Remote ride report from Mitch Dann

Mitch reports in from the great Pacific Northwest: Note that his beer reporting is at least as prominent as the cycling news!! Thanks Mitch!

Hi Chris. Well, won't be able to join you for a ride in the dark. We are bike touring through the San Juan Islands. This photo is atop Mt Constitution, a 2400 foot climb from the village we are staying in.

It's pretty slick moving around on the ferries on bikes. Also have been enjoying the regional brews. The Elysian Immortal IPA was quite good. Off to Bellingham on Friday for parents' weekend and some Boundary Bay IPA. But as you can see in the pic keeping the local brew in mind.

All the best, Mitch

Night rides are in full swing!!

Awesome pic of Dave Byers (courtesy of Mark Hershberger) from last Tuesday's Fitzy's night ride. The shop is holding tues night rides at 6:30 till we get "shut down".

The following night the old guys were in the dark too. (But then again, aren't they always?) 'Twas a good turn out (with a couple of people newly turned on to the high lumen possibilities out there). Sink or swim, out and back on Ferrins and finally a Hagen - Putt-putt. Pitchers of Helles at the Brewpub at the "after party" were well received

This week looks good again for both a Tues and a Wed. Old guys would be in Wilson @ 5:15, Wednesday. Ready for the ridge in the dark? That's what Byers is coming off in the above photo and look at the grin on his face!!

Charge up those batteries, people!

Black Ops

From the "Sourdude":

Hey boys and girls. A quick note on night riding. It rules. For example, take a ride you have done a thousand times.....do it at night with lights and it is a whole new ride.

So C. Erickson and I headed out on Thursday night around Redtop/Munger. We rode some of the new single track and then headed down to the lower Sqaw Creek for some sick single track. Mind you at this point it was still light, but I tricked him into some "trail work". Ha! We moved a few trees, splattered some cow shit on our selves and got out the hand saw for a quick cut. Then it turned DARK. How scary, but luckily we actually had light sets to find our way through the dust. It was really fun. We saw some big black cows and not much else, but we ripped it up for about 2 hours and headed back to the homestead for some tasty beers and Kbobs with Robin. The trails are riding great and I can't wait to get out there again. You have got to try night riding. - Dave S.

With such a great fall this year, a little additional technology can really extend our "short" season. We need a big push this year to bring the old guys into the 21st century with everyone acquiring the newest, high tech light sets. Prices have come down and lumens have gone up. Pry open those wallets guys!!

Old Guys get outta town!

Yeah I missed the Sun Valley trip but Verdone submitted the following:

Here is the one and only photo I have from the Sun Valley trip. We were either too busy riding or trash talking each other to stop and take photos. This was on Saturday when we drove north of Stanley because Maples wanted to drive some more. We rode a new trail called Potato Mountain - lunch in Stanley of burgers and nice views then Fisher trail on the way back. Other than the grumpy camp host in Murdock Creek it was a great trip.

August 25th ride report

I got very little to report as I didn't turn my first pedal rev until 6:30 pm. One lap on dead dog and one on poison and I met the group on their way back to the cars. I'm gonna need a little help with the quote of the day. But I did get a chuckle out of seeing Kohlhardt's driver's side door wide open when I pulled in the lot and everybody gone. I pushed it closed but not locked, afraid to lock the keys in. Nice to know Red Top is still not a high crime zone... I also missed the apres after getting stuck out at Sourdude's house hashing over the "good ole days". Feed me some stories if you got 'em!

Random mtn bike shot by my dear old friend John Laptad (of Hood River), see more here:

www.johnlaptad.com

Wed Sept 1st will be a TOWN ride, see ya there!

Ride Report 8-18-10

Verdone in street clothes met us in the parking lot to say we weren't fast enough for him so he was gonna skip the ride... Do I have that right Jim?

This was a town ride. The plan was up putt-putt to game divide with a few members expressing a desire to ride ALL the way down Game then backtrack up to the west fork and down Ferrins to the Brewpub. Well, the "back pedaling" begin shortly after gaining the high point and we went straight to west fork and then up. One of these years we will actually see and ride the terrain below the west fork (or not). Highlights include a big, unwitnessed but audibly detected crash by Dr Bob. Quote of the day goes to Dave Saurman. recounting his recent race victory in Butte: " It was a really boring ride: no mechanicals, I didn't bonk or crash and I wound up winning!" Aha! I think Dave's onto the secret of success!

Dr Bob headed home to tend to his wounds while Les, Maples, Sourdude, Pampe, Kohlhardt and yours truly retired to the pub. As it so happens, St Marty's Holy Water is currently on tap and a pitcher and toast to Silvadore was enjoyed by all.

8/11 Addendum

Additional report from Dave S. No doubt a shameless ploy for the free beer! He begins with a wildly delusional claim about his own status, see below:

Though I am not "old" yet it is nice to ride with you guys. It was my first Wed night ride with the crew this summer. Too much going on and intentions don't always materialize.
Anyway was good fun. We ripped the old pass road and the arrow trail. The ridge trail was a bit rough on all of us, but we ripped it too. I think the consensus may be to all have full suspension 29ers and plenty of travel - front and rear. The older you guys get, the more plush you will want it. Unfortunately you will still have to pedal unless you go totally to the other side and start the ride putting gasoline in the tank. Hopefully NOT. Some good boys-only jokes were heard, but we did decide to write 2 books....Jokes girls never hear and the opposite. We could make a million. If any of you are inspired let me know and I will provide you with some material.(for a cut). Other than that we ate a lot of "Moon Dust" but fun ride and nice to see all the new trail in Phillips.

Hope to join you guys again for some more fun and excitement. Cheers, DS

Ride Report 8-11-10

The first order of business was awarding Jeff G. his free beer cards for his written contributions(soon the word will be out and everyone will be writing stuff to collect their own free beers -watch out!)

Great turnout last Wed. Jeff, Jim V., Paul, Mike, Dave "Sourdude" and yours truly took a little 19.7 mile (that's twenty in my book!) cruise up the old pass (racers on the dirt, hangers on took the pavement!) out the Arrow, across the ridge and down to Phillips. We ran into local legend Dave Byers (you simply MUST check out Dave's Blog.) And later down the trail his better half Michelle.

There were lots of notable quotes, especially at the Calico afterwards! But I'll give it to Maples for his classic: "Let's RIDE, we can talk about this at the bar!"

We did NOT see a mtn lion with a fawn in its mouth being chased by a grizzly, oh well, maybe next time!

The road return saw a spirited peleton form which was subsequently blown to shreds by Verdone cranking out some impressive watts on the knobby rubber. Hmmm, it seems the LOTOJA-ers have made themselves known.

August 18 will be a TOWN ride, 5:15, snow king parking lot. That's a mere seven or so miles from downtown Wilson for you Westbankers still on the fence! See ya there, CE.

Ride Report Earthquake edition 8-4-10

From your faithful correspondent Dr. Jeff Greenbaum:

Ride report from last week:

I arrived at the King at 5:15 and waited for 30 minutes while a single dark cloud overhead moved thru. Oddly nobody else showed up. Then the sky cleared, the earth shook violently and I went riding solo.

We rode (err I rode) up Putt-Putt, down Hagen, Up Ferins, Down Ferins, down sink or swim and back to the car. The weather was clear and lovely. I saw no "old guys" on the trail but did see a few hot blondes. Clearly you guys are unreliable. I am thinking of organizing the hot blondes for a Wednesday ride.

Afterward we went (err I went) to Teton Thai for take out. Again no "old guys" but many hot blondes. I think I see a pattern forming.

This week I will be at Owen-Bircher park at 5:15 if any "old guys" or hot blondes care to join me. I will be riding up Teton Pass and then down Phillips Ridge. Afterward I will go to the Calico where at least one hot blonde (Betsy) will greet me with open arms (but not open legs).

JEFF

Once again, Jeff takes the free beers for his editorial efforts!!

Wed, July 28 Ride Report

Last week we rode Red Top (N. Fork/S.Fork). In attendance were Jeff Greenbaum, Bob Berlin, Les Gibson, Mike Maples, and Mitch Dann. We must have forgotten the helmet cam, and cell phones were strictly forbidden. We had no major mechanical or bodily injury issues to report. Maples brought Bud for the ride back to Wilson. Most of us then attended to pitchers at the Calico. Les and I managed to stay until past midnight (John Callahan was handing out free beers, and Brian Rutter wanted to talk Ski Pass pricing).

JEFF

PS: Chris I prefer pale ale.

(thanks to Jeff for the guest blogpost, he earns himself free beers!!!)

Attn: please answer the poll question to the right!

This could be a raging debate or not so much. Do we need to project our otherwise type A personalities onto the recreational highlight of the week?? Should the ride just kinda, sorta start when we all, like, get there, man, and things gel, man.... Or are we looking to maximize every second of daylight, cashing all our fun tickets in one go, sprinting for every hilltop until we're totally spent and that very first beer feels like a psychedelic experience you once had that you can now barely remember?

Answer the poll and we'll find out what the group thinks!!

Dem Old Guyz got 'em a Blog!

Welcome to the Old Guys Ride. This will be our clearinghouse for Wednesday night ride info. We can post pics, talk about where to ride and keep track of which week is which. (some of the retired persons have already lost track of the days...)

Some old guys you know riding C-ment Bridge to Ridge. 7-14-10. Photo by Rich P.

Regarding the unfinished sections, the Quote of the Ride goes to Greenwood: " The parts that aren't done haven't been completed yet."

Dinner followed at the Calico where Jeff was working the room...

We could take bets on who gets a helmet cam first for movie posts...?