Pump Fever

I have got the bike bug so bad, it is ridiculous! I really do wish that the riding was as good up here in Alaska as it is down in Utah. In Cache Valley there is so many good single track rides and with a little travel there is some of the most incredible mountain biking in the world around Moab and Southern Utah. There is a lot of potential here in the Mat-Su Valley though, and I will just have to get out and find more trails to ride even if that includes building some of my own, which I have partially begun already.

I posted earlier about the Giant STP 1 Dirt Jumper that I have been planning on purchasing, and I am pleased to say that I now have that bike in my possession. It is a dream come true! I have been eyeing that bike for a year now and with a little coaxing, my wife came around to the idea that I needed such a bike.

Aside from a little single track through the woods I have also started construction on my pump track. I plan on working on it as often as I can, but it looks like it is going to be quite an undertaking, especially with the area that I have to work with. It is located near the creek and is still too wet to do much with. I had the skidder out on it yesterday and we found that the ground is still frozen solid about a foot or less under the surface. Thus far I have cleared the land of the grasses and small trees and now will just have to see how fast that can help the whole thing thaw. The trail through the woods that I have been working on is built in a location to give me a little excitement anyway. I have started clearing the path for an area that starts near the house and winds down through the trees and off of a little hill that has a pretty good drop off the top. The photos that Amy took of this section do not look very impressive, but the drop and pitch of the hill is such that I cannot just ride straight down it or my front tire would drop and I would endo over the handle bars, so it does make it interesting. I have to hit it with enough speed to actually jump off the edge and land on the slope. No one else around here wants to try it. Lastly I wanted to post a sweet video that Kirk sent to me from down in Utah. There is a trail that we used to ride a lot, and they have made some very good additions to it over the years. This year Kirk tells me that there are a couple jumps that someone has built and so he took some video of one of these monstrous jumps. Not only did he get some video of this gnarly kicker but added some radical affects to the video as well. It is probably the coolest jump that I have ever seen.

YESSSSSSS!!! Nice one Kip!





I was working on my manuals with the new bike.