Sam on his K2 Zed 20 sizing up the descent.

Atypically, I’ve just finished up a three-day weekend and all kinds of two-wheeled fun was had. But, best of all, Suzee and I celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary. The 5th is the actual day but truly, we simply prefer the first Saturday in October, especially when she’ll be on call at the hospital on the 5th.

Before our big anniversary dinner. Delayed shutter bliss. The posse at our lunch stop.

To start, we took our boys plus a friend out for a great mountain bike ride at Hartman Rocks. We did a pretty nice loop - some decent mileage, too, considering the three younger boys are riding tanks, one of which has just 20″ wheels. It was a bluebird day and we took our lunch high atop a granitic formation out there affectionately knows as the Pimple, the Zit or Boobies. It’s some sort of igneous formation jutting out of the barren sage landscape that looks just like a zit on a teenager’s face. It’s also one of the highest vantages at Hartmans and offers a spectacular 360 degree view of the heart of the south central Colorado high country.

Later that evening, just the two of us headed downtown, a hearty almost three block walk, to our favorite restaurant, Sugah’s Cafe. The proprietors, Matt and Charlotte, relocated to Gunni from Memphis just over a year ago and brought with them killer southern fare and a chill atmosphere. Anyone who ate the post race meal at the Growler knows what I’m talking about. They also have Dr. Pepper in cans and mellow Nawlings jazz piped in. Very cool!

But it was a three day weekend so I must now back up a day to Friday and the epic attempt of the Mendicant Ridge trail in the West Elk Mountains. This is a trail that I have seen on maps for years and I’m sure has been ridden numerous times. I just have never heard of anyone who has ridden it; didn’t want any beta on it from anyone who had if I could find them; and was/am also sure that if it was a really sweet trail, we probably would have heard about it by now. That has hike-a-bike written all over it if you ask me, not to mention that the West Elks are not known for great mountain biking, although the majority of the range is in wilderness and off limits to bikes. I love the unknown and Yuki and Jeff were coming along for the ride!

Yuki with a mouth full of PowerBar and Needle Rock in the background.

On my GPS, I plotted an overly ambitious route that would have us ride the Piburn Trail and the Bald Mountain Tie-In Trail first, before we even got to the start of our actual goal: the Mendicant Ridge Trail. The M-Ridge looks to be about 8-10 miles long, undulating and then dropping quickly. There is another trail adjacent to the M-Ridge called the West Dyer Trail and either of these would be plenty epic on their own. But once I was set on descending 92 to Crawford and then heading to the east to the Piburn, well, that just put it a little over the top.

The beginning of the singletrack riding....walking....pushing....hiking.

Things were foreboding from the start when the GPS route I had chosen terminated in a gate, private property and no trespassing signs. There was an old hippy nearby chopping wood outside of the old school bus up on blocks that he lived in and he told me that “there are some sketchy characters up there.” He recommended a different approach and we agreed. That approach took us into Crawford proper and then east directly below Needle Rock, the core of an ancient volcano that sits very near Joe Cocker’s place, the Mad Dog Ranch. This detour put us behind at least an hour but was very scenic as we plied deserted roads and jeep trails through blazing red oak brush that gave way to vast stands of yellow aspens.

A weird picture of Jeff pushing his bike through Yuki's armpit that is strangely in focus.

Finally on the Piburn trail, we had some decent singletrack riding with just an occasional downed tree across the trail. Colorado had experienced a vicious wind storm the day before (Monarch Pass reported 84 mile an hour winds and anyone in the high country that day reported numerous close calls with blown down trees, big ones!) so we knew we might be in for it. Sure enough, occasional turned into multiple and before long we weren’t able to ride very far each time we did get on before we were forced off again. Some of the trees were new but you could also see that some had been there for a while, too.

"Hey Yuki, have you seen me flex?"

We came to some downright time consuming places to get through, like the confluence of three drainages that all had flash flooded and totally jacked the area with precipitous little cliffs, snags and generally nasty terrain to get through. Finally, we popped out and the downed trees, for the most part, were behind us. Now we just had a narrow trail with a nice surface. The only problem was that it was fricking steep! Really steep! Serious pushing of the bike and fresh, we were pretty sure, bear turds on the trail. We knew we needed to gain a butt load of vertical to attain the back of Black Mesa and the beginning of the M-Ridge trail. Long story short, we pushed a lot, rode a little and finally got to where the trail began.

Where we should have been at about 11am, not 3pm.

However, it was 3pm now and if there were significant downed trees on these trails, we easily could find our selves darked and spending the night out there. We each did have space bags, fire and headlamps, but still…. We made the call to bail out and descend the road back to the FJ and call it a ride. As it was, My Suunto said 6400 vertical and we were out about 7 hours. But it was a glorious day and I loved every minute of exploring a place I’d never been before. If the weather cooperates and the snow stays away, I’d like to get back down there and do one of the two trails, just without the massive prelude. We’ll see.

The Mendicant Ridge trail, still unexplored by me, mocking me. We wimped out and bailed the other way.

Finally, today was Bronco Sunday. If you’re like some cyclists and hate the whole team sports/pro sports thing, just stop reading right here. But I like team sports. I like football. And I love the Denver Broncos. When they won their first Super Bowl, I saw people rioting in Denver. I was in Gunni but decided I should riot, too. I was the only one rioting and I was trying to tip cars over by myself and the police kept telling me just to go home. I finally did. You get the picture, though, I bleed orange and blue.

Oh yeah! Bronco Sunday!

My Sundays in the fall are often the same:  ride in the morning and then watch a little Bronco football in the afternoon, usually also completing some major task around the house. Football is great like that as there is only what, 6 or 7 minutes of live action in an entire game? I can pay attention to it, see every play if I want to, but also be totally productive due to all of the breaks in the action. Today before the game I did a great ride with Mountain Flyer editor Brian Riepe and art director Chris Hanna. Chris loves football and the Broncos while Riepe is less enthusiastic, so when Chris and I would start talking football, Brian would torture us by dropping the hammer on his sweet Ibis Carbon singlespeed spanking us ’til we were too tired to speak. I think I left a lung out there somewhere! So my bronkies beat the Dallas Cowboys today (sorry Lance) and are 4-0. It was a great weekend! Goodnight!

Hey Lance, sorry about your Cowboys!

Suzee ripping along with the dyke in the background.

The Dyke Trail isn’t the best nor the most renowned ride in the Crested Butte area but it is worthy, especially in the fall. Notorious for a herd of sheep, unpredictable, giant white sheep dogs (sometimes they attack you; sometimes they try to lick you to death) and never a shepherd to be seen, the Dyke Trail is also one of the better rides for experiencing aspens in September. I have been told that the largest stand of quakies is in this area but don’t hold me to that. Sections of this trail define “the glow tube.” It’s also popular with horseback riders and ends right at a major staging area for those who prefer to ride over four legs rather than two wheels.

Looking north from Kebler Pass road into the Raggeds Wilderness, I believe. The dyke is also clearly visible.

Just the other (week)day we saw not a horse, not a sheep and not a sheep dog. We did see glorious skies, awesome peaks, great trail and yes, lots or aspens doing their thing. Suzee had a rare day off of work and after getting the boys to school we jetted up though Crested Butte, waving to the hippies as we went. We parked on the east side of Kebler Pass right at the beginning of the Kebler Wagon Trail and climbed the road toward the old Irwin Lodge and the beginning of the Dyke Trail.

Susan in the "glow tube."

The trail is named after a geologic formation called a dyke. A dyke is a sheet intrusion and this one is of igneous origin. Keep in mind, I’m an armchair geologist but I think what we have here is essentailly a crack or fissure between rock layers that allowed magma to be pushed up into it. At the surface it’s exposed and while the trail crosses the dyke on the north side of Coal Creek high up on the mountainside, the dyke is evident running more of less north-south and can be seen on the other side of the creek, too, and also right next to the Kebler Pass road as you’re climbing back up toward the summit of the pass after riding the trail. Neat!

The good view of the dyke.

The other thing I found neat was riding with my wife here. We did the same ride years ago on a similar bluebird day in the fall and we’d often said we would do it again. It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to make it happen but the window of aspens in or near their prime is often fleeting. Throw into that weather, kids and busy lives and I guess once every 6 or 7 years is pretty good.

The love of my life chatting up a friend we ran into at the spot where you might get attacked by sheep dogs in the summer.

This ride has also been greatly enhanced by the new Kebler Wagon Road Trail (thanks Kay Peterson!). This trail, while fresh in places, provides singletrack adjacent to but out of the dust of Kebler Pass. We had a tailwind for the lower section of trail and it is buff. Slightly downhill, tailwind and a buff trail? I’ll take that anyday. I’d suggest checking out Doctor Park, too, if you happen to be in the area.

Brilliant ground cover on the Kebler Wagaon Road Trail.

Poser. If you look closely, you can see a small booger hanging out of my nose.

Day 2 in the desert. On Dirt Demo. Hot and windy with added dust!

But the majority of my time was spent in the company of the Topeak Ergon crew: Franc (Germany), Jeffrey (West Hollywood, CA), Irina (Russia, currently living in Germany), Tim (Germany), Nory (Germany), Richard (UK), Jeff (Ft. Collins, CO), Sonya (Peoples Republic of Boulder), Yuki (Japan, currenty living in Denver, CO), and Eddie and Namrita (Atlanta, GA). We were staying just off the strip in a quiet hotel and we took breakfasts and dinners together, worked the On Dirt Demo, worked the show, rode in some cabs, rolled in Jeffrey’s brand-new secret service issue Suburban (rented), and just had a great time hanging out in the electric desert. We call it a team but it’s more like a family; a great posse to be hanging out with.

I didn’t snap a whole lot of photos but here are a few:

I was lucky enough to get to go on a bike ride with John Tomac and Blick and Rich and some others from the Oakley crew. Johnny seemed pretty darn fit even though he says he doesn't get to ride much. And can he still ride? He made us all look silly more than once!

Ross Schnell, formerly uninked, showing his new tat he earned for winning Singlespeed Worlds in Durango.

Jeffrey Neal, Richard Todd and I took in a little side trip to Hoover Dam.

Richard really likes these t-shirts. He had a package sent top-secret delivery to our hotel. They look cool and I think they're really thin. Me? I like the thin t-shirts, man! Where do I get my hands on 'em? Rich said if he told me he'd have to kill Kerkove.

Every night we went out to eat, someone would tell the wait staff that it was Yuki's birthday. We were there for nearly a week; you do the math. I think Yuki's birthday is in April.

Another restaurant, another birthday for Yuki!

Looking north toward Tomichi Pass about 7am. Josh Tostado came through around 6am. If you look closely, you can see fresh snow up high toward the pass.

It’s a done deal. Tostada killed it for the guys, Horanyi did the same on the ladies side and punched most of the boy’s tickets, too; Stubbe and Huck were second and third. Gunni crew, we did the Snowblind aid station and had some fun. The conditions were epic at times: an amazing electrical storm and soaking rains late Saturday night. Snow up high. Here are some photos from Snowblind, about half way through. They’re kind of lame but that’s what you get when you hire an amateur! No pics of Tostado because it was still dark when he came through (and he didn’t even stop.) I have a nice little video clip of Stubbe in transition but I’m not sure how to get it up. I’ll keep working on that. Little help?

One of the toughest girls on the planet, Eszter Horanyi from Boulder, mixing it up with the guys.

Jason Stubbe, aka, Woodrow, diving in to the Snowblind aid station.

Hats off to everyone that finished, tried to finish, started, considered starting, considered racing the VT 125 in the first place, any of that. This is one bad-assed race, certainly not one to set out on unprepared, especially this year. Thanks to the guys at Absolute for providing opportunities like the VT for people to see just what they’re made of!

DW

Eszter didn't doddle long. The winner of the 2009 Original Growler was the only lady to finish and placed 5th overall.

Heading for a hot cup 'o joe!

Aaron "Huck" Huckstep heading in....

Part of the Gunni crew waiting for riders at Snowblind just past the old mining town of Whitepine.

...and Huck, fat and happy, heading out!

Matt Turgeon using the VT as a convenient warm-up for Singlespeed Worlds in his hometown of Durango.

Just like in Nascar; 8 second pit stop!

Gunnison's Jordan Carr focused on the road ahead.

Chris Miller back in business heading out for part two.

By foot or by mountain bike, I have surveyed most of the route. This past Monday, I spent hours walking the west side of Mount Whetstone, which is the location of the Carbon Trail. While you can still find signs of this trail in places, it fell out of favor somewhere along the way and the Forest Service decided to no longer maintain it. It was likely built in the 1930’s and if reestablished, it would provide an amazing section to this long trail experience for non-motorized users.

A nice section of trail high up on Mt. Whetstone. Carbon Peak in the background.

I walked from south to north between 10,400 and 10,600 feet of elevation, all the way to the saddle overlooking the valley of Crested Butte, north of the peak. Then, I went back to the south staying lower, between 10,100 and 10,400 ft. The trail comes and goes, but as you can see from the pictures, there is high-quality, usable trail in many places.

One of the biggest obstacles to this trail becoming a reality, at least for mountain bikers, is that the area is designated as Recommended Wilderness by the Forest Service. However, this did not preclude them from portraying the potential alignment on one of the alternatives in the Travel Planning process. The haven’t come back to the public with a decision yet, but one is expected anytime now between tomorrow and 2014.

If this wilderness area becomes a reality, it will be bordered on many sides by trophy homes and other private property. Much of the area, inaccessible to the public, will becoming the exclusive domain of these private property owners. I’ll keep you posted as decisions on this project become public.

Up high on Trail 401. Image by Brian Riepe - Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Originally scheduled for August 6th and postponed due to rain, Gunnison Trails‘ Growler Series race #4 on Trailriders 401 up past Crested Butte almost looked like it might get rained out again. Dark, foreboding clouds were rising over Gothic Mountain as riders scrambled to get on site, sign up and line up for the 5pm start last Thursday.  But the clouds and storms moved south as the group of 24 races plus assorted hangers on headed north toward the summit of Schofield Pass.

We kept this race pretty quiet as 401 is the most popular trail in the valley; it gets a ton of use and for good reason. We figured if word got out, we might have more riders than we’d like for a first-time event. I think we are actually lucky the August race had to be postponed as we would have had more racers and also more users on the trail that may or may not have been pleased to suddenly find themselves in a bike race.

We had posted NOTICE! signs at each point where someone could access the trail and we only encountered two polite hikers….and about 250 cows, complete with all that goes along with cows! That was on lower 401, which is completely different than the world renowned upper section but top-shelf all the same. We were also concerned about getting everyone off of the trail before dark and moved the start up to 5pm to allow as much daylight as possible.

Ethan Passant leads Travis Scheefer on the grind up Schofield Pass. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Dark clouds to the south but hazy bluebird to the north. It was a classic September evening in the Elk Mountains. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

In the end, it was no big thing as everyone was in - smiles firmly glued on - in under two hours. The local powerhouse Brick Oven Pizzaria team represented by taking the top three spots in the men’s expert race and taking the ladies expert race, too. Those riders, Travis Scheefer, Ethan Passant, Jeff Irwin and Laura Anderson are fixtures at the Growler Series races, which continue into the fall with three more Thursday evening events scheduled: September 17th, October 8th and October 29th. Check out gunnisontrails.com for more info.

Susan DeMattei, AKA my lovely wife, Suzee, wearing her race face on the climb. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Susan DeMattei following the Brick Oven's Laura Anderson into the descent. Anderson would hold Suzee off to take the win in 1:23:56. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

The Brick Oven vet, Jeff Irwin, taking it seriously. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Bryan "been racing longer than Wiensy" Miller fresh from the jobsite. Bryan is building his family an amazing home in Gunnison. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Just another pretty picture from Mountain Flyer jack of all trades, Brian Riepe.

CB Classic special agent, Original Growler MC and helmet cam operator, Dave Ochs, looking relaxed on the climb. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

The duel up front going away. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Paul Byers always makes the trip over from Salida to race the Growler Series on his singlespeed. Here he grinds away while Keith Fisher, with gears, spins along. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Torrey Carroll zipped way down on the climb. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Troy Hiatt getting into his groove on the way to finishing in 4th. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

The young Brick Oven rider, Travis Scheefer, on his way to victory. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

Brick Oven hammerhead Ethan Passant chased hard but couldn't catch young Scheef. Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine.

We shot some video of the race, too, so if we can figure out how to put it together, we may be posting a low-budget indy film later this fall. Enjoy the pics!

Fall creeping down Gothic Mountain up valley from Crested Butte.

Gunnison Trails had planned to hold an event on Trailriders 401 near Crested Butte in early August. Unfortunately, we got rained out and had to reschedule. With the event happening tomorrow, I headed up there today to check out the terrain. It’s crazy hazy around here due to all of the wildfires and it was a bit stormy, too. Raindrops half way between Gunni and CB; I was wondering what was in store for me.

Trailriders 401 alone is about an 8-10 mile trail. You access it from the Gothic Road so the whole loop must be around 15-20 miles and it climbs a little over 2,000 feet. I parked at the bottom of the trail and rode the dusty road up past Mirror Lake to the top of Schofield Pass. From there, I jumped onto the singletrack and that’s pretty much my story ’til I arrive back at the Exploder.

The first part of the trail continues climbing. There are some tough little poppers in tall pines. The wind is howling in the tree tops and the weather seems to be getting worse. I’m in a sweaty cotton tee and the trail soon comes out of the trees and is essentially above treeline. I was getting chilled just thinking about it. I’m thinking I might have to put my jacket on at the top. But no. That little squall moved on and when I broke out into the open just minutes later, a hazy sun was shining through and there wasn’t a breath of wind. I had a couple of signs to post and it was simply amazing up there. Warm, I could see forever and not a soul around. Finally, I remounted and started into the really fun part.

A couple of short jeep roads break it up, but from the top, the trail has two distinct characters. The upper is wide-open and the trail smooth, a contouring descent on a steep nearly treeless slope. You can mach this section but there are surprises. Lower down, numerous sudden switchbacks test your braking as you ply gladed aspens.

This photo actually isn't real. I created it in photoshop.

Descend, descend, descend. Finally, you come out on Ruster’s Gulch jeep road and fly down it just a few hundred yards before picking up the singletrack again. Now it’s deep, dark pine forest, a few drainage crossings and a bit more technical riding. Undulating here, not just ripping down the hill. A couple of short, stiff climbs and some rutted, fast descents and it’s done; you pop out into the Judd Falls trailhead parking lot.

Looking down the descent from the top of the main, singletrack climb. This is where the fun begins in earnest!

401 gets plenty of use in the summer, and if you’ve ridden it, you know why. Some people call it Trailriders I-70. I’ve heard tell of knobby to knobby traffic jams during prime time on peak summer days. But today I saw zero bikers, zero hikers, zero horsepeople. Nothing, nada, nobody. It was very cool. I hope the weather holds because whoever is lucky enough to make it up here tomorrow is in for an epic afternoon. I’ll try to write about it.

High up on 401. You can see a fourteener, I'm not certain which one, in the background. All the wildfires made for a hazy day.

All of the road is behind you now as you hit the singletrack at the top of Schofield Pass.

Many of us who are athletically minded, understand event motivation. You choose an event or a rec league sport, you commit to it and just like that, your overall motivation takes an uptick; it affects everything else in your life, too. The Leadville 100; flag football; Skirt Chasers 5k Runs; an attempt on a local peak; a weekend of skiing or riding double black diamond terrain at Crested Butte. It doesn’t matter what it is. If it’s a date circled on the calendar and you can work toward it; if it’s challenging and gets you out of your comfort zone; then added motivation is usually automatic. It can be a bit of a let down once the event comes and goes and there is nothing new to shoot for. Maybe that’s a secret of life; simply a non-stop series of goals and challenges.

I don’t feel like I have that event looming out there that pumps me up right now. My Leadville 100 train has finally pulled into the station, at least the iteration that it’s been these last few years. The Grand Traverse is too far away to fire me up now. I’m psyched to ski but, for whatever reason, at 45 years of age, it just isn’t the same giddy, chomping at the bit feeling it used to be. I have officially retired from flag football; it’s just too hard on my body. I’m happy not waking up really sore in the morning. Hockey starts in less than 2 months and that’s fun but I guess I’m lacking a physical challenge that stirs my inner drive.

Weird, though, the latest idea that has piqued my interest - kind of like the Colorado Trail Race or the Great Divide Race: very cool to ponder but not likely to happen - is walking to my mom’s house in southwest Denver.  I told our oldest son about it on a recent hike and he keeps bringing it up, as in, “when we walk to grandma’s.” He’s very keen on it and thinks 14 will be the right age. He’s 11 now. I explained how we’d set out for various towns along the way: Aspen, Buena Vista, Leadville, Fairplay; taking several days of food to get to each one; bring the credit card and stay in motels when we did hit a town, reorganize, resupply, eat some Mexican food, then head out again. We’d need a day pack to bag fourteeners and other day hikes along the way, too. No schedule. Yeah, I now, I’d need to not have a job, but those are just details.

Honestly, I’ve been around the block enough times to know that the romance of walking to Grandma’s house would likely wear off about 15 miles out of Gunni: “Wait a minute. I’m walking to Denver! I’m I out of my %&*#%*% mind!” No, I probably won’t walk to Denver….. I’ll just have to tell Coop that we’re going to cut our teeth by walking to Paonia, summiting West Elk Peak and Mount Gunnison as we cross the West Elk Wildenress….but not until he’s 14!

But does it always have to be physical? Certainly not, but I’m a good example of someone who is stuck in the physical realm, the cerebral/career oriented one being more unexplored. My wife, Susan, a Registered Nurse (RN) before racing bikes, was able to step seamlessly back into that profession and now has a challenging and rewarding career in the surgical unit at the Gunnison Valley Hospital. My undergrad degrees are in Business and Communications and I was already racing bikes when I got them. They’re probably good foundation degrees if you’re in your twenties and heading out into the job market, but at 45, I feel thoroughly trained to do nothing specific. I took some accounting; I took some film making. I’m not an accountant; I’m not a film maker (I knew I should have paid more attention to those KC Diesel Driving School commercials I used to see during Gilligan’s Island!)

There is nothing that says I couldn’t be one of these things but staring down the learning curve is intimidating, especially since I feel like I really only have about 5 more years with our kids being young and I don’t want to miss that. Sure, I could try to start a business (Own your own business and you only have to work half days. You can do whatever you want with the other 12 hours!) or I could go back to school for a masters or further, specific ed. But if I did either of those, these next five years would fly by and all of the sudden I’d look at our boys and say, “What the hell happened? When did you guys grow goatees?” To this day I have never heard anyone say, “I really wish I hadn’t spent all that time with my kids when they were young.” I have heard the opposite, however.

I actually had a great plan. I was going to see if I could get on at Sugah’s Cafe here in Gunnison and work the 9am to 3pm weekday shift, learning the ropes of gourmet southern cooking. There is something to be said for a punch in punch out job, one that doesn’t follow you around 24/7. I probably wouldn’t have been taking money to the bank in suitcases, but if that and Susan’s income were able to support our fairly spartan lifestyle (not a high-def, plasma, wall mount whatever TV in the house; newest vehicle almost 10 years old), I could see some appeal in it. But my buddy Clint beat me to it and Matt hired him! I’m going to check that guy into next Tuesday once hockey starts. Ah, I need some time in my days during the week anyway to get out and get after it.

No, actually, the non-profit Gunnison Trails I started in ‘06 has gained lots of support and momentum. My call is to continue working to establish it as a relevant non-profit here in the valley. Working with the federal agencies is tough, though. Talk about motivation fluctuation! Everything Gunnison Trails does is tied to public lands and the processes that they are managed by. Right now, we have ambitious proposals in to the agencies and we’re waiting to see what they’re going to come back with. One of these is an epic singletrack between Gunnison and Crested Butte Trail. Most think it’s a long-shot but talk about an asset, not only to our area here, but to the entire state of Colorado. This says nothing of the educational opportunities that would be part of getting it planned and built. 100% hand-built is the goal, too. None of this ATV width tread with a singletrack on it. Come check out the trails in the Gunni Valley; all narrow bench, hand-built trails.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see but I’d sure like to spend the next 15 years planning and building epic, high-quality, non-motorized trails for people around here. For now though, I’m going for a ride! Here are some pics of summer winding down.

Cramming in some fun before school starts! Suzee and Ben at the go-cart track in Poncha Springs.

Cooper and Sam. Ben and Sam aren't taller than the chainsawed bear do they can't drive 'til next summer.

Checking out the S Mountain trails next to downtown Salida.

Riding the Salida Trails!

Last or first day of freedom depending on your perspective! The Sunday before school starts hiking on Sawtooth Mountain. That's the peak in the background. Dark clouds and tired legs meant we didn't get to it but we did attain this little knob at nearly 12,000 feet.

The traditional back to school photo 2009.

The ride to school begins anew, only to be trumped by snow and Walk to School Day (we'll drive that day and commence walking once we put the bikes up for winter.)

Finally, the post school drop off ride with Suzee at Hartmans!

Stage One - The boys high up on Fossil Ridge.

But earlier in the day it was Stage 1. The boys and I headed up to a  local wilderness area called Fossil Ridge. It is aptly named and the boys have been keen all summer to get up there and check out the fossils that are supposedly everywhere if you happen to be in the proper layer of rock. The challenge is that the layer is above 12,000 feet! We set out from our sweet ‘98 Ford Exploder, our first goal being Mill Lake. From the lake we had to gain a steep alpine ridge and as Coop has his violin lesson at 4pm, it soon became evident that that might be all the higher we get. We finally gain the ridge with much cajoling on my part. We summit! Sort of. Just a hump along the ridge but the boys are still stoked, even though there’s not a fossil in sight.

What is in sight, however, is a dark, black cloud and grapple is falling intermittently. Distant lightning and thunder are noticeable but nothing close, thankfully. I’m still nervous and hustle the boys back down to the trail. We lunch on salami, turkey and cheese sandwiches I had hastily prepared before we left. These are the roachy kind of sandwiches they’d turn their noses up at if we were at home but since we’re in the woods, they’re hungry and it’s all we’ve got, they get happily wolfed down. Just enough rain on the way back out to warrant putting on our rain jackets, the boys dug this, and we’re back at the Exploder and still time to spare for afternoon happenings.

The top of Ohio Pass.

Just to make certain that this hike was an amazing experience, I pulled into McDonald’s and we each got a 69 cent soft serve ice cream cone. That sealed the deal. “We love going for hikes, dad!” This from the boys who don’t know what anything else at McDonald’s tastes like. I haven’t eaten there in years but I used to. In fact, back in the day, mountain bike racing pioneer and true legend of the sport, Joe Murray, was living in CB and we’d done a ride in Gunni. He wanted to eat so, not really knowing any better, I took him to McDonald’s. As we’re sitting there with our burgers, fries and shakes, he say to me, “You know, Dave, I haven’t ever eaten at McDonald’s before.”

Back to the bike ride. Stage 2, I guess. Man, those boys worked me on Stage 1!

Fixing a flat on Kebler Pass, losing light with Mt. Crested Butte in the background.

So the loop is about 60 miles but Ohio and Kebler Pass roads are dirt. This ride is at least a quarter off-road, then, but we’re all still on road or cross bikes; it’s not like we’re riding jeep roads or singletrack. Before the ride, I was scrambling, putting some fatter rubber on Suzee’s bike and refreshing mine, too. 32C would be the call, ample balloonage for the rough, dirt roads to come. I had to go pick them up from off-site storage and while there, the old Suburban, the same one that wouldn’t start the morning we left for Leadville, wouldn’t start. I call Suzee, hooray for cell phones, and she comes and gets me in the Exploder. Now I’m really off the back and the group needs to roll out of town promptly at 430pm to be able to meet the CB crew at the designated place 5 miles north. Suzee and the gang leave on time but I’m still messing around with my bike. Once underway, I can see the group way ahead but I have to chase, into a headwind of course (Murphy is my copilot!), finally catching the nice sized group that has already met up with all the riders from CB. All both of them! Yeah, great posse! Bunch’a wimps.

It’s all good now as we roll north, still on pavement. The Ohio Creek road has almost no traffic and is scenic as all get out. Uh-oh, Suzee has a flat. Rats! Who’s her mechanic, anyway! I’m not pleased as I’m her mechanic and probably pinched the tube putting it in. Luckily, I brought 4 tubes and she has one. That makes 5 total between us. Woody wants to wait but we shoo him and the rest on their way as we’re pushing this loop as it is, as far as getting it done and back to Gunni by dark. The first tube’s valve core breaks off as the Co2 cartridge goes onto it. The tube Suzee has is for a 26″ wheel. Finally, we get it fixed and are back on the road, just kind of chasing this time. I’m riding into the stiff wind…..again. Neat!

We hit the dirt and can see the group ahead; not so close but we are closing. “What? You have another flat? Front tire again?” Back on the side of the road. Upon closer inspection, one that obviously should have taken place in the basement an hour before, I realize her adhesive rim strip, somehow since 2004, has migrated to the side exposing just enough of a spoke hole to puncture the tube every time, in short order. We move the strip back to center and put in another tube. Let’s see, we had 5 now we have….one. I want to keep going; Suzee is ready to jump into the tailwind and head back. We are discussing this. Just right, however, Ricky G. comes by heading back as he has to drive the drunk bus at 7pm. Formally called Safe Ride, this is a job I held for about two years about two years ago. Great tips, tough hours, tough crowd.

Lower Elk Avenue in CB with Mt. CB in the background.

Suzee heading back with Ricky, who has a tube, I take our one remaining and finish the approach and commence climbing the dirt, gravel and rock of Ohio Pass. My road/cross bike has pretty good gearing relative to most pure road machines but I would’ve grabbed a lower gear if I’d had one. It’s absolutely a gorgeous evening and the views of The Castles, spectacular. I would have snapped some pics if I wasn’t chasing…..again! Right at the top I come across Ted and we descended the short but rough north side of Ohio Pass that leads to the glorious mag chloride of Kebler Pass. We saw a group of 3 when we had a long sight-line and were maching down the smooth ribbon of packed, chemically enhanced dirt.

Looking west up Elk Avenue in downtown Crested Butte. Just 28 miles home and at least an hour of light left!

Finally, we come across Sara, who had ridden up from the CB side, then her other (not better) half, Woody. We hit the fresh chip sealed pavement a few miles from CB, a much sketchier surface than the dirt, and quickly come across Keith with a flat tire. We get him fixed up and jam into CB. We ride right down Elk Avenue because if you’re from Gunni you’ve got to. The group is stopped on Highway 135 “waiting for Summer to bring us lights.” I said, “Summer isn’t bringing me a light.” BMiller said, “Summer isn’t bringing me a light.” Jordan said, “Summer isn’t bringing me a light.” So we roll. Ted is already ahead of us. It’s after 7pm and we have 28 miles to Gunni. The sun goes down before 8pm so we don’t even stop, we just roll by continuing to look back to see if anyone else wants to get on the bus. No takers. We start into a nice 3-man paceline and it’s slightly downhill and we have a tailwind. Yes! This is what I signed up for!

Part of the group. They told us they were waiting "for Summer to bring us lights."

A few miles out of CB, Woody pulls alongside in Sara’s Subaru and tells us there’s a group chasing us and that we should wait. We sit up and coast. We’re on a long straight and can see far back. Nobody in sight and it isn’t getting any lighter. Heads back down pushing on the pedals. We pick up Ted about a third of the way down and increase our output. Jack’s Cabin Cemetery, Roaring Judy, Almont, finally County Road 10 and it’s dark enough to scare us from 135 to this mellow country lane for the final miles to Gunni. Still just a scosche of light as we enter town, we see Ricky and the Safe Ride van already hard at work and it’s only 815pm. He’ll be done around 3am and there will be puke in the street in front of our house. But then I’ll call pubic works and they’ll send a street sweeper out to sweep up the puke. Nothing like living in a small college town!

This is Jordan. BMiller is pulling the train and Ted's up there, too. Pushing hard on the pedals as the sun goes down half way between CB and Gunni.

The evening was classic: distant storms, orange clouds, browning meadows, silver sage; the whole place glowing and a relatively unspoiled valley save the few modest homesteads and the ribbon of pavement numbered by the State of Colorado as 135. My only regret was not being more toward the front of the entire ride to take better pictures. At home, I’m pretty worked but Suzee has Risotto with prosciutto ready and she hasn’t eaten yet. We have a great dinner, hang with the boys and retire for a little John Stewart and Steven Colbert. Summer is waining but it’s all still good!

Western State College men's Cross Country runners coming through after one lap at the innner squad time time.

I started my week by chipping away at the piles of neglect in my domains around the house. The shop in the basement? Disaster. My office? Train wreck. The garage? Turned upside down and shaken. My side of the bed? A chaotic cocktail of books, magazines, newspapers, and pages of training logs, past and present. Through the week I made excellent progress everywhere except the garage. I’ve got to save something for the coming week, I guess.

I did do some bike riding. Suzee and I rode our mountain bikes up Alex’s Climb east of town Tuesday afternoon, we both felt like slugs on bikes but it was good to get out. Wednesday was the first Gunnison group road ride I’ve been on since the one with the big pileup in ‘06 when, among other things, Yari’s road bike got straightup crushed by a Dodge Ram pickup going 70mph. I’ll never forget that hideous sound; carbon fiber Trek and assorted components reduced to fragments and splinters in a millisecond! Luckily, she went straight down onto the shoulder while her bike got kicked out into the middle of the adjacent lane of Highway 50. The ride died quickly after that but has been resurrected this summer. It’s back as a kinder and gentler group ride, a “no drop” group ride. For the most part. Group road rides are fun but they can be sketchballs!

32 degrees; early morning at Hartman Rocks.

Thursday and Friday it was a couple of short, but quintessential rides on my mountain bike. Back on the fully, IPod Shuffle, too, I rode ’til after the sun went down on Thursday evening - a killer jaunt on the relatively unknown trails northeast of Gunnison - the whole valley glowing, the shadows long, as the sun went from low to gone below the horizon; didn’t see a soul. Then, before it could rise again - and only because I was an early riser - I was back on the next morning, rolling out of town toward Hartman’s. 32 degrees but dressed for it, my riding partners 16 Horsepower, Petty, Nine Inch Nails and Vivaldi, among others, and a handful of top-shelf trails to start the day.

Those two rides were great reminders of why I love to ride bikes, especially mountain bikes. Let’s see, physical fitness, mental fitness, increased motivation, fun, challenge, excitement, amazing views, amazing places, all in the outdoors. Doesn’t take long, even 30 minutes will do you right. You don’t need a bike; you can walk, jog or run. Before work, at lunch, after work. Great trails close by help but certainly are not required. Me? It would be tough to live anywhere that wasn’t pretty close to a trailhead. I was home by 8am, did a little bit of this and that and had my tool belt on and I was loaded for bear by ten.

One of the obscure trails northeast of Gunnison. Suzee in '08.

I’m a great carpenter. I’m not, actually. We’ve had this unfinished sort of Sanford and Son garage in the alley behind our house for nearly ten years. Good friend and Grand Traverse partner, Jason “Woodrow” Stubbe, has been chipping away this summer, at bringing it up to snuff. Typically, my friends who are carpenters and craftsman will pay me $5 an hour not come onto a job site where they are working, but I convinced Woody to let me help with this one. I nearly knocked him off the ladder once; repeatedly handed him the nail gun while aiming it right at him (he does not like this); and measured wrong and ruined more than a couple of boards. But I’m getting the hang of it and will back out there on Monday!

This morning after breakfast, Coop and I pedaled our mountain bikes to an outlying subdivision which is the venue for the annual inter squad time trial for the Western State College Cross Country running team. For years and years, Western has dueled it out with Adams State College for the National Championship in Cross Country in NCAA Division II. Our next door neighbor, Jen Michaels, is the head coach and she invited us to check it out. Coop is just starting middle school Cross Country (6th grade or for you Canadians, Grade 6) and while not wildly into it yet, he was excited to see the collegiate athletes in their element.

Coop, wearing some sweet new hand-me-downs from Christian Kloser, drops his old dad on the final turn.

We watched the ladies run first; the circuit was a little over a mile and, depending on health and age, they ran 4 or 5 laps. Then the men were up. We lined up behind them, along with many time Olympian and world class person and runner, Elva Dryer. We ran one lap and Coop smoked me by a good 30 seconds. I needed this to jumpstart my running as flag football season starts in about two weeks. If I keep it up, I should be ready to go! The Western runners are gunning for another National title. Coop just wants to survive his first race. How about you? What are you getting ready for?