FINALLY...I got things together and made the 30+ mi bikeride from my place to Gunnison. It's a fantastic drive, so surely it's got to be a killer bike ride...no???
bye bye Crested Butte
As always, the descent from the mountain down into town was FAST and CCCOOOOLLLDDD. Hands and feet were numb so out come the bread bags. This has become my new favorite layer. No weight. No space taken up. Practically free. That's my type of UL gear...
This is the first day in a while that I could see blue in the sky, and it was nice to spend hours in it. Sadly, I forgot the sunscreen. I wasn't about to backtrack the 5 miles to get it, so I just had to hope that a cloud would cover the sun for most of the day (it didn't) and offset the brutality of sun at 9,000 ft. Man was it nice out. I covered about 13 miles in the first hour, all downhill, with numerous breaks to stop to take pictures.
Coolest tire swing ever dude!
It was nice to ride and ride and ride, enjoying the smooth ride on a bike that I helped make ride smooth. I really love this junky bike that I've got, and it's very satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The tires rolled oh so smoothly over the pavement. The shoulder was wide. The traffic was nil. Again I had to keep stopping to take breaks. Breaks to take photographs. Breaks to drink water, although I could easily pull from a water bottle while riding. Breaks to enjoy the silence, or notice little things like ducks in the valley for the first time.
Notice Flat Top Mesa...
The ride to Gunni features something like over 1,500 ft of elevation drop, and the lower I got, the drier it got. I nearly branched off onto some hunting dirt road I had never seen to do some riding, but decided against it since it would only add more time to my exposed skin getting baked under the sun. Maybe next time when I'm actually prepared. And there WILL be a next time...
Soon enough I was at the 'town' of Almont. Not much to Almont in the winter. In the summer it's a hot spot for fly fishing, and rafting since the East River is right there.
Just south of Almont was Lost Canyon and the East River to the left which carved/carves it. This canyon creeps me out in the dead of winter since ice just stays there until the sun can finally creep in after noon.
bye bye Crested Butte
As always, the descent from the mountain down into town was FAST and CCCOOOOLLLDDD. Hands and feet were numb so out come the bread bags. This has become my new favorite layer. No weight. No space taken up. Practically free. That's my type of UL gear...
This is the first day in a while that I could see blue in the sky, and it was nice to spend hours in it. Sadly, I forgot the sunscreen. I wasn't about to backtrack the 5 miles to get it, so I just had to hope that a cloud would cover the sun for most of the day (it didn't) and offset the brutality of sun at 9,000 ft. Man was it nice out. I covered about 13 miles in the first hour, all downhill, with numerous breaks to stop to take pictures.
Coolest tire swing ever dude!
It was nice to ride and ride and ride, enjoying the smooth ride on a bike that I helped make ride smooth. I really love this junky bike that I've got, and it's very satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The tires rolled oh so smoothly over the pavement. The shoulder was wide. The traffic was nil. Again I had to keep stopping to take breaks. Breaks to take photographs. Breaks to drink water, although I could easily pull from a water bottle while riding. Breaks to enjoy the silence, or notice little things like ducks in the valley for the first time.
Notice Flat Top Mesa...
The ride to Gunni features something like over 1,500 ft of elevation drop, and the lower I got, the drier it got. I nearly branched off onto some hunting dirt road I had never seen to do some riding, but decided against it since it would only add more time to my exposed skin getting baked under the sun. Maybe next time when I'm actually prepared. And there WILL be a next time...
Soon enough I was at the 'town' of Almont. Not much to Almont in the winter. In the summer it's a hot spot for fly fishing, and rafting since the East River is right there.
Just south of Almont was Lost Canyon and the East River to the left which carved/carves it. This canyon creeps me out in the dead of winter since ice just stays there until the sun can finally creep in after noon.
After about 2 hrs of riding, I was starting to get tired. With quite a few miles still to go, I laid the bike on its side and sat down on the side of the road enjoying the view through some barb wire fencing. The sun told me to keep moving, and I didn't really stop again until I got to the outskirts of town. You know you've hit the bigtime when you find a Walmart, and find a Walmart I did.
Next up came a view of Van Tuyl Rocks.
And then I was in town and finished. Great ride and can't wait to pick up my bike tomorrow from temp storage and do the whole thing again...this time with 1,500 ft of elevation GAIN.
Next up came a view of Van Tuyl Rocks.
And then I was in town and finished. Great ride and can't wait to pick up my bike tomorrow from temp storage and do the whole thing again...this time with 1,500 ft of elevation GAIN.
made it!
Big trip planned for the weekend, hopefully combining the joys of dry land and running. stay tuned...
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