fat tire stoke 2011

big wheels kept on turning in 2011  

the brews of 2011

Whoa.

Looking backonit it would appear I just might have a vice or two.



.....pffffft naw that can't be it- it's just that I've always been a patron of the Arts.

...and there's just sooo very much Art out there to patronize!

badda bing!  thank you thank you, be here all week :-o

dry flies stoke 2011

It was a good year for the long rod.


A very good year.

Raise a glass to more of the same in 2012!

snow day

Refueling

happy holidays!

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or Festivus (for the rest of us!), we here at la casa de Roughrider wish you and yours health and happiness this holiday season.

And dirt.  Let's not forget fresh, loamy dirt snaking through green mountain meadows to destinations unknown.

Oh and tight lines- reels singing in happiness free spooling high country trout. 

hmmmm....maybe a bit of both?

Happy Holidays everyone!  Mike Laura Caroline Will

skinnies

The kids and I finally made it out to the North Valley bike park @ 4th & Alameda.

Oh, it's been open since around September.  It's just that I wanted to wait to give those groms ample time to pack that dirt down before I made my triumphal arrival.  ;-)

Now collectively, Team Roughrider has less than a little experience riding skinnies and jumps.  We sampled a bit when last out to Hood River, but most of the features proved more than we could handle at the time.

So I was eager to sample most everything offered and will be the first to tell you I need to build up the ole skillset to keep 'airing' those big jumps.  pffffft!

The kids now....







...ducks to water comes to mind.

Awesome sauce.

whole enchilada

Experienced our first snow round town last night- just a dusting at La Casa de Roughrider, but a good bit more in our foothills.

Has this sometime mountain goat already daydreaming of the season to come.

HT: mtbr.com

it's morning in america again

photo credit: Oxherder Arts Gallery

The University of Michigan Wolverines defeat the evil empire forces of darkness for the first time in 8 years.

All is right in my the world.

a good day

 

Coupla more reasons to be thankful this holiday year life:

dirt merchants

rider down

shredder

dynamic duo

golden hour

giving thanks

American style.



Don't forget your nomex and stay safe out there!

carnage

good morning!

Here's hoping this finds you someplace warm, sipping one of yer own.

Not so we however- with an early morning contest on the pitch.

bikes & beans- a heavenly pairing

Still, Manzanares Street Coffee House in Socorro warrants a return this am.  Another cafe latte, yes, and perhaps another game of chess while we await our afternoon game.

Salud a mis amigos!

fringe benefits

courtesy Socorro Springs Brewery

...with 4 hours between soccer tourney games, I'm not made of stone ya know.  ;-]

That said, anyone else want to join the Big Ten?  Woooo!




How bout that Baylor win, huh?  Or Virginia-Florida State finish?  Or USC?  Or Iowa State?  What a Kray-zee weekend in college football!

red planet

Found some time between soccer games this weekend to lay some tracks around the White Mesa country outside of San Ysidro.

dragon's back

singletrack playground

high desert two-wheel drive

cabezon

moonscape

trail critters

Champion

Gaylord Sheppard's U10 boys Silver Division Champs: Thunderbolts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome.

want one!

Welcome sight at our soccer tourney this weekend. With room to  rack a coupla bikes off the back, I think I found my dream rig!

Stiller on mtb

This really cracked me up~  Happy Friday!

Hat tip: singletracks.com

winter comes

Winter's closing in.

  I thought I'd take a looksee up Otero, gauge just how far winter has encroached with this last battery of storms.

Found our first snow lingering on the north slopes, in the shadows.  Won't be long before winter kicks us all down slope, first to Cedro, then all the way back to our Sandia foothills.

But not just yet, not this day!

Sunday Tunnel-Otero was nearly deserted, just a few tracks leading me up canyon.  

I had one of those golden days where everything was going my way- lungs strong, legs, even stronger.  Balance like a cat, timing dead-on, I scaled step-ups that normally give me trouble, executed a few new jumps and drops never dared before.  And the downhill now, wooo!

What a glorious day~