The first time I rode with the Red Rock Crew was in 2002 on the Barrel Ride. Sir Prattipus had just finished the trail and was giving the shop guys a tour. I was the new guy and had been invited along as a nicety. I had no idea what to expect from these guys. I had barely met Bryce and only worked at the shop for about a week so I didn’t know anyone that was going to be there.
And I hadn’t ridden my bike in 18 months.
I showed up and everyone was on downhill bikes. My steed was a Marin Indian Fire Trail, a hard tail with 100 mils of travel. It had those Kore stems on it that were popular for six months and then you could get for about $10. I bought one of the red ones in super long. I was a skinny little shit and my legs hadn’t seen the sun in 18 months either. My riding shorts were from the 90s so they barely touched the top of my knee and made me feel like they were just a little small. And my shoes, I cringe to think that I ever wore those shoes.
I got my first clipless pedals when I purchased the above mentioned bike. At the time, I was working at Rebel Sports. Seeing that I now had these super awesome pedals, I had to get the shoes so I could use them. We stocked a Nike ACG pair of clipless riding shoes. Yes, they did in fact make cycling shoes. They were brown and looked like a big, ugly pair of hiking boots.
So just to make sure that you’ve got the whole picture. Big white helmet. Red Marin Jersey. Light Brown Pearl Izumi shorts that don’t cover my knees. Super white legs capped with big brown, ugly ass shoes.
Yup, that was me.
I have a love-hate relationship with the Barrel Ride.
If you’ve ridden the trail the way Bryce originally designed it, you probably know what I mean. The route takes you down from the parking lot and then you spin across the flat to the first little up and then onto some singletrack that dumps you into the wash. Then you climb the wash until you pop out at the cow pond. This gives you a little relief. Then you climb up the second wash and at then end of the wash you make a switchback climb up the side of the mesa. This dumps you onto a dirt road that feels like relief but then you dip and take a really steep up another dirt road. At this point you get to go downhill for a second but then you turn and go up the old downhill course. Yes, you read that correctly. You ride up the downhill course. It’s loose and steep.
Now you get to go downhill. This is the part I love. Down and down some gnarly, techy shit. On that first ride 12 years ago, we got to the bottom and we all stopped. Gurr looked over to Bryce and said something to the affect that it was amazing that he had actually built a way down that. I believe this may have been the infamous moment that I rode up to the group and utter my most quoted of quotes, “That was fucking awesome!”
Then back uphill for a second and then down some more gnarly stuff and down the wash for a minute. And then you turn and ride back up to the top of the mesa. This is where the final descent begins. This used to be the most flowy, fast downhill section in all of St. George, that was until someone decided that the masterpiece of a trail that Prattipus had assembled should be bastardized and built a bunch of poorly assembled jumps right on the trail. Now you have an awesome downhill section interrupted by shitty doubles and step-ups.
I’ve watched the video at the top of this post three times. It’s not an entirely amazing video. There’s no one doing huge flips or rocking off anything crazy. You do have some amazing views and a couple of wing nuts free soloing every 14,ooo+ peak in California which is pretty amazing, but it’s how perfectly they capture the idea of bicycle touring that has me mesmerized. Anyone that says touring is fun has a twisted idea of fun. To see Alex Honnold so perfectly broken thanks to a bicycle thrills me. And listening to their commentary about how stupid of an idea the whole trip was juxtaposed to the smiles on their faces the entire time they are talking about it… Yup, that’s bike touring.
I rode the Barrel Ride yesterday morning with Chaco. He came along to make sure that I fulfilled my duty of Making Cycling Difficult.
First, he made sure that I still hadn’t replaced my tires. Right now, my singlespeed’s tires are in their third life, as in I should have already replaced them twice. The rear one is completely bald and on backward. The sidewalls aren’t even there. It’s actually a whole bunch of Orange Seal that is holding the tread onto the rims. To say I am having trust issues with my tires would be an understatement.
Second, Chaco removed the pump from the truck. So when I got to the trailhead thinking that I could top off my barely held together tires, there was no way to do that. I had about 15 psi in ’em so I we just went for it. I may have popped the rim off of a couple of rocks over the course of the ride, but no big deal. I didn’t flat and the rim is fine.
Third, new brake pads were installed. Usually this just means you have to grab the brakes a couple of times and bed in the pads. I run Hope brakes. One of the things that I love about them is the fact that I never have to replace the pads. The pads that came off were three years old. I replaced them because I completely wore the rotors out and wanted a start fresh. The down side to them lasting so long is the break in period. It takes a couple of good rides instead of a couple of good stops.
So I rode the Barrel Ride with no brakes, tires that didn’t grip and was forced to gingerly roll over anything with an edge. And all I could think about was Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright suffering through their bike tour across California. And while I was suffering, I smiled because I was on my bike and was having fun that no sane person would enjoy.
And I remembered that first ride and still can’t figure out why I keep going back.
P. L. and R.
