The Shadow of our Amazing RV as we travel west!

The latest adventure took me through thousands of miles of the western United States, experiencing the continually changing landscape by RV, raft and boat, and even simply walking down its coastal highways. It all started with an RV, set rolling on wheels that haven’t moved in five years, and four friends ready for a new rafting adventure (as we’ve done in years past). A vintage RV, straight from 1978, complete with the general yellow tinge and faded fabrics, wood paneling, and brown shag carpet. Four of us left Colorado, driving this top-heavy, gas eating machine through Wyoming, Nevada deserts, and on to Oregon, taking the RV to its new home. After only one night relaxing in Oregon, we traded our spacious ride for a tight squeeze in a Jeep that backfires and only has two seats for four people, plus gear. But we make it work, and continue on our trip to the Klamath River in Northern California, encountering fewer and fewer other humans, moving further into the wilderness.

Driving down the lonely road heading west in Nevada

Avenue of the Giants - the Majestic Redwoods

Oregon Flowers and Shadows in the Summertime

Nic, Appel and Matt in the Jurassic Forest in Oregon

Fire, smoke and sunshine, in the Oregon forest in the summertime

Our modes of transport when not on the river in Oregon, good times!

The Redwoods in July

The river – the second goal of the trip. We inflate our craigslist purchased raft and set off on our way. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes before we find ourselves bailing out the boat, hit by a huge swell of water and gushing rapids spitting us out of the river. But this is the worst of it, or maybe it’s just we’re more prepared for what’s ahead. For three days we paddle and drifted through beautiful redwood forests, stopping every night under cloudless night skies to camp. We explored the river with the bears caught lazily swimming, the eagles flying over head, and ventured into the dense, enormous trees at the river banks. The last day on the raft, the mouth of the river becomes wider and wider, and we pull the raft to shore in sight of the white breakers of the Pacific Ocean.

The Klamath Crew July in the summertime

Awesome river foliage in the summertime in Oregon

Yum Yum, fishy eggs in the river

A jet boat on the river in July

Matt jumping in, this is one of our favorites!

Fog and wind roll in as well pull our raft to shore, but the journey is not over yet. In three days we covered about 90 miles on the river, but by road, it’s more like 120 miles between our only vehicle, the Jeep, and us. So, two of us set off on foot, each with a small bag slung over the shoulder, just in case we don’t make it back in one night. Thumbs out. Within minutes our first ride, a bright blue jet boat, drops us off at Highway 101, where we walk for a mile before our second ride. A savior, a traveler reluctant to return to LA, takes the rest of the way back to our car, chatting about the Illuminating, the Green Party, and random historical facts the entire way.

A Black Bear in the Klamath River in July

A Banana slug by the river

After camping on the beach, we make our way down the coast, along the 101 and back towards civilization, to San Francisco where we catch a flight. Almost exactly a week later, we are ending where we started, in Colorado.

The number one driver of the RV, its me!

Author Nicole Duke riding at Boulder Creek Kayak Park

I have a new love in my life and it’s called SUP. Yes, i’m a SUPer, no not the evening meal but a Stand Up Paddleboarder. The sport of Stand Up originated in the ocean but now has transformed and is showing up in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers.

My fascination started when my friends Kat and Ryan Guay with Mountain Paddle Surf started repping C4 Paddlebaords. Being frustrated with no surf in Colorado I bought one immediately. This was my way to “get my fix”, being born and raised in the Florida waters I was in dire need.

The Boulder Reservoir was a great place to start but soon was not enough for my adventurous spirit. It had to be harder, faster and more dangerous to keep my attention. This is where the river comes into play. My first time down a river was the 2010 SUP Whitewater Nationals, put on by the Godfather of river SUPing himself, Charlie Macaurther. I got a tutorial from long time river rat Ryan Guay, shimmied my way into a borrowed wetsuit , my husbands retro PFD, helmet, and a pair of 12 dollar dive shoes I had just found the day before at a local thrift store. There were three events, a 7 mile downriver, a sprint, and a standing wave surf contest. I fared well enough to earn 2nd in the Womens Division and was hooked on the river.

Next, was the Teva Games. The C4 Waterman crew was coming out from Hawaii for Tevas’ introduction to the sport. The hype and excitement surrounding our new sport at The Games was encouraging. The race would be a 4 mile downriver run on the beyond freezing Gore Creek. I took 3 practice runs with the Hawaiians, exchanged line choices and laughed about the craziness of it all. It required exceptional balance, focus, guts, and anaerobic threshold. It was exhilarating!! The morning of the race the Teva Games issued a high water warning and offered to give anyone their money back if they wanted to back out. Not one SUPer bailed! People lined the banks and bridges to witness this new and crazy sport. Lungs burning, shoulders aching i paddled my way to a second place in 21 minutes. Next i found myself on the podium with my new found girlfriends and a check for 500 dollars in hand. I will be back for first next year!

Nicole Duke and the C4 Waterman from Hawaii at the Teva Games

As long as I am on a roll I might as well join the river rats for the oldest whitewater festival in the nation. Fibark, for First In Boat down the ARKansas river, or in my case first on board down the river. The race is a 26 mile downriver through class 3+ rapids. The first recorded time was posted in 1949 and took 7 hours and 18 minutes. No one really seemed to want to run the 26 miles on a board, it was a little daunting. Three SUPers signed up, me being the first and only woman on a paddleboard. We were told to “just start wherever AFTER all the kayakers”. Being the new sport on the block isn’t always easy and is often misunderstood.

This time I would wear a camelback, pack my PFD with food and wear extra sunblock. I was in for a long haul and had no idea what a class 3+ rapid looked like. For me this wasn’t a race it was an adventure. I started with a slow and consistent paddle stroke, the kayakers seemed to be traveling at about 3 times the speed. Not bad, the rapids were manageable, the scenery was gorgeous, and I had some of the racers in my sights. Well, 30 min in , I was all alone and wondering how long this would really take. One and half hours in and I floated by the 10 mile take out, wishing that was my exit. The crowd cheered me on, told me I only had 16 more miles and that I was doing great. What did they know, my hands already had blisters, I was freezing, and the wind kept blowing me sideways and backwards. Ok, I can do this, it’s still beautiful! The biggest rapids were to come of course when I was the most tired. There were three that I vividly remember. One, where a HUGE rock sat right in the middle  of the river and threatened to flatten both me and my board, I dug the paddle in last minute and narrowly missed being squashed. The second rapid was up on the horizon line with nothing to see beyond it. I picked a side, left I guess, tipped over the edge and saw 5 or 6 waves taller than my head. I let out a battle cry and charged the first three waves standing and then buckled to my knees out of respect for the dominating middle wave. I was spit off my board but had made it through unscathed and able to ask the safety boat ” How much longer, exactly!” They responded, “Just a little bit”. I said, “No, EXACTLY how much longer,  I’m dying over here!” “Four more miles,” they said! At this point four miles felt like forever, my muscles were seizing, my legs were tired of balancing, and my hands and wrists wanted to quit. The third and last rapid I remember was at the finish line. I had done it, 3 hrs 15 minutes and I was the first woman SUPer to race and finish the Fibark Downriver. Only 2 of 3 SUPers finished that day. I was and am still proud.

Teva Games Podium. From Left Jenny Macauther (1st), Nicole Duke (2nd), and Jen Koki (3rd)

If you are interested in this wonderful new sport I am instructing on Monday, and Tuesday evenings 6-8 at the Boulder Res. Lessons are $50 and includes PFD and board. Coming soon, SUP Core Fitness classes and Race series classes. Check out my contact info below:

Spread the SUPlove!

Nicole Duke, nicole @ thegearmovement.com — Mountain Paddle Surf.com Instructor

Arriving in San Francisco for Stage 3 of ToC, beautiful and typical weather of this area

An 8 day bike race wrapped up and done, but geeze, it feels like a grand tour. This 2010 edition of California’s premier sporting event was by far the most exciting and intriguing race I have done in years. I have worked this race every year but one and couldn’t have asked for anything more. I have never worked for a ProTour Team before, and this was an experience. From the late nights, to the extra little bit of work we did all day to set ourselves apart from the other teams at the bike race, it was definitely a good experience. From the outside the Garmin-Transitions ProTour Team looks like a looming fortress of pretentious staff and riders. It is not, this team is a huge family that after spending a week and a half with them I noticed how close they really are!

Jordan with the Specialized Angel at the start of Stage 3

Garmin-Transitions Team Super Fan, this kid was soo adorable!

The 20 some staff and 8 riders gelled really well together during the race. We had 2 personal chefs, 3 mechanics, 3 sougniers, 2 directors, 1 team photographer, and multiple media and sponsorship liaisons. Can you imagine the logistics of getting each one of these people to and from each race every day? I don’t know how it all gets done.

Our Chefs Chris and Barbara Grealish with thier new parking lot toy!

Probably some of the best times at the bike race where had by the 3 mechanics, hanging out in the parking lot after a bunch of bike working, eating the leftovers of a gourmet dinner served by our two chefs! I gotta say, Chris and Barbara Grealish, thanks so much for the food! On stage 7, the Time Trial in Downtown Los Angeles, I got to follow Tom Danielson during his ride. What an experience, he was flying through the course and although he didn’t post a great time on the day, he had an impressive ride through some of the gnarly windy sections and the one steep little climb.

HTC Columbia mechanic Chris Franges and his awesome bikes get ready for the TT at the hotel in Big Bear

Following Tommy D in the TT on Stage 7 in Los Angeles

Hanging out with TT1 mechanic Alex Banyay and Fly V's mechanic Tennyson Hulcy after Stage 7 of the ToC

The SRAM crew poses for a photo op in-front of the Staples Center at the Stage 7 TT in Los Angeles

I gotta say the number 1 experience for me came on the last day of the bike race when I got to drive the 2nd caravan car in the peloton on the unassumingly tough Stage 8. A lot of teams came into the last day unprepared for what was about to hit them. What looked like a simple course turned out to be a leg/lung burner. A super technical, twisty climb of more than 5k, followed by one of the gnarliest descents I have ever witnessed. I had the 4 tires on the super reliable Subaru Outback squealing on the 8k descent, ohhh my gosh it was the most fun I’ve ever had! I definitely envy a Team Director who gets to sit in the front seat and drive on a regular basis, my spot in the backseat is like a desk-job…boring!

Redwood forests from Stage 3, beautiful!

Mechanics Tom Hopper and Jordan chilly and wet to the bone after Stage 2 to Santa Rosa. It was a downpour all day...

We took two stage wins, and the overall team classification win for the entire race, what an impressive performance boys! It looks like I will be working part time with the Garmin-Transitions Pro team for the rest of the year. On tap next will be the USPRO Championships in Greenville, SC in early September. After that I will most likely do my first ProTour races in Canada – Montreal, and Quebec City, if I don’t do those, look for me on TV at the Vuelta a España, holy cow! Adios amigos!!

Post race dinner, me and Dave Zabriskie getting comfy...

Earthquake Damage to the Port-au-Prince Presedential Palace

I had the amazing opportunity to go to Haiti the first week in June, even though a week is certainly not enough to get to know this country. Also, what I was planning on doing in Haiti had been arranged long before the earthquake. Besides, outside of Port-au-Prince, the earthquake really had little effect, even though it might be hard to distinguish from the looks of the rest of the country. Haiti is, without a doubt, a very poor country with limited resources to begin with, so it is now wonder that the earthquake had such a devastating blow, crumbling the concrete buildings that once made up the city. In the single day I spent in the capitol city, I did witness the tent cities that now stand between the rubble and collapsed buildings. But the people of Haiti continue with tenacity in their daily lives, through the congestion and the remains.

The entire Presedential palace was destroyed

Most of my time was spent on the northern coast, in the small village of Saint-Louis du Nord. Dust encrusted, sweat drenched, bruised from the jostling bus ride, eight hours and 120 miles later, I finally arrive and get to meet the community where I will stay. In the mornings, working alongside the Haitians, I helped build (or at least tried to contribute to) a new school building. With over ten people working on the tiny site, it was hard to share the single shovel and the single trowel, but non-the-less brick by brick, the building gained momentum upwards.

Here is a Google map of Haiti and Elizabeth's location in Saint-Louis du Nord

In the afternoons, even though I’m pretty sure I was more of a distraction than help, I worked at the old school.  Bursting with over 150 students in four tiny classrooms, it was easy to see the need for a new building.

A map carved into a chair on the destroyed island of Haiti

School children running during our visit to the local school in Saint-Louis du Nord

School children looking out of a window of the school in Saint-Louis du Nord

Young girls looking for snacks in Haiti

A little girl smiling during school in Saint-Louis du Nord

A kindergarten class in Saint-Louis du Nord where we were helping to rebuild the school

The faces of Haiti, young school girls in Saint-Louis du Nord

A beautiful shot of a young girl holding my hand

Blowing bubbles with the kids in Haiti

Kids watching the bubbles pop in Haiti

A young girl blowing bubbles is entertained in Haiti

And on my day off, as if being in Haiti wasn’t enough; I was able to go sailing to the neighboring island of Tortuga, from all the pirate stories! Our boat was a luxury liner – the mast looking like it might just be a tree trunk. From a devastated shore, covered in trash, the small sailboat delivered us, surrounded by pristine, bright blue water to a quiet, car-less island.

The sails of our "luxery liner" on our way to the Pirate island of Tortuga

The sails of our "luxery liner" on our way to the Pirate island of Tortuga

Sailing to the Island of Tortuga

Majestic sailboats off the island of Tortuga

Beautiful blue water off the coast of Tortuga

The Garmin Transitions Team Bikes before the start of Stage 2

Stage 1: Nevada City to Sacramento. We had about a 1hr transfer this morning from our hotel in Sacramento to the race start in beautiful, quant Nevada City, what a cool little mountain town! This morning all the three mechanics had to do was get the race bikes, spare bikes and spare wheels pumped and loaded up on our many vehicles, wash the two race cars and get rolling. Our standard procession to the bike race  is with the bus in front, leading the way with all of our riders, mechanics driving the race cars and everyone else sitting and ready to roll!

Mechanics Jordan Schware and Tom Hopper before the start, looking good!

With a prompt race start at 11:45am, we were off! We have two caravan cars here for the Garmin-Transitions team, me in car two, big time mechanic Tom Hopper in car 1. I did a lot of sleeping in the team car today, no real work, it was a little bit different for Tom. The front car saw some action with a few flat tires and a rear derailleur to the spokes in Tommy Danielson’s bike on a climb. After a quick bike change to his spare, Tommy D was up and rolling along!

The craziness before the start...

Mark Cavendish from the Columbia – HTC Team took the win in a final sprint in downtown Sacramento. The Columbia boys have started off the week in style! All the Garmin boys finished with the group and were unscathed in some of the crashes at the finale.

Kevin the Bus Driver and Nick the Swany before the start

After rolling back from the bike race, us mechanics got the bikes and cars washed, cassettes and cranks changed for the hills of tomorrow and the trailer packed and ready to go for its first transfer. Tomorrow Jake is going to be in the 2nd team car, with me doing the transfer of our mobile service course to the next hotel. Cheers and goodnight ya’ll!

We were shooting some B roll for a Cliff Bar commercial today on both team cars...

Garmin Transitions ProTour Mechanic Tom Hopper Getting the Bikes Dialed!

Ever wanted a behind the scenes look at what goes on at a top level pro cycling race in the United States? Look no further! A lot of websites ask for athlete and race related content, what about the fun times that is had by all the support staff in the pro peloton? There are mechanics, sougniers, directors, logistical staff, chefs, bus drivers and many more important people that help each pro team to get through each day and keep the race running behind the scenes!

SRAM's new Aprila Motos and their sweet custom chromed racks!!

I will be spending this week with the Garmin – Transitions Pro Cycling at the Amgen Tour of California. Talk about the real deal! This ProTour level team has it all. We are totally set up with almost 25 staff members for only 8 riders in the race. This large discrepancy means we have our basis covered and every t is crossed and i is dotted, we are dialed!

Rockstar Fly V Australia Director Ed Beamon, apparently too busy to chat with me...

It is now day two of prep before the race and my legs and feet are already done. Standing in parking lot for more than 12 hours a day while running around doing odd jobs from working on bikes, washing bikes, cleaning cars, setting up radios, applying vinyl stickers to rental vehicles and eating burritos! Thats right, we are sponsored by Chipotle, its pretty sweet!

The Fly V Australia mechanics truck and a bike getting unpacked...

Too many words to put into this quick blog right now, so lets let the behind the scenes pictures tell it all…

Fly V Australia mechanic Chris Davidson

Garmin Transitions Chef RV. This bus is for cooking food for the riders only!

Food all over the chef RV. The guys will be eating very well this week!

The mechanics side of the Garmin Transitions Team, nice setup boys!

I worked on these spare bikes today, ready to go for stage 1!

Tom Hopper checking out the new trainers for the TT bikes, kinda cool idea - LeMond Trainers...

USA National TT Champ Dave Zabriskie's new custom TT rig, this thing is dope!

The set for the Movie: "127 Hours" About Aron Ralston who had to cut his own arm off after getting stuck in the rocks in Moab

We rolled into Moab and on up to Sandy Flats campground around 7:30. We noticed signs for “127 Hours” – What’s that? Then we saw camera crews, a full Hollywood set-up… later found out it was the filming of the movie about the Aaron Ralston story – the guy who had to cut his own arm off after getting trapped in a canyon on a solo mission. Bonus.

We woke up the next morning – weather was iffy – but it held out long enough for us to ride Slickrock….

Nicole Duke riding the Moab Slickrock

Nicole Duke, posing in Moab, I would say the only time she wasnt hammering me into the ground!

…what a wonderland!

Then the rain came – we hid in our pimped out van for a few hours the reaped the benefits a gnarly storm cloud can have on a sunset!

The Beautiful Moab Sunset

Ya, that’s not a fire.

The next day was a beautiful one – and we cranked out the Porcupine loop – I love this trail and all its wonderful views !!!

On your birthday, can it get any better than this?

Happy Birthday Nicole!!!

A quick picture opportunity in some of the beautiful New Mexico Landscape with the SRAM NRS Team Car

Long, long, long week! I think that is the best way to describe this last week of bike racing down in Silver City, NM. The SRAM Tour of the Gila outdid itself once again and provided all who attended at the races, on the internet and in the newsprint with a spectacular show! The characters, the racers, the locals, the in-race antics, the insanely tough conditions and the all around fun atmosphere provided by SRAM gave us a Tour to remember. For those of you not familiar with the SRAM Tour of the Gila, if you are interested at all in bike racing I recommend you check it out – www.tourofthegila.com.

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

More great YouTube videos from Jordan at the SRAM Tour of the Gila – The Gear Movement’s YouTube Page

Jordan checked in after day two of working with the SRAM NRS road crew, but doing much more than that was pretty hard for him based on the enormous amount of work that needed to be done at the race. Here is an opportunity to check out some cool videos from a mechanics perspective as well as some great behind the scenes photos from the Gila.

SRAM NRS team bikes lined up and ready to go in the Stage 4 crit at the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Jordan atop the custom SRAM NRS Aprila GT 850 support moto, this thing has a nice kick to it!

That is some beautiful SRAM NRS red and black at the Stage 3 TT...

We hope you enjoy and please stay tuned as Jordan ventures out to the Tour of California with the Garmin Transitions Pro Cycling Team for more bike racing!

Roswell, what? Gotta love the New Mexico state bus, government cover up, what??

Mara Abbott atop the podium at the SRAM Tour of the Gila Stage 1

A few weeks ago Jordan got a chance to shoot on down to the SRAM Tour of the Gila with SRAM Neutral Service Crew to help work the race, hang in the amazing New Mexico sunshine and get away from the office for a few minutes. Jose Alcala – the head of the crew down here, placed Jordan in the women’s pro race caravan. Directely from the source below:

Stage 1, had the women’s race climbing up and finishing ontop of Mount Mogollon, a nasty switched back climb with super narrow roads and racers from other categories riding down! A video of the men’s finish can be be found on The Gear Movement’s Facebook Page.

Working with SRAM crew was tons of fun over the last two days so here a few pics below to prove it!

The beautiful SRAM NRS Volvo's ready for a days work!

Great scenery outside Silver City, NM for the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Number 1 mechanic Todd Downs with the SRAM NRS crew!

Stage 2 brought a late start to the women’s pro race and saw 70mph wind gusts throughout the day. Unfortunately I was not able to grab any pics of this full on insanity, but girls in the race were walking up through the feedzone with their bikes in the hands flying over their heads! Here are some great videos below…

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

Stage 2 saw some carnarge with some crashes and bad bad winds. Kelly took a spill just before the finish, which looked pretty bad, but the soldier that she is, she rode her bike back to the finish and finished the race! One of the more impressive things I have ever seen on a bike, go Kelly!

Reigning US Champ Meredith Miller before Stage 1 of the SRAM Tour of the Gila

Tonight we are building some of the new SRAM NRS Specialized Tarmac bikes for the TT tomorrow and going to an amazing restaurant here in Silver City, NM for dinner.

Fast Tube by Casper

Starting a small company and figuring out creative and intuitive ways to grow your business through social media avenues is always an interesting challenge. The fun thing about it is that it grows on a daily basis and constantly changes. One day you focus on some fun Twitter games and posts, the next day you are plugging away with something on your blog or sending some cool emails to friends and family. The advertising avenues on Facebook have opened a few doors for us. To those that don’t already know, much like Google Adwords, Facbook Ads are the perfect way to focus in our your targeted demographic. With millions of users worldwide and the ability to choose which demographic to focus on, locally, nationally or worldwide, you can promote the heck out of your company in a heartbeat!

Another great way we use the internet to our benefit is by collaborating with online communities who provide different types of services to their members. One such online community like this is www.raceplan.com.

The RacePlan community was started in 2005 as a community for cyclists to stay connected, organize rides, race, share photos, stories and videos. This site has grown and grown over the last few years with more than a 100 members. The site not only provides users with the ability to stay in touch with each other but they also get great discounts on Gear and other benefits through the community’s partnerships. RacePlan has partnered with The Gear Movement to offer its members great deals on listing fees and the ability to unload their old Gear and Inventory’s.

Communities like this one show us the importance of having an online presence in this day and age. The days of local small clubs run out of bike shops are not gone but the internet and the online marketplace has definitely developed the need for something else; an online based community all over the world!

In closing, thanks a ton to our friend Kam over at RacePlan for helping us get this partnership off the ground and for the cool video plug above. If you are interested in joining the RacePlan community please check out their website and contact Kam: www.raceplan.com

Check out these ridiculously large icons Jordan found below and follow us!