Wasatch Dirt Thread

[muted reborn]

Payroll is not for beginners IMO. And Spin Cycle should be pretty overgrown and whippy the whole way down this time of year.

Maybe Empire bus to MM to CMG down (if not a true beginner or a somewhat coordinated bro), or Armstrong to MM to Richocet/Hollys and bus back to PC.

[Phall]

Payroll is not for beginners IMO. And Spin Cycle should be pretty overgrown and whippy the whole way down this time of year.

Maybe Empire bus to MM to CMG down (if not a true beginner or a somewhat coordinated bro), or Armstrong to MM to Richocet/Hollys and bus back to PC.

True, I may have sandbagged that a bit knowing how Dfinn and his friends ride, some of those may be a bit stout. jennis down is a great beginner option.

[jtran10]

jennis down is super fun if you aren't good at bikes (and aren't riding down at a high traffic time)

[dfinn]

I've never ridden with him so it's hard to say yet but he's not a complete newbie, this is his first year biking and has been riding trails up around Missoula, some of which sound on the rougher side and he's into that. I guess we will see.

[Touring_Sedan]

Any suggestions on a somewhat mellow PCMR loop? I've got a friend in town who's kind of new to biking but interested in getting out, gonna let him borrow my spare bike and drag him around for a bit. I was thinking WOS but something a little longer but similar might be good. Over 10 years of riding at PCMR and I still don't know the best ways to navigate the rats nest of blue trails there, I always ride the same stuff more or less and I'm not sure he'd be into what I normally ride.

Armstrong, MMT, CMG, Apex, Keystone, Shadow Lake Loop, Keystone, 3 Candles, Mojave, CMG

[Boissal]

on the rougher side and he's into that

This calls for a sandbag!!

Sunday's ride started with a bunch of miles of this:



Followed by a couple miles of "riding" through this carnage:





To get to this mosquito-infested lake where I failed to locate the wooden raft that can be used to go ride around the micro island:



After reversing the deadfall zone (and teaching the local wildlife some choice new language) I rode by another pleasant lake:



Then tackled the longest section of jank I've ridden to date. No pics as I was too busy holding on for dear life but the first 3.5 miles took me about 40 minutes and I was trying pretty fucking hard. Three mega rock gardens, each about a mile-long with some pedaling in between, capped by a steep and ridiculously loose plunge down a gravely chute. The whole thing (6 miles) goes in about an hour, longer if you snap a couple spokes, puncture your rim tape, rip the valve core trying to pump the tire back up, and walk the last 1.5 miles...

I highly recommend Shingle Creek in the Uintas for those interested in a solid fight. 99% rideable, just make sure you don't have any loose teeth before dropping in or you'll come out of there needing dentures.

[Dantheman]

Today on the "Boissal Breaks Shit" show!

[muted reborn]

Boissal needs a YT channel and to post a vid for every ride, with commentary in-the-moment.

Did the wildlife learn French or English swear words?

[Marshal Olson]

Shingle Creek, haha. Have you tried Yellow Fork? Little South Fork also super rad over there.

[Boissal]

Today on the "Boissal Breaks Shit" show!

Shit's getting old for sure but fortunately mechanicals (along with all the bad shit in life) come in series of 3 so that's was the last one. Yes, I already said that when I snapped my brake lever cause I had done derailleur hanger + bashguard the day before but I'm now counting these 2 as the same incident since they happened on the same ride

Did the wildlife learn French or English swear words?

Both! I switch to French when I'm so mad my brain can't even process languages and defaults to basic functions. It allows me to reach higher levels of rage. Also happens when I get ultra scared, my climbing partners knew that all bitching in English was just standard but if I went to French they had to start paying attention cause I was about to catch some serious airtime.

Shingle Creek, haha. Have you tried Yellow Fork? Little South Fork also super rad over there.

Both are on the list! I was bugging dfinn about the Little S Frk stuff and it sounds worthy of a visit.

[Marshal Olson]

Little South Fork in particular is super good. Different kind of tech. More Moto use, but more clear than the others.

Physical riding and Super fun. Feel free to DM me too, if you have questions on it! It was about 15mi and 3k to the upper saddle. The cattle-hearding dogs at the bottom are the most sketchy piece.

[criscam]

Spotted the rare sctallboy trying to blend into its natural surroundings this afternoon up in the cirque…



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Boissal]

Nice!!! Flowers are bursting up there right now.

Post-work lap up Soli and down Days was very pleasant, barely sweaty with great views. Easier than the Uintas for sure.
The Soli trails have gone beyond dusty, there's now a couple inches of powder with stray rocks here and there. Grip isn't going to be a thing til October.

[TheK12]

empire parking lot, MM>Tour de suds>flagstaff loop, bowhunter CCW>flagstaff, left after steep rocky up, up to empire pass, corvair to payroll to MM to car.
Empire bus up, same thing but TDS>boulder>moosebones>road>corvair>payroll>mm>jen nis to loose moose to lower cmg
Silver lake>finns>gap bypass>st regis>pipeline>outlook>spin cycle (bit of a grind of a climb out, but great) may be overgrown a bit.

Late to the party but thought I'd offer up a different variation of the above ride^^^^

Park at Ontario Mine Trailhead. Up to TDS to MMT to Boulder to to Trump FR to Flagstaff Loop (counter clockwise) to Ontario Loop back to Flagstaff Loop and up to Empire pass and do Upper Corvair to Lower Corvair to MMT to Empire Link to TDS Ontario Bypass back to Ontario Mine Trail. Probably about 12-15 miles with about 2kft of climbing overall with nothing too steep so easy climbing and super fun descending.

[TheK12]

By the way... noticing the hipster mtb uniform is jorts and Hawaiian shirts while riding. Just thinking about this combo makes me start chaffing.... Ouch.

[Boissal]

By the way... noticing the hipster mtb uniform is jorts and Hawaiian shirts while riding. Just thinking about this combo makes me start chaffing.... Ouch.

Right?
I have buddies who live in Squamish and they can predict the newest trends in MTB fashion in UT with alarming accuracy. They were here this spring and told me of this monstrosity which was apparently all the rage last season in Canadia and was going to take over UT this year. I thought they were fucking with me, who'd want to wear that shit while riding? Well, plenty of people apparently. Makes the flannel craze seem completely reasonable.

[mar123]

Right?
I have buddies who live in Squamish and they can predict the newest trends in MTB fashion in UT with alarming accuracy. They were here this spring and told me of this monstrosity which was apparently all the rage last season in Canadia and was going to take over UT this year. I thought they were fucking with me, who'd want to wear that shit while riding? Well, plenty of people apparently. Makes the flannel craze seem completely reasonable.

Whatever floats the party barge. I love riding in jeans and a hoodie or flannel in the fall/winter months.

Shuttling or lift served depending how hot it is will ride whatever is most comfortable ...standard bike gear, jean shorts, tees, jeans, flannels, hoodies. If doing a big pedal standard bike shorts and jersey...anything is better then a dirt roadie lycra kit IMO

[Touring_Sedan]

Whatever floats the party barge. ...anything is better then a dirt roadie lycra kit IMO

This. Don't knock the Hawaiian till you try it. They breathe quite well especially with the surface of the sun temperatures we've been having... but if looking like a power ranger and renting out advertising space on your ass is your thing, then have at it with the ballhuggers.

[mall walker]

fwiw Boissal is not the lycra type.

but biking or not, jorts? lol

[Dantheman]

I have a friend who has been rocking jorts and rayon shirts from the DI for over a decade. It's pretty debatable whether looking like a power ranger is worse than what he usually looks like. But, I'm pretty sure he still holds the solo singlespeed course record for 25 Hours of Frog Hollow (200+ miles) so I ain't saying shit.

[criscam]

prob discussed here at some point but what's a favorite AF loop w 15-25 miles and 3-4k? haven't been down that way in awhile.

[Boissal]

This. Don't knock the Hawaiian till you try it. They breathe quite well especially with the surface of the sun temperatures we've been having... but if looking like a power ranger and renting out advertising space on your ass is your thing, then have at it with the ballhuggers.

Bwah!!!
I don't look like much when I'm riding. I wear sun shirts cause I don't like sweating sunscreen everywhere, whatever shorts were on clearance, and el-cheapo chinese glasses. My only fashion statement would be violently pink socks cause they were on extreme sale and I like me some bright colors. I could see wearing a collared shirt to shade the neck but that's about it. I only care about not burning and evaporating sweat at a reasonable rate.

Hawaiian and jorts though? There are plenty of materials that breathe well without flower prints on them, that outfit is a statement along of the lines of "I care about MTB fashion and want to look like a cool kid". Nothing wrong with that as long as it works for you. But it's not about practicality, let's not kid ourselves here.

[Touring_Sedan]

Bwah!!!
I don't look like much when I'm riding. I wear sun shirts cause I don't like sweating sunscreen everywhere, whatever shorts were on clearance, and el-cheapo chinese glasses. My only fashion statement would be violently pink socks cause they were on extreme sale and I like me some bright colors. I could see wearing a collared shirt to shade the neck but that's about it. I only care about not burning and evaporating sweat at a reasonable rate.

Hawaiian and jorts though? There are plenty of materials that breathe well without flower prints on them, that outfit is a statement along of the lines of "I care about MTB fashion and want to look like a cool kid". Nothing wrong with that as long as it works for you. But it's not about practicality, let's not kid ourselves here.

I guess I misspoke a bit. I only have one Hawaiian, I usually wear that one on Easter, but I am a fan of the 3 for $5 button ups that I snag from DI and slice the sleeves off. It's nice to be able to just unbutton a few from the top to turn up the AC. That, and for the life of me, I can't imagine handing $60 to Troy Lee for a plastic shirt.

[Dantheman]

My only fashion statement would be violently pink socks cause they were on extreme sale

I'm also a victim of the clearance rack. Most of my current riding wardrobe is pretty obnoxious. That'll happen when you also hate overpaying for plastic shirts so you buy everything from the 50+% off section at Chainreaction. Whatever, the function is solid and there are good reasons to be anti-camouflaged in the Wasatch.

[Boissal]

Delightful evening up high yesterday with a solid 15 minutes of sprinkling and a quick downpour. Enough to make the granite slick and the flowers pop. There was a dfinn sighting too.



New pad cooling method: