PERFECTION HAS RETURNED TO THE HIGH COUNTRY

"The Spring" flowing strong yesterday
It's like being a kid in a damn candy store around here again, every choice is perfection, even Pipeline which everyone one said was dead in the water after "the cows" hammered it after the big rain a couple of weeks ago, Guess what folks, it's coming back to life, and I'd guess that in 2-3 weeks it will be stellar once again, just keep riding it...Any trail choice in the hood right now is a winner, however, we all know that shall change with any stretch of dry weather. The new WTB Wolverine 2.2's are just plain rippers. I'd say they handle more like a Lincoln Town Car in a high speed chase than what I had on the Felt previously, which was more like a "75" Pinto running from the police on a back country road. Whatever your fav's for hard pack, get em on and RIP IT. And today, here is to all the vets and warriors who make it possible for us all to live in this great country, full of great singletrack, and especially to my dad who was an airplane mechanic in the

Royal Canadian Airforce when the shit hit the fan in WWII. Thanks to you all for your hard work and conviction.

Charlie Brown and Ted Gould trying to keep their footsies dry

Checkin out New York, in Colorado

Pardon me for the time being, I've got a big ride to do today...

BLOODY PRICKS...

Well, it's only been a matter of time before BP Oil was nominated for Douche Bag of not only the year, but possibly the century. I've tried to give these bloody pricks the benefit of the doubt for a month and a half now, but since they have fucked ALL of us it's time to put out the bounty. I would like someone to explain to me, how oil prices seem to be suddenly going down amidst the endless pouring of petro into OUR ocean, when every time there is some other type of disruption or waste of petro prices seem to always go UP, especially at the beginning of the DRIVING season. My initial response is FUCK YOU BP and the rest of you oil hungry, greedy bastards. The only reason prices are coming down right now are to calm the natives, and trust me, the natives down in Louisiana are ready to take some heads TODAY. EVERYONE buy a bike and go ride it. I have friends who live on coastal Alabama, the folks who live here in Colorado have NO idea what is going on down on the coast of OUR country right now. This would be similar to a giant earthquake (man made of course) hitting every mountain town in Colorado and leveling our ski hills, then what the hell would we all do here? Open POT dispensaries so we could just smoke and be too stoned to worry about it, seems like a pretty good choice to me. I'd be willing to bet there are not many BP execs walking the beaches of the gulf coast right now with BP Logos on their shirts, as I'm sure some of dem good ol swamp boyz are waiting for em when the arrive.

The bottom line is this, there are thousands upon thousands of more oil rigs in our oceans all over the world, this is the first fuck up of many to come, BUY MORE BIKES AND RIDE THEM PEOPLE and screw the "drill baby drill" mentality.

BUY MORE BIKES, FUCK OIL. USE SQUIRT LUBE.

You suck BP

BASSO IS BACK...

Liquigas rider Ivan Basso has outclassed the competition at the Giro this year. As usual, the much anticipated battle from Cadel Evans faded days ago and Basso has got a wrap on this one with just today's TT left and a comanding lead of 1:15 over David Arroyo Duran

Stage 20 took riders high over Gavia Pass, the stage was won by Swiss rider Johann Tschopp

SHORT TRACK RACE #3 TONIGHT!

Last week's turnout was big, near 100 racers (35 kids!) total showed and throwed at the Eagle Fairgrounds. Tonight's third intallment of the Dusty Boot Short Track series is gonna be a barn burner. The course will be taped by mid day today and if we have another crowd like this one above from last week in the kids race, watch out! I could use a couple of volunteer to help with race reg is anyone is interested. See you at 5pm!

WANNA BUY A WINNEBAGO?

This is your guy....

IT'S LEN ZANNI'S NIGHT AT THE FIRST VAIL TOWN SERIES RACE.

Zanni took control mid way through Wednesday night's race

Honey Stinger's Len Zanni made the trip over from Carbondale tonight and provided a very large crowd with some exciting racing action as he beat locals Jay Henry and Jake Wells convincingly. Once we knew Zanni was in the house I knew we were in for a treat and Zanni did n0t disappoint as he and Henry gapped the field on the second lap. Zanni then was able to ride away from Jay Henry on the third lap and take the well earned victory by holding a 30-60 second gap to the finish. Jake Wells rounded out the podium with Josiah Middaugh taking fourth. In the women's open race, Gretchen Reeves throttled the women's field early and never looked back.

The pro pace was smokin fast

And the moon rise over 4 Eagle Ranch was amazing and a perfect way to take out the night after VRD Race #1

VAIL TOWN SERIES KICKS OFF TONIGHT

Yes, it's time to get all those sweetaliscious new kits out tonight and go beat yourself up in the local MTB race series. The first race is always really cool, you're gonna be really fast because you have the new kit on, and it's clean and only people on your team have got em and you get to walk around like you invented the mountain bike. I know, I've been there. There's Red coats, Blue coats, New coats, coats who think they will win because they push the Watt meter higher than anyone else on a flat stationary bike, cmon. Then the gun goes off and you realize 30 seconds into the first race of the season that Jay Henry is still going to kick your arse substantially, and now you have a professional heckler to remind you of that during the race. The Vail Rec District town MTB series kicks off tonight at the Hammer in the Hay at 4 Eagle Ranch in Wolcott. Most of you know I've "retired" from this series for the 12th time, however, I am now announcing all of these throwdowns, hence, there is a pretty good chance you will be publicly called out if you are participating, time to bring your "A" game, I'm leaving mine in the storage shed.

GOD DAMN DOPERS...

This should have gone away already, but it has'nt. After I got off work today (from one of my five jobs which include, the Beaver Creek Lodge, Realtor, Squirt Luber, Race announcing and promoting) I had to go pick up my Subie which finally got it's front left wheel bearing replaced after jacking it up in Vail on the monster powder day back in March. Bagger hooked me up on the car fix and I jumped on the road bike in the butt ass cold sub-40 degree morning to ride up to Beaver Creek and work. After riding back to the shop to pick up the car I decided to ride Battle Mountain. It was a great day to ride up there, and along the way I could envision the supposed big road stage race that may come to Colorado soon, and what an epic stage could be thrown in with this climb included. Say perhaps a "Copper Triangle" stage, or ride up Battle Mountain to Leadville, then over Independence Pass, down the Roaring Fork Valley, with a mountain top finish in Snowmass village. And then I thought how sweet it would be to be able to contend for a win in a stage like that. And then I thought what a bunch of assholes with zero integrity have ruined road cycling, and how the dopers really feel about their victories when they stand on the podium waving their flowers around and living the lie, fuckers. Ride your god damn bikes clean and let the best man win, then sleep well at night knowing you gave it all you had and did what your body allowed it to do. These were the thoughts I had when I reached the top of Battle Mountain pass before plummeting back into Eagle/Vail. And I was glad it was hard, and I was glad I'm not the fastest guy out there, and I was glad it was a great night to ride, and I was glad I earned the reward of reaching the summit, and I was pissed off at all the douche bags who can't get through it without systematically cheating, and I wondered how much of this crap goes on in the amateur ranks all because people think someone besides themself give a rats ass about where they finish in a race, yeah, the ones who think it is some type of social status symbol if you finish at the front of a race, and I thought about how cool the beginner C race was last week at the Short Track race in Eagle and how psyched those guys were to have participated and how much fun they had and that this is what it is supposed to be like, if you dope at any level, you suck.

WHO'D A THUNK IT, A2B APPROACHES 100,000 HITS

Incredibly enough, A2B will surpass 100,000 hits sometime this week it appears. I'm not sure how this happened, but I want to thank all of you who tune in to read this rambling pile of crap on a daily basis, it continues to be alot of fun for me as the world provides us all with endless outlets for meaningless ramblings that make us hopefully laugh alot. I'm not sure how it got here, but people read this, and they find some kind of worth to the words and thousands of typos typed here. Manufacturers send me stuff to test and review, I get to call out douche bags as I see fit, I get to post pics of my great friends, tell some of their stories and make an ass of myself regularly with my own personal opinions. Some people agree, some people get their hackle feathers up in such a tizzy they will never come back, it's all good. So with that milestone approaching I say, let's roll to a million hits, there is still a mountain of crap out there to keep you laughing and entertained, especially with guys like Ken Chlouber and Floyd Landis around...

And....

I had a nightmare last night that I came back to earth in my second life as a Hipster...on a green bike, with pants that had half my arse hanging out and Chuck Taylor sneakers on. Fark.

DUSTY BOOT SHORT TRACK SERIES GOES OFF AT RACE #2!

Incredible race photos from Dan Davis

HERE

all photos Avery Cunliffe

For now, some photos, full race report to come later today...what a night in Eagle!

I HAVE TO CONFESS...

My ties to Floyd Landis go way back, and I have to finally come clean and let everyone know that what was actually happening in this picture is not what you think. Floyd was actually writing down directions to Lance's house so I could go pick up my goods, which then enabled me to win a six pack of Dale's Pale Ale at a Mountain States Cup race for coming in third in the 50+ Sport category. I am going to give it all back. I'm sorry for what I have done to the people I love, who trusted me, and the kids who have idolized me as a world class sport level racer. See you in Haities.

BIG RIDE TUESDAY...

Big John's Tombien show made the double, double Eagle showing yesterday. We battled rain, sleet, flushed grouse, slid around in mud, then hit perf conditions on Easy Rider, Star Wars and the Plunge.
Nate droppin Mind Eraser, fast, trust me, the vij does not do it justice...

And just in case you missed the end of Stage 3 in the Tour of California yesterday...

And then it was Farrar in the Giro at stage ten, an improbable double for Garmin on Tuesday. Jake Wells is probably have a pretty good time I'd say today...

ZAAAAAAABRISKIE TAKES COMMAND OF THE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA

The person who won today's stage at the Tour of California

Casey Gibson Photo

Is the same person who posted this on Youtube three days ago in response to the placement fiasco at the end of the Tour of the Gila, and I thought I had some issues...ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you David Zabriskie rapping, or something. By the way, Z is also leading the race.

FARRAR,FARRAR....

PHOTO CYCLINGNEWS.COM

Garmin's Tyler Farrar captured ANOTHER stage win at the Giro today for Garmin. Sounds as if Julian Dean gave hime the perfect lead out to the finish and helped Farrar keep the Sprinter's jersey in tact after stage ten. Very impressive indeed and very serious confidence points for the Garmin boyz...good to see some fresh home blood killin it in Italia. Meanwhile, the big snore Cavensquish, wins at the T of C. Get me a hammock please.

BMX, SHORT TRACK, RAIN, AND THE 10X10 DREAM....

Rain and sleet an hour prior to the first Shirt Track race may have shut some of the crowd down, we still had 25 kids show and near 30 big people,next week will be the true test whether short track makes it or not in Eagle...

This weekend saw the rough completion of the EAGLE BMX track and next Saturday at 9am is a volunteer "track finishing" day, bring a rake or a shovel to help get the course cherry.....

SHORT TRACK RACING IS HERE

Today is the day....be there or be square. Exit I-70 in Eagle, left on Eby Creek road, right at the light, half a mile to the Fairgrounds parking lot, race, drink beer.

EAGLE, COLORADO BMX IS GETTIN ER DONE

One thing all this moisture we've been getting is good for is keeping the dust down for the ABA BMX course shaper dude.....it's actually pretty much perfect, as detailed by these pictures. This course apparently will be classified as an "intermediate" course once it is done. What ever it's freekin classified I'm gonna classify it as "fun as hell" when its done.

BMX Sickness will be rockin soon.

WHOA NELLIE, THE FIRST KNOWN PIC OF DAVID ZABRISKIE'S NEW TT BIKE

Jake Wells is on the road with the Garmin Crew this week for the Tour of Cali, he's da man drivin the gear...he snaked this pick of DB's Crusher TT bike this eve just for A2B fans, enjoy, I think I need a private moment. Thanks Dubs. This bike wreaks of sex....And TD"s Custom Fi"zi:k

IT'S THE EVE OF SHORT TRACK RACING IN EAGLE, COLORADO!

Turn ThreeBarring a couple of tweeks to the course, we are ready to rumble in Eagle, Colorado tomorrow eve at the first race of the Dusty Boot Short Track series. The course is set and FAST. I'll make a couple of minor changes tomorrow and it will be time to rumble. Please arrive early and give yourself plenty of time to register, there will be NO pre-riding the course while races are taking place, however there will e a break between each flight which will give you time to pre-ride. It's a super sweepy course and not technical at all for the first race of the series, but that will change as we move forward...a quick heads up, Cyclocross bikes and other contraptions with road tires should be left home, this is mountain bike racing...for fun.

AND LIFE GOES ON....A SMALL TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND

Dave Rowe and myself, Juniors at FSU in a rare snowstorm, Budweiser and Cig in hand...of course.

I choose to type this post in a shade of Gold, as in the Garnet and Gold of the Florida State Seminoles, and so many good memories there. Today while drinking a cup of coffee and sharing the morning amongst friends, and talking about the same stuff we talk about everyday, I returned a call from one of my old college best friends I missed yesterday, his wife answered, she is another close old friend that I met when they lived in Boulder for a couple of years back in the 80's. We chat every couple of years now, and when she mentioned the loss of a mutual friend she did not even have to mention the name as I knew who it was. We go through life and have friends, some of which become your best friends at different points of our lives for whatever reasons. This is a small tribute to Dave Rowe, who was my best friend in college but had a tumultuous life as an adult which ended so recently. Dave was crazy, almost certifiably, and alot of fun. He taught me to play a guitar, how to chase away women, and was a true rebel until the day he passed. He had a preference for the bottle, especially after a bad wreck left him crippled and unable to function as a normal human being any longer. All accounts tell me he drank himself to death and I'm reminded that sometimes the people we want to help the most just are too proud to accept the help they need. In many ways I loved Dave Rowe, and you know what I mean, we all love our best friends dearly as we have truly lived experiences with those people that no one can ever understand if we try to re-tell the stories, so why even bother. These stories are part of our interwoven selves and it does no good to tell you stories like the time we jumped on our roommates Honda motorcycle at 2am in the morning, all of 20 years old, after indulging all night, and heading out to the windy two lane highway near the Tallahassee airport, Dave with a true motorcycle helmet on and me with a plastic Miami Dolphins football helmet on. Once we rode the ten miles to get to "the" road, Dave turned to me and said, "did I ever tell you I used to race these things?" This being my first time ever on a motorcycle, I simply responded "no". This was the precise moment that Dave Rowe gassed it and we flew down this two laner for 20 minutes. The conversation quickly changed tone and Dave then said, "you know, if we hit an armadillo right now we are both going to die". Well, I really did'nt have much say in the matter, but at least I had a Miami Dolphin's football helmet on so my head would not be too mangled when the coroner came and found me, plus the afro might help save me as well. I remember seeing the speedometer fluctuating between 80-100 miles an hour. I never got on a motorcycle again. I spent a night in jail with Dave Rowe, and that story is just not even one anyone would believe to this day unless they were there, so it's not even worth telling.

Skiing at Park Point on a trace of snow
Here are some pictures of Dave Rowe, and they say so much more to me than anyone else, Dave was pretty much a brother to me, and all though we drifted apart over the years due to many reasons, brother's share blood, and I'll miss not being able to speak to him, regardless of circumstance. His memorial service will be held in his favorite bar, I would expect nothing less, and I won't be able to be there physically, but I'll be there in spirit Dave, for you were indeed one of my brothers in this lifetime. You were a hell of a good friend in the prime of our lives, and I can hear Jimmy Buffet singing "Lovely Cruise" at your memorial service, and also smile remembering this being the last song I ever played on stage with you (myself banging the wood clave) in the "Florida Band" back around 1981 or so, rest in peace Dave, you deserve that. And yes, the Gators will suck forever.Dave could play and sing like a songbird, we will miss that. 1978 photo.

Take us out Jimmy...

Drink it up
This ones for you
It's been a lovely cruise
I'm sorry it's ended
It's sad but it's true
It's been a lovely cruise

These moments were left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
There's wind in our hair
And there's water in our shoes
It's been a lovely cruise

These moments we're left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
And those harbor lights
Aw they're coming into view
We bid our farewell much too soon
So drink it up
This one's for you
It's been a lovely cruise
Yea baby, it's been a lovely cruise

It's been a lovely cruise

THE BROWN SANTA (UPS MAN) BRINGS WTB GIFTS TODAY

It's happened again, the UPS man (AKA "the brown santa") brought me gobs of joy today, this time compliments of WTB in the form of 29er tires, and not a day too soon as I was just talking about these bad boyz with bad ass bike guy Jake Wells yesterday when we rode, along with Yogurt, Jono, Tom Hopper of Garmin fame, L Dubs and Alli (sp?), Tom's other and better looking half. Tom also pits for JDobber at all of his BIG TIMER CX races, including Jake's 12th place finish at Nats last year.

So when I got home tonight, joy to the world in a brown box. Much needed after all the hoopla and bullshit that is flying over this Leadville thing. So A2B once again proves worthy of a testing ground for some new "stuff". And I'm fairly excited, actually I wet my pants when I found two sets of tires to ride from WTB tonight.

29er Wolverines and Nanos. These tires look like they are going to rip our Eagle trails a new arse at very high speed. I'll get um mounted up hopefully just after this next snow storm and give you the report, but I know J Dubs likes um, and they look like I'm gonna like um, which means I think all of you are gonna like um too. Stay tuned. Wolverines are a 2.2 and the Nanos are a 2.1 and look like they may be the fastest tire I've seen....somebody stop me, please.

IF I COULD SUM UP LAST NIGHTS 80'S BIRTDHAY PARTY FOR NATE WITH ONE PIC....

This would be it....and whomever made the GIANT tray full of jello shots, mission accomplished.

And there was actually a bike ride...

And there was the Birthday bash for Nate's 30th

And when I find the deer that has been eating the flowers in the flower beds the past three years, I'm going to shoot it and eat the deer to get my flowers back

FARRAR WINS STAGE TWO AT GIRO, JDUBS OFF TO T OF C.

PHOTO CYCLING NEWS
Garmin's Farrar wins stage two of the Giro, but it really big news, JDubs is off to the Tour of California with Garmin team wrench Tom Hopper to hang out and check the action, look for JDub to send an occassional report back to A2B...

AND WITH THAT SAID, ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND

THE WORLD IS ONCE AGAIN OUR OYSTER...

You want some of this don't chya?

It's hard to believe that just a week ago, 14-18 inches of snow covered ALL of this, and it's been a bit on the cool side. But the Gods of Hardscrabble Mountain have bestowed some love down upon us and we are once again just about as happy as pigs in pooh.

Above, Castle Peak from the bench on the west end of Catwalk, below, the view to the north.

Endless miles of singletrack live here, and this is just a fraction.