Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Daniel's freeride 29er


A nice big beefy frame for blasting down the hills - 29" wheels, 5" travel front and rear, and set up with guides for a Gravitydropper post. What could be better? Oh, and can I mention the fact that the RS Monarch shocks actually fit the Ventana mounting hardware correctly? So I don't have to spend 10 minutes on the lathe to make the sucker work! Kickass.

I promised Daniel I'd send him a picture, so I figured I'd post it to the blog, along with a bottle of brew from my favorite local drunkards at Avery. Sarah and I are friends with some of that crowd, which can be a bad thing when you're bored at night and the brewery is only about 1/2 mile away. There is definitely such a thing as too much free beer, my friends.

In other news, the endless winter here is depressing me, and Sarah as well, so we're going to take a road trip at the end of February for 8 or 9 days. On the hit list right now:
-Santa Fe (visit my pops)
-Gallup (sweet singletrack off I-70, if I can remember how to find it)
-Flagstaff/Sedona - anyone know if Priest draw will be dry/warm enough to boulder?
-Phoenix - probably just a quick ride on the way south
-Tucson - our pals Erik and Natalie, the mountain park, flan, and alcohol?
-Cochise Stronghold - just a cool place. I don't think we'll rope up and climb anything, but the hiking is super fun and I've heard there are even mountain bike rides to do.
-Las Cruces - Chopes chopes chopes! Dona Anas! Robledos! Brewery!
-Hueco - Sarah has never been, I haven't been in almost 10 years. I hear things have kinda gone downhill, but I'm still psyched to just touch the rock. It's been too long.
-Socorro - we always stop to go bouldering at the streambed. Don't know if we'll have enough skin left after Hueco, though.
-Albuquerque - maybe see Lee and Linda's new baby, ride the foothills.
-Back home. Whew, that's a lot of driving...

7 comments:

Unknown said...

what about loveland?

Anonymous said...

Hey Walt,
If you guys need a placeto stay, just let me know, the guest room is available after my parents split on the 22nd and Dylan typically only wakes up once a night to eat, though that can change on any given night.

heyjude said...

Wow!! Two conversations about Gallup in one week!!?? I did some searching and found out there is some great desert singletrack just west of town in the Mentmore area. Also, about 10 miles east of town at MacGaffey is some more. It may have snow though. I used to go cross country skiing there with my parents as a little kid...I hated it. Anyway sounds great. By the way, the checks in the mail, Walt.

steve garro said...

walt-anything but skiing is a no-go in flagstaff. i live near the draw and there are feet & feet of snow. so muddy in sedona i haven't ridden since mid-jan. i was glad to go to portland just to not see snow. however, the sonoran is as green as you are ever likely to see it in your life time. steve.

Walt said...

Dude, Steve, thanks for the heads-up. Maybe instead we'll do:
-Santa Fe
-Albuquerque
-Socorro
-Cruces
-Tucson
-Hueco
-back the way we came

-Walt

Chauncey Matthews said...

Hey,
Post up when/where you'll be in Alb, I'd love to show you how not to ride the foothill trails.
Chauncey (40 min south in Belen) Matthews

steve garro said...

an absolute must-do in az is the kentucky camp sections of the arizona trail between sonoita and patagonia az., just s. of tucson. stunning. and, the home plte in patagonia slings some mean mex breakfast. steve.