fishing and sunshine

Work this week was pretty good.  We got to work on some more trails, and started building the skills park on Saturday.  We have shifted to a Wed-Sat schedule, and working on Saturday feels weird, but having Monday and Tuesday off means that the trails and the rivers are much more empty!

The skills park is going to be super fun and flowy.  It won't be dangerous, but I think we'll be able to incorporate some great challenge with low, skinny skinnies and fun long log ride/skinny/ladder/rock combos.  I took some pictures of the big entrance boardwalk we started on Saturday, but I forgot to bring my camera to the coffee shop.

I dig not having internet.  It's been such a big part of my life for the past five years, and it's nice to be disconnected.  If only I didn't have a TV...  Fortunately I'm too busy to watch it much, and I despise television for how easy it is to burn time.

I had to send a fork back to the manufacturer for some service, so I only have my rigid and my road bike that are rideable right now.  I may try to ride my big bike on the pass today, but I'm missing a front derailleur so if my chain falls off I have to stop to put it back on...which may be too much of a hassle to make riding it any fun, but I miss riding the pass.  

Soon my parts will come in, and I'll try to sell my perp so I can tear apart my Bitch to build up a full suspension: the Transition Bottlerocket.  This will be a fun, low, jumpy bike with six inches of travel in the back.  BUT I gotta sell my perp first...which may be hard in these times.

The weather has turned!  It's supposed to be warm and sunny ALL WEEK!!  CRAP!  We may be able to ride DH trails at the 'ghee next weekend!!  SWEEET!  free riding!

On Saturday we got stormed off the mountain with very close lightning and hail.  Nellie (my (family) little dog) and I share a healthy respect for thunderstorms.  The difference being that she shows it by hiding under the couch when it rains, while I simply get anxious and try not to get caught in an exposed place or anywhere outside when there's frequent close cloud to ground lightning.  I don't understand people who are willing to be exposed in thunderstorms.  It's reckless and unnecessary.

Pete and I went fishing yesterday.  We drove 50 miles to Warm River, up near Ashton, ID.  It was great.  I pulled a bunch of nice browns on a massive stonefly nymph thanks to advice from a local fly shop.  The nice ones (16") were hiding under undercut banks.  Around 6 pm a Caddis hatch started, and fish started to rise, but I kept fishing my nymph.  Soon after, a storm rolled in and we left.  I was wet wading and surprised I didn't get unbearably cold.  Pete is new to fly fishing, and has a lot to learn.  The first is to practice casting on a grassy yard, then learning about bugs and trout water will help a lot.  I'll loan him my Fly Fishing for Dummies which is a good, simple resource.

Oh and my mom was nice enough to overnight my fiddle to me!  Thanks again!!!  It sounds great with new strings, and is so much nicer to play than the electric.

It's so nice outside I don't know what to do with myself...not sit in here anymore thats for sure!

catching up....

Here are some pictures from my drive through Colorado.  

The bear:

This is the view from the entrance to Teton Canyon, the place where I camped for a couple of weeks:

Work is going well.  About half the mountain has melted so we have been able to do some trailwork--mostly rebuilding berms, buffing trail, etc.  The black (difficult) trail should melt out fairly soon and I'm pretty excited to see what that's like.  I hear good things from the local riders I've met.

In addition to trailwork at the 'ghee, I've been getting involved with the trailwork up on Teton Pass.  Surely I've mentioned it...this is where folks are building legal trails with big jumps and such.  A few days ago I got Harlan's number, who I found out later is basically "the man" when it comes to trailbuilding.  He, I think, got the ball rolling on the stuff out on the pass.  

So yesterday I joined Harlan and some other folks to continue working on a big jump line off of the Parallel trail.  We worked on cutting the lip for a step up after a 35 foot gap/step up jump.  Some folks hit it, and it looked great.  

From the lip:

Airborne:

I've had a bunch of days off as we switch from Mon-Thurs schedule to Wed-Sat.  I thought maybe I'd skip out of town (constantly raining) for Moab, but decided that I ought to save the money.  I got a bunch of riding in on Friday and Saturday, got caught in hail and lightning on Sunday, did trailwork yesterday, played a bunch of fiddle, and today I'm using the internet!

I am now living in employee housing.  I pay $175 a month and get a brand new fully furnished really nice apartment to myself.  I dig it.  I bought a slow cooker at the thrift store for 4 bucks, which I am enjoying immensely.

There's a fiddle contest on July 5th.  I think I'll enter if I can get off from work.  I've been practicing for it, cranking my way through a book of Cajun tunes, and working through all the old classics.  I look forward to playing my acoustic!

I'll try to stay better updated...it's tough to catch up on a weeks worth...

vandalism?

Yesterday I parked on Kelly St, in front of my buddy's place in Jackson around 4.  I went for a road ride, 'cause the weather cleared up nicely.  I had a cool ride up this switchbacked road that went on for way longer than I thought.  I raced the rain to the top, bombed back down, and cleaned myself up.  Then, while packing up my truck, I noticed that one of my cap windows was shattered all over.  There was a small hole, and a tear in the upholstery of the cap on the inside.  Someone shot out my window!  

I'm annoyed at the expense and primarily the trouble that it will cause me to get it fixed, but I'm a little miffed at who would run around taking pleasure in causing other people hassle and expense.  Weird.  I'm not totally surprised...it's an expensive truck, and has Georgia plates...but I did think Jackson was a pretty safe place.  The neighbor said that it's not the first car on that street to have a window shot out.  So now I get to ride around with cardboard over it.  sweet.  Fortunately it was during the daytime and I wasn't sleeping in it!

Today we got to work on trails!  We started at the bottom of the beginner dh trail, called Sidewinder.  It needed some drainage work, some snow shoveling, lots of general raking and smoothing, and I did a little "extra" work--made a rock roller feature, and built a little tiny high speed hip jump (shhhh).  I was stoked to work on trails, but nasty weather (hail/snow) rolled in after lunch and we called it a day at 1.  I suggested we wait it out, but folks were eager to bail, I guess.  I'm eager to get these trails in good shape so we can build some more.  I hope the rest of the crew catches my excitement...they didn't seem too excited about working on trails, but I know what I'm doing.  I tried to teach/show folks proper ways to make trails, how to use the dirt, etc.  I think Mike thought I was being an ass, which I tried really hard not to.  We need to talk over trail construction BEFORE we go out into the field, else I'll just teach by correcting mistakes, which of course makes me feel like an ass.

Fellow crewman Dave has an extra room in his house, rented by his fellow housemate Dave.  If I were to take it, three Daves could live under one roof.  The room was tiny and didn't have a bed, but other than that it was ok.  The garage was spacious and had a bike stand, a tool that holds the bike so you can work on it.  The house is also next door to a city park, where, rumor has it, a pump track and dirt jump park will soon be built.  That's the kind of backyard I want.  If the landlord goes down on rent (from $400) I may consider it.  Aside from that there's a place in Drictor (the space between Driggs and Victor) that is cheap (300) and the housemates want a musician.

Off to the grocery store (exciting!).  Fellow crewman Pete just walked by the coffee shop, and I think I'll join him, Sarah, and Jackie to watch a hockey game.  I'll probably use their kitchen too...

past week

Work was good.  We got around to felling and cutting trees for our skills area on Thursday, and even started clearing the area in preparation for trail building.  This got me excited to build some trails, which I think we'll start tomorrow.

The weather has been rough, especially for camping.  It rains every day, and the last three days or so have been much wetter.  It's sleeting now. 

After work I went to an open mic at the Knotty Pine in Victor with a crew member, Pete, his girlfriend Sarah, and her friend and co-worker Jackie.  Sarah and Jackie work the front desk at Targhee.  I played some tunes, and then joined a drummer and a dude rapping.  I like being the only instrument that plays notes...it lets me choose my key freely.  The dudes were stoked and made me commit to coming back next Thursday.

On Friday, I ordered $300 worth of bike parts at cost.  This will get my dh bike running with a chainguide and some grips, a more appropriate cockpit on my Bitch with wide oversized bars and a shorter stem, a new brake caliper, new grips for my Fango, clipless platform pedals for either my Perp (dh bike) or my Bitch.  Aside from my recent fork purchase, I haven't bought new bike parts for a while, relying instead on used/free/broken parts from friends.  

After ordering, I took my bikes out of storage at Habitat and drove across Teton Valley to the Big Holes.  I rode for about an hour and a half on my Fango before weather (and unfamiliarity with the area) encouraged me to get back to the truck.  I drove up to Targhee in a downpour, cleaned, lubed, and stashed two bikes at Targhee, and then headed over the pass to Jackson, intent on doing some trailwork Saturday morning.  

Doug and John, and their housemates, were happy to let me share their living space (thanks!).  I went to a movie with John and some dudes, and helped pick up some folks afterwards that had racked up a $1000 bar tab.  It was some girl's 21st birthday...but $1000?  gosh...  I hung out with folks for a while, but felt totally out of place.  This weekend I confirmed how I don't want to spend my nights off.  Hopefully I can find someone to do some backpacking with, as unfortunately John and my days off don't line up at all.  

I didn't wake up for the Cache Creek trailwork, and the weather was dismal.  I visited John at work, planning on heading back over the pass, but found out later that there was a Teton Freedom Riders trailwork day up on the pass.  John offered his shower, so I went, which was a great decision.  I got there late, but Anne Marie was there taking down the tent, and gave me a ride up the pass to where folks were working.  I got to work on the biggest hip jump I've ever seen.  I'll probably hit it, but not until the landing is dialed and I get used to my big bike again.  We widened and smoothed the trail above the hip and improved a small gap into the hip section, filled in and lengthened a small double after the hip, reinforced the trail with rock, and much improved a large double with more dirt--bringing the landing higher and closer, and shaping the lip nicely.  

The Teton Freedom Riders are a very well established group of riders and builders.  All of their trails on the pass are legal and nothing is hidden from the forest service, which is remarkable.  Legal 40 foot gaps on forest service land?  I think that's unheard of.  They had a crew of maybe 10/15 folks, as well as lots of beer, a box of free burritos, and buckets of tram bar nuggets (think candy bar).  They had a raffle of swag from some of their sponsors, and had enough swag for every person to win something.  I won the grand prize--a helmet, but I just bought an identical helmet, so I traded for a shirt and a hat.  We worked until 6:30 or 7, and then I hiked the trail to check out all the features.  I know I can ride them all, but I have to look first to know what to expect.  It was very helpful.

I'm jonesing to ride, big time, but like I said, it's sleeting and raining and generally disgusting outside.  Snow is in the forecast for Driggs tonight.  Cutting trail may have to wait.  I got my fix, blisters, and soreness yesterday, so I may be okay with that.

Early last week, spurred by the lack of bike storage at the 'ghee, I started looking for a place to live.  I looked at a place later in the week, but declined (there is storage at the 'ghee).  As I was looking, I thought about falling asleep and waking up to the songbirds, the gentle gurgle of the creek, the incredible views of the tetons, and the conveniently short drive to work.  I'm going to keep camping at least for a bit.  I like living outside.  It makes going inside really special.  Besides, after a day of work, all I really want to do is eat a lot, read, play my fiddle, and go to sleep.  The difficulty lies in keeping my stuff clean and organized (very important), especially when it's raining all the time.

I got new batteries for my camera, so pictures will be coming.

teton pass, first day o work, camping

I had a great, although unexpected day of riding on Teton Pass the day before yesterday.  I went to Wilson, a small town at the base of the pass, looking for an arts show.  While I found no arts show, I did find a bunch of mountain bikers shuttling the pass.  The trails off the pass are well known for their quality, difficulty, and the fact that they are actually legal.

The Parallel trail was dry, as were the powerline (or Palmer) jumps.  Both were super fun, well built, and had stuff big enough that I passed it up on my hardtail.  I met some cool folks and did 3 laps.  Fun!

Today was my first day of work.  It was short due to rain, and the fact that the mountain is still covered in snow, but we went over chainsaw maintenance and operation, did paperwork, and talked about plans.  The crew seems like a good group of guys, and I like our boss, Andy.  

I dunno about the plan of camping for 6 months.  While I would really enjoy camping, I have a lot of stuff, and four bikes.  It would simplify things and I think facilitate my days off to have a place where I could keep my stuff.  I thought I might feel this way.  I'm looking for a room in Driggs, or at least close to Driggs.  We'll see what turns up.  Until then most of my bikes are stashed at a local shop.  I don't want to have to drive 40 minutes each way to work, and I don't want to pay 600 bucks for rent, so my options are limited.