The Beginning

Behold my hand me down Green Schwinn. This baby was 20 years old by the time I got my hands on it. My first real taste of Joy and Freedom came with my feet placed firmly on those black pedals. Riding a bike brings me joy that only a few other things have been able to replicate. Looking forward to Spring.

Got out for a little Heathen Road Ride yesterday with evilbanks. Fitting partner for a heathen ride. It was a little breezy up top here but was nice and calm down in Alpine. We got in about 20 miles. Can't wait for the next ride.

Sprung!

No, not the Sir-Mix-Alot song although it is a good song. Spring has sprung in the Wasatch, err atleast for now. Birds were chirping, sun was shining, singletrack drying. Yesterday was a great day! I was debating a road ride or a mtn bike ride. I saw that someone said that the lower CC trails were all dry and rideable so I opted for the mtn bike ride. Sure enough, trails were dry with the exception of a few muddy spots here and there. Temps were warm, warm enough to ride in shorts and short sleeves. It was nice to be on the bike again. My ass took a real pounding last Sunday down south. 5 hours + on technical one track for the first mtn bike outing of the year sure did leave its mark. But, well worth it.

Dry one track

Shadows with a little snow

One of my favs

obligatory photo of me, its my blog afterall

So, while it looks like Spring for a few days, it looks like there might be some wet weather heading our way, I guess I'll bust out the ski's.

Day Trip

Late last week I decided that the weekend was going to be my best shot of getting to St. George for a day trip. Ya see, the Desert Rampage was on Sat. and there was a Grit 50 pre-ride set-up for Sunday. I made the decision that I was going to drive down early Sunday morning, ride some dirt with some pals, and return home Sunday night. Long day, but it was worth it!

Left just after 5:00 a.m and arrived in St. George at 9:00 a.m. No stops, just drove straight through. The pre-ride was starting at 10 so I parked at the Green Valley loop and changed got my camelback filled etc. @evilbanks met me there along with DTanner. I was pretty happy to be riding in short sleeves and shorts for the first time since last year. The weather was perfect, 65 mostly sunny. I got to ride some trails that I have never ridden before and a few of my old favs from when I lived down there.

Here is a sweet video I found of the Zen Trail, one of the new trails we rode. It was technical but fun.

Zen Trail from shelby meinkey on Vimeo.


We rode several trails for a total of about 35 miles. Definately worth the trip down. We rode, Red Bluff, Zen, Poppy and to the top of Stucki Springs. Rode down Stucki (great downhill) and back up Poppy to the car. The long climb out Stucki was a bitch. It was long and it was hot. We made it though, all in all a great day trip and I was definately happy I made the drive down. I must say, I'm lookin forward to Spring. But for now, its nuking snow outside and theres a few feet of snow Im gonna ski this week. Yep, I said a few feet, like 3-4.

Vintage "Evilbanks" as per grizzlyadam

one of our stops early in the day

Banks cruisin in style

Top of the long Stucki Springs climb