June Bug

Ooops. Deleted.

It may make sense because they have a shop in Burnet, so it would be easy enough to have an employee at RPR on the weekends. It only takes 10 or 15 min. to get from Burnet to RPR. I wonder if they'll be doing rental or demo.

Someone mentioned on another thread that Bike Farm is opening a satellite shop at Reveille Peak. I had to laugh at the kismet involved. Bike Farm was a profoundly obscure and eccentric shop and I had ridden within 50 ft of it's entrance for probably a year before I realized there was a bike shop there, with the driveway tucked just off Brentwood, close to Lamar. Mechanics wrenched in sheds open to the outdoors, even through the heat of summer and winter's chill. Bikes were stored outside, open to the elements. Then they moved to Burnet Rd., still using the outdoor format to store their substantial bike stock, just in time for Covid, when it's hugely to their advantage to have an open air show room and a stock of reasonably priced bikes. Now they'll be out at Reveille as that place continues to pick up steam. When so many retail operations of all kinds have floundered, they have just happened to make all the decisions that allowed their oddball business model to prosper in what is the craziest economy of all time.

And gravel. Don't forget gravel.

Many wrecks at the trail-to-water transition at the bottom of the Root Drop back in the day. I don't recall anyone wrecking on the way down. Also (IMHO) true OTB's are less likely these days due to improved bike geometry. Old school geometry tended to be steep and twitchy + bitty wheels.

"Bigger than a trail": Grand Valley's Palisade Plunge set to open after 10 years of planning and partnership Palisade, CO is just east of Grand Junction. The Plunge starts atop Grand Mesa and descends 6,000' over 34 miles. Lots of exposure. Lots. The Palisade Plunge (and its 6,000' descent) will be one of Colorado's crown jewels Purpose built by Singletrack Trails and shuttle-able.

Also, the Bike Farm experience is an outdoor experience, so not the best place to shop on a rainy day. All but the high end bikes are outside. The Bike Farm experience is an outdoor experience, so the best place to shop during Covid! I was there last week and it was quite busy.

Ditto. It's Giro for me and only Giro. Between r**d and mountain helmets, I think I'm on my 6th. However, the MIPS mountainbike helmets sit just a fraction too low and the adjustment band digs into my ears, so it's non MIPS for mtn helmets, but the r**d MIPS is fine.

That entrance is very close to the tool stand, maybe only 75 yards if that. I'm glad to know the numbers on the brown Carsonite posts are working well with the 911 system. Also, although this incident ultimately had a very sad ending, I'd strongly encourage y'all to learn CPR or watch a refresher youtube. An Austin road cyclist and friend, Stanton Truxillo, had a coronary and collapsed on a group ride in South Austin. At that moment, a passing nurse stopped and immediately started CPR, which kept Stanton alive until EMS got there and applied an automated external defibrillator (AED). EMS had to revive Stanton several times in the ambulance; he had immediate bypass surgery. Stanton is still cranking along and riding these 12 or 13 years later. He's now in his mid 80s. We did a Red Cross CPR class a few months after Stanton's close call, but I could do with a refresher. Remember that CPR no long involves mouth-to-mouth with adults. Learning CPR will also teach you to spot and administer small AEDs, which are mounted on the wall in buildings here and there, especially medical office buildings which aren't hospitals, at schools and colleges and lots of other places.

AB, I'm glad you were able to help by directing EMS to the person in distress. What trailhead did EMS use to enter the park? How were they directed to that trailhead?

Thanks for all that! I'm well familiar with the communal groover from many river trips. If indeed there are only three of us guests, it should be not too awful. That said, it's a really bizarre aspect of getting to know people. Bringing cell phone and a back up battery for the camera. Memory foam pillows are on the packing list! We're meeting the tour in Hanksville, so we'll miss out on both the bad (traffic jams!) and good (it's Moab!) crazy, but the drive from Mexican Hat to Hanksville via Hite should be epic, scenery wise. Off to print up the packing checklist!

Thanks for the amazing pix! I've never heard a bad word about Western Spirit. I'm alternately excited/nervous, though. Excited about the trip, flipping out about travelling during the pandemic (we're driving). As of last week, there was only one other person on the trip; with Crusty and me that's three guests total. Even if that person cancels, the trip is still going. Also, nervous about the weather -- could be perfect or damn cold, at least at night. We're well prepared to stay warm, but still, it will be October at 5,000' and getting dark early. Did you fly into Grand Junction? Drive? How was the camping scene on the three nights out? Were there any days with a lot of climbing? How big a duffel did you take for all of your clothes and bike gear? I'm getting 2 rolling duffles for us this week. Now I'm considering putting some big tires back on my ti 29er (rigid fork) repurposed as a commuter, rather than taking a full suspension mountain bike. Any words of wisdom or other useful info are appreciated.

Y'all, the Harbor Freight thing on casters could free up more floor space, so *stuff* doesn't encroach on my tiny bit of garage turf. I don't like the idea of hanging up a mtn bike, but for the road and gravel bikes it would work *chef's kiss* great. Plus, he's gotten at least two bikes since I built up my Salsa Spearfish maybe 5 years ago. If anything comes into the stable, it's going to have to be one for each of us and something may have to go out the door.

He wants more bikes; he has no space to cram in more bikes.

I was contemplating the bike situation in our garage, which I consider out of control and my spouse considers a problem only because he's maxed out bike wise. Entered "bike storage" on Pinterest and found this Harbor Freight item: Mobile Bike Storage.

All Pam. All the time. All good.

+ Or a trip report! We're going to do a Western Spirit tour in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area. There's no technical riding; it's all on dirt roads, although the last day will have some rough two-track. We'll be riding mountain bikes. Stopping on the way for two or three days in Mexican Hat, Utah to check out the rough-ish 17-mile dirt road through Valley of the Gods (scenic!) and another route (Johns Canyon Rd) for mellow bikepacking potential, probably camping at Goosenecks State Park. Here's a random review (photos and video) from the interwebs w/photos of Goosenecks State Park and Johns Canyon Road. Looks well maintained and very gravel-bike friendly. Johns Canyon Road

Dang, glad you escaped with (relatively) minor injuries. Edited to add: Very happy your replacement bike won't be a white Ghost Bike.

By Pam LeBlanc for Texas Monthly Texas Cyclists Are Discovering the Joys of Gravel Grinding Why many are exchanging paved roads and traffic for rural routes and breathtaking scenery.

That's an Imelda-level shoe collection. Is it for multiple family members?

Southern Walnut Creek Multi-Use Path Sept. 17th Someone riding a few nights ago reported that a large wild boar charged across the trail in front of him. This would be north of the turnoff to the tennis courts, in the area of the large open field, before you get to Johnny Morris Rd. He didn't spot any sows or piglets, but I'm sure they are around.

bikepacking.com has just posted a long-term review of the WAHOO Elemnt Roam. WAHOO ELEMNT ROAM REVIEW (VIDEO), AFTER 5,000+ MILES After well over 5,000 miles of use, Neil reviews the Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM in his latest video. In addition, find a second video tutorial on how to quickly load our routes from your phone directly to the ROAM… The comments section are always worth a read, with a wee bit of churlish blow back from an Edge fan boi.

...but for the personal locator beacons, like InReach Explorer, it could be an inconvenience (I can't send a text about the incredible view!) or life and death. This is NOT confidence inspiring.