On my way to Denver for work last weekend, I stopped at the top of
Kenosha pass and rode my singlespeed on the Colorado Trail section for
about an hour. It's nice! Of course I only rode down to the bottom of
the descent into the South Park basin before turning back, but it made
me want to plan a ride there for another day when I have more time.
I don't know how many times I've driven past there and wondered how it
would be, so given a chance I had to check it out.
It begins climbing away from the parking area at a good SS pitch. The
trail was pretty buff with the occasional rooty section, and only a
couple of rocky bits. It had all the signs of being sanitized, complete
with fresh craters left from rock removal. This made it easy to climb
out of the saddle without having to concentrate too hard (which may or
may not be a good thing, depending on your perspective). There were a
few sloppy snow patches, but nothing too big or deep. I saw a couple of
hikers and one other rider coming the other way on my way up. The rider
gave a friendly nod as we passed each other. Once I topped out on the
first climb, I emerged from the trees and was treated to a beautiful
view of the South Park basin. The leaves were past peak, but I can
imagine this would be (more) spectacular if you timed it just right.
From the top of the ridge, I bombed down the fast and dry singletrack
to the basin floor in what seemed like almost not time at all. It was a
very fast descent, and the terrain was all wide open grass so it was
easy to see what was coming. The afternoon sun lit and warmed this
section very nicely. I felt euphoric.
Once at the bottom, I turned around and started the slog back up. It was
a bit harder going that direction, and that afternoon sun made it even a
little hot and I needed to remove my shell to keep from overheating. I
cleaned the climb sans the one semi-technical rocky switchback. I think
I could have done that move in a couple of attempts, but I decided to
just keep on moving and save that one for another visit.
Then the final descent back to the car was back on the cool side of the
ridge. I didn't bother to stop and put my shell back on so it was kind
of nippy as I cruised through the thick trees on the smooth and fast
trail. I speckled my self nicely in the sloppy sections, but had an
otherwise uneventful downhill to the car. Then I wiped the mud from the
bike, packed up, and headed on down to Denver.
It wasn't much, but it was a nice little taste of what that trail may
offer. I'll definitely have to come back and do a big loop on it to
really check it out.
Matt