From climbing snow cornices
to hiking up the edge of mountains with 2,000 ft drop offs within inches of your feet
a hike a bike makes your suffer, makes you tougher and brings you to riding great wonders
where fat tires are allowed but few ever go
and at the end of the day,you can sit back relax, and reflect on the great bit of riding you've just done
Photos by PBR
It Ain't Mountain Biking Without a Little Hike A Biking
Getting High on the Divide
After last year's West Empire Death March, I swore to never do the Bard Creek Trail by bike again and I have stuck to that line of thinking. There are still great treasures west of Empire though and Lubes, PBR and myself adventured to seek them out. Lubes mentioned doing Jones Pass last weekend when I was camping at Twin Lakes with my girls and when I later learned he hadn't, I came up with a route that included Jones Pass and Herman Gulch ending with Silverdale back into Georgetown. Lubes was game and when we talked PBR into it, the good times were rollin.
It began with a mean and nasty climb regularly maintaining a 15% grade and sometimes jumping up to 25%. Even with a granny while the other two suffered singlespeeds, I walked a little
least the cornice was smaller then last years
and that cornice still holds strong
The Continental Divide Trail appears and is as grand as I remember
Do you see Lubes and PBR on the Ridge?
and there was hike a biking, lots of it
But when we reached 13,215 ft, our highest point for the day, it was all worth it
(notice the Goat now has a backup ride, an Origin 8 Scout 29)
From there it was a 3,000 or so feet descent
a short bike and hike up and we arrive at an ancient glacier lake
and some more magnificent scenery
then it was in and out of the woods to below 10,000 ft
Connections are a must, PBR found a way to enjoy this one
Legs were starting to get heavy, can we catch a ride Thomas?
Guess not, time for a nap before that last bit of great singletrack
and what fun it was
Lubes with the killer guns!
Spikefest 10'
Everything you wanted to know about Spikefest 2010 in a nice rounded up little photo summary...me: still on the El Mariachi 34 x 22 singlespeed and riding strong all day, about 57 miles, a variant route from Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge where thunderstorms beer and brew awaited, sun broke free and a mad dash was made to Como to get the cars after a family emergency drew me off the original course. All is well.
My 1st Moose were seen on the drive to Kenosha
On the way to Georgia Pass
Mateo on the CT Bridge
PBR coming up fast
Gummy Bears enjoy views too
CanyonRat, the great man who loaned me the El Mariachi to keep me sane, who has also never ridden any of Kenosha Pass, couldn't keep the smiles off his face
Troy railing the CT with Mt Guyot in the background
PBR and Mt Guyot
The Master of Ceremonies, Spike
Spike hiking the Flume Marsh
The Great Flume Wall...
CanyonRat on the talus slope
Mateo, Spike, and CanyonRat racing the approaching Storm
PBR crossing the Little French Gulch
Lubes at Sally Barber Mine
Lubes on the Breckenstunts
PBR on the Breckenstunts
A Rotary Snow Plow in Breckenridge, These things are cool to see in action!
Welcome to Colorado's Jungle
where the forest is wet and lush, seeing a lion(mountain, that is), bear or wild Turkey is a common occurrence. This is Indian Creek. An area of unique biodiversity for Colorado within Pike National Forest. The forest is very much alive at any given time. Butterflies and hummingbirds buzz within inches of your face, singing birds of all kinds chirp a fun and blissful tune and after a hard nights shower, like last night, a rare humidity for Colorado, reminiscent of the forest of the east coast mountains.
The Falcon is indeterminately disabled, a handicap that I will spare to share but through the kindness of good hearted friends I have another bike to ride, A Salsa El Mariachi, set up as a 34x22 singlespeed. Perfect for today's 5500 ft of climbing in 30 some odd miles.
Getting to the trailhead at 5:30am is hard for any man but I do it so I can spend the evenings with my family and the only other soul I could get to join me was a man with young kids himself, Guacamole.
Our ride begins on CR5 near Roxborough State Park, a gem of beautiful landscape and Red Rock Formations
a short hike a bike on a hiking only trail leads us to the Nelson Open Space where there is a chance to ride up close to a piece of the Red Rock Formation
a bit of mellow meadow riding before the climbing begins
and Roxborough dissapears far beneath us as we climb Ringtail into Pike National Forest
where we are immediately enveloped in a lush, dark, and humid forest
that stretches on
and on for miles
Near the bottom of Stephen's Gulch, Gaucamole's chain bent in a manner that required 2 quick links and a bit of new chain from my pack to fix. It was a gimp fix but enough for him to limp out to the Waterton Canyon trailhead where we had luckily left his truck earlier in the morning.
I continued on, connecting to Section 1 of the Colorado Trail and though the South Platte beckoned I turned off at Lenny's Rest and reconnected to the Indian Creek Trail and eventually back to Ringtail where a 6 mile descent awaited.
The El Mariachi at the Ringtail shack
A quick bombing descent and I was back in the Front Range
Spikefest this weekend...just to decide if I want to do the 55 miler and hang out with the boys or go for the pain of 85 miles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
