Rampart Range SNOW & Dirt Bikes

We found an interesting bit of terrain at Rampart Range near Sedalia, Colorado, as it was full of snow as well as twists, turns, ups, and downs.  There was plenty of snow on the ground and it snowed some more as we rode through the forest over roots, rocks, and tight double track.  There were nearly no other people there most likely due to the weather and the fact that there was a Denver Broncos Football game today.  Normally, it is quite a popular place full of ATV riders blaring music.  Today it was very peaceful and enjoyable.

 

 Amber riding through the forest in the snow.

Amber

Sean coming up the hill after the corner.

Sean on Trail 686

Sean navigating through rocks and snow.

Sean heading up a tight corner towards another tight corner.

Sean loading up the bikes in down jacket.

Moab running around happily in the snow at the trail head.

Bishop and Moab making paw prints in the snow.

We ended the day back in the FJ toasty warm with the heater, hot coffee, hot peppermint tea, chocolate protein shake, and applesauce squeeze tubes for a quick post riding snack.  I think it would be fun to go back, but it is most likely over for this season as a riding destination.  Cheers.

Off Season Antics with KTM Motorcycles

Other than deciding that I'll be continuing to race for SPY goggles/eyewear next season, it's the off season from Downhill Mountain Bike Racing, and time for our brand new KTM MOTORCYCLES!!!!

Sunset in Meeker, CO after a day's riding.

Learning how to ride motorcycles is turning out to be challenging and fun.  I've had to figure out the clutch, the gears, the brakes, the throttle control for mini drops, the cold morning starting of the bike, and the hill start so far.  All of this has been quite exciting, and involved breaking three clutches via crashing as well as a few off trail misadventures by accidental over throttle.  It's been 6 weeks, and we have been on the dirt bikes in hard dirt pack, water, ice, sand, and snow. 

Camping out in the FJ in Fairplay, CO.

Fun trails that included single track.

water to cross

Late season, still no snow!

Waking up to blue skies in pajama pants out by Meeker

Starting the day with coffee and cereal

Everyone is enjoying these outdoor adventures, including Bishop and Moab.

Sean warming up at Wagon Wheel Trail System

Sean getting on some trails in the forest in Meeker, CO

 Sean navigating mud, roots, and a slight downhill incline

Amber crossing a river in Meeker, CO

Sean on  a little break at the top of a hill in Meeker, CO

We found some decent food at this market in the deli section.

Sean loading up the bikes on the trailer at the end of the day near Rollinsville, CO.

Whistler Vacation at the End of May to Early June

Whistler was awesome!  We rode so many fun trails!  I think early season in Whistler is actually an excellent time to be there with way less crowds and trails running fast with awesome dirt.  This is the earliest in the season that we have ever gone to Whistler, and it turned out to be a brilliant idea.  The only wish we had was to ride there more days, and enjoy more awesome food, and enjoy more hikes around Lost Lake.  I wish I could have ridden Schleyer one more day, but that would probably be the sentiment no matter how many days we were in Whistler.

 Bishop wading in Lost Lake

 One of many hikes with Bishop around the lake.

 Amber and Bishop having fun at the lake.

 Lot 1 - Never full this time of year.  We had an awesome parking spot every single day.

 Sean and Moab walking down to the river.

Sean coming around a turn in relaxed fashion.

 Nice rock/root feature down Angry Pirate.

 

 Part of Duffman.

 Bishop hanging around in the shade getting ready to head to the river again.

 Sean getting ready for another fun day riding bikes on the mountain.

 Sean on Funshine Rolly Drops

Bishop expressing how tired we all felt after hours of playing outside all day.

PlatteKill PROGRT #3

I absolutely LOVE racing at Plattekille!  It's steep and motivating, and keeps you on your toes and in the moment.  Seeding was a bit of a muddy, rainy experience in which I just had to make myself keep going.  I did love using my new SPY goggles with the roll offs though.  In finals I was on an awesome race run, and then ended up crashing three times at the bottom.  Bit of a major race craft mistake as I needed to take an arm pump rest slightly earlier up on the course, and I completely forgot about that resulting in failure to hold on to the bike and me on the ground a few times.  Otherwise, it was a personal win as I was riding the bike again and starting to get back in the groove of racing and feeling good on my bike.

 Fun times hopping over the roots in the section before this shot.

 This section was a little funky at first, but got better over the course of the weekend.

 One of several steep sections in the mud.

 Kind of a fun section that took some effort on the steep after it to keep it going in the right direction.

 Race day when the sun came out.

Sean captured this photo of Alex Willie riding that Intense!

Mountain Creek ProGRT #2

A bit of a crash, bang, yikes, sort of race weekend on the bike, but learned a lot and happy to be back at my first race since injury!

Moab!!

 Moab has been fabulous the last two weeks, especially with Kokopelli open.  Sean and I had a fun time shuttling each other on assorted versions of Porcupine runs.  Sean had the best weather on his last run of the Moab experience for us this April.

 We even let the pups get out and meander down the trail a bit for some fun in the sand.

We did get weather coming in on our last day, but it just brought in snowflakes and cooler temps in the upper section, so it was all good fun.  My last run of the Moab riding was a bit wintry as a result, but super enjoyable nevertheless.  Lots of smiles always on Porcupine and Lazyman's.

Won't Back Down

 I fully enjoyed the premiere of "Won't Back Down" at the D Note in Arvada, Colorado recently.  Can't wait to get it on DVD.  The Royal Racing guys did a great job at the event bringing along tons of raffle prizes, stickers, and they even hung up some fine looking jerseys on the wall.



Before heading over to the premiere, I had the opportunity to enjoy some fine weather on the DH bike, and test out my new Spy breast cancer awareness goggles.  "I love boobies!" Cheers to my friend Kristy who survived breast cancer and is back on the bike.

In other other recent adventures, the high country is still fairly full of snow in Colorado, so I have been enjoying hiking the doggies in the snow at Rollinsville.

I was excited to get my new GoPro and can't wait to use it.

And, yes, it is still somewhat mud season around the place.  I did a number on my cross country bike out riding it the other day.  Sean was kind enough to scrub all the mud out of  every nook and cranny.  Fortunately, I have since found some drier trails.                                  With respect to the food part of my life, this is my new favorite breakfast of champions (it involves a blender), Banana-Pecan Pancakes:

1 cup oats

1 cup egg whites

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 banana

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsps.  baking powder

1/4 cup pecans

 

And, finally, Sean and I joined the stein club, so we have felt obligated to use it.  We love our life!