Tuesday, June 17, 2008

kicked in the ass by adventure

We did an adventurous ride Tuesday up in ned and ended up picking our way back down to town via a varying route that offered a little of everything. A long day in the saddle that gave me route ideas for some mini epics in the future.

It all started with the 12:10pm bus to Ned. 3 blocks into it, we pick up a handful of dirtbags and one of them ends up starting shit with the bus driver due to the fact that they were too lazy to stand up when the bus was driving by. He looked like the long red haired Italian chef Mario from the food network (minus the ability to choose a good olive oil or tell you what a white truffle is good for). The guy soon realizes he could get into serious trouble as per the sign that states creating a disturbance on mass transit can result in a $750 fine and up to 16 yrs in prison. Numerically this seems lopsided to me but it seemed to make the point as I am sure it has many of times.

We got off at the high school and headed up west mag. We decided to climb the school bus trail straight up to super circle which on a singlespeed, is like getting hit with baseball bats on the thighs as you ride between the lines of an angry mob. Finishing always feels great though and you soon forget the pain as the trail opens into the meadow. Once at the super circle we meet a guy and girl riding with a really cute dog who had shoes on her paws with better tread than my back tire. We soon part ways and head down the opposite direction from which we arrived to descend roots trail.

The trails were in great shape with only a couple stubborn snow banks refusing to admit summer is here.






section of the roots trail




After heading back down towards the road, we made a quick detour to use a couple tools at Happy Trails bike and coffee shop in town. We saw familiar faces and indulged in an ice coffee before heading back out to ride up the 505 which kicked my ass. I realized that the newer shoes I have been riding are not quite right and have been causing some strange positioning. Either way, at certain points climbing the 505 this day proved to be about as much fun as getting arrested.



I realized I was not drinking nearly enough water as we made our way up. Hmm, maybe that coffee wasn't the best idea but I still enjoyed the view. The pic I took above is only part way into this climb and we started down there in the valley. You can even see some ski runs off to the left if you look closely. There was still plenty more to climb.



We refilled on water and I started to drink to make up for lost liquid. The clouds can sometimes fool you at altitude with the cooler temps and one may think they do not need to drink as much as the really do. Hitting some cool spring water gave me a little boost as we headed into the twisty fun section of sherwood. We jumped the road and got into a section of trail I had never ridden that took us to ridge rd and pointed us towards boulder. We rode some dirt road for a bit and then dropped into dream canyon on a doubletrack. Back to dirt road through the canyon which was beaming with life.



Looking back towards the mtns we were just riding in.




Jess heading out of dream canyon.



good miles



Luckily, we never saw the dog this sign was referencing. I love the electrified font of the word warning and the blood dripping from his teeth.


After all this, we were rewarded with some steep pitches of road to get back out of the canyon.



ahh yes, more climbing! you will need to click on this one to actually see Jessica. Speaking of road bikes, not much time left to get a ticket or 4 for the drawing over at Fat Cyclist. A very worthy cause and a very sweet bike that could be yours for $5.

We still had a little bit of a ride back to town and descended sugarloaf a full speed. I tucked into position and had fun in the corners with the nevegal floating around on the front of my bike. Not the best tire for a high speed mtn descent down the pave but it was fulfilling to get a little something back.

A good long ride that was much needed. We want to start much earlier next time and plan things out to create the best possible route. I can't wait until next time. Adios for now

3 comments:

Tim Wise said...

Nice RIDE post. Yeaa nothing like a long day in the saddle.That trail wrapping through the trees looks sweet. What is up with that spring?

Wskee said...

Thanks homie. The spring is drinkable water that the people up in the Caribou rd area use. Cold and clean!

Def some fun trails up there. When you come up, I'll show you some of my favorites.

riderx said...

Looks like a good day. Hard to complain about a day on two wheels in beautiful country like that!