Oct Mnt Bike Trip: Day 1 Monarch Crest Trail
Friday, Sept 30
Monarch Crest Trail
Took off at 5:30 to pick up Bill at his house in Arvada for 3 days of mountain biking. Ah, the guilt: it would have been a great weekend to spend with Rachel but sometimes you just need to go hit the trails a bit harder and faster and shelve the patience.
Bill and I made it to Poncho Springs by 9am to catch the 10 o'clock shuttle up to Monarch Pass and the start to of this classic, 35 mile ride. And what a ride! 4 or so miles of up along an incredibly scenic followed by many miles of dirt roads and eventually 10 miles of the Rainbow Trail.
Here and there there are a few technical spots, steep, rocky trail or loose rocks but mostly it is a very Rachel friendly cruise.
The last 10 miles are on the Rainbow Trail. Now that is a bit more of a challenge. It is a true single track that traverses a north facing slope with many stretches where you don't want to slip off onto the downhill slope. But with care, it is an amazingly nice run down to 285 and the final 5 miles back to Poncho Springs. When we hit the road, the dark, ominous cloud that sat over the valley and occasionally emitted a burst of thunder finally let loose and dumped a ton of rain on us for our final few mile back to the van. Just enough to soak our clothes and clean the dust off our bikes.
It was 5pm by the time we were ready to head over to Crested Butte. We hit town around 7 for dinner at the pizza place that serves 20 odd fine Colorado beers. I had a most incredible Greek burger, an IPA and a really meaty impreial stout. Yum.
We got to my favorite camping spot up past Gothic by 9 or so and settled in for a good nights sleep.
Monarch Crest Trail
Took off at 5:30 to pick up Bill at his house in Arvada for 3 days of mountain biking. Ah, the guilt: it would have been a great weekend to spend with Rachel but sometimes you just need to go hit the trails a bit harder and faster and shelve the patience.
Bill and I made it to Poncho Springs by 9am to catch the 10 o'clock shuttle up to Monarch Pass and the start to of this classic, 35 mile ride. And what a ride! 4 or so miles of up along an incredibly scenic followed by many miles of dirt roads and eventually 10 miles of the Rainbow Trail.
Here and there there are a few technical spots, steep, rocky trail or loose rocks but mostly it is a very Rachel friendly cruise.
The last 10 miles are on the Rainbow Trail. Now that is a bit more of a challenge. It is a true single track that traverses a north facing slope with many stretches where you don't want to slip off onto the downhill slope. But with care, it is an amazingly nice run down to 285 and the final 5 miles back to Poncho Springs. When we hit the road, the dark, ominous cloud that sat over the valley and occasionally emitted a burst of thunder finally let loose and dumped a ton of rain on us for our final few mile back to the van. Just enough to soak our clothes and clean the dust off our bikes.
It was 5pm by the time we were ready to head over to Crested Butte. We hit town around 7 for dinner at the pizza place that serves 20 odd fine Colorado beers. I had a most incredible Greek burger, an IPA and a really meaty impreial stout. Yum.
We got to my favorite camping spot up past Gothic by 9 or so and settled in for a good nights sleep.
