RR: a memorable memorial day

As the snow recedes up high this time of year, my thoughts always turn
to the many peaks that surround this area and the web of great trails
throughout them. My long time riding buddy Steve called me last week to
come and join him for a Crested Butte ride on the holiday. Plans were
made, weather reports checked, and everything looked good. The day
started under blue skies, a little on the cool side but warming quickly.
I got to Steve's house at the appointed time and we headed over to meet
at his neighbor's place. A group of five was assembled, and
introductions made as we started spinning out of the neighborhood in the
shadow of Mt. Crested Butte.
The first thing we were to ride is the Deer Creek Trail, which connects
the Brush Creek/Skyland area to the town site of Gothic, with is North
of Mt. Crested Butte. This is always one of the first big rides to open
up, and riding it is a sign that summer has arrived.
The climbing begins pretty mildly on a graded dirt road. After a couple
of Miles we turn off the road on to a two track and the climb steepens.
The group began to spread out, making everyone's relative condition
apparent. We had two guys, Art and Dave, who were really hammering it. I
tried to hang with them for a while but decided to back off a little to
pace myself for the day. Behind were Steve and Jeff, neither of whom had
been on very many rides yet this season, but were still making a good
effort on this monumental climb. When we hit our first short down hill
on the two track it became apparent that I was Designated Downhill Guy.
It's funny how that works out. When I'm with a group of freeride/DH
kinds of folks, I'm the climber, but when I'm with a group of XC type
people, I'm the DH guy. Either way it's fine. It helps keep things fresh.
We climbed and climbed. We even walked a couple hundred yards where the
steep trail, loose rock, and roots became too much to keep riding. I was
seeing spots at a couple of places.
We topped out, regrouped, snacked, and enjoyed the spectacular views (I
forgot the camera). Another rider caught up to us at the top and we
chatted a little. He was from Illinois but riding pretty strong,
especially for a flatlander. It turned out he was the brother of a local
guy some of the others in our group knew. He'd been traveling and riding
for a while (Moab, Fruita, Front Range, and elsewhere) so that explained
his fitness level.
The DH was really nice, with the trail in great shape. There were some
fast sections with banked turns and the occasional log jump alternating
with steep and rocky parts, usually down to a creek crossing. A couple
more climbs and descents later we had a longer stop waiting for the
group. Then we heard Dave had crashed and dislocated his shoulder, but
managed to pop it back in himself. He was hurting and the final descent
to Gothic was a little slow. We turned on to Gothic Road at the 15 Mile
mark and began climbing back up the road towards Mt. Crested Butte.
The decision was made that Dave with his hurt shoulder and Jeff, who was
almost bonking, would just spin the road back home.
The rest of us decided to do Snodgrass since we were there already. The
climb up Snodgrass felt the hardest it ever had. With several thousand
feet of hard climbing already behind us, we just wanted to get up to the
top so we wasted no time doing that (which hurt). Snodgrass was also in
really nice shape and Art and I really hammered the DH and found
ourselves back at Washington Gulch in what seemed like no time.
While waiting for the others, we met a friend of Art's who seemed like a
pretty interesting guy. He was the founder of Western Spirit Tours but
had sold the company some years ago. He had just returned from South
America where he was setting up a loge in Patagonia. Sounds like a fun
lifestyle!
After a fast descent back down to Gothic Road between CB and Mt. CB, we
climbed back up to Mt. CB so we could take one final trail, Upper Loop
back to Steve's neighborhood. Again it was good, but showed signs of
more traffic than any of the other trails we rode. Finally, after about
five hours we got back to Steve's place. I enjoyed a nice cold Negra
Modello before heading back home to hang out with my son while MrsB got
out on her single speed for a while.
I estimate the day;s ride was something along the lines of 35-38 Miles,
and maybe 3500-4000' of climbing. It was a good day!

Matt

On May 29, 10:09 am, MattB wrote:
As the snow recedes up high this time of year, my thoughts always turn
to the many peaks that surround this area and the web of great trails
throughout them.snip the goods


Deer Creek is killer. The apex of the climb is a good place to be on
that trail.

JD

I estimate the day;s ride was something along the lines of 35-38 Miles,
and maybe 3500-4000' of climbing. It was a good day!

Matt

Must have been the weekend of 4000' climbs. I'm still not sure my legs
are attached.

My ride seems to be a bit steeper than yours - must be a front range
thing: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2869874

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

"MattB" wrote in message

(snip)

After the second martini and Irish Car Bomb, I barely
remember mine!

-Zilla

"Ride-A-Lot" wrote in message
m...

I estimate the day;s ride was something along the lines of 35-38 Miles,
and maybe 3500-4000' of climbing. It was a good day!

Matt

Must have been the weekend of 4000' climbs. I'm still not sure my legs
are attached.


Ditto for the climbs. I did about 4000' as well on Friday, in about 30
minutes. Oh, did I mention it was in a Cessna?

The missus surprised me with a small plane ride as part of a birthday
celebration. Drove up above Hood River (Oregon) to a tiny airfield, and
after take-off the pilot handed control over to me. Scary but fun for a guy
who's never been in anything other than commercial planes.

For the biking part, we did do some low fly-overs on some known trail areas.
They look clear, inasmuch as much of their route is obscured by fir forest.
Then we headed to our eastern Washington cabin and hosted half a dozen
people for a weekend party. Took different sets of folks on dual track
rides over the weekend. Kinda tame, but got their 'road rider' juices
going.

Cheers
Gary

Seriously, cudos to you animals that ride 30+ miles and climb a mile in a
day. I'll never have that kind of time, or fitness level, in this lifetime.

Zilla wrote:
"MattB" wrote in message

(snip)

After the second martini and Irish Car Bomb, I barely
remember mine!

-Zilla



OK, I have to ask. What is in an Irish Car Bomb?

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

On Tue, 29 May 2007 17:21:02 -0700, Ride-A-Lot
wrote:

Zilla wrote:
"MattB" wrote in message

(snip)
After the second martini and Irish Car Bomb, I barely
remember mine!
-Zilla


OK, I have to ask. What is in an Irish Car Bomb?


http://www.cocktail.com/recipes/i/IrishCarBomb.htm

Anything that comes with a disclaimer like, "Drink quickly before it
curdles," isn't getting anywhere near my mouth.
--
Slack