TeamBlue Monday, May 12, 2003: cancelation leads to exploration i rested off the bike, worked out just enough, ate right, took my vitamins, rode easy the day before and did just the right opener, and the race was cancelled. snow in denver. 4-5 inches. would have been some rippin conditions, but the park would have been destroyed. probably the right call to have made. after extesive use of the phone chain to first notifiy, then verify the non-race, the calling devices were utilized to set up the ensuing ride. exploration was to be the theme of the day. one piece of the ring-the-peak trail was to be the target. starting in cascade, at the post office, we headed up mt esther trail. a steep, well-built, but little used switchbacking single track. granny ring riding quicky gave way to intemittent bouts of walking, swearing and losing traction. after 1800' in 40 minutes we were a grassy meadow overlooking ute pass. the meadow tricked this cyclist into thinking the riding would be easier, alas i found myself in my granny again, following the path marked with carins and neatly lain deadfall on both sides. the deadfall led us to elephantesque blobs of granite. not ridable. exploration on foot. ken and i mounted esther in an effort to see possible paths. climbing rocks in shoes of leather with hard plastic and steel on the bottom, leather gloves and, of course noggin protection. no paths to be seen. what the map showed to summit esther from the south and descend from the north, actually summeted and descended from the south. we set out on our first adventure. this one was easily ridden. a trail had been passed on the way up, and returning we found it fast through the aspens. it led to a power line acess road. easy enough riding if you dont count the 20-25% grade on loose gravel, but the road was nice enough to lead us right where we wanted to be. high alert as we scoured both sides of the road for possible unmarked trails. 100 meters away, on the other side of the creek, we all spotted pristine singletrack, though we couldnt quite make out where it started or headed, but it was assumed both were out of site in the brush. a small levee led to the trail in question. it sure was ironic that there were surveying flags leading to the trail. it was 200m of freshly cut trail that ended right out of site of the road. we could have followed the flags to their destination, but the trees were thick enough to impede handlebars. back on the acess road we found our way to the catamount resevoirs and some well worn fisherman's trials. well, they were supposed to be well worn, and they were for the first few fingers of each resevoir, but a qarter of the way around each, two cases of the incredible vanishing trail. rather than turn around and return on the same trail, we decided first, at the south res to dead reckon for the nearest dirt road. a fun-ish excursion with plenty of mostly-steep climbing and logs to hop. the though of the day "gosh, thats really a pretty little plant" as i rode over it. the second resevoir held the same illusion as the first, but the heartbreak double as we longed for wide open single track. returning defeated and into a cold headwind we searched for the north approach to mt esther. as we approached where the trail should have been, a conspicuous pile of rocks appeared. could this be an old carin? did we find a trail that would lead us to the sweet descents on the south side of esther? a deer path led over a rise, through a stand of aspen, and to a meadow. an overgrown jeep trail departed the meadow in the direction of esther. we followed. STEEP climb to a rocky outcropping. could this be the other side of the rocks of esthers summit? a quick survey says no, but esther is only one saddle away. we decide to take the safe route and descent to the powerline trail we know is less than 1000" below. its all downhill, how hard could it be. open areas gave fun behind the saddle descents, dodging branches and deadfall. at the powerline, my legs, very schrached. my spirits still high. getting the full use of all gears and capabilities of the mountain bike. burly climbs, hairy descents. retracing the powerline trail to singletrack descending aspend groves and meadows. wide open fast. bumpy. turny. giddy-up. esther trail, crow gulch, pikes peak highway. fortune. a foolhearty picknicker has left behind a mostly-full box of chocolate chip cookies. snached up like a falcon taking a fieldmouse. spirits soaring after a fast descent and unplanned snack. single track and road descent to santa's workshop. we knocked, but the jolly old elf couldn't come ride. mrs clause said he was in the early stages of making his list. doug // 10:37 Comments: Post a Comment
cancelation leads to exploration i rested off the bike, worked out just enough, ate right, took my vitamins, rode easy the day before and did just the right opener, and the race was cancelled. snow in denver. 4-5 inches. would have been some rippin conditions, but the park would have been destroyed. probably the right call to have made. after extesive use of the phone chain to first notifiy, then verify the non-race, the calling devices were utilized to set up the ensuing ride. exploration was to be the theme of the day. one piece of the ring-the-peak trail was to be the target. starting in cascade, at the post office, we headed up mt esther trail. a steep, well-built, but little used switchbacking single track. granny ring riding quicky gave way to intemittent bouts of walking, swearing and losing traction. after 1800' in 40 minutes we were a grassy meadow overlooking ute pass. the meadow tricked this cyclist into thinking the riding would be easier, alas i found myself in my granny again, following the path marked with carins and neatly lain deadfall on both sides. the deadfall led us to elephantesque blobs of granite. not ridable. exploration on foot. ken and i mounted esther in an effort to see possible paths. climbing rocks in shoes of leather with hard plastic and steel on the bottom, leather gloves and, of course noggin protection. no paths to be seen. what the map showed to summit esther from the south and descend from the north, actually summeted and descended from the south. we set out on our first adventure. this one was easily ridden. a trail had been passed on the way up, and returning we found it fast through the aspens. it led to a power line acess road. easy enough riding if you dont count the 20-25% grade on loose gravel, but the road was nice enough to lead us right where we wanted to be. high alert as we scoured both sides of the road for possible unmarked trails. 100 meters away, on the other side of the creek, we all spotted pristine singletrack, though we couldnt quite make out where it started or headed, but it was assumed both were out of site in the brush. a small levee led to the trail in question. it sure was ironic that there were surveying flags leading to the trail. it was 200m of freshly cut trail that ended right out of site of the road. we could have followed the flags to their destination, but the trees were thick enough to impede handlebars. back on the acess road we found our way to the catamount resevoirs and some well worn fisherman's trials. well, they were supposed to be well worn, and they were for the first few fingers of each resevoir, but a qarter of the way around each, two cases of the incredible vanishing trail. rather than turn around and return on the same trail, we decided first, at the south res to dead reckon for the nearest dirt road. a fun-ish excursion with plenty of mostly-steep climbing and logs to hop. the though of the day "gosh, thats really a pretty little plant" as i rode over it. the second resevoir held the same illusion as the first, but the heartbreak double as we longed for wide open single track. returning defeated and into a cold headwind we searched for the north approach to mt esther. as we approached where the trail should have been, a conspicuous pile of rocks appeared. could this be an old carin? did we find a trail that would lead us to the sweet descents on the south side of esther? a deer path led over a rise, through a stand of aspen, and to a meadow. an overgrown jeep trail departed the meadow in the direction of esther. we followed. STEEP climb to a rocky outcropping. could this be the other side of the rocks of esthers summit? a quick survey says no, but esther is only one saddle away. we decide to take the safe route and descent to the powerline trail we know is less than 1000" below. its all downhill, how hard could it be. open areas gave fun behind the saddle descents, dodging branches and deadfall. at the powerline, my legs, very schrached. my spirits still high. getting the full use of all gears and capabilities of the mountain bike. burly climbs, hairy descents. retracing the powerline trail to singletrack descending aspend groves and meadows. wide open fast. bumpy. turny. giddy-up. esther trail, crow gulch, pikes peak highway. fortune. a foolhearty picknicker has left behind a mostly-full box of chocolate chip cookies. snached up like a falcon taking a fieldmouse. spirits soaring after a fast descent and unplanned snack. single track and road descent to santa's workshop. we knocked, but the jolly old elf couldn't come ride. mrs clause said he was in the early stages of making his list. doug // 10:37
