Thursday our t.i.t.s. ride was back to bc, this is becoming our staple ride with
mGe laying down his creation of a route. Little E was back with us and i knew the pace would be up with he and spike taking charge up the first little climb of 543, then back to 543 to shinglemill. Spike and e take off and i hung for a bit, then just tried to keep them within sight. But i tend to wander on the climbs and take in scenery. Never pulled the camera out but did manage to find a rock on the way up or Katelyns collection i have started. Why do i stop to add rocks to my pack?? The climb up shinglemill revealed green like i have not seen up there. Cary showed for this ride and was good to meet bob also from tennessee! Guy's an animal! After a longish rest we are on our way with the pace right back where it left off. Fast! That is e's only speed. Here is where the fun begins! Loose gravel and speed are a sketchy mix. Few riders went down with Jeremy's not looking good!
Knee has been a bit sore lately but felt really good tonite. Just need to ride more i guess! Jeremy likes to draw blood and taste the goodness the trail has to offer! I was descending fast but not crazy fast. I was not far behind the duo but wanted to capture some columbine shots.
Always fun to ride with miss maddie! She is fun to ride behind. She is crazy fast! On the way down Green Mountain i found Cary standing next to his bike with a puzzled look, his eyes were looking at me but somehow around me. He went down hard! After he sorted out his surroundings, we were rolling again. More bc goodness found us climbing baldy. With the lights on and riding my own pace found me just back from e and spike, after the top of baldy the evening just clicked for me, with every pedal stroke under my lights brought small explosions of color! Purple, yellow, red, orange, green then repeating. Looking up revealed a clear night with stars as bright as could be! Quiet and peaceful. I forgot i was climbing and almost felt like i was floating in the night.
Maddie just being maddie! The last descent of charlies, sandywash was loose but fast. Rolled back to the truck and chatted a bit had a cold
Dale's! And the night was complete! Good ride gentleman and maddie.
Nothing like gettin your new bike out on a trail!
Cody just crusin along
Good afternoon of riding for sure!! Time for some blue cow in morrison!
Knee has been a bit sore lately but felt really good tonite. Just need to ride more i guess! Jeremy likes to draw blood and taste the goodness the trail has to offer! I was descending fast but not crazy fast. I was not far behind the duo but wanted to capture some columbine shots.
Always fun to ride with miss maddie! She is fun to ride behind. She is crazy fast! On the way down Green Mountain i found Cary standing next to his bike with a puzzled look, his eyes were looking at me but somehow around me. He went down hard! After he sorted out his surroundings, we were rolling again. More bc goodness found us climbing baldy. With the lights on and riding my own pace found me just back from e and spike, after the top of baldy the evening just clicked for me, with every pedal stroke under my lights brought small explosions of color! Purple, yellow, red, orange, green then repeating. Looking up revealed a clear night with stars as bright as could be! Quiet and peaceful. I forgot i was climbing and almost felt like i was floating in the night.
Maddie just being maddie! The last descent of charlies, sandywash was loose but fast. Rolled back to the truck and chatted a bit had a cold Dale's! And the night was complete! Good ride gentleman and maddie.
There are some really cool sections of the trail that you wouldn't think of when you think highlands ranch.
She was finding an line option and rode it a couple times but my photo skils never got a good shot. WE had a great time and even though it was pretty hot we managed to get about a 10 mile spin in. Got up to the lookout point and could see the foothills getting pounded with rain. The lighting and thunder was off in the distance, but we decided it was a good time to head back. Good news was no rattlesnakes as they are prevelant in this area.
Till the next one.
The frantic calls and posts regarding the rain began early in the day. I gave spike a call to see first hand what it looked like, he was optomistic as usual. "Oh yeah suns out just chillin with a beer" Well maybe not sunny but just drizzling. Rick finally decided to join us for a thursday night ride. I had a solid 27 mile route planned and Jeremy wanted to throw a twist into the route. I had never ridden the lower gashouse section for one reason or another. I've been missing out! That is a fun little piece. Gave me an idea on a new loop. May give it a go next week.
At this point at the bottom of gashouse evan and steph decide to break off. So the remaining 7 of us trudge our way up 543 to and to 550 to gashouse th jct. with redskin. Just in time to click on the lights. That soupy road was a slow grind but another piece of the nights puzzle. I gave my helmet light to Rick, and missed the advantage of being able to see around corners. You just get used to running both bar and helmet. Just makes you a better night rider i guess without it.
Made our way on to the ct, and had planned to gp up green mountain, but given the time it was and our groups pace, which wasn't bad but we all agreed to skip that and stick with the CT. Which has its fair share of climbing as well. Were treated with some spectacular mushrooms along the trail. no we didn't eat any. A light drizzle assumed position over us and cooled us. As we went along riding and letting the others catch up it picked up and earlier rains left large ruts in the sandy singletrack making line choices not an option. Topped out and decided jackets would be a good choice. High humidity just kept the moisture in so staying dry was not the point, just staying warm.
All said and done it was 55.5 miles and some 7500 feet of climbing. Pace was good, rest stops, navigating and photo ops total time out was around 12 hrs. That was a sweet ride...........more later.
