The hills of southern Utah have always fascinated me being a skier and a mountain biker. Being a skier, the steep terrain with long spines and drops reminded me of the terrain I ski in the winter. The thought of being able to ride similar terrain on my bike always made my imagination run. When I started biking and shooting with Steve Lloyd, I was constantly talking about going to the desert and riding lines. "You can't just go down there and ride, it takes a lot of work to be able to ride that stuff," said Steve, which of course made me want take the challenge and get down there.
In October of last year Steve and I made the trip down south and I finally got a taste of riding bigger lines in the desert. Hiking a 1,000 feet straight up my first line and tipping in was pretty wild. You are sitting sideways because the top of the ridges are 6 inches to a foot wide, and the sides of the spines are anywhere between 50-60 degrees in steepness. So you can't exactly just roll into your line with ease. My first day felt like tightrope walking on a bike. Once I got a few lines down and started riding them, it started to get fun, really fun! Over the next few weeks Steve and I kept making 2-3 day trips to the desert to film and shoot. By the end of November with five trips to the desert under our belts, this is what we came up with. Enjoy!
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