Chunky Chunk

I've been missing some good old chunk style riding. big rocks, roots, eroded(did he go there, I believe he did IMBA*) singletrack. I took Guacamole to a favorite gem up in the mountains somewhere between Boulder and Estes Park where the line between Colorado Backcountry and what definitely has a backwoods Appalachian feel, becomes blurred.

Everything in the area from the trails to the ...ummm towns, if you'd call them that, feels like they stepped straight out of the Appalachia's. Rugged defines this country and it'll break you without thinking twice about it.

I figured I'd start our day in Colorado's east coast style riding right. A couple miles on pavement followed by a brief fun descent on rocky singletrack followed by a hike a bike>ride a bike>hike a bike climb.



I followed this up with a dirt road climb to Left Hand Reservoir and a view that said we were still in Colorado



This was followed by entering the Little Raven Trail. A trail of boardwalks over high mountain bogs followed by lots of rock gardens.





This trail brought us back to Brainard Lake and some brief views of the Indian Peaks Wilderness



where just beyond, a bit of rock and roots awaited





And the roar of the South Saint Vrain kept music with our pace





A bit of smooth singletrack intermittently broke the constant pounding



and after getting lost on a bit of, "new to me" trail...we found the way



During the ride I kept getting a creak out the rear of my bike. Thinking it was a wheel I soon discovered it to be a crack in the chainstay. Fugg me, right in the middle of our peak high country season too.

Sanded just to be sure. The horizontal line is the crack.



* I'm not really meaning to bag on IMBA as I believe they are positive ambassadors of our sport. A root or a rock in the trail is not always a bad thing though and while I love a good ol IMBA style flowy trail as the next mountain biker, I believe there is a limit to excessive trail cleansing.