Santa Cruz love festival

While I was in Norcal this month, you KNOW I rode in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The woods are deep, and the trails are super flowy. It was too dark for my little point-and-shoot camera, but still:

I’ve been riding with Jim Norman for going on 12 years. He was my original riding mentor: my first Obi Wan Kenobi. And he knows how to rip a sweet woodsy trail.

Back tire drifting, front tire pushing, no braking. During the winter you can rip with impunity; in summer things get slippery.

Terrible exposure but awesome action. Jim shows the form that won many a Norcal slalom back in the late ’90s. Dude, that makes us seem so old!

I test the 2007 Enduro SL. For an idea of how hard I’m hitting this corner, check out the fork — it’s compressed almost four inches.

Unloading and sprinting out of the corner. Check out the topped-out fork and skimming front tire.

Mandatory steep rollin action. The Enduro SL’s slackness and low seat let you get away with this sort of stuff, yet it pedals as well as a Stumpjumper. More details when I get more time on the bike.

Jim finds his roots on Resolution Trail at El Corte de Madera Preserve.

Haul some mail, turn hard right and dive into the woods. Whee!

Yummy. I love Colorado, but this sort of thing is hard to beat.