adventure!!!

we knew the trail existed, we just didn't know where it was.  there is nothing online, nothing on google maps, it's all word of mouth, sort of like that island in The Beach by Alex Garland, later turned into a pretty good movie with Leo Dicaprio.

"hey, let's go ride tomorrow" i said to my friend Mr. James.  he was leery, having gone on "adventure" rides with me, searching for trails that were supposed to be kick ass and often were just a horrible slogfest.  I couldn't blame him.  then another friend showed him pictures and Mr. James was all in like a poker player with an ace high straight flush.   we just had to find it.

overall it went ok.  two wrong turns, only a little bit of extra driving, then we found the road, some markings, and what we believed was a trail.  did some quick foot recon, and yes indeed it was a trail.  boy howdy.

we hopped on the bikes and took off, not really sure where we were going, or for how long.  People ride bikes for all sorts of different reasons.  to me, in my opinion, the least noble of the reasons to ride a bike is Fitness.  if you want fitness, go to a gym, run, lift weights.  sure you can include cycling, but at least make it road riding.  guys who mountain bike for fitness have no soul and usually are kind of assholes.  they don't have skills or techniques, they don't want to explore or have fun, all they care about is a workout.  fuck that. why would you take something fun and playful and ruin it like that?

we were in it for the fun and exploration.  sure, fitness is a great byproduct, but it's not the main goal.

the trail was strange, different, odd.  it was flowy in a weird sort of way, short punchy ups, odd rocky bits, lots of pedaling.  it was slow, not overly techy, but you were up and moving a lot.  the views were fuckin incredible.  it was crazy that we have that so damn close to home.

we came out of the trail, then had to get back.  we did some bushwhacking and hiking, but we soon found the trail and headed in what we thought was the right direction, and lo, about 45 minutes later, we were back at the car.   we were both tired, even though it didn't feel like we rode far.  it was hot, we did cover some distance.  it was fun.

we found the trail, it was totally worth it, we will someday go back and explore some more.

another great day on a bike.  thank you bike for showing me cool places and giving me such enjoyment.

JRA

so yesterday i got to ride a Diamond Back Mission Pro.  it was good, really good.  it climbed like crazy, and handled really well.  and yet, i didn't like how it felt.  perhaps i had the rebound set too high, it almost felt like a hardtail, even though i used almost all of the 160mm of travel.  it felt rickety, like it was gonna fall apart, i felt the rocks and bumps a bit more than i should have for a 160mm 27.5" wheeled $6,000 bike.
but i rode it and i had a great day because i was out riding a bike.

had a pretty decent day at work, ate waaaaaay too much, then this evening went for a ride on the Solo.  the weather was absolutely perfect, could not have been better.  had a pretty kick ass ride and i felt pretty good despite being super tired and not really wanting to ride.

tomorrow we are going down to moab to ride the majority of the enchilada, not the whole enchilada, but the majority of it.  we are gonna start at hazard, and pretty much do hazard down.  I shall ride the Slayer, and by Odin's good eye it will be awesome.  afterwords we may bar-b-q, we may eat at milts, we may eat elsewhere, or we may just come home and eat and drink and party like it's on sale for 19.99.  no matter what, we are gonna ride bikes and have a kick ass time.

and so...yeah, that's what's been up lately.

Trip Report: Vernal, UT

there was nothing to do, so i was just standing around, doing it with everything i got, when Captain Lowballs comes up and says to me "hey, wanna go camp and ride in Vernal?"    i've been to Vernal once, about two years ago, didn't have the super best time, but currently, as i type this, McCoy Flats, a trail system, is scheduled to become a highway for the oil and gas trucks to transport much needed oil and gas to the trucks who use oil and gas.  So i thought it would be a great idea to ride that Dodo before it became totally extinct and was just pictures and memories.  I gave Captain Lowballs a resounding FUCK YEAH and 48 hours later, the adventure began.

we packed up and headed out bright and early.  we were told to check out Mccoy Flats, Red Fleet, and perhaps the Flaming Gorge.  the drive up was good, we went through the town of Rangley, Colorado (should be called Strangely, it was.....strange...).   i had done some internet research but thought it best to stop by the local bike shop and get the skinny on the fat tire goodness.  we went to Altitude cycles, right there on the main drag, got a map, and asked for recommendations on where to eat lunch.  This was the key moment in our trip.  The super friendly helpful girl who does not ride a bike but works there at the bike shop suggested we eat at the Vernal Brewing Company, conveniently located behind the shop.
HO...LEE....SHIT!!!  it turns out there are actual chefs from 5 star restaurants working there and putting out solidly amazing food.   we never made it to the Flaming Gorge, but at this restaurant, we did see the Flaming Paul.   he was perhaps the best waiter we've ever seen, and oh boy was he gay.  for lunch i enjoyed a delicious loco moco, the Captain had a kick ass beet salad and "hand pies," which for lack of a better term were little empanadas, meat stuffed dough.  the food blew our minds and tastebuds.  then it was time to ride.
we said adeiu to our prancing waiter and headed out.

speaking of gay, the sinks in the men's bathroom were the gayest thing i've ever seen.  the faucet where the water comes out resembles a piece of sliced bamboo.  after about five minutes of waving my hands around, looking for pedals on the ground, and looking like a shitty interpretive dancer as i tried desperately to get water to come out of the fucking faucet, one of the staff entered the bathroom and i asked him what the deal was.  he said you had to slide your hand under the length of shaft of the faucet, which i did and water poured out.  so i pretty much had to jerk off the faucet until it came water into my hand.  soooooo gay.

anyway, after lunch we went to mccoy flats and headed out for a ride.  Great place, lots of signage, fun singletrack trails.   the wind was blowing at a blustery 25 to 35 mph, making it pretty fucking shitty.  we went out, i started getting pissed at nature, we went back to the car to sit and rest.   then we tried another loop, climbed what felt like forever, against the wind, descended some super fast fun trail, again, against the wind, and i was done for the day.  back at the parking lot Captain Lowballs started talking to a group of local chicks who had just arrived, he asked if he could go ride with them, he took off, i sat at the truck reading a book and fell asleep.  it was pretty wonderful really.    I probably would have loved Mccoy Flats if it wasn't so goddamn windy.  there was a lot more to ride.

The singletrack is indeed single, more single than a 35 year old man living with his mom and some cats. Mccoy flats wasn't really techy, it was a lot like 18 rd in Fruita, or at least the way 18 rd used to be before it became popular and the trails widened from so many people riding off the trail.   the way it looks, Mccoy flats won't have that problem, it will be gone before it becomes a popular kick ass riding destination.  

Captain lowballs returned from his estrogen ride, we decided to eat dinner and set up camp at Red Fleet.  for dinner, we went back to the Vernal Brewing Company, saw Flaming Paul again, and had a super amazing dinner.  I had the chicken and waffles, Captain Lowballs had the burger, and we both had culinary orgasms. Paul regaled us with stories of straight dudes hitting on him, told us about the restaurant itself, and was overall pretty badass.   i know it was a biking trip, but that restaurant was so damn good i can't not think about it.

we found the trail head and set up camp about 20 yards from it as the sun went down.  we made a fire and enjoyed some shitty 3.2 beer we bought at the 7-11 (note: bring own beer to utah) relaxed, and soaked in our complete contentment.

after a spotty night of sleep despite being totally tired and the weather being perfect, we woke up and went for a ride. The trails out at Red Fleet are magical.  there were loooooong stretches where i didn't pedal, my bike was just propelled forward, even up hills, without me needing to pedal.  Again, the single track was indeed single, barely wider than my tires in some spots, and the scenery was flat out beautiful.  I wish i had taken some pictures, but i was too busy piloting my bicycle and grinning to stop and get some happy snaps.  besides, there is no way i could capture how cool it was, any picture i take would have been lame.  after an hour of some more flowy fun fast awesome trails,  we packed up, ate at Betty's, a greasy spoon, (we both wanted to go back to the Vernal Brewing Company, but we didn't) and headed back home, where i desperately tried to stay awake for the duration of the drive back.

Vernal has some crazy beautiful riding, it's not too bad a town, despite being in Utah, and they have a ridiculously out of place amazing restaurant with kick ass food that isn't ridiculously expensive.  Camping is free and easy, there are more trails than we had time for, and i'm super glad I went.

I would totally go back, and i'm gonna.  I just want to make sure it isn't so goddamn windy.

overall, a pretty great time.  another successful mountain biking road trip in the books.