Thank you, 2008

Another year full of memories, full of life. Suffering and bliss, darkness and light. Attempts at making the highs higher and the lows lower.

Another year of not really knowing what I’m doing, but a happy contentment with the direction I’m pointing. Just don’t ask me to describe what direction that is–I cannot, and it …. [Continue reading]

Brown

Fred is the latest visitor from the northlands — if you can call Moab “north.” Certainly not much dirt to ride up that way these days.

Plenty here. Rain just means good traction.

Chad and I met Fred out in the Tucson Mountains. Starting at the campground there was only …. [Continue reading]

Ugh

12/25/08

Paula needed a ride out to school to finish up her report cards. School is conveniently located next to the Sweetwater Preserve, so I decided to go for a super easy ride. Still sick, but Sweetwater is the perfect place to see some great desert without raising your heart rate above 100.

I …. [Continue reading]

Video – MC Techfest, day 3

Had a go at editing Mike’s helmet cam footage from the day 3 “shuttle” ride. I’m still learning the software, but it was fun to play around with while sick and watching it rain outside.

Keep in mind that these trails are 100% new to Mike, and as such, he kept a little distance back …. [Continue reading]

MC Techfest, day 3

Shuttle day!

We started with a quick “shuttle” up the Catalina Highway (we pedaled our bikes ~3000 feet up). We debated about going up to Green Mountain, but there were tiny patches of snow below 6000 ft. The north facing traverse on Greenie was unlikely to be much fun.

So we climbed ‘the scar’ on …. [Continue reading]

MC Techfest, day 2

Day 2 – out to the west side of the Catalina Mountains, just north of Tucson. A “recovery day” of sorts.

Scoped out a few new lines.

Managed to spook Mike on some classic ones (all found by Louis and crew).

…. [Continue reading]

MC Techfest day 1

The esteemed Mr. Curiak decided he wasn’t ready for winter just yet. I know the feeling. So he headed south for a few days of sonoran desert chunk. First up was South Mountain in Phoenix. It’s been years since I’ve ridden there, and most of my memories of the trail are from the Squealer (Jim …. [Continue reading]

Gila AZT/GET, day 3

Breakfast was at Los Hermanos. I could have eaten twice what the waitress brought out.

We were heading back to our starting point on Freeman Road. Time for some pavement. HWY 177 is known to roadies for its big hills. But perspective is everything. Compared to yesterday’s rollercoaster jeep road extravaganza, these hills …. [Continue reading]

Gila AZT/GET, day 2

Sunrise looked like this,

from the sleepy bag, lying atop our own private, saguaro studded ridgeline.

The sun hit and there was nothing to do but ride singletrack. So that’s what we did.

photo by Lee Blackwell

photo by Lee Blackwell

Truly epic …. [Continue reading]

Gila AZT / GET, day 1

We started riding at Freeman Road. After contributing a few gallons to the water cache we coasted off down to the Boulders.

Always a pleasure cruise, especially with the 90% chance of tail wind. We rolled the dice and got a nice one to gentle us on our way.

…. [Continue reading]

New shots

I finally got a camera worth a crap. Took a loop on the local suburbo trails and grabbed a few test shots.

That’s Baboquivari Peak, some 60 miles away.

Been trying to take shots of the moon for years with my …. [Continue reading]

Bugs

Took a nice coolish ride on Bug Springs and Molino Trails with Chad. Overcast, no wind and 50’s. A rare day for Tucson, but perfect climbing weather.

Check out those socks…

Chad’s magic protective socks failed him. A rock popped his dérailleur into his spokes. That ended …. [Continue reading]

Canelo Trailwork

Paula and I headed down to Canelo Pass to put some muscle into a piece of Arizona Trail that badly needs it: Canelo East.

This was a rare work event in that trail hero (and segment steward) Zay Hartigan packed in tools to the work site. That meant that Lee and …. [Continue reading]

Practice makes perfect

There are some big rocks along the Rillito Path that I usually ride over whenever I pass by. A couple are just big enough that I feel uneasy on either the “up” or “down.”

So I repeated one until it became second nature.

Training. Of a wholly different sort.

I …. [Continue reading]

2Epic in Tucson

Team Dave and Lynda, alias 2-Epic, rolled into town, looking for a couple good rides. I was happy to oblige.

First we rolled out to the Tucson Mountains.

Blue skies and plenty of rocks. Standard Tucson Mountain fare.

There was a little bike fiddlin’. Lynda’s demo bike was giving …. [Continue reading]