The End is Near….
For the year and riding season that is.
How do y’all like that for a click bait title?
With that in mind, I wanted to take a moment to share a few thoughts and say a few thank yous. I’ll try to keep it short, but please read through because there are some nice treats in here.
First and foremost, what a trails year! Yesterday, December 20th, I ripped a quick lap of the Dry Pond loop in some of the most tacky, excellent, hero dirt conditions anyone could ask for and had the trail almost to ourselves. Sorry, I didn’t post a trail report. As some of you know, I am balancing a lot of change in my own life and riding and trail running are getting squeezed in as mental and physical health aids when and where I can in a very tight schedule. Believe it or not, updating the site doesn’t always get priority when I’m trying to make it from one appointment to the next. But this isn’t about me, this is about this year and this community. And it wouldn’t be the community it is without the volunteer help of two amazing people.
None of us would be using this site today if it wasn’t for Jaleesa. Two years ago, Jaleesa answered a call for keeping this site alive and did just that on an entirely volunteer basis. She continues to be the glue, and the ever mindful updater, that keeps us running. We will be sad to see her move on to bigger and better things when she heads out to the next chapter of her adventures this coming summer. If you’ve recently sent a trail report, Jaleesa is who sends you those nice thank you emails. So say thanks back please.
And you may have noticed that we have a more active social media presence these days. We have Hannah to thank for that. She takes time out of making awesome custom bike and climbing bags and soft goods over at Nine Lives Supply Co to make sure that your feed has some trail stoke and to pass along the trail reports you try to slip into her DMs. Speaking of social media, if you’re wondering why our feed is, like this website, basic AF, it’s because I want all of our contributors to focus on having fun and doing whatever keeps them vitalized. So we keep it super simple and low tech here. No algorithms. No fancy production that keeps us off the trails. Just sharing stoke, simply. If you’re mostly interacting with us through social, send Hannah some business or an appreciative message.
This community is something special to me so a big shoutout to y’all as well. At the last minute, this November, we teamed up with Lil’ Reno Rides and threw a canned food drive on bikes and y’all showed up! We were able to donate 150 pounds of goods to St Vincents food pantry and The Eddy House because y’all thought it would be fun to ride bikes around midtown and buy canned goods and pantry supplies for those in need. One last special thanks to all our partners, Biggest Little Trail Stewards, Kiwanis Reno Sparks, Reno Bike Project, Gear Hut Reno, E-Bike Hub, Mountain Dog Bicycles, and Another Bike Shop Reno for throwing down raffle swag, bringing donation bike racks, and helping staff the event. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And community partners and end of the season are a great place to wrap this up. For better or worse, global warming has extended our trail season deep into the winter. We’ve had some absolutely epic days where the trails were more than perfect and your gear has stood by you. Now that we are facing a few weeks of wet and possible snow, this is a great time to get your favorite riding rig into the pros for a service. Your bike will love you and we will be back out on the trails soon. Please support the great shops that support us.
By region in no particular order:
Northwest Reno: Mountain Dog Cycling (Currently offering a service discount if you get in before christmas)
West Reno: Another Bike Shop Reno
Downtown: E-Bike Hub (In The Basement)
Midtown: College Cyclery & Velo Reno
South Reno: Great Basin Bicycles
And speaking of community, while you are sitting out the mud and snow, check out the adventure bikepacking write ups by our own Kurstin Graham over at Bikepacking Nevada. If you ever wanted to get out into the wilds of Nevada on a bike,. Kurstin’s blogs and maps are an excellent resource.
That’s enough from me. I hope it’s clear that I am super thankful to be a part of this community and to work with so many wonderful people. Treat your trails kindly and I hope y’all get plenty of stoke for the new year!
Cheers,
Patrick Smith