August is almost September.

The World's are so very close, AMB will be heading down on the Tuesday to get immersed in the action. Being a World Championship there are loads of events on during the week, unlike the World Cup last year there are more age categories to fill up the week with top class racing, and the Trials in the village will be cool to check out. So it's very much worth the extra day or two at Stromlo. It's going to be HUGE!

For all the info you'll need, maps, timetables, racer bio's and who to watch grab the latest September issue of AMB which includes the official UCI World Championship Program.

See you there!

AusBike

Yesterday we popped down to windy Melbourne town to check out the Aus Bike trade show. It's the first time Australia has had a cycling industry trade show in a few years, so no one was really sure how extensive it was going to be.

It was a really great event - nearly all the biggest industry players turned up and had all of their latest and greatest wares on display. It was encouraging to see that even though the show had been absent for a couple of years the displays were lavish, large and shiny. Merida had really gone all out - their 'space ship' stand was a real highlight and had more lime green than a kermit the frog convention.

Good signs for the industry, and well done to the AusBike organisers for their work.

Bitter sweet farewell.

Oh Colorado... I'll miss the mountains.

Back to Sydney I go, but only after a 4 hour stopover in Los Angeles, hmmm where should I go?

Venice Beach up to Santa Monica in about an hour and a half. A crazy hour and a half of people watching and madness. (Does anyone recognise the guy with the guitar? Guesses to mross@acpmagazines.com.au)

Oh colorado, mtb bliss.

Monarch trail. Up in the clouds!

Accepting the offer to ride with some guys we met in the town of Crested Butte, we followed in convoy up into the mountains even higher again! At about 12,00 feet we began what i could only describe as the most incredibly 'epic' (there is that word again..) trail i could ever imagine. So high up above the tree line past snow drifts and views that made your head spin. This ride is done as a shuttle to make the most of the immense elevation, the local bike shop at the bottom will shuttle you, but we had some ultra kind locals showing us the loop.

I should have taken note of the big camelbak's and food the others were putting on, as I sure felt a little unprepared! The whole ride would be about 55km, but it felt like 100km due to the thin air and crazy pace! The descents seemed to go on for an age, and the little climbing was steep in parts but the key to maintaining elevation until the final descents. And what a downhill it is!

Pinning it across scree slopes, winding pine forest that resembled Sparrow Hill tipped on an angle, and straight ahead rock gardens that had you wishing a safe exit! Wow wow wow. Soooo good.

The Vholdr footage is amazing, it'll be up here soon.

So, that's it for Colorado! Our last ride was truly the best ever, and will be burnt into our minds as.. you guessed it, epic! Massive, enormous, grand, rad.

Crested Butte, Reno/Flag/Bear trail.

Anyone we would speak to in Crested Butte recommended the linking up of three amazing trails, Reno, Flag, and Bear. So, could this have been the most fun i've had on a bike for ever and ever?

Just have a good look at the winding singletrack that just kept going on and on... It was so hard to stop for photos!

Tomorrow we venture to a trail called the Monarch Pass, which is said to be the most epic yet! Hmmm, how much more epic can you get?

Yeti.

This rad Colorado trip could not have been done without the help of the guys at Yeti. On the way up the mountains we dropped by the Yeti HQ to borrow a 575 and the new Yeti 7. We did a whirlwind tour of the factory, and saw some amazing stuff going on. A lot of bikes, prototypes and small parts are manufactured right there in Golden, Colorado. We'll have more on Yeti in the following mags. Pretty cool place. Pretty cool guys.

Crested Butte, where it all began.

Crested Butte is epic in every way. The mountains are massive, the trails are plentiful and everyone here rides. It is so beautiful! Ahhhh gross..

This town is historic to mountian biking, with some of the very first riding in these very mountains. Stoked to be here!

We rode a famous trail called 401 today, which took us up into the foothills of giant mountains, and then we climbed and climbed and climbed! (I reckon I'm going to be so fit when i come back to sea level, my commute will be blisteringly fast!)

Thunder rolled around us, and as soon as the descent started we were hit with the most epic storm i have ever ridden in. Winds were blowing crap everywhere, lightning scared the fork oil out of me and the hail felt like i was being whipped with a cat 'o nine tails! SOOO WILD! And it is all on film, yess...

We laughed so hard it kind of kept us warm, and we eventually made it to the bottom after some singletrack dreams are made of. Unreal. This place is so good, we have decided to can the trip to Moab and stay here and in the hills around. From the fast, wild and unique desert trails of Fruita, to the green town of Crested Butte it feels like another world!

Colorado is so bloody awesome.

Tomorrow we'll do some DH shuttles, and another XC loop of equal 'epicness'.

(the internet in our lodge won't allow video uploading, so i'll have the Crested Butte helmet footage up soon, and the epic Fruita Icarus ride also.)

Do I really have to come home?

Fruita, Icarus trial.. Don't look down!

Wow, what a huge XC shuttle!

Troy from Over The Edge is a legend, he drove us up about a million feet to the top of a trail called the Flight Of The Icarus or something, sounds epic. Yep.

Straight away, we were rolling along ridge lines so narrow and slippery my brain was in a blurry state of hectic concentration. From high up the trail is visible as it snakes and along the top of the cliffs and escarpments that make up the desolate desert surrounding Fruita, and it looked like a very very long way, down..

Woooo!

That Icarus trail will go down as one of the craziest descents i have ever done, and the most rotor burning braking ever!

We leave Fuita now, reluctantly as we only rode a fraction of the trails. After an enormous Burrito lunch with Troy, Timoty, JT the nudist, Jason the frame builder and Paul from MRP we hit the road again, bound for the mountains.

The Fruita Fat Tyre Festival 2010 in the last week of April is already in my diary. I want to return to the town built in singletrack.

WOOO Fruita!

WOW, this place is pure bliss!

Check out these videos from two of the many sweet trails.. And just wait until you see Damian's photos, whewww!

So many trails, so little time. Lets move here... Chris?

Fruita Colorado!

Hola!

Whew! This place is unreal, huge red rock lines and dry fast technical trails.

Damian and I arrived last night to witness an enormous red sunset over Grand Junction and warm dry evening winds. So nice here.

The famous Over The Edge Sports is a truly amazing bike store, its the type of place any rider would wish to work. With cool historic bikes and collectibles hanging everywhere, and a funky trail oriented atmosphere the shop is a lot like the Over The Edge in Melrose, South Australia where AMB visited in June for their Fat Tyre Festival. Troy Rarick is the mind and massive energy behind it all and he grew up here, and shreds the trails like a champion! We met at the Melrose festival, and i think it is so funny how remarkably different the terrain, climate and trails are here but the fantastic attitude and passion to ride and meet other riders is the same.

It's super hot and dry so we'll be riding again after 6pm with the guys from the shop. So awesome here!

Check out www.otesports.com for what it's all about here, this town froths on their rad trails.

Gracias Amigo's..

How much of a weight saving?

1.5kg.

From the frame.

That made the Saint/Fox 40's equipped Glory 0 weigh 17.19kg. And it's stiffer. Yikes!

Rando's been riding this frame for ages, the finished product is top class. The bottom chock mount and front linkage pivot is shared like all the other Maestro frames, that is where most of the weight savings come from.

What will make many riders very happy is the medium frame gets 37.4mm added to the top tube as some riders struggled to get comfortable on either a medium or large. Sorted!

On the trail it rules. I did 3 runs of the most hectic trail on the hill aboard the Glory, all the stability and traction we've grown to appreciate from the bike is better and the bikes weight is a blessing.

12,000 feet shredding

What a way to make you feel hopelessly unfit! Climb up to 12,000 feet, and it feels like your lungs are the size of dollar bills.

We all grabbed an 11.1kg Trance X Advanced SL0 and shredded some blisteringly fast singletrack. It was kind of like riding the sweetest trail you could imagine, but it just kept going and going.. Getting so wild and loose down blind trails is bliss.

The bike is unreal, i used to ride the older 4" Trance Advanced and i miss the smooth riding carbon. The 2010 5" Trance X Advanced is so damn fine. Incredible steering stability is achieved from a tapered fork steerer, and an absolutely enormous down tube. More info soon!