Rubber Side Down

Meet Clint Talbott, our editorial page editor.

Ever since he was hired in 1998, I’ve watched him clickety-clack out of the office in his cleats, heading out on lunch rides. And when he returns, I sometimes spot him checking email before he’s even had a chance to get out of his lycra.

He denies it, but you can tell by looking at him that he’s a climbing machine. He hammered a bunch of carbon-bike riding roadies up Flagstaff yesterday on his ancient mtb. “When the legs are strong, I attack!” (Quote stolen, and put to good use, from German racer Andreas Kloden.)

But even though I’m not the world’s greatest climber (sprinting seems to be my thing), that’s not what I’m jealous of.

I’ve never, in my life, gone on a lunch ride.

I’ve turned down endless invitations, watched nearly every cyclist in town enjoying the noonday sun, and wished I were one of them. But when you take on a job as a photojournalist, your life is only partially your own. You become a slave to that fickle master known as “the news.” So I’ve never gone on a lunch ride because at any time, the courthouse could catch fire, a school could get shot up, or a prairie dog could be poisoned. You can’t be out pedaling along 36 when JonBenet Ramsey’s killer comes to light (stop that hysterical laughing — I’m serious, dangit!). For the same reason, I can’t commute to work by bike, either.

So anyway. It’s part of the life I’ve chosen, even though most of those things (except the prairie dogs) are probably never going to happen.

Incidentally, this is Clint’s last week with us, since he’s moving on to take a job with CU. I wonder if he’ll still get to blow off steam by heading up Flagstaff.

So I just wanted to encourage you all — if you’re lucky enough to have the option of lunch rides, take one today. I bet it will really make your day.

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Austin Powers accent aside, I am grovelingly grateful that a bit of warm weather has come our way. But if you really want to enjoy some sun, it’s the perfect time to take trip to Fruita. Nearly every single one of my friends went there last weekend, and reported great trail conditions as well as temps in the upper 60s to low 70s.

(Photos by Matt Walp.)

Pretty sweet, eh? Get your booty out there and start rockin’.

And here’s another traveling suggestion, courtesy of my snail mail box. Amazingly, some event organizers are still sending out physical postcards to promote their events. It warmed my heart to get a card suggesting I attend the Black Hills Fat Tire Festival, and I promptly went to their website to see what’s up. It takes place May 23-26, in Rapid City, S.D., with a collection of events ranging from racing to beer drinking, with a mountain-bike video competition thrown in. It looks like a great opportunity to learn the trails in the area — if you go, give me a report and I’ll publish it here! I might have to put this event on the calendar next year; I really like festivals when they’re young like this one (only in its second year).

And finally, I am happy to report that I did my first real ride outside this morning. I’m riding a five-inch travel mountain bike on the road, but hey, any ride outside gives me a big happy grin at this point. You gotta take what you can get in life sometimes.

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And quickly, too, sometimes: Some friends of mine are building a pump track! Sick! Although my injury prevented me from helping to sculpt these sweet berms and rollers, I tried not to be totally useless by shooting some photos of the progress.

Okay, I know I’m falling into total dude-speak here, but….DUDE! Is that the coolest thing you’ve ever seen in a backyard, or what?? Totally rockin’.

While this is obviously in a nice person’s backyard and not open to the public, I wanted to offer it up as some inspiration for what you can do in your own yard. You don’t need that lawn sucking up gallons of water and requiring you to mow it in 100-degree weather. Dig that grass up and build one of these. Then you can say, in the spirit of Lee McCormack, “I would be honored to braaaap this track.”

And on a side note: You can rent a Bobcat for a month while you build it and make your friends even more jealous.

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I was trying to find an old photo for a Daily Camera customer, and was searching through a pile of ancient CDs full of horrible scans from negatives. (Film? What’s that?) And lo and behold, I found this:

CU cyclocross

The rest of the photos on that CD were from winter 1997. Does anyone know gear and clothing trends from that time to date this image? And who is that mountain biker on the left?

Dang, that looks like fun. I wish the CU race would make a comeback.

(photo courtesy Daily Camera staff photographer Cliff Grassmick)

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I’m not much of a gearhead, in the grand scheme of things. Once I get my bike set up the way I like it, I’m pretty satisfied. I don’t usually cheat on it by looking around at the other fish in the sea. But this thing turned my head so fast I pulled a muscle in my neck.

Cannondale Rize

It’s also funny that I’ve never been a Cannondale fan. They always struck me as trying too hard. I picture the employees in development meetings, sitting on Swiss balls and bean bag chairs, saying, “Let’s make weird stuff for the sake of being weird!”

But this bike is HOT. And if it’s really only 24 pounds with 5.5 inches of travel, other bike companies are going to have to sit up and take note. I really like where this trend is headed. (Naturally, with that setup, the Rize costs over $5,000, but hey, we’ve got cash to spare, right?)

There’s more info here. Try not to drool on your keyboard.

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