lake leatherwood downhill experience

Took my first ride on the downhill course at Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs. I've ridden some of the other trails before, but what I rode yesterday was a new downhill course designed and upgraded by the Progressive Trail Designs team. Not sure how long it it, but it had plenty of features I was unwilling to try. We found out that there is a road that you can take to the top, so next time, we'll have to plan our strategy with a group.

It's HOT!!

Riding back and forth to work in mid 70s and mid 90s is not fun when humidity comes with it. Gotta love riding the bike though.
Lately, I've been out riding with some guys that are in the market for bikes. When possible, I jump on the 29er and let them have a ride on the Enduro. They definitely love the ride. I confess at this point, though I love the 29er, I really enjoy the comfort of the Enduro on the trail. It makes for a great ride.
Next big bike adventure could be a rendezvous at Interbike in Las Vegas and then a weekend ride at Gooseberry Mesa in southern Utah in Sept. We'll see if the funds are there and the plane ticket is affordable.

The 29er is in business!

Last night, I completed the build on the 29er frame that I bought. I was planning on enlisting some help with the build last weekend because of my lack of confidence in my abilities. When no one was available, I started piecing it together a little at a time each day. Last night, with the help of my neighbor Donald Francis, the gears were adjusted, and she is done! I can't believe I was able to do almost the whole thing myself. I spent 2 hours in the bike shop cutting and installing cables yesterday. Obviously, I'm not real fast, but it works.

Rode to work this morning, despite the 100% chance of rain, and it looks like I'll have a clear shot home now that the storms have passed for the moment. It feels strange to be back on a hardtail. Will I get used to it again?

2 weeks out commission...NOT RIGHT

Not sure that I mentioned that I came home from Moab with a broken bike. My rear hub locked up on my way down my last run in Fruita, Kessel Run. Mike B. helped me remove my chain so I could at least coast down the trail. Thank goodness! That was the right trail for that to happen on too. I only had to push a couple of times...and it was skateboard style pushing.
To top it off, my mechanic was out with an injury, so my bike sat in the shop for almost 2 weeks before it got any attention. Once it finally did get worked on, it wasn't my trusted mechanic that rebuilt my rear wheel, which is probably why the wheel was rubbing against the front derailleur when I left. The guys in the shop were convinced that my bike frame was bent. I couldn't see it, but decided the only thing to do was call Tan at Specialized. He referred me to a service rep, Cody, who told me to take it to a dealer for inspection. I decided to take this as my opportunity to visit Eureka Springs for the first time. I've ridden a great trail over there, but never actually been in the town. I met the Specialized dealer from over there at our local trail here and since then have wanted to get over there. The shop owner is Denton West. He took a quick look at the bike and told me he was pretty sure that it was just a wheel issue, and to give him an hour to fix it. Sure enough, the wheel was not dished properly. Denton and I talked for about half an hour about business, bikes, trails, and future group rides. I look forward to seeing him more and riding with him this year.
In other news, I now have a Stumpjumper Marathon 29er frame that I bought on ebay for $500. It came with a Reba fork. Now all I need it PARTS! Can't wait to get it built up so I can ride it to work and back, but my budget is spent, so it could be weeks or months before I can ride it. Today, I am just grateful to have SOMETHING to ride! I love my Enduro. However, I've wanted a 29er since I rode one in Moab 2 years ago. I finally just did it....and by the way, that picture of me on my blog on that green Specialized...that's me on the 29er in Moab 2 years ago.

Finally, a ride in Colorado

Moab ended well. I took a group of 13 guys down the Porcupine Rim trail, and we all survived...amazingly. The more guys in the group, the more likely that something will go wrong...and things did go wrong. Mechanically, Justin Chamberlain did more damage to his bike, and physically, Smart Mike and Rob Kelsey both took some hard spills. Despite it all, the entire group finished the ride within 10 minutes of each other, which is incredible. Sterling McMurrin was kind enough to shuttle us to the top and pick us up at the bottom...with lunch.
On Saturday, the group split again, and this time, I took off with the bulk of the group from Utah and headed to try my first ride in Fruita Colorado. We drove to the north side of Fruita to the Book Cliffs parking lot out in the Fruita Desert. From there, we parked cars and rode our bikes up the road to start at the top. We rode Joe's Ridge, Kessel Run, and Zippety Doo Dah. These trails are amazing dirt singletrack, much different than the Moab trails just down the road. Alot of the riding takes place up on the ridges of the foothills of the mountains, so if you go off one side or the other, you are toast! It was like riding a roller coaster...I normally describe mountain biking that way, but in this instance, it was like being able to see the track expanding off in the distance...just like a roller coaster.
Kessel Run was kind of the opposite, where you were down in the valley, and you would ride back and forth through the ravine and ditch. Fun and fast, and it didn't require much pedaling, which is good because on the last run, my rear hub locked up, and I had to break my chain to even be able to coast down the trail.

the latest from Moab Utah

Up early this morning as I usually am. Figured this would be a good time to share what is happening in Moab. Our group from Arkansas consisted of 5 this year. We were planning on 6, but Randy Murray had work come up at the last minute. Shane Davis, Drew McMurrin, me, and Brad Nielsen left Bella Vista around 5:20pm on Tues evening and met up with Brad's cousin Ryan Waite in Joplin. We drove all night to arrive in Moab around 10am Wed. We rode Klondike Bluffs and Bartlett Wash our first day. Last year at Bartlett, I rode down one steep ravine and passed up another, the famous one known as the toilet bowl. This year, after a little hesitation, I did it. I'll post video when I get it from my friends. My friend Rob Kelsey was right behind me on the way down.
Other friends arrived Wed. night, and we rode Amassa Back yesterday. According to Gene Poncelett, we gained 2100 feet of elevation during that ride. I've ridden this trail twice before, but this time we added some other singletrack that I hadn't done before. Unfortunately, I had a crash on the way back down...still not sure what happened, all I know is that I heard myself hit a loose rock that may have flown up into my bike. It jackknifed my bike and threw me down against the solid rock surface underneath me. I'm sore in a few places, but doing fine.
I took the AR group up to ride the practice loop of slickrock as well. We were all tired from Amassa, so we didn't feel like doing much at that point. Today, we head for Porcupine Rim, the best trail i know in Moab.

Back to riding my bike to work

I didn't think I would ever do it, but last week I bought a road bike. It's an oldie, a 1986 Schwinn Prelude. Joel Patterson in KC was selling another piece of merchandise that I wanted (that one deserves its own post, so stay tunned, and when I get pics, I'll post) and he somehow talked me in to buying this old road bike as well. So far, I like it pretty well, except for it's little quirks. I took it in to Joe at Ozark Bike Shop in Rogers so that Joe can work his magic on it. I paid $180 for it, which looking back was probably a bit much considering it's already in the bike shop. Oh well. I'll just have to put alot of miles on it.
I've ridden to work twice this week, but plan to do much more this year. Great way to relieve stress, get some exercise, and save some money.