Son of Middle Creek, Vail, CO - 8/1/04
I had a few hours this morning before work as well as one of my
co-workers. I didn't feel like riding alone and so I talked him into
going on his first MTB ride. Since I had to wait or him I rode up Vail
mountain and then bombed back down. About seven miles of fire road,
so I won't bore you with the specifics. It was nice and it warmed me
up. I caught up with Martin at the bike rental shop, gave him a few
quick pointers, and we headed up Red Sandstone Road. It's about a 3
mile climb to the "Son of Middle Creek" trailhead. He's a hockey player
so he's in pretty good shape, but I guess this was a bit much. We made
it a couple of miles and then rested a bit before reaching the trail. I
was trying to be encouraging, but I think he finally started to catch on
every time I said it was just around the bend. But, that's how I
usually psych myself out. He also got fed up with me saying there was
just one more short climb. Well, we head out on the trail with more
climbing.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/001-climb.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/002-climb.jpg
I think he was thinking it would all be DH from here. He was a trooper
though. I tried to show him how to handle the tech stuff, but he felt
safer walking the stuff.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/003-martin.jpg
My goal was not to scare him away from this. I thought I picked an easy
enough trail, but the beginning was a bit much and it got more technical
as we neared the top. It was rockier and a bit more washed out than it
looks.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/004-techie.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/005-techie.jpg
I try to explain that it's all worth it when we see this. I believe
it's Mount of the Holy Cross.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/006-peak.jpg
I think he agrees and we continue on ahead to be greeted by this
wonderful fun.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/007-morets.jpg
He attempts it, which I think is admirable and I congratulate him on at
least attempting it. Finally, after much climbing (we're at 11,000+
feet now after starting at 8150) we get some beautiful, faint, yet
smooth singletrack.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/008-faint.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/010-morefst.jpg
I love Aspen trees. We have Birch trees in NJ, but their not as nice.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/011-aspens.jpg
We now reach the proverbial "fork in the road" at which point a decision
has to be made on which way to head down. I had already done the Son of
Middle Creek down to Vail and it gets pretty narly near the end. The
North trail is a "hiker" trail. Although the hiker only sign is at the
bottom and not at the top. It is also extremely smooth and shorter,
which should be a better confidence builder for my student. So, we head
down NT.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/017-ahh.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/018-martin.jpg
A stop to look out at the ski area.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/019-ski.jpg
It's then off the ST and back down the fire road. Looks like someone
had a little target practice.
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/middlecr/021-exit.jpg
I don't know if he'll be back, but I think he had fun. In the end he
experienced every joy of mountain biking; climbing, downhill, endo, and
even a bonk at the end.
--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws