Boulders On Broadway

Dirty from DrunkCyclist, recently dropped off a Surly 1×1 single speed mountain bike and told be to go shred with it.     After a long week working doubles I was sitting down having some fresh apple apple pankcakes telling my wife that I wish I could go ride today.   She told me I should go after breakfast.   Silly wife don’t you know that the fire ball in the sky is on full blast.    She than gave me a very loving response “you know when we met you would ride all summer.”   So there I was being told by my wife I should harden up and go ride.     I was on the Javelina trail at South Mountain by 10am.    The Surly is a beautiful bike that wants to just keep rolling and can carve thru rocks like a hot knife in butter.   About the time I got to the top of the hill I experience a conversation between my body and the bike.  It was pretty surreal!    I just listen in as a third party and eventually a victim as my bike kept demanding  “more speed”  the Surly just wanted to shred down the hill and thru the turns.    My body was having none of the speed or shredding talk.   It was pleading for shade and a cool drink of water and maybe an ice cold Four Peaks Sun bru.   I think next ride I may need to put some water in my camelbak?

What a great month!    We have been having so much fun I almost forgot that we were about to crash into the sun.  Last  week we had the TBAG Swim Suit Ride come by our house.   There is something awesome about 30 people on bikes wearing nothing but swim skivvies rolling in to your back yard for a quick dip and a refreshing Pabst Blue Ribbon.    I love the attitude of that group.  Everyone was super excited and yet very courteous.   Then of course the Boulders staff summer party was on the 4th of July.  We had about 30 people over to enjoy swimming, water balloon fights, frozen margarita from the Margarita Man, and a keg of Summer Solstice from Anderson Valley.   With temperatures above 100 degrees  the beer went down smooth.    We enjoyed some serious games of bocce ball and took a few leaps off my roof.     Apparently the party was a hit-when the pool finally cleared of our 4th of July party (and with the Haboob that his us on the 5th) 3 pairs of sunglasses, a hat and a bottle of beer were at the bottom.   We even ended with the signature staff sing alongs  lead by our very own Paul Norris and Justin Wright.   Good times were had by all!

Thor & Flame

If you have ever met my Mr Geryol you will know one thing right off the bat…he’s adventurous!  He is always looking for some sort of crazy thing to do and challenge himself to the limit.  He always says “you can’t hurt steel baby”-meaning when I say be careful when you jump off there or go climb this I shouldn’t worry because he is one tough dude.  Another thing you should know-He is a man of his word!  He means what he says and says what he means.   At times I second guess him because that is me always wondering if there is a better way.  If he says he is going to do something I believe him!  No matter how big or strange it sounds 99% of the time he does it.

He has been telling me for about a year now that we were going to get a travel trailer-we were going to tow it around as a family looking for adventure.  We would climb rocks, fish, ride bikes, spend time as a family going all over the place.  My response, “yeah okay-whatever you say.”  “I don’t want to have a big trailer in front of our house”  “think of how much work that would be”  “Shouldn’t we spend the money to remodel our ugly kitchen?” The list goes on with the reasons I told him not to get a trailer.  That being said!

I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family-Thor!

He’s a 18 foot long toy hauler trailer, sleeps 6-8 in beds, kitchen complete with an oven (mind you I got the oven in our kitchen just 6 months ago), a flat screen TV nicer than the one in our home and a toilet shower combo that is set up in such a way you can pop a squat plus shower at the same time.  We are multi taskers!

We’ve taken two trips so far and it has been great!  Our first trip was beach camping in San Clemente, California it was uneventful and beyond our fiasco of trying to back it perfectly in the driveway when we returned @ midnight-the trip was practically without flaw.  A great start to our new found adventure!

Our second trip was up to Flagstaff for a few days-this time we took our dog Echo-who to say the least is very…shall I say socially akward?  He loves people, kids, dogs etc but if he sees a dog from a distance he 100% looses all sanity and acts like a crazy beast.  Sending children and adults a like running for their lives not knowing he only will love on everyone.  Beyond trying to adapt him to camping life and talking ourselves out of letting him loose for misbehaving,  the trip was AMAZING!

We left our campground Woody Mountain at 10AM, got gas and headed off to Kelly Canyon for a small hike down a ½ mile trail and some bouldering.  An amazing time!  We sat on the ground and ate lunch before hand, The Dude hiked and climbed all by himself,  The Princess loved every minute of it as well, Echo was a champ of a dog behaving so well! Erick and I cheered our victory beer afterwards getting back in record time.  Both kids and the dog napped for the first few hours of the drive…what a great trip!

Then it happened-the one lane traffic for over an hour moving at about 5 mph.  We watched as slowly more and more cars had to pull over because they were broken down, over heating etc.  We were feeling confident as we picked up speed getting past the traffic and edging our way back home.  Erick noticed smoke or something but didn’t see anything coming from our hood.  We had over heated once before in the truck, but it had been minimal added fluid and no issues.  So we didn’t think much of it.  The temp was rising slowly on the engine, but not showing any big signs of over heating.  We had been sitting in traffic barely moving for over an hour-it was to be expected.  Erick tells me, “you should put your shoes on in case we have to pull over.”  They had already been on for 10 minutes, because me I think of every possible situation.  The one situation I played out in my head was if the truck caught fire.  I had played it out in my head and my purse and bag of kid stuff was ready to go, because that is what I do.  Five minutes later we miss an exit to stop, but there were no services merely an abandoned road.   We decided to try and make it 5 miles further slowly but slowly white smoke starts billowing behind us and a mile from the exit we stop.  Erick puts the truck in park it makes a strange noise.  A semi pulls in front of us stopping, E gets out and his tone was sturn, convincing and all together urgent.  “Get out- Get the kids NOW!”  In 20 Seconds I had The Princess and E handed me The Dude as I turned around to see the under carriage of the truck on fire.  E ran to get our dog I ran up the slop and up away from the truck.

I reached the side of the road with The Princess in her car seat, The Dude barefoot- rubbing his eyes from sleep and Echo barking as Erick runs back towards truck.  Two truckers now are running towards us and “Flame” (as now I have named our truck).   One driver running from the south in front of us, the other from the east running crossing 4 lanes of traffic.  Hearts racing, dog barking, The Dude crying-confused on why we woke him from his slumber as he now sits barefoot in my lap in the sweltering heat.

Our brave truck drivers made sure the flames were out, another man in a van stopped in the center divider yelling across to see if we were okay and alerting us he had called for help.  We spent the next 30 minutes arranging a tow, I rode with the two kids in the back of a highway patrol car arriving at a McDonalds a mile up the road.  All eyes were on us as a three year old steps from the car followed by his mommy and almost 1 year old sister.  Everyone was looking!  The McDonalds employee brought us water and juice a random traveler brought the kids gold fish crackers.  Erick arrived 15 minutes later with the dog outside.  We waited about an hour a half as our good friend/roommate came for me and the kids in my car.  Erick waiting for the tow truck to bring Thor and Flame back to a Tempe.

Everyone is safe and hearts are done pumping!  We are grateful for the amazing people who came to our aid and all together consider this adventure with Thor and Flame to be one for the books.  Never a dull moment!

-RG

I just returned from a march thru the big ditch most call the Grand Canyon, and make no mistake the water falls are not flowing with Grand Canyon Pilsner.    The Grand Canyon rim 2 rim 2 rim is a real deal hiking endeavor.     Typically I am not a thru hiker, usuallyI would hike to a rock climb or hike my mt  bike into a secret trail, looking at the same scenery twice not normal for me.   What can I say I get bored easy.    That being said, I may be a changed man.   The trail was great!  We crossed thru epic desert views, scrub forest, saw several water falls and followed  a river for several miles.  I was soaking my feet in the ice cold stream when a family of deer came walking out of the brush as I ate my lunch of summer sausage, aged parmeasan and sliced apples (What? I’m a food guy!).  They were an arms length away, I actually covered my food thinking they were coming for my lunch!  I know ridiculous.    The deer just walked right past and started to eat the bushes.   All the animals we crossed paths with had a similar lack of concern for people as predators.    When we saw a big horn sheep and rattle snack later that day they did not make any attempts to flee for safety.  Maybe the food chain is inverted slightly when you enter a 4000 foot ditch?

Great day, 70 degrees with the sun shining high and the water temperature of the lower salt flowing at a balmy 55 degrees!!    I would love to write a long update of all the cool trips I have been on, but I have been blessed with a crazy month.   Boulders has been super fun all spring.  We just had our first annual gear swap which was also our first day serving breakfast.   It was a cool event with all sorts of gear junkies (most who left with more gear than they brought), our new breakfast menu and some live jazz on the patio.    You heard me right, we are now serving breakfast every Saturday and Sunday morning from 9 till 12.  My favorite is the Arizona Toast with candied Jalapenos and Arizona honey.   The most popular has been the Chuck Norris scramble with more meat than I can list and pepper jack cheese.    Everyone has been floored by the PBR pancakes which fills a 14inch plate.    We have all sorts of drink specials,  our bartender Alex makes a bloody mary from scratch, mimosas, and $2 Fourpeaks kiltlifter.   Our Wednesday mt bike rides from the bar have been averaging 8 riders of all different skills and speeds.   We usually average 2 beers per ride as we make our way around Papago park and Tempe town lake.  If your interested show up Wednesday at 8pm.     Although I hope to get some riding and climbing done this week, I first need to serve up some hot dogs at the Thrash and Dangle fest April 16th at Phoenix Rock Gym then April 22 we have a bar crawl (Stay tuned for Details) and bbq thru Tempe.  Then April 23rd we will be serving  up  burgers  at the San Tan Wheelie Jam.    Check our face book for more info on any of the upcoming events.

The reason I know the water temp at the lower salt is because I flipped my kayak at the confluence of the Salt and Verde rivers.  I was unable to role back up, so I was dragged under water for about 10 feet before finally pushing out of the boat.  My timing was fortunate because the current was pushing every thing directly into a huge boulder in the center of the river.  I eventually recovered my boat.   Kinda tough wet exit but at least I entertained all the fisherman standing on shore.   Hope to see you all soon or hear about your adventures (you can comment on the blog)

cheers

e

JOIN US SUNDAY FEBRUARY 20th

When:  NOON-4PM

What:  1st Annual Boulders Beer Fest!

The Scoop:  20 pours for $15 with 56 premium and exclusive beers to choose from!

Cheers for Beer!

I am a devoted husband a business owner and father of two kids.  I pretty much live the dream life.  That being said there are some days that are so awesome that they just won’t get out of my head.   After a strong day of shredding down South Mt Monday, Dirty from Drunk cyclist played some Jedi mind trick on me and I was convinced to take Tuesday off for more adventure.

The trip began as most do, hot strong French roast and fresh baked pastries (compliments of my lovely wife) followed by a stop at the  QT for petro and sandwiches.   We rolled down the jeep road into Superior Arizonas Lower Devils Canyon around 10 am.  (Pause for a sip of my Great Divide Hibernation Ale)   The typically flavorful hike thru, hurt, maim, and kill plant life was frosted over and covered in several day old ice.  It was like walking in to another land.   Everything was so crisp and contrasting.  Taking in each drink of the crisp air while salivating over the endless unclimbed spires was exhilarating.  After hiking up a stream we decided on a short 60 ft spire a little bigger around than two oak trees.   The line had everything to offer in the way of features, there were pockets that felt like you were doing dental work on a barracuda, big flakes that I swear felt grabbing an angle’s shoulder and a crack line that just absorbed our nuts and cams.    It was terrifying trying to hang on while placing gear into a virgin line that could break apart any minute.    Top that scary sandwich with my pathetic conditioning and I looked like an 80 year old women dancing the Macarena.

It was terrifyingly awesome to be so scared while doing something so awesome.   We end up calling the climb Orange Juice because some suitcase sized rock came flying off the top just as Dirty was pulling the overhanging finish.  I was lucky enough to fall in the stream instead of getting thumped on my dome and the rock showed its grit to a bag of oranges instead.   I guess Bluemoon can be served with lemons the rest of the week.

Hey everybody! This is Dirty checking in. If you don’t know me, I write for a little cycling web site called drunkcyclist and I am a regular (some say too regular) fixture at Boulders. The fine folks at Boulders have asked me to chime in every once in a while, and I am more than honored to do so.

When people ask me how to describe Boulders, I usually just tell them that it is  “the place where bad ideas are born”. Although that can be said for most places that serve strong beer, it takes on a completely different meaning at Boulders. Let me clarify with a little story.

A while back,  a few of us were sitting at a table in the bar on a mellow Thursday night. We were sipping on some fine beers and telling climbing stories when talk quickly turned to the news of the week, Tommy Caldwell climbing 2 routes on El Capitan in one day. Being slightly obsessed with everything that is Yosemite I was extra excited and inspired by this feat.  More beers were ordered and somehow a few Dogfish head 90 Minute IPA’s were consumed. Erick mentioned that these climbs on El Cap were kind of like how the great mountaineer Ed Viesturs  would use a technique he called  a “twofer”  to bag 2 mountains in the same trip. As I finished the last sip of hopped goodness from that snifter, I declared that we need to do our own “2 in a day” of  something here in Arizona.

We were well aware  that we were neither Tommy nor Ed so we wanted to pick something challenging, but also something a mere mortal could accomplish. We decided on the classic hike/swim of Salome Jug and then climb Four Peaks via the Lady Bug route. Somebody from another table told us “that sounds like a really bad idea”. We all agreed, but it sounded like a really fun bad idea. Then a few days later it was accomplished. By the numbers, it took the 5 of us about 14 hours to complete. It included 9 miles of hiking, a couple hundred yards of swimming, 3 pitches of climbing, 2 rappels, and 5 people hiking out in the dark with only 2 headlamps. It was a fine day, and it probably never would have happened without that one fateful Thursday night at Boulders.

Erick and I are planning another bad idea for next weekend. We are sure to be pouring over our guidebooks and maps at the bar most nights this week. Come in and say hello and see what adventure we are cooking up. The planning is sure to be fueled by this year’s Hop Trip. If you aren’t familiar with this fine beer you should really check out this video and then come in and taste one!

-Dirty

While riding with friends today I found my self considering how strange riding up and down mountains must seem to a non biker.   Really what is the point, it is really hard, some what expensive, and potentially fatal?  Staring at the large hill coming up from the water tank on Javalina I knew I could not explain to someone the awesome feeling of making it up a pile of rocks steep as all get out.    Once you feel the burn and survive you get addicted to the hurt.  I love to ride with others and taunt the MT gnomes that are there trying to cause a dab.  I look forward to the cold pint and pizza after the ride or some times during.   See you on the trail or at the bar.  Oh and be careful for the angry little gnome by the water tank, I think he punched me in the lungs today!