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

got out to carbondale and snowmass last weekend.

camped and rode prince crown area a couple nights then headed over to snowmass for bike park on the last day before driving back to colorado springs.

prince crown rec area was pretty awesome. father of ginormous is an incredible trail. the fire road climb up isn't bad, but it was insanely hot like 90+. the descent was super flowy but kinda loose. i only fell once but a guy a couple riders back fell on the same jump right into me off trail lol. he then went on to snap his chain riding over a busted monte carlo on the monte carlo trail lol. we camped near the bottom of the trail at a small camp ground. we were lucky to snag the group site. even though it was only 5 of us, we had 3 vehicles so would have needed 2 spots anyway. this worked out great. me and another guy headed out there early friday and snagged the spot. cars were driving in late into the night looking for a spot so i guess it was more popular than we thought. there was another 5 spot campground up the road, just a little farther from the trails. the fire road we climbed up to the trails did go into blm land that had some camp spots, but one of the guys went from a taco to a van and didnt feel comfortable taking it up there. this was a good call with some of those ruts being kinda deep. there was a small creek across the street from the camp area. this was just deep enough to lay in and a log across it making a small waterfall letting you sit on the log and your feet in the water. real nice to cool off.

we spent a bit of time at crown mountain bike park which is wicked cool. the freeride/slopestyle line was closed since they are converting it to asphalt, but everything else was a blast. we were all on bigger bikes for bike park, not djs like this place was made for. it was still super fun. there is a big bmx race track we all raced each other on which was cool. nice progression here. we definitely only stuck to the smaller green and blue features and lines. the roaring fork is just past the fence and you can walk down there and dip your head in or jump in if you want.

snowmass bike park was incredible. parking in the garage was insanely tight. this was pretty much right under the lift which was nice though. the trails were super dialed. the jump lines we did, valkyrie (blue line) and valhalla (black line), were amazing. pretty much no brake everything and its smooth. i was getting too comfortable on valkyrie and would over shoot one jump then come up short on the other. i only rode valhalla once but that was enough to pretty much clean everything. i didnt do the wood drop at the end, but theres always next time. cowboy coffee at the top was super tech with some awesome wood features. vapor at the top was ok, the top part was full of brake bumps and rutted, but the bottom part was super fun and fast. i only rode for maybe 4 hours. we finally got on the lift at 11 and i wanted to leave around 3 to make the 4 hour drive home manageable. i also didnt want to be completely cooked from a hard bike park day.

i want to go back, but with trestle, angel fire, and other bike parks being a shorter and easier drive for me, it may be awhile before im in aspen/snowmass again.

driving over independence pass was pretty nerve wracking to be honest. it gets tight and it was my first time. beautiful drive, but goddam.

https://imgur.com/a/CjT346Z

 

i enjoyed snowmass. but even for me in UT, it was quite the drive. outside of the bike park though, i didn't quite jive with Aspen. Snowmass Village, yes. Independence gets pretty hairy for sure though! good times.

 

For real. Bobbled a short bridge feature at Jap Gulch last week over a culvert cuz the sun was in my eyes, managed to get my feet down and not do a 1mph OTB tip into the ditch. Only after I recovered did I see that the ditch had a corrugated tin insert in it that 100% would have cut me in half at the waist if I fell on it. Inches from fatality, and my respose was "oh, that would have been super bad...anyways".

Pinecone I can sorta understand given the want to fly down the grade, but Mid Mtn is wild given how flat and bland it is. Such a bummer.

 

It always surprised me how in MTB they don't mark hazards like they do for hare scrambles and enduros for dirt bikes. Maybe it's the speed difference.
If you had something dangerous on most dirt bike trails someone had done a ribbon to it or even a bit of orange spray paint.

 

I’ve found that it comes down to who maintains the trails. There is only one trail near me that needs that kind of signage and they do a good job for blind drops but there are some sections where if you aren’t familiar it can get sketchy quick. Even those drops, I don’t ride that area enough so I go slow making sure I don’t make a wrong turn, otherwise you’re hitting a 5ish foot drop to basically flat completely unprepared haha.

 

I've seen that at NICA races before around SLC. It did get a little silly though when rocks 10ft off course would have orange paint on them.

As far as Japanese gulch in particular, the trails there are in a grey area of legality for at least half of them, so I'm sure there's little marking on purpose. No trail signs or anything.

As a prior amateur trailbuilder, we were shorthanded enough just trying to build the trails, forget about trying to mark and notate anything risky, then maintain the marking.

 

Can you fix it? I mean, you might literally save someone's life if you can bang it flat or somehow make it less dangerous.

 

Not easily, its a part of the sewer/drainage system of the area and hundreds of feet long. This is just a short bridge that passes over it. Something could be done but might take a little planning with the trail org.

Next time I'm up there, I'll try to get a pic of it.

 

Couldn’t use my tailgate pad anymore since I put on a topper, so rather than throwing my bike in the bed I made a mount using a piece of 1/8” steel sprayed with bed liner and a quick release fork mount from Amazon.

 

We’ll done with the ingenuity, but a topper shouldn't preclude you from running tailgate style…

Old pic, but I still transport this way frequently


@Squeaky Penguin Following back when it was east of the Mississippi

 

Are you securing the back window in any way? I tried running with the window up and I didn’t like the way it was bouncing around. I also think my struts open up more than yours are unless you have it tied down.

 

i screwed a rocky mount to a 2x4 and use that under my topper. i sometimes like to leave my bike in the bed for multiple days so i have it ready for a spontaneous ride. the 2x4 sits between the tailgate and bed stiffeners. works with my patrol and spur. i was even able to get another bike in there for a shuttle ride.

 

"take your top off" and sell it to me!

 

Riding it tonight!

I think it's my favorite bike I've owned. Hard to imagine your Spur being better; guess I need to ride one.

 

Speaking of - that following got me to realize how much better the Push is than any other shock I've ridden. So couldn't help myself and got one for the big bike.

 

Just gravity holding the window down. The struts have a nice ‘dead’ zone right in the middle of the open/close position. I don’t really care if it starts to open though. The tailgate is still closed so the bike isn’t going anywhere. I put a small foam roll on the bars to prevent any damage. A piece of pool noodle works just fine.

Go away

Such a fun bike. I agree. Not really sure the Spur is ‘better’ but it’s a touch lighter overall. And I’m pretty keen on its design. The way the top tube flows right into the rear chain stays is just super clean in my opinion.

 

Agreed on the looks. Transition has it dialed.

I just sold my Scout, which was better looking than any of my current bikes. Except maybe the hardtail.

 

I’ve seen people fly fishing in the San Lorenzo River in downtown Santa Cruz. Try it next time you’re here in the season .

 

Why not just lay the bike down in the bed? Would be a lot easier than taking the front wheel off and then crawling up to the front to secure it in the mount. And with the bed mat the bike won't move around.

 

I miss my scout..... But I turned that and my Tr11 into a carbon patrol and haven't looked back