Narrow roads and big skies.

Have you ever been on a fully supported ride, where all you have to do is wake up, drink coffee, eat, dress and roll on your bike while the staff takes care of the route finding, baggage hauling, hotel procurement and mechanical support? Even better, you do all of the above while following the route of a Pro-Tour Level race route.  Feeling every climb and every bump in the road that the pros will feel is pretty special to our sport.  What other PRO level sport will let you on their course? NASCAR…I think not…..NBA….good luck touching the hardwood, MLB….no fly balls in Fenway Park for us mortals…..cycling is much different.  We have access to pretty much any of the venues on bike, which is what draws many of us to two wheels.

No shortage of food.

As the world watches both the Giro and the Tour of California unfold on live streaming internet connections, each one of us that is a die hard riding/racer/fan finds ourselves licking our chops at the thought of riding what you are seeing on the screen.  We may not be able to be a PRO racer, but we can go out there and ride the same routes in some pretty amazing places.

A smile on every face.

Locally here in Steamboat we have a wonderful partner in the form of SPINDLE 1 BIKE TOURS.   SPINDLE 1 is run by a close friend of Moots Mr. J.R. Thompson.  He has been in the extended Moots “family” for years.  He works at our local Moots dealer and birth place of Moots, Orange Peel Bicycle Service.  In his “spare” time he maps out supported trips from California to Colorado for the cyclists that want to escape the cold for some base miles or ride the countryside of Solvang. J.R. (as friends & guests refer to him) has an amazing background of competitive bicycle racing at a very high level, he also has an in-dept knowledge of Moots frame manufacturing and frequently rides with the crew from the factory in Steamboat Springs.

Here in Colorado he has organized tours for groups of friends that want to tackle Rocky Mountain National Park, ride the canyons of Boulder or ride the route of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge .  I personally had the pleasure of doing a one-off mountain bike tour via SPINDLE 1 around our local national forest for a friends “bachelor party”.  Three days of riding amazing trail, each day ending with a camp site set up, food and drink at the ready and real local knowledge of the route….all we had to do was ride.

Do the ride, not the drive.

This summer SPINDLE 1 BIKE TOURS has planned out a week long trip around the USA PRO CYCLING CHALLENGE that will take place in early August, check out the site and the trip if you want to ride some of the best terrain Colorado has to offer.  Since SPINDLE 1 is based out of Steamboat Springs, you just might be able to swing into Moots for a factory tour as well!

Moots demo fleet at the ready.

The Moots Demo Tour continues this next week with stops ranging from the Mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley.  If you have been waiting to catch a ride on a new Vamoots RSL, Mooto X RSL or the NEW MX Divide, wait no more.  Corey will be at the helm of the Moots Demo Fleet for the next 10 days.  Check out times and locations below to take advantage of a great demo and conversation with a real-live Moots person!

Monday 5/14~Lutherville Bikes: 9am to Noon from shop….stop in and take a morning spin and meet the staff at Lutherville Bikes. Directions HERE.

Tuesday 5/15~Family Bikes: 2pm to 6pm from shop….come meet shop owner Jonathan Seibold, chat with Corey (from Moots) and demo a Moots.

Family Bikes/Moots Demo Event Location: HERE

Thursday 5/17,~Bio Wheels Cincinnati : 3pm to 6pm from shop, Group ride to follow demos at 6pm. Bio Wheels Directions: HERE

Saturday 5/19~Alfred E Bike: 9am to 1pm from shop. Come demo a Moots from Michigan’s biggest Moots dealer. Alfred E Bike Directions: HERE

Bikes that will be on hand to demo:

Mountain:

17″ MX Divide

18″ MX Divide

19″ MX Divide

20″ MX Divide

18″ Mooto X YBB

19″ Mooto X YBB

16″ Mooto X RSL

18″ Mooto X RSL

20″ Mooto X RSL

Road:

56cm Vamoots RSL

58cm Vamoots RSL

50cm Vamoots CR

52cm Vamoots CR

54cm Vamoots CR

56cm Vamoots CR

56cm Psychlo X  RSL

**Please call ahead to RSVP for a bike in your size for best results at the demo events.**

Packed with Moots demos.

The Steamboat Springs Airport Loop in mixed weather conditions…..got out a couple of weeks ago with Bryce to log an hour or so during lunch.  This loop is somewhat of a staple for the Moots crew…right out the door and onto the fun stuff.

Christy Allen rips it on here Mootanieer

Coming back from our trip to Sea Otter, I tried to think about what type of “theme” or “thread” there might be for the event this year.  New product…yes, loads of it…we had some in the form of the MX Divides ….others had their share as well.  Was it the weather? Hot, unusually hot for Monterey…yes, that could be a theme. Smiles…loads of those too…happy people biking around in good weather seeing new product, racing their guts out.  How’s that for a theme? Okay, I guess that is what it’s all about…it is a festival of the bike….what’s not to like?

But there was more.  More for us in the way of meeting new friends on new Moots, seeing old friends on old Moots.  I ran into (as I do every Sea Otter) Steven Seaweed; Cancer survivor, San Fransico Radio DJ and yes, a Moots owner.  Nice to see ya big guy!

Next was our good man Gavin Burke.  A transplant from Austrailia, living in Big Bear, riding his trusty Moots RigorMootis.  I met Gavin years ago at the Moots 25 Anniversary party in Steamboat.  He is a kindered spirit of the bike.  Loves single track and as I recall was the last one at the keg that night in Steamboat.

We also got to met two other very enthusiastic Moots owners during our days at Sea Otter.  First up was Jeff Stern who you might have read about in this posting; Jeff bought his Moots from a person that owned it from day one, took good care of it and passed it along to Jeff at a nice price.  Jeff then took his first road win on that bike at Sea Otter.

Lastly we met Christy Allen (pictured above & below).  Christy found here Mootaineer used and with the help of her mechanic/husband took the win in the cat 3 cross country race at Sea Otter. Riding a Moots to victory many years after it was made….

She writes:

I want to share this photo my friend took of me racing my Mootaineer to victory at the Sea Otter 2012 Cross Country Cat 3 race.

Greg (my sweetheart /husband/mechanic) found the frame at a bike swap in Dec 2010. The original owner kept her in good condition. An unbelievable find and truly a fine bike to ride!

Specifications:

2001 Mootaineer frame, small (new Moots decal kit),

Rear Shock: Fox RP23,

Stem: Moots Open Trail,

Post: Moots Cinch, Fork:

Fox RLC 32 (all white, de-stickered),

Group: 2011 Shimano XTR

(brakes –XTR, Yumeya),

Wheels: Stans’ Alpine rims (all white, de-stickered),

DT Swiss 190 hubs,

Tires: Schwalbe Rocket Ron Evolution TL Ready, 2.4 front, 2.1 rear.

I enjoyed chatting with you at the expo.  I’ll be sure to stop in to say hello next time I’m in Steamboat Springs.

Kind regards,

Christy Allen

Christy in her winners jersey

So to me the theme was good people on good bikes.  New or used…and really a testament to how a nicely made frame will hold up; ride after ride, owner after owner.

Thanks to all that came by and shared their stories!

Moots is heading East for a stretch of dealer visits and demo days.  If you have ever wanted to get out on a Moots this could be your chance.  Matt will be piloting the Moots truck and starting his demo tour in Syracuse, NY at Green Lakes State Park with Syracuse Bicycle.  He will then be headed East to Belmont Wheelworks in Boston, Massachusettes with demos from the store.  The next day the Moots fleet will be at Middlesex Fells with NEMBA with a drawing for 2011 NEMBA Rides Moots prizes, with a full expo & NEMBA party.

Two days later Matt will again have the demo fleet in action at Huntington State Park with Bethel Cycles with a BBQ following at the shop.

Matt will wrap up his trip with a stop at Strictly Bkes in Ft. Lee, New Jersey.

Make sure you take a good look at times and locations below.

Tell your friends and riding buddies. We hope to see you along the way!

Moots East Demo Visits:

May 1st 5:30pm: Pittsburgh, Pa. Swimming Pool @ North Park

http://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks/npfac.aspx with TOP GEAR BICYCLES

May 3^rd 4-7pm: Green Lakes State Park with Syracuse Bicycle( Syracuse New York)  SYRACUSE BICYCLES

GREEN LAKE STATE PARK (MAP) (refreshments provided).

May 5^th 9am-5pm: Belmont Wheelworks (Boston, MA) MOOTS DEMO DAY AT BELMONT WHEEL WORKS

May 6^th 9am-3pm Middlesex Fells with NEMBA (drawing for 2011 NEMBA Rides Moots prizes)  expo & NEMBA party

May 8^th 3-7pm Huntington State Park with Bethel Cycles  (Bethel, CT)

BETHEL CYCLES

LOCATION: COLLIS HUNTTINTON STATE PARK with BBQ following at the shop

May 9th Strictly Bikes, Ft. Lee, NJ STRICTLY BIKES

We are back from what was a very exciting 2012 Sea Otter Classic.  Moots was on site to hand out demo bikes, which is pretty normal for us.  What was really great about this year is we had the New MX Divide bikes on hand for the public and press to get their first ever chance to ride the new bike.  Sea Otter did not disappoint.  We had loads of customers and press put the bikes through their paces.  The feedback was great.

Another nice part of Sea Otter is our chance to meet Moots owners from all walks of life, hear their stories of how they ride their Moots and what makes them love our bikes.  It’s a good thing I can type because my jaw is sore from talking so much….but that is a good thing.

Just one of the great Moots stories from the weekend comes from Jeff Stern.  As you can watch in the video above, Jeff had a great weekend, scoring his first ever road event win on the circuit of Laguna Seca Speedway.  Jeff showed up at the Moots booth after winner and was more than happy to share his thoughts on how he rides his Moots and why he chose titanium as his material of choice. Congratulations to Jeff….I’m sure we’ll be seeing him on more podiums in the future.

Big thanks go out to Jeff and all the Mootsies that stopped by and chatted with us this weekend!

You can catch the GoPro action from Jeff’s race here….skip minute 40 for the winning move if you like:

JEFF STERN SEA OTTER WIN 2012

Jeff on the top step!….with his Moots.

The goods….

This pretty much sums up our ride on Friday….stunning, dirt road glory.

You can view the entire photo set on our FlickR: Moots Airport Loop

Follow this link to find the Moots Owners Strava Club….good times, good miles.  See you on STRAVA!

STRAVA MOOTS OWNERS CLUB

Please check out Chads write up on the event here: CHAD PARKER HURACAN 300

That's a pretty dam big loop anyway you slice it!

GrassMoots Racer Chad Parker on course

Into the dark...

Chads rig that got the job done......

As Spring really gets rolling we catch up with our Pro Mountain Biker Kelly Boniface on one of our favorite local trails here in Steamboat Springs.  Our unusually dry winter has lead to some early trail riding around Steamboat.  The Hot Springs Loop is about a 20 mile ride town to town and has about 2,000 feet of climbing. Kelly is in the last parts of prep for the Whiskey 50 mountain bike race in Prescott, AZ (April 27th-29th).