Sangre de Cristo

Spent Memorial Day weekend across from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Penitente Canyon. Amazing riding, climbing, and camping. If you're looking for one of those "local knowledge" only hidden gem kind of rad camp-scursions without the "locals only" attitude, put Penitente Canyon on your bucket list. Everything is easily accessible from camp be it mountain bike trails, great hiking, or challenging and fun slab wall climbing. Plus the sunset and its alpenglow are worth watching over a campfire.

Hard to believe that tent is going on 11 years old now. 

 I do not miss the Southeast or Midwest's oppressive humidity one bit. Plus the lack of mosquito and other pests make camping such a pleasant activity here in the arid West. If only I could bottle this weather and take it with me everywhere. Crazy to think that out here, shade actually works. Whodathunkit?

Taking in the Sangre de Cristo mountains at sunset.

Alpenglow.

Luckily J.D. doesn't cut trail.

 Tubeless recommended, and I wouldn't go flip-flopping off any trails or around the campsites at night without a light. Cactus abound and are seemingly everywhere. Make sure your pets stay on trail and don't wander. Also, I recommend carrying a pair of tweezers with you on your rides, just in case.

We escaped with only an incident or two of dogs stepping onto cacti, but really only the first bit we were there. They quickly learned not to wander off the dirt.

 

Steep ups. (I made it)

So much radness. The trails there embody everything I love about Pisgah (without the dampness and slimy moss), Sewanee, North Georgia/Ocoee, Northwest Arkansas, and Moab trails all packed into a convenient area at 8,000 feet of elevation. Rocks, drops, gravity defying climbs, roots, trees, grins and shins. One of those trail systems that has something for every rider and ability with technical yet bike-flow-minded trails. Follow the cairns and rock guides though, else you can end up with an unexpected 100' to flat or so drop or two..

Rock and drop roller coaster of fun.

   

 

 

 
As we drove back to the 'boat, we stopped for a local burrito lunch along the river park in Salida and enjoyed some coffee and baked goods in Leadville. These small mountain towns definitely add a unique charm to the myriad road trip options available out here. Can't wait for this weekend's adventures already. Thank you BLM land, you make living an active outdoor lifestyle a lot more affordable and practical.

Riding the Ridge

Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships are taking place Iron Mountain in Arkadelphia, AR this year and Moots is sending a small team of racers and a van of bikes down to play in the dirt. CNC Machinist Evan will be aboard his new custom Moots Farwell and welder MattyP aboard his trusty Moots MX RSL singlespeed. 

Having just built the bike up this past week, we headed out to the Ridge to perform a couple shakedown rides this weekend. 2.6 x 27.5 Maxxis Recon tires, 140mm Fox 34 fork, Magura Vyron Elect Dropper post, and 1x XT/XTR drive train round out Evan's Farwell build.

Having traveled and ridden so much lately in the desert and front range, it was a nice switch to be back in the grand views of Steamboat's alpine trails. The day was mostly sunny and warm, but with rain and snow encroaching the surrounding mountains, the temps frequently dipped and the wind picked up as we rode. Reminiscent of a recent exploration of trails in the La Sal mountains, we enjoyed dry and fast sections, tacky with fresh snow melt sections, all the way up to the snow cap. 3 season riding in one ride. Best to wear wool and pack a wind breaker.

You can tell spring is just around the corner as more and more riders are heading out to the available dry dirt among the snowmelt (it's not called mud-season for nothing) as we ended up running into 4/5ths of the welding crew, most of the local bike shop shoprats, and other locals who are trading in ski poles for knobby tires.

North Routt adventures are queued up for the next few weeks and this past weekend's rides have fired up my impatience level. I'm so ready to get back out in the mountains. The temps are perfect right now: 50-60's during the day, mid 30's-40's over night. I'm awaiting a couple key new pieces of gear to arrive before taking a bikepacking trip from North Routt to Wyoming. Pretty stoked on the new items. They will greatly reduce the amount of gear needed, remove the need for another pack, and allow for a lighter weight pack overall. Meaning ripping the rocky gnar singletrack will still be a blast, despite packing a light load of gear.

All in preparation for a couple of over seas bike excursions. Minimal, yet comfortable. Doing more with less. Adventure 2017.