In the past, I have always tried to keep itsallaboutthebike, well, all about the bike. Whether moto or bicycle related. I once have written about a backcountry ski strip one time (Natoconnect 2008), but since everyone on that trip was some sort of biker, I justified it. Since the origins of this blog were really an SEO marketing experiment, and since there is four feet of snow on the ground here in Park City, Utah, I am going to deviate from the mission statement and include a link to my December 30th, 2008 blog post on Utah CEO Magazine. It’s marketing related. I think it makes sense. With the economy looming large on everyone’s mind, we are all going to have to get smarter about how we do things.
Trust me. There is nothing I would rather do right now than saddle up the KTM, head south into the desert, and get a good head-clearing that only an adventure moto trip has the ability to do. Those days will come in 2009. And we’ll write about them next year. Happy and healthy New Year wishes to our readers, all three of you.
The 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.
What do two Utah ski industry marketing guys and neighbors do when it’s Indian Summer in a ski town like Park City, Utah, on November 1, with opening day less than a month away, and nobody is booking expensive ski vacations because the nation’s economy is in the crapper, and people are losing their jobs left and right, and a graph of the last 60 days of the swings in the stock market looks like a topographical map of the Rocky Mountains, and the only thing that can save us is a big snowstorm, and we’re not even really sure that will get people to start booking expensive ski trips to Utah? What if those two same guys drank a brazillion (that’s George W speak for a shitload) beers the night before while their kids were out collecting little bite size candies from neighbors and/or perfect strangers, which means doing anything productive around the house with a hangover is pretty much out of the question? Why, go for a single speed mountain bike ride in our backyards, in Round Valley, of course. Thanks, Jay, for kicking my butt and exorcising the liquid devil right out of my bloodstream. Let’s hope the temperature drops, the snow starts to fly, and that’s the last good and dry mountain bike ride in these parts until after ski season.
Jay Burke, holding the Round Valley Trail, Park City, Utah. Photo by Moto.
The folks at Summit Honda in Park City, Utah have this 2001 KTM LC4 that was taken in on trade. It has 1500 clean miles, and the thing looks like maybe it was ridden through a puddle once. This would be a good starter bike for someone looking to get into adventure dualsport riding, and the price is right, somewhere around bluebook value of $3600. Check it out.
This bike is ready to for someone looking to get into dualsport riding. Fields?