Seriously

It's June baby, where are all the adventure and race reports? Team Alford got out to the 1st Steamboat Town Challenge race last night in the enclave of the uber-rich, Marabou. Really, really nice setting and lotsa rolling singletrack for Chainsaw as she dove right into the deep end in Women's Expert. We figure the last time she was in a race she ended up standing on the podium at the Beaver Creek 100 (hence the jersey), almost 2 YEARS ago...ouch! As you can see she is still smoking fast (and smoking hot) but she'll need a brief period to readjust to the pain cave of mtb racing. She was hacking out silt from the course for hours afterwards ;) The Big Fish and Highroller hiked the sweet singletrack and cheered for Mama who ended up doing pretty well on a course that didn't really suit her strengths. Nice job Chainsaw! Highroller is up next round!

Where is everybody?

Lost Creek, Durango, CO

Mill Creek-Jud Wiebe, Telluride

Chainsaw & Dub hit Spring Creek!

Sure it was cold and wet (we got snowed on in Steamboat Wed morning) but there's no stopping these two...Chainsaw and Dub off to the races!

It could be greener in Ireland, maybe

15 bridges over the roaring Spring Creek on the climb turn into 15 kickers and ramps on the descent. The 1st half of the ride is singlespeedable but then the steep climbing hits as the trail approaches Buffalo Pass Rd and the canyon narrows with steep rock escarpments above on each side. Aspen stands everywhere so this ride must be even more beautiful in the fall

Someone got wet, and frozen

Nice white feet ladies!

Check out my hickey

Whew! What week! Yesterday I finally took the plunge and treated myself to LASIK surgery, custom Allegretto/Intralase laser surgery to both eyes! It's a miracle! No more contacts! No more glasses! Thanks to InSight LASIK and my Tough Girl Cycling sponsorship! Here's a look at my eye today, with a little blood shot hickey from the suction cup they had on my eye to hold it in place while the laser cut a flap in my cornea. Then Kdub drove me home and tucked me in to bed with my goovy protection goggles. I'll still need a couple days to heal, but things are looking great so far. Which is especially good, since last Friday was my last day of employment with Sopris West. That's right, I unexpectedly lost my MarComm job. But, you'll agree, with summer here there couldn't be a better time for tremendous change in life! I intend to be out riding, hiking, running, and sitting by my pool on a regular basis now---please join me! And think of me if you know of anyone that needs a hand with graphic design. It's summer! Let's get after it!

Step right this way

Chainsaw bones up on the Hot Springs trail on a splendid Sunday morning outing. Wildflowers galore and some truly sweet singletrack in every direction from town right now

Upsy daisy!

Hot Springs Trail as it approaches Mad Creek

Highroller's beat down "Dirty Hippy" taking a break on Emerald Mtn before a rip roaring descent. Well your Partyapalooza guides are starting to put together some dream rides and we'll taste test some of them on Dub tomorrow. As an added attraction the Rodeo should be in town during Partyapalooza as well...yee ha!

TGIF

Man, was that a long week or what? Chainsaw and Highroller are gearing up for some quality mtb miles while TSA is power napping before a good hike this weekend, what're y'all up to?

Notchtop Couloir

Starting June off with a bang, Lee and I made the hump up Notchtop Couloir and proceeded to ski it in fine (if slushy) style.  It has come to my attention that our ski mountaineering litany goes something like this: "If only we'd left an hour earlier...."  I.e., This photo should have been taken in the dark.  Next time, 2 am!

Summit of Emerald Mtn

Humped the singlespeed up Emerald over the weekend and ripped up what has to be one of the best 'in city limits' trail systems in Colorado. Seriously there are some ridiculously fun trails, super swoopy, tacky, bermed and smooth...right there practically across the street from the Love Shack. So much fun! Chainsaw meanwhile got out on the other super fun trail blocks from the house, Spring Creek, which she rode for 6 miles up to Buffalo Pass Rd, climbing thru aspen stands and crossing a dozen bridges over the rushing snow melt. Did she then descend the road or did she turn around and rip back down the singletrack she'd just ridden up? What do you think?! Fun!

Get it on! On like Donkey Kong!

www.sswsc.org/summer/alpineslide/2008%20current%20general%20info[1].pdf

www.strawberryhotsprings.com/2005/activities.php#

Get that Tickler 4/5 monkey off your back and get ready to rumble at Partyapalooza Cinco! One of the events will, of course, be Alpine Slide racing so plan on bringing $9 for each heat you think you'll survive. Sadly we've no fire pit at the Love Shack so methinks a soak in Strawberry Hot Springs will have to substitute, don't worry you can still get naked if desired

Mad Creek

Chainsaw chewed up Mad Creek last night on her beloved Yeti while Highroller and the Big Fish hiked in and checked out some good looking climbing routes. Beautiful evening and so sweet to have good trails right down the road. Mad Creek was overflowing with snowmelt and roaring!

Thinking about the upcoming 5th Partyapalooza (who'da thunk?) made me delve deep back into the scrolls and discover this year's end of season party (should any of us make it thru the season) will be Farva #7. After last year I believe no one has attended all 6 but still that is pretty cool that we haven't matured whatsoever and keep returning to our ancestral hunting grounds in quest for a Farva award. This is some group of whackos we have coalesced into over the years...

Farva 1-Kent!, naked wheelies thru campfire by Brad, Uno

Farva 2-Full Moons Under the Full Moon ride

Farva 3-Fruita Cheerleader, Halloween, Beer Drinking Robot

Farva 4-Crow Ridge, Zion Curtain, fined by the ranger

Farva 5-Shot-Ski!

Farva 6 - CHeetoh Gardens

Who knows what the future holds but our past is littered with epics, bad ideas and poor descision making and I for one hope for many more years of the same to come!

PRTYPLZA 5

Partyapalooza Cinco mutha-trucker!

Sometimes once is not enough, sometimes even 3 times does not beat the message into the thick, bony knobs we Cyclonauts call heads. Need proof? Tickler 4, need I say more? All’s fair in love and war Footsoldiers and some things that aren’t even fair in war (mustard gas, torture) are STILL fair in love but deep deep down, somewhere beneath the cerebellum, wrapped lovingly around our reptilian subcortex is a ticking time bomb of a genetic program bred and mutated thru centuries of eons by Thems That Must Not be Named that will, eventually, MAKE you ride Tickler 4 (or 5 depending upon whom’s counting). Is this fair? No. Is this justice? How can we maintain our illusion of sovereignity with the Uber Ancestors lurking like creepy (or even creepier than normal at least) puppet masters on high, waiting patient as the spiders they so closely resemble to yank our strings, jerk our chains and otherwise make us dance the dance of bIKE cLUB yet again with no mercy or consideration for the plans, social or otherwise, we might have been engaged in. Alas such protestations fall upon deaf ears, or at least deaf ‘scaly timpanums’ and earn your most humble of scribes yet another gut-wrenching spray of acidic poison to the face. But be thee thusly warned nonetheless. You will ride Tickler 4/5! You may think you’re just hopping on the bike to run over to the Corner Bar, you may be test riding a Pista, you may even just accidentally brush up against a bicycle but when you eventually come to you’ll find your self hours into a brush-with-death journey up up up Four Mile Canyon and onto the Ticker 4 course. So why not plan for it in advance and wear you’re special squishy shorts?
Sure you can ask “Why? Why me? Why now?” but let me assure you that your lamentations, however heartfelt, are but the pleasing drone of worker bees to Those Who Lurk, no more potential to be rewarded with answers than a viewer of “Lost”, no more effective than a moth trying to headbutt his way thru the windshield of a 747 and sadly even less likely to be successful than Edward Norton in upcoming“The Hulk” remake. Located as we are in the stinking cesspool of the Yampa we, and here I employ the imperial “we”, will not be able to effectively plan such a sojourn, nor even ineffectively plan, as is our standard modus operandi so you will be left to your own devices and natural deviousness. But get ‘er done as Aug 1-2-3 we will celebrate the completion of this Incredible Journey at the previously mentioned Partyapalooza Cinco! 5 blades for 5 times the closeness! (this made slightly more sense when it was Partyapalooza Quattro) Partyapalooza will also celebrate the hatching days of lada lada lada as you all know well, will take place in Steamboat Springs and will likely involve a massive ride on Sat 8/2, a smaller ride on Emerald Mtn on 8/3 and as much tubing, drinking, drinking, fly fishing, bbq, cold beers for drinking, alpine sliding and whatnot as you can stand. Finishers of The Tickler will finally reap their just reward and never again be asked to ride the Tickler. Also a finishers t-shirt will be presented! Seriously!
If you’ve just skipped right down to the bottom than I cheer your time management skills…Aug 1-2-3 2008 Steamboat Springs Partyapalooza Cicno! Be there!