schnauzers.ws

ver·nal adjective \ˈvər-nəl\

Definition of VERNAL

1: of, relating to, or occurring in the spring <vernal equinox> <vernal sunshine>
2: fresh or new like the spring; also : youthful

A new location, new trails, new bike, and a Spring-time tradition continues.  How ironic that Vernal can be used as an adjective and as a noun here.  A perfect combination.

I thought hard about splitting this trip into two parts, but the theme carries through and I’ll keep it together.   I saw parts of Colorado I have never seen, and spent a few days in Vernal, Utah and then almost directly south in Fruita, Colorado.

Why Vernal, Utah?  Well, over the past few years, there has been some hyping of the area.  Moab without the crowds, singletrack everywhere, lot’s of Dinosaurs, and a bike shop owner who’s poured his heart and soul into developing a destination.  This northeastern town is actually larger than Moab, so there are quite a few more amenities than usual.  Heck, we counted six Subway shops.  Oil and gas booms create towns out here and while I wouldn’t say that the industry brings mountain bikers, they have made it a part of their tourism plan.

We arrived in town on Friday afternoon, after driving from Golden via Rifle, Co.  We unloaded the Beast, surveyed the cabin, drank a beer, and decided a ride in the remaining daylight was in order.  A quick stop at Altitude Bike Shop, and Troy Lupcho gave us the skinny, maps, and some admiration for the Rocky Mountain Altitudes sitting on my car rack. Yes, we spent some money there as well.  I think it’s good to support the local guy.

Our stop for the day was McCoy Flats.  This BLM area has miles of handcrafted cross-country singletrack.  Troy has lead the charge to build here and he has done a great job in defining and signing the trails.

They certainly didn’t send out the welcome brigade, but that is one of the reasons we wanted to try Vernal.  No crowds!

(continue reading…)

I woke up to blue skies out my window, but the wind was howling. I’m not going to pay it any attention and maybe it will go away. Saddled up the truck and met the others for a carpool to down the highway. All the time, I kept noticing cars covered in snow heading east. Last night brought something, but was it in the valley?

There was quite a bit of wind blown snow and temperatures dropped as we reached the high point, but our starting point of Pine Valley Open Space was clear. That is, except for the wind. None-the-less, jackets on, we headed for the Buck Gulch climb with dreams of fast flowing singletrack in Buffalo Creek.

(continue reading…)

Just South of Denver, CO, is the town of Castle Rock. A sprawling suburban landscape nestled between the eastern plains and the Dakota sandstone ridge that stretches across the entire state. If you drove through the town along I-25, you wouldn’t give it a second thought. You could not even see the area that houses this gem of a trail system from the highway. Who knew a trail system would start right in the middle of suburban sprawl?

It was a picture perfect day. Sort of the calm before the snow expected during the week. Take advantage while you can! The trails are mostly decomposed granite, typical of most of Colorado. However, these trails had a bit more organic matierial to help keep the marbles down.

(continue reading…)

Every year I am required to refresh my patrol training as a volunteer for the Jefferson County Open Space. I enjoy these events, because I get to meet the other patrollers. There are 65 of us and you’d think we would see each other on a regular basis. However, there is so much open space in our county, that it’s very rare we run into one another. We all have our favorite parks and different times that we typically go out. This is the one time of the year, we get to share our stories, positives, and negatives.

Our training this year was at the top of Lookout Mountain, in the Nature Center. It’s been a mucky mess recently, but I figured I would give it a shot. I have this divining rod type of procedure I do. So far, I have not been wrong. I walk out of my office to the garden in back of the building. I press my fingers into the ground and smell the ground. Call me crazy, but I can always predict what will be dry and this was one of those occasions.

The climb up Chimney Gulch is rude, especially when it’s the first ride up of the season. You can see my dismal statistics here.

I’ll admit I had a few too many beers the night before, but I know when I’m TEH SUCK.

Regardless, the morning was actually perfect weather.

Yes, those are dry trails.  Told you I can predict it.  Even the top northern facing trails only presented a couple of snow drifts gently melting onto the trail.

I love this trail.  It’s all about my home town, Golden.  While I would drink the stuff if you paid me, it sure is an impressive view.

I huffed and puffed up the hill.  Maybe I just convinced myself it was a struggle.  I climb plenty of hills on the same bike.  Heck, I climb worse on a singlespeed, but I was just in a bad place.  None-the-less, onward I went.

Now let’s be far about my time going up.  I was patrolling, so I stopped and talked to every person I met.  I had some great conversations with some Dutch vacationers at the Windy Saddle parking area.  “Why are their so many bikers”, she said about the number of Roadies on the Lookout Mountain Road.  I explained the significance of it as a training ride, the loop they do, and that it would get worse as the temps go up.  The tourists were impressed and I pointed them to Coors for a tour and free beer.  Off they went and I snapped a pic of the dry conditions.

At the top, it was three hours of training, followed by a quick descent to BBQ and beer at home.

Descent info here.

I spent another beautiful day in California riding with some friends along the Backbone trail in the Santa Monica mountains. Officially Zuma/Trancas Canyons, this area was a very pretty place. It was probably a little more than I bargained for an a fully rigid singlespeed, but still a lot of fun. I actually passed out for an hour when I got back to the hotel. Ok, maybe the two beers at Willeys had something to do with that, but it was peaceful.

We started out from the Tunnel 1 parking lot off of Kanan Road and headed south.

(continue reading…)