Dave dog asked me to write this for him since he doesn’t have opposable thumbs and can’t get the space bar too well. He wants to publicly tell Ms. Mackenzie (his Orange County girlfriend) that he loves her. He wants her to know that he’s sorry that he got into her food and left it all over the kitchen floor and also that he’s sorry he stole her big bone. He wants her to know that he was only trying to flirt. Mackenzie is very sick right now so Dave wants to share this pic of him and his girl from earlier this year. She’s a beauty! We love you Mack Dog!
A few photos from our overnight last weekend – what a ride!
We started out from Idyllwild a little later than we wanted, but it was gonna be a scorcher in the desert and we needed to gain some elevation before too late in the day.
As we started climbing up from Yucca Valley, I don’t think the guys were awake yet.
Pulling into Pioneertown is good feeling because we planned to stop for water there before going up Burns Canyon and we’d already had a bit of climbing to this point.
We tried to find cap guns to take with us to p-town for a shootout on Mane Street (seriously spelled that way for the horses), but Idyllwild was fresh out.
Just after P-town, there’s a super cool container house with a big sun room surrounded by Airstreams – pretty hip place.
The Yuccas had some crazy blooms going on.
The big plateau area half way up Burns Canyon looks a bit like Utah, but is filled with huge Joshua Trees alongside huge junipers.
Boys hungry…tired…
At the top of Burns Canyon, there’s one turn that’s crucial. If you miss it, you end up down in that valley, which is BAD. You have to turn left onto 2n02 before 3n03 drops down.
We’re almost there, I promise! 
Campsite!
Is that a gremlin crawling out of the tent for coffee?
Morning pack-up.
There’s also a crazy dirtbike playground back in the canyon.
I think I won the argument about whose handle bar bag is easier to use.
Back in P-town, Pappy and Harriets is a great place to grab a beer and lunch or live music on the weekends.
From there, it was a paved fast descent back to Yucca Valley where we parked at the Water Canyon Coffee Company – great little coffee shop for the refuel for the drive back home.
Thanks to Scott Morris for this updated video of the leaders days 6-11.
more about "TD Race Updates | Tour Divide", posted with vodpod
So I’m playing with video and wordpress. Here’s Scott Morris’s Topofusion video of the TD racers the first 9 days. Entertaining to watch.
more about “Topofusion video of first 9 days“, posted with vodpod
Looks Like Matthew is hitting Centennial Valley today. This was one of the most beautiful areas en route for me – plus very monumental because it’s the bridge to Idaho. Sounds like they’re not having such beautiful skies as I had last year here… 
What an exciting weekend so far. My old teammate, Todd and the other Siren/WBR guys went to the 24 hours of Big Bear in West Virginia. Unfortunately, Todd and Chris both wrecked out late in the day yesterday, but were holding awesome in 5th and 6th at the time. Brad, however, pulled through with 3rd place – Congratulations Brad!
The other excitement this weekend was the beginning of Tour Divide. This will be a fun one to watch and is especially fun for me since I know a lot of what they are facing. Matthew Lee joined the racers and is tearing it up out there.
Also, my bud Cannon is doing superb out there. He’s riding a Siren and a good friend of mine and Brendan’s. There arejust so many people this year including many women and a tandem. Cricket (super cool lady from North Carolina) is currently in the lead for the women. It’s bound to be entertaining! Stay tuned and watch the leaderboard and listen to Joe Polk’s mtbcasts.
http://mtbcast.com/wordpress/
http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard
Idyllwild is sure a fun place for summer weekends!
For my friends who will be starting the Tour Divide soon… and for everyone else, here’s a panoramic I pieced together from the top of the Divide just outside Boulder, Wyoming. The race will be starting soon and it’s an exciting time for us all.
It’s been over a month since I had a blog entry, but life has, in no way, been boring! Here’s a quick run-down of the past month, and if you can hang on till the end, my adventures have taken a turn.
The Julian Death March was April 18th. Gordon came out from San Diego for support and I rode with my Idyllwild guys, Doug and Ian, and had a blast. It was a bit harder this year with the addition of the Oriflame climb, but just as beautiful!
The following week I got my eyes checked and the doc asked me… “how have you been driving?” Evidently I was pretty badly nearsighted but you don’t know it until you see how things are supposed to look. I “scored” these faux carbon fiber spectacles and I can really see further ahead on the trail!
Then, I headed out to the Whiskey Offroad in Prescott to meet up with some Tucson and St. George friends. 
I camped with the Siren crew and made a long weekend of it. Prescott wasn’t about being competitive, it was about hanging out with the guys. Sarah K., Lynda, and Johanna all rocked it in the women’s field, though.
Post event ride with Brendan, Craig and Dan… always fun, and entertaining!
Then, a week and a half ago, Brendan came out and we volunteered for the local xc race (mostly because we’d both get chewed up and spit out if we tried to race it) and swept the long course. It was good to see a lot of the girls and fun to ride – again – with no pressure to go fast.
Lastly, this past weekend was another marathon driving weekend back to Tucson.
As Summer rolls around, the ghia prefers to drive at night. A black air-cooled vw just isn’t fun in 105 degree temps.
While in Tucson, we went and checked out the Kitts Peak Observatory in preparation for an evening of Star Trek. \\//
So, my upcoming adventures… well, they’ve taken a turn! As far as the divide goes, if I’m going to go back out there, I want it to be because I’m ready to do something amazing! I don’t think I’m ready to do that so I have decided to put the divide on the back burner for a year. I’ve got other fish to fry for now, but TD truly does get under your skin and I hope to be able to take another stab at it.
As I’ve always said, big changes provide a new wave to surf and I’m excited. Intense has been great to me, but I’m talking to a good friend about making me a hardtail and jammin’ together on the trails of Tucson! ♣
