Warm Before The Storm
08 Mar 2009, written by moto 2 CommentsThis weekend in Park City, Utah was a pretty typical March weekend, where one has a hard time deciding whether to do something for fun on two wheels or two heels. On Saturday, I was hankering for a bike ride, so I pumped up my tires hard and took my 29er single speed out for a pavement ride, the first bicycle ride of 2009. While riding past the White Barn, the nordic tracks looked delightful, and I was left thinking I made the wrong choice, but it was a fleeting feeling, and once I turned right on Old Ranch Road, it passed. Sunday was a different story. After a morning session of skiing at Bambi Basin with my wife and daughter, I spent the afternoon getting the KTM fired up and ready for spring riding. Unhooked the battery tender, stripped a bolt putting my fuse box back together, replaced the bolt, put the seat on, rolled the bike out of the garage, eased the choke lever back slightly, turned the key, pressed the starter, started right up on the first try. Hmmmm. Me like that sound. I let the bike warm up, then took it for a little 20 mile spin up to the Jordanelle reservoir scenic overlook and then back through town. Saw a few other motorbikes out there, including a spitting image of the original Blue Angel, Darth Nater’s BMW F650 GS Dakar. What this all means of course, is there is a big storm rolling in overnight, with predictions that we’ll get up to three feet of Utah’s GSOL (Greatest Snow On Earth®) over the course of the next few days. You can’t count on much these days, except for unsettled weather in the Wasatch Mountains. Be flexible in your recreational plans over the next few weeks, and you might just make it to April with your sanity intact.
Mud and Cowbells
03 Feb 2009, written by moto 0 CommentsLast night, I met a journalist/editor from SKI Magazine named Philip Higgs. Based in Boulder, Phil knows a few of the same cycling characters that I know who are still around the scene. We got a little sidetracked talking about bikes when we should have been talking about Deer Valley Resort, lodging, the Seafood Buffet at the Snow Park Lodge, you know, business. Maybe it was the result of the current high pressure weather, which tends to bring out the cyclist in all of us, not quite ready to call it quits on the many powder days sure to come, but starting to look down the road at the prospects of getting on the road bikes, mountain bikes, singlespeeds, what have you. Anyway, Phil told me about a sweet cyclocross blog, Mud and Cowbells. Great name, so I added it to the blogroll. Enjoy.
The Lonely Garage, Guest Writers, and Beantown
18 Nov 2008, written by moto 1 CommentsThe garage is a lonely place without the bike. Today in Park City was amazingly warm weather. Great for riding motorbikes in short sleeve shirts. Not so great if the business you are in is skiing. Last Friday, Deer Valley Resort had all guns blazing, with fan guns blowing copious amounts of snow as far up the mountain as you could see. Today, it was 65 degrees and sunny. I see a pattern developing. This is turning out much like last November. There’s no doubt the snow will come, just a question of when.
The garage is empty, because I scrambled home at lunch and rode the KTM across the way to the local folks at Summit Honda. They don’t speak Austrian, but are nice enough and agreed to install a new Regina chain for me, since I don’t have the correct tool to replace the rivet link. While I was inside, my bike created quite a ruckus outside. There were four or five guys hovering, checking it out, eyeballing it, sizing it up. Summit Honda has a 2001 KTM LC4 they took in trade a while back (which I wrote about), with 1,700 original miles. Apparently they couldn’t sell it for awhile since they didn’t have the title, but have that all worked out and it’s back on the floor. It would be a sweet bike for someone looking for a good dualsport.
Finally, for all of those who are bored with my infrequent posts, occasional rants on cycling dopers, (all two of you, according to Dave Fields), I will start to post writings by fellow itsallaboutthebikers. Sully is on the hot seat. Let’s see what he comes up with. The pressure is on. Maybe while I’m in Boston for a consumer ski show, Sully will come through. If so, I’ll drink a pint of Guinness for every post he writes. Or three.