Independence Day in the Mountains

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Thursday, July 4th, was Independence Day here in the good ole USofA. To celebrate, I joined about fifty other hearty men and women here in Salida for an 80mile/130km mountain-bike ride. Yes, I do appreciate the irony of an Englishman[I was born in Winchester, England but emigrated to Canada with my family when I was 5] celebrating US independence.

We all met at local frame-builder Don McClung’s house at 4:20am, rolling out at about 4:30am. A group of ladies did start out about an hour earlier, but don’t you dare think they are any less tough than the boys.

The route took us on roads for the first 30-40mins, then a combination of dirt roads, rail-trail, double-track, asphalt and single-track to Monarch Pass, elevation 11,316′. I done that ride twice in the past couple of weeks, so was familiar with that nice long climb. Reaching the Pass in about 3.5 hrs I was feeling good and having a great time. I ate a burrito, a bit of chocolate and was on my way.

Riding the Monarch Crest Trail, I was again on familiar terrain. The Crest Trail has some steep but not impossible climbs. It has fast but not dangerous descents. The technical parts are challenging but not frustrating. But the views, oh the views!! Riding within the evergreens and the aspens as well as above the tree-line, mountain ranges roll one after the other while the blue skies envelope it all. True majesty.

Riding the single-track surrounded by grass, sky and mountains, I passed a couple of hikers, saying hello as I zoomed by. Moments later, I was in agony. With my fork locked-out, I hit a rock that simultaneously punched my front wheel up towards me as my body shot forward from the impact. The result, my pelvis and top-tube smashed into each other with great force. I grunted and groaned till pulling over to catch my breath and make sure I was bleeding. With a minute or two to compose myself, I was soon back on the bike, though perhaps riding a bit gingerly. For those who wish to laugh at my suffering–because it is quite funny–click here for the video on youtube. Make sure you’ve got the volume up so you can hear my misery.

Continuing along the Crest Trail, I eventually arrived at the Silver Creek Trail. Although there is a bit of climbing, this is basically a very fast, technical, burly descent with a particularly hairy rock scree section. I was feeling good, rolling fast and having fun. Well, until that scree section. My front wheel hit a rock that refused to move. My wheel violently turned left, arresting my bike’s movement while pitching me over the bars. I managed to avoid landing on any big rocks, but did pull the muscles on my right thigh from the stress. It felt like I had a bad charlie-horse right on the pressure-point located on my outer thigh. No sooner did I get my bike off the trail than did fellow rider, Philip, coming barreling down that scree field. He was looking good until he took his eyes off the trail for just a moment. Somersaulting over his bike, he too found himself laying in the trail. He was okay, we chatted and laughed then carried on for more gnarly descending. Damn I love this stuff!

Eventually the Silver Creek Trail meets the Rainbow Trail. With many steep climbs and a few sketchy descents, our skills were once again being tested.

Roughly half-way mileage-wise but about two-thirds time-wise, the Rainbow Trail crosses highway #285. On the other side, the good folks at Subculture Cyclery had shuttled coolers the night before and hidden them in the trees. Pulling into a little clearing, I was greeted by about a dozen or so fellow riders. There we all ate, drank [some had wobbly-pops for the occasion], chatted and laughed about the day’s riding so far. Taking on fresh bottles and refilling my camel-back, got back on the bike for the next gruelling section. A section I’d not ridden before but had been very well warned about.

For most of the next hour and twenty minutes, the trail compels you to get off and walk. Too steep, too loose, too tough to pedal, we were forced to slowly plod along under that scorching mid-day heat. In fact, I would take on the same amount of fluids over the next 3.5 hours as I did during the first 7.5.

The descent following that hike-a-bike section including many very technical loose sections that took a lot of concentration to negotiate. There were also several more spots where we had to climb one foot in front of the other. Soon enough, after miles of beautiful single-track, we were spat out onto the very rough county road # 108 for a short climb. That moment, reaching 108, meant one thing and one thing only; getting close to home!!

At the top of #108, we make a left back onto the Rainbow Trail. This section I knew, as I’d ridden it the other direction a couple of times already this year. Narrow twisty single-track, a few little climbs and a couple of fun downhills made riding that trail a dream. After those six miles came Bear Creek Road; nine miles of fast descending, first on 4×4 road then hard-packed dirt road. I was flying, it was amazing! No cars anywhere, I had the road to myself as I soared over little rollers and cut straight lines through the corners. It was payment well earned after all the day’s work!

Back on the blacktop, it’s just about 5miles back into town. There, I joined Reilly[who came 2nd!!], Kimberly and several others who had conquered those 80 miles for a bit of a swim in the Arkansas River. Glorious, this is what living is all about!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/337860763 [started computer late, missing about a mile]