Why don't we live in Colorado? Oh, and we met the great Tommy D.

So, we rode outside of Boulder, CO today.  I haven't spent a lot of time in Colorado in the fall, but this day was a board of tourism's dream!  And our day was full of interesting adventures.  First, Brian and I took a little 30 mile ride towards Jamestown.

Trent and Brian on the way up Left Hand Highway towards Jamestown, CO

Then, we met our good friend, Allison Westfahl Wagner, who is a professional trainer and author (http://www.allisonwestfahl.com/).  She showed us some good riding through the outskirts of Boulder.

Trent and Allison outside of Boulder, CO

In addition to being a trainer to professional athletes in the Boulder area, Allison is just finishing her second book with pro road cyclist, Tom Danielson.  We jokingly told Al that we expected her to introduce us, but it was no joke!  She delivered, and we got to meet Tom Danielson at his home outside of Boulder.  He was about to do a photo shoot while taking part in HIS off-stage passion, motocross.

Brian and Trent with Tom Danielson

Tom is a very down to earth guy.  He made us coffee and we chatted for a bit, even though his photo shoot was probably better served by using the afternoon light.  If you follow cycling, Tom is easily one of, if not the best American cyclist in the pro peleton.  Cycling is in a bit of a crisis right now with the spectre of doping hanging over everyone's head.  While Tom has recently come clean to some bad decisions he made in the past, his current team, Garmin-Sharp continues to be a leader in the coming age of a clean sport. 

Ride to Reddish Knob with New and Old Friends

The view from Reddish Knob

We had a great ride up Reddish Knob with friends from PA and some extra strong local riders (The Pain Delivery Firm of Deeble, Sallah, and Morris) last week.  We are so lucky to have this kind of terrain to traverse just around the corner.  Thanks to the guys who made it happen.  I never can tell if that ride adds or takes years from my life, but it's a glorious climb.

Festy Experience Ride-Video

We had a great time riding to the Festy Experience in Nelson County, VA on Sunday. Here's a great video by our buddy Scott Wooten from Shenandoah Bicycles.  The Festy is a blast and we were happy to be a part of it.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1aCPwK9kVo

Maybe you couldn't see it well enough in the video, but Brian made some new modifications to his Bass-hauling trailer setup, since the Burley took a dive in our last tour.  Here's a picture:

Saluda Bike Ride September 9th

The Steel Wheels in Albuquerque, NM Bike Shop.  They will host a group ride in Saluda, NC Sunday September 9th.

This Sunday the Wheels will ride again!  Western North Carolina, come join us.  We're excited to be able to ride in the hills of Saluda, NC this Sunday September 9th.  Follow the link below to register and join us for a moderate road ride and great show following at the Purple Onion in downtown Saluda.  All money from the ride goes to Saluda Community Land Trust.  Yeah!

http://www.active.com/cycling/saluda-nc/the-steel-wheels-ride-for-saluda-community-land-trust-2012

Bike Ride w/ The Steel Wheels in AR

We're driving across the country to play Fayetteville Roots Festival today in that sweet Ozark town. If you find yourself there and you want to join us, we'll be riding our bikes Saturday morning. See the details below...

Bike Ride with the Steel Wheels
Time: 8 a.m.
Info: The Steel Wheels guide a bike ride through Fayetteville and the Ozarks. Presented by Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks
Location: Start at Lewis & Clark in Fayetteville, AR

See you then.

Recreational Riding Social Media

This spring and summer The Steel Wheels have started logging our rides on Strava.com to keep track of the miles and places we've been riding.  The free app for iPhone or Android allows users some friendly competition (keep it friendly Brian!) by enabling anyone to create segments and logging the fastest times by any rider on those segments.  It also gives you your ride information including elevation gain, average speed, calories burned, etc.  If running is your thing, you can use it for that as well.  If you're interested in seeing exactly what The Steel Wheels' wheels have been up to, you can follow Trent, Brian, Eric, and Jay on Strava.  

A summer morning on top of Massanutten.

Trent with his dad, Howard Wagler, on a bike ride in Goshen, IN

It's all fun and games until someone breaks a rib...

Whenever we find our way close to Reading, PA we meet up with our good buddy Patrick Leaman and his family.  They have become quick friends to the band and if we can we try to sneak in a ride with Patrick when we come through.  This time, things ended abruptly and unexpectedly.

Here is the five of us after a good long grinder of a hill on Sportsmans Road...

Shortly before this photo we were talking a big talk about how freeing cycling is.

 

 

Next, we started to descend.  Patrick and I got into a nice conversation about life and the pursuit of happiness, I'd suspect, when all of a sudden he says, "Trent, there's a hill ahead that's very fast and possibly dangerous.  Use caution.  Go back and tell Eric, I'll catch up to Jay and Brian and tell them. 

Well, just as Patrick made it to Jay and Brian, they were flying down the hill.  Within minutes, this was the scene...

Brian looking on with new friend (if by friend, you mean, glad I didn't hit your car with my bike at 40 mph)

Brian contemplating his next move, not on that rear wheel presumably

So, Brian and Jay, feeling young and spry, flew around the dangerous corner, nearly hitting a car, but definitely hitting the ground in one way or another.  Brian's bike was beat up more than Jay's, but Jay got the brunt of the body damage.  While Brian had some notable road rash on his hand and hip, Jay broke a rib and jammed his finger pretty heftily.  It didn't look good for him playing that mandolin that evening...

Jay, after the wreck. 

But you can't keep a good man down.  We made it to gig that night and Jay ripped off his splint and played a great show in front of the famous Steel Stacks in Bethlehem, PA. 

So, Jay is currently in rehab and we all are taking our downhills a little more cautiously.  It's fun to go fast, but not that fun.