Specialized : Riders Club

Ricardo Motta's Journal

Fruita Trip

posted by at 04:42 PM on May 21, 2007

This trip was priceless. It was the most fun I had on top of a bike for a long time. Great trails, great people, great food, great weather and great bikes. It had all the elements of an epic adventure, ranging from humiliation to elation, going thru fear and exhaustion. It was lung busting, bone crushing, flesh tearing, ear cutting, gnarly, scary, technical, fun, fast, and I carried my bike uphill a lot. The territory we traveled was beautiful and remote, and doing it as a point to point expedition made it even more spectacular. The group came together fast, and I really enjoyed everybody's company.

The group included a good diversity of skills, and everybody got challenged at one point or another - I think even Ned. I learned lots of new things, like fast dismount skills, the meaning of "ledgy", that sandstone decomposes into sand and stones, and I got new respect for my Stumpy and for super-glue. Just hanging around and riding with Ned was a big part of the learning experience. He knows so much, but is very easy-going. When someone asked him to comment on his namesake tire his summary was (something like) "the knobs are black, and please don't fall using it." But you could see his "Captain" side when he was focusing and preparing for the ride, and during the rides he would be running circles around most of us, back and forth in the peloton. A great guy to meet and ride with.

Western Spirit really knows how to organize a trip, with a great route, format, food, support and people. Our guides, Simon and Sue, were the nicest people, incredibly good at what they do, and they did do a lot of stuff. Having Mark Sevenoff on this trip was also a great bonus. The format, three days of a punishing journey followed by a couple of days of fun was perfect. It was too bad for me that I was not acclimatized from the start, but they really supported me all along. I am ready to go back next year.

Thanks to Chris and Specialized for bring it all together. It was a pretty unique opportunity. Among many things, I had the chance to do the same trail, the Kessel Run at the Bookcliffs, on three different bikes - my FSR Stumpy Expert, an S-Works FSR Stumpy, and a new 29" hardtail prototype. I got a new appreciation for the stiffness of carbon bikes, thought the "Brain" was a genius, and was very impressed by the smoothness and handling of the 29". By the end of the week, that red club shirt did not look so geeky anymore.