“Hell is dark and you have to ride a mountain bike the whole time.”
Posted on 27. Oct, 2010 by Matt in The Gear Movers
Our Resident Pro tackles the 24hrs of Moab, not his forte but he killed it!
After a long and tiring season of racing all over the country on the pro road circuit I was enjoying a relaxing off season of not riding my bike, spending time with my girlfriend and working at The Gear Movement. The last thing I wanted to do was ride my bike at any speed over a snails pace. So on Tuesday a few weeks ago when I got a text message about riding 24 Hours of Moab I thought “You’re asking the wrong guy.” The text was followed by a voice mail and an email. And even though the last time I rode a mountain bike was 1997 (I was 18 then and am 31 now) I said “OK, I’ll do it.” As soon as I committed to riding with these guys I wondered what the hell I was thinking, I didn’t even have a mountain bike!
I was to be part of the four man Excel Sports team. They told me I was filling in for a guy who bailed on them but I found out later that there had never even been a fourth guy!
None other than our resident pro Matt Cooke "riding the rim"
My new teammates had found a very small and kind of beat old bike for me to ride, but it was in the end way way too small for me to actually ride. I was almost hitting my chin with my knees every time I pedaled.
I managed to barrow an a bike from the awesome people at Ellsworth. And they really did save the weekend.
We switched off who was racing and when it was my turn I went as hard as I could, absolutely flat out. I probably would have gotten a good time too had I not had to walk just about every technical section. I was very afraid of crashing and caution is not a good thing in bike racing.
My night laps were even slower. It had been 13 years since I rode a mountain bike and I had never done it at night. Turns out I hate mountain biking in the dark, go figure. I came up with a mantra I would keep telling myself for all the night laps, “Hell is dark and you have to ride a mountain bike the whole time.” Not the most positive statement but I was in a pretty dark spot mentally.
The team got through it and we placed 6th in the Expert field. It’s funny, during the race I thought to myself I never want to do one of these again but as soon as we hit the drive home I was already thinking about what mountain bike I wanted to buy. Matt Cooke aka “Cookie” from Moab, out!
"I am really not looking forward to when the sun goes down."
Ben and Nicole go to Moab!
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Ben in Ben, Nicole, The Gear Movers
So, it was Nicole’s Birthday this past Sunday. She and I got to escape for the weekend thanks to my parents. We drove up I-70 late Thursday afternoon; dropped the kid’s off in Wolcott where my mom and dad were ready to endure a full weekend of chaos. They even took the puppy! We were alone, finally!
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!!!
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