rim ride photo mania

ok. so. i have about four billion pictures from the rim ride gathering this weekend. i figured someone (at least one of you) would like to see them.

the thing is, there are the rim ride participants, each with their rich experiences, and their amazing stories.... all i have of those brave individuals are pictures (posted here) and my personal experiences of our lucky encounters. click the links below the pix to get their most incredible stories and experiences.

i do also have my own veryspecial rim-ride to 313 story + pictures, which deserves it's own story... i guess ;-) but i'll save that for tomorrow night when i'm wasting evening time in texas. i will post my story and my own days worth of pix tomorrow....

how about i just post pix of the non-event-event, and call it good? all you participants, feel free to take any pix you want!

the day starting very early, as you know, in the dark, trying to get one's shiiii in a pile

chris plesko and miss marni. i actually caught this moment on accident

edmund, ready to roll

this here joyful being is DaveC. i was hoping that his MissM could interpret this very special dance for us all?

caught a hot glimpse of the rare Mojo Spirit Bird!!! ;-) miss lynda, ready to rock 'n roll

miss lynda and her mister dave... they didn't know it, but they had a plan ;-)

fred-a-liscious... man of the hour! (well, maybe 12 some-odd hours)

adam, in true prep, working his way into it

it was pretty much black outside. and somehow chris knew i was ready to snap a shot of him... humm....

nice, dave ...gettin' in the zone

ed, darling ... and gary, my riding partner for the day

TOMMMMMM!!!

everybody lining up for the Just-For-Fun, and Just-Because-We-Aare-All-Here Group Ride.

this lucky puppy has her very own chair!!

inspiration and joy ... rollin' in

lookin' sassy for the photo crew, eh lynda? uhm... how is it that you're not dirty?

lynda decided she wanted to do a little dance for everyone

dave's sportin' a hot new post-race look these days ... well done, dave, on all possible accounts.......

awwwww

honey! rollin' in, after having a day feeling better than he thought.... BRAVO my love!!

alright. i know there is more to tell... YOU all know there is more to tell. but it will have to be later.... enjoy the pix.

and, most importantly, GREAT JOB everyone!!! my goodness, what an awesome crew of individuals.

jj

single-minded

truth be told, i really only had one thing in mind for this 3 day weekend. singletrack.

plain and simple.

ask, and you shall receive. right?

day one: rustlers, mary's, horsethief. i only snapped 3 shots. this was the only one that came out. i did not really feel like stopping.

first real view of day 2 afforded this lovely mixture of worlds: desert, and snow. believe it or not, this is looking west from the CO/UT border area. lots'a snow in places i've never seen.

it is pretty apparent at this point that i take terrible pictures of people while they're riding. i must work on that. meanwhile -- the boyz down in the wash.

this is the view looking south from the first false summit. for all those who care to know ... the la sals are covered in this thick white powdery stuff. TONS of it. we could see the la sals looming SO far away in the distance, all day long . one interesting note: VERY interesting doing part of the koko 'backwards' and in the light.

the 2nd day crew atop the first false summit. looking south east. ed, eben, chris.

darling.

they were 'scopin' the route' ;-)

i am so in love with certain spaces.

just some rock

ed

this is pretty much the only pic of actual riding that turned out. this is eben and ed flying down one of the last hills of the day. i must learn to stop to take pictures of my people. i have a lot of practice ahead of me. but in order to learn how to do that, i must first learn to sacrifice certain moments of speed and bliss. this might take a bit of time ;-)

day 3 i didn't bother taking the camera at all. slacker me for riding the ss and refusing to take a camel back. i just wanted to fly around. worked for me, bu ti have no pix except these of the ponies put to rest for the long drive home. the pic above: pony, icarus, and silver

can't wait for more. more singletrack, more flying, more fun, looming in the future.
more. more more.

truly a wonderful weekend darling. thank you oh-so deeply.

jj

wind in my wonderland

wednesdays ride was the start of a 5-day binge.

thursday nights from-the-house fun-fest was a date-ride with cynthia. despite the warmth and calm of the entire day, the clouds rolled over and the wind showed up to accompany us on our quest for smiles, laughter, and dirt. gee, thanks....

in getting to the top, i do believe that the wind had bumped into cynthia in the wrong way and knocked her off the bike. gee, that wasn't so nice!! (wind is a not-so-nice riding partner,eh?)

but we did push through to the top,and proceeded the merry-go-round trail ... in a wind tunnel.

the thing about riding with cyn, is that the conditions can be completely trying, annoying, freakingfreezing and downright naughty, and she will still look and BE like this:

cyn blasting through the wind tunnel, giggling the whole way.

Thanks, cyn ... for an awesome after-work ride. I can't wait for our weekly dirt dates!

mmm... rollin' home once again ;-)

ed and i are on our way to warmer, less windy climes.... 3 days is the dirt should be about rooty-tooty-freshn'-frooty.

tralllalalalalalaaaa!!

jj

for my mother

ma! pay attention! this one's for you!!!

the week has been big. post-grandma's passing led to grandpa's weekend heart attack. yyyyyyyaaaahhhh. one stint, a now clear artery, and a few hours short on sleep, and he's rarin' to go ....... it was really strange to see him flirting with the nurses. i've just got to say... ;-)

work has been a magnificent thing these last 2 weeks. the job became a career (like it wasn't before). but the new responsibilities resonate. and i'm on fire.

family stuff addressed, and work ticked n' tied, i finally was able to have my priorities not only clear in my sights, but i was actually able to execute all decisions based towards that priority.

this here is a picture of where my little world becomes attached the the www.biggerworld.com ;-)
(ummm... not a bad idea there)

where the world inside unfolds, exponentially, outward

it's nice 'n big out there. much more fitting.

and infinitely more satisfying.
yes, i rode the SS (silver) today. damnit. i want a new bike. NOW. pink might give way to silver.

i hit a few old chords of inspiration out there this evening

mom, for some reason, this picture is for you

see ma. i did it. ... ;-)

the other thing i've just got to say is this: that NOTHING beats leaving from the house, on the mtb, hitting a world of dirt and returning to home still on the mtb, all dirty and heart pounding. this is what i've wanted. for years. and it's all here. right here. right now..

thank goodness.


(i know you crack heads get this all year round ------ but some of us have other addictions to feed ... which leaves us hungry ... starving... jonsin' ........... strung-out ... during certain parts of certain seasons.) this must be remedied. i realize that.

you know. i'm just sayin'.

jj

sneak attack

finally. some dirt.
(before the snow returns ... they say).

where we came from ... and went to

where we went to, and came from...

the chase bunnies. yes, they're all male, and they all stopped to look at a map. (not that they needed to).

they realized i was onto them, catching them in the act ;-)

the chase bunnies eventually ran into the chase llama (click to enlarge the pic ... it's there, i swear). the llama, apparently, didn't like to venture off the trail.

my very own personal chase bunny

thank goodness for dirt. i needed that, and then some.

thanks, boys ;-)

thank you, darling ... for the vision, and for making it happen.

jj

quiescent

i have never experienced such stillness.

and that was a good thing.

jj