Crested Butte

Elk Ave. in Crested Butte. This is where the show is, not a bad view either.

Craig and I are headed to Crested Butte this week for the Crested Butte Arts Festival, August 1st and 2nd, that I'll be participating in as well as some camping and riding. I love going to CB, we've been riding and camping in this area for a long time, just started doing the art show last year and it went very well for me so I'm fortunate to be going back. The town is very laid back and retains it's character and feel of a real Colorado mountain town even with the ski resort just north of town. Many Colorado ski towns have lost this realness that CB has, the people there are independent outdoor types and they have a lot of character themselves, it's not all about mcmansions and hollywierdness here. I'm looking forward to getting away, doing the show and of course riding some of the worlds best ST anywhere, it's tasty, tight and fast and you can get that remote feeling as well, usually because you're pretty out there on many of the rides. Oh yeah, I'm also really looking forward to getting me some STASH!!!

PINHEAD PESTO
Pesto sauce base, mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomato,
toasted pine nuts + roasted red peppers

Stoh Lat Mom!!

Today, July 27th, is my Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, I miss you terribly and love you to infinity!!! Sto Lat, Kocham Ciebie, Brakujemi Ciebie!!!

Rockin' It..

Jimijames rockin' it on the lower section of SSV.

I'm in a posting phase right now, I guess there's a lot going on between riding and art shows, it's summer too and that brings a lot of activity. Yesterday afternoon Jimijames and I rode some very technical trail, some of the most technical trail on the front range in my opinion and a portion of trail that I hadn't ridden before because it's partially in Wilderness Boundaries and off limits or so I thought. Apparently it's quietly open to MTB while a reroute is being built around it so bike riders can ride the length of the South St. Vrain trail, and it's mostly down in a very challenging way, as challenging as any technical rocky park riding, no lumber though. We headed up Left Hand Rez Rd onto Little Raven and then down the entirety of SSV, a ride I've done many times without the addition of the upper section of SSV, it was fun! I managed to clear almost everything, I crashed once coming down a chunky section, went over the bars, once again I felt like my 36 Talas wasn't complying with the terrain, it felt harsh and from my seat in the dirt looking up I can't see why I didn't just roll the damn rock, however I was happy to have my knee pads on as that was where the weight of the fall landed as well as my left palm which is now a pretty color of purple. So onward we rode to the middle section of SSV which is tight and technical, I cleared this whole section including this tight switch to the right. You had to ride up high over a rock and then turn down to the right, it required two stall/track standy type moves, then off the brakes and sail around the next corner, it was sweet and I was pretty stoked..the bottom section of SSV isn't as bad, of course there's a few gnarly sections but they're not as hard as I remember them being and they're wider and more washed out then previously. I would say that route was 90% DH, the upper and middle section of SSV are the toughest and most technical and therefore fun..Little Raven has some fun little skinnies on it and some tough rock garden sections but it's not DH, it's more of a traverse really. It does make any of the other riding along the front range seem mild in comparison..next time I want to add some more climbing and DH onto the route, it'll be longer and more exhausting but so much fun and the views up there are the best.

SQUAREPLAY ART OPENING

This is a group show that I'm participating in at the Canyon Gallery at the Boulder Public Library. Mostly metal artist working with a square theme. Check it out if you can!

El Corazon

El Corazon by Elsa Mora

I really like Elsa's papercuts, this one in particular is amazing, such detail to attention and it makes me wonder around in my mind a bit too. She's also an amazing and creative women, check out her different blogs if you're interested. All About Paper Cutting, Elsa Mora and The Hidden Seed.

Where's the Love??

One of my Sculptures.

Well I can safely say that I've had my 2nd worst show ever and it was in my own town of Boulder, Colorado, yea! I spent this past weekend on the Boulder Pearl Street Mall trying to sell my artwork at the annual Downtown Boulder Arts Fair and noone was buying art or at least not mine. Selling art and doing shows is always a gamble and it's hard to predict the outcome of any show, I was quite surprised even with our poor economy. Reality check I guess and Pearl Street is a tourist area, people on vacation come to Pearl St. to hang out and watch street performers, they're not typically down there to buy art (many of the galleries on Pearl have gone out of business in the last year) but they will throw dollars at men squeezing themselves into small boxes, 10 year old boys playing guitar and singing the same 4 songs off key for 2 hours or for a balloon hat for their kid. I literally had one women come into my booth, gush about how much she liked the work but couldn't afford it and then leave and drop a couple of bucks into a box of a street performer, agh!
I'm really feeling good about my work right now and the response I'm getting towards it so I don't feel like the work is the problem but the economy and quality of show I'm doing. My plan in the last few years has been to stay local, save expense, become a part of my local art community but Boulder may not allow me the type of client that my work draws, or at least not enough of those types of clients. Now if I had a few hummingbird prints I might be on to something..Okay, I'm done venting, it is what it is and I'm happy with my effort and my work, there's a time when I would have taken this more personally but not this time, moving on..
Monday rolled around, I was very tired from the weekend but I managed to haul myself out and meet Jen for a ride up in Ned on some sweet dirt with some fun techy sections that felt good to clear. Nothing like working out some frustration on the bike while carving out a line through some steep rocks, yahoo!

Riding the Dots!
Image by Jen

Next up, Crested Butte Art Festival in a couple of weeks, it has been a good show for me in the past and I love that town. We camp and bring the bikes, so it's so much more than a art show and of course we'll get some Stash while there too..

Downtown Boulder Arts Festival Thang

Sculpture by Carey Reynolds

From reading this blog you'd think all I do is ride my bike but I'm actually a working professional artist as well, go figure. I love making my art but it's a different relationship for me than riding my bike, it's more intimate so I don't find myself wanting to blog about it so much and who really cares about my process anyway, well my clients more than likely do. So with that in mind, I have an art show this weekend in Boulder, Downtown Boulder Arts Festival on the Pearl Street Mall. Time to set up the booth and drum up some support for us struggling artists. It's a good, little show for Boulder, I'll be on the bricks this year by the courthouse, booth number 1307. Hours are Saturday, July 18th, 10AM to 8PM and Sunday, July 19th, 10AM to 5PM. Come by and visit if you'd like.

Now that's a ride...

Craig and I have done shuttled rides back to our house before. You have someone drop you off or you leave a vehicle and you pedal all the way home on a combination of single track, dirt road and pavement and some more trail. However this time we wanted to do it with a group of friends and have a BBQ afterwards. With some thought and looking at our map we decided on a route and let everyone know we were on for a long, epic ride this past Saturday. We had 8 brave souls on this sunny and rather hot July morning. We would have plenty of technical ups and downs, log piles, skinny single track, a tiny bit of route finding and a creek crossing to keep it all interesting.

Our stoked crew ready to go.
Craig, where's your helmet?
Image taken by Kim.

I didn't take many pictures that day, just two and they were taken by Craig of myself and Glenn. But Kim took a few to document the day. We had a lot of fun, pedaling through the rocky goodness, stopping to cool down in a nice cold stream, we ate, laughed and made decisions on what we wanted to do. Everyone did great and was happily exhausted by the end of the day. The ride took 6 hours and was about 30 miles, it ended with dark and brooding skies, the few drops of rain felt good on my skin as I battled up the last half mile to the house. I was pretty much done at that point, I didn't want to sit on my bike anymore, I had nothing to give. That doesn't happen that often to me but I don't do that many 6 hour rides, 4 hours is about average in the summer. When I got home I was bonking, apparently needing more fuel than I had taken in. I proceeded to eat a block of goat cheese and drink root beer when I finally sat down at the house. Then the BBQ began, more friends arrived and we all roasted our own varieties of tasty beasts, hung out, stared into space a little bit (me), laughed some more, watched the 7 dogs run about, relaxed as darkness filled in and a cool breeze came up. It was all good in the end, fatigue and exhaustion from honest physical effort is divine in it's own way. Everything seems well earned and simple. We'll do it again, everyone suffered with smiles if they suffered at all. My only regret is that we were all too tired to play around in the Pleasure Park afterwards, we'll do a shorter ride with a BBQ and then some Pleasure Park later this summer. I didn't even look at my bike the next day, we needed a break from each other but we're fast friends again today.

Paige kickin' it!
Image by Kim.

Me getting that switchy good!

Glenn having at it, oh yeah!

Baird looking good.
Image by Kim.

Emma. Stepping up, gurl!
Image by Kim.

Dan rolling up the trail...agh summer time and the living is so good!
Image by Kim.

Safety First!

My new Fox Launch Flak Jacket.

Some girls like buying shoes, fancy lingerie, purses, but I like buying gear when I can afford it and thanks to huge sales on Pricepoint I was able to purchase a new Flak Jacket for park riding. It's there to keep me safe but I think the red and black look pretty rad too. This jacket kinda feels like a corset with the kidney belt but then again I've never worn a corset so how would I know. I hope to get out in it soon, park riding is full on now and I'm ready to go!

Bottle Rockets!

One view from atop Miller Rock
Picture by Kim

Great weekend spent out in the woods of the Frasier Valley with friends, dogs, and a nearly full moon. Craig had to work on Friday but I didn't, HAH, so in the morning Kim and I headed to Miller Rock for some fun trail riding. I've been riding Miller Rock for over 15 years and it never ceases to put a smile on my face. It's got such good flow, enough tech and exposure to keep it real and an awesome view from the top of said Miller Rock if you choose to climb up, 360 degrees of beauty.

Me and a nice little ramped huck.
Picture by Kim

Kim hanging by the creek, post ride cool down.
Picture by Kim

That evening Craig and I headed out to Frasier/WP, as we were heading out our friend Eddie called the cell and told us he was having dinner with our other friends Glenn and Paige in WP as they had run into each other. So we met up with them a little later and Glenn and Paige invited us to camp with them. Kim and Dan would join us in the morning. What a hoot it was too..Lots of laughing, riding, some rain, some tarp action, sun, mosquitoes, 5 silly, fun dogs, some singing, delisch s'mores thanks to Kim (very good idea), bottle rocket action, a little exploring, a little being turned around, but mostly smiles and good times. I love it when things fall into place without effort, you know when that happens that it's supposed to be that way, the universe is kinda working with ya. Happily tired and left wanting more, I really didn't want to come home. I could have kept going, driving, exploring, riding my bike, going to bed and waking up whenever, not having contact, being off the clock, off the network, unplugged yet connected to what feels real to me, not what someone else is telling me should feel real. It's so easy to get caught up, sometimes you just need to step back a bit so you can have a greater view of things.

View from Camp.

Paige zooming in.

Kim descending a really cool roller. It was way steeper than it appears.
Before you rolled up on this rock there was a skinny to a little jump then you rolled on to this giant boulder with a blind descent on the other side. Awesome!

Craig hucking off a 3 footer, amazing how the images don't do justice.

My turn, love it!
This was a cool free ride trail we rode somewhere outside of WP. It had all kinds of cool natural features to roll or huck. There were a few wooden features around but some had been destroyed by the logging going on there to remove diseased beetle trees.

Glenn doing that hucking thang!