We have Garmin logs; the first ride was this one: Creekside - Zoom - Chainsaw. A really nice loop it is. Not surprisingly, Creekside Trail climbs gently uphill beside a creek; easy but rocky. Then there's a long grind up a gravel road -- must be a hundred miles and a few thousand feet -- to Zoom downhill. Zoom is rugged and loose and steep and this time a little damp. Chainsaw is wonderful and swoopy and switchbacky and when it starts raining it's a river.
Here's Creekside:
And the gravel road:
Top of Zoom:
Bottom of Zoom:
Chainsaw:
Later in the day was this one: Ice Hill - Blue Sky. We started this ride at the Winter Park Resort, with a long steady climb up a gravel road, followed by a long fast descent down another gravel road. And then there was a bunch of nice, up-and-down single-track with plenty of wet roots and rocks that I found quite challenging. The last portion of trail followed the railroad back down to the resort. It was fun and wet.
Chris and I traded off a couple of times, one of us captaining the Ventana tandem with Cailan as stoker, while the other rode his new Salsa 29er. This gave Daniel the chance to ride my Nickel, which it seems he quite enjoyed. After experiencing that bit mountain biking bliss, he's been after his parents to buy him a comparable piece of equipment -- quite unsuccessfully thus far. I enjoyed the opportunity to ride Chris (and Heather)'s bikes. The dual suspension tandem with it's plush long-travel fork is really nice for getting over slippery roots, and the Salsa with the Lefty fork and clutched derailleur was without question the lightest, smoothest, and quietest bike I've ever ridden. It's a good thing it was a little small for me -- I was less tempted to keep it.
Did I mention that most of the afternoon, it was either raining, just about to rain, or just finished raining?
Here's Creekside:
And the gravel road:
Top of Zoom:
Chainsaw:
Later in the day was this one: Ice Hill - Blue Sky. We started this ride at the Winter Park Resort, with a long steady climb up a gravel road, followed by a long fast descent down another gravel road. And then there was a bunch of nice, up-and-down single-track with plenty of wet roots and rocks that I found quite challenging. The last portion of trail followed the railroad back down to the resort. It was fun and wet.
Chris and I traded off a couple of times, one of us captaining the Ventana tandem with Cailan as stoker, while the other rode his new Salsa 29er. This gave Daniel the chance to ride my Nickel, which it seems he quite enjoyed. After experiencing that bit mountain biking bliss, he's been after his parents to buy him a comparable piece of equipment -- quite unsuccessfully thus far. I enjoyed the opportunity to ride Chris (and Heather)'s bikes. The dual suspension tandem with it's plush long-travel fork is really nice for getting over slippery roots, and the Salsa with the Lefty fork and clutched derailleur was without question the lightest, smoothest, and quietest bike I've ever ridden. It's a good thing it was a little small for me -- I was less tempted to keep it.
Did I mention that most of the afternoon, it was either raining, just about to rain, or just finished raining?
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