Mesa Trail ramble - 7 miles

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Saturday hike with Rach.

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We’re floating…

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With covid putting a crimp on international travel for late 2021, we opted for Plan B: spend the winter living on a boat. So we squeezed a year’s worth of boat buying into a couple of months and sailed off from Annapolis, Maryland on November 29 on SV Carina, a 2005 Island Packet 370. ( #sailingsvcarina ) She’s a beast for 37’ with a cutter rig and and a full keel. The motion of the ocean is where she’s happy and safe. We spent December and January heading south on the Intercoastal Waterway with a few coastal passages, getting aligned with Carina and getting her into cruising mode. By mid-February we replaced most of the aging equipment in need, added some solar and got our new foresails. A hop across the Gulf Stream brought us to Bimini and the Bahamas. We’ll keep working at refining this cruising lifestyle while exploring these islands this spring. Then back to Florida to put her on the hard for the summer and hurricane season while we go back to the mountains for some solid earth ad
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Another 2-wheel upgrade: Giant TCR to Salsa Warbird

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Back in 2006, when I first started getting a bit more serious about biking, I bought an all carbon Giant TCR2 . That thing was soooo smooth and fast and light relative to anything I ever put under my butt. I enjoyed countless lunch rides and long Saturday loops up to the Peak to Peak. But then I discovered gravel riding back in 2012 and bought a steel Salsa Vaya for a trip to Patagonia. That Vaya changed how I wanted to spend my time building up lactic acid. Instead of fast and smooth pavement, I wanted bumpy and steep gravel paths and dirt roads. The TCR started spending way more time hanging from its front wheel in the back of the garage. For a couple of years, I don't think it even made it out once. It's still a great ride, though. And it did get some updated shifters and a cassette for the 2017 Ride the Rockies. But mostly, it's been neglected and sitting idle.  This past weekend, I did a nice loop up Sunshine Canyon to the Peak to Peak and Brainard Lake then down Left
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Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2020 - Gear List

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The summer of covid, the summer of people avoidance. Thus we spent July riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) from Boulder to Helena, Montana. Here's the route we took: (view the route details on RideWithGPS) It was super fun to start from home and catch a bus up to Nederland to kick off the ride. From there, a big ride up Rollins Pass and a day of dirt roads heading west from Winter Park brought us to the GMBDR near Ute Pass. A mellow pace, 1,152 miles and 82,373ft of elevation gain got us to Helena over 28 days. We spotted bears, moose, golden and bald eagles, a couple of badgers and a couple dozen fellow GDMBR riders along the way (all heading the opposite direction, north to south). And loads of wildflowers everywhere! We're so very privileged to have so much open space and beautiful landscapes to explore - and the time and health to make it happen. Here's my gear list: Bike Salsa Fargo Apex 1, 2020 edition ( details ) 1x32 with 11-42 in rear for me and 1
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