Wed Nite Ride

So on Wednesday nite I went and did Grassy Mtn as a loop from Olson Creek Rd. There were 5 of us total and it was a pretty fun time. Took a little over 2 hours total, and was 16.4 miles. Still no new bike...waiting and waiting, but I think it's okay because I still don't have enough money saved to pay for it when it comes anyway.

Mud.

Rode in the first real mud in a long time tonight, on the Mystic Lake trail. It was pretty dry most places but due to the rain earlier this week the low spots were pretty wet. Rode it for the first time this season with Ciaran tonight. Long dirt road climb of about 9 miles. And then 3 down on a really really great singletrack. Totally cool and fun and fast. Went in today and talked to the shop about getting a fork from them for the new frame when it comes, and about wheels. They actually had competitive prices on everything compared to the cheap places on the net.

Shocking

Replaced my rear shock spring with a slightly heavier spring that I had bought long ago. It really changed how my bike rides! It is a lot more spunky and less mushy. I felt a lot faster for some reason too. No new bike yet though.

Today's Weather! Ha!

MADISON-GALLATIN-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ENNIS...BOZEMAN...WEST YELLOWSTONE
431 AM MDT WED JUN 6 2007

...HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 12 PM MDT
THURSDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET..
...WINTER STORM WATCH NO LONGER IN EFFECT ABOVE 6000 FEET..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A HEAVY
SNOW WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 12 PM MDT
THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE
6000 FEET. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH
LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 FEET ON HIGHER MOUNTAIN PEAKS.

Riding Statistics

This year I started keeping a log of all my biking activity, tracking time, distance, and cumulative totals for the year. Here are some stats:

May

total miles: 131.4
total time: 16.75 hours

Year to Date

total miles: 333
total time: 47.75 hours

This is since February when I first began riding for the year. I have decided I need a road bike because mtn biking takes a lot of time... I have to get in the car most of the time and drive to the trailhead to pedal, and after work sometimes I don't have the time. But I could go out my door and ride for a solid hour or so and be back at the house, in the same time it takes to just drive back and forth to certain trails.

More Moab Pics

I got the rest of the Moab pics up on my Flickr. These were all from Ciaran's camera.

Oh Brother

My brother Arlo has a blog too, which somehow I didn't know about until just now. He's always had sites going in some form or other but this one is the current focus I think. He's a pretty sweet dude, so check it out.

Bangtail Divide Trail

Yesterday I rode Bangtail Divide with Ciaran. We shuttled cars and started at Brackett Creek and rode to Stone Creek.

Trail mileage: 24
Time: 4.5 hours.

It was the longest ride I have done in a long time and I was pretty beat by the end of it. That ride has climbing all through it until the final downhill no matter which direction you run it. I am used to mostly out-and-back rides that are up then down. But it was a beautiful day, and we saw a number of other bikers out on the trail. No mechanicals, no crashing, no problems. It was around 70 degrees and sunny. Trail conditions were excellent, with some mud puddles, and maybe one snow patch to walk through in the woodsy section. Lots of wildflowers out, and no dust because of our recent rain/snow. Ciaran saw a coyote run across the trail ahead of him at one point. And we met some funny old guys on fourwheelers doing trail maintenance who were very friendly.

After we got done we headed straight for La Tinga for some burritos but they were closed. So it was the Garage instead where I had a buffalo burger with pepper jack, garlic aioli, and bacon. With fries. It was pretty damn good, after only eating 2 bars on that whole ride. Later we went to our buddy Ben's work party where I had 2 more burgers and a hot dog. Then home for sleeping.

On the way up to the trail, Ciaran got a call from Summit Bike saying his frame had arrived. We both ordered new Santa Cruz Heckler frames about 7 weeks ago. Where is mine???!!

The Solo Ride

I love the solo ride. Last night I went up to Bozeman Creek or Sourdough, or Mystic Lake trail, whatever you call it. I went at 8 pm. The sun was heading down, and the light was really great, soft and orange on the hillsides. This was in place of heading to the local tavern, which I am trying to cut down on....I had a great ride. The trail is a 9 mile dirt road leading back into the hills to Mystic Lake, in the Gallatin Range. I rode to the high point at 8 miles, and I was surprised to find no snow on the road. Totally melted out! I turned around, but you can continue around to the lake, and then onto a sweet singletrack that goes downhill and spits you out at mile 5 on the road up. I think it may be really muddy in there in spots so I will wait until next week to do that part. I turned around and hammered down the road for 8 miles, probably averaging about 20 miles per hour. It was pretty fun to just rail it on the way down. Got done, went home, ate dinner, went to bed.
Today Ciaran and I are doing Bangtail Divide. It should be really good.

Mountain Living

So it is 79 degrees out right now, and on Monday this week I woke up to snow in the yard. Hmm. Bozeman is at 5000 ft and this is what it means. There is hardly any snow left up high, compared to a normal year, and it is melting fast. The trails for biking are drying out quickly and every few weeks a new one is ridable. Being from Maine, I always laugh when riders complain about mud or water or mosquitos when we are riding. They just don't know. All the trails here are pretty buff and smooth for the most part, and dry. Trails dry out in about 3 days if it rains, because they are all up high in the mountains and all the water drains off them quickly. Going to try to ride tonight, since i just got off of work, and tomorrow the plan is to ride the Bangtail Divide Trail, which is 25+ miles long, all singletrack!