On the Road to Outerbike: First trip in the new Van

With the Eurovan all loaded and the Let's Go Aero trailer attached we headed off to Moab, but not without a couple of stops on the way.

Trip number one in the new mobile Mountain Flyer rig is in the books. Outerbike turned out to be a great first year event drawing people from all over the country and many from Canada. I was also fortunate enough to go on a little ride called the “Whole Enchilada” in a fast “group ride” type format (kind of like a race). A bunch of fast guys and gals met at the top of Burro pass on Friday for a quick gnar shredding session down the 26.5-mile trail. If you have not ridden this route, I would highly recommend it, with a blistering 7000’ vertical feet of descending, this has become a Moab favorite.

            We left Gunnison early Thursday morning hoping to make it to Moab by early afternoon. After a quick trip over Kebler pass (an all gravel pass between Crested Butte and Paonia) we met up with Len Zanni of Honey Stinger in Carbondale to pick up some of our goods from Interbike. All the bouncing around over Kebler quickly proved some reorganization was needed; a few quick adjustments and we were back in business rolling west on I-70. Our trusty Eurovan did well holding 75mph on I-70 even while pulling a loaded trailer. We must have been looking good because we received looks from almost everyone driving by or maybe they were upset we were driving so slowly.

            Our final stop before Moab was a quick stop in Grand Junction to pick up a new stereo for the van that had Ipod plugins, shuffling through CDs while driving is so 90s.

We also made a quick stop over at MRP to check out some new goods from them and White Brothers, keep an eye out for the new White Brothers fork and MRPs G2 sl chainguide. After a tour of the facilities we decided we better get rolling, so off we went desert bound.

            The final leg was uneventful but scenic as usual. With the afternoon sun heating up the sandstone, we were uncomfortably hot for the last stretch of the trip. But the rest of the weekend would only get warmer. With temps in the mid 90’s it was a warm few days sitting under an EZ-up in a dusty parking lot, but the riding was worth it. Friday’s ride on the Whole Enchilada was epic, with tons of fast technical descending. I ended up finishing the ride in 1:55, which I was happy with seeing as I had only ridden part of the trail once.

            It was a great first trip in the new Mountain Flyer rig with lots of great comments about the magazine. Its awesome to get out and hear what people have to say about our publication and really makes the hard work that much more worthwhile. If you have any suggestions of events we should attend feel free to leave some comments. Our next trip will be down to Angel Fire, NM for the Red Bull Final Descent 12 Hour DH race. Until next time… Keep checking back, I have some photos from the Whole Enchilada that I will post when I get a chance.

Not a bad day for a drive through the mountains. On Kebler pass headed to Carbondale.

All set up at Outerbike. Yes, we are missing a Mountain flyer EZ-up. It is on the way now...

Our neighbor at Outerbike, Turner, was jamming all day with consumers stoked to ride their bikes. That must be a good feeling.

Ibis was another booth that was always busy, atleast until the bikes were all gone.

Packed and ready to roll out.