The Figure ∞

After years and years of biking Horsetooth and Lory parks, there are still new rides to be discovered. I know that this is not a new concept to anyone who lives near a spider's web of trail, but the same trails, ridden in different directions and looped differently can be a totally different riding experience, even for someone who rides them almost everyday. This was the case with a loop that I thought of trying out that I dubbed the Figure ∞.

For some reason, I every time I have ever climbed the Towers road to the top was to ride Mill Creek. It was this strange phenomenon in my brain that if I bothered to climb all the way up there that I would reward myself by riding Mill Creek. That was idiotic. Mill Creek shares the same trailhead as the Spring Creek Trail, and I realized I had never ripped Spring Creek top to bottom (from the top of Towers Road down to the Spring Creek bridge). It is absolutely one of the fastest, rockiest, and funnest descents in the park. Then I realized I could mix that epic ride with my other favorite park loop that I call Fun Run to make a loop that started and finished at the Soderberg lot and sort of resembled a "Figure 8" or "∞" symbol. It turns out that if you have the time that this loop has an incredibly high "Fun Factor", it is full of great vistas, and (in the same spirit as a good beer) should be enjoyed with friends!


Doug has a rad mountain rig. Fully.


Climbing Towers Road. You can see the road ascending in the distance


Close up of the climb ahead


Doug and Kristen grindin up the hill





Doug w/ Longs peak looming in the distance


Group ride times


Longs Peak




Audra Culver trail view of Horsetooth rock. Without a doubt the most scenic trail in the park




GPS trax


GPS profile. Final downhill from Harrington to the Valley is highlighted above


Map mode.

I know the east coast is getting pounded by snow, but as you can see from the photos, we are still bone dry between 7000 and 8000 feet. It's almost new years and we're still ripping trail like it's September around here. I've never seen anything like it. As I write this blog, we're having another sunny day in the mid fifties. It's a bit unsettling to think that there hasn't been any significant snowfall here this year, but we're gonna make the best of it and keep riding.

Next up: New Years Eve. Hope to see y'all in 2011. Happy New Year! I'm glad we made it this far together, raise a heart felt cheers to those who haven't, and to many many more to come!

Zness da Pness

New Bike Day. LHT. Maiden Voyage.

Big ideas usually end up nestling up in my brain and cause me to fixate on them. Then it usually results in spending big money. The big idea? Tour biking. It's definitely for me. As soon as the weather turns, I'm gone! So I dropped the coin, and with Matt II, and The Juice looking over my shoulder I managed to even build this bike up as well. This was my first bike build, and I learned a ton. I could definitely do it again.

This is my first new bike in about 3 years, so I'm pretty amped. Fully racked and ready to climb over a few mountain ranges.


I took it out for a quick rip around the front range just to see how she handles. I loaded it down as much as possible before the ride and as heavy as it is (35lbs, unloaded), I climbed like a motherfucker on it. It was a breeze after having climbed a lot on my fixie. It's amazing that a couple gears can make that weight seemingly disappear. Here's a few pics from the loop. Oh yea. If you decide to cruise this loop or anywhere around it I recommend the little highway offshoot of N Co Rd 29 instead of N Co Rd 27. Way more scenic.


(start of N Co Rd 29)








Water runout canal from the reservoir. It would be cool to see running full.




Side view of Horsetooth Rock.


View of the climb ahead.


Ripped this loop clockwise.



Also...

Big Red's back in San Diego for a less than thrilling rematch against Washington. GBR.

Still no snow here in the FC. Surprising, but it's coming, so get out there!

Rock on,
Zness

Nettles Shred

About a month ago I got to rip another Rist-Buckhorn Canyon Loop with Shred Nettles. I've been meaning to post up some photos from this ride and am finally getting around to it. There were a couple of interesting things about this ride. We did it on Nov 12, and had no idea of the extreme temperature swings we were going to experience. You can tell from the photos that we experienced hot and cold weather, but holy shit... We went from dripping wet with sweat, to balling up our fists and holding them in our shirts cause they were so fucking cold. But whatever, I'm used to fucking ballin. I also found an old Dead Dear Bike Gang sticker that morning that we strategically placed at the very tip-top of the climb, although it's pink and kind of hard to see, it's still there to this day. Finally, I figured it best to buy a 5th of bourbon before such a long trek, but I was actually surprised that I finished it well before I got home. I honestly didn't think I would actually finish a whole bottle of booze on a loop like this. Oh well, it kept me feelin toasty!

2 näive dudes that didn't know what lied ahead.


fuck yes we are, license plate.


*gulp




Heading outta LaPorte










George got Sepia as fuck on this ride.


The canyon was a mix of ice/snow/sun.


Emerging from the canyon and getting sun was so nice.


Done with the last climb. Single Speed grindin!


DDBG strikes again.


*gulp


*gulp




*gulp (notice the clothes change for the DH)


I guess it's a party over there.


Maximum Aero. Fully.








*gulp


*gulp


It's kind of hard to see, but there is a para-glider cruisin around up there.


You can barely see Horsetooth Rock back on the left horizon.


Young gentlemen ordering another shot of whiskey.




"Hey let's ride Pineridge!"


A bit muddy.


So goddamn thick with mud that both of our bike tires seized to the fenders. My shit is still covered in mud to this day. Maybe Pineridge wasn't such a good plan after all.





Next time, I gotta do this loop backward. But I'll wait til a warmer day.

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy...."
-John Denver

Cold Beers and Warm Whiskey Cheers!
-Zness