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