Lunchtime on the BFR3... The company was cool and the scenery sublime. Photo: D. Chase, Redstone CycleryLaura and I got back from our long weekend in Colorado Monday night, and it was a really good trip... It was just what we needed, in fact. Of course, no trip to Colorado would be complete without some rippin' singletrack action, so I made sure there was plenty of that on-tap as well.
Luckily, my good buddy Dave Chase had the third annual iteration of his Big Fall Ride 3, AKA the "BFR3" going on while we were out, so I was in luck. That was Sunday's ride, and it was pretty much all I did Sunday, from sun-up to sun-down. It was a good day.
We basically did a 40+ mile shuttle ride, from West of the Peak to Peak highway back to Lyons, and "Death March" Dave put together a route that saw us riding a veritable sampling of some of the Northern Front Range's best singletrack climbs and descents -- the more rocky and technical, the better. The distinct lack of hardtails (except for a super-fast, fit 15-year old singlespeed racer on a Spot hardtail with a Maverick DUC on the front), or even short-travel full suspension bikes, aside from my softail Salsa Dos Niner, was distinctly apparent at the trailhead as we prepared for the ride. It seems four-to-five inches of travel is now the "sweet spot" for the Front Range, and man, when you descend behind Dave on his Five Spot, it's hard to argue with him -- he's rippin' on that thing. He's ridin' it great too -- there's still a human behind those handlebars!
MG: "You mean nobody else is runnin' a one-inch travel softail?" Photo: Dave Chase, Redstone Cyclery
As the ride got underway, after almost immediately sucking my chain shifting to the granny, twisting a Dura Ace link almost 90 degrees and having to stop and spend five minutes fixing it, I was quickly reminded of how little true technical, rocky riding I've done over the course of the 2008 season. It hasn't been much and to be frank, I'm feeling quite rusty in those conditions. As a result, I got the unique opportunity to explore exciting new methods of wiping out over the course of the BFR3. Over the bars, flying Ws, balls-first into trees while gently stepping into a cool, flowing stream with one foot, while still clipped in with the other... nothing was sacred from my ever-so-slightly-out-of-control grasp. I got it done with conviction. Fortunately, I broke neither bike nor body in my escapades -- only my pride and a little skin was lost. Hopefully a little riding skill was gained back in the process...
The rest of our Colorado vacation was pretty low-key too. Laura and I hiked, spent time with friends, had a beautiful breakfast together at the Meadow Mountain Cafe and basically just took time to recharge the batteries -- exactly what we needed. Of course, we're both already back to "the grind." Laura had parent teacher conferences tonight and I'm already slammed at work again, but somehow it all seems just a bit easier to take after having just been on a great vacation with awesome friends. Funny how that works...
More Photo Delights from the BFR3...
Luckily, my good buddy Dave Chase had the third annual iteration of his Big Fall Ride 3, AKA the "BFR3" going on while we were out, so I was in luck. That was Sunday's ride, and it was pretty much all I did Sunday, from sun-up to sun-down. It was a good day.
We basically did a 40+ mile shuttle ride, from West of the Peak to Peak highway back to Lyons, and "Death March" Dave put together a route that saw us riding a veritable sampling of some of the Northern Front Range's best singletrack climbs and descents -- the more rocky and technical, the better. The distinct lack of hardtails (except for a super-fast, fit 15-year old singlespeed racer on a Spot hardtail with a Maverick DUC on the front), or even short-travel full suspension bikes, aside from my softail Salsa Dos Niner, was distinctly apparent at the trailhead as we prepared for the ride. It seems four-to-five inches of travel is now the "sweet spot" for the Front Range, and man, when you descend behind Dave on his Five Spot, it's hard to argue with him -- he's rippin' on that thing. He's ridin' it great too -- there's still a human behind those handlebars!
MG: "You mean nobody else is runnin' a one-inch travel softail?" Photo: Dave Chase, Redstone Cyclery
The rest of our Colorado vacation was pretty low-key too. Laura and I hiked, spent time with friends, had a beautiful breakfast together at the Meadow Mountain Cafe and basically just took time to recharge the batteries -- exactly what we needed. Of course, we're both already back to "the grind." Laura had parent teacher conferences tonight and I'm already slammed at work again, but somehow it all seems just a bit easier to take after having just been on a great vacation with awesome friends. Funny how that works...
More Photo Delights from the BFR3...
- Jesper Perl's awesome images (If you like what you see above, you'll love the rest of his images...)
- Death March Dave's incredible images (on the Redstone Cyclery blog)
8 comments:
glad you're back in one piece.
checked out some of the pictures. very nice. the shot above the lake is amazing.
Wow! That looked like a killer ride! You know, it's funny how the riding is different wherever you go and everybody has there own technical challenges.
Looks like you had fun and I'm glad you made it back safely.
Ride on!
Sorry I missed you buddy. The north front range sucks eh?
Thanks guys... MW and Guitar Ted, you guys both would have absolutely loved the trails we were riding, both from a technical and an aesthetic point of view. It was the perfect time to be where we were at.
And Guitar Ted, you're so right in that each region has its own unique technical challenges, and that's the beauty of traveling.. You get to experience it all. I haven't been doing nearly enough of that this year, and I think this trip really opened my eyes to that fact. I'm committing myself right now to riding my mountain bikes more in extremely challenging, technical terrain next season. I used to be one of the smoothest, most proficient technical riders in any group I rode with, but now I feel like I'm struggling to keep up with the really good guys, and that's awfully frustrating for me... Well no more!! I can do better and I will! It just takes dedication and practice. Maybe I need to move West again???
Super Dave, I'm bummed we missed eachother and didn't get to ride together this time. Sorry buddy. I hope you and your lovely lady friend had a good birthday celebration! We'll catch up soon.
Cheers,
MG
Thanks for coming out Matt. That was definitely fun stuff. Glad you were able some of the finest we have to offer. Some anyway. You'll have to come back for more :)
Oh yeah brother. Thanks Davey. Good luck in Moab this weekend too. You're gonna' rock it if you ride like you were ridin' this past weekend. You were showing me your rear bumper every time we rode together! I couldn't believe how fast you were riding those rocky downhills... it was really inspiring and humbling all at the same time. But it was fun to see you riding so good too. You've stepped it up, my friend. That's very cool.
Best of luck this weekend. I know you're trying not to be competitive, but kick ass at having fun! And thanks again for an awesome weekend. I really appreciate all you and Mary's hospitality while Laura and I were out there. We had such a great time -- you guys are awesome friends!
Cheers,
MG
MG, welcome back. Looks like a great ride. Maybe I can tag a long on BFR4!
Hey Gnat -- Thanks for the note. It was cool that we were using many of the same roads in the Ward/Jamestown area that you were recently rolling on your Pistola on your Colorado vacation, but we were using them to connect sections of singletrack. It's like six degrees of separation... Pretty cool.
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