Mountain Flyer Number 6 by Secret Agent Publishing

DEFINING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CYCLIST

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WOMEN'S RACING: BY THE NUMBERS GET HIP ON THE PRE-TEEN BIKE SCENE FALLING APART LIKE A CHEAP DERAILLEUR HOW TOUGH IS YOUR TITANIUM?

Mountain Flyer

them Editor Brian Riepe Managing Editor Caroline Spaeth Creative Editor James E. Rickman Art Director Gloria Sharp

Writers Jeff Irwin Rachel Barbara Jill Janov Philip Benningfield Josh Liberles Christina Buchanan Steve Potts Cimarron Chacon H.E. Sappenfield Darren Dencklau Dave Sheldon Kent Ericksen Matt Wiebe Mike Hoog Copy Editor Lisa Inkret

we’ve broken the mold, by the way

Exceptional. Unique.

Photographers Josh Liberles Rachel Barbara Bryce Pratt Phillip Benningfield James E. Rickman Marko R. Bryant Tom Spross Chris Hanna Matt Wiebe Anne Keller Illustrators Joe Coombs David R. Delano Printer Crested Butte Printing and Publishing

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Publisher Secret Agent Publishing Group, LLC Mountain Flyer P.O. Box 272 Gunnison, CO 81230 adsales@mountainflyer.com subscriptions@mountainflyer.com www.mountainflyer.com Send your letters to: editor@mountainflyer.com

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Contents 5 Editor’s Note 10 Letter from Afghanistan 12 Making Freeriding Fit by Cimarron Chacon 16 Flyover—News and Notes From Around the Region 18 Pedaling for a Cause—Project Rwanda by H. E. Sappenfield 22 NAHBS—An Interview with founder Don Walker by Brian Riepe 27 Welding Titanium by Steve Potts 32 Recipes for a Balanced Diet by Christina Buchanan 34 Yoga for Cyclists by Mike Hoog 38 State of Women’s Racing by Rachel Barbara 40 Tour of the Gila 2007 by Josh Liberles 46 A Photo Journal of Racing 2007 54 The Tour of the Gila for Good Reason by Jill Janov 60

Paraphernalia—Gotta Have It Gear

Are You Ready for the 36-inch ‘Yarder’ Bike? by Matt Wiebe

Bike Reviews—The Pre-teen Bike Scene by Matt Wiebe

76 Get Your Kicks in Gallup, N.M. by James E. Rickman 107 Profile—The Dope on Brandon Dwight by Dave Sheldon 108 22 Hours on the Kokopelli Trail by Philip Benningfield 112 Tailwind—It’s Just Like Riding a Bike by Caroline Spaeth

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Editor’s Note There are no trees, just sagebrush, lichen-covered rocks and a luge-like line of singletrack disappearing into even more sagebrush. It’s near sunset and the little town resting in the valley below is cast in shadows. But the high mesa where I’m riding is on fire with the last warm rays of bright orange sunlight. Everything around me is glowing and I can see the rider approaching from a good distance away. He’s wearing black shorts with a blue stripe and his knees are popping up and down like painted ponies on a merry-go-round. I can tell that he’s a good rider. His pedal stroke is smooth and he’s turning the pedals in nice, round circles. The trail twists and dives so he looks like he’s dancing towards me to a funky backbeat that I can’t hear. He’s groovin’. As he gets closer, I see he’s wearing an iPod. Those white earphones are so smartly recognizable—great product identity. I wonder what he’s listening to? Just for my own amusement, I imagine it’s some sort of ’80s rock ballad. Maybe it’s The Scorpions, Tesla or no, it’s Meatloaf singing “…praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you.” Maybe he’s cooler than that, but he looks a little too old for Veruca Salt. As we meet, he gives me the chin-up nod and keeps going, and I can’t help but notice the dichotomy of technologies he’s using. Now the iPod Shuffle—that makes good economic sense. It’s the size of a Clif Blok, holds 1 GB of music and can play for more than 12 hours. Apple spent tens of millions developing and marketing the thing but the return will be in the billions, with a B, especially when you consider the shifty moneymaker they’ve got going with iTunes. But the bike? Nobody is making billions of dollars off this bike, though the product design is equally ingenious. It’s a handmade titanium frameset. Likely built one-off style in a small shop using aerospace-grade tubing and super-precision machining. He’s running the bike as a singlespeed. It’s nice and simple but built for performance with an air-sprung, oil-dampened shock, tubeless wheelset, carbon fiber bars and hydraulic disc brakes. It probably weighs around 19 lbs, cost around $4K and several of the components are under patents. Show me another industry that expends so much highly educated brainpower juggling this feral mix between high-tech design innovation and backyard ingenuity and all for such modest economic gains and I’ll show you an industry that’s netting thousands, with a T—even though what they’ve got is every bit as sexy as a belt-clip juke box with cool white headphones. Whether they’re formulating the ultimate sports nutrition, perfecting titanium fabrication, dreaming up a more efficient rear suspension design, finding greener ways to manufacture a product or promoting bicycle advocacy, the innovators in the

bicycle industry are committed geniuses. They could be making a ton more money in other business sectors, but they choose bikes. Not for the money, but for the way of life and the inherent sustainability of human-powered travel. This is what attracts me to the bicycle industry and to bike culture. One of our goals with Mountain Flyer is to play our part and do whatever we can to live up to the bike industry’s conscientious principles and innovative spirit. Starting with this issue, Mountain Flyer will be making a few major changes. Our new cover design is clean and simple. We put a lot of thought into it, and to us it symbolizes what we believe are our differences from corporate magazines with their point-of-sale appeal. Part of the simple product identity that we’re creating is based on our belief that every business plan should be built around sustainable living philosophies. That trail I mentioned at the beginning—twisting like a luge through the sagebrush and rocks—I want that singletrack trail to be the same 10 years from now when my daughter can ride after school and see the sun set over that same serene little community resting in the quiet valley below. Part of our commitment can be seen in the pages of the copy of Mountain Flyer you’re holding in your hand. It’s printed on recycled paper and the pages are colored with soybased “stay open” ink (meaning it doesn’t require the press to be cleaned daily with toxic chemicals). The paper product is made from 10 percent post-consumer recycled products, which is a start, but not a level we’re ready to rest on (it’s like containing 10 percent real fruit juice). So we’re currently researching options to bump up that percentage as high as possible for our next issues. We’re also researching ways we can print using wind power purchased through our local electric cooperative. It’s all considerably more expensive, but we’re ready to make it happen. Another change is that we’re taking on two new partners: Steve Mabry and Chris Hanna from Crested Butte Printing, our printer since Mountain Flyer’s inception. Chris and Steve will bring in more positive and vibrant energy. With their in-depth experience and creative resources, along with our original team of Caroline Spaeth, Gloria Sharp and James Rickman, Mountain Flyer is ready to mature and achieve the vision that we’ve had since the beginning: to create a unique cycling magazine that balances profitability with responsibility and focuses on character instead of scale, communities instead of hype and gritty, salt-stained, hardboiled adventure instead of flashbulb showmanship. We want our magazine to be a resource of inspiration.

Mountain Flyer

Letters

Editor: Today I looked through a wonderful amalgam of words written by folks I used to know. They, more than me, love the trail. Their vehicle of choice: two wheels, powered by only their legs and the drive to go up for the down. It’s not to say that I love that pastime less than them, it’s just that the choice I made to leave the Gunnison Valley in pursuit of career and country is the difference. Now I dream of returning to the daily ride, and they have never left. My cuckoo clock is clucking 6 a.m. German Standard Time. My body has not assimilated to the nine-hour difference from my recent visit to the States. So instead, I wake early and enjoy the hourly bells rung from the church in town. I now live near the Gieblestadt Air Base (“flugplatz” in German) and have been flying helicopters in the Army for the past four years. That is the difference. I left the Valley. Just as everyone says, once you leave, you dream of how you will get back everyday. Trust me, that is a constant struggle for me. I spent the past two years in Afghanistan. Flying, sweating and dreaming of the trail. The mountains rose up and surrounded me with all the austerity and gumption a mountain lover would expect. They rise up as folds and fingers of stratified luster, any color or texture you can imagine. Fault lines and cliffs stand out and provide markers for navigation. We use them to get through the maze of peaks and valleys. “Red City,” “Lake Fold,” “Wind Tunnel,” “Tall Cliff,” etc. The difference was the attitude about the mountains. They were regarded as menacing. They took the lives of many pilots and planes that dared venture through their passage. But still they stand as devout guardians for the many of us who know their strength. We stayed below and humbly minded our own business of bikes safe on the flat valley floor. If the wind isn’t tearing our planes apart over the lofty peaks of the Hindu Kush, they threaten with their landmines. 10

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If we weren’t sequestered in our fortified quarters, I may have thought about taking a walk on a pretty trail, but the threat of getting shot or losing a leg to a landmine was enough to keep me on my side of the wire. So instead, I rode my single-speed around the airfield. A six-mile loop that was flat as a pancake, save for the rocky dirt sections not yet paved. I enjoyed the bellows of diesel exhaust served up generously from the local Afghan truck drivers. They would save up and chuck out and engine rev for me when they passed. And, if I was lucky, they would pass with no off-color remarks about my gender. Sadly, that was my trail. That was it. But I was grateful for that. Just to have the feeling of a solid built frame and fast tires rolling through potholes and rubble was worth the gallons of dust and exhaust my poor lungs endured. My dear friend Heath Garvey, a former Gunnison local and Tune Up man (currently a manager at Lee’s Cyclery in Fort Collins, Colo.), managed to get my current single-speed to Afghanistan for me. It

fits perfectly and rides smooth. I was the envy of all the guys, and believe it or not, about six months later, all the guys had one. But of course, no credit to my influence. Back to Afghanistan. Most Afghanis ride bicycles. They are the beautiful, old-looking Raleigh touring bikes. Huge frames, wheel generated headlights, and all strangely wrapped in a gummy plastic material. I can only venture to guess that it keeps the paint looking like new. You know how Grandma used to cover the couches in plastic? I think this is the same sort of logic. Green seemed to be the favorite color. The color green has religious and national pride associated with it. You can see President Karzai sporting the sublime color on the traditional robe he wears daily. By the way, he seems like a gentle man, and his hands are always warm when he shakes yours. Good sign. Any day of the week, you will find an Afghan man walking in the mountains with his bike. They load them up with leaves, hay, wood, AK-47s, whatever they can and off they go for miles and miles. You see, there is a lot of space between villages out there. Simply dust and wind separates the bicyclist and his destination. On our daily flights through the country, we pass over numerous mountain ranges. All are webbed together by trails. Some look like narrow game trails, others more traveled. A cairn marks each intersection or difficult navigation point. There is still some question to the actual purpose the cairns serve. Most of the guys would prefer to tell the tall tale that a warrior is buried underneath the rocks, or they were constructed to decoy enemy planes; at a distance the cairns look like a human form standing on top of the ridgeline. But what do I know, I’m just a silly mountain biker from Colorado disguised as a gun-toting pilot a long way from home! So now nine months after returning home to Germany, I am enjoying the good life. I’ve found the dirt trails that connect my village to the next and love the thrill of riding home in the dark after a nice meal in

the next town. Still in Germany, the wildlife use the forests that separate the villages and farmlands. Deer, fox, owl, hawks all make their peace with my short passage through their home. The trail is different here in the flatter part of Bavaria. Bike trails connect the entire country of Germany. Singletrack would be too clogged, there are just way too many folks who ride their bikes here. Grandma and Grandpa still use the bike as their main form of transportation. All children are on bikes shortly after they start to walk, and everyone here yields to cyclists on the road. Just the other day, I was driving down a beautiful country road and around the corner was a peloton-sized group of riders moving out at a stiff clip. It was a beautiful blur of bright dayglow pink Deutsch Telecom jerseys that filled my windshield. I just stopped and enjoyed the experience. In closing, it brings me great joy to read the words of folks I used to know, keeping with their dreams. Stay home, love your children, practice tolerance and visit Afghanistan in the pretty books on your coffee table. Maybe some day, it will be the new frontier. Oh, and please, ride a trail for me. Preferably Dr. Park.

cheers, Gretchen Moran Gieblestadt Air Base, Germany Mountain Flyer

Making Freeriding Fit A Guide to Getting Technical Trails Approved by Cimarron Chacon

he Red Bull to illustrate many of Rampage set the trail opportunithe precedent. ties I have developed. North America’s largest His videos show freeride competition everyday riders on was held on natural legal, technical trails. terrain and on public Unless you are trying lands with the apto get a World Freeride proval of the Bureau Competition course of Land Management. in your area, I do not The problem is it may suggest showing videos have inadvertently set of professionals. I also expectations too high; suggest not showing six years later, riders examples of renegade are still struggling with off-trail riding. This how to get local, frecould cause the land eride trails approved. manager to become deI had the honorable fensive, an attitude that but very challenging can be hard to overrole of facilitating the come and that can lead approvals for the first to resistance throughA competitor at the original Red Bull Rampage launches freeriding into the spotlight and changes Red Bull Rampage. out the process. land management for good. Photo by Cimarron Chacon Through my observaSecond, take your tions, I’ve found three meetings to the land main reasons it’s such a challenge to have treme riding images persuade us we’ve got and, if possible, get the land managers on great, legal freeriding trails approved. The to try this type of riding. But at the same bikes. Show them trails or areas that are first reason has to do with definitions, the time, these very images scare land managsimilar to what the new trail could be. Be second has to do with perceived impacts ers from providing us with these riding sure to get them good equipment before and the third has to do with management. experiences. you go because you don’t want anyone to I actually believe the term freeride gets get hurt. If it is a good outing, they just Definitions. The majority of land man- thrown about willy-nilly inside and outside might get hooked. agers don’t ride bikes. And if they do, it’s the industry, causing big problems in rare to find one who rides a six-inch travel managing mountain biking and planning Impacts. I used the term “perceived imbike and understands the subtleties of how to build new trails and keep current areas pacts” earlier because many land managers riding experiences vary with a four-foot open. Today the real struggle for both either assume impacts from developed and ledge drop or a burmed roller. riders and land managers is to communimanaged trails will be the same as those Many land managers will argue that cate what experience the rider wants and from renegade trails. Land managers are riders should be happy with dirt roads and how and where to get it. To get this across, typically overworked and sometimes unleftover cow trails because at least they can and before any trail proposal is presented, der-trained in the trail approval processes. ride. The bike industry, on the other hand, land managers must be educated about As a rider of public land trails, you owe it has inundated the riding public with the sport and trail specifications riders are to yourself to understand just what goes freeride videos showing riding styles from looking for. on behind the scenes before dirt can be the technical trail riding to North ShoreI suggest several techniques to commoved. style built stunts to extreme Red Bull municate ideas. The first is to compare In the case of federal land, the reqRampage riding. To confuse us more, they and contrast. Show videos of real riding ired National Environmental Policy spice up the videos with jump parks, pump on technical trails. Decide what form of Act (NEPA) says that impacts must be tracks and hucking. “freeriding” you want and show the land analyzed before any new disturbance can In our media-driven society, these exmanager. I use videos by PeteFagerlin.com occur on public lands. In general, regard12

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Today the real struggle for both riders and land managers is to communicate what experience the rider wants and how and where to get it.

Getting the Right Trail in the Right Place If you’re frustrated because you’re running into roadblocks when trying to build new trails, check out these examples and make sure you’re asking for the right trail in the right place. Remember, the more trails we have, the less time people are watching TV. Public Lands. Look for technical trails that are hand-built from available natural features and are integrated into cross-county trail systems. Expect features like • • • • • •

Natural terrain obstacles Alternative lines for hucking Large roller drops on rocks Extreme exposure Fast flowing Tight and technical

Examples: Tabauche Area Trails in Grand Junction, Colo., and Gooseberry Mesa and Virgin Area in St. George, Utah. State Parks, Trust Land. State Parks usually have special activities. If you can find one that embraces trails and mountain bikes, you might get them to add freeride trails to the mix. Expect features like • Built stunts • Technical drops • Obstacle courses Examples: Silver Falls State Park in Silverton, Ore., and Alafia River State Park in Tampa, Fla. City, County and Other Local Governments. Look for trail opportunities that are contained on small tracks of land and appeal to kids. Expect features like

• • • •

Skate/BMX parks Jump parks Obstacle courses Terrain parks

Examples: Willow Lane Dirt Jump Park in Boise, Idaho, Garner Recreation Park in Garner, N.C., Santos Skills Area in Ocala, Fla., Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nev. Private Lands. Most trail systems on private lands are there to make money or provide an amenity to an exclusive group. Others trail systems on private lands are examples of fedup riders who created a non-profit and bought land to ride on. Pretty much anything goes on private land if the landowners are game. Depending on the state, the land may be limited by zoning codes, insurance requirements, building codes and other possible land use laws or time limits. But if all these things check out, then find private land and have fun. Examples: Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho, and Vietnam in Milford, Mass. Ski Resorts. Because they already specialize in extreme sports, ski resorts are the ideal place to look for freeride trails. And at resorts they like to go big. Expect features like • • • •

Large stunts Terrain parks Steep downhills Built stunts

Examples: Winter Park Resort in Winter Park, Colo., Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

less of who the land manager is, there needs to be a plan, a design, an environmental review of the resources and the real impacts of the system, and it all has to go through a public input process. Even if you comply with all the paperwork, sometimes a trail system just can’t go where you want it. But with good planning, a proposed experience can be matched with a suitable location and the project can go forward. Finally, land managers need information about current standards, such as those established by IMBA or Whistler, for developing these systems in a sustainable way. A great reference for those standards is IMBA’s new book Managing Mountain Biking available at www.imba.com. Once you make it through the definition phase, overcoming objections to environmental impacts should be much easier. Management. Not all land areas are alike. Land managers have different liability requirements, constituencies, missions and staffing. When you are scoping out an area for a new freeride trail, find out first who the area’s land manager is. Some trail proposals are doomed for failure from the start because riders are looking to the wrong agency. In general, public land administrators have thousands of acres of land to manage with a relatively small staff; they cater to multiple uses and have no money. Municipalities have a small land base, more staff per acre, resources to raise funds and available maintenance staff. Of course, the scale at which these resources are available depends on the size of the city. Resorts have a medium-sized land base and can lease more from public lands; they have good capital, seasonal employees for construction and maintenance and typically a lot of insurance to address liability issues. Different areas also have different missions. Many municipalities are focused on recreation for children. Because of the rising obesity rates among children in our nation and the lack of physical education in the schools, many city parks and recreation programs are adding skate and bike parks to their inventory of options. One very imaginative idea out of Mammoth Lakes, Mountain Flyer

Top: Simple natural obstacles, like this boulder in the trail, can be considered freeriding at the most basic level. Photo by Bryce Pratt Bottom: Brad Newby descends the Holy Cross Trail in Grand Junction, a great example of natural terrain obstacles that can be defined as elementary freeriding. Photo by Bryce Pratt

Calif., is building a dirt and skills park that is re-created every year by the next generation of kids. Although this idea is only in its infancy, the idea has merit because it will keep youth engaged and provide critical community ties to the sport. It will also allow the park to change with technology and trends, at a relatively low cost to the town. Other Cooperative Ideas. Another creative way to solve a management problem is through a cooperative process or leasing. If you live next to public land but want a more developed park on the urban interface, municipalities and non-profits can enter into cooperative agreements with the federal government to plan, develop and manage a park. This joint effort allows the entities to share funds and creates a bigger support base for the project. The land stays in public ownership but the municipality manages and maintains the park for the government. The Sand Flats area in Moab, Utah, which includes the Slick Rock Trail, is a great example of this strategy. As an alternative, if the land is available, the municipality or non-profit can apply for a lease under the Recreation and Public Purpose Act (R&PP) for the land to be transferred to the town. The only catch is that there must be an approved plan and the land must remain in that use for perpetuity. For more information on these programs, visit your local public lands office. Cimarron Chacon is a renowned trail planner and designer. As a landscape architect with the BLM, she formed multiple partnerships throughout the West, influencing public policy, planning strategy and design criteria for trails on public lands. Currently, Cimarron is the president and principal planner for City Sense Studio, which she founded in 2006. Cimarron can be reached at cimarron@citysensestudio.com 14

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FLYOVER Share the Road Could Soon Be Law Denvers—Thanks to Bicycle Colorado, Senate sponsor Greg Brophy (R-Wray), co-sponsor Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) and House sponsor Terrance Carroll (D-Denver), car drivers in Colorado should soon have a new way to support bicycle safety education programs and remind other drivers to share the road with cyclists. Colorado Senate Bill 67, also known as the Share The Road Bill, passed in late April through the Senate, the House of Representatives and all the various committees necessary to end up at its final stop on Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk, where it is expected he will sign the bill into law. The proposed Senate bill will make specialty Share the Road license plates available to Colorado car owners. Funds raised from

The Perfect Storm of Gravity Racing Summit County, Colo.—Bigfoot Productions, the new event promotions architect behind the 2007 Mountain States Cup, has announced the inaugural dates of its newest event creation: The Rocky Mountain G3 Gravity Series. The series kicks off in Keystone, Colo., on the weekend of June 30. While G3 tour stop No. 2 is still being negotiated and details are pending, date No. 3 has been slated for the weekend of Oct. 6 in Angel Fire, N.M., and replaces the popular Final Descent event. In creating the G3 format, Bigfoot Productions is introducing the first-ever gravity-fed stage race. Keystone and Angel Fire will both feature two DH courses and a ripping Super-D. Riders will post a time on each course and the lowest cumulative time will determine the victor, who will claim significant spoils with $10,000 in cash on the line at both Keystone and Angel Fire. The 2007 Rocky Mountain racing calendar is jam-packed with gravity racing and it starts with Keystone’s G3. The following weekend is Crankwerx Colorado and the weekend after that is Mountain States Cup No. 5 in Snowmass. For more info, go to www.bigfootproduction.com. —B. Riepe 16

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the license plate sales will support Bicycle Colorado’s Share the Road Education Fund, which will include programs to educate motorists, cyclists, event promoters and law enforcement officials on cyclists’ rights and rules for safety on the road as well as providing outreach guidance to bicyclists involved in crashes. With 1.5 million active cyclists in Colorado, the license plates should be in high demand. Although the earliest the plates would be available is 2008, if the bill is signed into law, interested drivers will be able to pre-register by contributing $25 to the Share the Road Education Fund. For more information on how to grace your own bumper with a Share the Road license plate, go to www.bicyclecolo.org. –B. Riepe

Santa Fe is Banking on Trails Santa Fe, N.M.—If you can’t live in the mountains next to your favorite highcountry trails, you might as well live in a city that’s devoted to giving you more places to ride right in town. State and local politicians in Santa Fe have amassed more than $6 million solely for building new local trails and extending existing ones within the city limits. “It’s huge,” said Anne McLaughlin of Santa Fe’s Park Division. “The focus on trails has been building since 2004.” Back then, the city revived its Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee, and with the backing of City Councilor Patti Bushee, the committee succeeded in getting $1.5 million from the City for trails. The City, headed by Mayor David Coss who ran on a platform including support for open space and trails, committed another $800,000 last year. When local politicians and bicycle advocates lobbied the state, legislators approved $3.5 million for trail building, primarily through the strong support of Gov. Bill Richardson. State grants have bumped up the total to more than $6.7 million in trail funds. But why trails? “The city supports trail development because it provides alternative transportation, reduces the carbon footprint and increase people’s health,” McLaughlin said. They’re also finding out it’s a good tourist draw. The Santa Fe Visitor’s Center receives one to two dozen calls a week from tourists asking for trail maps. “It generates tourism dollars,” she said. Of the projects now in planning, about 10 miles are paved trails connecting various areas of town through open space easements and another six miles of unpaved trails. This adds to the nearly 20 miles of singletrack in the city’s Dale Ball system on the edge of town and to the city’s existing paved connectors. The big challenge, however, is not just getting the trail building done but keeping them in good shape. “We’re in a flurry of trail building and some of our existing trails are getting worn,” she said. The City will rely on volunteers and future funding to maintain the new trails, expected to be built starting in 2008. “I’d like to see organized mountain bikers have more of a voice, too,” she said. –C. Spaeth

NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE REGION Field of Singletrack Dreams Cheyenne, Wyo.—According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Curt Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in 1944 atop an orange crate in Cheyenne, Wyo. Gowdy went on to win numerous sports broadcasting awards over a half a century, but would he have ever guessed that to Rocky Mountain cyclists his name would become synonymous with major league singletrack? It makes more sense if you understand that the state of Wyoming named a park after Curt Gowdy that happens to contain endless miles of open space with babbling brooks, narrow canyons, granite spires, pine trees and crystal blue lakes: a perfect canvas for an award-winning trail system. Since 2006, Park Planning and Grants Manager Todd Thibodeau and IMBA representative Joey Klein have been working together to design a trail system within the park boundaries. “Todd came up with a basic plan last year, and I spent a few weeks laying out and flagging about 12 miles of trail,” says Klein of the phase 1 design. Klein has been designing and building trails for IMBA since 1999. Thibodeau went on to design another four miles (phase 2) of incredible, rolling contour trail around the reservoir for families and novice riders. Most recently, Thibodeau contracted Tony Boone of Arrowhead Trails, Inc. (ATI), who is responsible for hundreds of miles of shared use trail in Colorado and the West. ATI added to the original 12 miles and is starting on a pump track and jump park along with four to six miles of technical trail (phase 3) hanging over an impossible canyon with rock staircases, portages and cable handrails. Curt Gowdy State Park is located between Laramie and Cheyenne, just off Happy Jack Road. A grand opening is tentatively scheduled for July 4. For more state park and trails info, go to http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/CGslide.htm. –B. Riepe

A group of cyclists dream of more new trails in Curt Gowdy State Park, now a open canvas for trails.

Granite outcroppings and pine tree forests make for great riding in Curt Gowdy State Park.

Winds of Change Blowing for Cyclists Fort Collins, Colo.—Colorado Premier Training (CPT) and Ambient Air Technologies, LLC (AAT) have partnered to introduce one of the first wind tunnel testing facilities open to cyclists in the United States. Under the direction of CPT Coaches Steve Owens and Rick Crawford, the facility will be available to cyclists and triathletes of all abilities. Through the program, athletes will have the opportunity to work with an

experienced aerodynamics specialist to optimize their position on the bike in terms of power, efficiency and aerodynamics. “The facility has been in existence for years, but starting in July it will be available to cyclists,” said Owens. “If you look at all the top time trialists out there, it’s no coincidence that they’ve all been in a wind tunnel. We’re bringing this technology mainstream to quantify time savings and make recommendations

on positioning and equipment.” The wind tunnel testing will give athletes instantaneous feedback. “We’re going to be able to measure power, heart rate and wind drag, all simultaneously in real time,” he said. The facility will be open to testing athletes in July, with an open house party introducing its launch. For more information, visit www.coloradopremiertraining. com. –B. Riepe Mountain Flyer

Pedaling for a Cause

Project Rwanda A Tool and a Symbol of Hope by H. E. Sappenfield

In Rwanda, they ride wooden bikes. Wooden bikes with wooden wheels with car tires nailed on for traction and suspension.

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(top) Ryan Wong, wearing the Project Rwanda colors, gets schooled in the Wooden Bike Classic, September 2006. Photo by Sarah Day. (bottom) The wooden bike that started it all. A worker makes his way up a steep grade in Rwanda while making a lasting impression on Tom Ritchey. Photo by Dan Cooper.

Pedaling for a Cause When you’re riding around and seeing how they relate to you when you’re on a bike instead of in a Land Rover, you realize all they really want in terms of us was met through the connection of the bicycle. It’s not that there aren’t metal junkers around. They ride these homemade babies because metal isn’t strong enough, and the bikes have become the tools that facilitate a meager survival for Rwanda’s 500,000 coffee farmers. The people load these bikes with justpicked coffee cherries, haul the cherries to the community washing station where they’re sold, then they ride back. The faster the cherries arrive, the better the coffee and the higher the profit. Rwanda is called the “Switzerland of Africa,” and farmers roll upwards of 200 pounds over six to 12 hours to the washing stations. Talk about endurance athletes. Except this isn’t recreation; this is survival. In March, the first “coffee bikes” arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. These hightech tools are designed specifically for Rwanda’s mountains with a single, low-geared derailleur and long, extruded aluminum rear racks and beefy wheels for 300-pound loads. The coffee bikes are Tom Ritchey’s dream and part of a three-phase plan facilitated by his non-profit, Project Rwanda (projectrwanda.org), which aims to assist this tiny African country via two wheels, pedals and the universal, practical magic that is cycling. In December 2005, cycling legend Ritchey first visited Rwanda. He was struck by the perseverance and stories of these people and their country, where in 1994, civil war and the ensuing tribal genocide ended in the deaths of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days. Ritchey was inspired by the lack of cynicism in the country’s people, despite the history, by the beauty of this “Land of a Thousand Hills” and by the role of the bicycle. “Just like I have my tools and build a bike in the United States,” Ritchey says, “they are inspired by the bike so much so that they make a wooden bike. These are people who didn’t even know that the mountain bike had been invented.” But he was also touched by the role of bikes as barrier breakers. “When you’re riding around and see how they relate to you when you’re on a bike instead of in a Land Rover, you

An intrigued crowd gathers around the first production Coffee Bike. Photo by Jay Ritchey

realize all they really want in terms of us After Ritchey returned to his garage was met through the connection of the in Woodside, Calif., where he designed bicycle,” he says. “You could see them some of the first mountain biking frames thinking, ‘Hey, there’s a for affluent recreation, white guy on a bicycle; he took to creating this that’s cool.’ They wanted new kind of bike for to ride with you, race. survival. The project has The bike eliminated fear gone gangbusters since and prejudice.” its inception. Ritchey gathered a Besides frame design, volunteer board and Ritchey considered founded Project Rwanda Rwanda’s other impacts in early 2006. Its mission on cycling. is to facilitate the bike “In the West, so as a tool and symbol of many shipments hope. come from Asia over “I had a lot of help the sea. For Rwanda, with the financial and they’re landlocked, non-profit logistics. It with security issues in came into being with a other countries, high lot of people volunteerinsurance; it costs Tom Ritchey enjoys a technology-free ing, saying, ‘What can I moment at the Wooden Bike Classic, three times as much to September 2006. Photo by Sarah Day do?’” Ritchey explains. ship a container. They Mountain Flyer

need well-organized cargo to get things as efficiently as possible,” he says. Ritchey responded to this challenge by creating a bike with a simple assembly, cutting down on shipping costs and making assembly easier. Ritchey’s son, Jay, arrived with the first shipment of bikes March 1 and is training local men to assemble and maintain them with the help of mechanics from Scallywags bicycle cooperative in Minneapolis, Minn. “The bikes have been imprisoned in the customs since April 2, and we will have them emancipated in a few days (fingers crossed),” wrote Jay Ritchey in his blog (ubikerrwanda.blogspot.com) six weeks later. “We will be building hundreds of bikes a day while simultaneously distributing them in cooperatives.” The bikes will be offered to farmers at cost and financed in conjunction with a long-term study on improving coffee production in Rwanda through Texas A&M University. Studies have shown that the coffee bike reduces travel time for the cherries from six to eight hours down to two to four and increases income by

At left, top to bottom) Team Rwanda riders chill out after a day of training. Photo by Motivity Pictures. Team Rwanda riders crank out a training session. Photo by Motivity Pictures Team Rwanda riders finish a stage at the Cape Epic, South Africa. Photo by Motivity Pictures.

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15 cents per pound. Project Rwanda is counting on this increased income. “Eighty percent of Rwandans are subsistence farmers and don’t make profit,” says Ritchey. “They’re just not earning money.” Ritchey hopes this increase in profits will help them not only pay for the bikes but create a small income. Their goal is to get 1,000 coffee bikes to farmers by year’s end. Ritchey had other visions of the bike breaking barriers in Rwanda as well. “I thought to myself,” reflects Ritchey, “these guys are on pieces of junk and they’re keeping up with me, eating half as much as me. I wondered, ‘What would it be like to give one of these guys a nice bike and work with them and see what level their fitness is at?’” And so, the Rwandan National Mountain Bike Team was born. In February, Jonathan “Jock” Boyer, 2006 Solo-Enduro Race Across America winner, traveled to Rwanda to begin coaching the team. After considerable testing, six athletes were selected. This March, they launched the team by competing in South Africa’s six-day, 780-km Cape Epic and were thrown into the chaos of mountain biking extremes, one day suffering 16 flats. They finished a respectable 23rd in a highly competitive, world-class field of 278 teams. They travelled to America to race in the Tour of Gila May 3–6. They will race the Tour of Rwanda June 19 and later the African Games. Their dream is to compete in the 2008 Olympics.

(Above, left to right) Tom Ritchey presents President Kagami with a Team Rwanda jersey. Photo Courtesy President Kagami Future wooden bike champions check out the racing at the first Wooden Bike Classic. Photo by Sarah Day Team Rwanda, taking a break from training, poses in a doorway at the Tea Plantation guest house. Photo by Jock Boyer A coffee grower tests the Coffee Bike under load. Photo by Jay Ritchey

“It’s a way in which Rwanda can develop a unique identity with the outside world,” Ritchey says. The team’s multi-faceted presence will also be linked with Wooden Bike Coffee, ingeniously marketing the small farmers back home. Ritchey hopes it will raise awareness of Rwanda’s viability as an economic and travel destination. He also hopes it will give the Rwandan people a sense of national pride. In the first week of September, Project Rwanda will offer a tour of this country for 15 lucky cyclists. “It will be professionally guided with meetings with government officials, visits to churches, the coffee co-ops, things like that,” says Ritchey. “It’s going to be staged a bit for cinematic value and will end with the Wooden Bike Classic,” a wooden bike race. He’s thinking documentary. For the rest of us schmucks who don’t get in, Ritchey advises, “It’s beautiful and not that hard of a country to tour on your own.”

Wooden Bike Coffee Project Rwanda is doing more than building better bikes for the Rwandan coffee farmers to transport their coffee. The Project is helping the people use their original wooden bikes as a marketing tool to promote their highquality coffee worldwide as Wooden Bike Coffee. Each of Rwanda’s 500,000 coffee farmers tends about 200 trees—like farmers with a small garden— which means the plants receive far more care than plantation coffee. With recent upgrades in coffee production, like more washing stations, Rwandan coffee’s quality has grown exponentially, a fact reflected by Costco’s commitment to purchase Rwandan coffee and Starbuck’s recent decision to base its African operations there. “By purchasing Rwandan Wooden Tom Ritchey rests above a coffee washing station in the Karongi Bike Coffee you will help region, Rwanda. Photo by Jock Boyer Rwandan families increase their income earning potential and provide hope for the future,” says the Wooden Bike Coffee website. It’s pretty simple: that essential morning cup or three of java could directly affect a Rwandan’s quality of life. Wooden Bike Coffee can be purchased at woodenbikecoffee.com or via the Project Rwanda website at projectrwanda.org.

Mountain Flyer

In Praise of Handmade Goods

STAYING THE COURSE

An interview with North American Handmade Bicycle Show founder Don Walker by Brian Riepe

efore founding the North AmeriMountain Flyer: What made you decide can Handmade Bicycle Show to put everything on the chopping block to (NAHBS), Don Walker was a jeans start this trade show? ’n’ T-shirt bicycle framebuilder known for his Don Walker: Origiexceptional track bikes. nally, when we conWalker’s aircraft ceptualized the show, I manufacturing experiapproached Velo News ence and track racing and said, “Hey, we’re background led him thinking about doing into the world of the this framebuilders handmade bicycle, a show, what d’ya think?” world in which custom They said they’d come framebuilders scattered Don Walker plies his genuine trade. out and cover it. So it around the globe have was like, okay, we’ve been quietly, happily perfecting their crafts got a magazine interested so let’s proceed for decades in the shadow of the corporate with it. That was the seed, we got a little bicycle industry. interest from the media and we went from After conversing with colleagues, Don there. It just continues to grow and gain and a few other “inner circle” framebuildmomentum. ers dreamed up the idea of initiating a “get together” and the NAHBS was born in MF: You started the NAHBS three years January 2005. Twenty-three builders and ago. Your exhibitor list has grown around more than 600 fans showed up. In only 400 percent since then. What led to that its third year, the 2007 NAHBS attracted growth? Has your general vision for the more than 4,000 attendees who came to show changed because of the growth? see 103 exhibitors. The show received more than 50 media pass requests, and by SunDW: I don’t want to say that I haven’t day afternoon images from the show were looked back, but I think my vision and all over the Internet. ideas for the show are spot on with where Running it all has not been easy, but the they need to be. More and more people are show has put the custom framebuilders in taking an interest in what we’re doing and the media spotlight and, more importantly, I think that’s fueling the growth, so no, my brought them together in a forum where vision hasn’t changed. We’re staying the ideas can be shared and more people can course and we’re right on track. appreciate their fine craftsmanship. From a business standpoint, the greater MF: Do you see a resurgence in demand bicycle industry isn’t quite sure what to for custom handmade bikes? make of the NAHBS. Some have embraced it while others have taken a wait-and-see DW: I really think that it is making a approach. But with or without them, the resurgence. It’s the desire to be more of framebuilders of the NAHBS are venerated an individual. Five years ago when the by the people who matter the most, their Lance effect was going strong, in a field of customers. In April we tracked down Don 60 riders you’d see 25 Treks and 25 Giants Walker to get his perspective. and just a sprinkling of something that 22

Mountain Flyer

In Praise of Handmade Goods was handmade. But now there’s just more call for handmade bikes. I think it’s people wanting to be individuals and it’s not just about having their own color. It’s that they need something that fits them the way they need to be fit. Not everybody can go into a shop and pull a bike off the rack and have it fit. Today’s riders are more educated and they want something that’s made for them. If people are going for performance then they want to go the custom route. MF: There’s a huge variety of builders at the show, from individuals like Brian Baylis (who is known for vintage-style lugged steel bikes) to companies like Seven, IF and Calfee. How do they all fit under the same definition? DW: Well the definition is…tough. When you compare Baylis to Seven, you’re comparing apples to oranges. It still comes off a tree and it’s still edible but it’s a totally different fruit. I think most of Baylis’ bikes belong in a museum because they’re works of art. Each bike of Brian’s is totally different in the way he cuts the lugs. It’s still rideable but serves a different purpose. At the same time, Seven, IF and Calfee are domestic manufacturers. They do all their R&D and everything in-house and it’s custom because it’s made to fit the rider and the rider gets to make those choices. It’s high performance and in many respects it’s still the same thing that Baylis does but just at opposite ends of the spectrum. Where Seven does probably 1,000-plus bikes a year, Baylis does five. MF: Along with the framebuilders, you’re inviting component makers like Shimano, Campy and FSA to the show. How do they fit in and where do you draw the line at who gets to exhibit? DW: Well, it’s really been difficult. There are a lot of grey areas that we touch on and when we first started the show we tried to get more of the cottage industry types like Paul Components, Phil Wood and White Industries. The grey area comes when we’re trying to figure out who do we allow into the show. At first it was supposed to be for those who do all their production in-house. Well, FSA does all their production in-house but they’re a Taiwanese company that has an office here in the USA. So what it came down to

was if the framebuilders were being offered Original Equipment Manufacturer discounts from a company then we want them to come to the show. We’re not saying we won’t allow a company in unless they’re offering OEM discounts. Instead, we’re inviting them to encourage them to offer the discounts because that will help the framebuilders offer better pricing to their customers. If the product complements the handmade bicycle, like Campy, then we’d like them to be involved.

MF: You’re moving the show to Portland for 2008. Can we expect any other major changes? DW: One big change is that Friday will pretty much be an industry-only day. The general public won’t be allowed in until Friday evening. The idea is to have more seminars for the exhibitors and give them a chance to walk and talk amongst each other. Then, on Friday night we’ll Mountain Flyer

In Praise of Handmade Goods be holding something of a Framebuilders Ball, a social event that will be open to the public where we’ll serve hors d’oeuvres, drinks and maybe have live music. I wouldn’t say it’s going to be a black tie affair but definitely not jeans and T-shirt either. We want it to be a classy evening gathering where fans and enthusiasts can meet the framebuilders, share a few beers and chill out.

Japan. Right now the bike messengers are really craving the Japanese Keirin bikes so I’ve been telling them that if they come, they should expect to take some orders.

MF: The show already has a strong international component. Do you expect to get more interest from overseas in 2008? DW: Absolutely. I was joking right after the 2007 show that we’ve had so much interest from overseas, especially Europe, that we might have to change the name to the International Handmade Bicycle Show. I’d hate to change it but this year we had Italy represented by Dario Pegoretti, Marschall from Germany and we had Rapha from England. If that trend continues, I’d consider changing the name. I recently sent out a few registration kits to

Mountain Flyer

Don Walker presents an autographed T-shirt to Bruce Gordon.

MF: What’s the most challenging aspect of running the show? DW: First of all, I’ve always been a bluecollar guy. I’ve always worked hands-on in

manufacturing and I’ve had to change not just my ideology on how to do business but I’ve had to change everything about how I appear. I used to be just jeans and a T-shirt and that’s all I was. Now I have to go to meetings wearing a suit and tie. It’s been a big change going into that mode, but mostly the challenge has been the learning curve, learning what to do and what not to do. I’m not perfect. I’m just a framebuilder and I’ve had to learn a whole lot in a short period of time. There’s a lot of pressure and if I make one mistake, everybody knows about it and I definitely hear about it [laughs]. MF: You just took a job with Roark Titanium. Are you still going to make frames under the Walker label? DW: Absolutely. They don’t currently make any steel bikes so I’ll keep doing the steel bikes under the Walker name. They’ve given me the flexibility of being able to continue my brand and take time off as needed for NAHBS. How could I go wrong?

Made in Colorado, Specializing in 29â&#x20AC;? wheel bikes with 4 suspension models to choose from, building suspension MTB frames now for 10 years. -Devin Lenz

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In Praise of Handmade Goods

How strong is your titanium frame? Only your welder really knows. Identifying a high-quality titanium weld

by Steve Potts

hen choosing between all of the titanium brands out there in the world of bicycles, how can you identify the ones with good quality welds? The process of welding a titanium bike frame, which requires precise alignment and accurate geometry, is positively one of the most important aspects affecting the reliability and longevity of a titanium bicycle or component. In today’s market, you have the choice of buying a new bike from a large manufacturer, one made right here in the United States, one made overseas (usually in Taiwan or China) or one from a small custom builders shop where the customer usually has some direct contact with the builder during the building process. Another option these days is, if you have some hands-on skill, you can go to a school where you can build your own frame under the direction of the school and leave with your frame after a two-week class. There are benefits and drawbacks to each one of these options, but that would be information enough for another article to say the least, so I will try to stay on track and stay focused on the welding. In manufacturing and welding, there are the parts you can see and the parts you can’t see. It’s true that only your welder really knows, but I am going to try to help you identify all of the parts that lead up to a quality process and ultimately lead to a sound weld. The steps before the actual welding are just a few important aspects of a good weld, such as proper fitting of the tubes, cleaning of the tubes, proper purging of the tubes, proper heat range of the weld, proper welding schedule of parts to be welded and proper amount of filler material used in weld. If you train your eye to identify some of the points I describe here, you will be able to at least tell if the builder or builders of your frame followed the strict process that

leads to a sound weld, and you can probably assume that the builder understands the importance of each process. You can also do some research through your bike shop about the reputation, reliability and history of the bike company you are considering buying a bike from. After brazing and welding bicycles for almost 30 years, I have identified two types of welders: one who chases the welder machine around and one who controls his welder. Today’s welding machines are very precise and incredibly powerful. It really does take years to control that kind of power in your hand to be able to weld almost paper-thin tubing together without blowing up the tube. You will be able to recognize an in-control welder when you see him weld around a dropout with a consistent weld without burning away the edge off the dropout. With this said, I will get the “ugly weld photo” out of the way; it is the only one I will use. Now you have something to compare the good welds to. The rest of the photos will be good weld photos to help you identify the details of a good weld. This poor weld suffers from several problems.

I am going to go through the steps it takes to achieve a good weld. The photos let you see each step. Remember, most of these steps you as the customer don’t see, but they do lead up to the success of the final weld, the one you do see in the end. All welding is done with a TIG welder (tungsten, inert gas). The tungsten is the electrode that creates an electric arc to the frame, the inert gas is argon, which helps initiate the arc and shields the titanium from oxygen and nitrogen contamination inside and outside the frame.

Proper Fit of the Tubes

The miters of the tubes or parts need to fit as tightly as possible so the parts can be fusion-welded properly. Big gaps between parts do not make for a good weld.

Proper Cleaning of the Tubes and the Parts

It is absolutely important to have all welded parts free of any oil, dirt or mill slag (a condition of the titanium surface caused by the forming of the tubes or parts). It is also important for the welder to use clean cotton gloves during the handling and welding of the frame. The best way to clean the inside and outside of the tubes and parts is an ultrasonic cleaner, a tool that uses heated water, special detergent and ultrasonic sound waves to scrub the parts clean.

Proper Purging of Weld Torch and Tubing

It is at this point that the welder makes or breaks the quality of the weld. If the TIG torch does not have the proper amount of argon protecting the immediate weld zone on the outside of the frame, and the inside of the tube has not been purged correctly to eliminate the oxygen and nitrogen inside the tube, you can ruin the material completely at this point.

Proper Fusion Weld

• • • • •

It appears the part and tubing weren’t cleaned properly before welding. It looks like it was a single pass weld, without the proper fusion weld first. Improper heat control, too cold of a weld, creating stress at edge of weld. Improper purging of part with argon. Lack of torch control by welder.

All tests show titanium is most successfully welded with a two-pass weld, the first being a fusion weld. That is, when the entire joint is welded up without any filler rod, you are just “fusing” the two parent materials together. This is a very precise weld that needs the proper heat range of the torch and the very steady hand of an extremely skilled welder. Mountain Flyer

Proper Welding Schedule

Welding creates an incredible amount of heat that expands the material when heating. Then the material shrinks as it cools. It is extremely important to follow a welding schedule to keep the frame aligned through the entire tack—welding the frame, fusion welding the frame and finally the finish weld of the frame. It is very important where you tack the frame and where you start and finish your welds. A frame that is welded properly will need little to no alignment when it’s finished if it has been fit well and welded in the proper sequence. The following photo will show all of the processes that I have just discussed: • Proper fit • Proper cleaning • Proper purging (Notice the clean silver appearance; contamination would be colored) • Proper welding schedule

Proper Finish Weld

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Up to now, all the things I have discussed are things the customer can’t see during the manufacturing process, but they are all of the things that need to happen properly to lead up to the finished weld. A nicely finished weld is an indication that all of these processes were done correctly. It’s not a guarantee; that is why it is important to know the history of the company you are considering buying a bike from. At this point I will discuss what you need to look for in the finished weld and show you a photo of a finished weld. continued on page 31

At DeSalvo Cycles we use only the finest materials to create bikes that are beautiful and fun to ride. Every DeSalvo Custom Cycles frame is handmade in our shop located in Ashland, Oregon.

Steel and Titanium Frames Handmade in Ashland, Oregon

541-621-8408

www.desalvocycles.com Mountain Flyer

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continued from page 28) Here are some positive details to look for in the photo, below: • Uniform weld spacing and weld width indicating proper heat settings and torch control • Smooth transition between weld material and parent material also indicating proper heat range and proper amount of filler rod • Clean silver look of material after welding indicating proper purging on the outside • Proper amount of filler rod giving smooth radius between tubes and weld

I’m sure at this point I may have created more questions for you. Ultimately this is a good thing. You will now have a lot of good questions to ask your future bike builder, and your future bike builder will strive to build a better product for you. It’s all good!

Steve Potts takes your questions.

Mountain Flyer

In Praise of Handmade Goods

STAYING THE COURSE

An interview with North American Handmade Bicycle Show founder Don Walker by Brian Riepe

Mountain Flyer

Japan. Right now the bike messengers are really craving the Japanese Keirin bikes so I’ve been telling them that if they come, they should expect to take some orders.

Mountain Flyer

Don Walker presents an autographed T-shirt to Bruce Gordon.

MF: What’s the most challenging aspect of running the show? DW: First of all, I’ve always been a bluecollar guy. I’ve always worked hands-on in

Made in Colorado, Specializing in 29â&#x20AC;? wheel bikes with 4 suspension models to choose from, building suspension MTB frames now for 10 years. -Devin Lenz

LENZsport, 3302 WCR 27, Ft. Lupton, CO 80621 â&#x20AC;˘ (303) 857-9151 Mountain Flyer

In Praise of Handmade Goods

How strong is your titanium frame? Only your welder really knows. Identifying a high-quality titanium weld

by Steve Potts

Proper Fit of the Tubes

The miters of the tubes or parts need to fit as tightly as possible so the parts can be fusion-welded properly. Big gaps between parts do not make for a good weld.

Proper Cleaning of the Tubes and the Parts

Proper Purging of Weld Torch and Tubing

Proper Fusion Weld

• • • • •

Proper Welding Schedule

Proper Finish Weld

Mountain Flyer

At DeSalvo Cycles we use only the finest materials to create bikes that are beautiful and fun to ride. Every DeSalvo Custom Cycles frame is handmade in our shop located in Ashland, Oregon.

Steel and Titanium Frames Handmade in Ashland, Oregon

541-621-8408

www.desalvocycles.com Mountain Flyer

Mountain Flyer

Steve Potts takes your questions.

Mountain Flyer

Recipes

for a Balanced Diet by Christina Buchanan

One of the changes I notice this time of year, besides the obvious increase in temperature and greenery, is that people begin to spend more time together, biking together, eating together and just hanging out. The following recipes are all geared towards sharing meals, rides and the upcoming new season. These recipes cover three

essential needs: fuel to get you going before the ride, fuel to keep you going during the ride and fuel for recovery after the ride. As I finish compiling these recipes, and the snow again begins to fall outside my window—Oh great April—I get even more excited to ride my bike and look forward to the upcoming season.

From Scratch Pizza In the last Mountain Flyer issue, I promised hippy pizza and you can definitely make this more or less crunchy-granola style, depending on your tastes. The “cheese” in this recipe is what gives the pizza its hippy bent. You can also use regular old shredded parm and mozzarella cheese if

Tools

‘Cheese’

Rolling pin or wine bottle Pizza stone or round baking sheet

1/2 of 1-lb block firm tofu 2 cloves minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon oregano Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Crust 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 - 1 cup warm water

Sauce 6–8 ounces of any store-bought pizza sauce, or make your own

Toppings Sliced veggies of your choice and/or Lean protein of your choice

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you like. I like this pizza as a night before the event or big ride choice because it’s relatively easy to make and you can throw on any toppings you happen to have on hand. Also it’s a good source of muscle glycogen-loading carbohydrates and it’s dairy-free so you won’t be hawking up big loogies at the start line.

Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If using a pizza stone, make sure it’s in the oven so it becomes hot before you put the crust on it. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Using a food processor or a spoon and a lot of muscle, combine the flour mixture and water. Add water slowly. The dough should form a slightly sticky ball. If it doesn’t, add a bit more water. If you do not have a food processor, knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes until it’s well formed and not lumpy, a great upper body workout. Let the dough set, wrapped in a cloth, for 30 minutes while you prepare the toppings. In a medium bowl, smash the tofu with a fork or potato masher until it’s lumpy. Add the next five ingredients and mix well. Set aside. Thinly slice all vegetables and other toppings for a quick cooking time. Certain toppings, like spinach, should be cooked separately and added before serving. Roll dough out on a floured surface with a rolling pin or wine bottle until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Place the dough on the preheated pizza stone or room temperature baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes stiff but not browned. Remove the dough to a cutting board and add the sauce, cheese and toppings. Place the pizza in the oven for 10–15 minutes or until the toppings are cooked and the crust is golden brown. Slice with a pizza cutter or large knife and enjoy.

Better Banana Bread Besides water, the three main nutrients that you want to keep in good store while you’re riding are carbohydrates and the electrolytes sodium and potassium. This recipe for banana bread contains two times the amount of bananas as most recipes, uses less butter and is high in

easy-to-digest carbohydrates, as well as sodium and potassium from the bananas. So if you’re tired of super sweet, sometimes rock-hard energy bars, try this recipe. Just cut off a few slices, wrap ’em up and get out there.

Directions

Ingredients 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 4 tablespoons unsalted butter. Use less salt if using salted butter. 1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 4–5 super ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 bread loaf pan. In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until smooth. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix. Slowly beat in the eggs, then the bananas. Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 50–60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the bread comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn pan over to get bread out then flip bread loaf over and let cool on the wire rack.

Black Bean Chicken Chilaquiles Adapted from Cooking Light This recipe is a great post workout or event meal. It is full of lean protein, healthy carbohydrates and fiber and will feed you and at least a couple of your friends.

Ingredients Vegetable oil 1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 5 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 teaspoons minced cheater garlic 1 pound cooked chicken, shredded 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed 12 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips Cooking spray 16 ounces of green tomatillo salsa, such as Herdiz 8 ounces chicken broth 1/2 pound queso fresco or other Mexican white cheese, crumbled

Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat a skillet coated with vegetable oil over medium heat. Sauté onions five minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic, sauté one minute. Add chicken, sauté one minute. Remove chicken mixture to a large bowl and stir in black beans. Set aside. Add chicken broth and salsa to pan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes. While broth and salsa are simmering, place half the tortilla strips in the bottom of an 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer with half of the chicken mixture. Top with the rest of tortillas and chicken mixture. Pour broth-salsa mixture over chicken mixture. Top with crumbled cheese. Place in preheated oven. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.

Christina Buchanan is a lecturer in the Department of Sport Science, Western State College, Gunnison, Colo.

Mountain Flyer

Yoga for Cyclists Unwinding the Aches and Pains of the Cyclist’s Slouch by Mike Hoog

oga is for chicks and wimps and people who want to discover enlightenment, not for hardcore cyclists. If you believe that sentence, then you should read on and discover that yoga has been and should be the preferred conditioning tool for athletes. What can yoga offer cyclists? For one, there aren’t a lot of different movements occurring on a bicycle. A cyclist’s standard posture is a forward, extended head, looking up to anticipate the next rock, drop-off or car, shoulders rounded to be as aerodynamic as possible, forearm over grip from hanging onto those bouncing handlebars and a flexed lumbar spine to help crank up steep terrain while your butt remains in the saddle. There is no lateral movement going on, very little extension, just a flexed mass on two wheels. Over time, staying in this functionally flexed posture creates muscle weakness, imbalances and spasms that result in a vicious cycle. Day in and day out you begin to notice subtle changes and restrictions throughout your body. Your neck begins to lose range of motion turning side to side, you have trouble operating a mouse at work, you are constantly slouching and fidgeting in a chair and your lower back/hips scream when you get off your bike. Rest only temporarily relieves some symptoms, but as soon as you mount that steed again, the same symptoms gradually come back and maybe even worsen. We as human beings are not meant to be in any one posture for any length of time—even if we are exercising. 34

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To combat these aches and pains, I respectfully submit yoga as an alternative to unwind and strengthen these tight, unflexible areas common to cyclists. Yoga has been around for thousands of years. The word yoga comes from the sanskrit root word “yug,” which means to yoke or harness. Since 500 B.C., yoga has traditionally referred to the art of “yoking,” or hooking up the lower (or individual) consciousness with the higher (or universal) consciousness. Monks initially used yoga to prepare for long hours of seated meditation. Today, the many forms and styles of yoga can accommodate anyone. The practice of hatha yoga, specifically vinyasa flow makes sense to me as a physical therapy practitioner because the asanas (postures) are linked together to increase the body’s circulation. With all yoga, warm up your body by doing some form of aerobic exercise: steel will only yield when heated. Do not bounce when performing any stretching posture, hold the stretch and over time try to go a little deeper into the asana.

Start with the Core Let’s begin with the “power plant,” or the seat of the cyclist. The stronger your core, the easier it is on the rest of your body. Your core is comprised of your abdominal and back musculature. They are connected by a group of muscles called your transverse abdominis and are most effectively recruited when performing a Kegel exercise. A Kegel exercise is when you are peeing and you stop the flow mid-stream. Tightening your “pelvic floor” muscles in turn increases the recruitment of the rest of the core musculature. If you have a favorite abdominal exercise, try to include a Kegel when performing the motion to maximize your results. Some of my personal favorites include the plank, side plank and side plank with balance and elbow-to-knee exercises (see photos). Spine Flex With abdominal strength taken care of, let’s address the lumbar spine. Extension is the word of the day for your flexed cycling spine. If you are sitting at work or on your bike, your lower back is rounded and flexed. Your intervertebral discs are like marshmallows between two Oreo cookies. When you flex forward, the Oreos approximate in the front pushing your marshmallow or intervetebral disc posteriorly, thus increasing the risk of disc disease. By performing extensions, you are approximating the posterior aspect of the Oreos, thus pushing the intervertebral disc forward. A gentle way of getting your spine into extension (in a non-weight-bearing

POWER POSE Start off by standing tall and move your arms overhead as if signifying a touchdown. With your arms up straight, depress your shoulders (create the space between your shoulders and your ears), squat down, keeping your heels on the floor and look up at your hands overhead. Think about elongation of your spine from your fingertips all the way down to your tailbone. Feel the tension in your mid-back and hold this posture from 10-15 secs or for a series of breaths. A great way to address your forearms while still in this posture is to bring your arms down so that they are parallel to the ground. Extend your wrist so that you can check out your manicure and splay your fingers apart from each other as far as possible. Then make a fist and flex your wrists down while still maintaining a closed fist. Did I also mention that you are still squatting at this time?

position) would be on your hands and knees in the cat/cow posture. You could then progress to an upward facing dog posture, a yoga asana to assure full lumbar extension. A strengthening exercise could be an airplane or locust, as seen here. You want a more supple and pliable spine, not fixed, in the flexed cycling mode. Hip Flexors Now let’s look at your hip flexors. These are the muscles that connect the front of your trunk to your thighs and are extremely tight because of the pulling-up action on the pedal stroke. Weak abdominal muscles and tight hip flexors result in an excessive lumbar curve of your spine and quite possibly pain. For this, I recommend a hip flexor stretch (see photo) to elongate this muscle and avoid lumbar compression. Stabilizing the Back Your thoracic spine or your mid-back is another problem prone area for cyclists, because again you are assuming the round-

Photos by James E. Rickman AIRPLANE/LOCUST STRETCHES Airplane or (Warrior III): Have your right foot forward and your left foot back. Hinge from your hips and place your arms out to the side as if they are “jet fighter wings.” Accept all of your weight on the right leg and lift your straight left leg off the ground (parallel to the floor). Hold this posture for 10 secs. If your balance is still good, move your arms out in front of you and really “lift” through your paraspinals. Think length from your fingertips to your toes. Hold again for an additional 10 secs. Locust: Lay face down on your floor with arms by your side. Engage your abdominal muscles, then lift your upper body and lower (straight) legs off the ground. Keep your chin tucked and reach with your hands as if putting them in your back pockets, open up your chest. Hold this posture for 10-20 secs. Don’t hold your breath.

ed, forward head, aggressive posture. Our lower trapezius muscles are pretty weak. This muscle helps stabilize our shoulder blades and support our shoulders. Power Pose is a great asana to address the midthoracic region and it works your quads at the same time. Stick Your Neck Out Finally, I hear a lot of cyclists complain about their cervical or neck pain. It really is no wonder. When cycling, your upper body is flexed and you are extending your head up to see what is out in front of you.

Is this posture any different than slouching at a computer screen? Combine your work life with your cycling fetish and you’re bound to have a sore neck. As far as cycling goes, there are a couple of things that you can do. First, when you are on your bike, perform an axial extension, or as I like to call it the stinky sock move. Pretend you are sitting on your bike ready to go downhill and someone sticks the most foul smelling sock under your nose. Short of batting it away, you react by moving your head back away from the odiferous garment. This Mountain Flyer

PLANK, SIDE PLANK When performing plank or side plank you can progress from easiest to most difficult. Hold each posture for about 10 secs. When this becomes too easy, modify the posture and then add more, up to 15-20 sec. Easiest: prone on elbows and knees (keep your body straight as a plank). Challenge this posture by lifting a straight leg toward the sky but keep your trunk “neutral.” Turn to one side, resting on your right elbow and knee (keep your hips forward). Challenge this posture by raising the opposite arm and leg. Go back to the beginning and challenge yourself by getting on your toes and then your palms. Have fun, but please pay attention to correct body alignment, particularly your lumbar spine; do not let it arch.

HIP FLEXOR STRETCH This is a “half-kneeling” asana. Kneel on one knee while the other leg is forward and bent at a 90degree angle. In this posture, shift your weight forward, keep your abdominal muscles strong without arching your spine and tighten up your gluteal muscles on the leg you’re kneeling on. Enjoy a deep stretch on the upper part of your thigh. If you don’t feel much of a stretch, back off from the stretch and grab your ankle that is behind you and pull toward your buttock. When you are performing any stretch, don’t bounce, instead stretch slowly and deliberately.

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CERVICAL STRETCH Bring your arms behind your back and either grab your elbows with the opposite hand or place your hands in the “heart center position,” as pictured. Gently side bend your head to the left side and depress the right shoulder with your left hand. You should feel a comfortable but effective stretch along the right paracervical musculature. After holding this stretch for 15 seconds, grab the left elbow with the right hand and gently bend your head over to the right. Hands at the “heart center” requires more shoulder flexibility.

posture allows you to see things out in front of you without hyper-extending your neck. Second, try crunches. By performing crunches and/or sit-ups you are reversing the curve from cycling. Make sure you bring your chin to your chest and rest your head in your hands. Maintain the chin-tochest posture the entire crunch. You will

PIGEON STRETCH For your hips is an asana called Pigeon that is both miserable and wonderful at the same time. To achieve this asana, start in a plank or push-up position. Bring your right knee in between your hands and sit on your right buttock. Keep your shoulders facing forward and drape your upper body over your right thigh. Feel the burn as you stretch your piriformis and gluteus maximus. Then come onto your elbows and look up. Slightly arch your spine and feel a stretch all the way up to your sits bone. Just don’t forget about the left leg.

feel the muscles on the back of your neck stretch while strengthening the muscle on the front of the neck that has been stretched from looking up. Equipment changes that helps includes using sunglasses that cover your eyebrows and removing any visor on your bike helmet. A nice cervical stretch is to stand tall and place both hands behind your back in an attempt to grab the opposite elbow with each hand. Some people can do it with hands at heart center, where your palms are touching each other. Either way, gently side bend your head to one side and feel the stretch on the opposite side. So I have given you some tips on how to survive another cycling season, barring any immovable object you might encounter on the trail. Mix up your activity, try to find a local yoga class and talk with the instructor regarding your goals. If you have any questions regarding this article, please feel free to contact me on my blog site at www.hooga-yoga.blogspot.com. Happy trails and Namaste. Mike Hoog is a licensed physical therapist and a certified yoga instructor in Los Alamos, N.M. His website is www.hooga-yoga.com.

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C A R

G N I BY THE NUMBERS ACA Task Force Seeks to Gain and Retain Female Racers by Rachel Barbara

“Name five women on six years, the junior training the National Cycling Team,” camp filled. challenges Beth Wren-EsThe growth wasn’t a fluke. tes, executive director of the In 2000 the Bicycle Racing American Cycling AssoAssociation of Colorado ciation. Most people, even expanded to become the self-proclaimed cycling ACA. That expansion granted enthusiasts, can’t come up the ACA more control over with names, and neither its funds, and juniors’ and can Wren-Estes. women’s developmental pro“I could name every grams took priority. woman on the national The success of the junior team about five years ago, program hinged on organizand then they started to get ing parents, which led to betobscure,” she said. ter fundraising, more media It’s not just elite women attention and the support of who slipped into obscupro racer Tom Danielson. rity. Throughout the ’90s, Success in the women’s the number of grassroots program wasn’t as straightwomen racers in Colorado forward. As Wren-Estes put dropped at a steady rate. it, “You can’t really call a Though Katie Compton bebunch of women’s parents came a recognizable name, and ask for support.” the first half of this decade Instead, developing womdidn’t see the women’s en’s cycling would involve scene explode. organizing the entire cycling Today, though, Wrencommunity: racers, promotEstes sees an upswing. And ers, mentors, teams, club it’s her mission, along with members and unattached the entire ACA Women’s riders. To give the comTask Force, to push that munity reason to organize, upswing even higher. ACA board members first Climbing in Numbers: a group of Cat 3 women race up the Lookout Mountain Hillclimb A group of 12 women, approached the promoters on May 5, 2007. Photo by Rachel Barbara the task force consists of with a request to change the both new and long-time these conversations about women’s racing women’s categories. racers who are on a mission to increase the for 25 years, so it’s not a new problem,” Some races lump all women into one numbers. The group initially met in Sepsaid Wren-Estes. “It’s a problem that needs open category, an intimidating affair for tember 2006 to discuss the reasons women a new answer.” anyone new to racing. But with men’s fields aren’t racing—new job, lost job, unfriendly To arrive at that answer, Wren-Estes filling and women’s numbers low, promotculture, intimidation—and to figure out and the task force looked at the “enorers understandably don’t always see reason ways to keep first-timers in the sport. mous, enormous growth” taking place to run more than one or two women’s “We really had to look at a way to get within the junior racing scene. Numbers categories. After all, each category costs women together and have a frank discusare up, coaches are volunteering to mentor money, regardless of the number of cyclists sion about what we could do. We’ve had young cyclists and, for the first time in who race. 38

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We’ve had these conversations about women’s racing for 25 years, so it’s not a new problem. It’s a problem that needs a new answer. Often, the 35+ women, many of whom could compete as category 3s, raced with the category 4s. This year, most promoters agreed to run a separate senior women’s 4 category and combine the 3s with 35+. “I think the senior women 3s being combined with the 35+ is going to be so much more compatible for competitive racing,” said Wren-Estes. “I had one woman who said to me, ‘I’m so tired of being lapped four or five times. It’s so disheartening; I’m not going to do this anymore.’ ” Kathy Mackechney, founder and president of the Damas women’s cycling team, agrees that the new categorization will Skills Clinics for Women Racers In conjunction with JDS Sportcoaching, ACA will run a series of road skills clinics in Colorado cities during the entire 2007 season. Scheduled dates and locations are as follows: April 21, Littleton May 12, Wheels of Thunder Classic, Golden May 20, Coal Miner’s Classic, Louisville June 10, Downtown Criterium, Fort Collins Aug. 28, Salida Omnium, Salida

encourage more beginning women to race. “What I’ve heard over and over again from women in the past three years is that they’re intimidated to race with women who are a lot more experienced than them,” said Mackechney. “They’re concerned about getting in the way or causing an accident. Some of the masters women are great about giving the 4s pointers, but I’ve found that racing is an easier sell when you can tell women that they’ll be out there with other beginners.” The promoters are doing their part. Now women need to show up at the start lines. The ACA task force is focusing on mentoring as a way to grow numbers. On the ACA website, a “Ladies Lounge” provides an open forum for questions about any part of racing and a Women’s Corner will be launched soon. Features

Ladies Lounge Online Forum The Ladies Lounge Forum on the ACA website is a great resource for women who have questions about starting a team. The questions can range from clothing to racing to fundraising, or pretty much anything to do with cycling. The monthly newsletter, available online, features women’s teams and runs training/skills articles written by women. Check it out at www.americancycling.org.

on women’s teams and training articles written for women began appearing in the April 2007 newsletter. The ACA also will offer skills clinics throughout the year in the hope that beginners will learn to better handle their bikes, thus making for a better race experience. At the suggestion of the task force, professional cycling coach and category 1 racer Renee Eastman joined the senior women’s 4 pack in the April 22 Golden Spring Criterium. Eastman wore a bright marshal’s vest, introduced herself at the start line and rode along with the pack to give tips and mentor during the race. “We had some really positive responses from the ladies, the officials and the promoter. Even some of the spectators came up and said how good it was,” said Eastman. “I didn’t hear one negative comment all day. I even ran in to a young female triathlete who heard about it and asked when we’d be doing that again. She said she would definitely try her first crit if that we were doing that again.” The goal was to mentor the pack in a race situation because when unskilled riders race with more advanced women, the result can be loud. Racers yell to organize chase groups or point out dangerous behavior, and while sometimes it’s necessary, other times it can be nasty. Women can see the shouts as unfriendly and discouraging, and if a woman’s first cycle racing experience is bad, there’s a good chance she won’t return. Wren-Estes suggests that nurturing a friendly culture can be as easy as a quick chat in the parking lot. When Mackechney considers attracting more women to the sport, she thinks of racers as salespeople.

“When you’re a woman out riding your bike, remember that every time you ride, especially in your club jersey, you’re representing other women who race. Just be approachable and friendly,” she said. Mackechney also mentioned that racing implies competition, so a welcoming community won’t mean watered-down racing. It’s just a simple effort that could retain more women. Rocky Mountain Women’s Teams Teams provide the mentoring, camaraderie and bike handling skills that unattached riders don’t always receive. Below is a very brief list of women’s teams. While the teams listed may not be currently accepting members, they could be a resource for women who have questions about starting a team of their own. • Boulder Women’s Cycling Team (Golden, Colo.) • Damas (Denver) • Pedal Queens (Santa Fe, N.M.) • Rocky Mounts–Izze Racing (Boulder, Colo.) • Title Nine (Boulder, Colo.) • Twin Peaks Racing (Boulder, Colo.)

“It doesn’t happen overnight, but if we can get 10 women to stay in who were beginners this year and be excited about next season, then that 10 becomes 20. Then you’ve got your numbers building back up,” said Wren-Estes. “This is a community that’s got to fix this problem. To keep bicycle racing alive and healthy, all the categories have to be healthy.” Mountain Flyer

by Josh Liberles

Megan Hottman (Defined Fitness Training, LLC) streams to a 16th place finish in the stage 1 time trial.

ow in its 21st year, the Tour of the Gila has earned a reputation as one of the toughest events in North America, a full five-day stage race at high altitude with unrelenting course profiles. Set in the stunning Gila National Wilderness surrounding Silver City, N.M., the terrain is intense, featuring tight, twisty mountain roads, long climbs and harrowing descents and constantly shifting winds. Merely finishing this stage race is a feat. To win takes a rare combination of cycling abilities and mental toughness. In May, the women’s teams from Colavita/ Sutter Home, Cheerwine, Touchstone Climbing, expresscopy.com, TIBCO and Webcor Builders came to Silver City to take their best shot. The Tour of the Gila is set apart from other races with its the welcoming attitude 40

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Photos by Tom Spross

and palpable excitement that the locals show riders. Generous hosts offer housing for racers, and the crit course attracts huge crowds of spectators. Silver City features an unpretentious mix of blue-collar workers, outdoor enthusiasts, retirees and some bona fide mountain town eccentrics. The unique blend of people welcomes the boost the race brings to the local economy and embraces the racers into their community and their homes. Stage 1. Tyrone Time Trial The time trial consists of just over 16 miles of continually undulating terrain. The best women’s times typically hover around the 40-minute mark with top performers combining sustained climbing ability with the raw power required to turn over a big gear for the 4.4-mile screamingfast ride to the finish line.

Winds always factor into this event, with gusty crosswinds testing the racers’ perseverance. The long time trial, featuring category 4 and category 3 climbs, sets the tone for a week of brutal racing. Webcor clearly came to the 2007 Tour of the Gila ready to throw down. The team placed three riders in the top four and four riders in the top 10, living up to its reputation as the team to beat. Despite gusty conditions, Webcor’s Rachel Heal cracked the 40-minute mark, a rarity in the women’s field. Colavita’s main contender, Dotsie Bausch, was just 15 seconds off of Heal’s pace. Bausch, who placed 4th and 5th in the Gila overall in 2005 and 2006, respectively, was off to a good start in her quest to improve upon those results. Mara Abbott, a Boulder, Colo., native and climbing sensation, was lurking in the

Tour of the Gila wings at only 30 seconds off the lead for Webcor, ready to unleash her fury in the hills. Amber Rais rounded out Webcor’s domination at the top-end of the time trial, followed closely by Anne Samplonius (expresscopy.com), who was 2nd overall in 2006. Stage 1 Results 1 0:39:47, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders, Manchester, UK 2 + 0:00:15, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home Irvine, Calif. 3 + 0:00:30, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders, Boulder, Colo. 4 + 0:01:03, Amber Rais, Webcor Builders, Palo Alto, Calif. 5 + 0:01:08, Anne Samplonius, Team expresscopy.com, Montreal, Quebec Stage 2. Mogollon Road Race The Mogollon Road Race, is predominantly flat for the 73-mile duration but kicks up to the clouds in the last 10 miles. Conserving energy is typically most racers’ goal on this day until the frenzied racing begins on the category 1 finishing climb to Mogollon. The average gradient of the last three miles is over 10 percent, with pitches topping out at a leg-busting 19 percent. Coming into the Mogollon stage, Webcor was holding all of the cards. Heal, Abbott and Rais were crowding the top spot, while Beverly Harper was sitting in 8th, Helen Kelly in 13th and Laura Yoisten in 28th. Dotsie Bausch (Colavita/Sutter Home) needed all the help she could get from her teammates in her bid for the overall win. The Colavita game plan was to separate the Webcor women on the climb to improve Bausch’s position. “With Webcor in first and third and their better climber in the third-place position, we really tried to play off the team dynamic,” said Jim Williams, Directeur Sportif of Colavita/Sutter Home. “If Mara Abbott in third would climb and drop her teammates, Dotsie would try and go with her and get towed to the leader’s jersey. Mara launched at the base of the climb and dropped the leader’s jersey, and Dotsie went with her for a bit, but had to back off the pace, climbed at her own pace and was able to get a third-place finish.” Abbott claimed the stage in spectacular fashion, putting a minute into the second place finisher, Brooke Ourada (Cheerwine).

Dotsie Bausch (Colavita/Sutter Home) attacks on the steep climb to Mogollon as Rachel Heal (Webcor Builders), still in pink after her stage 1 win, keeps her in check.

Bausch, Heal and Samplonius raced in together about a minute and a half off of Abbott’s pace. Webcor was able to strengthen their already dominating position in the race by claiming the first two positions in the GC. Abbott leap-frogged her teammate and grabbed the overall leader’s pink jersey. With all of the climbing still to come, it was still anybody’s game. However, with the pressure that Webcor was exerting at the top, they looked tough to beat.

Stage 3. Inner Loop Road Race The Inner Loop road race features 78 very difficult miles of what can best be termed a “hard-woman’s race.” The three category 3 climbs certainly help the uphill specialists to succeed here, but climbing prowess alone is not sufficient. There are also twisty, death-defying descents down Sapillo and long stretches of exposed, rolling terrain where the riders need to power through the wind. The racers summit the final climb at mile 70, descend for four miles and then grind out the last four miles to what typically is a sprint finish with a sizable group. The race was aggressive from the gun. The first time-bonus sprint comes only seven miles into the race, followed immediately by two consecutive category 3 climbs. The racers sensed that this was the opportunity to unseat Webcor, and a series of attacks and aggressive riding had the peloton strung out for much of the first 30 miles. In fact, three of the Webcor riders were dropped as the lead pack entered the Mimbres Valley and headed for the Continental Divide. A stiff head/crosswind caused the pace to subside and allowed the dropped riders to reintegrate.

Stage 2 Results 1 3:44:09, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders, Boulder, Colo. 2 + 0:01:04, Brooke Ourada, Cheerwine, Boise, Idaho 3 + 0:01:31, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home, Irvine, Calif. Mara Abbott (left) and Rachel Heal talk strategy for the 78-mile Inner Loop Road Race, stage 3. 4 + 0:01:33, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders, Manchester, UK “The weather conspired to really discour5 + 0:01:40, Anne Samplonius, Team age anything from getting away,” said expresscopy.com, Montreal, Quebec Williams of Colavita/Sutter Home. “So we went for the stage win. We keyed off of Overall GC after Stage 2 the expresscopy.com team because Gina 1 4:24:11, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders, Grain, their sprinter, was there.” In a move 2 + 0:00:58, Rachel Heal, Webcor reminiscent of her win in this stage in Builders 2006, Bausch jumped hard about 700 me3 + 0:01:26, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ ters from the line. She powered away from Sutter Home the pack on the gradual rise to the finish, 4 + 0:02:33, Anne Samplonius, Team and had enough of a gap that she could expresscopy.com enjoy the moment with some celebratory 5 + 0:03:08, Amber Rais, Webcor fist-pumping. Builders Mountain Flyer

Tour of the Gila Stage 3 Results 1 4:04:10, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home 2 +0:00:03, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders 3 +0:00:03, Gina Grain, Team express copy.com, Burnaby, BC 4 +0:00:06, Anne Samplonius, Team expresscopy.com 5 +0:00:06, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders Overall GC after Stage 3 1 8:28:27, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders, Boulder, Colo. 2 +0:00:35, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders, Manchester, UK 3 +0:01:05, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home, Irvine, Calif. 4 +0:02:33, Anne Samplonius, Team expresscopy.com, Montreal, Quebec 5 +0:03:01, Amber Rais, Webcor Builders, Palo Alto, Calif.

Dotsie Bausch (Colavita/Sutter Home) celebrates a hard earned but well calculated victory in stage 3.

Stage 4. Downtown Criterium Stage 4 is the downtown crit, right in the heart of Silver City. Racers in contention for the general classification tend to conserve as much energy as possible here. This often opens the door for others to steal a result or gain some face time in breakaways. However, none of the Gila stages are easy—even the crit has about 80 feet of climbing per lap. That adds up to 2,000 feet of vertical in the 27-mile women’s race; more than enough to further deaden the legs. True to the billing, a breakaway formed 42

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McLaughlin improved her overall position by 1:25, moving from 12th to 11th in the GC. In the field, the overall standings remained unchanged with the main rivals finishing in the pack. Alex Wrubleski (Colavita/Sutter Home) charged off the front of the peloton to take best of the rest (6th place), just in front of Liza Rachetto (Team TIBCO).

Criterium racing is an art. Impressionist Victoria Bastide paints a smooth line to fifth place in a stunning sprint finish in stage 4.

early in the race. With all of the major teams represented, and no threats to the overall in the break, little effort was made to chase the move. Melissa Holt (Team expresscopy.com), who literally rode away from the competition in La Vuelta de Bisbee less than a week before, rode aggressively to ensure the break stayed away. Also present were Helen Kelly (Webcor), Jill McLaughlin (Touchstone Climbing), Andrea Dvorak (Colavita/Sutter Home) and Victoria Bastide (Team TIBCO). This was a prime opportunity for Kelly, Dvorak and Holt to go for a result after spending the previous two stages working for their respective leaders. Holt initiated the move at the end of the first lap, followed closely by Dvorak. Bastide was designated to cover the early moves for TIBCO. “Well, rule number one is no break goes without a TIBCO in it,” said Bastide. “An expresscopy goes and a Colavita goes, and Marisa (Asplund) screams at me, ‘Go Victoria!’ So, okay, I’m going. We kept on working; it was not super hard, but punching it on the hill every lap and just hearing the gap get bigger and bigger. It was pretty steady.” With two laps to go, the chess-playing began, with riders drifting to the back and staying out of the wind. Bastide attacked the last time up the hill on the backside of the course and briefly had a gap before being reeled back in. McLaughlin moved up to the front of the group on the descent into the last corner and attacked hard onto the finishing straight. She powered away from her rivals, increasing her gap all the way to the line to take a decisive sprint victory.

Stage 4 Results 1 1:13:27, Jill McLaughlin, Touchstone Climbing, Los Gatos, Calif. 2 s.t., Helen Kelly, Webcor Builders, Middleton, Wisc. 3 s.t., Andrea Dvorak, Colavita/Sutter Home Charolletsville, Va. 4 s.t., Melissa Holt, Team expresscopy. com Cambridge, New Zealand 5 s.t., Victoria Bastide, Team TIBCO, Menlo Park, Calif. Overall GC: 1 8:28:27, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders 2 +0:00:35, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders 3 +0:01:05, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home 4 +0:02:33, Anne Samplonius, Team expresscopy.com 5 +0:03:01, Amber Rais, Webcor Builders

Mara Abbot (Webcore Builders), now in the pink jersey and Kelly Mcdonald (Touchstone Climbing) speed by spectators on the streets of Silver City, stage 4 criterium.

Jill Mclaughlin (Touchstone Climbing) strong arms her sprint victory in the stege 4 criterium as Kelly Hellen (Webcor Builders) and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita/Sutter Home) grimace but settle for second and third.

Tour of the Gila Stage 5. Gila Monster Road Race Aptly named the Gila Monster Road Race, Stage 5 had the women travel 72 miles in what is largely a reversal of Stage 3. In this direction, the notorious Sapillo section serves as the decisive category 2 climb on the way to the finish in Pinos Altos. Fatigue was definitely setting into the racers’ legs, and the cold, overcast conditions didn’t improve morale. Weather conditions may have been a blessing, however, as the rain and the heat stayed at bay.

Marisa Asplund (Team TIBCO) gracefully wins the 71-mile stage 5 Gila Monster Road Race with a safe and secure 2-minute lead over second place.

“Usually people are pretty worked from the altitude and the race. Although today the criterium was a little bit slower, so it might be a little more aggressive,” said Marisa Asplund (Team TIBCO), looking ahead to the final stage. “It’s a hard climb at the end,” she said. “I remember last year there was a real solid break that went, and it got caught at the beginning of the last climb. You gotta conserve and wait for that climb, but also if there’s a dangerous break, you’ve got to be in it. So it’s kind of ‘playing the game,’ that’s how we do it.” Asplund played the game to perfection. About 11 miles into the race came the first bonus sprint, on a plateau just before the crest of the first significant climb. As the peloton regrouped from the sprint effort, a hard counter-attack launched eight riders clear. Making the cut were Victoria Bastide, Stacy Marple, and Marisa Asplund (Team TIBCO); Amber Rais (Webcor); Sarah Tillotson (Colavita/Sutter Home); Brooke Ourada and Leigh Hobson (Cheerwine); and Melissa Holt (Team expresscopy.com). They kept on the gas to increase the gap over the top of that climb and drilled their way up the following category 4 climb to establish the move.

It seemed unlikely that the peloton would organize itself for a hard chase with all of the powerful teams represented in the move. Putting Rais into the move was a key tactic for Webcor. With Rais beginning the stage in 5th overall, Webcor’s grip on the overall looked secure, regardless how big the gap grew. “We started out and won the first sprint with Rachel Heal, and we stayed on the front with the four other girls: Helen Kelly, Beverly, Laura, and Amber,” recounts Bob Kelly, Directeur Sportif for Webcor. “The break went up the road, and our designated break rider was going to be Amber through the stage. I didn’t fully understand what the other teams were doing,” Kelly said. “But it suited us, kept our main players back in the field, and our two GC riders in Mara and Rachel could sit in and do no work.” When the gap between the break and the peloton extended to four minutes, Webcor sent troops to the front to control the pace. If the break were given too much cushion and Rais faltered or had a mishap on the final climb, Webcor could still lose the overall. They did enough work to maintain Abbott’s lead on the road. TIBCO worked to ensure that the break would stay away and that they would have a shot at the stage win. With three riders in an eight-person break, Bastide, Marple and Asplund pushed the pace. As the group approached the finishing climb, Ourada, Rais, Tillotson and Asplund splintered off the front. Asplund was doing the majority of the work and radioed the team car for direction. “You start breathing hard, you slide back to the back of the group, you get a gap and you attack them really hard,” counseled Linda Jackson, Directuer Sportif of TIBCO. “That’s what she did; she attacked them at 20 miles to go, at the base of the climb,” Jackson said. “She climbed at least half that climb by herself, and the gap kept growing, growing, growing.” By the end of the stage, Asplund had put nearly two minutes into Rais, who crossed the line in 2nd place. This was a repeat performance by Asplund, who had won this same stage in 2005 as a Cat 4 racer. Merely two years later, she has risen to the top of the sport to earn her best result to date. Further back, in the battle for overall GC, Abbott and Heal got clear of the main field on the climb and finished together in 6th and 7th respectively on the stage. They

further distanced themselves from the other contenders and wrapped up an incredibly successful weekend. Bausch came in about 30 seconds later in 8th place and secured the final spot on the podium. “All in all I’d say it’s a pretty good day at the office,” said Kelly of Webcor’s performance in the final stage. “Over the course of the week, it may be that we swapped a few jerseys around in the team, but Webcor is pretty happy and you can say the girls are pretty smiley and happy at the end of the races,” added Kelly.

Mara Abbott and Rachel Heal cross the line as a team to commence Abbott’s and Team Webcor’s overall win in the 2007 Tour of the Gila.

“From a director’s point of view, that’s nine-tenths of the game if the girls are happy with what we’re doing.” Stage 5 Results 1 3:34:52, Marisa Asplund, Team TIBCO, Durango, Colo. 2 +0:01:59, Amber Rais, Webcor Builders. 3 +0:02:07, Melissa Holt, Team express copy.com, Cambridge, New Zealand 4 +0:02:11, Sarah Tillotson, Colavita/ Sutter Home, Chicago, Ill. 5 +0:02:26, Brooke Ourada, Cheerwine, Boise, Idaho Overall GC, 2007 Tour of the Gila 1 13:20:39, Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders 2 +0:00:25, Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders 3 +0:01:39, Dotsie Bausch, Colavita/ Sutter Home 4 +0:01:57, Amber Rais, Webcor Builders 5 +0:02:58, Brooke Ourada, Cheerwine Mountain Flyer

Tour of the Gila Interview

Mara Abbott: 2007 Tour of the Gila Winner Mara Abbott is a junior at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. In 2006, she won her second Collegiate National Championships on the road, won the U23 national title and placed 5th among Elite women. I spoke with a very jubilant Abbott just after her victory at this year’s Gila.

Mara: Now I have to go back to school and take finals. I’m going to Collegiate Nationals next weekend. It’s kind of a smashand-grab job where I’m flying in at 11 o’clock the night before Nationals because I have to be at school for a final.

MF: How did you like Silver City? Mountain Flyer: This is your Mara: It was fun. Last year I second time doing the Gila. left absolutely hating Silver City Obviously, better results this time Mara Abbott and Webcor Teammate enjoy their success at the finish of because I was miserable while I around! What happened last year? stage 5, Tour of the Gila. was here. But it’s a fun place, and Mara Abbott: Last year I ended up the people seem to be really supportive of on us. When it started going up again, I getting sick. I had to pull out after the third attacked. Once I caught up to Rachel, we the race. –J. Liberles stage. worked together and crossed the finish line NOTE: The following weekend, Mara together. Amber took second on the stage, MF: Can you tell me how this year Abbott dominated the Collegiate Road NaI took sixth and Rachel seventh. played out? Between Rachel Heal and you, tional Championships (Division II) to claim Webcor was first and third after the time her third straight stars-n-stripes jersey. MF: What do you have coming up? trial? Mara: We were first and third in the TT. The second day, I attacked the group going up Mogollon and got a big gap. That jumped me over Rachel. So, I was first overall and she was second. She was still holding her gap over Dotsie (Bausch, Colavita/Cooking Light). We just wanted to hold that. We got someone in every single break. Amber Rais was an absolute rock star. She jumped all over the place and was sitting in fifth place in GC then. Any break that she got into didn’t matter. We could let the break go all we wanted because we had the virtual leader. MF: With Amber in the break today in the Gila Monster Road Race, were you and Rachel then able to just sit in? Mara: Exactly. We didn’t want the break to get too much time, because you never know what’s going to happen on the climb. I was able to just sit in, the girls chased it down a little bit and got the gap down to an okay amount by the bottom of the climb, which is when the fun started. On the climb, we got down to a group of 10 or 12. Near the top of the first climb, Rachel attacked with me on her wheel. Dotsie came with us a little bit. Rachel’s a really good descender, and she got a little gap 44

Mountain Flyer

Tour of the Gila Interview

Linda Jackson

The shape of things to come: Team TIBCO raises the bar in women’s cycling I spoke with Linda Jackson, Directeur Sportif of Team TIBCO, the night before the final stage of the Tour of the Gila. TIBCO would dominate that “Gila Monster” stage and set up Marisa Asplund for an impressive stage victory. For much of the week Jackson was sporting a T-shirt made by her team members. Down one side it read, “Don’t you know who I am?” On the other, “I’m Linda Jackson.” Jackson was among the best stage racers in the mid- to late-nineties. Now she devotes her energies to Team TIBCO, an up-and-coming women’s team based in the Bay Area. Mountain Flyer: Can you tell me about the TIBCO Program? Linda Jackson: The team started in 2001 as a local Palo Alto team. They were really good in the Bay Area, but that was it. I got involved in 2005, and I started coaching Amber Rais. We didn’t have the infrastructure to support her, so she left for Webcor. I’d been retired for four or five years by then, and I was so excited about the passion that she had for the sport. I decided that I’m not losing any more talent; I’m building this program up to help these women get to the top. That’s how TIBCO got started. We’ve got seven riders on the national team, five riders on the development team. Victoria Bastide and Stacy Marple did so well in the development program last year, I moved them into the national program. That’s my goal to keep moving people into the national team. MF: You have four cyclists here for the Gila? LJ: I had five. Yuki Nakamura had a hard day yesterday. Victoria Bastide was in the break today, finished fifth (criterium); Liza Racchetto, who was on Lipton last year; Stacy Marple; and Marisa Asplund from Colorado.

themselves a little more, and that’s where I come in. Marisa, Victoria and Stacy have a tremendous amount of talent. Sometimes they get intimidated with these national fields, with “Oh my god, that’s Dotsie Bausch,” or “Oh my god, that’s Amber Rais.” I need to help build their confidence. Victoria did a great job today. If I can get Stacy to unleash her power at the right moment, she’ll have a good day tomorrow.

working on development? LJ: It’s a tremendous amount of work to run both, but that’s something I really like to do. I think a lot of teams focus on the national program because that’s what sponsors want. Not only am I going to work on the development team, but I also want to get a high school effort going. Most teams are associated with club teams, but that’s not really a concerted effort. We’ve brought developMF: Was it a plan ment riders to a lot of to have Victoria in the NRC races already this break in the crit? year. Alexis Alexander LJ: It was a plan to was was a Cat 3 that have somebody in the morning, won the Cat break. I knew that it 3 Merco Credit Union Linda Jackson is a force from women’s would be a day for noncriterium and I got her cycling past and a leader in its future. GC riders to get up the upgraded in time for the road because GC riders Pro/1/2 race. She got are going to wait until tomorrow. I knew seventh that day in an NRC crit. that an expresscopy, Colavita, TIBCO and someone else would have a good chance to MF: You have other riders that went get up the road. from Cat 4 to Cat 1 in one year, right? LJ: Victoria did, Stacy did. Victoria was MF: Do you think the women’s cycling on the team last year. That January she had scene in the U.S. is healthy? won the Mt. Tam hill climb, beat all of the LJ: I’m very optimistic about it. You’re professional riders in the Bay Area. She seeing more teams like TIBCO, ValueAct, didn’t have a license; she was a public rider. Touchstone, teams that are producing She just said, “Oh, I think I want to do this good riders who can compete with the top- hill climb.” She had incredible talent but level teams. It’s more balanced now. When wasn’t sure she wanted to compete. I said, I was racing, it was Saturn and Timex and “Victoria, just get a license. You don’t have hardly anything else. to do many races, see how you like it.” She loved it. She’s hooked. Cat 4 to Cat 1 in one MF: Are there other programs that are year, she’s doing fantastic. –J. Liberles

MF: How has the race gone so far? Can you give a blow-by-blow account? LJ: The time trial was okay. We don’t have pure time trialers on the team, so it’s something I’ll look to add next year. We have good climbers who need to believe in Mountain Flyer

A Photo Journal of Racing 2007 Bartlett Lake Time Trial Dateline: Bartlett Lake, Ariz., February 10

The time trail is the loneliest discipline. Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) rolls out for 14 miles of soul searching at the Bartlett Lake Time Trial. Photo by Josh Liberles

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

McDowell Mountain Circuit Race Dateline: Scottsdale, Ariz., February 11

The Cat 3 Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peleton take advantage of a full road closure at the McDowell Mountain Circuit Race. Photo by Josh Liberles

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Valley of the Sun Dateline: Phoenix, Ariz. February 16–18

Jesus “Chacho” Zapata (Colvita New Mexico) gets down for the Valley of the Sun Pro/1 Time Trial.

Strung out and jockeying for a good draft, the Cat 2 Men’s peleton rips down the road at the Valley of the Sun Criterium. Photos by Josh Liberles

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

The Rim Ride Dateline: Moab, Utah March 25 The First Annual Moab Rim Ride

Turning a 90-Mile Orbit around the Moab Valley Following in the highly regarded tradition of contemporary epic bike racing, the first Moab Rim Ride stepped right up and gave cheap-thrill seekers their fix. As is standard with these free races, the Rim Ride’s 90-mile course was not marked and riders were required to complete the ride unsupported. Mix a little spring rain into the clay-rich soil and bring on the suffering. These races are more about raw diesel power than Ferrari speed, requiring more tenacity than aggression. At 6 a.m. on March 25, 28 human-powered cross-country haulers lined up at the Hwy. 91 bridge just north of Moab to set out and see who had more torque, more survival instinct and, well, more ability to shed the mud and keep their rig running. Nine hours and 46 minutes later, Cris Fox streamed in as the fastest survivor out of 15 finishers. For more info and maybe a clue about next year’s race, check out http://rimridemoab.blogspot.com. Results: 1. Cris Fox, 9 hours, 46 minutes 2. Dave Harris, 10 hours 3. Butch Welke, 11:55 4. (tie) Chris Plesko (singlespeed), 12:10 4. (tie) Scott Sportsman (SS), 12:10 6. Ed Ellinger (SS), 12:31 7. Dave Chenault (SS), 12:59 8. Randy Mason (SS, fixed), 13:32 9. Marko Ross-Bryant, 13:53 10. Mike Holme, 14:05 11. Craig Tuttle, 14:25 12. Essam Welch, 14:54 13. (tie) Josh Darnell, 15:51 13. (tie) Eric Lashinsky, 15:51 15. Alan Doak, 17:50

Top: Finally out of the mud bog, a Rim Rider coasts down a slickrock apron back towards the Colorado River and the finish in Moab. Center: Snack time in the sandbox. Two racers refuel and regroup before continuing on into the oblivion of the red rock desert. Bottom: The photographer’s bike, looks dejected (and heavy) after a bout of mud wrestling. Photos by Marko Ross Bryant

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Nathrop Four Cross Dateline: Nathrop, Colo., April 7

Gravity is only a perception of the weak-minded as expert racer J. Pedros, on his way to a sixth place finish, rips through a high berm on the Nathrop Four Cross Course.

Collegiate Peaks graduates (left to right) D. Godard, M. Patterson, P. Nguyen and J. Gillespe earn their degrees in a semifinal heat, Yeti RPM Series #1, Nathrop Colo. Photos by Brian Riepe

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Gallup Dawn ‘til Dusk Dateline: Gallup, N.M., April 14

Glen Camuso from Breckenridge, Colo., tests whether escape velocity for a rigid singlespeed is different at 6,500 feet.

Durango’s Walker Thompson (Evomo) hammers around a rock like it was standing still.

Fort Collins’ James Bleakley (Black Sheep Bikes) manages to make it through most of the course without putting a dent in his sports drink.

With morning temperatures hovering just above freezing, Aaron Long from Santa Fe races to catch the sunrise. Photos by James E. Rickman

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

18 Hours of Fruita Dateline: Fruita, Colo., April 29–30

Jack “Dogg” Wells (Mafia Racing) was keepin’ it real for 30 Moontime to daytime solo laps, good for a second place overall in the Solo Men’s Category.

Team Dirt Merchant’s Brandon Weaver (New Belgium) had to dig himself out of the sink hole. Photos by Anne Keller

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Tour of the Gila Dateline: Silver City, N.M., May 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6

Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United ProCycling) pinches the wind for third place in the opening time trial.

Physics is relevant in everything we see; criterium racers drag space and time past spectators on the streets of downtown Silver City.

Taylor Phinney (TIAA-CREF/5280) and Pete Kuenneman (Contender Racing) take the safe route to the pack finish in the criterium.

Steve Forbes (Colavita/Cooking Light) breaks away halfway up the climb to Mogollon to win the Cat 3 Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stage. Photos by Tom Spross

Mountain Flyer

Tour of the Gila Commentary

NO EXCUSES The Tour of the Gila for Good Reason by Jill Janov I understand the difference I would cover 150 punishing between an excuse and a reamiles and 10,600 feet of climbson. One is baseless. The other ing on mountainous routes in is justified. One is a cop-out. southwestern New Mexico. The other is valid. As the online registration But whenever anyone asked deadline approached, I seriwhy I never raced the Tour of ously considered my friends’ the Gila, I failed to mete out an advice and Steve’s candid answer that smacked of good assessment and decided to reason. enter the race. I filled out the “It’s out of my league,” I’d forms on the website, closed say with great self-awareness. my eyes and clicked. Just what “I’m out of shape and not was I thinking? strong enough. That race is for The full extent of that quesnatural athletes. Hey, I’m a Jew. tion didn’t strike me until I was Athlete… Jew…the two are standing at the starting line on mutually exclusive.” Day 1 of the race. Among the It was a shaky, twisted tall pines in the historic gold answer. But I kept using it mining town of Piños Altos at because people responded by 7,040 feet, my competitors and nodding their heads. I were getting ready to descend The Tour of the Gila in thousands of feet into the early May in Silver City, Mimbres Valley. N.M., is regarded among the It was at this moment toughest stage races in North when I came to appreciate America. I was warned that what was actually holding me the climbs were relentless, the back from the Gila all these terrain was rough, the winding years. This was the kind of alpine roads were unyielding self-realization that could not and the miles were long. surface in the comfort of daily Hearing this, I had plenty life, the type of insight that of incentive to avoid the race. only becomes obvious in the But this spring I was in good face of challenge. A pack of racers work their way up to the continental divide near the heartbreak shape, so I needed better exI was afraid, but not about cuses—bona fide, justified ex- point of the Inner Loop Road Race, Tour of the Gila. Photo by Brian Riepe the race. I was not afraid of planations about why I should my competition, my hip pain, “Those aren’t valid,” he said about my my finances, missing work or not race. I came up with four reasons. even the sheer downhill routes. It was findand shared them with my cycling friend, I tried out my song and dance on ing my own edge that terrified me most. I Steve. was about to test myself and discover my “I can’t take two vacation days off from other friends. Same response. “Jill, you can do this race,” they encouraged. This limitations. work. And then there’s the cost of travelincluded two teammates who were going “I can’t keep up,” were the words that ing. I’m low on funds right now. And,” I to the Gila and my team coach. Over and rang through my head as the peloton emphasized, “my hip is aching from an over again, I heard “You should go.” No blazed up and down the hills. As I pedaled, old injury.” I continued my defense. “The I gasped for breath and panicked. “I can’t descents are sharp and steep, not my forté latitude. No leeway. I hemmed. I hawed. I schvitzed. I keep up,” I said again as I got dusted eight in bike racing.” stressed. I looked at the race website a miles into a 64-mile ride. I spent the majorI waited for a nod from Steve, the hundred times. Anxiously, I counted the ity of the first stage by myself. exoneration that would absolve me from miles, the climbs. In three days of racing, My outlook was equally uninspired for signing up. No luck. Steve was blunt. 54

Mountain Flyer

the next day’s criterium. I said to myself defeatedly, “I don’t do crits.” I lost my nerve and got dropped on the third of 12 hilly laps. Alone again, I was forced to look inward. I went into this race thinking it was out of my league. Knowing at age 41 I was the oldest woman in the pack only validated my low expectations. Later that day, I discussed my ride with a fellow cycling friend. “You’re strong enough to keep up,” he said. “So, what do you think happened?” I gave him plenty of excuses, but he was right—there was no good reason. I opted to change my mindset and come up with a strategy. Tomorrow, I promised, I’ll stay with the pack for at least the first 53 of 72 miles until the steep

The climbs were relentless. The terrain was rough. The winding roads were unyielding and the miles were long…and beautiful. climb. I’ll ride steady up the climb and finish strong, with an attempt to move up at least one place in the general classification. It wasn’t about glory. It was about doing my best. I reminded myself about my friends’ encouragement. “Jill, you can do this race.” I said to myself, “no excuses.” I stayed with the pack, finished 14th out of 20 women that day and 14th overall, up from 15th the day before. When my friends later asked me how I liked the Gila, I told them that even after getting my butt kicked on three backbreaking days in the wind and on the brink of exhaustion, I was glad I raced. The climbs were relentless. The terrain was rough. The winding roads were unyielding and the miles were long…and beautiful. These are the characteristics that make the Gila so fantastic. They are the most compelling reasons to do the race and, frankly, a great excuse to take a vacation from work. If nothing else, I certainly have a deeper understanding of the difference between excuses and reasons. And next year, when I ask my friends if they are going to the Gila and they start looking for loopholes to skip the race, I’ll suggest they try explaining it to Steve.

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Photo Journal

Lookout Mountain Hillclimb Dateline: Golden, Colo., May 5

With an elevation gain of 1,580 feet in 6.5 miles, the Lookout Mountain Hillclimb has no mercy. Not even for the junior racers. Photo by Rachel Barbara

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Angel Fire Chile Challenge MSC #2 Dateline: Angel Fire, N.M., May 26â&#x20AC;&#x201C;28

Dale Holmes (KHS) maintains his focus on the way to a fourth-place overall finish in the Gravity Mountain Cross. Photo by James E. Rickman

Mountain Flyer

Photo Journal

Angel Fire Chile Challenge MSC #2

Kalan Beisel (COMotion/Yeti) hammers through the cross-country home stretch on his way toward a second-place finish for Expert Men 25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;29.

Nathan Reeder (RMR) from Golden, Colo., finds his way through the root garden.

Mountain Flyer

Abigail Hippely (Maverick) powers through the Pro Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Downhill. Photos by James E. Rickman

Photo Journal

Angel Fire Chile Challenge MSC #2

The downhill course gives Quinton Spaulding (KHS) a lift in the final 30 seconds. Photos by James E. Rickman

Hunter Becker gets a jump on the competition to win the Mountain Cross for Junior Beginner Men 12 and under.

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Mountain Flyer

Rapha Classic Sportwool™ Jersey I’m not the first one to say this but the Rapha Sportwool Jersey is the best cycling jersey I’ve ever slipped over my shoulders. I’ve been catching myself doing my laundry more often just so I can cycle this jersey back through the system for the next ride. If it’s clean or doesn’t smell too bad, it’s the jersey I choose over any other. The fabric and quality of construction is top end. Rapha has also added a host of useful features like a waterproof zip pocket, pump pocket, fully lined zips and a “bite grip” on the collar—so you can hold your collar in your mouth while zipping up the jersey with one hand. Before you get shocked at the $185 price tag, keep in mind that the Classic Sportwool Jersey comes with a matching set of arm warmers, it’s made with 40 percent merino wool and it’s made in England. That all contributes to the price and it’s entirely worth it. For some reason, Rapha is pushing this jersey as more of a road jersey but I don’t see how it makes a difference. Merino wool is the ultimate on or off road. It’s itch-free, soft, supple, wicks away moisture and resists bacteria. If you’re tired of wearing goofy bright-colored petroleum jerseys, you’ll appreciate this jersey for the fabric and the subtle, classy British design. –B. Riepe Price: $185 Colors: Black or white Extras: Comes with arm warmers Phone: 08000.856.756 enquiries@rapha.cc, www.rapha.cc

First Endurance Ultragen Recovery Series First Endurance is a sports nutrition company backed by unmatched scientific credibility and clinical research. With a seven-member research board of MDs and Ph.Ds and an A-list of top pro athletes using, and not just endorsing, their products, the First Endurance line is certain to perform. When the scientists at Ultragen say that it’s designed to be the most advanced post-recovery formula ever produced, I believe them. Ultragens balanced formula contains a time response protein complex, carbohydrate catalyst, cortisol modulator, L-Glutamine, branched chain amino acids and essential vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. Immediately following a hard workout or race, your body opens the door for nutrients to be absorbed into the muscles to aid recovery. What’s important is that you provide the right nutrients, at the right time, to the right place. Ultragens carefully formulated combination of ingredients has the right stuff. In practice, Ultragen mixes easily (no blobs or chunks), the Orange Creamsicle flavor was a treat and it didn’t give me any sort of bloated protein-belly like a few other recovery drinks I’ve tried. –B. Riepe Price: $45 Phone: 866.347.7811 research@firstendurance.com www.firstendurance.com

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Zero Gravity OG-07 Ti Brake Brake performance is paramount when it comes to delivering stopping power and steering clear of cell-phonegabbing drivers. The need to scrub speed also comes in handy when diving into corners with excess gusto. And if you think equipping your bike with a stout set of stoppers carries a weight penalty, think again, as the Zero Gravity OG07 Ti brake calipers provide excellent stopping power at an unbelievable 199 grams. (For comparison, this is four ounces less than a Dura-Ace set.) The secret behind Zero Gravity’s performance comes in the form of a sneaky cam built into the brake arm mechanism. The geometry of these parts means that as you increase your lever squeeze, an expendably greater amount of pressure is applied to the rims. The result is instant speed reduction with easy braking modulation. Set-up was a snap with two installation steps to note. It’s essential not to over-torque the brake’s titanium fasteners and to take a little extra consideration with cable housing. If in doubt, have an experienced mechanic install the brakes. Once the brakes were installed, I was ready to hit the road. After a few months of riding in a variety of road and weather conditions, I am happy to say the increased stopping power was noticeable and appreciated, especially when bombing down mountain passes on Colorado’s Front Range or negotiating in-town, stop-and-go traffic during

thunderstorms. Zero Gravity receives additional kudos for including Swiss Stop Yellow King brake pads as standard equipment. These rubber pads are specifically formulated to work with both metal and carbon rims and do so in all weather conditions. –D. Sheldon Price: $429 www.zerogravitybike.com

Rocky Mounts Fly Trap With 20 mm thru axles becoming a standard on anything but hardtail race bikes, it’s getting harder and harder to attach your bike to that roof rack you spent $400 on three years ago. Boulder-based Rocky Mounts has a solution: The Fly Trap and Fly Trap adapter. These handy and affordable units are made to hold your 20 mm axle securely by simply re-installing the axle into the fork after removing the front wheel and clamping the hinge-top mechanism down on the axle. The bombproof design is clean and lockable. Options available are the Fly Trap, a bolt-down model for pickup beds or inside vans and SUVs, and the Fly Trap Adapter, which attaches to an existing QR roof tray. Got a Maverick bike? No problem, there’s an adapter for that, too. –B. Riepe Price: $50 to $60 Phone: 800.873.1871 www.rockymounts.com

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Are you ready for the 36-inch ‘Yarder’ Bike? New Mountain Tires, Tailor-Made, Expand Bike Selections Even More by Matt Wiebe Do you freeze in paralysis picking flavors at BaskinRobbins? Do your friends refuse to go to restaurants with you saying you stall the ordering process choosing salad dressing while they go hungry? Do yourself a favor and buy a mountain bike today, for tomorrow the choices are doubling. This summer, mountain bike customers can choose a 650B mountain bike, halfway between a 26-inch and 29er, or a huge 36er—a tire a full seven inches larger in diameter than a 29er. The new sizes allow builders a greater level of customized fit than available now. “I’m a believer in the advantages a 29er provides but for smaller riders I think it can be too big of a tire. Plus its size makes designing long-travel rear suspension difficult,” said Kirk Pacenti, custom bike designer and builder. “A 650B mountain bike tire is about halfway between a 26- and 29-inch tire. You get the rolling advantage of a bigger tire, but the smaller size is easier to work with,” he added. Rawland Cycles and Rivendell, as well as Pacenti, are offering 650B mountain frames and bikes in prices ranging from $1,500 on up. And two bicycle distributors will shortly be offering framesets to bike retailers. A historical note: had the Russian military not snatched up all the beefy Hakkapeliitta 650B Nokian tires produced for a few years in the ’80s, mountain bikes would be on 650B rather than 26-inch tires today. The steel rims used by the 26-inch tires at the time were heavy and braking was difficult in wet conditions, but the disappearance of 650B Hakkapeliitta tires forced builders to use the inferior 26-inch. The popularity of 650B tires with European cyclotourists then, and a growing number of Americans now, means there is a wide selection of lightweight rims. To support the growth of 650B mountain bikes, Pacenti is having 650B x 2.3 mountain bike tires made. He expects to retail them for about $100 a pair, and he is providing a selection of rims to fellow custom builders. White Brothers, the first to offer suspension forks for 29ers, is also first out of the gate with its 100 mm 650B suspension forks based on its Magic design. Not surprisingly, with Manitou and Pace just getting into the 29er fork market, don’t expect fork makers to be among early 650B adopters. 64

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If you scoff at 29ers for being diametrically challenged, then 36ers, “Yarders,” or whatever you call them, is your tire. Big is always better if you’re American—at least that’s what I’ve been told. Retailer Ben Witt, whose bike shop Milltown Cycle in Faribault, Minn., caters exclusively to 29ers, has built a sizable business selling bikes to those who think bigger is better. “When I became aware of the 36-inch wheels extreme unicycle riders were using, it didn’t take much for me to figure out what my next bike project would be,” Witt said. Witt is under no illusions that 36ers are going to be better at anything—not faster uphill, over bumps, through rock gardens or around 24-hour courses. “It’s pretty much a second bike for someone who wants to win any ‘my bike is bigger’ contest. But when you see the smiles on riders faces after riding a 36er, it’s a bike worth having for the fun factor alone,” he added. Mike Pofahl builds 36er frames and Witt builds up a wheelset using 36-inch r ims, hubs and tires from online unicycle retailer, www.unicycle.com. The unicycle tires are slicks weighing close to 1,600 grams with 4-ply casings, so Witt cuts a tread pattern into the slick that works really well and cuts the weight down a bit. “While I can cut a tread into a 36er tire pretty quickly, I think the two 29er tires we are splicing together now work better,” he said. He is already in talks with Unicycle.com about co-developing a lighter treaded tire that would work well for one and two tire applications. Over the development of his first few generations of frame design, he has shortened his 36er wheelbase to within a few inches of a 29er. Witt is offering 36ers for $4,000 depending on spec.

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David Zwerin

The Mother of Comfort !

R E K BI

I V E

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Kickin’ the Tires

The Mountain Flyer crew takes its bike testing seriously. In short, we take the bikes out into the cruel world and kick the tires a bit. Well, it’s more like punch the tires through a few nasty rock gardens, hammer them up countless loose climbs and skate them through slimy, tangled, rooty singletrack. You know, we ride those bikes.

The Pre-teen Bike Scene So your kids can’t keep up? Au contraire, try these lightweights. Story and photos by Matt Wiebe

y cursor was hovering over Ebay’s confirm bid tab with 15 seconds remaining on a killer deal for a wicked set of carbon fiber aerobars. I was about to steal the bars for $420 when my daughter cleared her throat behind me to say, “Daddy, I’d like to try a bike with gears.” By the time I had jerked my mouse arm free from her grip, the auction was over and begrudgingly she had my attention. “Baby, the bike I built you is lighter than any geared bike and we go everywhere, you don’t need no stinking gears,” I groused. “Daddy, the bike you built me is so cool, I know that, but I just want to try gears.” Well, said that way, as usual, she had me. I realized the days of my daughter knocking back trails on her ’70s-era, Italian lugged steel kid’s road bike, outfitted with flat bars, BMX mini wheels and singlespeed set-up, were drawing to a close. This called for one thing: a shootout of pre-teen mountain bikes, bikes for kids too small to fit a 26-inch bike. Of course, if you fill your children with BHT-induced milk and farmed salmon, even your pre-teen may be large enough to fit an extra small adult bike. If so, get it: a mid-range adult bike will be lighter than most 24-inch kid’s bikes. Lighten Up. Parents write off taking pre-teens on rides because they don’t expect them to have the skill or endurance to keep up. I don’t find this surprising, 66

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knowing the kinds of bikes most parents put their kids on. Throw a 50-pound kid on a 35-pound bike geared too high—well, do the calculations. For a 120-pound adult, that’s comparable to riding an 84-pound bike, or a 200 pounder riding a 140-pound bike. And remember to limit your large cog in back to 28 teeth or less. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Put your kids on any of the bikes reviewed here and be prepared to keep up. Just like adults learning mountain biking for the first time, it takes training and skill, but kids pick up things fast. I originally set out to test children’s hardtails weighing less than 25 pounds. Shoot, I’m 250 when my hair is wet and my bike weighs 23 pounds so I thought that was an easy qualification. I called and checked kids ’bikes from 14 brands, only the Scott Scale and Carver Mini weigh less than 25 pounds, and the Specialized and Kona are close. The Bikes. The father of a couple of the kids I had test riding said it all when he noted, “I would have never thought my kids could enjoy riding the same trails I do.” He promptly purchased two test bikes and couldn’t wait for the snow to melt to get the whole family out riding again. As a parent, I would change so much about these bikes, mostly putting on shorter cranks, lower the gearing and dropping the bottom bracket two inches. But at the

Carver Mini Willie, 3-foot 10-inches and 47 pounds, bombs on the Carver Mini. The Mini came with an aluminum frame, a rigid fork and internal gear Nexus 8-speed rear wheel weighing in at 24.7 pounds. Priced at $1,000, it’s the most expensive bike of the bunch but it also had the lowest bottom bracket, which makes a big difference.

end of the day, they allow kids access to your favorite trails, provided they do not have to lift or push the bikes far. The Carver Mini Carver Bikes designed the Mini’s geometry to accept 24-inch or 26-inch rear wheels. There are two cantilever brake locations to accommodate both wheel sizes as well as a disc brake mount. With a wheelbase of 38 3/4 inches, the 26-inch rear wheel option does not stretch the bike out and allows you to move up to a 26-inch wheel as your child grows. Standover height with 24-inch wheels as tested is 21 1/2 inches.

I realized the days of my daughter knocking back trails on her ’70s-era, Italian lugged steel kid’s road bike, outfitted with flat bars, BMX mini wheels and single-speed set-up, were drawing to a close.

Davis Carver, Carver Bike owner, has built up kid’s bikes weighing under 19 pounds, though like adult bikes how light depends on how much. Carver’s new titanium Mini is priced at $1,000 for the frame. Just think of the possibilities.

Scott Scale RC Jr. Maddy, 4-foot 5-inches and 63 pounds, sails on Scott’s Scale RC Jr. As its adult $850 price tag suggests, it’s spec’d with high-end components, Shimano Deore/XT drivetrain, alloy Spinner 70 mm fork. It’s the lightest bike tested at 22.4 pounds.

The Mini is the only frame using an eccentric bottom bracket, which allows single-speed or internal hub use. Spec’d with a Nexus 8-speed internal hub, the Mini required the lowest effort to shift. And with all the gears selected by one twist-grip, it was the easiest for kids to learn and use. Since Carver sells just the Mini frame for $399, parents with a garage full of parts can build up a Mini with a 26-inch wheel on front, needing only to buy a 24-inch rear wheel. Creative stem, seatpost and saddle swapping can keep a Mini in play for years.

Specialized Hotrock A1-FS Ian, 4-foot 9-inches and 70 pounds, loves the smooth Specialized Hotrock A1-FS ride. At $360, this diminutive Hotrock is a lot of bike for the money. At 25.4 pounds, it needs a freewheel swap to get gearing down for the Rockies, but its price tag makes it the value deal.

Scott Scale RC Jr. The Scott USA’s Scale RC Jr. is every bit a “Honey, I shrunk your bike” kids’ bike. Every component is top-drawer, and it was the lightest bike tested, 22.4 pounds. Scale’s 23 1/2 inch standover height makes it the tallest hardtail tested, and the bottom bracket is highest at 11 1/4 inches. Wheelbase is 38 inches. The Scale comes stock with Shimano PD-M520 clipless pedals, appealing more to small adults than kids. Specialized Hotrock A1-FS Specialized’s Deacon James, who designs the company’s kid’s bikes, has been working hard to take the weight out of its entire line but keep the bikes high in value. The focus on lightweight and quality spec extends from Specialized’s 24-inch bikes down to its entry level 12inch models. “It’s hard for parents to spend a lot of money on a kid’s bike they think will be outgrown so quickly. But how’s a kid going to get excited about riding a 35-pound bike?” James asks. Specialized’s Hotrock A1-FS comes in two sizes, 11.5 and 13.5 inches. Go for the 11.5-inch version we tested; the cockpit length is a minuscule third of an inch shorter than the larger frame, but the rider picks up a lot of crotch clearance with 21 inches of standover height. The bike fit all the test riders. Hotrock’s bottom bracket, at 10 3/4 inches, is a half-inch lower than the Scale, but I wish it was another inch lower. Its wheelbase is a tad over 38 inches. At less than half the cost of the Scale, Specialized saved money spec’ing a lower quality Shimano Altus drivetrain, a 7speed freewheel instead of Scales’ 8-speed cassette and other lesser parts. It’s $500 cheaper but three pounds heavier than the Scale.

Kona Makena Kona’s Makena is small enough for four and five-year-olds but adjusts for bigger kids as well. Kona figured some parents would geek out on the bike, building it super light for their kids, so they focused on keeping the frame light and the price down, said Doug LaFavor, Kona bike designer. “By keeping the price down, we appeal to those parents worried about spending a lot on a kid’s bike, but with the light frame a father can do a wild kid build,” he said. The Makena was not spec’d for the 1,500 or more vertical-foot trails the test riders rode. Its stock single 40-tooth chainring

Kona’s Makena Rachel, 4-foot 5-inches and 62 pounds, finds the Makena perfect, but then her mom rides a Kona. Smallest bike tested, spec’d with 20-inch tires, it sells for $250 and weighs 25.4 pounds. Its standover height of 21 inches is deceptive because its top tube is relatively flat and it is a great fit for smaller kids.

coupled with a 6-speed 14-28 freewheel was not low enough for steep climbs. So I swapped in a 135 mm crank with a 34-tooth chainring and changed the freewheel to a 13-34. With these changes, the bike weighed 25.4 pounds and allowed smaller riders to keep up on the climbs. Tester Comments. The bikes were all tested on the Dale Ball and La Tierra trail systems that surround Santa Fe, NM. Trail Mountain Flyer

Big-Hit Bikes For Little Kids If you live by a ski resort that runs a summer mountain bike program, then take a serious look at 24-inch big-hit kid’s bikes. The $1,399 Kona Stinky 2-4 and the $1,250 Norco B-Line 24 give nothing away to adult big-hit bikes. Kid’s gravity events at the Mountain States Cup are growing faster than adult racing, in part because gravity racing has greater appeal to kids. Hundreds of kids show up to big events. Given the choice between Mad Maxish body armor and hanging around with your friends talking about the course while waiting for your gravity run or going into oxygen debt on the cross-country course, what would you choose if you were 10? It was surprising that the suspension worked great for the 60 to 90-pound kids, almost full fork travel and very active rear suspension. It’s hard to get that performance out of my own bike. Since these bikes were tested over winter, ski resort riding or bombing Santa Fe’s Winsor trail were not options. However, both bikes got in plenty of trail riding. It may have been the visual appeal of the burley full-suspension designs, but as long as the kids knew that the trails

involved no pushing, the Stinky and B-Line were chosen over the substantially lighter hardtails. “The Stinky climbs better than the B-Line, but both of them climb better than the hardtails,” 10-year-old Maddy said. It was clear she was climbing switchbacks and steep sections that she couldn’t navigate on the hardtails. What probably made her say that is the rear-suspension, beefy 2.5 tires and wide handlebars gave the bike a cushy, secure ride allowing her to focus on turning the pedals over. All riders commented that the disc brakes on the big-hit bikes were much better than the hardtails’ V-brakes. If parents are into the gravity riding, there is no contest, Stinky and B-Line are the only bikes on the market to offer big-hit performance for small types. Both designs have been honed under countless grommets storming Whistler’s mountain bike park each summer, as both companies nailing the suspension tuning shows. For trail riding parents, the hardtails are the best bikes, especially if you like to explore. Kids flat refused to push the big-hit bikes through the trees to that better trail just a bit farther away.

Kona Stinky and Norco B-Line Without a kid on board, Kona’s $1,399 Stinky 2-4 looks just like an adult freeride rig. Norco’s $1,250 B-Line had a 41 3/4 inch wheelbase and weighs 39.2 pounds. Stinky and Norco’s B-Line come with Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 4 fork, Fox Vanilla R Pro Pedal shock, Hayes Sole hydraulic discs, 8-speed cassette and chain guard plus two chainring cranks. Stinky has a 40-inch wheelbase and weighs 37.4 pounds.

Mountain Flyer

conditions ranged from fast, smooth sections to big rock gardens. And getting in more than 1,500 feet of climbing before the Clif bars ran out was par for the course. Switching from the Specialized to the Carver, nine-year-old Ian said, “The Carver feels much slower, I like the Specialized better.” While his dad has built him up various lightweight BMX race bikes, they don’t match the Specialized off-road. “I like the Hotrock’s suspension fork, the brakes work really well, and the gears make trail riding easy. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s just a real smooth pedaling bike,” Ian said. Maddy, 10 years old, got the most saddle time on the bikes. She disagreed with Ian concerning the Carver’s steering. She thought the Mini was the most nimble of the bikes. But she agreed that the suspension forks on the other bikes made their rides smoother. Choosing between the Hotrock and Scale was hard. Maddy didn’t notice the weight difference at all, but she preferred the Rapid-Fire shifters on the Scale. “The paddle shifters are easier to reach when riding. Twist shifters are hard to turn when you are riding uphill and need to get to a lower gear fast,” she said. Alex, 10, on the other hand found Scale’s Rapid-Fires difficult. She liked the bike’s light weight and smooth ride much better than any other bike she’s ridden, but it would take her more than a few rides to

–M. Wiebe

get the gears figured out. She was used to twist-shifters. Willie is one of those kids that at 47 pounds and six years old would only ride the Carver if given the choice. “Daddy, this bike is awesome,” he exclaimed on many rides. While Willie also fit the Hotrock and Makena, but not the Scale, he found it easier to twist gears on the Carver’s internal hub and liked its light weight. Not surprisingly, he was unaffected by peer pressure and the necessity of suspension forks, especially once his dad found out tire pressures in the teens work just fine for 47-pound riders. The Makena fit Rachel, 7, and Willie well. Rachel really liked it, commenting that it fit her and was more comfortable to ride then her other bikes. She said she only changed gears when her dad told her too, but found the single twist-shifter easy enough to use. “I like riding it on bike paths more than steep trails. The big tires are nice,” Rachel said. Rachel and Ian’s mother was as enthusiastic about the bikes as much as her kids. For her, the 10 to 15-pound weight savings over a Wal-Mart bike made it easier on the kids to get the bikes off the porch or out of the garage. “And these bikes fit the kids better, you can see that by watching them ride, and they are way more excited about riding,” she said.

Kickin’ the Tires

Douglas Matrix

ith the rampant availability of computer modeling and carbon fiber manufacturing, carbon frames are no longer the exotic, endangered species they were a decade ago. Now

there are so many of these black-hearted machines on the road, you’d think they’d acquired the breeding habits of love-starved bunnies. One manufacturer who has seen and

The lustrous carbon look of the Matrix frame is reminiscent of some of the higher priced frames on the market. Photos by Dave Sheldon

met today’s carbon mad market is Colorado Cyclist, whose full carbon Matrix frameset, specked out with an Ultegra group, Easton Circuit wheels and FSA bars, stem and seatpost clocks in at a budget-friendly $1,999. And when you consider the bike’s 16 lb, 13 oz weight in a small frame, the deal sounds slightly askew. So, what’s the catch? That’s exactly what we wanted to know, so we rode the Matrix for three months this spring. Mind-numbing five-hour flatland rides, screaming mountain switchback descents, forgotten dirt roads and lung-searing climbs all rolled under the Matrix’s fat, oversized tubes. Simply put, the Matrix was remarkable. Part of the Matrix’s secret lies in its manufacturing process, which wraps and bonds the precisely matched carbon lugs and tubes together, thus eliminating weight while retaining great strength and stiffness. (It’s also worthy to note that the Matrix is built in the same Asian factory that produces frames for numerous well-branded companies.) Along with its fine stiffness to weight ratio, the Matrix is further aided by a road racing geometry and the predicable steering these numbers provide. All in all, the Matrix is a solid, light, exceptionally valued bike that remains comfortable during long rides, corners with steady assurance and climbs with remarkable ease. This fine performance makes it suitable for the beginning riders looking to purchase a high-quality machine they won’t grow out of any time soon or for the more experienced cyclist with an eye for value. –D. Sheldon Details: Colorado Cyclist Douglas Matrix/Ultegra Price: $1,999 Size Tested: Small Weight: 16 lbs, 13 oz (w/o pedals, water bottle cages)

As a complete bike, the $1,999 Ultegra spec’d Matrix is a raceready high-octane rig for a mid-grade price.

Mountain Flyer

Kickin’ the Tires

Paketa Magnesium Road Frame Magnesium. Here are the facts: It’s the lightest structural metal currently available in the world. It’s approximately 34 percent lighter by volume than aluminum and 50 percent lighter than titanium. It has excellent fatigue, denting and buckling resistance and the highest known damping capacity of any structural metal. All the qualities you need to make a supreme bike frame, right? Sort of. Most framebuilders and designers around the world would agree that magnesium’s general properties could

make a great bike frame but have thus far stayed far clear of it. The reason is that magnesium is difficult to work with and before now a number of issues needed to be resolved, like how to extrude tubes and weld the tubes correctly. Paketa put in four years of research and developed a proprietary tubeset consisting of 92 percent magnesium alloyed with other metals to achieve optimal mechanical properties. More research went into developing

On the one hand, the Paketa is smooth and supple over rough surfaces.

On the other hand, the magnesium frame is stiff laterally and as fast as Sputnik. Photos by Brian Riepe

Mountain Flyer

extrusion and welding processes. The result is an extensively tested, raceready frameset that is light, fast and runs smoother than a shot of Patron. I received the test bike as a frame only and built it up with my used but never abused Campagnolo Record gruppo so the comparison from frame to frame was easy. For my first ride on the Paketa, I tested it over the infamous Gunni Chip N’ Seal. (The public works department here in Gunnison, Colo., seems to think that chip n’ seal, using 3/4 inch gravel, is the cure-all for your road maintenance woes.) Even compared to the steel Bianchi I was riding before, the damping qualities of magnesium were plainly noticeable. Indeed, a very smooth ride. When climbing on the bike, its lateral stiffness and responsiveness to quick bursts felt more like carbon or aluminum but without the edge. Very nice for someone who considers climbing his only asset on the road. I was more than pleased with the overall ride characteristics, and the fit and quality of the craftsmanship were everything I had hoped for from a custom frame. It truly lives up to its name, as Paketa translates to rocket in Russian. If you got the means, this bike is a rocket. My test rig was a 56 cm full compact frame with a 73-degree seat tube angle, 73-degree head tube angle and a 66 mm bottom bracket drop. The bike handling was quick and stable. Even at 45 mph with my hands off the bars, there was never a hint of any wobble whatsoever. Never mind what I was doing with my hands off the bars! Call it a test. Paketa makes a full line of road, tandems and mountain bike frames, available with modified compact geometry with a 5-degree sloping top tube or full compact geometry with an 11-degree sloping top tube. –J. Irwin Details: Price (Frame with Easton EC90 carbon fork): $1,999 Size tested: 56 cm info@paketabike.com www.paketabike.com

Kickin’ the Tires

Scott Ransom SL The Ransom SL is a special edition to Scott’s Ransom line. Outfitted with a custom component package, the bike is meant to maintain the powers of a 165 mm rear travel bike (that’s 6.5 inches for those who don’t speak metric) while minimizing the weight. At 27.7 lbs, the SL is the lightest bike in its class and compromises very little in the durability department. It is a complicated bike. The proprietary rear shock and linkage design is completely unique and distinguishes the Ransom from other allmountain bikes on the market. My first ride on the Ransom SL was the Ribbon/Holy Cross Trail combo in Grand Junction, Colo. If you’ve never done this ride, you need to. It’s a technical masterpiece with the right combination of climbing and big-drop desert riding that makes it a perfect test trail for an all-mountain bike. Starting out climbing right from the parking lot, the Ribbon Trail keeps on climbing and gets steeper and rougher. Great opportunity. Within the first mile I had used the on-the-fly rear shock control lever a dozen times; locking it out on the jeep road and mostly using the 100 mm rear travel option on all the rough singletrack. In 100 mm mode, the ransom felt quick and agile. It seemed like a completely different bike, especially when I pulled out the Power Stabilizer knob (bob-free pedaling). For a 165 mm full-travel bike, the Ransom climbed great, even on the pavement. I had no complaints. The adjustable-travel front shock is a necessity here, too. After cranking the adjuster knob for what seemed like about 50 complete rotations (Marzocchi needs to improve this design a bit), I had the front shock set to 100 mm of travel. I left it that way for the rest of the climb. At the top, five seconds to reset the rear end to full 165 mm travel/big hit mode, another 50 rotations to get the front shock up to 160 mm travel, and it was time to see what this bike was really all about. The best way I can describe the Ransom is solid-stable. With the suspension dialed in properly, the bike is still responsive out of the turns while absorbing any drop-offs I was willing to hit. I’m sure it could handle a lot

When riding over dubious technical terrain, the Scott Ransom SL feels rock solid.

more. It didn’t take me long to get spoiled by all the rear travel; straight-lining technical sections strewn with 12-inch hunks of sandstone was undemanding. The rear end was plush but lively enough to pre-load for bunny hops or a little airtime off the drops. According to Scott USA, the Equalizer shock combines the advantages of larger oil volumes found in coil spring shocks with the weight savings of an air shock. Scotts’ trademarked Intelligent Rebound Valve (IRV) creates the noticeably stable ride by reacting to larger bumps with increased rebound dampening. Over small bumps, the rebound is faster and the shock remains responsive, while larger impacts slow the rebound, eliminating kick-backs and providing more control. Halfway through the Holy Cross trail, which is pretty much a rideable obstacle course winding through house-sized boulders, I was getting pretty cocky, an inherent hazard with such a bike (gravity does not discriminate). I came into a tight section way too hot. The trail narrowed to a V-slot between two massive boulders while dropping off about 18 inches.

The slot allowed for about two inches of tolerance on either side, which I failed to navigate. My right hand met with the rock (thank you, knuckle-protecting gloves) and spun my bars 90 degrees to the right while the front end plunged off the 18-inch drop. Bad combo. I was diving stupidly over the bars so quickly I never got my feet out of the pedals. Managing to get my left arm out in front, I took the bulk of the hit with my elbow and the rest with the top of my head. Thought progression: Compressed vertebrae? Spinal damage? Strained ligaments? Be more careful, you stupid idiot! While I was sustaining mild neck injuries, I was simultaneously mule-kicking the bike away from myself at perfect trajectory to fling it about 10 feet away and down into a rock field. Thought progression: Are boulders and carbon are a bad mix? What was that hollow, cracking sound? Bell rung, I got up and carefully tested the mobility of my neck. Seemed to work. The bike was lying sacrificially in the rocks below. Upon inspection, the bars were Mountain Flyer

The Ransom SL is spec’d well for everything from epic climbing to dropping steep technical lines.

crooked and the rear wheel was a it for three months and it held up bit out of true but, thankfully, the just fine, which leads me to beframe was unscathed. lieve it will keep on doing just fine I’m sure a lot of people see for at least a full riding season. this bike and wonder if carbon Overall, the Ransom frame was is the right material for such impressive, the technology behind a machine. Carbon fiber is a it is real and I’d recommend it somewhat mysterious material for a test ride and more. Bottom to me. The technology is conline, it was fun. I was equally stantly changing and its properimpressed by the component ties, strengths and weaknesses package on the SL. The SRAM XO depend on a lot of factors that I shifters are refreshingly funcwill probably never fully undertional. stand. To get some answers, I Other notables: Thomson called my friend Brent Ruegamer Stem, Avid Juicy Ultimate disc The Scott equalizer shock is just one of the proprietary features you will of Rue Sports. Brent produces brakes, Truvativ Noir MTB TM only find on the Scott Ransom line. Photos by Chris Hanna custom carbon race bikes from a Giga X Pipe Carbon crankset and shop in Mesa, Ariz. I’ve watched DT Swiss 240 disc wheels (20 mm Brent demonstrate the strengths of carbut appropriately strong where it needs to front thru axle).–B. Riepe bon fiber by bludgeoning a carbon fiber be. I have a lot of confidence in Scott so I fork against a cement floor. “If it’s done don’t think durability is a problem. Details: right, and Scott does it right, carbon fiber The only potential concern I had with Weight: 27.7 lbs can be just as durable to direct hits as any the frame was that the linkage design creFrame: Carbon CR1 HMF technology with other material” said Ruegamer. “Scott ates enough leverage to require high-presInterchangeable Dropout System (QR or does a lot of research and testing. They’re sure settings in the shock. For my 150-lb 12 mm thru axle) one of my favorite carbon manufacturers.” body, the recommended pressure setting Rear Shock: Scott Equalizer TC 3-Position I might have gotten lucky when I was 328 psi. That’s a lot of pressure packed (lockout, 90 mm and 165 mm) crashed but Scott reinforced the Ransom into a little capsule, which means more Price: $6380 frame in all the right places, keeping it light potential for failure. I rode the hell out of www.scottusa.com 72

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Kickin’ the Tires

Yeti 575 For cyclists whose size relegates them well into Clydesdale space, options for a good full-suspension trail bike often boil down to a Faustian bargain of trading durability for swiftness. On one hand, beefy riders can choose a lighter-weight machine knowing they’ll be signing on to a commitment to replace and upgrade key components that are unable to withstand repeated heavyweight poundings. On the other hand, they can select a heavy allmountain or downhill rig that will stay in one piece throughout the miles but at the expense of forever being at the back of the pack on climbs. Fortunately for us bigger people, the Yeti 575 demands no cross-country compromises. With a frame and rear shock weighing in at just over six pounds, the 575 ensures a sweet bike with 5.75 inches of travel at a reasonable weight. For my specs and size, the craftsmen at Yeti’s Golden, Colo., headquarters assembled a unique bomb-proof all-mountain machine, featuring Fox’s 36 TALAS RC2 front fork and DHX Air 5.0 rear shock integrated into a smorgasbord of components comprising Yeti’s Enduro Race build kit. All together on a large-size frame, the bike weighs 31.5 pounds. My first glance at the Yeti’s anodized aluminum “raw” finish, generous standover height, beautiful welds and cleanlined simplicity of its single-pivot suspension design made me want to hop on and ride immediately. But I paused a moment to make note of a couple features that give the 575 additional character. The rear swingarm design ingeniously incorporates a pair of carbon-fiber flex pivots on the seatstays that eliminate the need for heavier bushings or bearings at a point on the frame that experiences imperceptible movement. Additionally, the 575’s chainstays are not symmetrical; the slightly beefier drive-side stay rides lower on the frame than its counterpart, providing more chain clearance. Finally, the two sections of the V-shaped top tube converge above the shock mount to create a triangular void that makes a Yeti’s profile unmistakable while increasing strength and eliminating weight.

Three months of riding proved that the bike performs as nicely as it looks. The allmountain build meant I had to immediately test the bike on some technical challenges. As a predominantly cross-country rider, I was at first concerned the bike had been overbuilt for my needs. The TALAS fork provides travel adjustability between 100, 130 and 160 mm with the flick of a lever. For most riding, I found the 130 mm setting to be ideal, sucking up larger drops and bumps while not interfering with steeper climbs.

urging me to go “faster, faster, faster” unlocked a primal craving that could only be slaked by bombing over sketchier and sketchier stretches of terrain. Because the bike’s comfortable geometry holds its rider in a more upright position, I felt like I could continue to dish out these poundings all day long. The 20 mm thru-axle of the 36 TALAS RC2 guaranteed uncanny front-wheel stability and sure-footedness through rock gardens and loose scree. I was particularly appreciative of this feature while negoti-

The Yeti 575 is outstanding in its field. Photo by James E. Rickman

But what’s the use of having 160 mm of travel if you don’t use it? So off I went in search of some three-foot drops (a quest I had never before sought). On these largerthan-I-am-accustomed-to drops—where gravity teamed up with my 225 pounds to pack a wallop forceful enough to make Sir Isaac Newton proud—I found use for the six inches of front travel and the 5.75 inches of rear travel. Landings were gentle and velvety smooth, like the stroke of a thin-bladed knife going through a block of Muenster—plush and stable. The bike’s suspension nearly eliminated the pucker factor from these bigger hits, and the Yetiman graphic on the top tube

ating the crappiest line I could envision through a field of Toddler Heads (baby heads on steroids) on a nasty stretch of local trail that has previously exacted a toll for passage with a pound of my flesh; I rode it for free that day. The Yeti 575 is built to thrive in such conditions, so I didn’t find its performance on uneven ground particularly surprising. But I was very much surprised at how well the all-mountain monster behaved on the tight, twisty singletrack at Fruita’s 18 Road area. Despite the slack 67-degree head tube angle that comes with a 160 mm fork, I found the 575 to be agile and intuitive through the corners at high and low Mountain Flyer

Kickin’ the Tires speeds. Nobody behind me was forced to back off on the throttle as I deftly negotiated the serpentine cross-gully whoopdee-doos of the Kessel Run with the speed and dexterity of a test pilot while sporting a grin that was way too wide for an oxygen mask. Later, I enjoyed virtually bob-free pedaling courtesy of the DHX Air as we ground our way back up Prime Cut to Zippity Doo Dah, where the bike’s high-speed stability was showcased while scorching down an exposed 30-degree incline at speeds approaching 40 miles an hour. Similarly, the Yeti inspires confidence in the climbs with a well-balanced geometry that keeps the front wheel from slipping out and the back wheel from losing crucial traction. In fact, I was able to clean a couple of technical sections of climbs on my hometown trails that I had never before mastered on any other bike. And while my customary mediocre climbing ability did banish me to the back of the pack, no one had to wait any longer than usual at the top; it is my own weight, not the bike’s, that is my handicap.

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However, like a slippery root on a blind corner that throws you for a loop, a couple of unexpected issues did pop up. Shortly after picking up the bike and noticing some hinkiness with the front shifting, I discovered that the front derailleur cable had been incorrectly routed at the Yeti factory. A little later, a strange rattle alerted me that two connection points on the swingarm were working loose. This was followed by bolts backing out from the Juicy disc-brake mounting brackets, the chainrings and cranks. I wondered whether the Clydesdale Curse of component failure had swept over the bike, but close inspection revealed that the swingarm bolts had not been treated with thread-locking compound as recommended in Yeti’s own literature and that the other components had not been properly tightened to specs. The lack of rigorous quality-assurance standards that would have prevented a bike in such condition from leaving the factory was disappointing to see from a company producing high-end bikes.

The DHX Air 5.0 shock also became afflicted by the now-notorious “stuck-down” condition, which Fox believed had been corrected in ’07 models until my phone call to customer service. Fox’s service department swapped out the bad seals and I was back on the trail in a few days. None of these minor annoyances were enough to diminish the otherwise highquality experiences and adventures I have logged so far in the saddle of the Yeti 575. After a quarter of a calendar year on this high-performance bike, I feel like, although I haven’t become a lighter rider, I’ve certainly become a more confident rider—and it’s a confidence that doesn’t require pushing or taking the ski lift to the top. –J. Rickman Details: The non-traditional build of the bike tested here would retail at just above midrange for models with aluminum swingarms. Yeti 575s with aluminum swingarms retail from $2,722 to $4,603, depending on build; carbon swingarm bikes range from $2,917 to $4,798. www.yeticycles.com.

www.tripsforkids.org (415)459-2817 national@tripsforkids.org

You can change the lives of children. Start or fund a Trips For Kids program. Many kids never leave their own neighborhood to enjoy the beauty of nature. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we started Trips for Kids, a national non-profit organization that provides mountain bike rides and environmental education for disadvantaged youth. You can start a Trips for Kids chapter in your area. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll assist you, at no charge, by supplying bikes and helmets, and support based on 20 years of experience. Or make a difference by donating money, bikes or equipment (new or used). All donations are tax-deductible.

markhamjohnson.com

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Story and photos by James E. Rickman

ost people nowadays only know about Gallup, N.M., through its lyrical reference in the Oldies hit, Route 66, made famous by crooner Nat King Cole way back in the days of Corvette convertibles, neon lights and roadside diners that sprung up between Chicago and Los Angeles. For a community in the middle of nowhere that became Someplace by clinging to the asphalt skirt of the legendary Mother Road during the height of America’s automobile obsession, there’s subtle irony in the fact that part of Gallup’s new claim to fame revolves around the bicycle. Nearly 100 miles of trail can be found 76

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in Gallup’s immediate vicinity. But you won’t find any hucks, big air or screaming downhill here, just narrow, smooth, speedy singletrack that’s as good as anything in the Rockies. “We’re kind of proud of being a pure cross-country town,” says Albert Ortega, co-owner of High Mesa Bikes and Gear, located just a block away from Main Street and the old Route 66. “We have a lot of travelers coming through to ride the trails.” Long known as the world’s commerce hub for finely crafted turquoise jewelry and colorful Navajo rugs, Gallup might seem an unlikely setting for fat-tire fun. Truth is, Gallup’s trails and decision to

market itself as an outdoor tourism locale didn’t happen by accident.

Seeds of Change Gallup’s journey toward fat-tire fame began around 1999, about two decades after the demise of Route 66. When the number of annual visitors started to decline slightly, the community held an economic development conference to figure out what else Gallup had to market in addition to Native American crafts and fond memories of the Mother Road. The area’s landscape certainly seemed like a possibility. After all, the area’s red-rock cliffs had

Photos 2 and 4 are courtesy of Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce

lured Hollywood producers back in the through attrition, the mayor pushed an ment, the pressure was on to create a trail 1940s to film some of their more memoambitious $20 million suite of projects to system good enough to lure motorists rable Westerns on location in Gallup. improve the town. For its investment, from the interstate. The community came to realize that the community built a new aquatic center, the area’s rugged location might hold the renovated the historic downtown El Carpe Diem same appeal for modern-day adventurMorro Theater as a working entertainers as it did for yesterday’s movie moguls. Lundstrom then established a non-prof- ment venue and refurbished the County Rock climbing, hiking and biking were it organization, Adventure Gallup and courthouse and square into a community seen as offerings that might make Gallup Beyond. The organization’s 15-member gathering place that hosts traditional Namore attractive to the nearly seven million board included a six-foot-seven-inch tall tive American dances every evening from vehicles streaming past the community on attorney named Bob Rosebrough, who Memorial Day through Labor Day. The Interstate 40 each year. The seed for selling held a passion for rock climbing, mountain city also put down artificial turf on the Gallup as an adventure tourism destination biking and other outdoor activities. high school sports fields to replace was planted. the hard dirt and goat head Based on the outcome of stickers that young athletes the conference, New Mexico had to contend with in Rep. Patricia Lundstrom addition to rival teams. secured a small stash of Rosebrough had become state money to begin laying a change agent who stepped the foundation for outdoor onto the political stage at tourism. The funds were just the right time. used to acquire both a “The thing Gallup has nearby 70-acre rock-climbpolitically is that people ing area and land north of come to Gallup to service the city for mountain bike the Native American people, trails. working in the hospitals and “As you can imagine, the schools,” he said, “To service idea of adventure tourthe Native people, we’ve had ism was a big change for an influx of professionals Gallup landmarks Church Rock and Bell Rock provide a backdrop as Brian Hroch and some people, and embracing who are really progressive Orin Kettering enjoy a trail in the White Cliffs area northeast of town. change is extremely difficult politically. These progresfor some people,” Lundstrom sives want quality-of-life inisaid. “Right after I went to the legislature “To make it successful, adventure tiatives. They participate in these activities and came back with the funds, I overheard tourism really needed to have a political because it’s part of their lifestyle.” champion, and Bob Rosebrough became a couple of older folks at the coffee shop that champion,” Lundstrom said. saying something like, ‘$35,000 to buy a Trail Blazing Rosebrough ran for mayor on a platrock? Can you think of a bigger waste of With the wheels in motion for city form of “A New Day For Gallup” and was our money?’ Well, what they weren’t seeimprovements, the community focused on elected by a landslide out of a field of six ing is that that rock has some of the best creating some excellent bike trails and a climbing in the world.” candidates in March 2003. race to go with them. Meanwhile, Lundstrom and others He took the results of the election as a In just six months the city constructed mandate for change. Under his leadership, started planning for mountain bike trails its High Desert Trail System on the the city took a $7 million bond issue for a short distance from downtown on Gamerco easements north of town. Mayor quality-of-life improvements to the people private land belonging to a large limited Rosebrough joined bike mechanic and trail for a vote. partnership, Gamerco and Associates. guide author Steiner “Stan” Smith, artist “It was the first city bond issue passed Gamerco was not initially enthusiastic Bill Siebersma, physician Peter Tempest about providing trail easements, but even- in Gallup in 20 years,” Rosebrough said. and other biking enthusiasts in taking a tually granted access if the city proved the Funded with the bond money, local novel approach to designing and building land was fostering economic development tax revenue and savings realized by a 13 the new system. through outdoor sports. With this require- percent reduction in the city’s workforce Mountain Flyer

The group used tiny, colored flags to sketch out possible bike routes in the desert and mesa tops north of town, paying careful attention to integrating the best landscape features and scenery. Next, the group rode the routes to make sure they were functional, re-routing sections as necessary to preserve flow and continuity. Finally, the city paid the Youth Conservation Corps to finish the 12-foot trail corridors and install rock switchbacks. The trails were roughed in by January 2005. The only problem was the new High Desert Trails were raw and soft and probably would not be in optimal condition for the mountain bike race portion of the town’s first-ever Squash Blossom Classic, to be held that spring. The Mayor knew the trails had to be just right if Gallup’s first cycling event was to be effective in spreading the word about the city’s new outdoor opportunities. “We looked at the trail and said if we could get everyone we know who rides a bike in Gallup to come out and ride on this thing for about 12 hours in April, the trail would be ready by spring,” Rosebrough said. And thus Gallup’s now-famous Dawn ’Til Dusk endurance race was born. That first year 100 riders from all over New Mexico braved freezing temperatures, 50 mile-per-hour winds and intermittent periods of bone-chilling sleet to complete the race. Now in its third year, the Dawn ’Til Dusk has become Gallup’s signature event and the mountain bike season opener. Years after being ridden hard by thousands of cyclists, the High Desert Trails remain narrow, tight and fast—a key factor in the popularity of the race. “The clay soil out there fluffs during the winter’s freezes and thaws, and the trail kind of reboots itself each year,” says Siebersma, who created the metal sculptures adorning the High Desert Trails. “You have to ride it in again each spring. The trail tends to fill in in many places and that’s one of the things that gives me high hopes that it will stay narrow over the years.” 78

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High above Gallup, trail guide author Stan Smith looks out toward Interstate 40 and wonders how many people are missing out on the community’s excellent trails.

Just minutes from downtown, the First Mesa loop of the High Desert Trail System provides a sense of solitude for former Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough, who stands near one of the metal sculptures decorating the trail system.

Head for the Hills Despite the artist’s connection to the High Desert System, Siebersma’s real focus is the McGaffey trail systems located on U.S. Forest Service land about 15 miles

east of town. These trails, higher in the mountains and a good escape from Gallup’s summer heat, existed for years in a limbo of non-official “user-defined trail” status. However, the U.S. Forest Service

Photo 7 is courtesy of Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce

recently dedicated some 70 miles of the McGaffey system. In addition to making the trails “official,” the dedication also means trails will be signed and trailheads improved with parking lots and toilets. “Starting back in 1998, we had a goal up there of building five miles a year,” Siebersma said. He and his son have personally scratched miles of singletrack into the area. The trails include high-speed rides through stands of aspen that blaze yellow during fall’s finale in late September and early October, and routes that fuse redrock slickrock with Ponderosa pine forest. The trails have a personality distinct from the High Desert system 1,000 feet below. Siebersma hopes that in a few years groups like Gallup Trails 2010, of which he is a member, will create singletrack from the Zuni Pueblo south of town all the way to the Continental Divide Trail 20 miles east of Gallup. Former bike mechanic Stan Smith has captured all of Gallup’s current trails in his guidebook, Gallup Waypoints: A collection of singletrack mountain bike trails based out of Gallup, New Mexico. Smith is helping spread the Gospel of Gallup trails through his newfound status as an author and long-established enthusiasm for riding his singlespeed anywhere it will take him. He hopes to produce new editions of Gallup Waypoints as area trail systems continue to expand.

A New Dawn Gallup’s focused head-on charge toward change came to an end in March 2007, when Bob Rosebrough left office after deciding not to seek another four-year term. Having accomplished most of the goals he set at the beginning of his mayoral bid, there probably was no need to. “When it comes to change in Gallup, the genie is out of the bottle,” Rosebrough said. Rep. Lundstrom says those old timers who initially scoffed at Gallup’s efforts probably have changed their tune now that

A Triad of Races in Gallup Trail and road riders eager to compete for bragging rights and prizes can look toward Gallup early and late in the racing season for some fine competitive events. The annual Dawn ’Til Dusk 12-hour endurance race is drawing an increasingly larger pack of competitors each April as word of the High Desert Trail system spreads. With more than 300 participants this year, attendance has tripled since the race’s debut on a frigid, windy, wet April day three years ago. For those whose training peaks later in the year, Gallup has moved its annual Squash Blossom Classic this year to Sept. 29 and 30. The Squash Blossom Classic features a cross-country foot race, the High Desert Screamer mountain bike race and an omnium (road race, criterium and time trial) for roadies. This year’s Squash Blossom Classic will include a new familyoriented category that encourages family members to compete in different events for points. The winning families will be awarded a Zuni squash blossom necklace, a beautiful turquoise treasure that will undoubtedly become an heirloom for the winners. The success of these competiRacers jockey for position in the 2007 Dawn ’Til Dusk. tions can be traced to the hard work and vision of Lindsay Mapes, who came to Gallup as a young AmeriCorps/Vista volunteer. Mapes conceived, developed and organized the first Dawn ’Til Dusk and Squash Blossom Classic events with just a few months lead-time at the request of former Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough. “I had never ridden a mountain bike before I planned these events,” she said. Nevertheless, the events are impeccably run, fun and have fantastic prizes. Mapes brought the events with her when she later accepted a job as the Events and Public Relations Coordinator for the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital. In addition, the hospital will host the Adventure Gallup triathlon on June 16. For information on the Gallup events, go to the following websites: • Dawn ’Til Dusk: www.dawntilduskrace.com • Squash Blossom Classic: www.squashblossomclassic.com • Adventure Gallup Triathlon: http://www.rmch.org/item.asp?iid=81

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Tour of the Nations

A two-wheeled trek through Native American culture

Bob Rosebrough and Dr. Eric Manske make their way past one of the huge cairns on the Second Mesa loop of the High Desert Trail.

they’ve had a chance to see an increase in visits and overnight stays resulting from Gallup’s adventure tourism initiatives. “Is it going to create 40 new businesses any time soon? Probably not,” she says. “Outdoor tourism is about marketing and promoting and getting people out on the trails and then maybe into the downtown afterward to look at and buy Indian jewelry.” But there are other signs that adventure tourism is starting to pay off. Bike shop owner Albert Ortega has noticed more cyclists stopping in Gallup. The son of Armand Ortega, owner of Gallup’s most famous lodging establishment, the legendary El Rancho Hotel, Albert Ortega and his wife Rebecca probably could have followed his parents’ footsteps and opted for making a comfortable living in the hospitality industry. Instead, the pair is committed to their bike shop and the potential that cycling brings the town. “I think people are finally seeing results,” says Rosebrough in his characteristic soft-spoken manner that seems strangely incongruous to his size. “People are seeing 300 riders coming to Dawn ’Til Dusk, outdoor magazines are interested in Gallup, people like Albert and Rebecca Ortega are making a living with a bike shop. Those are all very positive signs that our vision was correct.” Yet others are not as sure. Politics in the Land of Enchantment is a mixture of patronage and paybacks— where old friends are rewarded with plum positions and projects, and political foes 80

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Cyclists will have a unique opportunity to spend five days exploring Native American pueblos and landmarks during the first annual Tour of the Nations on Aug. 5 through 10. Participants in this fully supported ride will be guests at the legendary pueblos of Isleta, Laguna, Acoma and Zuni, where riders will feast on native foods and witness traditional ceremonies before making their way toward Gallup for the annual Inter-Tribal Ceremonial gathering, a spectacular tradition of Native American ceremonies and dances that has endured for 86 years. Matt O’Mara, ride organizer and director of Adventure Gallup and Beyond, promises an experience unlike any other bike tour available by providing a rare invitation to riders to be pueblo guests. “The Governor of each pueblo will escort riders out and will give a traditional blessing on the way out,” said O’Mara. “We’ve biked the whole route to ensure that the rides each day are not overwhelming. I want people to have the energy and time to check out the pueblos while they’re there.” Daily rides average 52 miles with moderate elevation gains. The tour begins at Isleta Pueblo and heads west on New Mexico’s scenic side roads. In addition to pueblos, riders will experience the spectacular lava flows of the El Malpais (Spanish for “Badlands”), an ice cave tucked within volcanic lava tubes, and the El Morro oasis, which has rock inscriptions dating back a thousand years chronicling the travels of the region’s ancient inhabitants and Spanish explorers. Up to 200 riders can participate, and O’Mara says registrations will be accepted through the end of July. The event already is drawing participants from both coasts and Europe. Proceeds from the ride will support the non-profit Adventure Gallup and Beyond, which is responsible for increasing adventure tourism in the Gallup region. The event costs $600 and includes camping with showers, breakfast and dinner and traditional meals, and dances and tours in the pueblos. For more information or to register, contact O’Mara at 505.722.4327 or momara@nwnmcog.com.

The High Desert Trails are built in clay soil that repairs itself each year, keeping the trails narrow and fast.

The Gallup Lowdown Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce—Chock full of information and resources, home of the World War II Navajo Code Talkers Museum. 103 W. Historic Highway 66; 505.722.2228; www.thegallupchamber.com

If you blink you might miss this life-sized horned toad sculpture along the trail.

El Rancho Hotel & Motel—Historic and funky, this fun fixture of Gallup provided rooms to Hollywood stars like Jane Wyman, Allan Ladd, Jackie Cooper and Ronald Reagan when they were in town making cool old Westerns. 1000 E. Historic Highway 66; 505.863.9311; www.elranchohotel.com Hampton Inn—One of Gallup’s newest hotels, located way out on the western edge of town (near the Dawn ’Til Dusk starting area), featuring awesomely comfortable beds and a very friendly staff. 111 Twin Buttes Rd.; 505.722.7224 High Mesa Bikes and Gear—Owners Albert and Rebecca Ortega know tons about area rides and like to get out on the trails themselves. 123 W. Coal Ave.; 505.863.3825; www.highmesabikes.com

A collection of fossilized seashells found near a section of Gallup’s oldest singletrack betrays the region’s prehistoric undersea past.

and their priorities are banished with the sweep of a pen each time a new administration takes over. “Sometimes I wonder whether we did too much,” confides one community cycling enthusiast. “I mean all these trails are great and all, but what next? How do we know the old guard isn’t going to come in now and start dismantling everything?” But with a firm foundation established from a successful trail system and bike events, coupled with seed money secured by Rep. Lundstrom to help Adventure Gallup and Beyond become self-sustaining, Gallup’s “New Day” likely won’t collapse under changing political winds. Few would disagree that for Rosebrough to pull off sweeping reforms in New Mexico’s tough political climate during a single four-year term is nothing short of remarkable. But the former mayor hasn’t let the accomplishments go to his head; that would detract from his trail time. A few months after becoming a regular citizen again, Rosebrough skillfully guides his nondescript green Haro 29er on the High Desert Trails on a windy afternoon. Under his towering frame the bike seems normal sized. The former mayor effortlessly navigates the serpentine course as if he’s got it memorized. Watching his wheel provides a great line for those less familiar with the path ahead. It’s a lead that can be trusted to get you where you need to go.

Trail Guide—Gallup Waypoints: A Collection of Singletrack Mountain Bike Trails Based out of Gallup, New Mexico is Stan Smith’s user-friendly, comprehensive, color-coded guide to 20 area trails that includes difficulty ratings and elevation profiles. A must-have for every two-wheeled visitor. Pick up a copy at High Mesa Bikes or order online; www.gallupwaypoints.com The Coffee House—A relaxed place for a tasty breakfast sandwich or a really good piece of pie or cake. Oh, and the coffee’s good, too. 203 W. Coal Ave.; 505.726.0291 Earl’s Restaurant—Native American craft vendors come right to your table while you dine on menu items that are a throwback to the good ole’ days of road food. 1400 E. Historic Highway 66; 505.863.4201 Blake’s Lotaburger—Blake’s big burgers with green chile are a New Mexico tradition, but their fries are the best on the planet! Four locations in town, with two right on Route 66. 1925 W. Historic Highway 66; 2618 E. Historic Highway 66. Glenn’s Cafe, Bakery and Pizzeria—Great daily lunch specials, but I’ll be damned if they don’t have the largest, tastiest-looking selection of donuts you might ever lay eyes on. 900 W. Historic Highway 66; 505.724.4104 Richardson’s Trading Company—An original pawnbroker with an astoundingly expansive selection of Native American arts and crafts, from baskets to Kachinas. Richardson’s rug room is like a museum! 222 W. Historic Highway 66; 505.722.4762 Nightly Indian Dances and Market—Free performances nightly at 7 p.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day at the newly renovated Courthouse Square. Gallup Flea Market—Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. you can find Native American Arts and Crafts direct from the source. North 9th Street Gallup Murals—A series of eight eye-popping murals located in the downtown area depict a trip through Gallup’s eclectic history. The Gallup Chamber has brochures and maps for a self-guided tour.

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General Information www.durango.org Lodging (central reservations): 800.409.7295 Camping: www.reserveusa.com Calendar of Events Iron Horse Bicycle Classic www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com, May 26-28, 2006 Durango 100 Century Ride www.durango100.com, July 23, 2006 Durango MTB 100: www.gravityplay.com, Aug. 26, 2006 Road Apple Rally, Farmington, NM www.roadapplerally.com, Oct. 7, 2006 Guidebooks and Maps Mountain Biking Colorado’s La Platas, by Derek Ryter Mountain Biking Durango, by John Peel Mountain Biking Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, by Robert Hurst

Local Club Durango Wheel Club, www.durangowheelclub.com Club Rides, April 5 through Oct. 25 A-Ride, B-Plus Ride or B-Minus Ride, 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Meet at Schneider Park on 9th St. & Roosa or Durango Sports Club, 1600 Florida Rd. (North lot) or Sweeney’s Parking Lot (corner of Hwy 550 and CR 203)

C-Ride, 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Meet at Durango Rec Center, Hwy 500

Women’s Ride, 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Meet at Wild Sage Salon/Bread **Some scheduled club rides start at 5:15 p.m., Check Durango Wheel Club website for details

Local Character

Bob Gregorio Bob Gregorio has seen some drastic changes in bicycling. Recently inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, he has been on almost every type of bicycle since the 1960s, constantly evolving with the times. He is a mountain biking pioneer in the area, being the first to ride many of the trails that make Durango, Colo., one of the world’s cycling meccas. From being a rider, mechanic and tour guide, his zeal for all things bike can inspire us all. I had the pleasure of accompanying him and several other local cyclists on a bike tour last fall. Our talks during the “Freedom Tour” gave us a chance to get to know each other and we became good friends. 82

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This is what I have to offer. I really believe the world needs bicycles.

He is extremely grounded on a spiritual level, always taking in his surroundings and appreciating every moment. We originally met at Durango Cyclery, a local bike shop where he is a mechanic. Bob and I instantly connected, both of us having spent a considerable amount of time in Central America—mainly Costa Rica—where he spends a few months every year leading guided tours. He is always willing to talk, so much so that the owner of the Cyclery, Russell Zimmerman, jokes about how Bob will talk for hours. It’s true, but when you have as many stories to tell as Bob does,it happens.

I recently had the chance to interview “Bicycle Bob” and talk to him about a couple of projects he is involved in. Mountain Flyer: What brought you to Durango and when? Bob Gregorio: I moved to Durango in search of bigger mountains and wild rivers—and wilder women—in the spring of 1974. MF: What has kept you so involved with the biking community? BG: Love…for the sport, for the vehicle, for the places and the pilots.

MF: It seems that you always have something going on. What are your current projects? BG: I feel called to spread the word and thusly have offered a mechanics clinic both domestically and in Latin America. My goal is to promote the benefits of cycling and educate bicycle shop staff, primarily mechanics, regarding modern bike technologies. I’m also involved in guided cycling tours in Costa Rica. My Costa Rican partner, Paulo Valle, organizes the itineraries to utilize locally owned housing and food. Our aim is to explore the incredible cycling possibilities there while benefiting local economies. Locally, I am part of an effort we’re calling “Project Smylie Bike.” Mr. Smylie was Durango’s long-time fixture in the used bicycle trade who passed away last December at the age of 94. He supplied the region’s cyclists with functional, inexpensive bikes for more than 30 years—always with a smile and at a fair price. Thanks to Mr. Smylie and his daughters, Linda and Diane, for donating the entire collection to be given away in Mr. Smylie’s honor. Many volunteers have stepped up in their efforts to prepare as many bikes as possible to be given away during Durango’s “Bike to Work Day” celebration in June. We’d like to continue the project into the future with the goal of encouraging the bicycle as a form of transportation. Our wish is to focus on providing bikes for challenged groups in the community such as immigrants and the homeless. MF: Why do you see a need for the project? BG: Generally, bicycles are under utilized in our country as a form of transportation. Once an item has been manufactured, it has exacted a price on our environment. It’s a shame to send it to a landfill where it continues to contaminate. Let’s use and re-use what’s usable, like bicycles. A whole new-old economy could take root in restorations. An added bonus is the reduced demand for petroleum… should I mention the health benefits? Mountain Flyer

MF: What inspires you to help others? BG: Good fortune combined with my life experiences. My eyes have seen enough to know the difference between wealth and poverty, material or spiritual. Bicycles are my medium for overcoming either class of poverty. This is what I have to offer. I really believe the world needs bicycles. We all need to slow down and consume less. Exercise more, contaminate less and relieve stress. The satisfaction received from inspiring someone to embrace cycling is well worth my effort. MF: What do you want to achieve with Project Smylie Bike? BG: Project Smylie Bike would like to see more folks, from as many diverse communities and ethnic groups as possible, riding bicycles. We’d like to change the mentality of the general public toward the usage of bicycles, for transportation and sport alike. Embracing the fun and efficiency of cycling can make a powerful change in an individual, and more importantly in the larger community as a whole. MF: How is biking going to help save the world? BG: I think I’ve already answered that! –D. Dencklau

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Above photographs are courtesy of the New Mexico Bureau of Tourism

Local Information Center www.santafe.org 800.984.9984

Photo by Jack Parsons

Camping info: Hyde Memorial State Park, 505.758.6200 www.gosantafe.com Regional Cycling Calendar Santa Fe Big Friggin’ Loop 70 mi MTB race, July 7, New Mexico Endurance Series, www.nmes.wordpress.com Prison Loop Road Race, July 28, www.nmcycling.org Santa Fe Hill Climb, Aug 5, www.nmcycling.org Bike-A-Go-Go, Nov 2007, www.pedalqueens.com Guidebooks and Trail Maps Available at local bike shops or online booksellers: Falcon Guide: Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico The Pathfinder: A Complete Guide to Mountain Biking, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, and Northern New Mexico Local Cycling Clubs and Club Rides Pedal Queens Women’s Cycling Club: full calendar of rides at www.pedalqueens.com Other state bike clubs and scheduled group rides www.nmcycling.org Tuesday evening rides www.mellowbike.com Weekly group rides: www.nmbikensport.com Attractions Santa Fe Opera www.santafeopera.org Shidoni Foundry and Gallery www.shidoni.com Lensic Performing Arts Center Mountain Flyer

Photos on this and facing page are courtesy of Fruita Chamber of Commerce and Cobb & Associates

Local Information Centers Fruita Cycling Information: www.fruitamountainbike.com, www.fruita.org or www.gofruita.com Fruita Chamber of Commerce: www.fruitachamber.org or 800. 858.3894 Grand Junction: www.visitgrand junction.com or 800.962.2547 Camping Colorado River State Park, 970.858.9188 Highline State Park 970.858.7208 Colorado National Monument, 970.858.3617 Regional Cycling Calendar Fruita Fat Tire Festival: April 2008 www.emgcolorado.com Subaru Monument Divide Race, October 6, 2007, www.gjcycling.com 13th Annual Tour of the Vineyards, Sept.16, www.emgcolorado.com 18th Annual Tour of the Valley, 30, 50, 75 or 100-mile rides; Proceeds go to support other biking activities in the Grand Valley area, www.ghjosp.org,800.621.0926 Guidebooks and Maps Fruita Fat Tire Guide by Troy Rarick Grand Junction Trails and Camping Guide, by Nattana Johnson and Christopher Schnittker, www.outdoorguru.com Local Clubs and Club Rides COPMOBA, Very Proactive Advocacy Group: www.copmoba.com Red Rock Riders: Weekly road rides starting April 11; Meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Canyon View Park (G and 24 Roads), www.redrockriders.com

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Larry Pierce/Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association

Local Information and Lodging Steamboat Chamber of Commerce www.steamboat-chamber.com 970.638.4239 General Information: www.steamboatsprings.net Calendar of Events Town Challenge Mountain Bike Series, open to kids and adults, and held every other week in May through August. Each race is followed by a post-race party, www.steamboat-chamber.com Moots Criterium Series, May through August, www.routtcountryriders.org The Rio 24 Hours of Steamboat, June 2007, www.rockypeakproductions.com Kent Eriksen Cycles Tour de Steamboat, August 2007, www.rockypeakproductions.com Local Clubs and Club Rides Routt County Riders Bicycle Club: www.routtcountyriders.org Tuesday night rides meet weekly 5:30 p.m. at Orange Peel Bike Shop (downtown at the corner of 12th Street and Yampa Ave). Contact Barkley Robinson at bark@lseng.net Guidebook Mountain Biking In the High Country of Steamboat Springs, Colorado by Tom Litteral 88

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Corey Kopischke/Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association

Local Character Katie Lindquist A little of bit of everything, that’s how Katie Lindquist sums up her involvement in the Steamboat bike community. Originally moving here to ski in the early 90s, Katie left Steamboat in 1994 but returned for the biking in 2000 while training for the Race Across America (RAAM). “I wanted to acclimate to high altitude and live the cyclist mantra: ride, eat, sleep, repeat,” she said. “During this time I became a community member, working on the side as a cycling coach, indoor cycling instructor and joining the local bike club, the Routt County Riders. I truly developed my place in Steamboat during this time”. After the 2000 RAAM, Katie returned to Steamboat to train, ride and live a bit. Going on to compete in more ultra-distance events, she won two 24-hour world championships, both on and off-road as solo racer, and she finished in the top three in Costa Rica at the La Ruta de los Conquistadores. “It was a rough race back then,” recalls Katie. “No safety barriers, no 2x4s spanning the gaps on the railroad bridges, no course markings, no rules. It was crazy.” Since returning, Katie has found her niche in Steamboat. In 2001, Katie met now husband and business partner Kent Eriksen, founder of Moots Cycles (and now Kent Eriksen Cycles), a pioneer in the cycling community locally and at large. “Kent is beyond my partner, he is the best friend we should all get to have,” said Katie. “We met skiing and carried it on into riding. To this day we ride, train, race and run the business building bikes together.” The two founded Kent Eriksen Cycles in 2005 and currently produce more than 200 custom titanium frames a year. Since 2000, Katie has also developed the Steamboat Mountain Bike Camp, an instruction program at the Steamboat ski area and, more recently she co-founded and continues to direct the Rio 24 Hours of Steamboat bike race and the Kent Eriksen Tour de Steamboat with co-founder Brad Cusenbary. “Brad and I have a lot of fun with these events. We both have other jobs but we

wanted to bring some life to this community via cycling,” Katie said. “Our philosophy is to put on an event that is affordable, approachable and local. We make sure that the top male and female solo racers are paid cash; all other categories receive merchandise prizes and fun tokens for their efforts.”

You can still find Katie teaching a spin class, coaching a local rider for a race or tour, or out riding her bike in all weather. But mostly you will find her working side by side with her husband at Kent Eriksen Cycles, taking orders, answering the phone or riding her bike. –K. Eriksen

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Arkansas River Valley: Salida and Buena Vista, Colo. Portals to the Banana Belt

Local Information Centers Coloradoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Headwaters of Adventure, Lodging, Camping and Recreation Info: www.coloradoheadwaters.com Salida Chamber of Commerce: www.salidachamber.org, 877.772.5432 Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce: www.buenavistacolorado.org, 719.395.6612 Absolute Bikes: www.absolutebikes.com Guidebooks Salida Singletrack, by Nathan Ward, available online or at local bike shops, www.nathanward.com Colorado Headwaters Mountain Bike Guide: Free guide available at local shops, www.ColoradoHeadwaters.com Regional Cycling Calendar Chalk Creek Stampede, www.racemsc.com or www.rpmcycling.org Salida Omnium Road Race, Masters State Championships, July 2007, www.southcentralracing.com Leadville Trail 100, August 2007, www.leadvilletrail100.com Third Annual Vapor Trail 125 Ultra Marathon, Sept 2007, www.vaportrail125.com Mt. Princeton Hell Climb, 4,000 vertical over 7.5 miles, October 2007, www.rpmcycling.org Local Cycling Clubs and Club Rides SRC/Amicas Cycling Club: www.southcentralracing.com Group rides leave almost every day from Amicas Brewery and Pizzeria in downtown Salida. Other Attractions Hot Springs in Salida and Buena Vista, Arkansas River (kayaking, rafting, fishing) and Monarch Ski Area Salidaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Amicas Brewery and Pizzeria

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Local Character

Don McClung It’s 4:19 a.m. on July 4. Thirty odd sleepy mountain bikers congregate in front of Don McClung’s small home: singlespeed and geared mountain bikers anxious for the annual ride up to the Monarch Crest and back down the Rainbow Trail to Don’s home on the Arkansas River. A minute later, a practiced cheer from Wade Veazey, a devout follower of Don’s 29-inch, single-speed creations and 14-year veteran of the outlaw ride, breaks the morning calm. Tires spin out and smoke lingers in the cool air as the all-day ride begins for the 20th year. The outlaw ride, Don’s bicycle philosophy and the avid proponents of his custom bicycles are intertwined like a wellbuilt wheel. Don builds his custom bikes in a cozy outbuilding behind his home. His company name, Backyard Bicycle Company, conjures up limited bike knowledge but nothing could be further from the truth. Don’s historical knowledge is immediately evident as you enter his fabricating domain. Beautiful historical bicycles hang from the ceiling, and his spirited conversation flies across each nuance of the 1890s Pierce bicycle with wooden rims or the Clipper with faint hand-painted striping. His guided tour is a special introduction to a devoted frame builder who eschews marketing programs and leaves naming his hand-built bicycles to each excited new owner. Don states without reservation, “A custom bike used to be an art, now it is a commodity.” Looking at one of his bikes hanging next to the wood stove, bronze fillet-brazing smooth against the steel tubes, one definitely sees an artistic style taken from older bikes and a philosophy practiced from more than 20 years of building and believing in the superiority of 29-inch wheels, comfortable and utilitarian geometry for all riders, as well as one speed. Matt Rhoads of Subculture Cycles in Salida, Colo., a seven-year veteran of Don’s outlaw ride, is a proud, first-time owner of a Don bike. When asked what was his best July 4 ride, he stopped tuning his rusted ’65 Triumph and, without reservation, said, “My best ride will be this year. On a Don bike!”–P. Benningfield

Local Information Center Lodging, Camping, Events, Festivals, etc. go to www.gunnisoncrestedbutte.com 1.800.814.7988 Regional Cycling Calendar Fat Tire Bike Week, 27th annual, June 2007, www.ftbw.com 4th Annual Crested Butte Classic, no entry fee, no prizes, July 14, 2007, crorussell@yahoo.com 5th Annual 24 Hours in the Sage, August 2007, www.24hoursinthesage.com

Guidebooks and Trail Maps Mountain Bike Crested Butte Singletrack by Holly Annala Hartman Rocks Trail Map (Pocket- sized and laminated) designed by David Kozlowski Local Cycling Clubs and Club Rides CBMBA-Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association Weekly Rides Crested Butte Club Road Ride, Tuesday evenings (Summer) meeting Tuesdays 5:30 p.m.

Gunnison Club Road Ride, Wednesday evenings (Summer) meeting 5:30 p.m. at the TuneUp Bike Shop, 222 N. Main Street

Weekly Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MTB ride, Tuesdays 5:30 p.m. leaving from Hartman Rocks main Parking lot Attractions Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and Museum 331 Elk Ave. Crested Butte 970.349.1880

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www.tomstillophoto.com

Local Character Lisa Cramton, Crested Butte Super volunteer Lisa Cramton does not wear a cape or a mask but she probably should. Judging by the time, energy and enthusiasm she invests in all of her volunteer positions, anyone would believe she could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Lisa works fulltime at an outdoor shop, The Alpineer, and somehow manages to be on numerous boards. All of this with no guaranteed CEO position or stock options at the end of her volunteer rainbow. In our modern capitalistic system, long work hours leave little time for volunteerism. But to maintain strong communities and great places to live, volunteers are vital. And in Crested Butte, with its strong volunteer base, Lisa is a standout. You need as much endurance to read her lengthy volunteer resume as you do to ride with her. Lisa’s first volunteer position, at the young age of 10 years old, must have made an imprint on her because she has been volunteering ever since. From horses to skiing to bikes, she has volunteered at every level with a sincerity that says she is happy to see you. Currently, the self-described den mother’s volunteer positions include Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association’s treasurer, Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and Museum’s board member and two other non-bike related boards.

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When queried about her volunteer philosophy, she mentions connection to community, opportunity to give back, pride, ownership and new friends. On trail workdays, she says the large volunteer numbers make it easy. She concedes it all sounds cliché, but hardworking volunteers like Lisa are the ones that help keep our town running like a well-oiled machine. –S. Lawler

MINDY STURM, Broker/REALTOR 970.209.0911 LAVADA BRAMLITT, Client Services 970.349.6114

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Mountain Flyer

–COLORADO–

Local Information and Lodging Vail Valley Chamber and Tourism Bureau www.visitvailvalley.com or 800.653.4523 Vail Vacations for the Economically Challenged, www.econovail.com Calendar of Events 2007 Vail and Beaver Creek Moutain Challenge Bike Race Series, MTB Little League and adult races, May through August, www.vailrec.com Eagle River Ride, 50, 100 mile and 100 km road races, July 2007, www.vailvelo.com Ultra 100, Beaver Creek, July 2007, www.gohighline.com/ultra100 Clubs and Club Rides Vail Velo, www.vailvelo.com Moontime Bike Shop, Group rides, Tuesday and Thursday road rides at 5:30 p.m. For more info, call Frank at 970.926.4516 or visit www.moontimecyclery.com. Mountain Pedaler of Eagle: Every Wednesday night fast rides starting at 6 p.m, typically lasting a couple hours; Tuesday night women’s mountain bike rides at 5:30 p.m. Call Charlie Brown for more info: 970.328.3478 or visit www.mountainpedaler.com. Colorado Bike Services: Every Thurday night advance road training rides typically from shop in Eagle-Vail to top of Wolcott Pass, 50 miles. Call Jeff at 970.949.4641 for start times. Kind Cyclist Bike Shop: Group rides Thursday at 5:30 p.m. For more info, call 970.926.1260. Local Guidebooks and Maps Latitude 40 Map: Vail and Eagle Valley

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Local Character

Kerry White A spunky cyclist defines new boundaries for Type 1 diabetes At 9 a.m. on June 10, Kerry White will roll to the start line adjacent to the big ships of Oceanside, Calif., for her third Race Across America (RAAM). Except this time, White, 36, won’t be with a four-woman (Divas) team as she races to Atlantic City; she’ll be pedaling the 3,100 miles solo. And this time, she’ll be raising money and awareness for a cause that’s close to her heart. Actually, it flows in her veins: Type 1 juvenile diabetes. White, a spunky Aussie by birth who measures in at 5 feet 2 inches, will take on the women’s solo enduro division to fulfill a two-part goal. First, to conquer the biggest enchilada in ultra-endurance road cycling. Second, to prove to the world that Type 1 diabetes is not a barrier to ultra-endurance sports. She’s the first Type 1 diabetic to attempt an athletic endeavor of this magnitude. “I feel that through competing in and hopefully completing this race, I can elevate awareness that living with diabetes is not a burden, but an inspiration. The physical awareness and internal motivation to be a survivor with diabetes is your own special benefit in ultra-endurance events,” White says. She will be riding for Team Type 1, founded by diabetics Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge who wanted to compete in RAAM 2006’s eight-person Corporate Division while raising money for diabetes research. Team Type 1 will again compete this year, thus fielding entries on both ends of the RAAM spectrum. In September 2006, White received the Diabetes Exercise and Sport Association (DESA) Athletic Achievement Award, which has helped defray RAAM expenses. In return, she hopes to increase awareness and membership in DESA and raise funds for Team Type 1. “Being a great athlete isn’t just about athletics,” White says. “It’s also about integrity, honesty and sharing the euphoria of exercise.” For more information, the website for Team Type 1 is teamtype1.org and the website for DESA is diabetes-exercise.org. –H. Sappenfield

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Local Information Center Lodging, Events, Festivals, etc., Los Alamos Meetings and Visitor Bureau, visit.losalamos.com, 800.444.0707 or 505.662.8105 Camping info, call 505.672.3861 or visit www.nps. gov/band for info on camping in Bandelier National Monument Local Cycling Calendar June 2 & 16, July 7 & 21, Aug. 4 & 25, September 8 & 22, Pajarito Ski Area lift operates for cyclists July 2007, 35th Annual Tour de Los Alamos, tourdela.home.mindspring.com August 2007, Los Alamos Fat Tire Festival, losalamos.com/fattirefestival Aug. 18, 2007, 33rd Los Alamos Triathlon Guidebooks and Trail Maps Los Alamos Trails by Craig Martin, available at local bookstores Local trail maps available at Otowi Station Bookstore, 1350 Central Ave., and online at www.losalamos.com Local Cycling Club Tuff Riders Bike Club, www.tuffriders.losalamos.com Club members eager to show visitors extensive local trail system. Local Attractions Bradbury Science Museum, 15th St. and Central Ave., Los Alamos Los Alamos Historic Museum, Fuller Lodge: atomic history Pajarito Ski Area, www.skipajarito.com Bandelier National Monument: ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings Valles Caldera National Preserve, www.vallescaldera.gov

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Photo by Gary Warren

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Local Character Craig Martin It’s often said some good does come out of misfortune. Seven years ago, a devastating forest fire raged through Los Alamos, N.M., drastically altering the New Mexico mesa-top town and its wooded surroundings. Since then, 400 families, their homes burned in the fire, have worked to rebuild what they lost, and the surrounding woods are turning green again. In its efforts to help restore the community spirit, County leaders focused on a common thread that binds the town’s character and its residents: its trail network. They opened up a new County Open Space and Trails Specialist position, hiring long-time resident Craig Martin to oversee post-fire recovery and trail maintenance. In those seven years, Craig has ridden and walked every inch of the town’s nearly 50 miles of trails, re-building and scratching in trails obliterated by the fire and creating new connectors. “As we rebuild trails and reroute them, we try to do a little better,” said Craig, an ecologist by training, prolific author and former construction worker. “In the old days, a trail was just where people walked so it went straight up the hill. We reroute and wiggle them up the hill so

the maintenance gets less and less as time goes on.” Craig gets help from volunteers and holds trail-building clinics to educate residents on sustainable trails. He works with the local bike club and the Forest Service. For one popular trail across a high ridgetop, they cut through nearly 2,000 downed trees to make it rideable again. His biggest challenge with the trails may be not rebuilding them but working with residents’ emotional ties to them. “In Los Alamos, everybody has their favorite trail that’s always been there, and sometimes I try to adjust that and people don’t always agree,” he said. “A few let me know by dismantling my work, but I’d prefer they come talk to me. I’m a reasonable guy.” He’s been very successful in bringing the trail network back to life. Usage is up and volunteers still come out by the dozens for his regular trail maintenance and trail clinics. Part of his success stems back to the fire. “I went through it, I felt all those emotions and I understand what people went through,” he said. “I let that be my guide, not the hard and fast rules of a trained trail-building professional. –C. Spaeth

Pajarito Mountain

Where the Fun Never Sets! Weekend Events Summerfest, Saturday, June 2 beer & wine tasting with live band lift operates for bikers and hikers 10–3 Pajarito Mountain Grill open

Main Street Concert, Friday, June 29 The Iguanas

June 16, July 7, July 21, August 4, August 25, and September 8 Lift operates for bikers and hikers 10–3 Pajarito Mountain Grill open

Photos by Gary Warren

Ullr Fest, Saturday, September 22 Lift operates for bikers and hikers 10–3 Pajarito Mountain Grill open

Cafe open Monday through Friday all summer—11:00 until 1:30 www.skipajarito.com, ski@skipajarito.com 505.662.5725

Photos by L. Turner and D. Laine, courtesy of Taos Chamber of Commerce

Local Information Center Lodging, Camping, Events, Festivals, etc. go to Taos Vacation Guide, www.taosvacationguide.com, www.taosguide.com Camping info: Carson National Forest, 505.758.6200 Campsites and RV parks: www.taoslink.com/html/activities/camping Regional Cycling Calendar Taos Alpine Classic, Taos Ski Valley, Aug. 12-13 (tentative dates), www.alpineclassic.org Enchanted Circle Century, Red River, NM, Sept. 10, 800.348.6444 Frazer Mountain Madness, Taos Ski Valley, N.M., Sept. 22-23 www.frazermountanmadness.com Cerro Vista Mtn Bike Challenge, 50K and 100K races, Angel Fire Resort, Fall 2007 (date TBD), www.angelfireresort.com, 505.377.4316 Tour of Taos Country, Off Road Adventure - 80 Miles Off Road www.taoscyclery.com Guidebooks and Trail Maps Available at local bike shops or online booksellers

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Local Character Susie Fiore Taos cyclist Susie Fiore got her first mountain bike in 1989, a hand-me-down Cannondale. Ten years later a friend encouraged Fiore to try racing. She was 34 years old when she entered the Sandia mountain bike race in Albuquerque, N.M., in the sport category. Fiore beat her nearest competitors by almost 20 minutes. From there, she was hooked. In 2000, her first full season of competition, she moved up to the expert field. “I noticed that most of the women who could beat me in the regional races would be in a different age group at the bigger national-level races,” said Fiore. On a whim, she packed up and headed to Mammoth, Calif., for the national championship race—which she won. Fiore recounts winning nationals as a surreal experience. A relative newcomer to the sport, she didn’t fully realize the significance of the result. “I was talking to my uncle who had come to watch the race,” she said. “We saw people who had won other races wearing those cool stars n’ stripes jerseys. I remember asking my uncle, ‘Do you think I get one of those?’” In 2001 Fiore’s consistency earned her the NORBA national championship series overall title in the expert 35-39 class. “I could have stayed in the expert class and continued to get good results,” said Fiore. “But I have more fun getting my butt kicked by the pros.” This year is Fiore’s sixth season competing as a pro. At 42 years old, she’s the oldest competitor in almost every race she enters. However, she continues to improve every year and now consistently cracks the top-30 in national series races. Although Fiore’s racing results are impressive, what makes her unique is her work developing juniors in the sport. “One of my favorite things in the world to do is to ride with kids,” said Fiore. “Between the sound effects, laughing and crashes, I love it!” Fiore and her husband, Sean Cassily, have run the Field Institute of Taos for six years. They conduct after-school mountain bike programs for 8-12 year olds and 12-16 year olds. Each group meets twice a week for four weeks and rides become progressively more difficult. The older kids often become helpers with the younger groups in a truly grassroots effort. New for 2007, Fiore and Cassily have created Team F.I.Taos. Now that there are so many skilled young riders in Taos, it seemed only natural to Fiore and Cassily to create a team to help them to reach their potential. Their website (www.fitaos.org) describes the team as “an all-ages and abilities, inclusive local cycling team.” Team members range from 8 to over 70-year-old riders, and they compete in all disciplines of cycling. Fiore and Cassily host a junior team ride every Wednesday during the summer and offer coaching and guidance to their athletes. Look for a gaggle of brightly colored kids to be tearing up the Rocky Mountain race scene this summer and for Fiore to be out there leading by example.–J. Liberles

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The Dope on Brandon Dwight Doperssuck.com

The last few years have been pretty hard on bicycle racing fans. In both the road and mountain bike world, top competitors have been busted for systematically turbocharging their systems via illegal means. Three years ago, Brandon Dwight finally had his fill of fallen heroes, lies and cheating and put a simple yet powerful phrase onto the front of a T-shirt: Dopers Suck. This one-off cry instantly caught fire and has been taken up by hundreds of people around the world. Now, along with the classic T, Brandon offers jerseys, socks, wristband, stickers and even Jittery Joe’s special edition coffee through this website, www.doperssuck.com, and at his shop, Boulder Cycle Sport in Boulder, Colo. We caught up with Brandon one rainy spring night after his last customer had left the building.

ambassador who does outreach programs with young athletes about the importance of racing clean. Also, I am happy to give the logo to any team or club who plans to use it on their jerseys. MF: What would be the pinnacle for Dopers Suck? BD: Hmm, that would be a rider with enough balls to wear an armband while racing in or on the podium of a Grand Tour, World Cup cyclocross or mountain bike race, or even a spring classic event, such as the Paris Roubaix or the Liege-Bastone-Liege.

MF: Do you see this happening anytime soon? BD: You never know. A lot of the young riders are not afraid to speak their minds, and some of the more Simple, Classy, Blunt; Dopers Suck gear looks good on any occasion, established folks are getting fed up. especially on the podium. My rule is not to give any product MF: And the rest is history? away for free. But I’ll hand a wristMountain Flyer: So how did this all get BD: Sort of. The message has an organic, band to any pro who will race with it. started? viral growth. I’ve gotten orders from all Brandon Dwight: It was the summer of over the world. It’s been mostly word of MF: Speaking of money, where do the 2004, and I had just heard that reigning mouth. Someone will show up to a local proceeds go? Mountain Bike World Champion Filip race, say in New Zealand, with a shirt on, BD: A percentage of sales from the socks Meirhaeghe had admitted to taking EPO and within a week, I’m shipping 10 shirts and coffee go to supporting junior after failing a drug test. The best way to to that same town. cyclocross programs. state the obvious was with a T-shirt. MF: When big names get busted does MF: I hear you’re a pretty mean cyclocross MF: What reaction did that first shirt interest go up? racer yourself and raced as a professional receive? BD: Sure. When the Floyd story broke mountain biker for a few years. BD: Great! I made it with some ironthere was a spike, and the same thing hapBD: Yeah, I was living the dream, but I felt on letters in my kitchen. Geoff Kabush pened with Operación Puerto. more like a chaser than a racer. was staying with me at the time getting ready to race at Snowmass. (Editors note: MF: Are cyclists your main customers? MF: Okay, now for the tough question. Ironically, Kabush placed second to a BD: About 95 percent, but the message has Have you ever taken performancewinning Meirhaeghe at Sea Otter earlier obvious appeal to fans of any sport where enhancing drugs? that spring). When Geoff saw the shirt, money and fame are involved. Our mission BD: (Brandon roles his eyes.) Hell no, but he said he would wear it on the podium if statement is to take a stand against the use I’ve taken quite a few performance-inhibiting he won. of performance-enchaining drugs in sports. ones, in the form of beer and pastries. MF: And did he? BD: Yup, he won the short track. During the ceremony he unzipped his jersey and flashed the crowd with my shirt. Everyone went wild.

MF: Will we see a Dopers Suck team anytime soon? BD: Probably not due to the huge time and money requirements, but one day it would be great to sponsor one full-time rider/

You can visit Brandon Dwight at Boulder Cycle Sport in North Boulder, Colo., at 4580 Broadway, Unit B, or check out him and his T-shirts at www.doperssuck.com. –D. Sheldon Mountain Flyer

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Falling Apart like a Cheap Derailleur 22 Hours on the Kokopelli Trail Story and photos by Phillip Benningfield

have a one-track mind: I want to ride until I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ride anymore. Mind you, not every day but occasionally, after riding a ton of shorter rides I dream up some monstrous (read, painful) ride that I head into without much foresightâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a couple of frantic hours looking at topographic maps, the squiggly lines mesmerizing me into a mistaken belief I can suffer forever. I simply want to ride until the legs turn like lead balls, the heart burns like red-hot coals and my psyche has fallen apart like a cheap derailleur. The ride that would fit the bill was the Kokopelli Trail from Loma, Colo., to Moab, Utah. The distance comes in around 140 miles, give or take circumnavigating horrendous sandy sections. Now most sane individuals ride the trail over a few days: the Moab guide has it as a six108

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day sag wagon affair. NEVER! I needed to ride the whole damn thing from start to finish without stopping: no cooked meals, no sun shower, no fluffy down sleeping bag, no beer. Over the next two late winter months, meager preparations were put in order over one brief trip to the White Rim Trail for hot desert riding. A water drop was left at Rabbit Valley near the Utah border, a cooler stuffed with food hidden at Dewey Bridge the night we began. With all this logistical foresight, I knew the ride would be under control. Driving to the Burger King in Fruita at 12:30 a.m. to get one last burger crammed on top of all the pasta we had eaten, I started estimating the little jaunt would require 14 hours of saddle time, plus I added in four additional hours for rest and rest and more rest: 18 hours of pure biking bliss. l

We drove to the Burger King in Fruita at 12:30 a.m. to get one last burger crammed on top of all the pasta we had eaten. The mesmerizing ride started with my slaphappy friend Mike at the illustrious hour of 2 a.m. We rode the first miles through the best singletrack offered—an insight we learned after finishing 22 hours later—in the dark and experienced the requisite dozen or so unavoidable wrecks; little spills when the headlamps couldn’t distinguish the trail well enough to tell when the slope fell off or a rock stuck up like a toll booth gate. No real damage was done, and we made our way through the Lion’s and Troy Built sections with the occasional cuss word elicited. Making good time changed when Mike, riding behind as we began the early descent into Salt Creek, had a coupling with a barrel cactus. Two-inch spines embedded into his swollen right quad, and we spent the next hour fishing out what we could find with cold pliers. As we tried our best to laugh off Mike’s pincushion leg, the quarter moon finally rose above the ridgeline. A light to boost our spirits? Back on track—after walking down, through and out of Salt Creek— I noticed one of my spills had damaged my rear derailleur to the point I was relegated to the use of only the front derailleur. Three gears on any mountain bike ride are, to say the least, a real mother. I surprised my usually (habitually) fragile psyche by remaining calm and riding with a positive attitude. Riding west along the doubletrack, lights bouncing on every pebble, we were amazed to see another bike coming our way at five in the morning. After 30 minutes of riding, waiting to see a fellow dumb compatriot, we realized the lights were semis on Interstate 70, appearing and disappearing behind hillsides. Dawn came slowly over the Continental Divide. The air temperature hovered near 45 degrees and the exertion of reaching Rabbit Valley and our first stash had us shivering. I checked the derailleur to repair it. No go! Some obscure piece, probably with another Frenchie name, on my crappy derailleur had snapped. Gear changes were not to be had. We continued on without a word, single or cuss. Diving onto an old favorite singletrack, turned to quicksand by motorcycles, my chronometer read a

mere 21 miles. We had already spent four hours trudging along at a snail’s pace. More than 100 miles to go and the heat was ahead. The next 40 odd miles went by quickly as the dirt roads stayed smooth and the sand traps were minimal. Only two, no three, no four times did we miss a turn or stare at the map in disbelief as the trail weaved and disappeared for brief moments, only to appear around a willow-choked drainage or continue straight in front of our tired faces. At Dewey Bridge, the midway point of the ride, we gorged ourselves on sandwiches and apples with caramel. We were in good spirits, fueled and warm, and it was only 11:30 a.m. We still had nine hours to get to Moab before dark. All was kind of, sort of, well.

Making good time changed when Mike, riding behind as we began the early descent into Salt Creek, had a coupling with a barrel cactus. The noon sun beat down on our bodies as we began the 70-mile section to Moab (three sag wagon sections in the guide): a soon-to-be-known endurance-fest of more than 30 miles of hill climbing on surfaces ranging from absolutely horrific gravel roads to washed out hills one could only walk up. The first gravel hill was the killer as the temperature in the midday sun reached the low nineties and every ounce of water left our burning bodies. Not more than two hours into the final stretch, we realized our 250 ounces of shared water

would never last and the limited water content in our Nutella, honey and peanut butter goo was insufficient to placate a camel. As our speed reached three miles an hour, the gods appeared in the form of a dusty Honda Element with two curious and generous tourists at the helm, each one decked out in a safari hat and aviator sunglasses. After a brief explanation of our adventure, their jaws agape at our insanity, I mustered the necessary groveling and asked if they had any extra water. Mike and I waited an eternity, two seconds, before the female goddess answered our call for assistance. With our bladders filled, we hobbled back on our sour saddles. We continued to persevere. Mike especially as the broken and deeply imbedded cactus spines made his leg swell and ache. Imagine the feeling of 50 splinters in your hand, then imagine having to climb a 10,000-foot ladder. The habitual effort to overcome the pain put his willpower to the ultimate test: only once did he mutter anything negative. I felt relatively well, considering I had already rode the classic White Rim in a day two weeks before and thoroughly enjoyed, nay hungered, for the homemade goo of peanut butter, Nutella, and honey. I could not feel his intense pain, as he had chosen to run the 50-mile Mountain Masochist in Virginia the previous weekend. I apathetically spun in granny gear on the steeps, then moved up to my middle chain ring, constantly getting out of the saddle and cranking to find a comfortable level in my cadence. Hours turned to a glimmering evening as we climbed along the northeast canyons below the La Sals. The stoic mountains, which were always above, disappeared with alacrity as the canyons swallowed us and turned our bikes due east toward the distant Dolores River; a mind f*#k if ever there was one, we knew the ride ended far away to the west. Would the eastern climbing never end? Mountain Flyer

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Respites of sweat-chilling, elbowshattering descents gave short breaks for the legs, then we were faced again and again with climbs of 12 miles, one mile, then the last climb of six miles before the guide assured us, “it’s all downhill from here.” A lie if I ever read one. By the time we reached the last hill climb the sky had turned black, and the desert stars shone: a beautiful sight except for the fact it was dark again, and we had to deal with the mind-numbing and hallucinatory effort of nighttime riding with crappy lighting. At our last break, with only a warm, mashed, pastrami sandwich and bruised apple left between us, Mike finally broke. Lying prostrate in the road’s dust, not caring if another mindless hick sped by and sprayed us with dirt and gravel, he uttered, “I don’t have anything left!” My response was quick and heartless. “EAT! RIGHT NOW!” I handed him the soggy sandwich, and he pushed it away before the stench could reach his sand-filled nostrils. “You have to eat something!” Mike lay motionless and silent as I searched his pack for an enticing crumb. I dislodged a frightful appetizer, a banana Gu. I ripped the package open and offered him what little I could. Luckily, he slurped the contents without puking and nibbled on the apple. I felt better for him. I hoped he could muster the final energy needed to get to our clean, warm beds. After a protracted bout with the next hill, a climb we were relegated to walking for the last half-mile due to deep, loose gravel, we actually reached the “all downhill” section and began a rapid descent into town: 19 miles in the pitch black, tired as shit and now at 111 miles of bone-rattling, sand-engulfing, psyche-draining, self-inflicted torture seething through our withered bodies. 110

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The time was now past eleven, and we realized all the eateries would be closed. Our stomachs grumbled in disagreement. Rolling the last blocks to our hotel room, fate handed us a glorious gift. Zacks, a new all-you-can-eat pizza joint still had the lights burning, and Mike hurried inside to check on any grub. I stood still with my arms huddled around my filthy body, slowly shivering after the long descent. I knew we were wasting our time. Through the window I could see scrumptious pies waiting to be engulfed, but knew without a shred of doubt I would have to make due with tiny bags of peanuts and corn nuts at the hotel. Mike came out a minute later with a box stuffed to the gills with free pizza (serviceindustry sympathy for the naive and stupid goes a long way). Our destiny of corn nuts or even more enticing Texaco burritos and chips would happily wait. Rolling slowly towards the hotel, carefully balancing a pizza in my gloved hand, shit-eating smile aglow, the chronometer read 130 miles. Twenty-two hours of hiking and biking lay far behind us and we could now enjoy the glory of an entire summer ahead with our biggest ride already under our chamois. But first, the long sleep. The fun of thumbing home, in a state where hitchhiking was as against the law as high alcohol beer, would wait until morning.

Lying prostrate in the road’s dust, not caring if another mindless hick sped by and sprayed us with dirt and gravel, he uttered, ‘I don’t have anything left!’ My response was quick and heartless. ‘EAT!’ Blazing down to Moab, we encountered deep 4x4 ruts on the supposedly classic end to the Kokopelli. Again, the shadows created by our minimalist lights made depth perception impossible. Multiple mini spills sent us tumbling through the powdered sand, a feeling we had grown accustomed to. Fortunately, the bloodletting remained minor. Finally we reached a fabulous surprise. The Sand Flats Road at the Porcupine Rim trailhead, usually a washboard, teeth-chattering decent, had a fresh coat of delicious asphalt and we blasted down into town enjoying the smooth surface.

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It’s Just Like Riding a Bike One Adult’s Ride into Childhood by Caroline Spaeth I rarely think about how to ride a bike. I spend my time instead focused on when can I ride again and what trail. So one day when a coworker of mine asked me if I’d teach her how to ride a bike, since she never learned as a kid, I was a little stymied.

Riding a bike is one of those activities that, once mastered, is ingrained in your DNA. It’s automatic, fundamental, instinctive. It’s…well…it’s just like riding a bike. If you’re a living, breathing, walking adult, you must know how to ride a bike, right? Not necessarily. Silvia grew up in Romania, and at the time, smaller bikes for kids were scarce, and adults primarily rode single-speed bikes for utilitarian reasons, to the store or to work. As such she never got the chance to experience those first eyeopening, grinning wobbles down the street. Later, looking to escape the harsh politics of the country, Silvia had more on her mind than the simple freedom of two wheels. In her twenties, she and her husband secured a rare tourist visa to the United States, and, once here, received political asylum, eventually settling in the Rockies. 112

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Now 49, Silvia decided she was “missing the fun” of riding a bike. A computer programmer, bread-baker and recent master-gardener apprentice, Silvia is not one to shy away from a challenge. This year, she decided to join her husband in beginner swim classes. When I agreed to teach her to ride, she skipped an occasional aerobics class to try riding an indoor stationary bike. This spring, two days before her birthday, Silvia ordered a new Raleigh Venture 4.0, with a step-through frame, well-made and well-balanced, perfect for learning, perfect for riding. Better yet, her first set of wheels is a stylish candy-apple red, a bike that just asks to be ridden and shown off. When she first saw the new bike before her inaugural ride, her face flushed red. Excitement? Nerves? “It looks great,” she said, smiling a hesitant smile, holding the bike with an outstretched arm like a mother might hold a frog her child gave her. Her worst fear, she confided to me, when she first asked me to teach her, was falling. My own fear, I realized months after I agreed to teach her to ride, was teaching her how. How do you teach something we all take for granted? I turned to my friends for ideas. “If you think of the physics of it,” my engineer friend Kim told me, “it’s the speed of the wheel turning that keeps you from falling.” Others weren’t nearly as helpful. “What do you mean?” one friend said. “Everybody knows how to ride a bike.” The problem with adults is we think too much, and we think that thinking is what adults are supposed to do all the time. After a friend of mine reacquainted himself with riding a few years ago, a coworker came up to him and said, “What are you riding a bike for? That’s for little kids.” I spent more than a few days thinking and worrying and talking to people about how to teach an adult to ride. I suffered through many helpful suggestions: How about a tandem? What about someone holding her on either side? How about attaching a pole to the handlebars? Even this one: What about having her wear pillows in her clothes? My most practical coworker, Lillie, offered the most practical approach. Photos by James E. Rickman

“Just give her a push,” Lillie told me matter-offactly. On only her second try across the park, I let go of the seat and Silvia weaved and wobbled across the bumpy grass. Upright. On her own. Flying solo for the very first time. She rode across the park, hands gripping handlebars, concentrating intently. After a few wide circles around the grass, Silvia graduated to the bike path. Little kids on tiny bikes with and without trainer wheels zoomed alongside her. “They’re putting on the pressure,” she said anxiously. A week later, I rode next to her on the bike path but conversation proved too hard. “How’s it going over there?” I shouted, as though my voice had to punch through the focus. A slight boost in downhill speed had her quickly grabbing the rear brake. She stopped and instantly put one foot down in a near-perfected move. “There are too many things to think about,” she answered. “But in the rare moment that I’m not thinking about it, it’s really fun.” Still, we adults obsess over details. Gearing, pedaling, coasting…all important but not as important as just riding. That common cliché of our youth, “it’s just like riding a bike,” also means some days you gotta surrender the details and just enjoy the ride. For most of us bike veterans, we take that skill for granted; bike riding becomes a cliché we use but don’t do. Actually I’m a little jealous of Silvia. She’s just now learning about that excitement we’re all trying to recapture each time we ride. Oh to be a kid again.

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