Alright, let's ride!

This is the only place we are announcing this first demo ride, cause we need the right people for our trial. (We are gonna try it out and get your feedback.)

On Saturday July 26th (2008), we will meet at the back parking lot of Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop at 8am. Scott will be taking the new van and up to 9 bikes and 8 people on a trail ride. This also means if you have a car with bike racks, maybe you should bring it along... There is a time constriction, so the trail will be a close one (probably Golden), but it promises to be fun.

We will bring along with us a combination of the following bikes:
Giant Trance
Giant Trance X
Giant Anthem
Brooklyn Machine Works Park Bike
Black Sheep Ti 29er SS
Maverick Durance (oh, mommma! Scott gets this one first)
Jamis Dakar XAM
Jamis Dakar XCR

You don't *have* to have (or bring)a mountain bike to join us. Please bring water, a helmet, a snack, some money for a post-ride snack and a can-do smile.

We'll get you back to the shop by noon, cause Scott has to go back to work then!

See you there.

Here is the van:

Buffalo Creek vs. Dodge Ram Van

We rode in the shop's new Getting-To-The-Trails-And-That-Is-All Van to Buffalo Creek, near Pine. Pine is a community and not a city (from what I understand). The new to us van handled the trip quite well. Since it is still not quite ready for the public, we simply stuffed the 3 bikes into the back of the van and headed out.

Nick, Dave and I (Scott T.) arrived at the Ranger Station where the temp was a good bit cooler than in Denver. It hadn't rained up there for a couple days, and it appeared that we were going to have nothing but sunshine. We suited up and began our trip.

Within about a half an hour, arm warmers were too much and water was being consumed. I was in some knickers that were probably a bit too warm as well. But, soon we were in the midst of same amazing singletrack and temperature was our last concern. The trail was fantastic. Lots of fun swoopy climb/decent/climb sections. Lots of grinding climbs. By grinding, I simply mean that having a granny gear was useful. The climb to the "top" was not horrible, not techy, but all around fun.

Side note: The shop just got a GPS computer. I am new to it. And I loved messing with it during the ride, which is completely unnecessary. But, I didn't know that. So, there is a 2 mile section on this map that it appears we teleported. We might have... but I remember it as being one of the more fun, fast and oh-so-downhill sections of the trail. The teleported section appears as a perfectly straight line on the map. Very impressive. Oops. I know it wouldn't pushed the average speed up a bunch.

Down sides of Buffalo Creek would be that you pretty much have to drive there (hence, the van) and the trail gets sandy and loose in lots of places.

Was it worth it? Hell yes.
Will I go again? Hell Yes.
Did I eat a tremendous amount of food after the ride? Hell Yes.
Should you go next time we ride together? I think so.

Nick: Kona 29" SS - Green with a grinning faced rider
Dave: Vassago 29" Fixed - Orange with a crazed faced rider
Scott: Jamis Dakar XAM - Gray with a always hungry faced rider

By the way, look at this if you want to be bewildered for a few days: Buffalo times Eight

Riding High

I went to Palmer park in Colorado Springs for a mountain bike ride at dusk last night. IT WAS FUN. So, much fun that I had to put it in CAPS. I went with one of the leaders of Ride Against The Machine, our team of fun-loving-but-not-snotty racers.

We went up and down and up and down and up and down. Then we stopped because the trail ended...



So, we turned around and had a blast going down. Palmer park is one of the most fun biking spots in all of Colorado. It is friendly enough for newbies, but can be challenging enough for the seasoned veteran. The only thing that sucks is all the High School kids smoking pot (everywhere). As a tip to the police, ride your bikes through Palmer Park at dusk if you need to bust some kids for marijuana. As a tip to cyclists, be aware that these kids have no trail etiquette. And it is okay because it is fun to scare stoners.

It is hard to leave Palmer Park without a smile on your face. We left sad that we had to leave, but the sun was gone already.

Bike Review: Jamis Dakar XAM (which we have a demo of for you to ride): Fun. Fast. Comfy. Great Climbing. Heavy (steady). Easy on the eyes. Great parts spec for the money. Faster than you would expect.