4 posts tagged “biking”

My buddy Terry sent email yesterday morning inviting a few of us to "play hookey" for the afternoon and go for a mountain bike ride. I took a look at the 10-day forecast and saw 70-45-32-27-30-30-30-30-30..., you get the idea. Not a hard call, let's ride!

Terry, Steve, Hal and I went to Bobcat Ridge, a terrific new riding / hiking area just southwest of Masonville. The Bobcat Gulch fire burned through this area in 2000, laying bare the landscape and leaving behind striking 360 degree views. The trail is roughly 10 miles, the first mile rolling along the valley floor, the next few climbing the stout Power Line road, another couple on single track to finish the climb and traverse the west side of the ridge, and finally a 4+ mile descent with perhaps 40 switchbacks and a full menu of rocky obstacles. The trail is well-designed and tremendously fun to ride.

It was hard to believe we were in shorts and jerseys at 5pm on a November 19th evening in Colorado. The wind was pretty brisk at the top, but almost completely absent mid-way down the descent. Very still and beautiful. We even heard coyotes howling as we finished and headed for the parking lot. Sensing an easy meal, perhaps? Maybe they confused Bobcat Ridge with another ridge we like to ride nearby?  :-)

I've ridden the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race with friends each of the last 4 years. It's been a great experience with lots of camaraderie, as a training goal, an opportunity to push ourselves, and more than anything else a chance to get out into the beautiful Moab desert and ride with a bunch of terrific, like-minded bike folks.

Each year there's a "quiet period" after the race where we rest and don't really talk about "next year." The quiet period this time lasted...maybe minutes, or maybe we were already talking during the final hours of the race. For a variety of reasons, we are a little hungrier than usual to get back out under the stars, lights ablaze and start turning the cranks over. So, the 24 Hours of Vail Lake comes onto the radar.

Here is some information to help us decide if and how to ride this new, early-season race.

24 Hours of Vail Lake race home:

http://www.grannygear.com/Races/Vaillake/index.shtml

Schedule of events:

http://www.grannygear.com/Races/Vaillake/2008/schedule.shtml

Pricing:

http://www.grannygear.com/Register/price_table.php?class_select=price_scale&year=2008

Vail Lake in Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=104490150066531762262.00043d07fd69c22f79aee&ie=UTF8&ll=33.483286,-116.968174&spn=0.05233,0.064716&t=h&z=14&om=1

Google Earth w/Course Map Overlay:

http://www.grannygear.com/Assets/Images/Maps/2007_Granny_Gear_Race_Series.kmz

Vail Lake KML:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&output=nl&msid=104490150066531762262.00043d07fd69c22f79aee

Driving directions (Fort Collins to Temecula):

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=Temecula,+CA&daddr=2284+Silver+Oaks+Dr,+Fort+Collins,+Colorado+80526&sll=33.483286,-116.968174&sspn=0.05233,0.064716&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=6&om=1&msa=0&msid=104490150066531762262.00043d07fd69c22f79aee

So a mere 16 hours of driving and we're there, ready to race.  :-)

Enough "facts," how about what others have written about their experience?

http://tinyurl.com/2z8lbt