BE A BLACKBURN RANGER 2016

Here is a video by Blackburn Media. If you have what it takes to be a ranger, this is your chance! Several people have applied already.  Whoever Blackburn Design chooses, you can be sure the riders love adventure and know how to tell a story!

BE A BLACKBURN RANGER 2016

Be a Blackburn Ranger 2016 Isaiah Rodriguez

Second submission for #beablackburnranger2016, Isaiah Rodriguez.  Great video, we wish you the best of luck!

#beablackburnranger2016 Now Open For Biz

Blackburn Design is a bicycle parts manufacturing company.  The rack that I use to carry my panniers, for example, is made by Blackburn Design.

#Blackburndesign is known for making quality parts for the hard-core community.  If you want it to last, buy Blackburn.  That is what I told my REI people when I was looking for a rack.

So when Blackburn opened their Blackburn Ranger #beablackburnranger2016 applications, I was one of the first to apply.  As a Ranger, Blackburn asks you to test equipment, talk to people about your enthusiasm for bicycle adventuring, go to ranger school and not too much more.  It is a great opportunity for those who want a crack at the latest stuff.

Blackburn gives you a choice of routes, the Pacific Coast or the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, both running from Canada to Mexico.  Blackburn will also ask if there is another major route plotted by the Adventure Cycling Association, a non-profit organization which advocates for the bicycle people seeking adventure.  You can join the Association here.

#Transamerica Trail by Adventure Cycling Association

I chose the Pacific Coast route as my first choice route.  However, if I don't run it, I would be happy with either the GDMBR or the Transamerica Trail.  My friend, Jimmy Salazar, is planning on riding the route with me.  I do a lot of journalism things and Jimmy is a natural at photos and videos.  Jimmy comes up with some pretty great angles!

Be sure to check out Blackburn Design.  If I am the lucky cat who Blackburn Design sponsors, (they choose about 6 people each year) then I would love for you to follow us on this epic adventure!~  Please stay tuned, we will let you know who Blackburn chooses!

Riding In The Rain #beablackburnranger2016

Any day on a bicycle is a fantastic day! Jimmy and I were making a run for the hot-springs town of Glenwood Springs. In front of us lie one of the toughest path-bike routes in the nation, 10,500 foot high Vail Pass.

On a good day, the climb up from Frisco is a challenge. The grades are steep and the route turns into a series of sharp switchbacks requiring low-low gear and a determination from the bottom of your soul.

We like to think nothing stops us. The rain and cold weather was stopping everyone else. But we pushed on, up the steep and relentless routes through Copper Mountain. In the crisp air of 10,000 feet, we started looking for a place to camp.

We had just crossed the 4th bridge after Copper Mountain. Only 2 more tough bridges left to go. You could hear the traffic from the East and West-bound interstates. Once in awhile we passed super-built bridge running high over our heads.

Finally we found it, a tiny step on the steep hillside where we could pitch a tent. The rain had slowed. Each of us went about the chores of pitching a tent, perched above the trail in one of the few level spots over the entire route. Now snug in our sacks, the rain started again. Our old North Face tent began to leak like a sieve. It was going to be a long night. At least, we could rest in the bosom of the mountainside.  The babbling brook of Ten-Mile Creek talked to us throughout the night.

I love adventure.  Sometimes adventure is found in doing something others do at a time when no-one else will try.  We were alone at nearly 10,000 feet.  We were soaked, but we were safe.  Any day on a bike is a day of adventure!

#beablackburnranger2016 Tim Paynter

I decided to apply to become a Blackburn Ranger, an ambassador for Blackburn Designs.  The company makes bicycling accessories primarily for those who love adventure!

Since my first taste of bicycle touring earlier this year, I definitely have the bug!  I hope to do the Pacific Coast route this next summer.  In my travels, I hope to meet a lot of you and have a chance to tell some of your stories, and mine, in the process.

I am a video journalist and love reporting on what the adventure community is doing.  From rafting to singing, it does not really matter!  Everyone has a story and I am looking for interesting stories to tell!

If you want to take either the Pacific Coast Route or the Great Divide Bicycle Route, you can find maps at the non-profit organization, the Adventure cycling Association.

Here is my video application to #beablackburnranger2016.  If you like, it, please go to YouTube and re post!  Put it on facebook or where ever your adventurous heart takes you!

You can also write to me, timote2u@gmail.com!

Thanks, Uncle Tim.

The most fun you can have on two wheels!

Riding the Trails

Camping On The Colorado River

We had been riding hard all day.  Our paths had followed I-70 now for nearly two days.  We were on the Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail with only a few miles left to get to the hot springs in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

In many places, the trail is just wide enough for a rider or two.  More than that, there is the highway, sometimes suspended above you.  There is also the Colorado river.  Beyond that, there is almost no real estate to pitch a tent.

We were exhausted.  It was getting dark.  What could we do?  We didn't need the problems the State Patrol can cause bike tourist who make the mistake of camping in rest areas.  There are four rest areas in Glenwood Canyon.

So we finally found one of the few spots on the Colorado River and pitched the tent.  This is God's country and he had finally made room for us to sleep.