Two more weeks before I close my store. It has been very difficult since I announced that I am closing my store. With everybody coming in to get the great deals as I sell off my inventory I have been extremely busy trying to keep up. To make matters worse I am doing it alone, since my son is on his mission and I don't have any employees.
The sad thing about this is that I am having such a hard time keeping up with the store that there is no time to ride. So as sad as it is to be shutting down the store it will be nice when it is over and I can get some riding in.
The plan is to make riding my bike my full time job. I am working on getting companies to sponsor me as I continue my efforts to get more people out riding bikes. I have a incredible year of bike adventures planned for 2015, and then an even more amazing plan for 2016.
2015 Adventures
Continental Divide
I have applied to be a brand ambassador for Blackburn. If I get that position than I will be riding the Great Divide trail from Banff Canada to the bottom of New Mexico. In addition to this trail I have the following adventures on my list for 2015:
White Rim Trail 3 day adventure
The Colorado Plateau is a rugged land, a land of contrasts--unbroken expanses of rock, towering monoliths, great rivers, scorching canyon bottoms and icy mountain peaks. At the heart of the Plateau is a mile-high maze of canyons, mesas and spires carved by the Green and Colorado rivers--Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
The White Rim Trail wanders through this high-desert land of rock as far as the eye can see. The White Rim Adventure will provide ample opportunity for spectacular photography.
White Rim one night adventure
Many people ride the White Rim route in one day. While I was training for my South Pole Expedition, time constraints meant that I could only ride this trail at night. This has become an annual tradition and for the last two years I have been doing the White Rim trail with an increasing number of riders as a one night ride.
Kokopelli 3 day adventure
The Kokopelli Trail is a 142 mile (229 km) multi-use trail in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The trail was named in honor of its mythic muse, Kokopelli.
The Kokopelli Trail begins near Loma, Colorado in McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. The trail follows Mary's Loop through the Mack Ridge mountain biking area before crossing Salt Creek and entering Rabbit Valley. From Rabbit Valley, the trail winds south, roughly following the Colorado River until it crosses Utah State Route 128. There it begins the uphill section, eventually looping around the La Sal Mountains, then descending into Moab, Utah, via the Porcupine Rim Trail.
Great Western Trail
The Great Western Trail is a unique corridor of braided and paralleling trails. The trail system traverses 4,455 miles through Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. It incorporates stunning desert and canyon landscapes, plateaus, woodlands, dense forests and alpine meadows. It links 18 National Forests, Indian, State and BLM lands and encompasses the most diverse vegetation, topography and wildlife in the western United States.
The Great Western Trail is really more of a network of trails, making it possible to create several spectacular loops. I will be doing three different loops on the Great Western trail system:
Northern Utah 3 day adventure
Central Utah 3 day adventure
Southern Utah 3 day adventure
The Arizona Trail two week adventure
The Arizona Trail is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people.
Uinta mountains in Utah one week adventure
The Uinta Mountains are considered by many to be Utah's backpacking and hiking paradise.
The High Uintas Wilderness area is off limits to bikes. However there is a network of dirt roads and trails surrounding the Wilderness Area.
My Uintas expedition will use these trails to ride around the Wilderness area.
Yellowstone (road bike) one week adventure
It's a Wonderland. Old Faithful and the majority of the world's geysers are preserved here. They are the main reason the park was established in 1872 as America's first national park—an idea that spread worldwide. A mountain wildland, home to grizzly bears, wolves, and herds of bison and elk, the park is the core of one of the last, nearly intact, natural ecosystems in the Earth’s temperate zone.
Yellowstone does not allow mountain biking, so for this adventure I will be riding on the roads.
Idaho Hot Springs trail 500 miles 6 day adventure
The Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route guides riders over and through the breathtaking landscape of central Idaho. From blue ribbon trout streams to sub-alpine terrain and cozy mountain towns, riders will pass through some of the most spectacular country the West has to offer, with the opportunity to indulge in the highest concentration of soakable hot springs in North America.
Winter Biking mini adventures
Assuming I don’t find my way back to Antarctica, November, December, and January will be filled with snow biking adventures in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.