Monday, January 26, 2009

60 Rain soaked miles...


i couldnt take it anymore, i mean come on, this is the freakin desert right ? well, right ? i came here for the sunshine, lizards need sun, right ? i lived in salt lake for so long freezing my ass off, i just wanted to get away from snow. holly crap, does anyone have a cry towel ! its really not to bad here weather wise, it does snow up on gooseberry mesa a few times a year, but then it will also go dry and the conditions are stunning, ive been there in the snow and had to walk a bit, that day kinda sucked, had to rebuild the king hub after that weekend. its just that we get spoiled, the sun shines so much that when it goes away you really miss it, at least i do, i think that i have that seasonal depression thing, but damn, i have been wanting to ride for days now and its been crappy, wet roads the whole time. now with much respect to my friends of the tribe that live, and dig the great north west, ( jeffro and sher' in eugene, paul and roxy in ashland, THE tony p tony@pereiracycles.com; in portland, and my new bud' in OZ, jill kintner, yeah that bad ass chick with all the jerseys !) i think rain bites ass, the desert is dry, thats why lizards live in it people, i would have moved to eugene along time ago jeffro, you know that, the town is very cool, very good vibes, and green as a swimming pool of cronic, but how do you keep your head straight with all that rain man ?
my legs just couldnt take it any more, i decided the route with the least traffic would be the climb up utah hill over into nevada, i was right, traffic was a car every 10 or 15 mins. this ride is an enduring one in that when you return from nevada its 15 miles up, not big up but incessant up, and if you do it late like i did you get a head wind that will blow you backwards if you dont fight it the whole way. so except for the light snow on top it basically rained on my head the whole way, but know what every body ?, it didnt matter, i may have bitched a couple of times when a car went flying by and sprayed me, and i yelled then cursed the snow once or twice, and it just didnt matter, know what i mean ? yeah, i know you do, thats one of the reasons this life style works for me, the people ive met because of bikes seem to be the most complete humans around, some thing rarely seen by us lizards, even those who make and shape our sport seem more down to earth than others of your race, they seem to give a shit about others involved in this lifestyle no matter how they got in or what their place in it is. how many of us have come across a pro bike racer out there in our journeys ? or someone involved in the media ? all they wanted to do was talk about bikes or the coolest trails or ask you where your favorite rides were. thats real man, this bike thing can have a connection for people who might other wise be lost,may the bike gods bless us all !!!
in the past couple of years ive been fortunate to meet quite a few influential people in the industry, its been a gas, and they all have been so cool, so real. it all started at the fruita fat tire fest in april of '07. years ago i made some friends from las vegas in moab ( racin j' & brake my arm jen') well i went to the fruita jam to meet them and it was a riot, we met troy rarick of over the edge sports in fruita, http://www.fruitamountainbike.com/ troy has become a great friend as he is in hurricane often at the other OTE, more about troy later. ended up partying at his house with jeff lenowski, hans rey and alison dunlap, rode with hans and his television crew the next day, i think we are in some video going around germany, that fest was one of the funnest times ive had, on a bike or not. later that spring i was introduced to josh bender, watched him at some secret stash in park city, then rode some trails with him and some friends. then in sep' 07 i bought my ibis silk from wild rose mountain sports in salty, i started doing group rides and have rode with jeff louder, and dave zabriskie. then on vacation in california i was riding the ibis down the pch and here comes neil shirley from jittery joes, rode all the way from oceanside to la jolla. every one of these people treated me above and beyond, and many have remained in contact. it was march '08 when i met jimmy mac from MBA magazine, great guy, cool van, and holly hell, he wrote a story about me, it was in the august '08 issue, we almost rode bikes and did a photo shoot on the goose, but we were snowed off the damn place, "hey jimmy, we ever going to do that photo shoot boss ?", hes californian, he got a little scarred and bolted when that white stuff came falling. then a while after he left he called me and told me about the fox yeti tests going on at the goose, i poached it but eventually when the lady running the whole thing found out i was a nobody she gave me the boot. no matter, i met and rode with mark weir, and the guys from yeti were cool as they ever was and let me ride the bike they set up for me anyway, anthony youre the bomb ! http://www.yeticycles.com/ mark has kept in touch and we hung out for a bit at interbike, great guy. then at the A.M.C stage race at brianhead i met ron and pua, shes the national 24 hr champ and he is the mastermind, perhaps the nicest people ive ever met, thanks for the hospitality guys. i also became friends at that race with tom and the whole big bear crew, i knew tom from years of racing his events, but i really got to know him that week at brianhead, turns out we have some things in common, love ya boss. in between i started emailing niki gudex, former austrailian national champ, who i met face to face at interbike, not only is she a cool ass chick and hot as hell, but she has some kind of soul about her, shes been really supportive with her advise about my goals to visit the prisons. now out of the blue jill kintner emails me to offer encouragement and to tell me shes reading the blog ( heres to mowing through europe again girl). one day i hope all my new friends will come to the desert and we can all shread it ! bikes, man, theyre beautiful .....


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