I’ve had the local map up on the wall at my cube at work all week, knowing I only had a few hours on Sunday morning for a dirt ride all week. I decided on a trail I sort of knew existed but never quite decided to check out.
Oh, yes, I’ll be back.
I don’t get lost very often. Occasionally, I might get a bit turned around..
I haven’t been this deep into this part of the forest for a while. It’s got the usual stuff – some Jeep roads, some singletrack, and even a bit of trail trash. It’s that trail trash that I was hoping to find again, as its been years since I’d last seen it, and I wasn’t quite sure how to get there…
Climbing through the Aspens.
Desending through the pines.
Don’t forget the flowers.
Reading between the lines.
Found trash.
Rode into work today, and as usual wondered why I don’t do it more often. Easy in, mostly downhill, followed by a tricky crosswind home. Spectacular, really. Feels good to pedal, and I felt great kicking it up a notch in both directions. I focused on a few short hills on the way out, stepping it up on the pedals, and feeling good, and then pushed 3/4 of the way up the South Boulder hill at a respectable pace before backing down into something a bit less respectable.
It was good.
I spent the better part of the day near Salida riding the wrong bike.
The family and I headed out for a three day weekend, two nights in Breckenridge seperated by a day trip to Salida. More riding was planned – a bunch in Breck, but that all failed. Day 1 due to family time and a great hike on the Peaks Trail, and Day 3 to some snow and moisture on already wet trails.
Day 2 was Salida, and I wasn’t entirely sure where I’d end up riding until I started pedaling. I bailed on the Rainbow trail and decided to head up behind S-Mountain for some big road climbing and singletack descents. As I neared the turn to head down towards the singletrack, I still had a bunch of time in my back pocket, but no map. I remembered from last time, a year ago, that there’s a ‘ghost town’ up there not too far from my turn. 6 miles by road, the signs said. Shouldn’t have been a big deal, but again, I had no map in that back pocket.
I headed towards where I thought I would find it, and the forest service signs kept confirming my guesses. That 6 miles was rolling, not in a pleasent way, but in the super steep way. It headed through some old limestone quarries (I think) and an unnaturally crystal blue lake. Eventually, I ended up seeing more and more private property signs, started running short on time, and bailed.
When I got home and checked my GPS against my maps, turns out I was only about 1/2 mile from the place. Damn. So close!
After hitting the not so pleasent rolling section back to the Jeep road downhill, time was running even shorter. I hit a piece or wo of ultra prime singletrack, but ended up riding a pretty rough road back to town. Excellent nonetheless. Four plus hours of riding and one big smile.
The best view of the day:
Sad thing is, the day would have been better served by my On-One, but with the other riding planned for the weekend I took the Intense instead. It’s a grea bike though, and in the end I wasn’t bummed at all.
Last weekend was chock full of goodness, starting with the the not smallest bike shop’s grand opening.
Which led into a Hall Ranch ride followed by the dirt jump portion of the Lyons Outdoor games. Seriously impressive riders doing seriously dumb things with no serious injuries.
Sunday was all about riding. Coulson, which for some reason I never set tire to last year was just what I needed. Backcountry goodness! As an added bonus, the crew I was leading was 3 guys and 4 chicks, who all hold their own.
Hopefully I’ll get to some more words later, but at least one picture for now. Others are here.
Monday, I handled the kid duties so the wife could ride to and from work. She had a great time, and last night, I tuned the crosser (the roadie needs some new cabling to shift right), packed a bag, and settled in to sleep.
Or not much sleep. And not because of the kid either. I just couldn’t keep myself down. Tossed and turned. And when the alarm went off this morning I rolled over one more time feeling the phlem that collected in my sinuses shift, and I was done. 15 more mintues of sleep, and I drive in.
Weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, so I’ll try for Thursday.
Strange of me, to head out on a bike without a camera. A whole weekend with no pictures is extra odd. It was a clear couple of decisions. I wanted to ride, not stop and ‘goof around.’ One hobby fighting with another.
Saturday was a quickie on the cross bike, which I still love a ton. Headed out east, lots of crushed limestone, a little pavement, and a tiny bit of dirt. Perfect ride for the crosser, which shall remain nameless. Seems that when I post its name, I get a ton of spam.
Sunday, the out and back and out and back special at Walker on the 5.5. Walker has largely fallen out of favor with the mtbr crowd. I can never figure out why. A nice varity of trails, decent technical features, and some smoking fun switchbacks for ups and downs.
Fruita etc.
http://bryanganzel.com/cyclinggallery/v/Rabbit+Valley+April+2008/
After A few trips a year for almost 10 years, I still manage to ride new trails there from time to time.
(This deserves more writing but its already taken me 3 weeks to post pictures, so this is a big step.)
There you have it, my favorite view from the local loop. It’s the first section of singletrack, the first view, and after 20some minutes of bike path and sidewalk and a closed gravel road, it’s dirt.
Unfortunately, that’s from last week. Yesterday, I rode the poorman loop after work (yes on a Saturday) and of course the weather isn’t nearly as nice today. Bummer. I’ll get something in, just not sure what. I might have to resort to the road bike again. Bummer.
