journeyvision

12 Hours of Mesa Verde 5.12.2012

The start of a very fun race. 12 Hours of Mesa Verde is located outside of Cortez Colorado at a trail system called Phils World. Phils world is a mountain bikers paradise consisting of twisty, incredibly flowy single track. There were amazing roller coaster type sections of trail that would drop you almost weightlessly from one end of the gully and up the next with a huge fast berm to turn you right back into the gully to do it again. You never had to touch your breaks or pedal, brilliant trail design there!

Catching air off of one of the roller coaster sections

Wow what a great time! This race was much tougher than expected and the course was a blast. All in all Mike and I rode over 100 miles and came in about 27th out of 40 teams in our bracket. I take that as a huge improvement over our last endurance race (Rage in the Sage) where our team came in last.

Mike did a great writeup of the race on his blog here

Buffalo Creek 4.11.12

It was a good weekend to spend in Buffalo Creek. I dusted off the camping gear, headed out a night early, relaxed with a nights sleep in the hammock, and met Mike the next day for some sweet 30+ miles of single track.

There is a cool little hideaway camp spot right off of the colorado trail that I know about. This tree is the biggest one in the area and has a wicked knot on the bottom from it pushing against a boulder.

A welcome crossing at the top of Gas House. From here you can hit Charles cutoff and sandy wash that combine to what seems like 7 miles of fun flowy buff singletrack awesomeness.

common resting spot at the intersection of Shinglemill and Morrison Creek

Weather was excellent

29ers Rule!

Colorado Trail all the way back to the car. This section of CT is one of the best for MTB.

March Madness

March was a great month full of riding. Some of the warmest temps of all time. Many days of 70 degree weather.

Sooooo here is a big photo dump of all the great riding!

Jeremy and Luis ripping jacks after a fresh spring snow!

Miguel

two white hecklers??????

best bike eva!

Keith and I rode “upper williams” and it was epic!

Keith stoked about the new sign!

Bee Rrrripppp

Jay Woods

Thursday Monument ride!

So Yeah March 2012 kicked ass and it had nothing to do with NCAA basketball!

Snowshoeing the Crags 2.4.12

I have been on the fence for awhile about snow shoes. It looked like there is
potential for some fun but wasn’t sure it would be worth getting a pair. I had a chance to try a couple different sets and was able to get a good idea of what I wanted in a snow shoe.

I ended up with a set of Atlas 1230s that had a floating binding, suspension, and lots of traction. They are long too! I think it was worth it especially after going on that adventure last night. Even with a dry winter like this year, these shoes could get a good bit of use.

I have only used snow shoes in Monument, but wanted to give the Crags a try after a decent snow storm hit the area.

On they way up the pass there was not much snow and was wondering how conditions would be. When I got up to the trail head there was at least 2- 3 feet of fresh snow!

So after a little adjustment, the new snow shoes were working perfectly and was was making some ground. I started late in the day and only ran into other people on my way up but nobody on the way down. It was a perfectly clear day. Probably about 15 deg so the air was cool and crisp.

The snow was very deep and going off trail was very difficult. So it was a blast to stay in the “rut” so to say.

The Crags

So I took a break, melted some snow in my jetboil and made some hot coco while I ate a turkey sandwich. The sun had gone down and it was getting dark. I could not believe how quiet and peaceful it was…

So the moon came out and it was time to put the lights on.

Back to the car and about a 45 minute drive home. I am really looking forward to taking out the snow shoes again. Great way to enjoy the trails in the dead of winter.

New York New York 1.16.12

Great 3 night stay in New York City with Seth. Great way to see the city in a short amount of time. We had a great deal on an awsome hotel in a great part of NYC.

Wandering around the city looking for a good place to eat.

Oh we recognized this and the next day visited the top.

Found and outstanding burger joint called Bear Burger. MMmmm so good.

Time Square

Rockefeller Center

We visited the MET Museum and loved the priceless Picasso paintings.

Brooklyn Bridge

9/11 Memorial

Getting dressed up for a night on the town.

Awesome steak house that has been in continuous business in New York since 1885

It was fun to eat here. Thanks Seinfeld!

In front of our hotel before leaving….

100 Cones

100 Cones 11.20.11 from Jaydude on Vimeo.

24 Hours of Palmer Park 10.4.11

I was much more mentaly prepared for this 24 hour race. Lot more things going in my favor.

~I have already done a 24 hr race and had a much better Idea of what to expect.
~I signed up for a 4 man team vs duo.
~New 29er race bike!

We kicked ass out team of Keith, Arin, Becca, and myself came in 11th out of 30+ teams. For only my 2nd 24hr race and the 1st for the rest of the team I will take mid pack any day!

The Village

Good Friends came out and showed their support.

Racing was fun to..

Hiking Pikes Peak with Seth 9.5.11

Hiking Pikes Peak with Seth 9/3 – 9/5 from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Finally popped the lift cherry!

Untitled from Jaydude on Vimeo.

First overnight of the year………

After a late night of finishing the build I got to ride my new 29er that has been in the build process for what sems like forever.

A couple days on the CT should be a great way to break it in.I cant believe its the first weekend of April and we are doing overnight ride on the Colorado Trail.

Finished the build at about Midnight on Friday

New Bike is done and I cant wait to ride it!

The next morning I drove out to the Platte Valley Trail head of the CT. Decided not to include Indian Creek since we were getting mixed info on conditions and if it was even open. Ran into ShortBus on the way out, that was cool.

Grab the pack and its time to go.

The climb out of the burn area is tough. Basically 4 miles of uphill.

We get to the “Top of the World”

and its time for a little break.

And throw down on a delicious tuna wrap in a jalapeno cheddar tortilla.

So we hauled ass through the BC area and did not take many pictures. New bike was super fun to ride on the smooth Buff Creek section of the CT. To many good things to say about how the first ride went on the new 29er.