Lake Pueblo State Park

On Sunday, with arrangements made for mid-day care for Amos, we loaded the bikes and headed south for Lake Pueblo State Park, which I have previously and usually called "Pueblo Reservoir" but will now shorten to LPSP. The reservoir was created by a dam on the Arkansas River; sort of interesting from the perspective of a Wichitan. I made a deal the night before with the rest of scaq that if we could get out of the house before 8 a.m. we could stop at the Donut Maker. We did, and so we did, and then drove the 100 miles south to Pueblo.

10 a.m. Unloaded bikes, adjusted clothing, donned helmets and gloves, scarfed remaining donut holes, and set out into the maze of trails that is LPSP. Conduit to The Duke, up Rodeo to Arkansas Point, down Rock Canyon to Creekside, up Waterfall to Inner Limits, and then it was past lunchtime so Pedro's Point down Waterfall (some of us detouring through Rock Drop) and Creekside then South Shore back to the picnic area to eat. Or just click here for the Garmin log. Pics not necessarily in the order of occurrance:

Coming up Rodeo through the fields of dehydrated cholla and prickly pear cacti, just after the first technical climb that most of scaq can't quite ride. Chunks of crumbling sedimentary rocks clinking beneath tires.

Crossing the bridge where Creekside joins Watefall. You're supposed to ride up there, right?

Pedaling up Waterfall, which was mostly dry but coated with a thin packed snow in a few inconvenient and shady places. 

A little fun on Log Drop.

After our first 10 miles it was time for lunch. Civilized we are, and therefore based our adventures from the otherwise empty picnic area rather than at the crowded trailhead parking lot. Or does that mean we're uncivilized? Unsociable? Not likely! Regardless, it was PB&J for lunch, with habanero grape jelly provided by our Mercer Island relatives. Definitely delicious with peanut butter, although the jalapeno raspberry was even better. Lemonade, too. And Abbey's high elevation chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

After lunch, Quinn requested some down time, so Abbey and I took another spin through the maze of trails while Cindy and Quinn hung out at the picnic table. This time we came down some of the freakishly steep rock drops in Skull Canyon. Very fun, but Abbey moved too fast and I didn't get any pictures of her on the new Nickel. This loop is the last 3.5 miles on the Garmin log.

And then Cindy and Quinn took a turn around the same loop. Cindy got picture of Quinn just after he came down a short rock pile.

Finally, to wrap up the day, I logged a few fast miles on my own just to make sure I'd completely burned out my legs. Past 4 p.m., the sun low on the horizon, and the wind blowing hard, the stark landscape vivid.

A good day.

Lovell Gulch Trail

In keeping with the previous post, I'll add some pics from last October. On the way down to Pueblo we rode the Lovell Gulch Trail, west of Colorado Springs. It's just north of Pikes Peak. We selected this one partly because we could take The Mouse with us, as long he came immediately when called (according to the guidelines on the sign at the trailhead). The ride was fun, climbing up through a nice valley to a ridgeline, and then following a power line trail back to the trail head. We had great views of Pikes Peak from the ridge. It was cold when we started, and the climbing was tough for our smallest rider, but the power line trail was wide open, sunny, fast and fun, so we all finished happy.

Pueblo Reservoir Lost Pics

This weekend is looking good for getting out and riding, but we've had enough snow that many of the close-to-Denver trails are likely to be muddy or, if far enough into the mountains, snow-packed. There are some great lower-elevation and mostly dry trails down at the reservoir just outside of Pueblo, so we're looking at that as a possibility.

Click here for a link: Pueblo Reservoir Trails

Last fall we spent an afternoon on the Pueblo Trails, and I thought I had posted some pics here, but it looks like I never did. We had Amos with us on that trip, but we weren't supposed let him run off leash, so we took turns riding and walking with Amos. Consequently, I only have pics from a couple of rides Quinn and I did together.

Village Green Mountain Bike Trail

We recently learned that a new mountain bike trail has landed nearby. The Village Greens Park is just across the street from what will be Abbey's high school. That's not more that a half mile from my office and about 5 miles from our house. We'd seen evidence of a trail a couple of weeks ago when we were on the highway headed towards the airport, and later learned that it was indeed a new trail. It's part of a larger set of 'improvements' to the park that include a pond, some improved wildlife habitat, and a disc-golf course.

It's certainly not a trail in the mountains, and in a sense it might seem silly to be excited about a 2.5 miles trail through a small patch of desert grassland in the middle of dense suburbia, but it's much closer than any of the real Front Range trails, so it will be easy for us to make a quick trip there and get in a few miles. Plus, the trail has lots of interesting and challenging features, like big boulders, steep climbs and descents, and whole bunch of log skinnies.

The kids and I took Amos over to the trail and walked to see if it was finished and to get a closer look at the layout and all the features. We're pretty excited. There were no signs indicating the trail was closed, and all the signage appeared to be in place. Most of the features were done, but it looked like there was some final construction still going on in. Tire tracks indicated a few riders had given it a try.

Here are some pics. This first is a rocky downhill. I hope the cyclists will use the rocky slabs and not just create a big rut in the dirt beside them.

Quinn doing a butt-scoot on the downhill slabs.

This is the rocky climb up to the top:

 This feature looks fun:

Basketball and Band

This winter Quinn played basketball. He had a good time and his team did pretty well, although they didn't make the play-offs. Isn't he a handsome young man? His right arm is not missing, it's just behind his back.

Abbey made first chair trumpet in the Cherry Creek District Middle School Honor Band. The Diddiwah joined us for the concert on the 2nd of February. It was quite impressive, especially given that they had only two evening rehearsals and one all day rehearsal the day of the concert. Abbey said her lips were so tired from rehearsing all day that she could hardly play during the concert. I hope she was exaggerating! Can you find her?