Spring Break 2015 - Fruita 18 Road Trails

On the third day, Monday, H&C had to go to work, so we headed north to the 18 Road trail area north of Fruita. This area comprises a network of trails at the foot of Book Cliffs; there is essentially one trail, Prime Cut, that leads up the gentle slope to the base of the cliffs, and then several options for heading back down. For our first return, we came down Kessel Run, which is super swoopy and super fun. Great for kids of all ages! After that, we road PBR (Pumps Burms and Rollers). I'm not sure which pictures go with which ride.

Back at the parking area after finishing PBR, we take a lunch break.

We hadn't really planned for lunch, so had to make do with what we had in the cooler.

Next we went back up Prime Cut to Chutes and Ladders, which was tough route over to our return on Vegetarian. Prime Cut is tough for kids and parents of all ages. It was also really hot. A better plan would have been to do Prime Cut first, and save Kessel Run and PBR for after lunch.

Yes, Abbey, that is the trail...

We made a group decision to head a back to H&C's houe after that. Later that evening some of us got out for another ride at the Lunch Loops.

Spring Break 2015 - Western Rim Trail

On the second day of the trip we went with Heather, Chris, and Cailan to ride the Western Rim Trail, which sits right on the Colorado-Utah border, in Rabbit Valley, just south of I-70. This year the weather was perfect; perfect temperature, plenty of sun, and not too much wind. The road in to where we started is a bit of rough one. We were a little concerned about dragging the 4-bike hitch-mounted carrier across rocks on a couple of dry wash crossings, but it worked out fine. We met a couple of cyclists from Michigan at the trailhead.

We also met some motorcyclists on the trail. Some were polite and even shut off their motor as we passed; others did something approximately opposite.

This ride is unquestionably the most remote of any we've ever done.

Spring Break 2015 - GJ Lunch Loops

This year's Annual Spring Break Western Colorado and Utah Mountain Biking Adventure was the best one yet. We had so much fun it took me several weeks just to figure out what to write about it. I've back-dated the entries so that they match the date of each ride.

We rented a cargo box from Open Road Outfitter in Denver, packed up the Armada Friday night and Saturday morning, and got to GJ in time for an afternoon ride (girls) and run (boys). I have no pictures of the run, but took a few from our ride at the lunch loops with Chris.

Heil Valley Ranch Pinch Flat

After our Valentine's Day ride at Heil Valley Ranch, the weather turned yucky again (unless you're a skier) and kept us off the trails. A month later, Heil was dry again, so we loaded up the full set of four for another spring (almost) ride. And Quinn's first pinch flat.

It's about an hour from our house to Heil, which is a few miles north of Boulder on Highway 36, and west up Left Hand Canyon. It's a long drive from our house, but everything closer was still too wet to ride and I was anxious for some trail time. We couldn't have picked a nicer day. Although it was still in the 40s F at 9 a.m. when we arrived at the trailhead, it warmed up quickly into the 60s F.

I still haven't replaced my Garmin GPS device, so don't have a GPS log from our ride, but you can get more details about the ride and the park at the MTB Project page.

The aggressive grouse wasn't chasing away humans at the overlook this time, so we were able to sit down and enjoy the view and some snacks.

Back on the trail, I stopped and snapped some lazy action pics. Here's Cindy demonstrating the normal sort of two-finger braking.

Here's Abbey, with her atypical two-finger approach. She's never been particularly concerned about convention.

And then the pinch flat. If you're a mountain bicyclist, odds are you're all too familiar with pinch flats. A pinch flat can occur when you run into an object, say a pointy rock, with your tire hard enough that the rim squishes the tire, pinching tire and tube between the object and the rim. Running a tubeless tire setup can reduce the likelihood of pinch flat, but in this case I don't think it would have helped.

Heil Valley Ranch is a mountain of crumbled limestone that holds plenty of opportunities to pinch flat. Quinn found one by jumping off one nice limestone slab and landing on the point of another with his rear tire. He was ahead of the rest of us, but we heard his exclamation of surprise as his rear tire instantly deflated. He hit the rock hard enough that his rim punched two holes in his tube and two holes in his tire. The sidewall of the rim bent inward as the metal made direct contact with the limestone through the tire and tube. He was so proud of himself.

I replaced the tube and, despite a couple of holes in the tire, the Continental Mountain Kings held up just fine for the rocky ride down. Once back home, I cut some pieces from the sidewall of an old tire and used contact cement to glue the patches to the inside of Quinn's tire. Quinn's tire was nearly brand new; otherwise I might have just thrown it away. We'll run it on the rear, and see how the patches hold up.

First (Mountain Bike) Ride of the Year: The Aggressive Grouse

Quinn and I took advantage of a warm and dry spell with a ride at Heil Valley Ranch, a few miles north of Boulder. While this was our first mountain bike ride of the year, it wasn't our first time in the saddle: last weekend we broke out the road tandems and logged a few miles on the paved Cherry Creek Trail. Remember the old blue Burleys? We still get them out once in a while. The bikes are the same, but Q & A are not.

The trails at Heil Valley Ranch are nice. Lots of fun rocks, some interesting rock-engineering to armor the trail surface, and not too much climbing. Did I mention the rocks? Lots of rocks. This was Quinn's first ride at Heil, and I think he really enjoyed it. The trail swoops left and right and up and down with plenty of opportunities for small jumps. And plenty of opportunities for crashes.

After climbing the Wapiti Trail up from the parking lot, we took a left on the Ponderosa Loop, and climbed to the highest point on the trail. It's a fun and swoopy half-mile descent to a scenic overlook. On our way we passed a man with a thick accent -- European or British, it was hard to tell -- and he said something that sounded like "watch for the aggressive growth." It didn't make much sense to us.

And the we saw the sign, which still left considerable room for uncertainty. Aggressive grouse? Is that singular or plural? Potential or known? 

Slightly apprehensive, we stopped at the overlook. I laid my bike on the ground and took one scenic picture. 

And then it came after Quinn. The Aggressive Grouse came waddling slowly down the hillside straight toward him, opening and closing its beak in a threatening and, well, aggressive manner. Quinn moved towards me, trying to escape the attack.

Moments later a couple more bicyclists caught up with us. One of them, riding a Giant, had come across The Aggressive Grouse earlier in the week. He cautioned us that it was aggressive and we should not approach it (as if that wasn't clear enough already). Then the Aggressive Grouse charged the Giant rider. He positioned himself with his bike between him and his attacker, rolling the bike forward and back, while dancing behind it, his legs a moving target. Seizing the opportunity, Quinn and I wished him luck, hopped on our bikes, and fled down the trail. Run, Forest, run! Later the Giant rider and his friend caught up with us, and let us know that they had survived the attack of the Aggressive Grouse. We were glad to know they had not been maimed after we deserted them.

We rode on a for a couple miles, enjoying the trail, rocks, and docile flora, glad to be out of reach of aggressive wildlife, all the while hoping the local mountain lions were not so aggressive.

A snack and some downhill and we were done. It was a good start to another year of mountain biking.

Snow

This has not been a wet year here, but we have had some snow. On the first day of February we awoke to about 8 inches of fluffy, fresh powder. After Quinn and I cleared the driveway, sidewalk, and a our side of the road out front we had huge mound that just begged to be tunneled.

Talent Show 2015

Abbey and Natalie

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall

Quinn (backyard talent)