Palmer Park Cravings

Palmer Park is not Moab, or Whistler and unless you have lived in Colorado Springs, you have probably never heard of it.  Now that I no longer have it at my finger tips, I miss and crave it.

Palmer Park is best described as being like a sampler at your favorite brewery or restaurant.  It has a little bit of the best of everything.  Want a taste of tech? Ride Templeton.  Feeling like finding a little flow? Ride the Palmer Trail and Yucca with some locals who know.  Like to climb? You can nickel and dime enough hills there to bury your legs and ease your mind. Want to get creative? Link "Panty Drop" to "Dead Coon", hit 'Trigonometry" and finish off with a little "When Pigs Fly".

Now that I have moved on, the "Sampler Platter" analogy has taken on new meaning.  Nobody every orders the sampler at their favorite restaurant unless they are introducing someone new to the place, or they have moved away and come back to visit.  This is because locals can have one favorite today and another tomorrow.  They have time to work their way through the menu.  I used to be a local, working my way through Palmer's tasty offerings.  Now, I am dying to order the sampler.  Mmmm...Palmer Park Sampler Platter.

There's a War Going On

This one is for my Colorado Springs riding buddies.

I recently realized that I am in the midst of a calculated chess match between the "Tribal Council of Tech" and the "Trail Means Path Association".  It wasn't an immediate realization, but I had noticed some strange changes here and there.  When it finally hit me was when the trail nearly hit me.  I took the tech option on a section.  There is about a 3 foot drop on this line with a little helper rock about a foot away for a smooth roll off.  The proper way to ride this lip would be to wheelie drop it, but the helper rock meant if you wheelie dropped the exit, it was likely you would nail the back wheel on that helper rock (which I did once, Stan's rims are freaking awesome!).  On this day as I exited, the helper rock was gone.  It was sudden and I was caught off guard. I survived the nose wheelie and said out loud, "That's not cool man!"  and for that moment, I was on the wrong side of the battle.  That helper rock didn't belong in the tech line, but I needed it.

I spent the rest of the ride thinking about my alignment with the Tribal Council of Tech.  Sure, I'm getting soft, but I stand by my allegiance to the tech.  I was used to this at Palmer Park and, because I expected it. It  made things interesting.  Feature was changed, Council didn't like it, put it back. Cat and mouse.  Here it was different.  I didn't know I was playing Russian Roulette on trail.

Whatever the case, now I know and I am looking forward, literally, to seeing how the war plays out here.  As always, I stand by the Tech.

By the way, on my next ride, the helper rock was back. Boooo, take the easy line if you don't like it.

Just some old pic's of things funny and sick.

What does this picture say to you?

Kids and adults pushing pedals at a local jump park in ABQ.

Thanksgiving

I give thanks for:
1) cranks
2) singletrack
3) rocks & berms

Define Mountain Biking

If I ride my mountain bike up a mountain with no trail, only road, is it still mountain biking?

If so, that means if I ride my road bike on the same ride, that's mountain biking too, right?

Hmmm...

uh-oh