Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 2 - Riding in Colorado Springs

After meeting up with Xan to help him move out of the dorms at Colorado College, I stayed in Colorado Springs for a few days to ride some of the area's great trails and take a break from driving. On my first day, Xan took me on an epic double loop ride that included two of the best downhill runs in the Springs. These loops represent my idea of the perfect Colorado Front Range ride – long climb following by long descent. We climbed 5,000+ vertical feet, and our legs definitely felt it by the end of the ride. Living at sea level and riding trails that start above 6,000 feet only added to the strain for me, but I was happy to be out of the car and on the bike!

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 1 - California to Colorado

I left for a two week trip to Colorado in mid-May to pick up our youngest monkey, Xan, from college and do some epic riding along the way. The plan was for me to drive to Colorado Springs solo, meet up with Xan at Colorado College and ride the Front Range area for a few days, then road trip to through the mountain bike meccas of Colorado and Utah. I took my Oxide Cycles Battleaxe, and Xan would be riding his Ventana Zeus, both Rohloff SPEEDHUB equipped.

On the first day of the trip, I left Berkeley in the morning heading east in Interstate 80. My first stop was in Sacramento to provide some follow-up service for a customer. Afterwords, I continued on to the Boreal ski area exit to ride Hole in the Ground, a fun trail that flows through evergreen forest and over classic Sierra Nevada granite. Unfortunately, spring conditions meant snow was still present in places, and I ended up spending about an hour alternating between walking and riding through intermittent snow patches as I attempted to reach the trailhead. By the time I was at the trailhead, there was far too much snow to make riding worthwhile, so I bailed on the ride and hit the road, getting to Elko, NV for the night.

Neil and Phil Head to Monterey for Sea Otter Classic and a Trail Ride

Last Friday, Neil and Phil were joined by Cycle Monkey friend Charlie for a day in Monterey at Sea Otter Classic, one of the bicycle industry's largest festivals. Sea Otter is the event at which most companies debut their most anticipated new products, so our trip to Laguna Seca raceway, where the festival is held, gave us a chance to do some important product research. After a long day at the festival seeing old friends and checking out new products, we got a chance to get an evening ride in at the neighboring Fort Ord National Monument.

Cycle Monkey Attends the North American Handmade Bicycle Show

Katie, Neil, and Aaron at our booth

A week after the Seattle Bike Expo, some of the Cycle Monkey team headed east to Charlotte, North Carolina for the ever-impressive North American Handmade Bicycle Show, also known as NAHBS. The show is a chance for small and mid-size framebuilders to showcase their artistry and craft to consumers and fellow bike builders. The show is full of the most exciting customized bikes you’ll ever see, where no cost is spared in producing beautiful and functional works of art. Cycle Monkey has been exhibiting at the show for the last five years, and this year we were excited to have a larger booth space to showcase some of our most popular builds from the Monkey Lab.

Neil and Phil Ride into the Sunset in Olympia, Washington

On our way north to the Seattle Bicycle Expo, Neil and I stopped just west of Olympia, Washington to ride the dense woods of Capitol State Forest. The first half of the ride – the climb – was very scenic and relaxing after a long day of driving, but the descent portion of the ride turned into a bit of a fiasco. The ride was incredibly fun for the most part, but it became another trail that we couldn’t ride at our full potential, and we had to promise ourselves we would return in better conditions.

After a long, winding drive through the woods just west of Olympia, Washington’s state capital, we reached the trailhead deep in the forest. Capitol State Forest is a relatively isolated area, and as we drove through the trees and clearings it was a nice break from the monotony of the freeway. We had been driving north toward Seattle for hours, so we were excited to be getting out into the wilderness after a long day of driving.