Work was cancelled Friday, so packed up early & rolled to Como to set up camp & loosen up the legs. A few of us took Gold Dust up to Boreas Pass & back for a sample of what Saturday would bring.
I even stopped to smell the flowers coming down the top section of GD.
Sweet start to the w/end!
Saturday, 05:45
Spike, guac & I pedaled the bottom section of GD to meet up with PBRMe, MGE & canyonrat. Mateo, ThatGuy & Troy met us all in the big red truck & we loaded up & shuttled up to our starting point.
Shuttling is for long-travel bikes!
MGE starting out.
Canyonrat going for it.
Art is anything you can get away with.
This is the man to blame.
Sallie's machinery.
Just as we bottomed out in Breck, the thunder & darkening skies got us thinking. Fortunately, the brewpub was already in the plans. Minutes after stepping in & grabbing a table, the sky opened up. We pondered our options while waiting out the downpour. As calories were consumed, the blue sky opened up to us again. We split up into 2 groups at that point: MGE, PBR, Canyonrat & Troy took the quick route straight over Aurora Borealis Pass in order to make a quick exit: while spike, mateo, ffej & I followed the 'official' shorter route. This route didn't seem nearly as punishing the last time we did it, but today threw out many more miles & hours up to this climb.
You know he wants to take us up this.
Our fearless leader.
Mateo looks very pleased to almost be back at camp.
Rolling through the flumey zone of GD, I said to spike, "I love this section of trail, but damn, I'm ready for it to end."
That kinda sums up a spikefest in 1 sentence.
Audis - it's a love-hate relationship with those cars.
Planned on getting up early Friday & rolling to G-town to hit up stuff we missed Thursday night, but once again the AT selector switch acted up, so by the time I got it corrected it was a bit to late to try for a long-ish ride. Got word Friday from MGE that he & PBRMe! were planning on a big Waterton-IC-Ringtail-CT ride starting at 5:30 the next morning. I wasn't happy about the pre-dawn conditions, but I said, 'Yeah, I'm in.' I had to pedal a bit more before SpikeFest next week.
Around 9:30, I got a call from MGE telling me he was out - another frame bit the dust.
So PBRMe! & guacomole peeled outta the lot at 7:10 & headed out. Rolling up through the canyon, we saw that MGE's spirit animal was watching over us from about 100' above. Very hard to see in the pic, but there is a goat standing on the rock surveying his domain.
Guac had just done a week in Texas, so he wasn't in the best shape & turned off for the Roxy loop, while PBR & I headed to the IC trailhead. We were chilling there & we noticed a biker coming up the road, pedaling with a SS cadence.....then we saw that Canyonrat was back on the bike after a big downtime w/back troubles. Good to see ya, rat!
PBRMe! & I headed out Ringtail after Rat telling us that we'd be regretting it while climbing back to 800. About 1/2-way down, I was thinking to myself that it would definitely be worth it, Ringtail was a Bl'ast!
Rolling along a fast, smooth section I was about to let PBR know this when I heard the nightmarish hiss of a rear flat. Sidewall cut, again....but there was nothing to cut it on right there!! Fixed that & continued with the fun-ness of Ringtail.
The climb back out was hot in the open sun, but well worth the enjoyment given by Ringtail.
Cruised back through the powerline & down the final section, which used to be my favorite, until I rode the wooded section of 800 before the powerline. Today, it fell another notch as Ringtail had me smiling from ear-to-ear, thus putting it up in one of the top spots.
PBRMe! impressed here by rolling straight down the rocky dropoff that most riders skip in favor of the easy cheater line to the left. Bravo!!
33.22 miles & 4,030' of climbing in 5hrs. It was hot & I was tired - good times!
Turn it up!
Here's the 1st set from Tuesday's Melvins show..........enjoy, or not.
You'll enjoy'em if you know what's good.
Happy Amerikka day!
Tuesday evening saw the heaviness of the load brought to Denver. King Buzzo, Dale, Coady & Jared rocked Ogden Theater, playing 2 45-minute sets since previous headliner Isis was done with the tour. It was Melvins, so of course it was allgood!!
Videoed the 1st set & was pleased with the results: sound & visual were OK for a hand-held digicam.
Got out the bicycle machine Thursday evening for the T.I.T.S. ride - this week's plan was all about the silver: Silver Creek, through Silverthorne, then return via Silverdale.
Didn't turn out as expected. Thunder & lightning started as we were finishing up our 1st section of trail & heading back into Georgetown. Opted to get beers & pizza at BeauJo's. Off work tomorrow, so I think I'll head back that way & spend the day there hitting everything we didn't get to do.
