WTF: easy rides around Boulder

Just Riding Along said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder (CO)
area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical. Any
pointers are greatly appreciated.

Heil Ranch north of town is the easiest ride I can think of in the area.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 at 23:53 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

Just Riding Along said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder (CO)
area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical. Any
pointers are greatly appreciated.

Heil Ranch north of town is the easiest ride I can think of in the area.

As a newbie rider, I like Heil (Valley) Ranch a lot. Helps that it's about a 10 minute drive from my
house. Betasso is shorter but has harder climbs; Rabbit Mountain is between the two in length and is
much rockier than either. I'm sure "trivial" doesn't even begin to describe these routes for
experienced mbers, but I like 'em.

Oh, and I saw a guy coming down Heil on a recumbent bike the other day. I don't know how that
relates to downhills on your bike, but maybe it's helpful.

--
monique PLEASE don't CC me. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. Whatever it takes, just don't
CC me! I'm already subscribed!!

Monique Y. Herman said:

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 at 23:53 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

Just Riding Along said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder (CO)
area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical. Any
pointers are greatly appreciated.

Heil Ranch north of town is the easiest ride I can think of in the area.

As a newbie rider, I like Heil (Valley) Ranch a lot. Helps that it's about a 10 minute drive from
my house. Betasso is shorter but has harder climbs; Rabbit Mountain is between the two in length
and is much rockier than either. I'm sure "trivial" doesn't even begin to describe these routes
for experienced mbers, but I like 'em.

Oh, and I saw a guy coming down Heil on a recumbent bike the other day. I don't know how that
relates to downhills on your bike, but maybe it's helpful.

I guess the other I consider pretty easy is Hall Ranch, except for that
1/2 a mile near the start. No steep climbs, not all that technical ... but an inexperience rider,
and many experienced as well, will have to walk some spots in the technical area, up and down. I
think the rest could be enjoyable for a newbie. Maybe I'm wrong ???

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 at 04:27 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I guess the other I consider pretty easy is Hall Ranch, except for that 1/2 a mile near the start.
No steep climbs, not all that technical ... but an inexperience rider, and many experienced as
well, will have to walk some spots in the technical area, up and down. I think the rest could be
enjoyable for a newbie. Maybe I'm wrong ???

I haven't been there, but I've been warned that it's pretty tough, and friends of ours that
normally ride with us rode Hall recently and certainly didn't consider it on par with the Betasso,
Rabbit, and Heil stuff. Maybe it's just that the people I talk to would prefer not to have to walk
stuff, though.

I think the issue is in part washboarding? Haven't been there, so of course it's been in one ear,
out the other.

--
monique PLEASE don't CC me. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. Whatever it takes, just don't
CC me! I'm already subscribed!!

"Monique Y. Herman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 at 23:53 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

Just Riding Along said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder
(CO) area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical.
Any pointers are greatly appreciated.

Heil Ranch north of town is the easiest ride I can think of in the area.

As a newbie rider, I like Heil (Valley) Ranch a lot. Helps that it's about a 10 minute drive from
my house. Betasso is shorter but has harder climbs; Rabbit Mountain is between the two in length
and is much rockier than either. I'm sure "trivial" doesn't even begin to describe these routes
for experienced mbers, but I like 'em.

Oh, and I saw a guy coming down Heil on a recumbent bike the other day. I don't know how that
relates to downhills on your bike, but maybe it's helpful.

Thanks for the pointers. I'll check it out this weekend if the snow doesn't keep me indoors.

Bike-wise, I'm on 700x30c semi-slicks ('cross tires), but have disc brakes and flat bars. As long as
it's not too tech or rocky, I should be good. Haven't dug out the Frogs and accompanying shoes yet,
so I'm on flat/BMX pedals and sneakers.

Reading this stuff (and the other Front Range RR's), I'm hankering for a rigid single-speed.

Thanks again.

Monique Y. Herman's cat walked across a keyboard and came up with this:

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 at 04:27 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I guess the other I consider pretty easy is Hall Ranch, except for that 1/2 a mile near the
start. No steep climbs, not all that technical ... but an inexperience rider, and many
experienced as well, will have to walk some spots in the technical area, up and down. I think the
rest could be enjoyable for a newbie. Maybe I'm wrong ???

I haven't been there, but I've been warned that it's pretty tough, and friends of ours that
normally ride with us rode Hall recently and certainly didn't consider it on par with the Betasso,
Rabbit, and Heil stuff. Maybe it's just that the people I talk to would prefer not to have to walk
stuff, though.

what's wrong with walking? No shame in walking. Oneof the fun things about mountain biking is to go
back and ride something you used to walk. Aslo, pressure to not walk because of the studliness of
the ride can be a confidence breaker for some folks.

Penny

Quoted message said:

I think the issue is in part washboarding? Haven't been there, so of course it's been in one ear,
out the other.

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 at 03:02 GMT, Penny S penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Herman's cat walked across a keyboard and came up with this:

Quoted message said:

I haven't been there, but I've been warned that it's pretty tough, and friends of ours that
normally ride with us rode Hall recently and certainly didn't consider it on par with the
Betasso, Rabbit, and Heil stuff. Maybe it's just that the people I talk to would prefer not to
have to walk stuff, though.

what's wrong with walking? No shame in walking. Oneof the fun things about mountain biking is to
go back and ride something you used to walk. Aslo, pressure to not walk because of the studliness
of the ride can be a confidence breaker for some folks.

Penny

I didn't say there was anything wrong with walking ... but it's definitely less fun than riding =P

That being said, some friends of mine are definitely overly conservative about what they would
encourage a newbie to ride ... I think they're concerned that a newbie like me would get stuck, get
[censored], lose confidence and never get over it ... I guess some people have that reaction.

--
monique PLEASE don't CC me. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. Whatever it takes, just don't
CC me! I'm already subscribed!!

Monique Y. Herman said:

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 at 03:02 GMT, Penny S penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Herman's cat walked across a keyboard and came up with this:

Quoted message said:

I haven't been there, but I've been warned that it's pretty tough, and friends of ours that
normally ride with us rode Hall recently and certainly didn't consider it on par with the
Betasso, Rabbit, and Heil stuff. Maybe it's just that the people I talk to would prefer not to
have to walk stuff, though.

what's wrong with walking? No shame in walking. Oneof the fun things about mountain biking is to
go back and ride something you used to walk. Aslo, pressure to not walk because of the studliness
of the ride can be a confidence breaker for some folks.

Penny

I didn't say there was anything wrong with walking ... but it's definitely less fun than riding =P

That being said, some friends of mine are definitely overly conservative about what they would
encourage a newbie to ride ... I think they're concerned that a newbie like me would get stuck,
get [censored], lose confidence and never get over it ... I guess some people have that reaction.

I get in trouble for this all the time, but if you have no problem with Heil, you can ride all but
1/2 a mile of Hall (1 mile I guess since you have to come down the same area as well). All the rest
is slightly more challenging than Heil.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 at 15:46 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

I get in trouble for this all the time, but if you have no problem with Heil, you can ride all but
1/2 a mile of Hall (1 mile I guess since you have to come down the same area as well). All the
rest is slightly more challenging than Heil.

Does "I get in trouble for this all the time" translate to "no one ever agrees with me when I
say this"? =P

I will definitely check it out; all in good time.

--
monique PLEASE don't CC me. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. Whatever it takes, just don't
CC me! I'm already subscribed!!

Monique Y. Herman said:

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 at 15:46 GMT, Craig Brossman penned:

Quoted message said:

I get in trouble for this all the time, but if you have no problem with Heil, you can ride all but
1/2 a mile of Hall (1 mile I guess since you have to come down the same area as well). All the
rest is slightly more challenging than Heil.

Does "I get in trouble for this all the time" translate to "no one ever agrees with me when I say
this"? =P

I will definitely check it out; all in good time.

Well kind of, but more like "you've gotten me in way over my head". As someone else said before, you
can and should always walk if you are not comfortable with it. But you should also try moves you are
capable of. The real skill is knowing the difference 🙂

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

"Just Riding Along" <[email hidden]> skrev i meddelandet
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder (CO)
area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical. Any
pointers are greatly appreciated.

lowdin.nuMTB around Golden.htmlOpen ↗

Per

Have you tried trailcentral.comtrailcentral.comOpen ↗

Just Riding Along said:

After a lengthy hiatus from off-roading, I'm looking for some easy rides around the Boulder (CO)
area (or even near Golden). I'm riding a 'cross bike, so nothing TOO steep or technical. Any
pointers are greatly appreciated.