We're having our living room floor refinished, so I send the mother and child away from all the dust
and fumes for a few days. I'm staying to hold down the fort (feed the animals).
This gave me an opportunity to ride yesterday afternoon that I haven't had in a while. No curfew, no
guilt about the Mrs. worrying about me, etc. I had to help the floor guys get going until about
11:30 and then I was free. Where to go? I considered heading to CB for a "Classic" like 401 or 403,
neither of which I had done in a while. But Labor Day is bound to be busy on those trails. I'm in
the mood for solitude.
I decided to just ride from the house. I came down with a cold over the last few days, but the sore
throat has let up and my energy is coming back. I just did a short ride on Sunday to get my heart
going. Yesterday I started up the same route, a rolling ~800 Ft.climb over six Miles or so towards
Signal Peak. This route would give me ample opportunity to turn back if I don't feel good, or pretty
much unlimited (for the time available) riding if I wanted to keep going.
I started spinning up the initial pitch, thinking about my life. I'm a fortunate guy. I've come this
conclusion before, but the feeling was even stronger yesterday. There was a cool breeze, bluebird
skies, and a nice firm riding surface resulting from recent rains. My six-month-old son is doing
really well, and charming us more and more every day. My wife is happy with her new role as a mother
as I am about being a father. She's gotten her self back into good shape (Tony the Tiger would agree
she looks Grrrrreat!) and will be following her passion by teaching some Spanish courses at the
local college this fall. My work is going well and I've just gotten some nice recognition from the
company in the form of a compensation increase and a great review.
I snap back into the ride and realize I'm already at the top. The air is a little cooler and I take
in the views. A hawk circles overhead and I stop for a snack. I'm feeling physically good too, so I
continue on some beautifully buff twisty singletrack through the sage.
I made my way to a piece of trail I've been meaning to explore. It looks a little unused, but I've
always wanted to check it out so I head up a steep, loose climb. I climbed, descended, traversed,
and eventually found myself just standing in the middle of the sage with some game trails twisting
around, but no really defined route. I decided this way wasn't ready for riding, but I'll keep an
eye out for future possibilities here. I'm overlooking a jeep trail, so I just took the game trail
headed that way and dropped out to that jeep trail.
At this point I've been out for several Hours, but I see a lone set of MTB tracks in the dirt. I
could just drop back out from here, but it looks almost like these track might make a connection
I've been wanting to make for some time. I decided to follow them back up to see if they do. After
climbing for quite a while I eventually hit a "Spur" sign. This means I've made the connection from
the valley floor to the Signal Mesa Gunnison Spur of the Colorado trail. This is great! I turn onto
the spur trail, and start spinning back toward familiar territory.
I found my way back to the little singletrack that peels off and descends through the aspens off
Signal Mesa and back toward the house. Again the trail is in great shape and I keep finding myself
smiling. It's been a day of good thoughts and good riding. As I pass by the top of that first
section I climbed, I revisit my happy thoughts and smile some more.
Then it's a bomb down the ridge top to the Rasta Gulch trail, out the contour, and back home. The
floor is now sanded and I have some beers with the floor guys before getting a Blue Iguana
Chimichanga and turning in early.
I figure the ride was somewhere in the 30 Mile/3500 Ft. neighborhood (not sure because my bike
computer sensor broke a couple of weeks ago). It took about five hours, but could probably be done
in four minus the bushwhacking. I'm looking forward to getting back up there more this fall.
--
Matt
"Gravity. It's not just a good idea, it's the law!"