Sopris in the background.
Through my travels of being a coffee rep, one of my luxuries is that I get to ride various places, and have hit a number of new rides this season. But I have found a few that are so good, I keep tagging the same ride over and over. Carbondale has been pushing in serveral new trails, all just south of town in the shadow of Mt Sopris. Trails like Monte Carlo (has a hub cap as a trail head sign), XMas Tree zig zag the contours of the base of the hillsides, clamoring to the top. If you are ever in the Aspen valley - it is very worthy.

Riding through the canopy of trees.

Coffee biz is buzzing...ha ha. It seems people pallet for a good cup of Joe never fades. We just installed a new Franke Evolution in our tasting room, very nice. It is a good thing I live two hours away...

Cranking up the intensity for 'cross season, which brings me back to Carbondale, I look forward to a nice cool autumn day on these trails aboard my new IF 'cross rig.

consumer

my sweet new IF @ FTBW

I am consumed - consumed w/ starting new, a baby, a business and racing. having missed out on the first half of the season - or so it seems, I have rededicated myself to the challenge of getting fast again. it all came to a head yesterday on a ride where I peeled the layers and through proclamation realized my desire, desire to ride fast.

my baby is already strong, not yet showing his cards to world from in the womb, he moves about with purpose and I have felt him many times. it is a amazing, I can't wait to meet this guy.

check out:

hutchinsontires.blogspot.com
bikeandskieventures.com

ride fast.

Something happened to me on the wat to...

I have been in a toxic haze since the replaced my transmission. After a follow up visit to the dealer, they said it was some anitfreeze leaking onto the engine, my headache and continued lung burning would beg to differ.

To get some fresh air and purge the toxins out of my system, I stopped in Carbondale in my lethargic state, and forced my self out on the bike. Moisture in the air and on the trails lifted my spiirts as I rolled out south of town.

Oh, whats this? A singletrack, I remebr the one I have ridden on a couple of occasions further up the road, lets check it out. Nice, swoopy ribbon, peppered with rocks and roots. Smooth, nice flow, I am getting into this. Hey what the... a car? With a bridge/ ladder over it, sweet!

And whats this, a bermed out drainage? Cool! Man you can haul the mail on this thing. Nice climb out, check out the Lupines in full bloom, and those view back over the green valley, with the contrast of the white and grey clouds. Man what a nice day. Check out this nice grade, I bet it contours back around the mountain back to the road. The trail is so fast and tacky, this is so nice. Yep, here is the road, so if I go up I can catch that other singletrack. This is a bit more sloppy, but great for my Euro-style mtbing and 'cross training. Hey Mr. Cow, wait, Ms. Cow, I mistaked you for an-utter.

There's my entrance. Sick, yep I remember this. Whoa, watch it, its a little greasy here in the shade. Man I love these rollers. That was sick, I wonder if I can hit that single track I climbed up rather than rolling back down the road, yep, there it is.

Hell yeah, over the car! Mazn who ever built this trail 1) loves to ride, 2) knows this area very well, and 3) knows trail building. This has so much flow, and ducking under and through these tress, woo-hoo!!!

Man that was great, 135 average HR and 1:57 riding time, sweet!

Maybe it is my auto emmissions induced haze, or that was a sweet ride, either way I will be back for sure!

Teams

It is great to see all your friends each season, and to see what everyone has going. It is kind of funny, we have been doing this for so long, and we know so many people, and yet I always meet someone new, sometimes someone I have seen around.

Jesse Swift, Matt Unger, Tim Barnes & Colin aka onegear McKernin have formed a new team, http://team.bikeparts.com/ GoFast/ Bikeparts. This Super-D team will be at most of the MSC events this summer along with otyher regional events, and from the looks of things, have a pretty good deal rolling. Colin is off to a fast start, killing it in the single speeds, 2nd @ Nathrop and won Battle at the Bear. It is awesome to see Colin doing so well.

Look like Jay Henry is riding for Tokyo Joes this season, as is Kerry Barnholt who won the womens single speed class at the Bear.

Is it me, or is Georgia Gould like scary fast this season???

Kelly McGelky, Jennifer Gersback, Kristina Maier and a few others make up the new Sports Garage squad, all of whom are riding the BMC machines.

We are helping U23 racer Dylan Stucki, who is sponsored by IF, we just shot some riding tips segments for RSN to be aired this summer. Dylan is racing in the semi-pro class aboard his sweet ne custom ti Independent Fabrication decked out with a FOX Shox, Shimano XTR, Titec, Hutchinson and Dt Swiss wheels.

Did my first race a couple of weeks ago, need some more miles and work, finished 2nd. I am looking forward to future competitions.

Pedros

Pedros was on hand at Sea Otter with their Love Van promoting their new Bio-Fizz cleaner, and Bio-Lube. Both are environmentally friendly and do a great job. Check out their website, http://www.pedros.com/environment.aspx, and give their new Bio-products a try. We will have samples at some of our clinics this summer.

bike&skieventures.com

me ripping down some sweet german singletrack in what is now the new Mountainbikepark Pfaelzerwald, photo circa 1996

Well it is up, our new website, bikeandskieventures.com. Sandi & I have often spoke about doing something like this when we were done racing (no were not done), and after brainstorming and picking other peoples minds, this is the end result. It should be a lot of fun to share these experiences with others, spreading our roots even further in the cycling/ outdoor industries, and offering some unique opportunities to others. We will have to see what happens. The website is new, there are some things to be added and cleaned up I am sure, but please give it a look over and shoot us your thoughts and comments.

Enjoy the ride!

Moab

Sandi & I headed out to Moab for the weekend for Myia & Mike's wedding, which was at the beautiful Rad Canyon Lodge & Vineyards along the Colorado River just east of Moab. The wedding was very nice, it was great to be in such a relaxing setting for a special occassion, and had a lot of fun talking with everyone, eating some tasty food, and of course bruched up on some dance moves. We had a quaint and cosy cabin we shared with some friends, and we could hear the water rushing over the rapids just a few meters from our balcony.

The next day after a filling brunch, Sandi & I venured into Arches and did an hour 45 min trail run on one of the longer loops, we called it sprint-site seeing. And with camera in hand, ran to all of the arches on the trail and branches off the loop. There were some great viewpoints, obstacles and trails to run on, although I believe the other tourists thought we were nuts...

My new steel IF geared bike is about finished, and I will have some bike porn up on it soon.

Hazed & Confused

Lets see, last week consisted of two days of riding in Fruita last weekend, a mtb ride here in Gunnison, skate skiing in CB, another ride in Fruita, snowboarding in Telluride, a run and it looks like snow as I sit here and write this. If variety is the spice of life then I am chowing down on a chilly-smoothered, Thai-tufo filled, Chipotle pepper, ina basil-feta cannoli. It is a mixed bag of activities right now.

Anyone catch Simoni's debut on the mountain bike (see picture). 5th at the Marathon World Cup opener, not bad for a small Italian roadie, and I thought Savaodelli was the one with riding skills... Is this the beginning of another wave of roadies coming over to the mtb scene? Probably not.

Looks like Tim jumped ship turning in his green colors for those of Fischer, what the hell are their colors anyway? Wonder if this is just a move for mountain bikes or something more permanent. Hopefully this means we will see him at some races this year.

Spring Break

Sandi & I took a week to recharge in Mexico, we were in Playa del Carmen to just drop out, which was perfect. Besides getting a great tan (got rid of those silly biker tan lines!), we did some sea kayaking- actually getting some great wave rides in, sailed a Hobie Cat each day, played lots of beach volleyball, and even some beach bocchia. Ate lots of sea food, and local cusine, checked out the ruins in Tulum, and enjoyed the great atmosphere down there. I was suprised how much the climate there rejuvinated my skin and hair. It was a much needed break, and we feel fresh.

The day we returned to Gunnison it was near 60, and I broke out my tan by riding two days in a row in a shortsleeve jersey and shorts! The trails up around the college are dry, and it felt so good to be on some single track again.

Year of the Townies

There is no shortage of townie inspired rides at the Small Framebuilders Show this year. I love a good commuter, and especially love this Retrotec from Curtis Englis, absolutely beautiful. Curtis turns out some great rides up in Nothern California, and is a pretty good rider, having ridden around Santa Rosa with him and Jeremy Sycip a few years back.

Can't wait to see more pics from the show...

35+

It recently came to my attention that someone was petitioning USACyling for a 35+ class like that of cyclo-cross, sort of an Elite class for the 35 and older crowd. What a great idea. I mean I would ride that class over single speeds! There are Master Worlds and in Europe there are master classes at most events, I have done two Master World Cups myself (Houffalize & Mount Saint Anne). Mountain states Cup has this idea on their forum right now, and while it is great to see a discussion on this topic, it sounds like nothing will happen this year at the National nor Regional levels.

Seeing the influence that the MSC series has is great, but at the same time it seems that the NMBS series is ever slipping into the pages of history. It is time for a change, to go along with the 35+ debate, here is one, how about a MTB USGP series? Only it would be great to see each region host a weekend of racing, (Noth East, South East, Midwest, Intermountain West, North West, and South West), with the respectable regional series hosting each one at new venues each year. These would be UCI and the largest national points events, with regional events (fewer National points) being the next tier and local events the next below that (fewr points than regionals). Riders then could compete for National Point Series titles, and not have to travel accross the land in the process, and this would also create a more structured feeder system for Juniors and beginner classes.

Time to clean house my friends...who will step up to the plate...

Somewhere on the descente of the Teva Games

Colin shot me this link: http://www.tevamountaingames.com/ev_cycle_xc.cfm for the Teva Games, it seems they found my face not too offensive and put it up on their webpage for this years edition of the cycling events in Vail. It is a sweet shot on a very small sliver of good single track on the course, I wasn't too impressed with the rest...

The Tour of California has turned out to be a great event, artly because of the great VS. coverage, and due in part to the great riding! I have three good friends out there, Jason Donald who had that great Prologue and has since slipped down the rankings, but is still getting he face and name on the coverage everyday; then there is Jason MCCartney, my old highschool friend from Burlington, he has done awesome moving up to thrid! Man I am stoked for him, he has worked hard for a long time, and it could not be happening to a nicer guy. And my good friend Dan the Mavic Man, driving around in one of the Mavic yellow cars providing tech support.

Tried a fish taco dish tonight, Baja style slaw, and seared Halibut, yummy.

California Dreaming

Watching the Tour of California, it is hard to believe that it is so green and warm elswhere in the world, but I guess that is just me walking around with my blinders on. Not that i think we have it bad, I mean Fruita is still unridable, the front range has a much harder winter than us. This weekend I did a sweet ski with KT up in Mill Creek, and then a nice 2hr road ride with Sandi on sunday. In fact I have logged more days up here riding than last year driving to Montrose to ride (which we have yet to do). On the traininer I have like four or five days, from the sounds of Nat Ross's blog, he has many more than that. We have had it pretty good up here in the high country- well except for the fact I have been on my snowboard only once - but it was a powder day. The nordic skiing has been killer, in fact, I think I will hit it again today, but you can't help to be California Dreaming with those beautiful pics on VS. coverage. Hope Sea Otter will be that nice...

Kicking the habit

This is not a 'new' album, first released in 2004, but it is for me. After hours of soaking my ears in the fresh, edgy sounds of XMU, I have discovered some new tunes to listen to, Grand National is one of these groups. The album "Kicking the National Habit" is a rebirth of the classic punk sound, but with a mix of European eletronica for an up-beat lively sound. I first heard Grand National on Sasch'a "Involver" album, featuring the track "Talk Amongst Yourselves", and loved it from the first listen. In fact "Kicking the National Habit" offers up Sacha's remix as a bonus track. Never dule, nor repetitive, I found myself eagerly awaiting the next track, and not wanting to fast forward or skip a song. It is on my iPod now, and prbably will be there for awhile.

www.grand-national.net

first rides

Gunnison has not been Gunnison this winter, only a few days of -0 temps, and it already feels like spring. after a day of the coffee trade, I hopped on the cross bike for a road ride, along with several others in Durango. Travis had told me he had been riding so I brought the cross bike figuring if the trails were dry (they weren't) I had options. It felt great to get out, Sandi & I had ridden last sunday following the alley loop. it is so figgin' cool to mix it up this time of the year, my weeks look like this:

Mon - 45min - 1hr run or 1 to 1 1/2 hrnordic ski + 1hr yoga
Tue - 1hr spin/ ride or run
Wed - 1 1/2 to 2hr skate ski hard
Thu - 1hr run
Fri - 2 hr spin/ride
Sat - skate ski race/ or 2 hr skate ski hard
Sun - classic tour or 2 hr road ride and 3 hrs snowboarding

all the way into april we can go to telluride for snowboarding or go skate skiing up in cb, then follow it up with road rides or mtbing in fruita. sounds like Colin is heading to AZ soon to ride, he'll be hooking up w/ Dejay...sounds like trouble to me.

I am building up my new IF hardtail and will have some reports on some new products soon.

remember, enjoy the process.

all things nordic

the winter has been great, despite the illusion by everyone else in the country that Colorado has a ton of snow (sorry, just denver), nordic skiing has been awesome. having hit the Grand Mesa nearly 10 times this season, and several other worthy locals, my skiing has come a long ways. proof is back in december I finished 3rd in the master's 10k in crested butte to some fast skiers, guys who burried me in the past by several minutes. then at a sprint race on western state's campus (it was fun to throw down on skis around the same places we have our cyclo-cross events) I pulled out a 2nd against a bunch of younger and more experienced skiers. then over the past weekend I won the master's class in the 21k in the alley loop in cb taking 3rd overall. Traveis Brown was in attendance doing the 42k and took an impressive 4th overall, he has mad skills on the skis just like the bike, wow.

skate skiing to me is much like single speeding, hard efforts on the climbs, ripping the descents and especially at areas like aspen, frisco, leadville (tennessee pass) and the grand mesa, it is so much fun. your out there, flying down trails, through trees and some great scenery, just epic. next year i will be having clinics specifically for cyclists looking for a great winter training programs to boost their summer performances along with picking something up that is so much fun.

Salomon has me on their '08 Equipe 10's and they are sweet. new construction, more 3D shape, nmex core mean lighter overall weight, but more so verylow swing weight, more snap on the kick means more power transfer, and they are fast. I have been loving breaking these guys in.

I glued up some semi-slicks on the 'cross bike as I am slowly mixing in some riding for the coming season. Fruita is in bad shape, snow mud, and long ways before there will be riding down there.

Static Cling

Well I am sure everyone has heard of the "Big One", or the "Holiday Storm". Yeah, I was out in it, driving in snow can be treachorous, me, I think I am Peter Solberg in my Cravens Coffee prepared WRC Toyota Matrix. But with coffee machines weighing me down, they keep me from going balistic down powder covered roads. Still, a controlled drift here and there keep me entertained after hours in the drivers seat.

I have picked up the running, a lot, mixing it in w/ my nordic skiing regiment. The other evening, I was out on a snowy run w/ a headlamp to let motorists know where I was. When alon, I ran by the reflected light off the snowflakes, in a deafening winter silence. The flakes stung my eyes in a constant flurry. Then I would turn my light on to announce my presence, and the flakes became a visable static, still stinging my eyes in their constant bombardament. After the cars had passed, the lights went out and I was returned to my winter serienity.

BIG changes coming for 07, too many and too early to talk, but stayed tuned on all fronts. I am pumped.

O' Tannenbaum

Like many people today, we began our celebration of the Holidays, by getting an evergreen tree to bring inside. Unlike many, we choose the old fashioned means of skiing out into the woods to cut down our own. The roots (no pun intended) of tree use can be traced back before the birth of Jesus Christ to early Egyptians who would bring palms indoor as symbols of eternal life. Ancient Jewish religious feasts used decorations made of tree boughs.

In the Western world, most experts consider our use of trees during the winter holidays as derived from Rome. The Romans exchanged tree boughs with friends for luck. The Roman winter festival was celebrated by decorating the house with tree boughs and greenery. Trees were paraded around with candles and trinkets attached to the branches. And many Christian traditions in the home were borrowed from older pagan celebrations.

Once again, today we found ourselves outside, on a long ski from Crested Butte up to the Friends Hut, just below Star Pass. Along the way during my toil up the steep gradient, I would glance into the woods, or rather the trees. My eyes would select one or two each time I found the energy to take in the scenery.

My eyes were caught by a twisted, once proudly tall standing pine that had long been stripped of its greenery by time and the elements. But even this ghost of a tree, still stood tall and straight, a reflection of its younger days. It stood alone, yet proud.

Then there was a small group of close to the ground trees, hudling together for strength, but torn and worn down from the weather. I felt like they were watching me pass, as I bear witness to their eternally slow struggle, which made my own seem so irrelevant.

Others were shrouded in white, bearing the weight of past snowfalls, a sentence to be carried out until the spring thaw. Moss clung onto the tree admist the dense forest, dangeling like a muted green tinsle. Upon closer examination, colors burst out on the bark, as algeas and other crusty vegation added contrast to the earthy tones oozing up out of the ground on to the face of the proud giants.

Others had fallen victum to the passing seasons, and their branches reached up out of the snow calling out to be remebered, others were mearly a snowheap, an outline of their long robust bodies, now at rest under the winter blanket on the ground.

Once we came home from our adventure, I paused to take inour own tree, and what it represents. The closing of another year, and yet the hope for the new. Green symbolising life, standing tall and proud, and for growth while becoming stronger, to withstand whatever may come our way.

10k Skate

My first nordic race of the season, CB Nordic Series 10k skate. Nailed the wax, my skis were sooo fast. Didn't nail the start, stumbling and missing my poles off the line, it took me a short bit to get into rythm. It wasn't until the second big climb on the first lap that I began to settle down, my heart rate was coming out my ears. Wearing bib 61 (my Dad's race car number), I was working through the field, pinning back earlier starters (it was a staggered start of :15 between each skier). Gradually a really fast Masters skier came back to me, and latched on once I had passed him. It was great motivation to pull him around and do battle. But once again my poor early season technique would rare its head as I blew our sprint for the finish when i nearly went down. No biggy, 2:30 behind the big guns, and I don't know yet what place. Don't need to, I had a good race, know what I need to focus on, and know how much time I need to improve on to move up.

Keep your tips up!

Mountain Flyer

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