JD and I headed out to Fort Collins for the weekend. New Belgium Brewery was hosting the CX of the North races this weekend and the trails were dry with a 70 degree and sunny forecast. Time to leave the boat bubble for a while and spend some QT with the FoCo Fam.
The amount of green space, open space, bike space, trails (dirt, gravel, and paved), rivers and creeks, and bike routes that FoCo has (and is still building) is amazing. Coming from Nashvegas, I never would have imaged a place could be this amazing outside of Bentonville and it's Walton money. Ryan and I headed out from the homestead on some green belt trails over to the Pineridge Natural area to hit up some dirt before cutting back East on mixed dirt and paved trails over to the Spring Creek trail and eventually over to the Poudre Trail and up to New Belgium. We hit every dirt off-shoot we could catch in time.
After 22 miles of trails to get to a location 8 miles away, we met up with the girls and enjoyed some food trucks and brews at New Belgium while taking in some CX racing. The new Hop Adventure and Mountain time brews are pretty legit too, btw. And who doesn't love a freakin' artisan corn dog?
My favorite bike of the day: Rock Lobster in Seafoam green.
Sunday was up early after our Pizza and O.G. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie night for some Coyote Ridge riding with Rox. Her second ride on her new YT and she's killing the rocky tech descents. It was fun continuing my underbiking streak. Also glad no new rim dings were acquired while playing underbike in the rocks. Precisely why I can't have nice things, but also why the things I have are the things I have. Dinged but dependable. Damaged but still rolling, just like me.
As usual, the weekends are always several days too short and JD and I found ourselves navigating the Poudre canyon yet again. Racing daylight and elevation snow packs, we managed to eek out a quick hike up Dadd's Gulch before the sun and temps dropped. Always good to get out and stretch the legs and enjoy the time in the Poudre. One of my favorite places in Colorado. Please don't ruin it.
While exploring, JD and I found our perfect 2019 Charlie Brown Christmas Christmas tree. Rather than kill it for killing sake, I'll settle for a photo. I'll print it and hang it on the wall for decorating. She's a beaut though, isn't she Clark? (Good Grief)
Timing worked out to get to watch the sunset and colors change amongst several of my favorite mountains. Something pretty magical about being surrounded by the Never Summers, Medicine Bow, and Rabbit Ears Range Mountains. Not to be missed if you can ever make the trek. You'll not be let down. Magic.
