schnauzers.ws

A chance to slowly tick off the places I have never been to, in Colorado.  Seven years, and I have never skied or mountain bikes in Winter Park.  I figured the Colorado Freeride Festival would be  good opportunity to do a little riding and watch people jump their bikes off of stuff.  I scored a cheap room at the resort, so why not?

Having reached the hotel earlier than check-in on Friday. it was a great opportunity to kill the time with a ride.  I searched out the closest trailhead as the thunderstorms rolled their way in.  With lightening striking near by, I waited out the storm and ascended the fresh most singletrack of Chainsaw trail.

Right from the start, I knew this was going to be love.  Smooth singletrack, winding and twisting through new sprouts of Aspens and an occasional surving pine tree.

The weather was barely cooperating, but the light mist actually was soothing compared to the heat of the Front Range.

This was race weekend and signs of the XC course were everywhere.  I don’t know why they opted for so much dirt road, when killer singletrack was available.  I didn’t follow the course and continued on Chainsaw.

With the thunderstorms still looking around me, it made lighting a little challenging.  I can’t remember the last time I needed to use the flash on my camera.  It was only 3:00 PM, yet a feeling of dusk loomed.

My love affair continued with each turn and the sound of the tire on the loamy earth below. I could get used to this.

There’s a point where your mind remembers past rides and begins to compare the surroundings.  At one point, I thought I was back on the east coast.  The humid layer of air rising from the ground, the smell of pine trees and thick mineral rich dirt, and a gentle crawl through everything that felt familiar.  This is a happy place.  Like cultists have their centers of energy, this was mine.

The directions I had made sense, but the signage did not.  I started to ride half way up the Flume Trail, before I realized, it was the Flume trail.

I doubled back and then ride up the Creekside Loop Trail.  Looking out over the horizon, I marked future rides around the Tipperary Creek.

Then it was time for the flume.  Just the mere mention of the word always brings a smile to my face.  It’s the single word representation of flowy, smooth, wooded, twisty, downhill in both directions, fun in dirt.  Never a disappointment!  Every flume I have ridden follows the same guidelines.

And a place for grand views (literally, this is Grand County).

And yes, there is still remnents of the original flume!

Though shorter than I would have liked, this ride was a blast!  I can’t wait to come back and sample more of the local singletrack.

Friday’s rain brought the bluest sky for Saturday.  I wanted to get an early start and keep the sun at my back.

Today was a day of watching people ride bikes like they were flying machines.  Where to start?  There was so much “cool” going on, my head was spinning and the camera didn’t stop.  I just kept snapping away at Enduro racers and Slopestyle participants.  What an incredible show of skills and showmanship.  Many of them played right to the camera.  I burned through all of my memory cards!  I tried to choose the best ones here, but the full gallery is at the end of this post.

The mens race ended and the females started to drop in.

It was time for the Slopstyle event.  The jam style format really made it easy to take photos.  The riders were non-stop and kept bringing it more on each run.  Just amazing skill and courage.

Sunday, I left early to beat the traffic and the storms.  Then, I spent some time hiking Mt. Galbraith with my son before the storm chased us off the mountain.

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