Ahhh...Life is Good Again

Fruita was paradise. The weather was perfect, the trails were in great shape, and the company was fantastic. Best of all, my back didn't hurt even slightly. I couldn't have been happier!!

Here's Chad making coffee at our lovely campsite at the Bookcliffs:


We rode the Bookcliffs trails on Friday, then Kokopelli Trails on Saturday. They were both fabulous as always, with the warm sun baking the chalky whiteness off my legs and arms. Then on Sunday we went into Grand Junction and rode the Lunch Loop trails for the first time. A checker at the City Market in Fruita told us about a trail there called Pet-e-Kes (of all weird-ass names), so we went to check it out. It was great: super narrow and twisty, with funky rocks jutting into the trail both at ground level and head level, which really challenges your balance and slow-radius turning abilities. Then we got to Holy Cross, which turned out to be fantastic -- really technical and interesting.

Here's Chad in a little "slot canyon:"


Here's me on a little rock ledge:


Here's Tanya and then Ivy on some of the brief swoopy sections:




I gotta go back to GJ and ride there some more...we were too tapped out to check out all the other trails there. But unfortunately, it's going to be way too hot there very soon. It was already mid 80s while we were there, and of course all the trails are totally exposed to the sun. No trees taller than me in the high desert, which means there's very little shade to be had. Oh well, there's time for many more desert trips in the fall. Soon it will be time for the high-alpine trips! Look out Crested Butte, Vail and Steamboat Springs...here we come!

Frooooootaaaa!!

It's a banner day: I'm finally getting out of Boulder after almost five months of being cooped up. Hooray!



It's the Fat Tire Festival out there this weekend, which I usually avoid because it's such a cluster, but I think it will be fun to see it this time. I know I'm going to see tons of Boulder people....I've already run into three other folks who are going to be there. I can't wait to ride real desert singletrack! Yes, I'm going to be very careful of my back, but it's time to branch out a little.

In other news, the Maverick website is up, with my goofy picture. And if you go under "What Makes a Maverick?" you can watch my cheesy video. If you like motorcycles, be sure to watch Don Atchison's piece. His bikes are stunning.

I have started writing my columns again. If you care to read them, you can go here and type "caivanom" into the search field. It will take you to all of my columns, including some from last year. Also, you can view my first-ever attempt at an audio slideshow of the Koppenberg Circuit race, if you have the time. ;) It was really fun to make, and I'm hoping to do a bunch more this summer...not just of bike stuff, either.

Work has been good. We redesigned the paper in a big way, and people have finally stopped freaking out. I had the front page that day, with an interesting story about grasshopper research that reveals things about climate change. I had no idea grasshoppers could be this beautiful:


Here's the researcher, left, with one of his graduate students, trying to catch grasshoppers, which is pretty funny to watch.


Well, I'm out...hopefully I'll come back with a tan and some nice Fruita photos!