Tuesday, September 10, 2013

I've decided after four years of hard riding mostly at Keystone, the Demo will get a serious overhaul this winter. It needs it. Bent rims and chainring, trashed brake pads, dented frame, thrashed chainguide....and then there's the suspension.
I'll be posting updates throughout the winter on this project. First thing will be completely disassembling the bike then getting the frame down to raw aluminum. The fork will be completely rebuilt, shock is going to Push Industries for a factory tune, several components will be replaced...I'm looking forward to this one. Stay tuned.




Monday, September 9, 2013

Red Bull Final Descent, Trestle Bike Park

This past Sunday, Trestle Bike Park played host to the Red Bull Final Descent. This downhill race was a 12 hour event, starting at 7am and the most laps takes the win. Racers could enter solo or run teams up to four. After deciding that the current condition of my downhill bike most likely wouldn't make it through this one, I showed up to the event to shoot photos instead.
I spent my time shooting on Search and Seizure and Trestle Downhill. These trails had the best sections for great shots with plenty of berms, jumps and rock gardens. With all men and women of all skill levels racing at once, there was plenty of "rider up" call-outs and passing going on. It was difficult at times to shoot every rider coming by when the gap between riders was consistently inconsistent. With variable lighting in the trees, I was shooting with a remote flash for fill lighting which you'll notice in the pictures I posted. I simply wanted to light up the shaded areas of the rider a bit and show their eyes through the goggles. I'm still in the learning process of using this kind of flash and photography in general, some shots came out, many didn't.
Overall, I was pretty happy with the amount of decent shots I got from this event. If they hold this race here again next year, it'll be hard for me not to enter. But if I'm not racing, I'll surely be out there shooting again. If you raced this one and you don't see a shot of yourself on my link of photos, send me an email with your plate number and I'll take a look! Link

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

I stopped at the Frisco Bike Park on the way to a meeting this evening and it's actually looking pretty good. The ground is still pretty soft and winter is still fighting to stick around (currently snowing), but I'd have to guess 4-5 days of sunny weather should get this place in prime condition.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

It's finally warming up in the high country and the snow is melting off quickly. It'll still be a bit before trails are rideable so it was off to Green Mountain off 470 and Alameda today for an afternoon ride. 


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PBR Trail: Fruita, CO

Constructed last year, PBR, which stands for pumps, berms and rollers, is one of the newer additions to the network of trails out on 18 Rd. You can find the start of this trail at the top of Prime Cut, and the start of Chutes and Ladders. You'll notice on some maps that this trail is also identified as "Pump Track". 
First impressions, this trail was well thought out. Starting out up top with tighter bermed corners through a few trees and gradually opening up as you go down. There's nothing on it that you can't roll, but at speed, most of those rollers turn into doubles. I took a couple runs down it at a medium pace just to get it all down then picked it up from there. I'll admit, I started timing myself from there on, trying to beat my previous times. This trail would make a great organized race, if it hasn't been done already. 
PBR is a blast. If you're a fan of riding Kessel, or fast, flowing trails in general, you'll want to ride this. You could call PBR the big brother, or the next step up in progression to Kessel. At roughly 1.5 miles long, this is a good one to get some fast laps on. You can ride the road or Prime Cut up to the start each time, or you can do car shuttles up to the top. This trail is clearly marked as "downhill only", so you shouldn't have to worry about any uphill traffic. 
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of this trail. I just simply didn't want to stop to do so once I got going on this one. Instead, here's a video pulled off of YouTube.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Decals have arrived!

Just got back from Fruita this evening and had a box of decals waiting at the door. Available in black and white. Email me at info@downhillcolorado.com if you want one. Limited quantity. 





Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Heading to Fruita this weekend for 3 days of riding. The trip will probably start out on 18 Rd. for some laps on PBR and MoJoe's. A couple trail reviews to follow next week. This will also be the first time running WTB Weirwolf TCS 2.3's. For dry conditions, I've heard nothing but good things about them. I'll follow up on these after the trip as well.
Joe's Ridge: Fruita, CO