We loaded the Mooseknuckler-mobile to the hilt yesterday and slowly made our way to cooler climes. Namely, Brian Head where the air is thinner, cooler, wetter and you can ride a chair lift all day.
We loaded the Demo‘s on top of the car, along with KB’s Trance and headed up the mountain around 8 a.m. After arriving and getting KB on her xc route, we boys headed up the lifts for some downhill only riding. I have to mention that part of me buying a demo included a contract where I agreed to never attempt to ride the damn thing uphill.
First run, we chose to hit Timberline off of the lift to get he cobwebs out and get the brake pads warmed up. Anyone who has been to Brian Head knows that the runs are rocky and loose. The morning started out just that way. About half way down Timberline there is a line where you can roll over some logs and drop a bit into the alternate route. I was right on Danny’s ass when we approached this obstacle. As he road up onto the logs he yelled “Shit!” So I pealed off down the b-line and stopped. As he hit the logs everything went moving and he stuck his wheel right in front of a stump that had previously rolled out of place. Once his wheel was stuck he was ready and proceeded to fall right on his head. It was one of those crashes that you watch the person’s entire body compress.
Once he was up and we were assure multiple times that he was in deed okay, we cleared the route, removing the fallen logs, making it rideable for the next runs.
We then bombed down the rest of the run.
Next, we hit my favorite run, Little Gritty. This is one really long rock garden and I love it. We hit the cliff and road the entire thing, except the crazy drop in the middle. Picture a rock garden at a 45 degree angle leading into a six foot drop. At the bottom of the drop you land off camber and then proceed to turn to your right away from the camber of the landing. Not exactly a straight forward move.
We hit the slopes for a couple more runs. Pratt got some flats and then the rain started. It poured for about an hour with lightning strikes and thunder that shook the lodge. KB came riding down the mountain in the middle of the down pour completely soaked and saying, “I have mud in my chamois.” I’m not sure what exactly that meant.
We waited out the rain eating sunflower seeds and shooting the shit.
Once the rain cleared and things were dry enough for us to step off of the porch of the lodge, Jason, one of Danny’s BMX buddies showed up with his bike. We all got ready and headed back up the lift, after all we had paid to ride. The first run after the rain we chose to hit Timberline again. Partly due to the rain and partly due to the fact that this was Jason’s first run on the mountain, ever. The rain left the upper section of the run slick as chicken shit. We all road down with one leg flailing against the mud and the other desperately trying to stay attached to the pedal. Much like a bull rider does.
We hit things up for a few more rocking runs and closed the place down around 5.
Hopefully we’ll be back up soon.
Peace. Love. and Revolution.
Nice site and an interesting read – are you having fun with it? I like what you are doing here.