The Return of the Rockhopper

My original 1988’ish Rockhopper

Way back about a quarter century ago I bought my first Specialized Rockhopper.  I was upgrading from my Raleigh Elkhorn, at a time when the technology and innovation of the mountain bike was absolutely charging forward.  Advances in components, frame building, wheels and tires… were coming almost weekly.  And for a novice mountain bike racer like me it meant that I was always looking for the next cool thing.  The evolution was exciting, but eventually the “race bug” faded away a bit.  Ah, but fortunately my love of all things bicycle has been with me my whole life.

Me and Travis – Note that’s a newer Rockhopper

I am delighted to report that my children and now even my grandchildren have also discovered the joy of messing about on bikes.

My new Rockhopper

I bought my first bicycle from Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle back in about 1968.  It was not my first bike, by any means, but the first bicycle that I had bought with my own money.  A Schwinn Continental as I recall.  Since then we have included a stop at Gregg’s in every family bike shopping excursion… many times it was the last stop.  And so it was when my grandson Kingston and I went down there last Friday to look for my new mountain bike.

It just sat there; flat black, hydraulic disc brakes, big old 29 inch tires, looking all “urban assault” like… Yep, it was another Rockhopper!

My new 29er

It would be unkind to compare this bike with my last Rockhopper… Think Moto GP bike running against a covered wagon.

Do you believe I used to do stuff like this for FUN?

When did 100mm of suspension travel become the standard benchmark for front forks?  And where have those ergonomic flat handlebar grips been all my life?

Here is a little video from the first ride.  I went up to Monte Cristo and rode into the old mining town:

I hope you like that little movie.  How about a couple more images from today’s ride:

Waterfall

Fall colors on the Sauk River

I’m much more mature now 🙂

That’s about it for this edition of the Adventure Journal.  Thanks for having a look, now go out and ride your bike.

Kat

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