schnauzers.ws

Colorado has their trail system well put together. The fact that there was a trailhead sign is impressive. Come to the east
coast and see if you can find your way around. This is a beautiful singletrack trail, but when I look up and see the
mountain looming ahead I know I am in for some climbing. Just a short way in I get this:

And so I begin to climb with plenty of natural surroundings to keep me company.

As I begin to climb I start feeling a little apprehensive as I have now broken one of the cardinal rules of IMBA. Never ride
alone, especially on a trail you’ve never ridden. But, being the rule breaker I am,, I prod along. Climbing, walking,
climbing, and stopping to take in the beauty.

More climbing and I reach this beautiful mountain slope meadow of wildflowers with singletrack meandering through.

The climbing gets a bit more technical as I reach to top. There are more roots, rocks, totally washed out trail, and
switchbacks.

After climbing for five miles, I finally reach the top at 13,000+ feet! It’s such a great feeling of accomplishment when I do
this because a year ago, I wouldn’t have made it 500 feet up.

So now it’s all downhill from here into the town of Minturn, or so I thought it would be. Just sweet singletrack through the
back bowls of Vail and on into the valley.

That is until this looms in the distance.

Yes, I got caught in it. I have never seen lightening so intense in my life and here I was riding a lightening rod in the
open back bowls at 13,000 ft. I was scared. It’s not hailing, cold, and windy. I am wet and I am worried I’ll become
another Colorado lightening statistic. I see an emergency phone and call the info extension. I asked the guy the quickest
way out and he tells me to go back the way I came. He doesn’t understand that it is the same way the storm is going. So I
high tail it down the SS to a ski lift and find shelter in the lift house. Things slow down a bit but I can see more storms
coming in. There’s no way I’m going to make it nine miles into Minturn. Luckily they have to service the lift, so there’s a
fire road that heads out of the bowls and over the mountain. I was not anticipating having to climb most of this ride, but
it’s looking that way. So up I go.

Stopping to glance back on what could have been a ride through the valley in this photo.

I make it to the top of Vail and do a nice fast DH on Fred’s Lunch and Lion Down back to the hotel. Even with the detour I
still got in 24.25 miles. While not the epic I anticipated, it was still fun and beautiful. The climbing wasn’t all that
bad, either.