FRMTB's Littlest Riders Make Big Impacts

By Matt George

Sometimes we take things for granted.  Normal is subjective.  Some people live in Central Indiana where seeing a mountain bike on the back of a car, of any quality level, is exciting and even a bit unifying, even if no words were exchanged.  Been there.  Then there are places like the Front Range of Colorado; A place where you could live in a neighborhood like I do now.  A neighborhood (or several neighborhoods connected in a small area technically) where 9-10 serious mountain bikers, who are friends and neighbors, all FRMB members and regularly ride together all live within about a 1 mile radius.  This can seem normal in a place like Colorado yet, it seems to create the extraordinary right under our mountain bike commune noses.

This isn't the story of our neighborhood, that's a tale to be told though.  Maybe by someone with clearer eyes than me, someone to tell the story of how so many friends from around the country came together and met new friends and all ride in one small, somewhat obscure spot on the Front Range.  No.  This is a story about little kids, mostly little girls.  One five year old in particular but, they kind of come in little packs where we live. 

As was stated above, there are a lot of mountain bikers in our neighborhood.  Most of us within sight of each others garages.  After work ride sessions on our wide 3 car driveways and into our fairly mellow streets is a 2-3 time a week occasion.  Seeing Wreckonings, Enduros, Niners, Rocky Mountains, etc, laid down next to cute little pink specialized 16" bikes, striders with pneumatic tubeless upgrades, 20" full suspension Norco's and 24" Commencals is just another Tuesday in the "Rox".  Parents act like kids (while trying not to spill their beer) as kids try to ride like their parents.  It's magic. 

Cadence on her fully rigid, must not have felt like riding her full suspension that day!

Cadence on her fully rigid, must not have felt like riding her full suspension that day!

To say that these kids are immersed in mountain biking is an understatement.  When its too cold or dark to ride outside, often the first movie requested is something like Unre@l or a Curtis Keene or Danny MacAskill edit.  My 5 year old knows on Friday to ask about the latest Nate Hills video and everyone in the neighborhood has heard my 3 year old ask when she can go "mockabockin".  This again, is our normal.  I occasionally do have to remind myself though that having a five year old mountain biker who hits Trestle, literally, every weekend, living down the street, isn't exactly normal outside of our little bubble.  This abnormality is no accident though, not even close.  While the riders in our neighborhood pretty much all indoctrinate their children with the gospel of mountain biking, no one does it better than the Combs family.  

I met Krista and Clay Combs 10-11 years ago in Georgia, before a mountain bike trip when I lived in Florida.  They were friends of Eric (another FRMB rider and the current neighbor across the street) whom I rode with in Florida at Alafia River State Park and a limited number of trails in the area.  This was before any of us had kids but, you could tell right away that Clay and Krista would raise a world class mountain biker.  They displayed and continue to display the type of perseverance and patience required to be the parent of a mini-mountain biker, the type of commitment to their little rider that most of us "typical" mtb parents wish we could accomplish.  It's pretty hard where we live to be the best rider or the best parent of a little rider.  There's a lot of very friendly competition, right in the neighborhood.  They easily win the Roxborough "Best MTB Parents" title though.  Taking Cadence on trail rides regularly since she was able to stand, spending weekend after weekend trading time riding with friends and riding with Cadence.  It's a sacrifice that they are not too likely to highlight so, I'll do it for them. 

My daughter Elle, borrowing Clays hat. Probably about to ask if she can go "mockabockin".

My daughter Elle, borrowing Clays hat. Probably about to ask if she can go "mockabockin".

Krista and Clays effort is paying off, Cadence is riding green and even some blue downhill trails at Trestle.  Don't forget that she's 5 years old.  She recently even got to hang with Anneke Beerten and Curtis Keene at Trestle Bike Park.  As cool as that is, the best part may be that Cadence was super stoked to see pro riders being so thoughtful and present.  Clay said that she rode more confidently than he'd ever seen after the experience.  Way to go Anneke and Curtis, thank you for treating our FRMB family so well.  It's great to see the community response to these little riders.  My own daughter Elle was filmed for almost an hour by 9 news Denver (Thanks Eddie Lee and Mike Grady) and was called the future VP of COMBA by the current VP of COMBA.

This is what we're about here at frontrangemountainbiking.com and our Facebook group.  Supporting riders by supporting community.  We're trying, collectively, to lead by example.  We're not perfect but, we're trying.  Go to our FB page, group or comment here on the site if you'd like to join us.  We'd like to see more articles about you, your community, kids and mountain biking in general.  Let's do this together, all of it.  The raising riders part, the new adults, the empowerment of the minorities in our mtb community and most importantly our future.  Visit our Links We Love, talk to us and share us.  Lets make the sport a little better, in a lot of ways, for the next bunch of riders. 

Thanks to the Kramer, Combs, Adams, Meis, Van Summeren, Enriquez, Friedmann, Bartley and George families for the pics and/or inspiration.

Gray and Elle taking a little rest after curb jump practice.

Gray and Elle taking a little rest after curb jump practice.

Oliver getting it done in Crested Butte!

Oliver getting it done in Crested Butte!

Gray riding the single track in the dog park by our house.

Gray riding the single track in the dog park by our house.

Emma KOM'n it at Trestle.

Emma KOM'n it at Trestle.

Nah na Nah na Nah na..... Bat Girl!

Nah na Nah na Nah na..... Bat Girl!

Ana and Leo on our neighborhood single track.

Ana and Leo on our neighborhood single track.

Eric and Leo

Eric and Leo

Ana and Leo hanging with the local wildlife.

Ana and Leo hanging with the local wildlife.

Andy and Ollie

Andy and Ollie

Florida to Colorado: We Interview Werner

Werner is a member of the Tampa Bay Area Mountain Bike Peddlers Association (the Florida sister group to FRMB) and we decided to get a transplants' take on what it's like coming from Tampa to Denver, from a mountain bikers perspective.

FRMB;  So you're moving to the Front Range. Congratulations! Tell us a bit about yourself. Tell us what bike you're currently riding and talk to us about your previous mountain biking experience.

Werner;  Well my name's Werner Friedmann II, I'm 31 and a full time dad to two awesome kiddos, an eight year old son and a ten year old daughter, and I was born and raised in New Orleans, La but I have spent the last 10 years in central Florida. I started mountain biking around 10 years old and first traveled to Colorado at 11 for a mountain bike camp in Winter Park, Co and that's when I fell in love with Colorado and knew wholeheartedly that mountain biking was my first love. I took a decade long hiatus from biking during my late teens and twenties but got back at it about four years ago. I currently ride a 2013 Rocky Mountain Altitude 730 and love it! 

FRMB;  Have you ridden mountain bike trails in Colorado or the Front Range? 

Werner;  As I mentioned before I rode them when I was 11 but they were mostly beginner trails but that was all it took to have me hooked. After riding in Florida the last few years I've become bored with my local trails and over the last year I've traveled to several states to ride and have found I needed more, Florida just wasn't cutting it any longer. 

FRMB;  If you had to break down your thoughts about mountain biking on the Front Range, into one word, sentence or short paragraph, what would that be? 

Werner;  It's where it all began, it's home to me.  

FRMB;  We're assuming that you've watched videos of Colorado and Front Range trails. What trails and or areas are you most excited about and why? Is there a particular video (please do note if it's in our curated videos section) or story that gets you particularly pumped up about riding here? 

Werner;  Deer Creek looks pretty gnarly and Trestle as well. I'm a lover of downhill but I do have a love/hate relationship with the climbs since it's where I feel I'm building mental and physical strength, while downhill tests my ability to make quick decisions and of course the chance to go fast! I've really enjoyed watching Nate Hills videos with his smooth footage and the great narration he does during them.

FRMB;  We know that you've immersed yourself in a bit of the Front Range mountain biking culture, you're on the FRMTB Facebook group for example. We realize that at this point, it's a bit of a long distance relationship as you're a few days away from moving here but, what are your early impressions of the mountain bike culture here? How does it initially seem to differ from the Tampa scene? 

Werner;  Well, the passion for biking in general is in a league of its own in Colorado I've always felt. I can't think of Colorado without thinking of biking too and I believe that's how most people that live there feel as well. Tampa has small scene with a handful of really passionate riders who seem to keep the scene alive for the rest of the people there who only occasionally make time to ride.

FRMB;  What issues do you see with moving across the country to a new place with new trails and a new mountain biking community? Any lingering questions or is there anything that the FRMTB community can help you with? 

Werner;  Altitude first and foremost! I've lived at or below sea level my whole life so it will take some getting use to initially. Second, would be all the parts I anticipate I'll be replacing a lot more frequently than I currently do in Florida.  The riding in Colorado is much more strenuous on a bike than what I'm accustomed to in Florida. But, these are issues that are easily addressed most of the time and honestly I have little to no worries about this move as it's something I know I've wanted for a very long time.  

Welcome to FRMB

 

Front Range Mountain Biking has a bit of a story to tell, a history that until now has been mostly untold, while I'd have to write fifty more articles to explain it all, here are the cliff notes.  It's a lineage that most bikers will be familiar with.  I started riding in the late 90's on a Trek Antelope, maybe a 1993 vintage in a very.... lets say proud, neon yellow.  I won't bore you with every detail but, that junked out $50 used bike started a trajectory that's had me meet most of my greatest friends, taken those friends and myself to amazing riding locations from Indiana to North Carolina, from Tampa to Utah and many places in between, led me to live in Colorado and even played a huge role in my wedding.

"our people are truly the amazing part."

Mountain biking has impacted my life significantly.  This statement doesn't even do justice to the experience of the sport in my life and I can imagine a lot of you feel the same.  Lineage, that's what it is to me, it's something thats pushed around the storyline of my life and it effects my family, my friends and its shaped me as a man, a friend and a father.

That's what frontrangemountainbiking.com and the Front Range Mountain Biking group are all about.  The celebration of something amazing, a sport that is so much more than the word sport can describe, a lifestyle really.

 I had a negative realization a while back though, I hadn't actually done much to give back to the mountain bike community, our trails or the people who maintain them.  I decided that some changes needed to be made. I started with trying to become a better steward to the mountain bike groups that I'd built by adding members, posting and pushing a positive vibe to the groups using inclusiveness, encouragement and humor.  If you spend some time in the Front Range Mountain Biking group, I do think that you'll see that it's a positive, fun and educational environment.  This isn't due to me alone, not by any means, our people are truly the amazing part.  I still felt that this wasn't enough, I'd finally joined COMBA and built an amazing group full of wonderful riders, trail builders and advocates but, I was (and still am to some extent) too busy with life to build trails, go to land use meetings or advocate in other ways.  I've got a few hours a night and a distaste for much of the content on television, what could I do?

"mountain bikers help each other"

As I looked at the people involved in mountain biking in the Front Range, something clicked; so many of these people had amazing stories, photos, videos and most of all attitudes.  Most of the amazing stories, photos and content were on their individual Facebook pages, blogs or youtube channels though, locked in blessed individuality.  The thought that these peoples amazing content, beautiful tales and wonderful personalities could be brought to one website that utilized their content in a sleek, simple and beautiful way, to highlight these riders, to show the world how amazing they are, all with a goal of pushing riders towards advocacy, events and trail building... well, seemed a bit far fetched.  Mountain bikers are notoriously, fiercely independent.

I decided to go for it anyway.  Odds be damned.  I'm watching mountain bike videos almost nightly, scouring the web for the coolest mountain bike stuff and checking out the latest awesome mountain biking posts from my friends and advocacy groups anyway so, what would I have to lose by trying.  I've been surprised lately by something that I knew somewhere in my mind already, something that I should have been confident in, mountain bikers help each other.

I started floating the idea around to my friends who ride and immediately received support.  This kicked things off and a website was born.  As the bones were being built, more and more amazing people offered their assistance.  Some offered web help, some marketing input, charity assistance, some wrote articles and others provided video and images.  These people have helped build a platform and provided a bit of an example for you to expand upon.

 This site really is for, about and to benefit you.  We need you to help us populate the site.  Know a thing or two about teaching your kids to ride, have a great video of Morrison Slide or are you excited about a group, charity or youtube page that we don't link to?  Think there's an issue we should write about or that you would like to write about?  Let us know!  The whole point is to showcase you and we think that will attract people and drive them towards our advocacy partners, our awesome 503 not for profit partner, amazing group rides and fun events.  All that good is possible with your help. You don't need to be perfect, as you browse, you're likely to notice imperfections; an occasional typo, an imperfectly written paragraph or an amateur riders GoPro video next to a polished, 4k cinematic masterpiece.  That's just how we want it, we aren't asking our users to be seasoned members of the mountain bike media.  We like you, imperfections and all and we'd love to show you off! 

I hope that while you're here, you'll check out all the stuff we've started with, from our videos to our articles, our local take on news and our calendar.  I hope that you'll feel like you know a few of us better and maybe you'll come on a ride or meet us at an event and share a beer.  That's really the ultimate goal.  Be sure to visit our "Links we love" section too and show some love for our community of advocacy groups.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you love the site!  A lot of people have put volunteer time (and still are) into this little project. Hit our contacts and contribute tabs to contribute something (no, we absolutely do not share your information with anyone) or to give us some feedback.  We're trying to make something that you can be proud of and that my daughters can be proud of, win or lose.  It's an honor that I've been encouraged to try.  Let's see if we can do some good. Stay tuned, there's a lot more to come.

- Matt

SRAM Announces GX Eagle Drivetrain

SRAM has announced its much anticipated value (some might say reasonably priced) version of their 50 tooth Eagle drivetrain.  This is great news for riders who want top of the line technology but may have a less than stratospheric budget.  Lets take a look at the product video while we quickly ponder if this will be a true high line experience with a realistic price tag or if it's more pigeon like in it usability.

The news that SRAM was coming out with GX Eagle was quickly posted, with links, to our Facebook group and immediately the speculation leaned towards questioning whether this drivetrain would have the same feel as a high specification system like its more expensive sibling. The reviews are coming in with glowing results however, we'll see what our users think.  This is certainly something to celebrate, even if its slightly less refined.  1X drivetrains add simplicity, the ability to run left hand, under bar dropper levers (the best minor upgrade we've seen lately) and now that we are seeing 2X type gear percentage ratios; the ability to put the final nail in the coffin of front derailleurs.  We'll do a follow up when a few of our members have put this system to the test.

Price: $495 in total. Individually; Cassette $195, Derailleur $110, Shifter $40, Crank $120, Chain $30 (We'd expect these prices to come down after the initial launch due to the double edged sword of internet sales giants like Jenson USA and their competitors)

For complete specifications click here.

 

 

Juliana Bicycles Gets Honest And A Bit Weird

Juliana Bicycles, an off shoot of Santa Cruz Bicycles released their new 170mm, women's all mountain machine called the Strega.  While Juliana has notably strayed away from the old "pink it and shrink it" mentality, this launch marks a movement into women's specific gravity machines.  One might ask why a female shredder needs a "women's specific" bike to begin with, let alone a women's specific gravity machine.  With top tubes lengthening while stems shorten and infinite position dropper posts of travel heights ranging from 100mm-170mm the norm, fit for both genders seems to be very achievable on most quality bikes. 

 We'd like to hear our female readers take on this but, for the time being, we'll give you the words (all be it only partly serious) of Will Ockelton, Santa Cruz's marketing director "Juliana Bicycles is all marketing", as told to Bike Magazine.  We get it.  Marketing is important, it sells things and in our case; our stories and articles might sell you on finally joining COMBA or volunteering with the Rowdies or the Giddyup crews.  Sometimes marketing gets it done and that isn't always a bad thing.  In fact, some honesty in marketing can be refreshing, they might as well say "Here's a Nomad with some kick ass colors and some very minor spec tweaks for women and we think you'll really like it".  We here at Front Range Mountain Biking love that female riders are getting the options, attention and respect that they deserve.  Just like their male counterparts though, some oddity and goofiness is bound to be involved.  See Santa Cruz and Juliana's biggest budget short film yet below.  We'll wait!

Ok, so that's a thing.... Deciding whether you love or hate it is going to be a personal call but, we can't help marvel at the witch meets Game of Thrones style and the soundtrack befitting a David Hasselhoff film. Can you imagine what the story board looked like in that meeting?

Back to the bike.  We're glad to see a 170mm bike out there for the ladies, for sure.  It does seem that Juliana is out on the trails, making things happen.  We've just seen them at the Deer Creek trailhead on Sunday 6/11/17 sending out demo bikes.  Women are the fastest growing demographic in mountain biking and there are plenty of female riders that like to ride hard and fast and its good to see the support, even if it is "just marketing".

Price Range / Spec Basics: $4,499 (C Model) Carbon frame with a Rock Shox Yari, SRAM NX shifting and Guide R brakes to the range topping $8,199 (CC Model) Carbon frame with a Rock Shox Lyric RCT3, XX1 Eagle and Code RSC brakes, with multiple models in between. 

Will we see the new GX level Eagle 50t setup coming on the lower cost models in the future?  We hope so, take note Juliana!

See more here.

The Strega in Wicked green. Strega is the Italian word for Witch.

The Strega in Wicked green. Strega is the Italian word for Witch.

Santa Cruz's lower VPP redesign.

Santa Cruz's lower VPP redesign.