Fall has arrived in SW Colorado and their is no better way to check out the colors than on your bike! Ridgway has a lot of great options for both road and mountain bikes from beginner to expert level.

Mountain Bikes:

For advanced to expert riders I’d recommend the Dallas Trail.With elevations ranging from 8000-10,000+ft you’ll start to see the aspens already getting their colors.

You can check out our website for details on how to access the different sections of the Dallas Trail.

We also have a bunch of dirt country roads up high for those of you looking for a nice ride but on the less technical side of things. Three of them that I’d recommend are:

CR5: From town take a left on Amelia St and then look to bear right on CR5. Drive up this approx 7 miles and park at pull off on right just before crossing cattle guard. Once parked, hop on your bike and ride over the cattle guard and continue on as far as you want.

CR7: Drive approx. 5 miles West out of town and look for CR7 (East Dallas). This road goes back about 8 miles to the Blue Lakes Trail head. You can park by the highway and again head in for a nice ride with great views.

CR9: Again access this road by heading West on Hwy62 about 6 miles and look for a sign that says “West Dallas”. Pull off and park there. The first 5+ miles of this County Road cross through Ralph Laurens property and the farther you get back on this road the more the views open up. This road is generally less traveled than CR5 so on a busy weekend it may be the way to go.

For road riders any of the rides listed on our website will get you amazing views.

Dallas Divide summit

During September you can still head up and over Red Mountain Pass in reasonably warm temps and that is where colors will begin to show up first.
So get out and enjoy!
Randy,

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After picking up Jen’s Parents at the airport in Montrose we are on the road to Crested Butte! The plan is to spend 4 days there mountain biking and finish it off watching the Stage 2 finish of the Pro Tour Challenge at Mt Crested Butte.

Jen and Kalden heading up Snodgrass

Once we arrived in CB Jen, Kalden and I got out for a quick ride while Grandma and Grandpa watched Axel.

August 20, 2011

Today Jen and I did a nice 20 mile ride from Mt Crested Butte up the mountain then connected it over to the Upper Upper Trail. It was actually the first part of the Crested Butte 40 race that I had done back in June.The ride starts with a fairly gentle climb up a trail called Meander and slowly winds it’s way up the ski area slopes. As I told Jen, if you have to climb then this is the perfect trail to do it on! We eventually topped out at a ski lift where all the gravity guys were getting off and we had a brief brake in the climbing then switched to a service road and went up yet again. Finally after about 1K feet over 5 miles we had topped out. After a brief but rocky ride across the top on some singletrack it was now time to descend. In typical ski area fashion the descent was rocky, root filled and a bit technical in spots. A left turn just before hitting the base area put us on a connector trail that linked us over to the start of Upper Upper Trail. This is probably one of the more popular trails here in CB and for good reason. It is close to town and has great views overlooking the Town of CB on the way across it. However, this trail is far from a beginner ride. I’d rate it strong intermediate due to the numeerous rock gardens and short steep rooted climbs. Don’t get me wrong, this is a super fun trail but it’s not the flowy 401 style of ride.

August 21, 2011

The original plan was to do Reno, Flag ,Bear today but we made a last minute change and decided to do 401 instead. We began the ride under very cloudy skies and the higher we got the more ominous things were looking!  We were really shocked to see a huge snow field still covering the road on the way to the summit of the pass!
I had decided in my head that if we could top out the climb without too much in the way of rain we would head on and that is exactly how it played out. A bit of rain on the way up tapering off once we hit the summit of the climb.

The flowers are still going off up there around 10K feet so the views were amazing the whole time on this ride.

Climbing on 401

Still going up!

Once on top the rain actually tapered off for us but it was still time to put jackets on and head down. This is probably one of the funnest descents you could ever do! With head high wild flowers and a narrow ribbon of singletrack running down and across the mountain it is about 20 minutes of ear to ear smiles

Bridge crossing on 401

After our ride we headed back to our place on Mt Crested Butte and Kalden was ready to get out and ride.

We had heard about a new trail that connects Mt Crested Butte to The Town called the “Lupine” trail so Kalden and I set off to check it out.

The trail turned out to be perfect for Kalden, a bit of climbing/pushing at the start but nothing soul crushing for him then a few miles of cruiser downhill heading towards town.

August 22, 2011

Today we rode Reno, Flag Bear and what a ride it was! Starting out with a pretty sustained climb right from the car you go from 9400ft to 11,200ft on a dirt road for about 5 miles.

Heading up

At that point you cross through a gate and the fun begins!

Heading down

For the next 3+ miles it is a ripping descent on a fine ribbon of singletrack. Jen and I were smiling from ear to ear and the climb up was all but forgotten!

Heading down, all smiles!

Once at the bottom of this is was time to climb a bit and regain some of our lost altitude. Over the last 11 or so miles you basically have 2 more AMAZING descents with of course a sustained climb between each of them

Heading up

Another screaming descent!

I have to say this is certainly one of my new favorite trails. It is open to moto traffic but we rode it on a weekday and saw none out there at all.

With the ride finished it was time to head back to town, pick up the Boys and Grandma/Grandpa and have a beer!

Mmmmm......

August 23, 2011

Today is race day! We started off today with a great MTB ride with Kalden. Jen Kalden and I left from our hotel here in Mt. Crested Butte and rolled down to jump on the Lupine Trail. We traversed across that and dropped it down to Slate River Rd. We hooked a right on the road and followed it down to the turn for Gunsight Pass. At this intersection you can jump on the Lower Loop Trail and follow that Trail into town. In all it was about a 12 mile ride, mostly singletrack and all 3 of us had a blast! Once we got into town we stopped for a bite to eat and things were being set up for the race fast. Even the crazy bikes were out getting ready for the cruiser race!After loading our bikes on the town bus we made a quick trip back up to the ski mountain and then got to ride the last 500 meters to the finish line and check out the expo.After a quick trip back to the room to get ready we all headed over to the expo area/finish line.It was a lot of fun to walk among the team buses and watch the mechanics getting everything ready for when the riders arrive.

Thats a lot of Durace wheels!

After a beer in the garden and a little more wandering it was getting to be time to head over to the finish line. We found a great spot on the fence 100 Meters from the finish and waited as the commentators kept us up to date as to what was happening on the road.

We could hear the noise building up the mountain as the leaders approached and eventually Levi came blasting by to win the stage solo.

Here are some other pic’s from the days finish:

Andy Schlek

Jens Voigt

After the finish we all wandered around the team buses because my son Kalden wanted to get Autographs. We managed to get Tom Danielson and Danny Pate. As we wandered a bit more we came across Bob Roll hanging out by the BMC bus so Kalden and I got a nice picture with him to finish off the evening.August 24, 2011

We were up and on the road early this morning to make it to Gunnison before the the roads closed! We wanted to catch the riders for an autograph session and then watch the start and let Kalden do the kids race before we headed home. We had a great time walking around amongst the cars and buses and as the riders came out Kalden was able to get a few signatures on his jersey.

Leopard Trek bikes lined up for stage 2

Jens Voight signing Autographs

It was really amazing how accessible the riders were and the bikes as well. They just hung around and the bikes were always out in plain view. I can’t think of any other sport where the athletes are so accessible.

Kalden getting jersey signed by Ivan Basso

BIG George Wins!

Finally the riders took off and were on the road and then it was time for Kalden to do his race. He lined up with a bunch of other kids under the start line for the pro’s and they were off!

And they are off!

Kalden had a great race as well and once he finished it was time to load up and head home. Back to work tomorrow!

A big THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa for watching the boy’s these last day’s while we did some amazing rides!

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The section of trail between Box Factory and Blue Lake is fairly rugged and although it is only 4 miles or so it can take a little while to cover. What it lacks in flow though it more than makes up for in beauty and remoteness!

We hit the Blue lakes parking lot and were shocked to see all the cars there, man that’s a popular trail head! We split left and headed towards the Blaine Basin trail ( the less traveled) and started to climb (AGAIN!). Luckily, once again the views as we grind up hill are wonderful. Directly in front of us on the way is a gorgeous water fall.Hanging a left off Blaine Basin we were back on the Dallas Trail and it was now time to push our bikes big time. The trail switch backs up the mountain to the summit of Wilson Peak and it’s a pretty long and nasty push. About this time (now almost 4 hrs in) we are questioning the sanity of our decision

JB approaching the top of Wilson

Once over the top though it was a screaming 3 mile descent on a ripping trail. I was initially concerned about dead fall over the trail on this part but was surprised to see someone had been through very recently and cleared this entire section. This was great news for two reasons. First we had a awsome descent which quickly erased the memory of the heinous push up and second had we needed to stop and go over/around all of those spots it would have easily added 45 minutes+ to our trip.
Crossing a creek at the bottom we climbed “AGAIN” and finally linked onto FSR 852. Now we were back on the route we normally ride (CR5 to Ouray). We grinded through the last few climbs and topped out at Moonshine park at 5hrs 50min.

JB and Terry taking a break

From here it was a 3K foot descent into Ouray then a cruise back on CR17 to Ridgway.

Final ride stat’s were : 43 miles

6553 feet of climbing

11,000ft max elevation

6hrs 26min

Maybe we’ll do it again next year!

Randy

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The race continued along entering Upper Upper which is an amazing ride looking down into the Town of Crested Butte. It alternated between heavily forested and technical sections (rocks and roots) and wide open ribbons on buttery singletrack. Eventually we dropped down to Brush Ck road and continued on to cover Strand Hill and Deer Ck. Along the way we hit some pretty decent creek crossings.

And topped out at as loft 10,600ft.

Once on Deer Ck trail it’s time to start heading back towards Crested Butte Resort and the Start/Finish line. Deer Ck is a wonderful trail with a mix of miserable hike a bike and smooth rippin single track. It eventually drops you out in the town of Gothic and then we ride the road back into CB mountain resort. Two times on the route ( this road being one of them) a guy popped up on the road offering ice cold cans of Coke! I can’t tell you what a boost that was. A nice sugary hit was just what I needed at this point because rather than cruising right into the resort to a waiting family and crowd they instead route us back up the mountain one more time! This final time was quite the grind for me and more of a mental test than physical. Once on top it’s a ripper run back down to the bottom and life was good.

I can not recommend this race enough to anyone. Very well organized, incredible scenery and wonderful people. Here are some more pic’s from the weekend including the 24hr cruiser race in Downtown.

In the tent race morning

CB Mtn resort

Now that's a Big Wheel!

Yup, wow!

More fun stuff

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Friday morning we packed up the boys, bikes and all the other gear to head for Durango. The weather forecast for the weekend was calling for mostly sunny and 70′s to 80′s and it did not disappoint! Jen and I both wanted to get in a spin today so first I had Jen drop me off on top of Coal Bank Pass and I rode into Durango It was a nice 35 mile ride mostly down hill but with a head wind I did have to work a bit during the ride Once in Durango I gave Jen a call and she guided me over to the place we were staying. She found a nice studio apartment over by 31st and 6th st that worked out great for us. Once settled in we loaded Axel in his Chariot and Kalden got on his bike and we headed into town on the bike path.

In town we got a bite to eat then Jen took off to pre-ride the MTB race course she would be doing on Sunday. The Iron Horse has not had a MTB race in a few years but brought it back this year for their 40th Anniversary celebration. They pulled out all the stops setting up for this years race including this incredible ramp system in which the criterium racers pass underneath while the MTB racers go up and over!

After our rides it was time to settle in for the evening and rest up for the race tomorrow AM at 7:20.

I got to my start and found out that they decided to start the Pro, cat. 1,2 and 3 all together. Well, this is going to be fast! The roll out of town is always pretty sweet. It is slightly down hill and with a pack of close to 100 riders it’s a piece of cake to just sit in and cruise along.

Cruising along pretty effortlessly for the first 20 minutes we finally made it to the base of our first climb. This is where I check out as the real climbers get to the front and punch it! I slowly drifted back and settled into my pace to get up the climb. Once over this small hill I was able to find a new group of racers and jump on the back, I was off again and heading towards the base of Coal Bank Pass. This pass is pretty steady in grade and fairly long. I felt solid going up it just keeping a steady effort and once at the top decided I had better refill one of my bottles. A quick top off and a banana and I was back on the bike in about a minute. The 3 mile descent off the back side is always great and with only a bit of wind so far I felt safe letting the bike run through the turns. Around the turn at the bottom and it’s right up the 4 mile climb to the top of Molas Pass. This pass is a lot easier than Coal Bank. The grade eases in spots so you can shift down in spots and pick up a bit of speed. The Final descent into Silverton is always amazing and FAST. And with a new pavement job from last summer the road was in perfect shape.

Silverton, Colorado

Finishing the descent it’s a 2K ride through the town of Silverton which was lined on both sides of the street with people cheering us on. I got through the finish, grabbed a bite to eat then hung out by the finish to welcome our “team” in as they arrived. Everyone made it and a great time was had by all!

At 1:15 they reopen the road to Silverton and with the van all loaded we made the drive back over retracing the route we had just ridden.

Team Peak To Peak Bicycles/Core Solutions

Dinner at Steam Works finished off the evening then off to bed and get ready for Jen and Kaldens races tomorrow.

Again on Sunday we woke to a beautiful day and rode the bike path into town to get breakfast and find Kaldens race start. The kids races at Iron Horse are so big that they have categories for every individual age and each age category had 20-50 kids! It’s pretty amazing and total chaos!

Kalden had a really good time in his race and most important didn’t get taken out by anyone else!

Next it was Jens turn to get out there. Her race was 2 laps of a 7 mile loop.

Just 3 months back from having our 2nd boy Axel she was excited to be racing again but knew it was going to hurt! Jen had a great race and was super psyched to be out there for sure. She is working her way back to racing fitness fast!

It was a super successful and great weekend for everyone involved. A big thank you to Core Solutions here in Ridgway for hosting the spin training classes over the winter. We had about a dozen riders sign up for the class and all of them did great at this years Iron Horse!

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As this was partially my B-Day celebration trip that night Mike and I went out to an amazing Brazilian steak house in Downtown Denver called Fogo de Chao Here they come around with different cut’s of meat on the skewer. You are given a card, on one side it’s red and the other green. If green is showing they just keep bringing the meat and carve it off the skewer for you. Again, an amazing place. After a few hours of loading up on protein we headed home to rest up for an early start in the AM.

I’ll go out on a limb here and say none of you have heard of Hugo Colorado. That is understandable since it is in the middle of no where! Up at 6Am we waited for 2 of Mikes teammates to show up and we were off on our 2 hour drive East of Denver (are we in Kansas yet!). Hugo is a small ranching town in the middle of no where which is perfect to hold a long road race. A big paved loop, little traffic and a town that can make a few bucks by having 500 people visit in a day. Once we arrived temps were in the mid 40′s and a bit cloudy. The race went pretty hard from the gun which was a surprise. I was told we had a neutral roll out for a couple of miles. Well so much for the warm up! The first 20 miles were all over the place, huge efforts followed by sitting up for a few minutes. Things were a bit tense and 10 miles in 2 guys shot off the road into the grass, whoa! A few minutes later the pack slowed very fast and I had to full on lock up the back brake and the rear wheel started to come around, I let off just in time and the bike straightened out just fine but the tire has certainly lost a few hundred miles of wear! Everyone managed to stay up in the first crazy miles and we were hammering. At mile 25 we hit a pretty steady up hill (nothing to big) and the pace surged. I went as hard as I could, my heart rate was in the 190′s but half way up I cracked and sat up. To my surprise the bunch sat up seconds later!!! I dropped off to soon, they were now 25 yards in front of me and I was to blown to jump back on. I watched them slowly roll away and road the next 25 miles solo. Soon after that the Cat.4 riders came along and I jumped in with there group. Their is nothing wrong with doing this I just can not contribute to the pace of the group or contest the sprint ( no problem, I’m tired!). I hung with them for the rest of the race and had a great ride for the last 29 miles. Coming into the last 5 miles I hung back a bit while they mixed it up for 2 reasons 1) to not effect the results 2) to stay out of crashes. Well #2 came as predicted. With 4 miles to go 2 guys got tangled in front of me and went down. It happened so fast I don’t know how I got past them but I slid by just catching a blur of tangled mess on my left side. Cruising into the finish alone I again saw 2 riders down this time in the sprint finish. Reminds me of why I struggle in Cat 3 rather than race the 4′s! So in the end I came in 40th out of 45. I’m actually really happy to have just completed that distance at a “race pace” with all the surges in pace etc. and got in some great training for IronHorse.

Sunday we woke up to rain and fog. The UHill Crit was in the AM which I had been slightly considering but the weather made my decision for me. I packed up and started heading home. By the time I hit Grand Junction the temp was up to 82 and the sun was out. I had down loaded a ride off a site I had recently found and set out for a nice hour cruise. The knees were certainly a bit tender from the distance and effort of the previous day and it was nice to get in a flat spin for a bit.

So what can I say, it was an incredible weekend of friends, food and racing. Bring on Iron Horse!!

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After a crazy Friday morning of packing the truck we finally got on the road around 11:30AM. Friends of ours here in town were nice enough to loan us their pop up camper for the weekend so we had that in tow and a truck full of kids and stuff!

It’s a relatively quick and easy drive from Ridgway over to Cortez. Head west over Dallas Divide, through T-Ride, over Lizard Head Pass and a straight shot into Cortez. Once in town we headed straight over to the fairgrounds to drop the trailer and set up camp. Things were already getting busy there by 2PM and we quickly found a nice spot to set up by friends who had already arrived.

Once set up Kalden was itching to get out for a ride so Jen suited up with him and the 2 of them headed out for a short loop. By the time they finished up the rest of our Ridgway crew had arrived, we had 14 of us come up from Ridgway for this race! Once Jen was back and settled Terry and I set out for a nice hour cruise on the course. The course was in amazing shape, super fast and traction was rarely and issue.

After our ride we headed into town to pick up race packets and grab some dinner. We found a great mexican resturaunt called Pepper Heads for dinner and had some wonderful food with a couple of “marg’s” Once back at camp everyone else had arrived including Ridgway local Sara Ballantyne who was back doing here first race since retiring in 96′. She was racing as part of a 3-4 member womens team called “The Legends”. It included Julie Furtado, Suzane Demattei and Sara. As expected they won the womens 3-4 person open class.

Now on to the race Saturday morning. This race starts with a Lemans style start so you deposit your bike in one area then run a few hundred yards to your bike, jump on and off you go. In the past I’ve done most starts like this for my team and really never enjoy them as I’m not a runner at all (it hurts!), so having Terry on my team this year was great. You run? 1st lap is yours Some people take off in a mad full sprint at the start and others are literally just a casual jog, it’s a pretty crazy scene.

Once on the bike Terry settled in about mid pack and made his way towards the start of the first lap.

Fellow Ridgway'er JB hitting lap 1

Sundra on lap one

I tried to locate Terry for a picture on lap one but with 750 people out here it was a bit of a challenge! Anyway, Terry had a solid first lap coming in with a time in the 1:30′s (including run!) and we made a smooth transition to my ride. My first lap was smok’in for me, a 1:27. In hind sight I should have dialed that back at bit, I hit a max heart rate of 205 and passed a lot of people. Returning from that lap Terry was waiting and again off he went with another solid lap. His return started our trouble. For some reason he missed me in the transition area and assumed I saw him come in and I was on course. 30 minutes later I was still sitting in the transition area assuming Terry had problems out there when a friend came over and told me Terry had been back in camp for half an hour After asking him at least 3 times if he was serious I was on the bike and going as hard as I could. Finally about 20 minutes in I came to my senses and dialed it back a bit. What’s done is done and I can’t make up that time. The notable things on this lap were a BIG snake in the trail and I should have ate more. The snake I encountered about 4 miles in on a super down hill section. I was flying when I caught the snake out of the corner of my eye. It was just on it’s way across the trail so I just shot by it no problem. I’m sure the people behind me got quite a surprise though! Then about 3/4 of the way through the lap I got really hungry and started to run out of gas but it was too late to make up the calories at that point. I ate as much as I could but the damage was done.

As a duo team you get about 45 minutes to relax in camp. By the time you get back to camp, get out of the sweaty clothes, eat then re-suit up it’s time to head back over before you know it. After lap 2 I was feeling pretty rough. I ran a 1:35 on lap 2 but was now curled up in the camper feeling sick! Terry again ran a solid lap for number 3 and once back in the hand off zone this time we tagged each other Lap 3 was just a head down slog for me. I had bonked and their was no returning from that. I just settled into a place and tried to chug along without having to stop. Sections I had flown by in the big ring the last 2 times I was now in the middle ring and climbs I had cruised in the middle ring were a slow granny gear plod. Bonking sucks! While I was suffering through lap 3 Terry was patiently waiting at the Start/finish calculating how fast he was going to have to ride his 4th lap to get back in time to have me go again. Little did he know I was FINISHED but when I came in with under an hour left in the race their was no doubt his would be our last lap. We finished 17th out of 39 which is not bad considering the lap 2 SNAFU and my bonking. My total milage was about 50 and Terry 67 or so. Not a bad weekend and tons of fun to hang out with our friends!

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Jen heading up Log Hill

Once on top the light rain turned to sleet so we decided to make a quick run through Divide Ranch and make a dash back for home! It looks like we have at least 3 more days of this weather ahead of us so I think the MTB Trails will be off limits for a bit until they can dry out.

This coming weekend there is a lot going on in Fruita. First off it is the annual Fat Tire Festival. It’s been a few years (or more!) since we have attended this event but it is sure to be a good time. If you’ve been looking to demo a bike then this is the place to do it. I have a few of my lines who will be there including Orbea, Jamis, Yeti and Rocky Mountain. I highly recommend hitting this event if you’re around this weekend!

Also this weekend we have race #2 of the Mountain States Cup Series. It is called the Rabbit Valley Rally and is also being held in the Fruita area. This race always has a big turn out and with a really fun course as well as a kids race it is on our schedule most years to hit it. Maybe we’ll see you out there!

Randy

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For starters, we have our business after hours event tomorrow night, the 21st. These event’s are held by the Ridgway Chamber of Commerce as a chance to showcase local businesses once a month. It is $6 at the door and we provide food, beverages and a door prize. Come by and have some fun with us!

Next up on the agenda is 12hrs of Mesa Verde. This race is held on the famed “Phils World” Trails in Cortez Colorado. It is a 12 hr race which you can sign up for as a solo, Duo or team (3-4 person). I will be doing Duo men and Jen will be on a all womans team with some other local Ridgway girls. Very excited for this race! If you have not been to Phils yet it is a must do! The trails are super flowy and easy to navigate. No big climbs and every climb is rewarded with a nice downhill

After that it’s time to ramp up for Iron horse! We teamed up with Core Solutions this winter to do a spin program to prepare people for this 50 mile ride from Durango to Silverton. We had great response for our first year running this program and had a few people sign on who have done this ride in the past. I’m really excited to see if these folks see an improvement in their time this year! My goal last year was to break 3 hours and I did a 2:58! This year I am trying not to get dropped on the first climb out of town (racing Cat.3)!

Finally the biggest news of all. After 6 years we have finally made major forward progress on our development of the Ridgway Trails system. Our partner on the project, COPMOBA had the foresight to request the IMBA Trail Crew come out and teach all of us proper trail building technique and we now have a HUGE trail school/fundraiser weekend scheduled to the weekend of June 11th. The schedule is going to go someting like this:

Friday night: Welcome party for IMBA trail crew at Ridgway community center. Will include food, beverages and slideshow.

Saturday: Trail Building school for 25 participants. For all others we will have guided trail rides for adults and children, demo bikes and maintenance clinics.

Saturday Night: Party at Community Center. Auction, Band, food and beverages.

Sunday: More group rides and Demo bikes available.

For anyone interested in signing up for the trail building school please call me at the shop and I’ll get you in touch with Bill Harris of COPMOBA. We currently have about 11 of the 25 available spots filled.

Well, if the weather stays as is we should be up on Dallas trail clearing in the next few weeks. Might even be ridding it in early June. Fingers crossed!!

Randy

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Axel (left) and Kalden

This of course adds substantially to the circus of getting anywhere and doing anything! Also riding has now become a sun up to sun down event. Our riding day now goes something like this:

1) Arrive at trail head and I ride with Kalden while Jen hang’s with Axel.

2) I hang out with both boys while Jen get’s a ride in.

3) Jen hangs out with boys while I get a ride in.

The funny thing is when your passionate about the sport you do you don’t even think twice about it. You just do whatever you need to make it work. I have friends who do the exact same thing all winter while skiing.

The other big change this year in our life is not having our VW van anymore.
Last year while driving it back from Moab through Paradox Valley the enging blew up and part’s of it that should not see day light were! After 12 years of having it and repairing it I was a bit burnt out and did not even want to think about dealing with the engine repair. Also, because it only had the fold out bed in the bottom and no pop top it really didn’t work for us anymore. For those reasons we sold it off as is and are now vanless Well it’s only taken one trip (this one) to realized we need another van and we are beginning to search for a Westy. Traveling with children and hanging out at trail heads is just so much easier in a van.

Day one we drove out to Grand Junction, Jen dropped me off there and I rode the nice flat road right under the Colorado National Monument through to Fruita. It was a nice 15 mile spin and just what I wanted to do since I had a race the next day. I arrived in Fruita right as Jen got to the hotel and we got everything out of the truck and into the room. It’s amazing how in the space of a 2 hour drive the truck can go from perfectly packed and organized to looking like a bomb went off inside! Such is life traveling as a family

After settling into the room we jumped back into the truck and headed over to the Loma (Mary’s Loop) area. Jen and Kalden headed out for a lap on Rustlers Loop and had a great time.

Rustlers Loop, Fruita Colorado

Kalden is getting pretty quick now and with Jen only 6 weeks past delivering Axel this was a perfect ride for both of them! After lunch we decided to head up to 18Rd and run a few laps around there. I drove Jen and kalden straight up to the top of the road and unloaded and they had a great shot down Kessels run. Axel and I met them in the lower parking lot and then Jen and Kalden decided to make the climb back up Prime Cut to the top. That’s a big climb for a 6 Year old boy but he knocked it out and had a great time.

Day 2 was race day. After a bit of MTBing in the moring it was time to get ready and head over to Grand Junction for the criterium. This was the 2nd race of a 4 race series. Last Wednesday was race #1 and I took 3rd place.

This week the race went completely different. After a fairly slow start the attacks started and really kept up. Half way thru the race I found myself in a 3 man break away and we were looking pretty solid until one of the other guys attacked the 2 of us. That crushed me as I’d just finished my pull and I looked back to see 2 other guys trying to bridge up. I decided it was better to sit up for a few seconds and recover and then join those 2 to bridge up with them. With 3 laps to go we were 50 feet off the back of the front 2 and I buried myself to bridge it.

Once on I had a lap to recover and get ready to sprint. Approaching the final turn I got pinch off on the inside and ended up in the gutter. I kept it up but had to scrub some speed and was at the back. I managed to kick it back up enough for 4th place. Very happy with that!

Our last day we headed back out to 18rd for a quick ride before heading home. Kalden and I decided to do Joe’s Ridge which has some fairly steep sections on it. One in particular is steep and a bit exposed so we walked that and he crushed it on the rest of the ride!

Kalden on Joes Ridge, Fruita Colorado

Gotta love spring in the Rockies

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