UltraRob's Adventures

UpaDowna Incline Happy Hour

February 7th, 2013

This is the first Thursday since the Manitou Incline was legalized. This means it’ll be the first legal UpaDowna Incline Happy hour. However until time change next month, the dawn to dusk rule will be broken.

The Incline Happy Hour was started a few years ago by the great folks at UpaDowna. Their motto is “Up a Mountain, Downa a Beer”. Their goal is to get more people in the outdoors.

Now that the Manitou Incline is legal, UpaDowna is encouraging more people to join them. They start at the bottom tie of the Incline (directions) at 6 PM and hike to the top of the Incline.

The hike takes place year round but know your limitations as the Incline can get icy and treacherous in the winter. It’s a self paced hike and not a race. It doesn’t matter what your fitness level. Generally people hang out at the top for a bit and then most head down Barr Trail.

Until time change you’ll need a headlamp to be able to see in the dark. You can also get by with a flashlight but then your hands aren’t free for balance.

Afterwards head to Kinfolks Mountain Shop in Manitou Springs. Enjoy one of the micro brews they have on tap or us hang out with other outdoor lovers. It’s located just east of Ruxton at 950 Manitou Avenue.

Although it’s free to join the Incline Happy Hour, you need to register and sign the waiver on Eventbrite. Not only is it a fun time, but there may be prizes for signing up and staying motivated throughout the year.

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Colorado Springs, hiking, Incline Happy Hour, Manitou Incline, Manitou Springs, UpaDowna
Posted in Hike | 1 Comment »

CompuTrainer Races at Criterium Bicycles

February 4th, 2013

CompuTrainers at Carmichael Training Systems

This is last minute information for tonight but there’s 3 more Mondays in February so you can plan ahead for them. Unfortunately I just saw the info on this today.

Race with your own road bike indoors FREE! Big Mountain Adventure Racing is sponsoring the February BMAR-Criterium Computrainer Races at Criterium Bicycles every Monday evening in February.

Races begin at 6pm. The fastest racer each night gets a free BMAR SWAG bag! If you attend all four Monday events you’ll have a chance to win a 30% off BMAR race coupon!

If you’ve never ridden a CompuTrainer, who should go try them out. They have 2 different modes. In one mode it keeps your power output constant and in the other mode it changes the resistance to simulate changes in road grade. Racing uses the 2nd mode and you shift your gears to make it easier or harder just like on the road.

I haven’t seen the setup at Criterium but I have a CompuTrainer and I’ve also done the power classes at the CTS Endurance Sports Club. A couple nights during the classes I took at CTS we did some racing. It’s certainly a way to make indoor training less boring. Of course with the weather we’ve been having there hasn’t been much of a need to ride inside.

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Big Mountain Adventure Racing, Carmichael Training Systems, CompuTrainer, Criterium Bicycles, indoor trainer
Posted in Bike | No Comments »

Exploring the Grand Canyon with Google Street View

February 1st, 2013

Back in October Google had posted on their blog that they had a team hiking in the Grand Canyon to get imagery for Street View. I figured they were just doing a couple of the main trails. They now have 75 miles of trails and surrounding roads live in Google Maps.

The Google team their Android-operated Trekkers to take the imagery. They carried 40-pound backpacks with the 15-lens camera system. More than 9,500 panoramas are now available on Google Maps.

In 2006 and 2008 I did week long backpacking trips in the Grand Canyon. I went west farther than most people go for the first trip. The trail was hard to find and I didn’t see anyone for 3 days. The 2nd trip I hiked the eastern part of the Grand Canyon and even went a little east of where the National Park ends.

I can tell you there’s no way to comprehend the size of the canyon looking at a computer screen. Still I have to say what Google has done is pretty cool.

Some cool places to check out are the bridge across the Colorado River to Phantom Canyon, Bright Angel Trail, South Kaibab Trail and the Meteor Crater. Maybe those will motivate you to take an adventure of your own in the Grand Canyon.

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Google Maps, Grand Canyon, hiking
Posted in Hike | No Comments »

Last Day to Register for 2013 Leadville 100 Lottery

January 31st, 2013

Powerline Climb

Today, January 31st, is the last day to register for the 2013 Leadville 100 lottery for your chance to dig deep going up Powerline and on the rest of the course on August 10th. You have until midnight MST but if you plan on registering and haven’t, I’d suggest you do it as soon as possible just in case you have issues with registering. Head over to this page to register.

As has been the case for the last several years, there’s a $15 charge plus fees just to sign up for the lottery. This fee gets donated to charity though. Also the entry fee if you get picked in the lottery has gone up yet again. It’s now up to $345.

Although the Leadville 100 lottery used to be the only the only way to get into the Leadville 100, now there are the qualifiers to get a slot. There are also various charity slots that can be used to gain a Leadville 100 entry.

Good luck to everybody that is in the lottery! I’ve entered the lottery again in hopes of making my 10th start. Since I had a streak of 3 DNFs, I’ll be going for finish number 7.

Related Links

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: 100 miler, Colorado, endurance racing, Leadville, Leadville 100, mountain biking
Posted in Bike, Mountain Bike | No Comments »

Incline Friends Karma Hour Photos

January 17th, 2013

Bristol Brewing held the Incline Friends Karma Hour fund raiser Tuesday evening. They donated $1 of every pint to the Incline Friends. It was crowded while I was there. It was good seeing people I know and meeting some other Manitou Incline lovers.

Other ways to help the Incline Friends is to join them, donate using the donate link on their website or putting money into the tube at the bottom of the Incline.

Here are some photos from the Incline Friends Karma Hour.

[View with PicLens]

Tags: Bristol Brewing, Colorado Springs, hiking, Incline Friends, Manitou Incline
Posted in Hike | No Comments »

Incline Friends Karma Hour

January 14th, 2013

Last week President Obama signed the law clearing up the railway right-of-way issue with the Manitou Incline. The Colorado Springs council also passed the needed resolution for legalizing the Incline for hiking. The only step remaining to legalizing the Incline is a resolution by the Manitou Springs city council. Manitou Springs council is expected to vote on January 29th.

Although I think there are plans to do more than is needed, I noticed several loose ties when I hiked the Incline yesterday. Stabilizing some sections need to be done soon or more work will need to be done. The Incline Friends are tasked with raising money to repair and maintain the Incline.

Total cost to implement the Incline Management Plan will run about $1 million, and the Incline Friends need $200,000 of that by the first week of March to meet a critical grant deadline. They expect much of it to come from private donors, but not all of it.

There are a few ways to help the Incline Friends raise money. Tomorrow night there’s a fun one. The Incline Friends Karma Hour will be at Bristol Brewery (1647 S. Tejon) from 5 to 9 PM Tuesday, Jan. 15. Bristol will donate $1 to the Incline Friends for every pint sold. Click here for more on the Incline Friends Karma Hour.

Other ways to help the Incline Friends is to join them, donate using the donate link on their website or putting money into the tube at the bottom of the Incline.

Below are some photos from hiking the Manitou Incline on December 16, 2012. It has become a tradition for people to hang Christmas ornaments on one of the trees at the top of the Incline. With the dry winter there was very little snow on the Incline itself or Barr Trail in December. With the cold and little snow of the last couple weeks, there was more snow on it yesterday afternoon and more fell overnight.

[View with PicLens]

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Colorado, Colorado Springs, hiking, Manitou Incline, Manitou Springs
Posted in Hike | No Comments »

Manitou Incline Expected to be Legal Next Month

January 4th, 2013

After 4 years and much hard work by many people the Manitou Incline is expected to be legal for hiking on February 1st, 2013. The U.S. Senate approved a bill clearing up the railway right of way issue for the Incline late Sunday. Sen. Michael Bennet pushed the bill in the Senate and Rep. Doug Lamborn led the effort in the House where the bill passed back in July.

The Manitou Incline management plan identified 13 key steps to complete before the Incline could be made legal. Now that all of those steps have been taken, the only things remaining are for Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs to pass resolutions making hiking it legal. The Colorado Springs City Council is expected to vote on the resolution at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Manitou Springs has indicated it will vote on resolution during a Special Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

“As we look at closing this chapter of the process with a vote to legalize the Incline from the City of Colorado Springs and the City of Manitou Springs’ City Councils, we can begin the next chapter in our process – improving the Incline,” said Sarah Bryarly, Landscaping Architect and Project Manager for the City of Colorado Springs.

The Incline Friends is the non-profit tasked with fundraising for improving the Incline and have been a big part of legalizing the Incline. Incline Friends will need your help in a major fundraising push. Total cost to implement the plan will run about $1 million and they need $200,000 of that by the first week of March to meet a critical grant deadline. They expect much of this to come from private donors but not all of it.

They’ll start with the Incline Friends Karma Hour, 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15 at Bristol Brewery (1647 S. Tejon). Bristol will donate $1 to the Incline Friends for every pint sold.

In the meantime, I’d like to encourage you to join Incline Friends and/or make an online contribution (find the PayPal “Donate” link on the main page of the Incline Friends website.) There’s also a donation tube at the bottom of the Incline that you can throw in a buck or more when you hike the Incline.

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Colorado Springs, hiking, Manitou Incline, Manitou Springs
Posted in Hike | No Comments »

Holiday Adventure Party for Indy Give

December 30th, 2012

Tomorrow, New Years Eve, is the last day to donate to Indy Give! Most of the charities get matching donations so your money will go even further. Not only that you get gifts for donations over of $50 or more. Go to the Indy Give! website for all the details. Here are direct links to the Indy Give! page for some of my favorites – Kids on Bikes, Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, Trails and Open Space Coalition and Rocky Mountain Field Institute.

On December 6th, 5 of the charities that are part of Indy Give! threw a great free party at City Rock to help raise money. The 5 charities were Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, Trails and Open Space Coalition, Millibo Art Theatre, Rocky Mountain Field Institute and Kids on Bikes. They are some of the great local organizations that help give us outdoor places to play.

There were fresh adventure films, live performances, free beverages, great food and prizes. The performances included one of my friends that I rode many miles with as a teenager doing jumps and back flips on stilts. The party was brought by City Rock, New Belgium Brewing, and the Women’s Mountain Bike Association.

Here are some of the photos I took at the party. The complate Holiday Adventure Party for Indy Give photo set is here.

[View with PicLens]

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: Colorado Springs, Indy Give, Kids on Bikes, Medicine Wheel, Rocky Mountain Field Institute, Trails and Open Space Coalition, WMBA
Posted in Bike, holidays, outdoors | No Comments »

Global Fat Bike Day

November 30th, 2012

Photo Courtesy of Allen Beauchamp

Fat-bikes.com has declared tomorrow, December 1st as Global Fat Bike Day. They’ll be having a get together in Wisconsin. Right here in Colorado Springs, we’re going to have our own fat bike fun. Pedal of Littleton is having a fat bike event up there too.

You may not heard of fat bikes but they’re gaining popularity. Fat bikes are mountain bikes with extra wide tires that were created for riding in snow. The tires can be twice as wide as a regular mountain bike tire. They also work well in sand.

Racers for the Iditarod Trail Invitational would weld 2 rims together to get enough flotation in the snow. Then the Surly Pugsley was created and better wheels and tires came along. Now the Salsa Mukluk and Surly Moonlander are popular fat bikes.

Tomorrow’s event here in Colorado Springs is in Sand Creek near Platte Avenue. The Hub bike shop and the Surly rep will be on hand with some demo bikes including Moonlanders. For more details on the fat bike demo, see the event page on Facebook.

Salomon X Alp Pro GTX Hiking Boots

Regular Price: $280.00
$209.95 on sale

Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo Hiking Boots

Price: $268.44

Scarpa Zen Pro Mid GTX Hiking Boots

Price: $159.94

Tags: bike demo, Moonlander, mountain biking, Mukluk, Salsa, Surly
Posted in Bike, Mountain Bike | No Comments »

Black Friday Outdoor and Cycling Gear Deals 2012

November 22nd, 2012

Here’s a list of outdoor and cycling related deals for Black Friday and through the weekend to Cyber Monday. Some of the deals are already available and some are just on Black Friday or Cyber Monday so check the details.

A couple big deals are 40% off regular priced items and 20% off sale items at Konasports and up to 30% off at Sierra Trading Post. See list below for coupon codes. The list is alphabetical by store name.

Altrec

Black Friday Special 15% off sale prices. Coupon Code: BlackFriday15. Friday Only.
Cyber Monday Special 15% off sale prices. Coupon Code: CyberMonday15. Monday Only.

Backcountry.com

Backcountry.com is running a few different sales through 11/28/12 with up to 70% off and includes free 2-day shipping on $50+ orders.

Bike Nashbar

Take an extra 20% off orders over $50 including bikes and frames through Sunday with code 72635. Some exclusions. Free shipping on Monday and Tuesday with code 43841 on orders over $25.

Climb High

25% off Rab, Patagonia, Brooks Range & ISIS. 20% Off All Ice Climbing Gear. Free shipping and free returns on all orders. Deals run Thursday through Monday.

CycloCamping.com

DC

Spend $125 and Get $25 OFF Your Next Order & Free Shipping. Offer Expires 11/26 at Midnight.

Derailed

15% Off Sitewide on Snowboard and Ski Apparel and Accessories and More.

Dogfunk

Equipe Sport

Take an Additional 10% Off Existing Spyder Markdowns. That’s up to 25% Off. Free Shipping. Use Code Equipe12
Take an Additional 10% Off Existing Arc’Teryx Markdowns. That’s up to 35% Off. Free Shipping. Use Code Equipe12

Getz

Save up to 50% on The North Face + Free Shipping over $75. Good through 12/1/12.

Giantnerd

Up to 80% off bike and outdoor gear.

Half-Moon Outfitters

Save an Extra 20% Off Select The North Face Items through 12/3 while supplies last, with promo code: tnfsale. Free Shipping on orders over $49!

Icebreaker

30% off ALL Black Icebreaker Product & 20% off Everything Else + FREE Shipping through Sunday. Click Here for Details.
15% off The Icebreaker Gift Guide + FREE Shipping! Monday Only. Click Here for More Details.

Jenson USA

Lots of great bike and bike accessory deals.

Konasports

Get 40% of regular priced with coupon code BCW40 and 20% off sale items with code BCW20. Excludes UGG, Oakley and Nixon . Free 2 day priority shipping in the US excluding oversize items. Click here to visit Konasports.

Moosejaw

Save 20% on almost everything at Moosejaw. No code necessary! Deal excludes some brands. Ends 11/25/12.

Pactimo

30% Off Cycling Apparel – Jerseys, Jackets & More! Sale runs through Monday.

Performance Bikes

Door busters in every category including bikes. Take an extra 20% off items other than door busters and bikes. Ends Sunday. $20 off orders over $100 on Monday.

Peter Glenn

Extra 20% off sale items on Monday with coupon code CYBMON12. Excludes skis, ski boots and ski bindings.

ProBoardShop

Up to 70% Off Snowboards, Skis, Outerwear, and much more through Monday. Click here to see.

Real Cyclist

Biggest Sale of the Season – Up to 50% Off thousands of bike items.

REI

Save on Gear with REI’s Cyber Monday Deals! Online only at REI.com. Save 50% on all REI Brand Outerwear for Men, Women, Kids on Friday only.

Rock Creek

20% off Marmot
20% off Prana while Supplies last
Jacket sale including Marmot, Patagonai and North Face

Sierra Trading Post

Black Friday Deals page
An Extra 25% off purchases – use coupon code CYBERMONDAY12 – Valid 11/26/2012 Only
Get 25% off your purchase of $125 or more – use coupon code AVNOV2 – Expires 12/5/12
Get 30% off your purchase of $200 or more – use coupon code AVNOV2 – Expires 12/5/12
20% off at Sierra Trading Post – use coupon code AVTHANKS2 – Expires 12/5/12