Well it's that time of year again-that little window of Fall has just passed and now we are headed into winter. The last weeks of November and the first couple weeks of December are unique here in the Gunnison Valley. In one week I Nordic skied on perfect trails above Crested Butte, I mountain biked on perfect trails at Hartman Rocks, and I played Hockey in Gunnison.
I also work at Western State College, which by the way is loaded with sharp students heading for great careers and they are also amazing athletes. I ran into Scott, a biology major. He is a great skier and climber. He had been climbing out in Utah--just a few hrs away. He also had been ice climbing.
Then downtown for lunch. Down at Farrell's Restaurant, Patrick Farrell, with his short shorts and huge handlebar mustache had been out speed skating. There is a large group that will find the ice as soon as it freezes. Sometimes too soon and they fall in but they always have gotten out. Here is video from last winter.
I stopped by the Rock and Roll shop a couple of times this last week to see a flurry of people buying skis, boots, ski poles, and climbing gear. Now these skis aren't the kind you see most of the time. These are light. They are made for climbing fast and then locking you heals down and ripping down steep chutes in the back country. They are Alpine Touring skis. A cross between downhill and Telemark. They work well for touring also or even racing to such places as Aspen. Some of my friends live for this. Here is a couple Chris Miller took this year. Check out his page for more.
The real reason I was in the shop was to check out a hard tail 29in mt bike for a ridiculous race next summer. Like drugs you start doing a little bit at a time and before you know it you can't stop doing the hard stuff. That is what living in Gunnison does to you. And it doesn't make the wife all that happy sometimes either. I started off doing races like the Leadville 100. OK it was hard but I wanted something more. How about the Vaportrail 125. 125 mi and it starts at 10pm at night. OK that was hard and I did pretty good. Other friends, like Jefe and Ethan had been doing other long multi-day bike races. You have to carry all your own gear and can only buy things along the way--no food/gear drops. That sounds hard. So last summer I did the Colorado Trail Race. Almost 500 mi at high altitudes self supported. I did OK and got to know Eszter H. She is the coach of the cycle team here a Western and really hard core on the bike. I barely kept ahead of her. She had been talking of doing the Tour Divide. A race from Banff Canada to the Mexico border. Jefe and Ethan did it this past summer. Jefe was 2nd on a single speed, Ethan 3rd. Well it grew on me and now here I am looking at mountain bike closeouts.
Dave Mo is really like the drug dealer. He has all you need to do all the crazy things we do--except the ice skates. And he always has a smile and will cut you a screaming deal.
Thanks for letting me post Dave! By the way my name is Jarral Ryter. Click here to see my personal blog.
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| Lily Lake-early season |
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| Josho's Trail Hartman Rocks, Gunnison |
Then downtown for lunch. Down at Farrell's Restaurant, Patrick Farrell, with his short shorts and huge handlebar mustache had been out speed skating. There is a large group that will find the ice as soon as it freezes. Sometimes too soon and they fall in but they always have gotten out. Here is video from last winter.
The real reason I was in the shop was to check out a hard tail 29in mt bike for a ridiculous race next summer. Like drugs you start doing a little bit at a time and before you know it you can't stop doing the hard stuff. That is what living in Gunnison does to you. And it doesn't make the wife all that happy sometimes either. I started off doing races like the Leadville 100. OK it was hard but I wanted something more. How about the Vaportrail 125. 125 mi and it starts at 10pm at night. OK that was hard and I did pretty good. Other friends, like Jefe and Ethan had been doing other long multi-day bike races. You have to carry all your own gear and can only buy things along the way--no food/gear drops. That sounds hard. So last summer I did the Colorado Trail Race. Almost 500 mi at high altitudes self supported. I did OK and got to know Eszter H. She is the coach of the cycle team here a Western and really hard core on the bike. I barely kept ahead of her. She had been talking of doing the Tour Divide. A race from Banff Canada to the Mexico border. Jefe and Ethan did it this past summer. Jefe was 2nd on a single speed, Ethan 3rd. Well it grew on me and now here I am looking at mountain bike closeouts.
Dave Mo is really like the drug dealer. He has all you need to do all the crazy things we do--except the ice skates. And he always has a smile and will cut you a screaming deal.
Thanks for letting me post Dave! By the way my name is Jarral Ryter. Click here to see my personal blog.
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