Don't call it a comeback- I've been here for years.

I'm a dancer, a romancer, you're a Capricorn and I'm a Cancer.

Things are sometimes under siege by snow in my world, but I recently took the opportunity to get funky in the mud of a Northern California sort. My name is Hurl, and gravity ain't got nothin' on me.

december gravel

gravel and dirt roads around here have a nice coating of ice and snow. thin coating for now. air temperatures today allowed for some longer mileage, and it was nice to get out into the country.

Perhaps one of the best things ever.

Found here.

You're welcome.

Human Pincushion, and more fun

My friend Amber is a naturopathic doc, so when I hurt my knee she offered acupuncture...looks quite awful but actually doesn't hurt, and really seems to help it feel better.


In more fun news, it's Sedona season! Warm sun, slickrock, crazy views, always finished up by a margarita at the Javelina Cantina. Nice way to get out of the snow...

No exceptions Saturdays Part 1 & 2 - Photo Essay (& other cool shit)

No exceptions Saturdays.

PART 1

The view on the way up.

The view at one of higher points

Decision time. Chose the Serenity Trail & made the right one.

End of ride food. Well, the no remains of the off-the-beaten path BBQ joint. Ok choice. The BBQ was delicious, but not serving beer or any alcohol whatsoever is considered anarchy in the State of Texas when BBQ is involved. The establishment does not deserve hole-in-the-wall status. Lesson learned. The quest continues.

PART 2

Great Rearview mirror shot. Like to see this!

The view on the trail. It was quite tasty.

The view from the top. Here is where the excitement happened. If you have ever woken up at Christmas and found that very thing you had been wishing for, you know the feeling here. Yes, dreams do come true. Waves of sheer bliss took over, and the ride went from a couple hours into several hours. From this picture here, you can see the trails go on for quite a bit. Which is exactly what happened - taken over with that giddiness not comprehending what's in store - then reality hits you. Oh shit, gotta get back somehow. Butt kicked and proud of it.

One of the trails. I like this type of school.

Now, this is definitely what I like to see post ride. Hole-in-the-wall Mexican food complete with a margarita to wash it all down. Would have liked to have seen a shrimp dish on the menu, but chicken fajitas was definitely worthy of trade-off complete with sports TV at the bar in Spanish. Thumbs up!

OTHER COOL SHIT (OCS)

This is the drawing from my very 1st Soulcraft. I printed out the drawing and framed it. I haven't seen this piece of artwork in almost year due to being in storage. It felt good to see it again & look forward to hanging on wall. Look out Picasso.

Here is it is again waiting to be hung above the bikes (see below). Although, I do recommend if you take this route, that some lamination or stronger paper will be needed. I used regular paper, and I noticed it has started to bunch - meaning not holding it's flat, smooth shape.

My herd. All three of them Soulcrafts. Artwork in themselves. Complete with mud, dirt, lots of wear and tear.

This is a blog post. Now I demand the trimmings of sponsorship.

I kind of assumed a Tijuana picnic would have consisted of a broader assortment of pharmaceuticals, a woman named Juanita and her horny Donkey, but what the hell do I know?
The 70s were a long time ago, and it's foolish for me not to expect change.

In other news;

"Soulcraft Bicycles. We'd give you the shirt off your back."

Sunrise

This is the sunrise that greeted me on my ride to work today. Best one I've seen in a long time!

USGP New Belgium Cup #2 - Nebraska Friends

Some photos of Nebraska friends racing in the USGP New Belgium Cup #2 last Sunday in Fort Collins, CO.

[click the banner or click here to see the photos]

NEWS FLASH: Ned Overend Also Crushes on a Cyclocross Bike!

Ned Overend could race in the 55+, but he races against the young whippersnappers in the 35+ category, and finishes 10th.

USGP New Belgium Cup #2 - Nov 14, 2010 - Fort Collins, CO
Photo by Mitch Kline

western rim trail

is near fruita, a bit west actually. it can be ridden from the rabbit valley exit. the best part of this trail is a contour ride along the edge above the colorado river valley below.

fall fruita

took a long weekend from normal life and spent some time in the desert riding bikes and camping.
day 1 - 18 road stuff. we did the end of the edge loop. it was awesome. saw the waterfall for the first time.
day 2 - big loop from rabbit valley. zion curtain, western rim...a day full.
day 3 - gunny loop at grandjunction. new trail out there. loved it.

A call to arms.

As most of you are probably aware this article has been making a lot waves within the cycling community.

As I just stated elsewhere, the more frequently this happens, the greater chance it becomes of becoming the precedent, and I don't know how to make it happen, but that absolutely cannot stand.

Writing your feelings on a postcard might be a good start.

Judicial District Attorney's Office
Mr. Mark Hurlbert, District Attorney
955 Chambers Rd.,
P.O. Box 295 Eagle, CO
81631 (970) 328-694 7; (970) 328- 1016 fax

Or better yet, sign the petition.

Whatever it takes, do what you have to, to make your voice heard.

No exceptions Saturday

Kitted up, watered up, snacked up (thank you for peanut butter covered pretzels), pumped up, and now blogged up. TIME TO ROLL OUT! And yes, sunshine, mud, sprinkles of rain, and everything the doctor ordered is being served up today. Little bit of talking about the convert with bike shop dude, and it's gonna be fun. Hopefully, he, they will let me hang out and drink beer during the process. It's just part of it. Could be a deal breaker if not. Sean need to have conversation about this.

For your listening pleasure...and in the meantime.

Hello

It's been awhile, and I would like thank the stars for this. A LOT has been going on. Made it up to Marin for Biketoberfest, and hit some awesome trails courtesy of one Mr. Ben P. Thanks dude, that was sweet - even the beers and eats afterwards were quite tasty. Bummed not to have any pictures to posted, but riding those trails has left me thirsty for more. I now have a more serious crush on my MTB, and I have a feeling pictures will come. Along with the convert on one of my road bikes - Sean need to have conversation with you about this. I am counting the days until I hit the trails again, and hoping for lots of mud, dirt, sprinkles of rain, sun and beer. I am salivating like Pavlov's dog just thinking about it, and I never knew it could be like this. Saturday. It has to be this Saturday - NO EXCEPTIONS!

sswc10.Somebody had to do it!

A few images from NZ. Put it on your to do list!

Black metal and tacos?

What could be better? Via album tacos.

You all should move here

Friday night the Mrs. and I met Mitch Kline and his Mrs. in The City for dinner at Una Pizza Napolitana.  In case you are not aware, Mitch is the guy responsible for the Soulcraft website.  He lives in Denver.  Booo.  The guy working the pizza oven is Anthony Mangieri, owner of said pizzeria and kind of a big deal in the pizza world.  He recently shut down his place in Brooklyn and moved west.  After a months long battle with The City zoning and permits people, he's finally open.  I can't say what an inspiration it was to be at his place and watch him work.  Totally stripped down with a complete focus on the art of making pizza.  Not at all what most of us grew up eating on Friday nights with the family.  Totally blew my wig back.

Anthony owns 3 Soulcrafts, and recently had his old Plowboy shipped out.  I spied it on my way to the bathroom.

Anthony telling Mitch he needs to move here.

Great sticker collection.
 

On Saturday morning before Biketoberfest started we managed a ride at Tamarancho with Paul and Renee from Paul Components and Mike Varley from Black Mountain Cycles.  We got in trouble for riding the fire road.  "Bikes are supposed to stay on the singletrack!"  Yes ma'am!

Biketoberfest has turned into a nice gathering of local frame builders.  We've all been seeing a lot of each other lately, which is nice.

We were next to Curtis Inglis.  If you want to know what colors will be hot this season, just look at his shoes. 

Have you got the eye of the tiger?

We here in the Soulcraft camp do. They just happen to both be blood shot.

Guess I better start training

Cause I got into 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo as a solo rider. Now I'm scared.
And I haven't been training, at least not for long rides like that. I've been doing this:
And some of this:
And plenty of this:
But, I guess it's not hard to want to go out and ride when the forest looks like this right now:
Yeah, that's nice.

Gran La Fonda

Our highly unorganized Gran La Fonda bike show the night before Levi Leipheimer's Gran Fondo was an unmitigated success.  By setting the bar so low to begin with, we had nowhere to go but up.  No fees for the builders or public, free beer, etc., we wanted this to be the anti-bike show.  We had somewhere around 15 builders from Portland to Santa Cruz.

As you can see, the accommodations were meager but fitting.  A partially burnt-down loading dock makes a way nicer hangout than an expo hall.  The guys from Whiskeydrunk Cycles showed up with their Whiskeydrome. Curtis, Jeremy, and I climbed in and took a spin.  Completely frightening at first but with a crowd looking on, we represented fairly well.

Whiskeydrunk also brought out their crazy people powered rigs that were built for the Hand Car Regatta.  Impressive doesn't begin to cover it.

Handmade bike shows are all the rage these days and with all the great local talent it's a bit of a mystery why we haven't had one here before.  Actually, it's not a mystery.  We're lazy, and would rather spend our free time riding.  Speaking of which, riding was the whole reason behind the show.  The next morning all the builders met up to take part in the Gran Fondo.

 We even got Bruce Gordon to show up with his insane creation.

 
We decided the "medio" route of 65 miles would be more to our liking than the 105 mile route.  Of course we had to modify that slightly with a run up Willow Creek Rd.  Typical of frame builders, we opted to hide from potential customers.

 

Check out Curtis Inglis and Rick Hunter working on the best way to look cool while waiting around.  "So where do I put my right hand?"

We have to acknowledge the crew at Bike Monkey (that's Monkey #2, Greg Fisher, after Patrick Dempsey wouldn't autograph his left breast) for helping us make the Gran La Fonda possible.  These guys and gals (15 of them I think) are responsible for pretty much every bike race in Sonoma county (and elsewhere), including the Gran Fondo, which helps raise money to pay for the Tour of California when it rolls through Santa Rosa.  In a few short years they have helped make Sonoma county more of a cycling destination than it was already.  After looking back on the whole weekend, I have to say I'm even more proud to call this place home.  Not that I didn't know what we had here, but to see it all come together like that was inspiring.  I can't wait until next year.