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Buffalo Creek area of The Colorado Trail - May 20, 2007We (Ruth and Tom) camped at Buffalo Campground then did a little out and back on the Colorado Trail. |
White Ranch - August 1, 2004We rode some of the veritable plethora of trails at White Ranch today.Like yesterday, we should've started earlier. It got up to near 100 ° F and that really can drain your energy. Fortunately, much of the ride we did kept us in the trees and the clouds, certainly without knowing or caring, floated between the Sun and us on occassion. We rode Sawmill out of the lower parking lot, up Belcher Hill Trail, turned around after a tad bit of an endo, through Maverick and back to the parking lot. White Ranch has a lot of different trails. You can spend an hour on a loop or spend a weekend camping and riding. There's something for almost anyone there. It's located just outside of Golden, Colorado. |
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Dakota Ridge - July 31, 2004We rode Dakota Ridge today.It's a technical and spectacular ride located near where we live in Lakewood, Colorado. We probably should've started earlier, since it got pretty hot before the ride was over. Staying out late the night before seemed to keep us from getting up earlier. Funny how that works. The ride out of the parking lot is a steep climb and is pretty tiring, but it's a good warm-up for the rest of the climb to the highest point of Dakota Ridge. :-) After this it's a bunch of single track from which you can often see the steep drop to either side, thus the ridge part of the name. There's lots of good technical stuff, but most of it is doable if you just let go of your self and trust in the force. It also helps to know that even a helicopter airlift is out of the question, so you'd better make it, or else. I don't have pictures, but a few years before, my friend Dave Batton and I did this in the dark. Not because we're either mondo or semi-retarded, but because on the ride to get there, I had two flats. Having started out in the late afternoon it meant getting to top of the first climb after sundown. It didn't get dark all that fast, so we didn't really notice until we wentng down a few things that would usually have us dismount and walk. It was all because we couldn't tell it was scary until it was too late and we were already part way down and couldn't stop. It really showed us how much of it we previously walked out of fear. Sometimes it really is best to attack something without knowing how dangerous it is. Even if you have to walk through the tough sections, it's a great ride and the views are great. |
Fruita - April, 2004We spent a weekend in Fruita in April.Fruita is a great place to ride! The local bike store, Edge Cycles is stocked and staffed better than most big city bike stores I've been in. Anyway, we'd previously ridden Mary's loop which is on the other side of I-70. It was over 100°F then, but this time it probably never passed 80°F. We rode the Book Cliffs area, which is home of some wild ass rides. Take a look at the pics and get out there if you like to ride. More Fruita info |
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Porcupine Rim - September 20, 2003On Saturday, September 20th, we rode the Porcupine Rim in Moab.We started from the parking lot at the "end" of Sand Flats Road. From there there's about a 900ft (300m) climb to the overlook of Castle Valley. From there it's over 3000ft (a light year in metric) of downhill! HFS that's a spicy meatball! There are a few places where we rode right next to 1000ft (infinite in metric for dying purposes) cliffs. But, slowing down is for panty waist sober boys, right! We had a car parked at the end of the trail so we didn't have to ride back up to camp. How much fun did we miss out on? None!!! |
Colorado Trail - July 6, 2003On Saturday, July 6th, we (Ruth and Tom again) rode the Colorado Trail - Buffalo Creek to Waterton Canyon ride.What an incredible ride. I say that now because I'm still alive and like women who while in the throws of labor scream, "You'll never put me through this again" then a year later say, "It was a good pain, I want to have another baby", my brain has mercifully changed what was 'pain' on the ride to 'effort' in my memory. There is, in fact, a net elevation loss of a thousand or so feet. "Net" don't mean squat pal! The length of the ride is roughly 29 miles and demands climbing 3600 feet. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had looked at the map a bit more closely and hadn't read it as being almost all down hill and about twelve miles long. It was a mother of a ride, but it was worth it. Alas, I took no pics on that ride. |