough for shorter, faster rides, but because it expands to 10 liters (338 oz), it’s good enough to adapt to all-day ventures. I was able to fit my digital SLR camera with a huge 70 to 200 mm lens into the pack with an extra jacket, water and food.

Even with all that extra weight, the pack didn’t swing around on my back. An innovative strap adjustment system allows for increased fit customization of the pack relative to your shoulders and waist.

I never could find a direct translation of what Juicy Air may mean to the Germans—although I’m sure it’s something klug—but I highly recommend the pack. –B. Riepe

$89 | www.OspreyPacks.com

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$99 | www.Vaude.com

handpresso:portable espresso machine $99 | www.Importika.com/Handpresso.cfm

I’ll admit it: I’ve walked a mile to find a Starbucks. For the desperately addicted espresso snob, that little cup of crema-topped goodness is not always easy to find on the road. So when I stumbled upon this travel-size espresso machine, I had to try it.

The Handpresso comes in two styles, the Wild model, which uses vacuum-sealed, pre-tamped ESE (easy serving espresso) pods, or the Domepod model that operates with your own fresh ground espresso. I chose the ESE model for more convenience and less mess during travels.

Using the Handpresso Wild is simple: remove the cap from the water chamber, add hot water from thermos, microwave or camp stove, drop in the ESE pod, close it up and start pumping.

As the name implies the Handpresso works by building the necessary water pressure with a hand pump—it took me about 40 strokes to get to the magic 16 bars of pressure. Once it’s up to pressure, press the release button and out comes a perfect shot with shockingly good crema, smooth flavor and rich aroma.

In all honesty, my first round didn’t go so perfectly. When I released the pressure, half the water leaked out the sides of the cap.

Upon inspection, I noticed the main gasket seal was not seated in its channel. I rolled it back into place but noticed each time I took the cap off, it rolled out of place again. So remembering the experience I had with an old Marzocchi Marathon fork (what a gem that was), I added a thin coat of food-service-approved gasket lubrication, and it fixed the problem. Despite that issue, it worked flawlessly.

The Handpresso is a must-have for the traveling/camping espresso snob. Add a Nissan stainless hand-pumped milk frother into your bag of tricks, and you’ll have cappuccinos anywhere you go. Just make sure you bring enough ESE pods for your friends ’cause they’ll be lining up at your campsite. –B. Riepe

Pictured here is an actual shot pulled from the Handpresso unit seconds before the photo was taken. Helpful hints for a perfect shot: run some hot water through the unit before making a shot to heat up the filter and ensure a nice hot shot.

Also, stop the airflow just before all the water runs through to get the best crema.

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feedback sports:alpine scale

keen:springwater mtb shoe

Some people are always watching their weight and counting those grams. No, we are not talking about waistlines. Once again, this is all about the bicycle. The Alpine digital scale from Feedback Sports will meet your inner weight weenie needs. This scale weighs items up to 55 lbs and has a +/- 10 gram accuracy. You may not want to use this scale to confirm the weight of your 420 dispensary order or your smaller titanium bolts, but for everything else, this scale is great.

Noteworthy features are the easy-to-read LCD display and the patented design that allows the scale to be clamped into any bicycle repair stand. If you use this scale but forget to turn it off, it also has an auto shut-off feature. All of this amounts to a great product that lets you ride with peace of mind, knowing that all those expensive lightweight bits do add up to a better ride. –Kurt Smith

Though the giant toe cup and industrial gray styling give the Keen Springwater mountain bike shoe the same unfortunate vibe as a pair of Grandpa’s trusty orthopedic shoes, don’t be fooled: This shoe rocks!

Wearing the Keen Springwaters unfailingly for the past 18 months for everything from 12-hour races, to social rides, to my daily office commute, I have put the Springwaters through their paces in all conditions and temperatures, and they still haven’t let me down.

The giant rubber toe cup spared my piggies from being smashed into Spam on numerous occasions when I accidentally rammed my toes into rocks and logs on technical rides.

I appreciated this protective feature almost as much as I appreciated the walkability of the Springwaters. Walking is not something we usually talk about much in the world of mountain biking, but anyone who’s had to hoof it home over rough terrain in a pair of elf shoes after an unfortunate mechanical knows where I’m coming from.

The sole of the Springwater is rigid enough to provide a stable and efficient pedaling platform, though it’s not as rigid as a pair of racing shoes. But they sure are comfortable.

Overall, these are wide shoes. As someone with very wide feet, I never thought I’d truly find this feature in a mountain biking shoe.

Despite the generous width, Keen encourages people to go up one-half size in length due to the shoe’s form; following these instructions, I found a very nice fit that made dawn-to-dusk sessions wonderfully pleasant.

Instead of laces, Keen uses hook-and-loop fasteners on three easyto-handle straps of faux leather to snug the shoes to your tootsies. I was worried the straps might be the weak link, but thousands of yanks on the straps have had no adverse effects.

The shoes were durable, save for two segments of webbing on each shoe that disintegrated after repeated rubbing on my chainstays. I snipped off the tattered remains and was pleased to find that the blackand-yellow fabric seemed more decorative than needed for keeping the heel compartment stable.

Grandpa knows that happy feet are the key to bliss. The little bit of Grandpa vibe going on inside the Keen Springwater mountain bike shoe is sure to add a little more happiness to every ride. –J. Rickman

$65 | www.FeedbackSports.com

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$130 | www.KeenFootwear.com

scott:team issue shoe

1st endurance:efs electrolyte drink

On occasion, when the stars and moon are just so, my bike feels like it is a part of me. It knows the lines and adjusts itself accordingly. It’s like my own personal Avatar bike.

I have thought a lot about those types of rides and how they can be replicated. What is it that makes me feel at one with my bike? Frame geometry? Tire pressure? Mental state (queue the Pink Floyd)?

What about getting back to the basics of shoes and pedals? It’s a logical argument because it’s the connection point between rider and vehicle. Don’t forget about your first ride on clipless pedals and the major upgrade in performance. How different would it feel to ride 30 miles of singletrack on platform pedals and Air Jordans? The answer is a lot.

So far this season I have put in a lot of miles in the Scott Team Issue shoes. They have been abused in the desert, drenched in the soggy high alpine spring and windblown on the Tuesday night road rides. Each and every time I slip on the Team Issue shoes, I am comfortable and confident that they will perform.

On my singlespeed, I spend a tremendous amount of time out of the saddle. Under the constant load of my body weight, these shoes held true to Scott’s claimed stiffness. Scott’s HMX carbon fiber sole is derived and improved upon from its proprietary HMF fibers used in its bike frames, offering 20 percent more stiffness and used in all areas that need extra rigidity.

I am humbled regularly riding in the mountains. There are climbs that I still can’t clean and probably never will, thus I’m off the bike hiking. Any serious rider can appreciate that a stiffer shoe will transfer power more efficiently to the bike, but a shoe that flexes under stress is also important. I’ve had issues with other shoes breaking down and wearing out quickly from this time spent dragging my bike up those impossible trail sections. Not only do these shoes feel great off the bike, but their aggressive, three-component X-Traction sole ensures great traction while hiking the most burly ascents.

Other attributes make these shoes great. The easy-to-use, but tough buckle closure system and the upgraded footbeds give these shoes the feel of a top product.

My only problem came with the sizing. The shoes come in full sizes 38 to 48 but run large. It was suggested to me by Scott that I order a full size down from what I normally wear, which confuses me as to why the sizing is not standardized. If Scott produces everything one size large, logic tells me to just change how they label the sizes, simple enough.

So far these shoes rank among the best I have owned. They are comfortable, stiff and solid. Admittedly, I’m not fast enough to wear white shoes, but with everything the Scott Team Issue mountain bike shoe has going for it, I’d wear them with pink fluffy feathers and sequins sewn into the sides. –Chris Hanna

“New and improved for 2010,” or so the label says. My first reaction when I saw this was, c’mon guys, what is this, soda pop? But I’m a huge fan of First Endurance products—I’ve been buying the EFS drink mix for three years now—so I read beyond the stereotypical marketing.

The old EFS was truly exceptional, and First Endurance is well known for its science-backed approach. So why change it? Well, our understanding of sports science continues to evolve, and First Endurance is at the cutting edge of it.

The “New for 2010” EFS drink has all the latest amino acids with the addition of malic acid, which has been shown to stimulate oxygen consumption and encourage efficient ATP production—the body’s energy source—even under low-oxygen, or hypoxic, conditions.

In addition, the new EFS drink contains more electrolytes than any other drink on the market—more than 1,160 mg of all five electrolytes per serving. Clinical research published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition shows endurance athletes require much higher levels of electrolytes than most sports drinks provide.

The new formula utilizes dicalcium malate and dimagnesium malate. In a bioavailability study, calcium and magnesium absorption rates were between 20 percent and 100 percent higher using these unique chemical compounds.

I hydrated with the new EFS formula exclusively all spring during ski and bike ventures and can say that you will notice the difference.

The new formulas are incredibly fine, mix instantly and get into your system faster than before. You can find more information at www.

FirstEndurance.com, complete with references to the clinical research.

My only comment to First Endurance’s marketing department is, couldn’t you have just called it “Advanced Formula”? –B. Riepe

$199.99 | www.Scott-Sports.com

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$24.95 (25 servings) | www.FirstEndurance.com

“50 BEST ADVENTURE TOWNS”

by National Geographic Adventure Magazine.

You be the judge.

PHOTO: XAVIER FANE

GunnisonCrestedButte.com · 877.369.7635 For trails information, reports and events check out ColoradoMountainBiking.info and GunnisonTrails.com.

PHOTO: TOM STILLO

The Beauty of Solitude

by Laura Puckett

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(Left to right) Andy Peirce, Jeny Meinerz and Gary Blakley stand next to the Fitton guard station near Del Norte, Colo.

Mountain bikers are still a rare breed in Del Norte, but these folks are helping to create a vibrant, welcoming community and develop more singletrack for cyclists.

Untapped Adventure Riding in Colorado’s San Luis Valley

Del Norte is one of those towns most people only ever see from the highway.

They catch glimpses of a couple of banks or a few antique shops and pass on by. It’s a rural town, an economically depressed town.

Look a little closer, however, and you realize things are more than they appear.

Ed Ellinger

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You can always find a smile and fresh coffee at the Organic Peddler, Mike (pictured here) and KimAnna Cellura-Shields have created an oasis of organic food, drink and groovy gifts.

Kevin Krill

The main drag of this southern Colorado town isn’t just drab essentials and empty storefronts. The Windsor Hotel, for instance, built in 1874, mostly sits empty today, but if you peek in the windows you’ll see that it’s undergoing an impressive restoration.

Just around the corner, John Bricker sells insurance out of a front office and in the back operates Three Barrel Brewing Company. The old American Legion clubhouse is now Wildwood Sounds, an intimate concert space that welcomes musicians from all over the world.

Behind the scenes of this sleepy town, a buzzing community is climbing, hula hooping, gardening, making art, building bikes and riding in the hills. Mountain bikers are still a rare breed in Del Norte, but they ride passionately and often and are creating a vibrant, welcoming community.

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A playful crowd of endurance athletes, land stewards, artists, builders, climbers and ranchers are part of the mix of enthusiastic bikers and trail builders. It’s a mix of the traditional and progressive, the young and old. Biking bonds them, but even more, they are drawn together because “they care for the land and the country around it,” says Suzie Off, a third-generation rancher whose family has been running the Grande Island Ranch just east of town since 1872.

Del Norte is the county seat of Rio Grande County, which is 60 percent public land. This land merges seamlessly with giant swaths of public land in neighboring Saguache County to the north and Conejos County to the south. All together, Del Norte is surrounded by 3,778 square miles of mostly National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.

Channing Boucher holds his line on one of the many features in the Penitente Canyon/Del Norte area.

Kevin Krill

For the most part, all of this land is open to cyclists, except for a few places like the wilderness areas in the high San Juan Mountains.

“I could do two rides a week all summer long and never do the same ride twice,” says Gary Blakley, a passionate local rider and board member of Del Norte Trails Organization. “And on most of those rides, I wouldn’t see anyone, or I might see one or two people. That’s the beauty of this place, the solitude.”

The San Luis Valley floor, where Del Norte is located, lies at approximately 8,000 feet above sea level and holds the title of the largest high alpine valley in the world. The Sangre de Cristo mountain range fills the eastern horizon, and the San Juans rise up steeply to the west.

Where Del Norte sits, perched on the Rio Grande, on the cusp of

the desert and the mountains, the terrain is wild and diverse. Rolling rock and sage brush give way to lush emerald river banks lined with cottonwoods or to pines and aspens higher in the mountains.

Upstream to the west is South Fork, a vacation community and the hub of the region’s alpine riding. Downstream to the east, the city of Monte Vista is part of the agricultural valley floor.

In spring and fall, the desert trails dry out early, and in high summer, the alpine routes stay cool and sheltered. In one day, you can ride both, right from town.

Once Upon a Time What’s amazing is that this place isn’t filled to bursting with mountain bikers. In the late ’80s, a young rider named Jerry Duran, from

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Andy Peirce of AMP Bicycles works in his metal shop, which was once a potato storage barn.

Potatoes are still the cash crop in the Del Norte area of southern Colorado.

Sculpting Bikes Sculpting Bikes Sculpting Bikes

del norte Kevin Krill

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andy peirce DEL NORTE, Colo.—On a hot, windy summer day, the old potato barn that serves as Andy Peirce’s shop remains airy and cool but certainly not quiet. The sounds of machinery grinding and whirring within its 3-foot thick adobe walls are a sign of the incessant activity going on under its high ceilings.

Shaping and welding steel into custom bike frames requires a lot of heat, grit and manual labor. As a sculptor and mountain biker, these are Peirce’s specialties.

Framebuilding is a natural iteration of the work and play that has engaged Peirce since he was a kid.

“Biking, especially off-road biking, has been in my life forever.

From rolling the tyke bike down the lawn to BMX bikes, my heart’s in the dirt,” he said one afternoon during a tour of his shop and home just outside of Del Norte, Colo.

Metal is in his life, too. As a young man at the College of Associated Arts in St. Paul, near his hometown of Plymouth, Minn., Peirce started working metal as a sculptor. Soon thereafter, he heeded the call of the mountains, arriving in Crested Butte, Colo., in 1995. When a family friend commissioned a sculpture, he set up shop in his girlfriend’s driveway and got into art metal fabrication work for real. He’s been in the business of bending tubes ever since.

His framebuilding work only began in the last year, though. In Crested Butte, he started dabbling, but “I wouldn’t even say I built bikes there. I cut townies apart and glued them back together,” he says.

That creativity and initiative led him and partner Tammy Cliche to Crestone, Colo., where they built their house (and welding shop) off the grid. They frequently traveled to nearby Del Norte for the riding and to search for land for Cliche’s mother. On one outing, a realtor drove the couple up to these 80 acres on the Rio Grande, and without exchanging a word or a glance, Peirce and Cliche knew they were home.

They moved to Del Norte in 2006 and personally renovated the derelict cabin and potato barn into the beautiful, efficient spaces they are now. Metal fabrication is still their main business, but with the downturn in the economy, time was more abundant than money. Peirce’s desire to build bikes kept nagging.

While Peirce was welding together his first tube set, another Del Norte local, Bob Bellar, was reading the article “Recession-Proof Businesses” in a Forbes magazine, specifically, about Sacha White’s Vanilla Bicycles in Portland, Ore. With magazine in hand and inspiration

aplenty, Bellar arrived at Peirce’s shop and offered to be his financial backer.

“Well, Bob,” Peirce said to him, “this isn’t really an investment business. Most people who get into this aren’t doing it for the money because there’s no money to be made.”

Bellar insisted and left the offer of a no-term loan out there.

Interested but intimidated, Peirce was cruising through some bikebuilding forums on the Internet and found a post titled “Who’s got investment capital?” One click and he was on his way to Kennewick, Wash., with Bellar’s money in his pocket to load up his truck with whatever tools he wanted from the armory that TiSport was liquidating.

To the untrained eye, the tools that fill Peirce’s shop seem like behemoth metal tables sprouting tubes, cranks and levers. Some of them came from TiSport, some from retiring bike-builders, some he built himself to refine his process.

Currently, Peirce is focused on addressing the industry’s struggle to make a 29er handle acceptably. His answer is in managing clearance. His chainstays are remarkably short, but he gets away with them because of the distinctive arch he’s added to the seat tubes. He’s also finessing the curves of the bent chainstays to increase clearance and maintain the smooth lines that define his aesthetic. From the swooping font of his logo, “AMPeirce,” to the muted jewel-toned paint jobs, Peirce’s bikes are clean and sleek.

Peirce knows that in the custom world, it’s not so much about reinventing the wheel as it is about selecting “a different package of things.” And in a lot of ways, “what you’re selling is yourself,” he says.

A custom bike is a personal process, and so connecting customer to builder is essential, he said. “Honestly, I’m really comfortable with the construction of the bikes already. I’m not saying I don’t have anything to learn, but that part comes easy because I’ve been doing some semblance of it for a long time. The personal part, reading between the lines, getting what they think they want to where they actually want it, that’s the hard part.”

Ultimately, learning—about the construction techniques, materials, designs, his clients—is why Peirce is hooked on building frames. “That’s what’s really exciting about it for me. I’m at the beginning of this road, but already I just want to do more.”– Laura Puckett Find more information at AMPeirceCycles.com

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Del Norte Lowdown Where to Ride Limekiln, for desert riding near Del Norte that’s filled with history, just off Highway 160 between Del Norte and Monte Vista.

Middle Frisco (the Middle Fork of San Francisco Creek), best as a descent down the gorgeous alpine singletrack. Climb West Frisco, an ATV trail off County Road 13, for a 12-mile loop with 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Make it a longer ride by shuttling up to the Burro Creek trailhead (County Road 14) or even longer (43 miles) if you start and end in town.

North of Town, easier two-tracks and a sweet cow trail descent along the Great Divide route, just north of the airport, accessible right from town.

Penitente Canyon, for maintained and backcountry singletrack through rolling piñon-juniper country, 13 miles north of Del Norte, take Highway 112, then County Road 38A.

Where to Eat Baldo’s, authentic Mexican food. 1100 Park Ave., Monte Vista, 719.852.0222 Chalet Swiss, fine Swiss food, including great veal and fondue.

31519 Highway 160, South Fork, 719.873.1100 La Garita Store, burgers, sandwiches and a few pantry basics.

Hours are variable, but generally 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., 11 a.m. Sunday. 41605 County Road G, east of Penitente, 719.754.3755 Pachelli’s Deli & Bakery, excellent quiche at lunchtime. 1042 Park Ave., Monte Vista, 719.852.2466 Organic Peddler on the Edge, a good cup of coffee and a mountain of huevos rancheros (after 9 a.m.). On Highway 160, on the west edge of Del Norte, 719.657.9042 Three Barrel Brewing Company, not a brew pub, just a brewery so you have to get your beers to go and during daytime business hours, but they’re worth it! 586 Columbia St., Del Norte, 719.852.3314

Where to STAY Lodging options aren’t abundant. Your best bet, especially for proximity to the trails, is dispersed camping in U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land.

There’s a great established campground at Penitente Canyon, with the La Garita store nearby for last-minute necessities.

La Casita Bonita, a charming adobe cottage behind the Organic Peddler is available for nightly or weekly rentals (14475 Highway 160, Del Norte).

South Fork has the best traditional lodging in the region. For a swanky getaway, try the Arbor House (31358 West Highway 160, 888.830.4642) or for a motel stay, look up the Allington Inn & Suites (182 E. Frontage Road, 800.285.6590).

Other Stuff to Do Climbing in Penitente Canyon Gold Medal trout fishing on the Rio Grande around South Fork Best Western Movie Manor, watch a movie at the drive-in or stay the night in a room that looks out on the screen. 2830 West U.S. 160, Monte Vista, 719.852.5921.

For More Info Gary Blakley, 719.849.8183, gcblakley@gmail.com Andy Peirce and Tammy Cliche, 719.580.4525, ampeirce72@yahoo.com, ampeircecycles.com Kristi Mountain Sports, 3223 Main St., Alamosa, 719.589.9759 Alpine Bike and Ski, 28266 W. Hwy 160, South Fork, 719.873.2495 126

(continued from page 123)

Colorado’s Front Range, found his promising mountain bike racing career cut short by a rare spine condition. Still enamored with the bike world, Duran rested, recovered and learned to build bike frames with Lennard Zinn in Boulder, Colo.

Duran knew that wherever he started his business was where he’d stay, so he chose to settle in Del Norte to have incredible riding right out his back door.

When Duran arrived, most everybody in Del Norte was baffled by the idea that he’d have a whole business building bikes for adults.

Unfazed, he established Duran Custom Cycles and steadily garnered recognition for his craftsmanship and artistry from bike builders and bike magazines across the country. He built road bikes and tandems, aerodynamic bikes for Zinn Cycles and custom mountain bikes for Robert Redford.

Biking was becoming big business, and even the locals were catching wind of it. They kept approaching Duran about attracting riders to their area, so in 1991 Duran started a NORBA event called Riders Del Norte. In 1993, the race was placed on the Colorado Off-Road Points Series. Participation increased four-fold from 100 to 400, and pros like Dave Wiens, Travis Brown and Rishi Grewal rolled into town.

For 10 years, Duran and his friends were a bunch of “guys who loved cycling and putting on events so we could have fun,” Duran says.

“It was all for the rider, not necessarily about making money.” When it started to seem like too much of a production, he stepped away.

Without Duran at the helm, the event disappeared, and so did the riders. By changing the traditional lap-race/cross-country format to backto-back cross-country races, Duran had introduced hundreds of riders to the area’s varied desert and alpine terrain. Yet Del Norte never developed the amenities to attract bikers independent of the event.

“When I showed up in ’89,” Duran says, “I was the first real mountain biker here. There was maybe a handful. Twenty-one years later here in the valley, there’s still only a handful. It’s still this untapped thing.”

Adventure Riding 101 Part of what keeps the masses at bay is that riding in the San Luis Valley is strenuous. Just like the early settlers who took the Old Spanish Trail across this valley between Santa Fe, N.M., and Los Angeles, present-day travelers need a keen sense of direction and an adventurous spirit.

Only a couple of locations have mapped, maintained and nonmotorized singletrack. The Town Trails, which are more frequently hiked than biked, start right from town and head up and around Lookout, or D, Mountain. Thirteen miles north of town, the A and B loops circle Penitente Canyon. Although together they cover only about seven miles, the A Loop is especially worth the trip.

Local Andy Peirce thinks the trail needs to be renamed something like Never a Dull Moment because it contains some of the best flowing and challenging riding in Southwest Colorado. There are berms, bumps, slickrock, trials moves, rolling terrain, blind corners and, in the words of one rider, a “grin factor of 10.”

Neither the A nor the B loop actually goes into Penitente Canyon, which is more renowned for its rock climbing and a Virgin Mary painted high on the rock walls by Los Hermanos Penitentes, a lay fraternity of Roman Catholic men who used to worship in the canyon.

Like the Penitente Canyon area, the whole region greets you with unexpected bits of history. Heading into the Limekiln trails, southeast of Del Norte on Highway 160, you are greeted by a giant stone wagon wheel indicating the nearby wagon ruts worn into the rock by travelers of the Old Spanish Trail. You ride away from the highway on a few ancient-feeling doubletrack roads that climb up shallow canyons to

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Channing Boucher soaks up the evening light on A Loop near Penitente Canyon, just outside of Del Norte, Colo.

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Kevin Krill

grassy, sage-speckled hills and descend fast and challenging singletrack down Deadman’s Cave Gulch on buff trail and slickrock boulders.

Beyond these few maintained trails, there are miles of cow, elk, horse and ATV trails looping through the desert and the drainages around the region, but particularly in the BLM and Forest Service lands surrounding Penitente Canyon. All of it is remote and rugged but rideable.

Because they are unsigned, these trails also require well-developed navigational skills to find your way since “it’s all just rolling piñonjuniper,” in the words of Steve Brigham, one of the three board members of Del Norte Trails Organization.

If you can let go of the attachment to singletrack, unlimited routes can be connected via four-wheel-drive roads and ATV trails. Local riders have embraced the primitive riding options. For them, it’s about enjoying the beauty and isolation of where they live.

“I get just as much enjoyment finding a beautiful fire road up at 11,000 feet and just cruising,” Duran says.

Putting It All Together These routes may seem scattered, but they are all part of a grand master plan, if Del Norte Trails Organization has its way.

“Our dream is to have trails connecting the forest to the south, the Bennett and Middle Frisco trails, Limekiln and Penitente, all from [Del Norte]. And I’ve got it mapped out,” says Blakley, who along with Brigham and a third board member, Marty Asplin, direct the nonprofit.

Their work is mostly connecting the dots since a lot of the trails are already in place, but the routes are not officially recognized by the Forest Service or the BLM. Until they are official, it is illegal to make “improvements,” so the trails remain unmarked and rough.

Getting these trails officially recognized requires a modification to the BLM and the Forest Service travel management plans. The newest BLM plan, approved last year, incorporates all of the Penitente trails on BLM land. Some of those trails cross into National Forest, however, and approval of its travel management plan is still a ways off.

Starting soon, the sections on BLM land will be maintained and signed, while the ones in the Forest Service will not, so conditions will vary.

This is just one of Del Norte Trails Organization’s many campaigns. Brigham also works for the Forest Service and helps the group navigate federal processes.

Asplin is a town trustee, working tirelessly to pool resources, build relationships and obtain grants. For Asplin, it’s all about bringing life to Del Norte.

“Economic development is rearranging the things you have so they’re worth more,” he says, and so he’s always brainstorming new ways of using Del Norte’s resources, whether it’s upgrading the trails that weave through the backcountry or converting old potato barns into a satellite college campus, another of his current projects.

When Asplin became one of the town trustees six years ago he quickly realized the town had a need he could fill.

“Nothing’s going to change here without money, and we don’t have it,” he says. “We aren’t going to be able to raise property taxes.

And until we get a thriving business community, there won’t be sales tax. So we’re just idle, we’re stagnant.” He and his wife, Bonnie, have taken grant-writing classes and attended meetings throughout the valley and state to learn how to facilitate improvements.

“Trails were an easy place to start because there’s obvious money for those kinds of projects,” he says.

Now, in his second term as a town trustee, Asplin has proved

his worth. The town just received $146,000 from Colorado State Parks to establish trailheads, parking and signs for the Town Trails on Lookout Mountain. Asplin obtained another $26,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado for a recreational path around the community athletic fields.

On the Cusp Despite all of the activity going on behind the scenes, Del Norte remains a sleepy town and economic growth is still in the wings.

“We haven’t got it yet; we’re on the verge maybe, with getting these trails and the hotel open,” says Suzie Off, who, as the lynchpin of the Windsor Hotel Restoration and Historical Association, has worked to breathe life into the town for more than 15 years.

Yet even she and others recognize there’s a catch, another side to development: “We always said we’ll hate it when we get all those people in here and the streets are crowded.”

A similar ambivalence exists on the trails. For the riders, buffedout singletrack would be great, but with it may come a loss of the solitude they relish. In the end, most folks know a boom in visitors benefits the town and the trails. The key, they say, is to try to do it wisely.

In Duran’s day, riders flooded the area, but always temporarily.

This time, more than holding a race, the community is building alliances—with mountain bikers, the town, the Forest Service, ranchers and business owners—to establish a network that will sustain a welcome influx of riders. The Windsor Hotel is a piece of it; the trails are a piece of it; even the new bike lanes on the freshly paved main street are part of how the community is making Del Norte a place that people want to be.

Getting the Dirt on Del Norte Maps of the unmaintained riding routes in and around Del Norte, Colo., simply don’t exist, so if you head off the beaten path, be sure to ask for advice before heading out.

Respect private property, and keep your eyes open for trail designations, too, since there are a few places that are only open to foot/horse traffic.

Beyond that, your best resource is Del Norte local Gary Blakley.

Blakley has spent years using GPS technology to map bike routes all over the region. He’d be happy to share the route files he’s made or to simply sit down and talk about good options.

For riding here, your next best bet is to bring some combination of topo maps, a compass and Forest Service maps, which you can pick up at the ranger station in Del Norte or nearby Saguache. The rangers can get you started on routes and destinations, too. With maps in hand, plus some local knowledge, you can cross-check roads, ATV trails and drainages, piecing together whatever routes catch your eye.

In addition to Blakley, his wife, Patti Kelley, and Andy Peirce and Tammy Cliche are excellent resources. They’ll not only give you tips and directions, but they may even head out with you.

In a slightly more official capacity, Gary and Patti also play host several times a year to riders traveling from Canada to Mexico along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route and as part of the Tour Divide race. Besides being remarkably welcoming and kind, Gary helps out with repairs and Patti cooks amazing food. Odds are, this crew has already been anywhere you could dream of going. –L. Puckett

129

by T. Herb Belrose

Illustration: Dave R. Delano

Into an endless sea of cut lawn dotted with pruned oak trees, I was born. At the age of eight, I gathered with my classmates before the only TV in our school and watched the burning remains of the space shuttle fall to the sea and warm the Cold War. They told me that the world was getting smaller and pointed to the dusty globe in the corner, but I kept stacks of adventure magazines by my bedside, dug holes in the yard hunting for treasure and jumped off the garage clutching an umbrella that snapped and broke.

In my neighborhood, my mother allowed me to travel the area of a few blocks around our house. On my bike I traced its edge, peered into the frontier and imagined that I was miles away and alone on an expedition.

We drove to a park on the other side of town for Little League games and there, in a forest coiled with ivy and poison oak, I stumbled upon a dirt jump over a creek.

The temptation of human flight was great no matter the consequence, so I waited for the next sunny afternoon and set off on a pilgrimage. For the first time, I did not circle back toward home, and the buzz of reckless freedom sunk into my bones.

The BMX bike I rode was built with parts discarded by my older brothers. My naive mechanical world was full of mystery. I could not break a chain or rebuild a bottom bracket. I could not speak about thread pitch, gear ratio or spoke tension.

A problem that could not be fixed with a combination of hammer, spanner and screwdriver had to be improvised or scrapped. From this fledgling roost factory, bicycles hit the streets with different size wheels and mismatched pedals, lubricated with pitch-black motor oil drained from the engine block of a rusty, wood-paneled Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon.

Many lessons I learned the hard way, or never at all. Like when I found myself bombing down the steepest hill in town and pedaling backward like a madman, I discovered that if your chain is too long it will fall off and then you have no coaster brake. The epiphany would have to wait while I debated whether to ride into an old lady’s lawn 130

and butcher her petunia garden or slam into the back of a parked car.

If my chain had not fallen off I would have laid into a huge, fat skid at the bottom. This was my favorite trick, but the price was flat tires. It was no easy task getting the tube out with screwdriver and hammer. Finding a more robust tire from a donor bike meant spending an entire day with my bike upside down, my skin covered in Oldsmobile grease, sweat and mosquitoes, trying to pry loose pieces of vulcanized rubber from rusty steel rims.

Hours after I left my home on the trek to the park, I rolled into the parking lot next to the forest. In honor of the day, I slammed backward on the pedals and threw down the biggest, baddest skid of my life. The asphalt welcomed the sweet burn of friction into its pores, and then my tire popped. I dove headfirst into the tarmac. When I got up, tiny pebbles of petroleum were stuck in the palms of my hands. My elbows bled onto my forearms. My chin fared no better.

A police car pulled up and a cop rolled down the window.

We both looked at each other. I wondered if he had a spare tube, a screwdriver and a pump in his trunk. He looked at my arms and the crumpled bike in my hands, shook his head and drove away.

I glanced toward the woods and dreamed of airing over the gushing creek. Then I turned and walked my crappy bike toward home. It was getting late. I was not lost, only missing.

Over the crest of a hill, the Oldsmobile appeared. It lumbered toward me and squeaked to a stop. My mother got out and, unsure whether to hug me or slap me, grabbed my bike and stuffed it into the back of the car. I rode home in silence, my sweaty back stuck to the tan vinyl seats. Mom and Dad interrogated me about where I had been.

They thought I had been kidnapped. At home, I told them that I got lost, flatted, crashed and limped the pony home.

I ate my dinner cold, smacked some Superman Band-Aids on my elbows and got to work mending the flat tire. I couldn’t stop thinking about landing on the other side of the creek and riding off into unmapped lands. Looking back, the ones who said that the world was small were the people who never went anywhere.

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