Saturday, February 18, 2017

Skibike article in the Summit Daily News

by G. Kunkel

A year ago I contacted the sports editor of the Summit Daily News after he published an article on skibobs. Some of his information was correct and some of it was not. I invited him to come learn more.

Last week he sent me an email to take me up on my offer. He wanted to do a follow-up article on freestyle (peg) skibikes and learn some about the people who do it.

I posted up an invitation last week on the Facebook Snow bike/ Ski Bike Group for riders.   Devin Lenz and Rich Mayer quickly responded.  After a flurry of messaging, phone calls, and emails - we were set for Wednesday morning at Keystone Ski Resort.

After meeting up at the Wooley Mammoth parking lot in Morrison, we loaded up the bikes in Devin's truck and headed out to Summit County, Colorado.
Skibiking at Keystone. Photo courtesy of Summit Daily News
We met Phil Lindeman  and his photographer Louie near the gondola and unloaded the bikes.  He got some basic skibike terminology and background information on each rider.  We then loaded on the gondola.

At the top, the group was quickly approached by a ski patroller and a safety patroller.  They wanted to know more about the bikes as they had never seen them before.  As usual, we got stared at by skiers and snowboarders on the mountain.

After a brief refresher on freestyle skibiking, Phil was set to venture out on ski runs.  They got lots of photos and video for their skibike article.  They asked more questions as well.

After two hours of riding around, Phil and Louie had to move on to their next assignment.  So we said our farewells.

We stayed and rode around for the rest of the day.  Conditions were pretty firm and icy.  Not really enjoyable but did provide challenges that I normally avoid.  We stopped for some lunch and then headed back out.

After going down the steepest, most icy, black diamond run down the front side, I decided that it was a day for me.  I hung out on a bench while Devin and Rich made a few more runs.  Another Lenz Sport rider came flying through while they were off riding.  Couldn't figure out who it was.

We then headed home all the while discussing what a pretty day it was.  Better than spending a day in the office.

The completed skibike article can be found online at the Summit Daily News website.

© 2017 G. Kunkel and A Colorado Skibiker Goes Skibiking. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to G. Kunkel and A Colorado Skibiker Goes Skibiking with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.Google

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