Best rides

Five of my best friends and I went to Moab for a weekend of camping and mountain biking. We arrived just before dark on Friday night and found that most of the camp sites were full with spring breakers. Not wanting to waste time searching we stayed at a friend’s house and jammed on his array of musical instruments. Much respect to those who can play and sound good because we did not. In the morning we started what was the best day of mountain biking I can remember. I’m not sure the names of all the trails but after five hours we ended on one called the Portal Trail.

Four and a half hours was how long I sat on my skinny little bike seat and I feel every bit of it. Six of us rode up and over Carter Lake. The ride home is what killed me though because once again the wind was ridiculously strong. The lighter guys got blown half way across the road from a few of the gusts. Duke and I rotated for about and hour unable to leave our second easiest gear. I guess the testosterone induced race to the top of Carter Lake didn’t help us on the final stretch. This ride was not only the longest ride of the year but probably the best.

It was in the high 50’s and sunny again today but the damn wind was relentless. Well, that’s not entirely true. On the first half of the ride I was spinning out my 53-12, which means the wind was pushing me at around 35 mph. Very Nice!!!

The ride felt backwards today. Normally when you head east from Boulder, you get to enjoy a slight downhill with a nice tailwind. Today the wind was in my face and I took a unique route with some uphill. The best part of the ride (besideds stopping for some Vic’s Espresso half way through) was turning around and getting blown uphill. I love that feeling when it’s supposed to be hard but it feels easy. Our new Sugoi jackets did a great job keeping the cold wind from cutting through. My head and face were freezing but the rest of my body was nice and toasty. Good equipment is key.

On Tuesday, I was out on what could be the best cyclocross ride I have ever done. A new mountain bike trail opened just South of Boulder and I went to check it out. Exploring new trail in a familiar area has got to be one of the coolest things ever. The trail is unique because you actually go downhill while going west and approaching the mountains. It almost felt unnatural. When I turned around to climb back out of the canyon I had such a strong tailwind that it felt like I was still going downhill.

Every Wednesday in Boulder a large group of cyclist of all ability levels meet at a coffee shop downtown and go race each other in the parks. It’s awesome!

Hopwood and I rode up Left hand Canyon to Jamestown yesterday. For those of you who haven’t done it, it’s a mellow climb that takes about two hours to complete from Boulder. It’s been awhile since I have done it because I usually opt for the longer route up to Ward. Guess I’ve been missing out because there is brand new pavement and shoulder the entire way. You wouldn’t think it would make that big of a difference but it does. Having a new road beneath your tires gives you a smooth and fast ride making you feel like superman.

We all made it home in one piece from the weekend in Crested Butte. A bouncer at one of the bars wasn’t so lucky though. He tried to ride a cruiser bike down a flight of stairs into the bar after we had done it several times. Half way down he flipped the bike and went face first into the brick wall at the bottom. I missed the actual crash but his face looked horrendous. The next day, on almost no sleep or food, we rode the 403 and the 401 trails. It took us 5 ½ hours and it was a hard way to get back on a mountain bike after two years.

Just got back into biking about a month ago after a little layoff (3 years.) I pulled the bike out and did and inventory of the repairs needed and off i went got most of the repairs done before i started but some will have to wait. My first trip was 8 miles as was the second, and then my goup got daring and pushed it to fifteen miles.

The ride up Mt Evans was pretty sweet. As planned, I started in Idaho Springs and climbed 7,000 feet over 28 miles to the top. It was a fairly mellow climb with very little traffic and beautiful scenery. On the way up I saw a small glacier where someone had left some fresh snowboarded tracks and multiple people had carved their names. I also saw the real Billy Goat Gruff and we had a little chat while I took his picture. With about two miles to go you could see the top, and it seemed so close, but there were at least 10 switch backs in the way so it felt like forever.