Freeride

#followcamfriday ticking off some of the freeride classics in Virgin, Utah with Braydon Bringhurst.

This is the final week of our Season of Giving campaign to benefit the Grow Cycling Foundation. We have raised over 30K so far. Huge thanks to my friends over at Yeti, Rockshox, Smith and Maxxis for donating product and experiences for me to give away to raise awareness and funding for GROW. All of the winners will be announced in next week's episode as we usher in the New Year, and bid farewell the the dumpster fire that is 2020. So far we have the custom painted Yeti frame, 3 sets of tires and a zoom call with Greg Minnaar from Maxxis, a fork of the winners choice and a zoom call with a suspension tech courtesy of my friends at Rockshox, and now Smith is offering up a full riding kit, choice of helmet, performance eyewear, and lifestyle sunnies to the lucky winner. What a time to be alive. Thank you for entering! Each entry gets Grow one step closer to their first initiative of building a pump track in Los Angeles, to offer cycling opportunities to marginalized communities that may not otherwise get the chance to fall in love with bicycles. Thank you for supporting this wonderful initiative! ​
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Anyone else think that Braydon Bringhurst should go after a Rampage spot in 21? Not just a climbing magician, Braydon has some spirit of freeride deep inside himself somewhere. Grafton Mesa, high above Virgin, Utah holds some of the most classic and iconic old-school freeride and tech in the US. Roaming around the original Rampage site is a history lesson in itself. 

Freeride is alive and well in the hills in Virgin. This is one of the last places in the US where a proper DH rig is a better choice. We are making things work on the trail bikes, but make no mistake, this is DH rig country. It is really refreshing seeing people in jeans and 10 year old clapped-out downhill bikes absolutely sending it. A pleasant reminder that technology is great and all, but you can still have just as much fun on a bike with 26" wheels and no drivetrain. These are my kind of people, riding for the right reasons. 

The views looking into Zion National Park are something to behold. There is just something special about the afternoon light in the desert that keeps me coming back for more. 

As I type these words, I am sitting in my van in front of Whole Foods in Sedona, stealing wifi and watching the Christmas chaos from my bubble.  Throngs of masked up tourists going about their daily lives as if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic. Please remember to look out for one another this holiday season. Christmas is a privilege. Let's not kill all the old people just so that we can uphold religious tradition.  Look out for your fellow man. I lost a family member to Covid this week.