Sunday Ride 1: Lair O' The Bunny

Normally that would be "Bear," but on this particular Sunday morning it was "Bunny." I would have traded this day's riding to be home with my family, but if having to spend a holiday away, being on my bike in the mountains was probably the best I could ask.

One of the engineers in my office told me this was his favorite Denver-area trail because it was less a rocky and technical challenge than a fast and flowing one. It's definitely true that most of the trail was not especially difficult to ride, and those swoopy roller coaster sections were a welcome relief after so much slow grinding the day before.

Here's the Garmin log.


I arrived at the trailhead, alongside Bear Creek (Bunny Creek?), around 7:30 Easter morning. The only other cars in the lot had transported fisherman who were standing in the stream wearing waders and flicking fly rods. While I was getting ready to ride, a couple more cyclists arrived, but I was the first one on the trail. For the first mile or so the trail runs parallel to the stream in its narrow valley. This particular morning the temperature was in the 30s in Denver, and it must have been colder alongside that creek. In places there was still snow and ice covering the trail. Once again, I had failed to learn from my experience the previous morning: I did not wear suitable gloves for the occasion and almost immediately found I had numb and unusable fingers. I did not, however, accidentally drain my water onto the ground! I was relieved when the trail finally moved away from the creek and began to ascend because I knew that the exertion of climbing would soon warm my numb hands. It was actually rather unpleasant as the numbness gave way to pain.

Eventually I reached the point on the trail my map labelled "Rock Staircase," which was a reasonably accurate description. I wish I could say I rode right up that staircase, but I cannot. I dismounted and  pushed my trusty steed up the rocks. It was too early in the morning, and my hands were too cold to try riding up a rocky staircase. It wasn't worth the risk of ruining a good day of riding. If I happen to ride this trail again someday, I'm going to give it a try; it really should be within my capability. Here's a photo of the staircase, although as usual, I think it looks less steep in the picture. The trail comes up in the center of the pictures, turns alongside large rock and exits to the right. The stuff at the bottom of the picture is not part of the trail. Oh, and for those of you still in Michigan, that bright blob at the top, just right of center, is the sun.

While I was stopped here taking the photo above and trying to warm my frozen fingers, another rider came up behind me and attempted the staircase, but he didn't make it. His dog cleaned it with ease.

I liked this trail because much of it was in the forest, giving me the feeling that I was somewhere deep in the mountains. There was a very nice big meadow, here, and while not visible in the picture, a series of houses lined the hill behind me, overlooking the meadow and the two-track path I was riding. Look closely and see if you can find the white bunny.

I couldn't find him either. Maybe he blends in with the snow?

At the end of the trail there awaits a road and a small parking lot. Some folks do this as a one-way ride, leaving a car at the top and just riding down. Myself, I enjoy the challenge of the climb almost as much as the thrill of the downhill, so I don't see the one-way having much appeal. On the other hand, Cindy and the kids get out here we might try it as a one-way. It's a beautiful ride on a nice trail, and it's not too challenging from a technical rock-crawling perspective, so we could do it in the downhill direction before they've fully acclimated to the elevation. They might even enjoy it.

The ride down was quite a lot of fun, although there were numerous hikers, runners, and cyclists riding up, so I had to fly with caution. There was a group of cyclists stopped at the Rock Staircase, so as I descended I had an audience. It would have been embarrassing to fail and fall, but maybe one of them would have had a first aid kit handy. Fortunately, my descent was successful. It was in fact so easy that it hardly seemed worth the ink on the map.