Mooseknuckler Cycling Alliance

Today is a rare occurrence here at the Alliance. I am designating this Sunday as a No Ride Day. No I didn’t just write Ride when I should have said Drive. This is kind of like a flag at half mast.

The Alliance did an improvised ride last night. One of those rides that gets planned ten minutes before you need to leave to be able to make it before dark. We headed up to Tony Grove Lake, again, to do the White Pine Lake trail. A new Knuckler in town was in tow to see how we ride. He kicked our asses on the up hill. I hate singlespeeders. He stopped to wait for us about 200 yards from the end of the three mile climb at the beginning of the trail. Of course, he had no idea that we were pretty much done climbing. I was feeling very poorly and humbled. Upon catching up to the rest spot I sprinted past to hit the downhill while informing them that it was my time to shine. I bombed, as is my style, to the first stream crossing and finally stopped to catch my breath. And then I waited.

And then I waited some more. I was really feeling the climb up, being light headed and the whole nine yards. So sitting and waiting didn’t seem like too much trouble. After a while I started to worry. I worried because I didn’t want to have to try and climb what I had just come down and worried because I got that eery feeling that something wasn’t right. I headed back up the trail, very slowly. I rode until I needed to rest and then I screamed to see what the hell was going on. No one replied. I pedaled again and repeated the process. After the third time of stopping and yelling, I saw Seth, the new guy, coming down the trail.

He informed me that I-dog had gone done, hard, and was walking back to the car.

We climbed back up the trail. About 20 yards into the first down hill section there was a big rock. The rock was surrounded by blood. Ian had launched off the front of his bike and face-planted into a giant boulder taking the brunt of the fall with his face. He lost a tooth, chipped another and mutilated various other parts of his face and upper body.

Luckily this No Ride Day at the Alliance isn’t for a fallen friend but for a fallen friend’s tooth.

Be careful out there.

Northern Utah Mooseknucklers were out in force yesterday. We headed back up and did another run of the White Pine Lake to Bunch Grass trail. About 2:30 that afternoon it poured for a half hour taking care of the dust we suffered through the day before. The higher parts of the trail were nice and tacky but not muddy. The lower sections closer to the highway were still pretty dry but that could have been due to the number of cattle grazing. Anson, our carpenter, and Kevin, the ad guy, both were in the group and at the front. The rest of the guys were Anson’s friends. There were 9 of us total.

To commemorate Pioneer day, I-dog and myself rode White Pine Lake to Bunch Grass without a shuttle. This is another new trail for me. It starts at Tony Grove Lake at the top of Logan Canyon. From that lake you climb about 1000′ to descend to White Pine Lake. After which you descend some more only to do two short but very steep climbs up out of the basin in order to bomb down Bunch Grass. At which point it is advisable to have a car waiting to take you back to Tony Grove, we did not. I have to admit I only made it about 2/3 of the way and then sent Ian to get the car as I bombed back down the road. Next time there will be a car.

Out of all the trails I have done here in Logan, there are a ton, this is the best. The 3 mile climb at the first is a nice pitch with plenty of rocks and moves to keep things interesting. The downhill is fun with plenty of technical sections to keep you on your toes combined with long smooth sections that can be railed, fast. Most of the trails around here I don’t ever have a strong desire to go back and ride, this is the exception. I hope to do this again on Sunday or before.

Tonight is the Alliance ride.

Peace.

Wow, it’s been a loooooooooooooong time since I’ve posted anything. That comic post was an oh-shit-I-haven’t-posted-in-three-weeks post. I was trying to find a different cartoon of Andy Singer where a man dressed in military fatigues is riding a bike with a flag that says support the troops. We have it posted on our counter by the register and a lot of people comment about it. If you want to see Singer’s work go here.

Vacation, yes I had a great vacation in SG and Brian Head. I got to see some of you, others I missed due to variables out of my control, but there will be a next time… I spent  four days at Brian Head and rode one trail per day. Day one we did Blow Hard. My father, two brother-in-laws and I went. The trail was soft, dry and dusty as hell. There was about 3″ of dusty powder on the trail, good ride. Next we did Dark Hollow. I hadn’t ever done this trail. I think it is my new favorite Brian Head trail. The steep, technical descents were perfect for my riding style. One of my bro-in-laws bailed for this ride so it was just three of us. After we exited the singletrack there is a fast, steep, loose descent down to the highway. My bro-in-law blew his front tire and went down quite hard. He ended up with a large patch of road rash on his elbow and a bruised hip. Due to this crash, the next day we were two. My dad and I rode Bunker Creek from Brian Head peak, a great ride. We always do this last one when we are camped at Duck Creek. Day four I met Bryce and Cimarron at Navajo Lake and we jumped on the Virgin River Rim trail. We rode from the bottom of the lake up to the Dike trail and came back down to finish off with Navajo Lake Loop.

After this last ride, we went through Zion National Park and into Springdale where we ate at the Pizza and Noodle. Just as we were about ready to take off, a thunder storm moved in. Of course, we had to sit and watch it from the back deck. I love rain and being in a place as beautiful as Zion when there is thunder and lightning, well that just kicks ass.

Sunday was my last day on the mountain. Monday and Tuesday I subjected myself to the heat of the desert. Damn I miss the desert. Bryce and I rode the Zen trail Monday morning early. This was another first for me. It was a good trail missing a little balance and flow but fun because it is new. Bryce and I took turns taking pictures. I haven’t seen any of these yet on his sites but I suppose he is busy and will get to it soon. I still need to get all my pictures from this trip up as well so I can’t complain too much. Day two in SG was a trip to the Barrel Roll. Danny accompanied us. Good, fun and fast and it wasn’t even dusty thanks to the rain we had the night before. It was really hot.

I came back to the Polar North of Hell Tuesday night. It is hot here as well. Wednesday we did the Alliance ride. It was just me and my ad guy from the Herald Journal. He hadn’t been on a bike for three years so we did the benign trail, Green Canyon. As we were riding up the rode to get to the top a couple passed us. We weren’t ever too far behind them, as I saw them a couple of times as we came around corners and there was a straight shot for a moment. Ahead of those two there were four racer guys. We made it to the gate at the top. As you who have ridden with me know, I am not a fast climber. I don’t really want to be and climbs aren’t the reason I ride. I like to descend. I consider myself an able descender. The racer guys headed out first, then Kevin and I. I stopped three times to wait for him to make sure he didn’t miss any of the singletrack. I caught the racers before the first time I stopped, but then never saw them again. We bombed the trail, even Kevin was moving and I was waiting less and less the farther down we got. After we made it to the trail, had removed our shoes, had a granola bar and begun to rack the bikes, the couple that had passed us going up finally made it into the parking lot. The male of the two immediately, in an arrogant tone said, “What did you guys not ride any of the fun trails and just come down the road?” I replied, “No, we ride as much singletrack as we can.” He seemed a bit put off and then continued towards his car. This little interaction shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did I suppose. The problem is that this is how most people act up here. It’s always a race and if you aren’t as fast as someone else then you shouldn’t be riding. This asshole assumed that because he had passed us going up that he would be able to drop us on the descent. Well we beat him by about five minutes plus three stops.

Due to this, and other occasions that were all too similar, I’ve decided that the Mooseknuckler Alliance is going to add a little something to its purpose. We are the home of people who just like to ride. If you have an arrogant streak and think that riding is all about seeing who is fastest, then your a dumb ass and not welcome. I’m sick of bike snobby people and the Alliance isn’t going to put up with them anymore. Riding should be about camaraderie and enjoying nature not seeing who has to over compensate the most.
Anyways, like I said it shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did but there are too many of these people up here.

Peace. Love. and Revolution.

It dawned on me that many of you are probably concerned about my good friend BOB who accompanied me on my trip to Chile that ended in Mexico.

BOB and I haven’t been riding as much but he is working here in the shop. He runs deliveries for us to Fedex and other places where we have to carry larger loads. He lives downstairs where it is nice and cool and he doesn’t complain much at all.

We did get a pretty good ride in yesterday. He helped me do my laundry and then took my recycling to Smith’s for me. He’s a good friend.

You can all rest at ease. BOB is well and not showing any signs of slowing down.

Peace.

From today forward, there will be a few minor changes here at the Alliance weblog. Nothing serious just a few minor tweaks that I hope will allow you to read what you want and skip the shit that you don’t want. So, from now on I will post things in their respective categories and try to keep each post within the confines of how I choose to categorize the content. The biggest reason I have decided to do this is because of a burning need to post some of my poetry. I know from conversations in the past that some of you don’t particularly take well to the most divine form of expression (Mr. Gurr) and I will therefore categorize it so you can completely skip it if you choose. Thank you and peace to all.

In silence,

I thought to live

like the stars in the distant sky

preserving my mystery

as the torch they betray

my mouth in its lack of peace

proved my Judas Iscariot

prohibiting my hiding

for my thoughts simply fall out

and my silence is not attained

my pen is a fountain

inspiration driving the river

that flows from the heart of me

I thought to move unseen

without ripples or noise

falling deeply into the complacent

where life is golden

and unchanging

for but not, I could not feel

goldeness became the gray

of boredom, I washed myself

to become ordinary, a common man

but my innards were not willing

rebellion is beautiful

I thought to catch man

asleep

thoughtless in his endeavors

wishing for nothing but golden lives

not dreaming of tomorrow

basking in the sunlight

but trying to bathe in yesterday’s

dirty water

I thought to find answers

and I found they are all connected

to questions

weighted by years of no answers

leaping from one height to the other

never looking for the bridge

the answer was waiting

I thought I saw

as in dreams portrayed

ripples carrying bubbles

through inmense masses, the earth

trambled for their movement

I envisioned chains of vines

like umbilical cords

individuals seen as masses

only to respond to other ripples

flowing as the sea, a pendulum

from one side to the other

I thought to see the cause

shown, I was

Due to a recent e-mail comunication between myself and someone else, I feel it is time to explain what it is I plan on doing about my marriage and future possible relationships.

To start out, I believe it is of utmost importance that someone be committed, in both heart and soul, to another in order for certain relational things to happen that I will not numerate here. I believe that this commitment is a very important part of life, love and reason. I do not, however, believe that the government should or does have anything to do with this.

When I got married I was not nervous. I had made a decision and was as committed to Veronica as I could possibly be. That commitment had actually taken place between us years prior to the date of our legal marriage. Our ceremony had little bearing on the way we felt or acted towards each other. The only thing it did was involve a tax to pay the government to accept and legally bind us together. First, I don’t think the government should tax love and secondly love is what binds not some legal document.

The commitment that I forged with my wife has been disolved. No I didn’t see it necessary to involve the government a second time. We can all see that the Man’s bond did nothing when Love’s failed. Love trumps the Man. I do not plan on paying undisclosed amounts of money to terminate a legal contract that shouldn’t have ever been binding. Nor do I plan on attempting to bind love through a legal contract again.

With that said, I do believe in loving one person, and one person only. Unfortunately, the person I chose to love did not feel the same way about me, at least not completely. That dissolution of a relationship has not changed how I will commit to another. I don’t think that any of you could look me in the eye and tell me I didn’t attempt to do everything necessary to maintain my relationship, that I wasn’t committed enough. Next time I fall in love the same commitment will be there and I will be just as faithful as I have always been. The only difference will be the lack of the government’s involvement.

Peace. True Love. and Revolution.

Two seemingly unrelated events occurred in my life yesterday. Yesterday was a good day.

First, I had a bit of an epiphany. As you should all know, I am once again single. Going along with that little circumstance is the urge to find someone to fill the void that has been left. Quite honestly, I haven’t been able to fill it with enough other stuff. The biggest impediment for me to find another someone is what I like. I like brown skin and Latin accents packaged in a small beautiful dark woman. Up to this point, I haven’t met any woman that I am even remotely interested in being interested in. Yesterday it dawned on me like the sun on a morning that you wish the night before hadn’t happened, that if I’m to meet someone that fits my bill I have to go to where those people are. So I did. That’s it. That’s all I really had to say. I just wanted you all to understand that I know that I am stupid and it takes me a long time to figure certain seemingly obvious things out.

Number 2. I’ve mentioned Ironweed Films before. I watched the month of May’s edition last night with my little sis and her husband. The documentary is called The War Tapes. Three National Guardsmen were asked to film there experience in Iraq. The War Tapes is their experience. The three Guardsmen are different, come from different walks of life and have differing views of politics and the war. I mention this because at the end of the film, all three had arrived at the same conclusion. They were disillusioned with the war, felt it was being fought for money, and had no desire to return. They spent a large portion of their tour gaurding KBR/Halliburton trucks as they transported goods from bases into stores. One distributor, one supply line, a perfect monopoly is being enjoyed by these clonies and all the soldiers recognized and despised the war for it.

I still haven’t ridden. I was planning on going tonight but the store got really busy and I am tie red. I might do a short jaunt up the River Trail so I can say that I moved, but I’m having a difficult time getting motivated. It has been really hot and combined with the humidity that I am not used to, my energy gets sapped rather quickly.

Anyways, it’s off to the Panaderia for me…