Sunday's Death March

Sunday we headed out to ride Zippety Do Dah. I woke up tired and cranky but thought that getting on the bike would snap me out of it. Unfortunately, it didn't...I was tired and didn't have the desire to climb or push through any of tough sections and for some reason my nerves were getting to me.

Zippety Do Dah was still fun as always, amazing views that show the trail going on forever along the ridge. I got really spooked out on a steep roll in and came to a sliding stop before committing to it and just stood there over my bike. I started to walk down but Dan yelled at me and called me a chicken and told me I was making it worse. I stopped, turned around, took a deep breath and rode it. At least he knows my ability even when I'm having a bad day.

Dan on a super steep roll in...of course, steeper than it looks.



Amazing trail views




We had to ride Prime Cut twice, once getting to Zippety Do Dah and once getting to Kessel Run, there was lots of traffic out there, more than I've ever seen. The steep rock face got to me on the first lap and left me a little shaky afterwards. I tried it about 4 times but just couldn't commit to getting up and over it so I just gave up. The second time through, I didn't even think about it and got up and over it, actually I dabbed at the very very top but my front tire made it to the dirt so I'll take it. I think Dan was pretty shocked that I made it up on the first try because he just stood there with his arms up in the air shaking his head.

After that we headed over to Kessell Run for some slalom fun...I could ride this trail all day it's so much fun.

We had planned on riding Joe's Ridge after that but, I hate to admit this, I was getting bored with the trails out there. After riding gnarly techy rocky trails for the last 2 days...I wanted more of the same even as tired as I was. So we decided to go back over to the Kokopelli side and ride Moore Fun.

We decided to ride Moore Fun clockwise, not my favorite way but our plan was to ride it up and then back, but after getting on the trail I knew I would never make it back. I was tired and didn't have the desire or care to climb anything so I ended up pushing up most of the stuff. I didn't really care because I don't ride Moore Fun for the climbs. Luckily, once we started descending the techy stuff, I felt much better....better enough that when we finished we decided to ride Mary's back to the trailhead.

Dan at the top of Moore Fun


After a shower and some awesome Mexican food, we crashed. I was toast.

-Kim

Saturday - Grand Juntion with our tour guide Cynthia

We had plans to shuttle Free Lunch with Dave and a few people from mtbr but after hanging out with Cynthia the night before we decided to do a XC ride with her and explore the trails in Grand Junction since we've never ridden out there. So, first thing in the morning, we headed into Grand Junction for breakfast. Cynthia took us to an awesome breakfast place that had amazing pancakes.

Don't let Cynthia fool you, she's an amazing rider, she's fast and can handle her way down rocks. I think Dan may have given her some suggestions on how to turn her Seven into a nice full suspension bike...one that is a little more forgiving than her hardtail. But even on her hardtail, she impressed me! It was nice riding with a girl that can actually ride and enjoy it!

First trail we rode was the Gunny Loop...fun fun trail.

Cynthia descending on the Gunny Loop

Dan descending on the Gunny Loop

Me on a steep roll in on the Gunny Loop...Holy Shit I think it's called. Way steeper than it looks!

After that we headed back to the trailhead for a quick snack and then back out to Pet E Kes. This trail was kinda scary on narrow tight twisty singletrack with lots o climbs...sorry no pics.


Bye Cynthia! It's amazing how the Internet, forums and blog sites can bring people together. I hope we can hang out and ride more with you and I'm definitely going to become a regular on the Tuesday Night Girls Ride!

After saying goodbye, Dan and I headed out to Holy Cross. Wow, is all I can say. Super challenging singletrack with rocks and tight turns with rock out croppings. I didn't know you had to be a contortionist to ride a bike.




When we got done riding the Gunny Loop, Dan was eyeing this trail called Bentinite or something like that...it's not in my guidebook and it's more of a freeride play area than a trail. It has a steep rocky roll in at the top and a small drop into a super steep loose section with a bunch of high speed rollers and jumps after that.

After Holy Cross we dropped into that section and had some high speed fun. After the second drop in, I kinda sketched out grabbing too much rear brake and ended up sliding sideways on the gravel and scraping my leg but nothing too bloody.

We got back to the trailhead and the people that we were supposed to shuttle with were there. We had a sandwich and a beer and they decided to head out to Free Lunch, turns out they only rode the Ribbon Trail and had never gotten out to Free Lunch yet. The beer went straight to my head so I decided to shuttle them up and relax until they got back. Dan said it was a pretty techy trail that was best suited for a full on DH bike....I'm kinda glad I opted out of that run since I only had my 5.5.

-Kim

Friday - Horsetheif/Mary's Loop

On Friday, we hooked up with some people from mtbr to do a quick ride. Dan and I were going to ride the Bookcliffs side early and then meet up with Dave and his friend Joel but we decided to have a nice relaxing day doing some bike maintenance and just chillin. Another cool thing was that Cynthia was also there riding a portion of the Kokopelli trail with her friends on Thursday and was actually working @ the coffee shop in Fruita. We wanted to buy a Fruita riding book and when we turned the corner to go into Over the Edge....we saw her car out front of the coffee shop! We went in and chatted a bit and made plans to have dinner later and make plans for riding on Saturday. I think I was more excited to FINALLY get to ride with Cynthia!

Dan trying to clear the drop in @ Horsetheif....he'll get it next time when he's not thinking about it.


I dropped the first 3 ledges but stopped where Dan is in the second picture, those rock are way more steep than they look but can be rolled. Dave's friend Joel cleaned the whole section like butter, too bad he did it before I could get the camera out.

After Horsetheif, we rode Mary's Loop and took the service road back to the trailhead, headed back to the hotel to met up with Cynthia for dinner and drinks.

-Kim

Thunderdunders

I was woken up around 4am this morning by something I haven't heard in a loooooong time. I didn't know what is was at first then I saw the flash of light and heard the noise.....it was a thunderstorm! Man I miss the crazy thunderstorms a humid August summer evening can produce in Michigan. Especially sitting at Dan's house on the lake, when the lightening illuminates the whole lake and you can see the rain hitting the water. That is until the power goes out and then you just have to sit and stew in your own sweat.

For some reason I love riding in the rain, not the torrential downpour rain that hurts your skin but the soft light rain. Usually no one else is riding into work on those days and all the green in the tree's really pops and the birds are signing looking for worms, such a pleasant spring morning!

When I got to work today, the women looked at me like I was crazy. They couldn't believe that I would ride in the rain, "doesn't you hair get wet?" they said, I said "yes", they just looked at me like I'm crazy again. It's hair people...and it has been known to dry pretty fast.

-Kim

Keep Fighting

Most of you out there in bloggerland read his blog and know of his wife Susan's battle with cancer....I don't know if I could be a strong as she is.

Please keep Elden and Susan in your prayers...

-Kim

Uncle Dan & Aunt Kim

We watched Dan's brothers dogs this weekend, kinda payback for last weekend and next weekend, so we didn't do much riding...well no riding except Dan riding into work on Sunday.

Haley, the old greyhound, is the tan one on the bed and Petey is the chocolate one...I think he's a Wire Haired Pointing Griffon.


Things went well considering Petey is a menace, his name should be Dennis. He's an awesome dog but man he's wild. I took them all to the dog park off of Baseline on Sunday and none of the fences could contain him. He got through every single one. I was amazed an mortified all at the same time. Luckily no park rangers were there or else I would have gotten a HUGE fine. Good thing Patch and Petey get along, Patch keeps Petey entertained when they're left alone....but once Petey gets outside Patch is forgotten.

This week we're getting ready for 4 days in Fruita! We're headed out on Thursday and we're staying thru Monday. Cool thing is that Cynthia will be out there as well, only Friday thru Saturday but we at least get to ride with her! I can't wait to ride Zippety Do Dah and More Fun...my 2 favs out there and we're going to hit up some Grand Junction trails as well. Hopefully my shoulder will feel better, also one of the reasons I didn't ride this weekend...my neck has been so stiff, enough that I can't move my neck without moving my whole entire body. Sucks.

And I've decided to NOT get the HiFi 29er...after riding in Moab I realized that I wanted a bigger travel bike. I absolutely love my 5.5 and I love the way it rides, I just want more travel. I realized that my riding leans more towards the freeride side of things, I love drops and rocks and technical sections but I don't care if I can't climb a long steep climb...I'm not afraid to push but I get really angry when I can't clear a technical descent or rock section. So the Intense 6.6 it is. Dan's Intense rep is dropping off a small 6.6 on Monday and I'll hopefully be able to bring it out to Fruita this weekend....fingers crossed.

-Kim

Go Wings!

The Wings swept the Avs....now they're onto round 3!

We've been watching the Avs more this year so I found it hard to not root for them but I have to be loyal to my home team!

-Kim