Pain

Maybe being a pro wouldn't be so cool after all.

King of Mountains

The Black Hills Fat Tire Festival is this weekend. I'm looking forward to the KOM competition.

Friday- 500 vertical feet of elevation gain uphill time trial. Course record is ~8 mins.
Sat- XC race
Sun- Super D

Can't wait.

Whoever wins the most points wins the cash and the bragging rights. I'm just hoping not to break any bones in the Stuper D. I rode the course today and it's hairball if your going fast.

Dirt Jump Park/Pump Track

A nice new addition to Rapid City is this dirt jump park. On the top you can see the roller line (right of the tree), the beginner line (middle) and intermediate line (next to water). Out of view is the expert line with huge gaps. We began construction 2 weeks ago and its about done. The mountain bike association has tons of money from grants and we hired a pro trail builder to come and tell us what to do. Also a Giant pro is here helping and demoing as well just in time for the Black Hills Fat Tire Festival and the unveiling of the park.

In the lower photo is one of the two pump tracks. Its sweet and very exhausting to ride. Using your body vs your legs to make your bike go is pretty cool. I helped build for a few hours on Monday but some people have helped like every day, must be nice to not have a job. Kudos to them for volunteering. The general level of bike handling skills in this area is sure to increase! Time for me to get a 24" bike now! The 29er wheels are the anti-flow on the pump track.

Big Horn Sheep

Violet and I were riding Storm Mountain last night about 5:00. We came over a ridge and ran almost smack into a Big Horn sheep. There were 11 of them and they ran across a little valley and then just stopped and stared at us. They all had the massive curved horns, quite impressive. They are as tall as a mule deer and much thicker. Violet didn't even chase them, I was proud of her. Of course she'd already gone 13 miles so she was pretty tired. I got a pic on the phone but it is poor quality. I don't get too excited about wildlife usually, but this was kind of neat.