Moab (and a Little Schmaltz)

The Yawp Company recently took a trip to Moab. Depending on traffic and the lead content of your foot, driving to Moab usually takes about 5-7 hours from Denver. This time, driving to Moab took 22 hours. At least it was pretty.

Missing a package? Here it is!

Thanks to an interstate closure, Rebecca and I were a day behind the others, and we missed what sounded like a great ride at Mag 7. We had our own short ride on Pipe Dream, near town. It runs along the side of a mesa and is extremely well-designed. You never gain more than twenty or thirty feet of elevation at a time, and the trail takes advantage of the hillside's best features. The front range could really benefit from a similar trail that would traverse the foothills instead of climbing straight up them. 

Style.

There's a no-dab challenge on this trail, which was kind of fun. It seemed fairly easy until I fell into a yucca bush on the flattest, smoothest section of the entire trail. I later dabbed on this leafy path through town:

On Sunday, we drove out to Amasa Back in order to ride Captain Ahab and harpoon the white whale.

This here is a slideshow of Rebecca descending a section of pretty nasty jeep road:

Cullen took a bunch of great photos, too. Some of them you can see below and others you can see in this here video:

Just in case you missed this incredible group photo.

Ahhhhhh! Moab!    Photo: Cullen

We haven't any photographs of the excellent trail called Captain Ahab. If you were to believe one particular bold-faced lying member of the Yawp Company, Captain Ahab begins with seven punchy climbs and then descends all the way to the end of the trail. However, the truth of the matter is that there is one strenuous climb at the beginning of Captain Ahab, and then lots of descending punctuated by many punchy climbs. Because there are no pictures of that awesome trail, here's more of this:

Moab was our seventh trip this year and it marks the end of the Company season. Of course I have something obvious and sentimental to say about it.

When Yawp opened, we made building community a goal of ours. I was a little nervous about it--to an extent we don't get to have a say in the community that forms around the shop. As a hermetic introvert, I was especially nervous about the Company and spending precious weekends away from the shop with people I didn't know very well.

The folks who've joined us on these trips have really been a joy to spend time with. Thank you to every one of you who rode with us, and who hung out with us but didn't ride. Thank you for sharing without being asked, for playing well with others, for showing kindness to strangers, for allowing space for contrasting opinions, for riding at the speed of a group, and for never complaining about anything (except Itch and Scratch in Eagle, which more people should complain about). It's been a pleasure getting to know all of you, and next year's trips are the high points on my horizon.

Video of the Week

Gift Guides are Useless; Enjoy our 2015 Gift Guide

There are a few problems with gift guides. Some of them are full of cliché or underwhelming items. Some are too expensive, featuring things like a $90,000 trip to space. The biggest problem, however, is that even the coolest gifts usually don't fit the people for whom you're shopping. 

Oh well. So what? They're fun to look at anyway. We've put together a list things we think are pretty great, including a few things we don't sell but wish we could. Please enjoy!

Oskar Blues Death by Coconut Irish Porter

Flavory beer shouldn't be so good. If we sold this, we'd always be out.

 

J. Paks Ruksak

This is the most convenient bag we've ever used. It's great for beverages of any kind or size, snacks, sunglasses, maps, water balloons, or a million other thins. We even stuffed an entire Icebreaker hoodie in there without hassle. We have these in black and black/red for $50. Also, J. Paks is a local company with top-notch craftsmanship. 

 

Sweet Bloom Coffee

In Denver, we have a lot of great coffee options. Sweet Bloom is one of the best! We sell their coffee, but you should check out their cafe, too. 

 

Folding Locks by Abus

U-locks have been preventing bike theft for decades now, but they do have some drawbacks. They're heavy, awkward to mount to the bike, and noisy. We started using these folding Bordo locks by Abus, and haven't looked back. They're always with the bike, so we never forget them. They're quiet during the ride, and just as (if not more) secure as a u-lock. We have these in lots of colors for $80.

 

A Trail Map and Corresponding Vacation

Does your significant other have everything they need already? How about a trip to someplace they've always wanted to ride? A map will cost you a mere $14 now and give you time to save for the trip. We have these in stock. Singletrack Maps is another Colorado company.

 

Surly Clothing

Surly makes some excellent wool base layers, wool jerseys, wool hoodies, and a killer waxed cotton jacket. $60-250. All of their garments were designed for riding, but most are equally suited to sitting around, drinking beer, etc. If you had two base layers, two jerseys, a hoodie, and a jacket, you could get rid of all your other clothes. (Keep your pants).

 

Repair Stand by Feedback Sports

Whether you enjoy working on your own bikes or just hate kneeling to clean it, Feedback offers a variety of repair stands that are stable and height-adjustable. We recommend the sport-mechanic model at $169. Feedback Sports is yet another Colorado company.

 

Hours Upon Hours of Fun

Because duh.

 

Who Rides the Tiger

If you like guitars that plug in, and if you like 12" musical discs that warp in the oven, order your copy of Who Rides the Tiger's LP Transylvania Baby from All Hail the Black Market. 

 

Bona Vita 1.0L Electric Gooseneck Kettle

Though I use this every day, I never would've purchased it for myself (which is why it made such a great gift). For the first few months that Yawp! was open, I used a measuring pitcher to heat my water in the microwave. I though my life was fine. Then, Scott gave this kettle to me, and I've realized I was living in darkness. This thing heats water in a heartbeat, and thanks to the precision of the gooseneck I no longer spill boiling water every time I make a pourover. You should buy yours at Sweet Bloom Coffee. 

 

Salida: More than Pretty Much Okay

The Yawp Company recently went to Moab, but before I can blog about that I need to blog about our trip to Salida, which happened months ago. Instead of writing about the trip immediately when my memory might have been more accurate, we're stuck with whatever vague details I can retrospectively invent. Therefore, let this be mostly a photo blog. But first:

There is one particular event I can vividly recall because it resulted in what some might call a "life lesson." The lesson was twofold: a) do not store your sunscreen and your tingly chamois cream in the same pocket of your backpack and b) putting chamois cream on your face is not unpleasant.

Monarch Crest Trail

Nate is always smiling. If you ask him why, he just smiles.

Cottonwood Trail

Arkansas River

 

Video of the Week

Yawp Throws a Leg over the West

The Yawp Company spent the weekend in Fruita. Our friend Walt Whitman had some things to say about our trip:

"Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are
     crowded with perfumes,
I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it,
The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.

The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the
     distillation, it is odorless,
It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it,
I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised
     and naked,
I am mad for it to be in contact with me.

The smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread,
     crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the
     passing of blood and air through my lungs,
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and
     dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,
The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the
     eddies of the wind,
A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms,
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs
     wag,
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the
     fields and hill-sides,
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising
     from bed and meeting the sun.

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains
     of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the
     shadow'd wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you."

From Song of Myself

-Walt Whitman

The Yawp Company Bikepacks with Surly

Adventure. It's so entangled with the spirit of riding a bike that it's almost to obvious to talk about, but we're going to talk about it anyway. Because a bike is not just transportation and is enjoyable for its own sake, you can be in the midst of traversing points A to B and find yourself detouring to points L, Ń, Omega, Krypton, Narnia, and etc. You may find yourself at a bar or a concert. You may find yourself drinking a really fine beer while watching the setting sun do that thing it does with the sky. You may find yourself anywhere, and no matter where you are you won't be feeding the meter.

By its nature, adventure is difficult to plan. Plans can give way to bad weather or suffocate under logistics. Sometimes adventures end with a number of the adventuring party getting eaten by others in that party. Thus, it's a little miraculous that our recent planned (albeit loosely) adventure with Surly Bikes turned out to be wholly adventurous with absolutely no cannibalism (that we know of).

Ten riders set out from Waterton Canyon on Friday with various amounts of gear loaded up in various ways. Though a full set of sleek bikepacking bags looks cool and pro and works well, there were plenty of items zip-tied to chainstays, which seems a little closer to the spirit of adventure.

Because Waterton Canyon was closed by bear activity (human activity, actually, as it was bear-selfies that instigated the closure), we rode around to the Colorado Trail through Roxborough State Park. The four miles of additional singletrack we rode was excellent--airing out a fully-loaded touring bike was worth the extra mileage. The ten additional miles of road was not so excellent, but it wasn't awful, either.

William sort of enjoys a decidedly not awful road ride.

Somewhere in this neighborhood lives a Cairn Terrier who chased us for the equivalent of 40 dog miles, and he is still exhausted to this very day.

Trevor is contractually obligated to present his middle finger to any and all cameras. Thus, I delight in catching him off guard.

Because of the detour, it was after 1pm before we started climbing the singletrack on the Colorado Trail. We had hoped to be at the beginning of Segment Two by that time, but an adventure that runs on time has--to some degree--failed. The loaded climbs of Segment One were not as difficult as I expected, but they were far longer. About 90% of the trail was ridable while the other 90% was hike-a-bike. Cascading boulders stacked at what seemed like a 35-degree angle made for sore triceps the following day. At the top of that climb I was hungrier than I've ever been, and in fact ingested a couple of sandwiches by osmosis. This rest stop was exactly the place where someone (probably the event's organizer) would've gotten eaten had circumstances been worse.

Too slow! 

Great restraint is shown in the matter of not eating a compatriot. 

Nate usually seems pretty normal, but he enjoys terrible climbs.

The next four miles sloped gently but cruelly upward and deposited us at a campsite with a view that was just pretentious. We'll be going back to that place someday.

While the entire day was "fun," the descent from that campsite down to the Platte River was real, actual fun. I wrecked at this corner and figured it was as good a place to take pictures. 

4 for 4. Boom!

We gathered water at the Platte River. I don't know why, because all we drank from that point onward was whiskey. A few sweet opportunities to push Seth into the river were clearly missed.

I tried to tip Trevor into the river by tilting the camera, but his grip was steadfast.

Some goobers try to ruin my nature photography. Why?

Some goobers.

We decided it was too late in the day to attempt Segment Two. We instead took the road through the "towns" of Foxton and Buffalo Creek, ending with a truly endless and ghastly climb on 126. It traverses Buffalo Creek's burn area, but the climb is so godawful that I developed my very own personal "burn area." At least the sunset was pretty.

At the top of that hill, some fellow campers awaited us with beer and burritos. Had we not been so weary, our vigorous hugs of thanks might've proven fatal. After some beer and a lot of sleep, we woke up in this ugly place:

Kevin from Huckleberry Roasters greeted us with a lot of very delicious, bottomless coffee, and thus he improved on what I'd thought was a perfect morning.

Double complete belly rub!

We spent Saturday doing whatever we felt like doing. We rode bikes, we drank beer, and for a little while, despite having a set of corn hole boards like, right there, we did a little of this:

If you haven't ridden the Little Scraggy trail, you should go do that right now. 

Choo-choo!

Reeves is obviously singing or sneezing or shrieking or something. Reeves, we like this photo so much that we made a profile picture that you are welcome to use royalty-free:

We took senior pictures.

We wore ourselves out.

And then we rallied.

(Note of thanks: Our Yawp Company has received quite a lot of beer from our neighbors at Joyride Brewing Company this season. As we're all insufferable to be around while sober, we'd like to thank them for making this whole outfit tolerable. For this particular outing, we also enjoyed beer by Prost, Epic, and Trve. I can't tell you just how tolerable everyone was. Thanks!)

And then we found a use for the corn hole boards:

It turns out that there is no such thing as "out of the way" when this fella gets going:

In case you can't tell from that pitch black video what's going on, that's Tyler running into me. If you want to sit in my lap, Tyler, all you have to do is ask.

It turns out that getting run over by a bicycle near a campfire is the bedtime story I want to be told every night, and bikepacking is the adventure I want to have every weekend. Thank you to everyone who participated, cooked, carried, shared, dogsat, high-fived, rode, and cornholed. Let's do it again soon.