"Getting loose, on the Goose"

lets face it, there are almost too many places to count when you go through the list of mountain bike spots to hit in the south west. theres so much to ride and experience in states like new mexico, arizona and even the southern part of colorado, however, this could be the crown jewel of it all, and not just because of the mesa its self but because of the opportunities to ride all over the area. i know that i am a bit biased about living in the state of biking mecca, yet i feel that most of that bias is valid as i have rode many places, true there are many more places to go and experience than i have even been too yet, and given enough time and fundage i will visit them all, but you know im no virgin everyone, ive been to new mexico angel fire, went to south mountain in arizona, all over colorado, and i mean every where, wait no crested butte yet, must take care of that one but every where else, i spent the summer of '07 chasing a cat 3 road racer chick from boulder all over the colorado, ive rode in some cool places in nevada not just bootleg, i have been on trails in ely and in elko, i have rode in jackson wyoming and a really cool lake trail by a town called torrington, ive rode some trails in santa cruz, stuff that they are closing right now to bikes, got to ride some cool stuff in southern cal this last week while attending the tour of california. so looking at that list and including a little in oregon and a little in idaho, i think i have enough to form a well rounded oppinion, yes ? UTAH DIRT RULES !!.....so above is a picture of gooseberry mesa from the jem trail below, some day soon we hope to get permission from the BLM to extend the jem up the highway and eventually work its self on to the mesa, we believe that along with a trail head some where by the chevron in apple valley that a trial like that would lessen the impact on the mesa its self by reducing the amount of vehicals that would drive the dirt road into the trail area. how cool would it be to ride on to the mesa any how ? any one interested in helping this project along can do as small a thing as emailing the BLM and expressing your concerns, and i implore you to do so...

this is a picture from the site we always try to camp at, thats where the the true beauty of gooseberry lays, the place has a vibe and when you get the chance to camp there that vibe just kind of consumes you, yes there are limited miles available on the mesa its self but with a little creativity we can link 30 and 40 mile rides together, and if you wanna go hard core you can ride over to little creek and do the trails then ride back, ive even rode off towards the other side into rockville down into virgin up to guacamole rode the trail and then back to the camp site.

january '08 i spent 11 days and nights at this camp spot, it was, i dont know, spiritual i guess, my friend zaun came down from salt lake and then left after a couple of days but i just didnt want to leave, i was really digging being so isolated, so quiet, just me my dog my bikes and myself. after the 7th day i had people coming up to check and make sure i was all right, i get no phone service on the goose, but all in all after zaun left i only talked to two other people that whole time, im going to do it again soon.

thats another shot from the camp spot with the skull, he loves gooseberry, i say " skully, goose ?" and he gets all excited. we were there once and he lost his ball the night before we left, we looked all over for that freakin ball and couldnt find it, it snowed a couple of times before we could get back and by the time we did a number of weeks had gone by. well that crazy dog jumped out of the truck when we pulled up and before i could get the truck situated and unloaded skully had found that damn ball, it was classic, he comes up all happy and shit, "look dad i found it" kind of expression, man i love my furry bud !!

having some fun on the entrance to south rim trail, just after this section you drop into the canyon a little bit, then you dart around the edge and across some slick rock and then its deep into the tech baby. theres a certain flow on gooseberry and sometimes it involves ridding at a certain speed, you need a good degree of momentum to clear the vast amount of obstacles and features, and you can find your own lines at times to get as crazy as you can imagine, its a fine line on the mesa sometimes, you can go out and hit everything well and just fly on the trails, but ive gone out and had south rim eat me in chunks, ive left pieces of the bones out there before, believe me when i say...

this is a really fun high speed run on the road back to the trail head, its called white trail, its a big ring mash all the way back if you want, i hit this jump at about 25 mph and leave the ground back where the sage bush is so its an easy 20 feet, and just down the trail a bit further comes this kickass hip that launches as you brush this big ole tree jumping by.

gooseberry mesa, it really is the magical kingdom for mountain bikes, its saved my sanity at times im sure it will again.

it was a good ride yesterday, a shop ride so it was a mellow pace, but that was cool for me, i was just enjoying being on the goose and hangin with my ridding buddies. peace out lizard lizard lizard....