mountainflyermagazine

DEFINING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CYCLIST

number 11 $5.95www.mountainflyer.com BIG PHAT PHOTOGRAPHY ISSUE

BIKE INVESTMENTS FOR A BEAR MARKET

BOULDER IS CRAZY FOR ‘CROSS

UNDERSTANDING THAT FRESH COAT OF PAINTDisplay until 3/31/09

tour of the

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getting your

allowance of

Some 20 miles into the 13th annual Tour of the WhiteMountains, just as I was feeling really good about the flow I hadcaptured through an extremely challenging three-mile technicalsection, I felt my pedals seize up. A rock had torn my derailleurclean off the bike. The crippled contraption was now well woveninto the back wheel, which was skidding dumbly through the dan-gerous terrain.

On the bright side, as I sat in the dirt fixing my bike, the suncame out. It was the first break in the slate-gray clouds since thestart of the race. I might have let the warmth lull me into a falsesense of security had I not trusted my own gut instinct that therains would come at exactly 3 p.m. So I continued repairing thebike with the same urgency I had shown on the rocky climbs anddescents that led to my current predicament while continuing todeliver friendly how do you do’s to the steady stream of passingcyclists, several of whom flew over the bars before my very eyes.

Back on my bike 45 minutes later, I was again enjoying thefantastic trails. The White Mountains offer some of the best single-track in the West. Here at 7,000 feet in the mountains of east-cen-tral Arizona, I found myself threading in and out of the trees, enjoy-ing myself immensely despite the dull ache that had settled into my

butt and hamstrings. The rocky section had been an anomaly. Myriding partner and I chirped out cheeriness to one another as werode, trying to forget that we had now entered unknown territory—surpassing any previous distance or time spent on a bike in onesitting.

The winds began blowing with three miles left in our 37-mileride, but we heard music off in the distance, perhaps the start thepost-ride festivities. The promise of barbecue and beer instead ofthe god-awful gels and energy bars we had been eating all daygave us the strength to press on.

We struggled into a fierce headwind the last mile to the finish.Fifteen minutes later, in line with my prediction, the rains came.Soon after that the trails became unrideable, forcing some peopleto abandon their bikes and slog back on foot.

The band got off a few songs before the rain started, so webalanced our beers with plates of barbecue beef and beans backto our vehicle. The car’s heater took away the deep chill that hadsettled into our bones and we drove out just before the roadbecame impassable.

The 13th annual Tour of the White Mountains was incrediblyfun and we’ll be back next year to do it all over again.

SINGLETRACKBy James Rickman

white mountains

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