Monday, January 2, 2012

2011 Year In Review

2011 was packed with lots of adventure for us. We were lucky enough to explore some new trail, ride some new events, ride some local (and not so local favorities), and even add a couple of toys to the bike stable.

The biking highlight for me had to be the BC Bike Race. It was unquestionably the coolest and most unique thing I did on a bike this year. Each stage had its unique feel and we got to do that for 7 days in a row! The riding was anything but easy with some very technical riding through some amazing terrain. The stages wupped on you until you were off the bike and had a chance to reflect about the highlights of the day. All in all it was an amazingly well organized event that fielded a super diverse group of riders from all of the world. 

The other highlight was the combination of new dirt that we explored. Much of the trail was new to us and it provided for some incredible views of part of the state we had not yet ridden...Some of the highlights included exploring the Big Hole, Hamilton/Sula, new CDT segments in the Helena Nat Forest, & Bangtail Divide trails. They were all serious rides but well worth the work considering the great riding and even better views!

As 2011 wrapped up the world of fat bike opened up to our awareness....and what timing! The snow bikes have extended our riding season and made for a particularly fun new learning curve in regards to bike build and riding style. It has made biking 'new' again. All in all, we have been really fortunate to have explored new terrain and re-visit some local favorites.

The non biking related highlight was getting the Airstream Globetrotter road-worthy.  It had been a long journey in gutting the tin can and getting it to the point where we could take it on the open road.  There are still a couple of minor kinks to work out but it was very gratifying to see the culmination of the last 2 years of work come to an aesthetic conclusion.  One of the last under-takings will be to shine the tin can up.  That will require a fair amount of time but the final product should be well worth it.

Thanks 2011 to a fun filled year, we are looking forward to 2012 with a fat bike view of the snowy trails.

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