FoldsinHalf

So, I got inspired to wade through my photo archive and put together a 2009 calendar depicting some of my favorite rides from last year's travels around the country. I made it for friends and family (and, of course, my own wall!) but figured random strangers on the internet might enjoy it too, so here you go...

Each month's page features a pair of rides from that month of the previous year. I got to ride in 12 states in 2008 (NC, SC, FL, GA, VA, WV, PA, IL, NE, CO, WY, and UT) and most of them made it into the calendar. We spent the first half of the year on the east coast, then bee-lined across to Colorado and spent the second half of the year there, so CO is perhaps a little overrepresented... but that's not really such a bad thing, right?

Note that if you like the JPG version below, you can download a higher-res PDF version of the whole thing from the mountain biking page of our website (direct link here). Personally, I print out the pages and slide them into one of those transparent pouch things stuck to the wall above my desk, and change the page each month. I'll also note that it's completely free, and there are not even any ads to ignore or anything, so feel free to download for personal use if you like it.

Enjoy!















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FoldsinHalf

edwong3

Your calendar is simply AWESOME! I wish I had a lifestyle like this. Going different places to ride, enjoying quality time with friends, and loved ones. It's up to me I guess.

Thanks for sharing

Happy Trails,
Edward

Pocko

Wow! Some of those trails are pretty agressive, not something I imagine I would take-on with a 20 inch folder!! But boy, looking at them sure makes me want to go ride!!!!! Awesome photos!

BTW, what's that brown worm looking thing on June 2009??

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FoldsinHalf

Glad y'all are enjoying the calendar. Your comment reminded me of a sign at the Kennecott copper mine where we put in a training simulator a couple years ago, that read something like: "SAFETY: If it's to be, It's up to me."

Hope you can make it happen, at least to some extent!


You are definitely right about some of the trails I ride being pretty aggressive for a 20 inch folder. I figure the small wheels elevate the difficulty rating of any given trail by about one notch from whatever it would be for a normal mountain bike. From my point of view though, it's actually a good thing that "intermediate" trails seem as challenging as "advanced" trails, since they're much more plentiful. I like to take on the bona-fide "advanced" trails too just to see what they're like, even if I have to walk the bike over the hardest bits. That 1/4 mile long rock garden at Slatyfork being a fine example--I probably rode all of about 20% of it, but it was great fun to try!

I'm no bug expert, but the worm looking critter at Rothrock seemed to be some sort of giant millipede. It was about 5 inches long, which was more the size of the centipedes I've seen, but unlike those, it didn't have legs on the outside and move quickly. Instead, it had lots of little bitty legs underneath and was just creeping along, more like a millipede, although I had never seen one anywhere near that big.

Pretty cool, whatever it was, and I thought that picture captured my riding experience there nicely. To that critter, those gravel pebbles seemed like giant boulders, in much the same that to me, riding on 20s, Rothrock's rocky trails seemed like boulder fields. It's all a matter of scale.