Hit the dirt

MattB said:

I managed to get out on the SS twice over the weekend on
dirt. It's been really warm here so things are melting and
drying quickly (the ski areas are bummin'😉. I worked most
of the weekend, but managed an early evening ride each
day. I went up the closest dirt we have which luckily
enough is South facing for most of a particular route.
There were a few wet spots that I had to portage. While
stopped for the portage I also installed some little
drains in the puddles that could be drained easily. The
stuff I worked on Saturday was already a lot (> 50%) drier
Sunday, so it shouldn't be long until it's all dry unless
the snow returns. I could mostly ride about 3/4 of the way
up to Signal Peak and had to come back down the ridgeline
trail instead of dropping into Rasta or Chicken Gulch
singletrack like I would normally do. It's great for now
and I felt really strong grinding the SS up the ridge. The
shoulder felt great as I ratcheted the 1x1 up the 800 Ft.
(or so) climb. Yay!

Good for you, I'm glad the shoulder seems to be
healing up well!

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

"MattB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I managed to get out on the SS twice over the weekend on
dirt. It's been really warm here so things are melting and
drying quickly (the ski areas are bummin'😉. I worked most
of the weekend, but managed an early evening ride each
day. I went up the closest dirt we have which luckily
enough is South facing for most of a particular route.
There were a few wet spots that I had to portage. While
stopped for the portage I also installed some little
drains in the puddles that could be drained easily. The
stuff I worked on Saturday was already a lot (> 50%) drier
Sunday, so it shouldn't be long until it's all dry unless
the snow returns. I could mostly ride about 3/4 of the way
up to Signal Peak and had to come back down the ridgeline
trail instead of dropping into Rasta or Chicken Gulch
singletrack like I would normally do. It's great for now
and I felt really strong grinding the SS up the ridge. The
shoulder felt great as I ratcheted the 1x1 up the 800 Ft.
(or so) climb. Yay!

Good report!

paladin

Thank goodness your young. Wairt till your way older your
feel the A & P then mark my words. Just keep the pain meds
around and get up and keep moving when you get over 40.

I MTB 2004

Quoted message said:

Thank goodness your young. Wairt till your
way older your feel the A & P then mark my
words. Just keep the pain meds around and
get up and keep moving when you get over
40.

I MTB 2004

Well 40 isn't THAT far off, but I'm not afraid. My parents
have competed in Triathlons (both 9x Ironman finshers and
mom's a world record holder) well into their 60's. I know if
I just keep at it I'll probably be able to continue keeping
at it for quite some time. I think I got some good genes
from them as well!

Matt

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 15:18:56 -0700, "MattB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I managed to get out on the SS twice over the weekend on
dirt. It's been really warm here so things are melting and
drying quickly (the ski areas are bummin'😉. I worked most
of the weekend, but managed an early evening ride each day.
I went up the closest dirt we have which luckily enough is
South facing for most of a particular route. There were a
few wet spots that I had to portage. While stopped for the
portage I also installed some little drains in the puddles
that could be drained easily. The stuff I worked on
Saturday was already a lot (> 50%) drier Sunday, so it
shouldn't be long until it's all dry unless the snow
returns. I could mostly ride about 3/4 of the way up to
Signal Peak and had to come back down the ridgeline trail
instead of dropping into Rasta or Chicken Gulch singletrack
like I would normally do. It's great for now and I felt
really strong grinding the SS up the ridge. The shoulder
felt great as I ratcheted the 1x1 up the 800 Ft. (or so)
climb. Yay!

Nice, Bill The mind serves properly as a window glass rather
than as a reflector, that is, the mind should give an
immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world.
:-]

MattB said:

I managed to get out on the SS twice over the weekend on
dirt. It's been really warm here so things are melting and
drying quickly ...

Troot mon.

I did a ride that is one of the first higher-up rides to
open around here every Spring. I call it 175/173, because it
starts with a climb up Chaffee County Road 175 (AKA Ute
Trail) north out of Salida, and ends with a mostly-descent
down CR173.

Here's a shot back toward the South and West from the first
paved part of CR175:

arkansasvalley.netute trail1.jpgOpen ↗

Note the snow-covered peak in the background. That's Mt
Ouray, a 13er, and a local landmark, in the southernmost
part of the Sawatch Range. The Monarch Crest Trail goes to
just the other side of Mt Ouray.

Right behind me there's a sign that says "pavement ends" and
then, oddly enough, the pavement ends. It also starts
climbing hard. This first shot was taken at 7200 feet
elevation. The bridge crossing the Arkansas River that I
took to get here is at almost exactly 7000. Ute Trail has
some really climby bits. Portions of it must be close to 11-
12% grade, though lots of it is easier.

After climbing for an hour or so, you get to this little
high meadow:

arkansasvalley.netark hillsOpen ↗
strack.jpg

The mountains in the background of this picture is the
northernmost part of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The photo
is looking South and East. This singletrack is sadly very
short. In a moment, I was back onto CR181, which connects
175 to 173.

After just a little more climbing on CR181, I get to the
junction with
CR173. Time to pull the plug. Note the different angle on
good ol' Mt Ouray (which is in the upper left part of
the frame):

arkansasvalley.nettop 173.jpgOpen ↗

This shot is taken at almost exactly 9000 ft elevation.
And there's more than a little climbing left to get a guy
back to town (even though it looks like nothing but down
from here).

So this is my clean-the-cobwebs-out-of-my-lungs Spring
training ride. There's some honest-to-goodness technical
descending in the final part, even though there's quite a
bit of dirt road climbing involved. But I didn't take any
pictures of the descent. I was busy.
--
Tom Purvis - arkansasvalley.nettpurvisOpen ↗
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell