6 - 9 = -3!?

Sooooo....

I had been thinking that after a great summer of riding it would be nice to cap it off with one last epic adventure. A week ago blew in some snow and I thought that my window had closed for my desired journey...if only that had been the case.

After completing the Aspen Ridge Loop BV to BV (on my blog backlog), I had my eye on another Valley loop that I wanted to give a shot. Something like BV to Chubb Park to Basam to Nathrop to Princeton to BV. The way I had things figured (roughly) the ride would be between 50 and 60 miles and I could work it out in around 6 hours or so.

So after over a week off the bike since I jacked up my ankle on the Dakota Ridge trail in Denver...another story, and after a few brews at a Halloween party, I set my alarm for 6:30 this last Sunday morning ready to give 'er.

I woke up slowly and watched the sun rise color the Sawach mystical shades of pink as I ate my breakfast of 4 scrambled eggs and two pieces of buttered toast. I found myself lacking motivation and worked HARD to resist the urge to curl back into bed. I suited up and headed into the still 28 degree morning to hit the trail.

I was disappointed to find my front tire flat when I went to take it out of the shed. Resisting the additional urge to bag on the ride, I took the bike into the garage and changed the flat....finally I was rolling down the road at around 7:15.

The bike knew how to find the way for the first 15 miles or so....up the familiar south branch of the Whipple trail on single track out of town and then the long climb to the top of the Lenhardy Cut-Off. I've ridden these trails since I moved to town and, despite the grunt of a climb, made steady progress.

There were a lot of hunters out that morning....it caused me to recall a ride outside of Ft. Collins years ago. We were riding down a road and encountered some crabby hunters. Once down the road Dana's cousin, newly enlisted and with a bit of a puffed chest informed us that "those guys would be in a lot of trouble if they shot me, its against the law to shoot a member of the military" I can't recall if at the time anyone mentioned to him that it is against the law to shoot ANYONE.

Once to the top of Lenhardy I began the descent into Chubb Park. I really like this descent because of the speed (over 30 in places) combined with the technical aspect. I was disappointed to come around the first corner and find that the road had been graded and the rocks pushed to the side, government spending at its best. I was relieved around the next corner to see that some of the rocks must have been too big to move as the trail was just as I remembered.

View looking back up the descent from the Lenhardy Cut-Off into Chubb Park.

Once down and into Chubb Park I headed south towards Hwy. 285 which I crossed to gain continued access towards Bassam Park. This part of the ride was fairly uneventful other than the incredible ice-cream headache that I developed rolling along at 20 miles an hour in near freezing temperatures. Maybe an hour and a half into the ride...enjoying the views and a bit of water.

Vew of Mt. Princeton from top of Arnold Gulch. My goal was just below the sub-peak to the left of Princeton.

My next turn was down Forest Road 300 which heads west and rolls along in a generally downhill fashion with short steep uphill sections littered in for interest sake. By this time...over 2 hours into the ride I had seen no one since the hunters I encountered in the first 5 miles of the ride. Just the sort of adventure I was looking for. The views of my goal across the valley were of only a slight concern at this point.

Sign at the top of Chinaman's Gulch...Let the fun begin!!

Forest Road 300 provides access to a little ridden, but gem of a trail called Chinaman's Gulch. The trail is maintained as a 4-Wheel Drive trail and must be for those types of vehicles that are modified for such a task. It is a blast of a trail that I'd only been down once before. I enjoyed the flow of the technical challenge....until I found myself flowing over the handlebars. On a not especially tricky section, I jammed my rear wheel while pedaling forward and wound up about 2 feet downhill of my bike. My ankle and knee hurt and my immediate thought was that I had given the ride a good effort, but today wasn't meant to be the day.

The view from the landing zone...

I continued down the trail with that thought in mind, but by the time I hit the road and a decision on whether or not to bail home, decided to head south on 285 towards Nathrop where I called to check-in with home and eat a bar. I was 30 miles in and was just under four hours of ride time...I'll be home within 7 hours of my departure....HA!!!!


I'd been paying attention to the views of my next destination for most of the ride. From Nathrop I headed, on county roads, towards the Young Life Frontier Ranch Mount Princeton Trail head. Once there, I shed a layer and ate a Hammer Gel. My goal was the Chalet on the flanks of Tigger Peak...a sub peak of Mount Princeton. I had never been, but the location was sort of understood and it seemed like a reasonable goal when I was planning the ride....which was again starting to seem like a poor judgement.

Anyway, being a man, I continued despite tired legs and a waining enthusiasm for the effort ahead. As I started up the road I was passed by a friends wife...who was jogging. We exchanged chit chat for a hundred yards of so and then she pulled away....argh. For the next couple of hours I exchanged walking and riding as I trudged up the slopes...first to the radio towers (where I had ridden to before) and then up a continuously agonizing push, on and off the bike, upwards.

When I reached the section of road that cuts across the prominent colouir on the peak, visible in the pictures, I knew I must be getting close. I had been passed earlier by a Landcruiser creeping its way up and now it was on its way back. I had only had breakfast, a bar, and a hammer gel all day and was starting to feel it as I rose to over 12,000 feet....4,000 over the valley floor below me.

Buena Vista on the left along the hills in the background. The ride went behind the ridege and came back out on the right. This was the view from near where I had my PB&J!

I made the last bit and found the chalet where I had assumed it might be at around 12,200 feet. I let myself in and enjoyed the PB&J and a pear that I had packed. I was hurting VERY bad and still had a long way to go. I put on all that I had brought and steeled myself for the long downhill.

I would normally have been super pumped for a long, high-speed downhill, but my exhaustion negated that joy. The trip down was gratefully uneventful. I did find some interest in the fact that despite stopping for 20 minutes or so to eat, I still caught the Landrover about a mile down the trail as it crept down the hill! They may have been pitying me on the way up, but I'm sure they wished they had my speed down!

My favorite piece of singletrack...hurt bad today!!!

I got most of the way down and reached the Colorado Trail intersection for my last big effort towards home. All that lay between me and home was about 8 miles of Colorado Trail bliss. I suffered badly on this section and found myself pushing on sections I have never even gotten out of my middle ring for in the past. I picked my way through, enjoying myself despite the pain and exhaustion and turned right to ride the dirt road down from Bald Hill into BV.

I made the mistake of relaxing and thinking I was literally and figuratively out of the woods. Three quarters of the way down the hill and at about 25 miles per hour, a doe came shooting out of the brush and crossed the road, in a panic, about 10 feet ahead of me....I nearly shit my pants. The adrenaline kick did help me get the rest of the way out to the paved county road. As I left the dirt, I passed a friend who was staining the trim on his house. It was nice to see another familiar face.

I enjoyed the slightly downhill spin back home. I made it back and collapsed into a heap on the deck for about 10 minutes. The rest of the night was spent on daddy duty, gingerly moving from task to task! Just under 9 hours of trail time for right at (just) 60 miles, and over 9,000 vertical feet of climbing for the day.


I love the new ways that I've learned to push through on my bike this year, but I've definitely slacked at the end of the year. I'd lost quite a bit of fitness prior to this ride and it proved to be a bit more than I was ready for. One of my other real problems continues the be making a priority of eating while I ride. For this ride I ate:

Breakfast @ 6:45: 4 eggs and 2 pieces of toast
Fluid: 1/2 large H20 Bottle and 50 Ounces from my Camelback
Food: 1 400 Calorie Hammer Bottle, 1 energy bar, 1 hammer gel, 1 PB&J, 1 pear


That's it...I really need to be eating more and with more frequency. I had the same problem at Leadville and if I don't get this figured out, I'm going to continue to not enjoy these rides as well as I should.

Anyway, great views and tremendous solitude provided for much soul searching. The journey is always unique and I'm always appreciative for the opportunity to struggle through. I'm already over the pain and ready for the next epic....next year!