Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Scott Press Camp


Bill and I just got back from a cool event – Scott USA’s Press Camp. “What’s a press camp,” you ask? Riding next years’ bikes, hanging out with editors from the bike mags, camping, eating some great grub and drinking beers around the campfire. That’s right; it’s pretty much all fun. But before you get too jealous, know that we set up 25 tents and braved a lot of rain in order to get ready for this shindig.


We arrived in Sun Valley on day 24 of rain. Day 25 wasn’t much different. We took the time to drive around to various trailheads and campsites in the hopes of finding one that wasn’t washed out. By early evening we had settled on what ended up being a terrific choice; Corral Creek.

The following day magically turned sunny and warm – perfect for a ride. While the lucky crew over at Scott USA, along with the 12 editors jumped on their 2010 Genius’, Bill and I headed out to the campsite with the staff from Western Spirit to set up camp. On our way to camp we had a run in with a little local wildlife and got a few great shots of a beautiful adult fox.


Twenty five tents later, complete with Pawprints, Footprints, and extra goodies, we were done and enjoying the long hours of a Western summer day. Missing the ride, we hiked around the canyon and grabbed a few photos of Gogo LE and the beautiful Idaho scenery.


That night at camp, the staff from Camp Chef styled us out with pork loin, smoked tri-tips, potato salad, brownies and cake, baked right on site. The backcountry cooking set up these boys had was unreal. That night around the campfire, stories of the day’s ride were shared, along with beers from Big Sky Brewing and tequila that our friend Adrian from Scott had been saving for 4 years. And I gotta say, it aged well.


A chilly night brought a heavy frost to all of the tents. But waking up to sunshine helped thaw us out quickly. With a good cup of Joe in hand and some tasty breakfast burritos, and, like I mentioned before, tasty cinnamon rolls in our bellies, we were ready to seize another day on the great Sun Valley trails.

Sun Valley is renowned for its mountain biking and if you’ve never been, put it on your list. Many miles of buffed out trails with amazing vistas with a cool town to support it, make this area one not to miss.

Heading to OR this weekend – we’ll keep you posted of the cool new products we encounter.

~Kate

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