Cheap Date.

Today Alex, Lee Bird and myself enjoyed perfect weather on our 4+ hour MTB ride. Unfortunately my wife took our camera to her MTB team meeting. I would post her pics in leiu of my own but I guess there weren't any real photo ops because the camera came home empty. (However, wife came home with a bag of team schwag so I guess it turned out ok!)


Since I couldn't get any pictures of me, Alex and Lee riding through the leftover snow in perfect weather I am posting the most recent and, I feel, relevant (?) picture I have: Alex enjoying a frosty glass of beer the night before.


Alex drank the whole glass, and I think it must've hit him pretty hard because the next morning, at the crack of 7:30 I was at the trailhead, and for the first time EVER (that I've ridden with him) Alex wasn't there yet.


He showed up less than a minute later and the three of us (me, Lee, Alex) took off up Brown Mtn, over to Millard, up Lowe Toll Road to Wilson, down Valley Forge, and up to Redbox (where Lee took off for home), down to Switzer's, up to Clear Creek and then home on the 2.


Here's details: there was snow on the ground at the top of the Toll Road and it would've made for super cool pictures because it completely covered the road in spots and it was just us riding on a sea of white. Picture it. It's cool right?


A guy fell off the cliff right by the tunnel at the top. Not sure how he managed it because it seems like it would be a lot harder to fall off than to stay on. He was fine, but there was no way to climb back up so he had to be helicopter... ed off the mountain.

Picture a big rock slide in front of the tunnel. The guy fell off right where that metal bar sticks up.

Valley Forge was in great shape, much better than the last time I rode it on our team ride.

We decided to try taking the singletrack straight to Redbox instead of down to the campgrounds and up the fire road. I don't recommend it. It was fun for a couple minutes and then we came to some cool cabins... after that it was pretty unrideable. We saw a VERY bold bobcat though, he just kept trotting up the trail in front of us while we rode.

Eventually we fumbled our way back to the fire road and took that to Redbox.

Lee split.

Alex and I thoroughly enjoyed the singletrack to Switzer. Also we thoroughly enjoyed the aerodynamic advantage our clingy, spandex leotards gave us as we left a group of long travel, full face helmet and pads types in our dust.

We gave some guy directions.

We saw one of the Lipton girls heading down at about the same time. I caught up to her and she and I took turns pulling down the 2. I got excited. I forgot to get her name (I will just have to check the Lipton team pics to see if I was riding with a star or a SUPER-star). I missed my turn off.

After I missed the turn (to ride down into JPL), I waited at the bottom for a while before I realized what had happened. Alex waited at the top. Because Alex is much smarter he asked someone if I had come by and they said no. Because I was not what they call: "smart" I rode to JPL and up along the creek to the fire road, thinking I would cut Alex off and we would ride home together.

Alex waited for me at the gas station at the base of the 2.

I waited at JPL for a while with no cell reception. No one had seen Alex.

I rode back to civilization. I called Alex. He was at home.

I went home and met my wife who had just gotten back from her team ride, we all got cleaned up and we all (me, Brooke, Alex, and friends Scott and Marie) went out for a well deserved lunch.

The End.