What a cold, cold Winter it has been for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The trails have been getting a much needed break, which will make them that much better this Spring. In fact, with responsible locals setting first tracks into the freeze-lifted dirt, the trails should be regaining some of their classic narrow Fruitian singletrack lines. Monday I found myself awakening in a strange land, surrounded by miles and miles of various types of sandstone. The Sun was peeking in and out of mostly overcast skies in the direction where we really wanted to ride. Even so, my local friend and I headed that way just to check things out. Driving out, we could see the obvious line of demarcation in the cloudiness and decided upon arrival in the target area that riding in the Sun would be better. It turned out to be a doorstep ride. Doorstep rides in this area are not as plentiful as they should be, but can connect up with miles and miles of varying routes. The standard access is by bike path and a bit of a paved climb after that to some sandstone. It may as well all be paved, except the sandstone is devoid of most vehicle traffic, has better grip and many cool natural features to ride on a mountain bike. The great things about the cold, wet Winter in this particular area is that the sandstone is "cleaned" off and the by-product of that sandstone is hardpacked, making it all easier to ride. We topped out and were greeted by a cool breeze, so dropping into a low spot for a short break seemed like the intelligent thing to do. Sitting on a hunk of sandstone and admiring the surroundings, my friend pointed out a pristine clump of cryptogamic soil with a huge Claretcup cactus clump in the middle of it. He made a mental note to return to photograph it when they start to bloom this Spring. Break time over, it was time to get riding. The undulating nature of the route and varying surfaces made it fast and slow all at once. Riding the sandstone lines was like playing a jazz tune, just jamming and playing our own riffs over the slabs. On the climbs, I kept to the steepest lines because I felt like it and could. The drops were the same, though most were approached with caution before throwing that notion to the wind after ensuring the runout was not too nasty. The best thing about sandstone is the grip it can have with the right tires. Any decent tread with climbing shoe rubber on the knobs is just the ticket for this kind of riding. They are probably the slowest rolling tires you can imagine, but they rule completely on the sandstone, especially on off- camber slopes. This became even more evident when connecting up our original route to another. It was a kind of sandstone slab hop-scotch, the connection well known to us and obviously not used by anyone else. It features a few ledge moves and is mostly off-camber, but all on the rock when ridden correctly. After having ridden that section with less than grippy tires, the climbing shoe rubber tires made it very easy. The last part on the trail found my compadre taking the low road, while I decided on the high one. I really felt the need for a few more steep pitches and wanted to see how my middle-ring climbing was faring. At the top of the second pitch, there were a couple of other people on mountain bikes (the first we had seen). They seemed to know the etiquette for yielding to the uphill rider, or were taking the view because they decided let me pass. Of course I bade them a good day and thanked them for the yield as I scooted over the top and jammed down the other side. After meeting up near the trailhead, we jammed back down to town at mach speeds on the road previously climbed. It sure was much easier on the return flight. The bike path back to the doorstep was a little more crowded with pedestrians, but we were in no hurry and mostly coasted back to my friend's casa. Once back, it was beer:30 and we broke into his private beer stash to celebrate the first ride from his new house and (his) first ride of the year. It doesn't get much better than that. JD
On 27 Feb 2004 15:26:31 -0800, [email protected] (JD) wrote: >What a cold, cold Winter it has been for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The trails have been >getting a much needed break, which will make them that much better this Spring. In fact, with >responsible locals setting first tracks into the freeze-lifted dirt, the trails should be regaining >some of their classic narrow Fruitian singletrack lines. > >Monday I found myself awakening in a strange land, surrounded by miles and miles of various types >of sandstone. The Sun was peeking in and out of mostly overcast skies in the direction where we >really wanted to ride. Even so, my local friend and I headed that way just to check things out. >Driving out, we could see the obvious line of demarcation in the cloudiness and decided upon >arrival in the target area that riding in the Sun would be better. > >It turned out to be a doorstep ride. Doorstep rides in this area are not as plentiful as they >should be, but can connect up with miles and miles of varying routes. The standard access is by >bike path and a bit of a paved climb after that to some sandstone. It may as well all be paved, >except the sandstone is devoid of most vehicle traffic, has better grip and many cool natural >features to ride on a mountain bike. > >The great things about the cold, wet Winter in this particular area is that the sandstone is >"cleaned" off and the by-product of that sandstone is hardpacked, making it all easier to ride. We >topped out and were greeted by a cool breeze, so dropping into a low spot for a short break seemed >like the intelligent thing to >do. Sitting on a hunk of sandstone and admiring the surroundings, my friend pointed out a pristine > clump of cryptogamic soil with a huge Claretcup cactus clump in the middle of it. He made a > mental note to return to photograph it when they start to bloom this Spring. > >Break time over, it was time to get riding. The undulating nature of the route and varying surfaces >made it fast and slow all at once. Riding the sandstone lines was like playing a jazz tune, just >jamming and playing our own riffs over the slabs. On the climbs, I kept to the steepest lines >because I felt like it and could. The drops were the same, though most were approached with caution >before throwing that notion to the wind after ensuring the runout was not too nasty. > >The best thing about sandstone is the grip it can have with the right tires. Any decent tread with >climbing shoe rubber on the knobs is just the ticket for this kind of riding. They are probably the >slowest rolling tires you can imagine, but they rule completely on the sandstone, especially on off- >camber slopes. This became even more evident when connecting up our original route to another. It >was a kind of sandstone slab hop-scotch, the connection well known to us and obviously not used by >anyone else. It features a few ledge moves and is mostly off-camber, but all on the rock when >ridden correctly. After having ridden that section with less than grippy tires, the climbing shoe >rubber tires made it very easy. > >The last part on the trail found my compadre taking the low road, while I decided on the high one. >I really felt the need for a few more steep pitches and wanted to see how my middle-ring climbing >was faring. At the top of the second pitch, there were a couple of other people on mountain bikes >(the first we had seen). They seemed to know the etiquette for yielding to the uphill rider, or >were taking the view because they decided let me pass. Of course I bade them a good day and thanked >them for the yield as I scooted over the top and jammed down the other side. > >After meeting up near the trailhead, we jammed back down to town at mach speeds on the road >previously climbed. It sure was much easier on the return flight. The bike path back to the >doorstep was a little more crowded with pedestrians, but we were in no hurry and mostly coasted >back to my friend's casa. Once back, it was beer:30 and we broke into his private beer stash to >celebrate the first ride from his new house and (his) first ride of the year. It doesn't get much >better than that. > >JD Nice. What is do you mean by doorstep? Peace, Bill The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind should give an immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world. :-]
On 27 Feb 2004 15:26:31 -0800, JD wrote: > > Riding the sandstone lines was like playing a jazz tune, just jamming and playing our own riffs > over the slabs. Sounds awfully nice! Much better than the mucky fireroads I've been sloshing on. > seen). They seemed to know the etiquette for yielding to the uphill rider, or were taking the view > because they decided let me pass. Of course I bade them a good day and thanked them for the yield > as I scooted over the top and jammed down the other side. OH, but of course! ;-) > no hurry and mostly coasted back to my friend's casa. Once back, it was beer:30 and we broke into > his private beer stash to celebrate the first ride from his new house and (his) first ride of the > year. It doesn't get much better than that. No it doesn't! Good stuff. -- -BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)
"JD" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]... > What a cold, cold Winter it has been for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The trails have been > getting a much needed break, which will make them that much better this Spring. In fact, with > responsible locals setting first tracks into the freeze-lifted dirt, the trails should be > regaining some of their classic narrow Fruitian singletrack lines. > > Monday I found myself awakening in a strange land, surrounded by miles and miles of various types > of sandstone. The Sun was peeking in and out of mostly overcast skies in the direction where we > really wanted to ride. Even so, my local friend and I headed that way just to check things out. > Driving out, we could see the obvious line of demarcation in the cloudiness and decided upon > arrival in the target area that riding in the Sun would be better. > > It turned out to be a doorstep ride. Doorstep rides in this area are not as plentiful as they > should be, but can connect up with miles and miles of varying routes. The standard access is by > bike path and a bit of a paved climb after that to some sandstone. It may as well all be paved, > except the sandstone is devoid of most vehicle traffic, has better grip and many cool natural > features to ride on a mountain bike. > > The great things about the cold, wet Winter in this particular area is that the sandstone is > "cleaned" off and the by-product of that sandstone is hardpacked, making it all easier to ride. We > topped out and were greeted by a cool breeze, so dropping into a low spot for a short break seemed > like the intelligent thing to > do. Sitting on a hunk of sandstone and admiring the surroundings, my friend pointed out a > pristine clump of cryptogamic soil with a huge Claretcup cactus clump in the middle of it. He > made a mental note to return to photograph it when they start to bloom this Spring. > > Break time over, it was time to get riding. The undulating nature of the route and varying > surfaces made it fast and slow all at once. Riding the sandstone lines was like playing a jazz > tune, just jamming and playing our own riffs over the slabs. On the climbs, I kept to the steepest > lines because I felt like it and could. The drops were the same, though most were approached with > caution before throwing that notion to the wind after ensuring the runout was not too nasty. > > The best thing about sandstone is the grip it can have with the right tires. Any decent tread with > climbing shoe rubber on the knobs is just the ticket for this kind of riding. They are probably > the slowest rolling tires you can imagine, but they rule completely on the sandstone, especially > on off-camber slopes. This became even more evident when connecting up our original route to > another. It was a kind of sandstone slab hop-scotch, the connection well known to us and obviously > not used by anyone else. It features a few ledge moves and is mostly off-camber, but all on the > rock when ridden correctly. After having ridden that section with less than grippy tires, the > climbing shoe rubber tires made it very easy. > > The last part on the trail found my compadre taking the low road, while I decided on the high one. > I really felt the need for a few more steep pitches and wanted to see how my middle-ring climbing > was faring. At the top of the second pitch, there were a couple of other people on mountain bikes > (the first we had seen). They seemed to know the etiquette for yielding to the uphill rider, or > were taking the view because they decided let me pass. Of course I bade them a good day and > thanked them for the yield as I scooted over the top and jammed down the other side. > > After meeting up near the trailhead, we jammed back down to town at mach speeds on the road > previously climbed. It sure was much easier on the return flight. The bike path back to the > doorstep was a little more crowded with pedestrians, but we were in no hurry and mostly coasted > back to my friend's casa. Once back, it was beer:30 and we broke into his private beer stash to > celebrate the first ride from his new house and (his) first ride of the year. It doesn't get much > better than that. > > JD Glad to see someone is riding. TJ www.gvii.net/hundtoft
JD wrote: > What a cold, cold Winter it has been for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The trails have been <snip RR> Nice. ...I sound like Bill, don't I? I've never been on anything remotely like that rock. I'd love to try it one day. -- Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)
"TJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<DYT%[email protected]_s04>... > Glad to see someone is riding. If you're about and it doesn't precipitate too much more today, The Angries, Kevin and I are going to ride tomorrow around midday. Come on out and ride with us. JD
Bill Wheeler <[email protected]> asked: > Nice. What is do you mean by doorstep? Doorstep: A ride from a residence to a trail, or a trail that leaves directly from a residence. JDictionary
[email protected] (JD) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>... > What a cold, cold Winter it has been for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. Once back, it was > beer:30 and we broke into his private beer stash to celebrate the first ride from his new house > and (his) first ride of the year. It doesn't get much better than that. > > JD Luck duck. I miss it. Even all that middle ring climbing. paladin
