All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

This was yesterday’s ride. The Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands Ferns are getting huge!

 

Yup! These are the new Wolf Creek Trails around Bridge Brew Works.

 

Happy Birthday @Bannerman!

 

Done! Killer setup.

Sounds like a plan, I'll be 'around' for a couple of weeks. I'll hit you up, Crest run?

Thanks man, they sold out on their website within 6 hours of release. I found one on Fanatik, only one more (in Med and black) left in the US. This is the only bike/frame I've ever paid full price on. It just spoke to me.

That makes sense. Even on a XC bike, that's a loooong day in the saddle and I'm sure easier on the Cutthroat. I guess I'm imposing my beat up old body onto others. I definitely couldn't ride that bike for that long.

 

I’ve stopped in a couple times. Last time I was there they had cool aluminum bottles.

 

SCORE! Finally found a used roof mount bike rack! Rocky mounts tomahawk

 

Well, the problem here is that when it rains, the trails close for a LONG time. During the best time of year to ride (spring) a single rain storm can close the trails for a couple weeks... and that resets if a followup storm comes through. While I've only been on one road ride, I *can* confirm that it's more fun than no ride. So, while it'll be more road/maybe fire road miles, I'm also looking to keep it a bit more comfy (as well as versatile) which is why I'm looking at gravel. So, yeah, it's more for exercise, but it's so I can hit the trails even harder!

LOL, heat/humidity is what we do down hurr, this is our entire summer ride weather! (note: Just because it's frequent, doesn't mean it doesn't suck... it gets BAD out there, especially when you're as out of shape as I am (hence the gravel bike, LOL)). The rest of this post seals it... I'm goin'! Not at all sure of when though...

Noted! I'm sure before we plan a trip up there I'll be posting ALL about the plans in here, LOL. Thanks!

Rad, thanks for the callouts! Added to the list if/when I start to build/buy.

 

Yep, happy to provide a full review if people are interested. The awning seems as high quality as my buddy's AluCab. Obviously I haven't had it as long, but that's my initial review. This guy has had it for four months, as of the video posting, and seems to agree. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcA-sw0yNHU

 

Chose an awning from Hi-Vis Overland because he was local. Seems to satisfy our uses.

 

This kind of review is exactly what I'm looking for. Not sure I'll be going full on 270 with walls, but good to see regardless.

 

Thanks buddy! I just did a birthday ride in Pisgah this morning, made a little friend out on the trail.

 

I didn't know you took a picture of me while I was there!

 

Little recap of our bike/baby/anniversary road trip (I'm bad at taking pics while biking, so it's mostly pics of camp. Sorry)...

Our first bike stop was Bend, OR. If you've never been, it's a fantastic place for mountain access and town vibe and it's growing like crazy. We love Crux fermentation project and highly recommend grabbing a beer there, though the beer options in Bend are limitless. We biked most of the Phil's network of trails and we were both a bit underwhelmed. I've biked over in Bend when we lived in OR but I was much more in to XC stuff then and we do a lot more gravity oriented riding these days. If you're looking for good downhill, Phil's is not your spot. It's a great place to get lots of miles on smooth trail and it's got lots of great camping so you can bike right from camp. There's one newer trail called COD that is real techy/trialsy pedaling; it's at least as hard as Capt Ahab in Moab and worth trying if you want to feel bad about your bike skills.


We didn't bike up near Mt Hood as we really just wanted to lay on the Timberline lodge patio and stare at Hood. I do kind of regret not riding Sandy Ridge, but what are ya gonna do.


Our next ride was a trail called goose creek, outside McCall ID. This was a fantastic ride, highly recommend. It was only 6ish miles and mostly downhill with plenty of rocky/rooty sections, several nice (optional) drops, and a few mini climbs to make it interesting. It was beautiful alpine meadows, creek crossings, waterfalls, and forest so we were constantly debating stopping to enjoy views vs continuing to ride since it was so fun.


We skipped the riding in Stanley since it was sooo busy up there and just rode in Ketchum for a few days. We rode Alden gulch re-route, Oregon gulch, Forbidden Fruit (Adams Gulch), and much of the trails at Galena lodge. Alden and Oregon are steeper alpine rides with a few purpose built features thrown in. Forbidden fruit is a smooth flow trail that is totally accessible to anyone. Galena lodge is a super cool little mountain biker haven. The trails here are all purpose built bike trail with lots of good berms and some nice mini-doubles and the occasional rock garden, but the best part is the little lodge with beer, food, bike wash station, and little grassy area to hang out after riding. Most of the trails in Ketchum seem to involve some amount of forest road climbing and sections of uphill so steep that they're pretty much mandatory hike-a-bike. We also found a lot of rocks on hard pack which made downhills a bit spicy! Overall, we really liked the trails though and there seems to be something for everyone there. Lots more to explore in the area so I'm sure we'll be back. Here's one more shot of our camp spot in Ketchum.

 

if somehow you still have this and it fits auto ill take it

 

Orbea Rallon? Thing rips!

 

Yep it is. Yep it does!

 

Replaced the brake rotors! It’s lot stiffer and tighter than it was. I’m happy with the result!
Bottom line - IT STOPS LIKE A PORSCHE!

 

Just received some really good news at work. Time to go buy bike parts

 

Feels good to finally be back from injury, and on a new bike to boot!

 

epic scenery and nice write-up. Congrats on the killer vacation/anniversary thing!