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Following the trip to Granby for MTB Nationals, the traveling circus of self, Dejay, and Juda returned to Boulder to wait for some license plates to show up. The molester van we are traveling in needed to be registered in AZ, yet we were in CO, resulting in some kid down in Tucson going to the DMV to register the van for us, and then FedEx’ing the plates to us in Boulder. By the afternoon, the plates had not shown up, and so Kramer as kind enough to join us for a quick little ride up the canyon to soak up some of the summer time scenery. That Kramer guy is one solid dude, he hooked us up with a spot to sleep, watch the Tour, eat, shower, etc.. and all we gave him in return was three rolls of toilet paper.
We get back, and the plates still havent arrived, so we will have to spend another day in Boulder before hitting the road. Not the best thing, but certainly not the worst thing either, as it gives us a chance to go out on the town for chow and drinks. We start off at the Horny Toad for some delicious but high priced beers. Timmy is then rad enough to suggest we head to the Downer for dollar mystery beers, which is immediately followed by Timmy being a pussy and telling us he has to go home. Alas, we head to the Downer for cheap beer, pool, and conversation. Let me say this, few thing in life can be both awesome and pathetic at the same time. Well, being able to pay only a dollar for a can of either Schlitz, Hamms, Strohs, or Olympia is awesome, enjoying drinking it (like I did) is pathetic, especially when you consider its about one step above fermented toilet water. When my vision gets hazy, I decided to call it a night and head home.
Post climbing beers in Nederland.
Tuesday is more waiting and frustration for the plates to show up, which never do. Once Wednesday rolls around Dejay and I head out for a ride to help me get rid of my frustrations. The plan is to ride from Boulder up to Nederland, then to the ski area outside of town. A shade under two hours of climbing later, we begin the descent, only to stop after a few miles. We head to a bar to celebrate the climb, each enjoying a beer, before ripping the descent back into town. Finally some good news, the plates are here, and the traveling circus can once again hit the road. The van is made legal, packed up, topped off with gas, then we begin to drive to Sun Valley. Right around 3:15 in the morning near the Idaho border I decide I can’t take it anymore, we pull into a lot across the street from a gas station and call it a night. Wake up this morning, and finish the drive to Sun Valley, where we go ride some of the Galena Grinder course we will be racing on this Saturday. The trails are great, as are the views, and once again it is another great day on the bike. I tell ya, this life of traveling around riding mountain bikes is pretty damn nice.
Climbing on the Grinder course
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I did the Galena Grinder back in the mid 90’s. That whole area is amazing to ride in. You can’t hardly spit without hitting an epic trail. I was living there, working for the Forest Service. I’d ride 7 days a week unless I was in the field, and only have to overlap maybe 2 miles of trail and some dirt road. If you’ve got a few days, hit up the Fisher Creek loop, up towards Stanley. There’s also some great rides down towards Haley… Dayyam I miss that part of the world.
It’s true, the upper Wood River valley has excellent MTB.
Best in the world for single track …………..
Your stories make me want to get off my ass and ride. thanks for the inspiration 40 Mans.
Your stories make me hate where I live. Keep them coming, I wanna move.
Your stories make me hate the life I live. No, that’s not true. Your stories make me hate you, 40 Hands!
your stories make me thirsty
Gather yee rosebuds while you may. Real life hits like a ton of bricks in mid-August. By the way, is biking prowess linked to funky facial hair? I have a full beard and don’t ride very well, 40 hands has a reasonable goatee and chops and has some biking skills and DJ, the pro, has some strange reverse goatee. Just an observation.
helllll ya, man. i do miss boulder, but there just aint nothin like being on the road with your bikes. bend is awesome. a mini-boulde, but with beer a notch above fermented toilet water.