One consistent thing about my biking ‘career’ is that it has almost always felt like a massive struggle. Contrary to most other sports (particularly those involving mountains and/or endurance), biking has never really felt natural. Or easy. Or consistently enjoyable. Or that I was ever any good at it. Over the past 20+ years I’ve discovered all kinds of novel ways to realize that me and biking simply aren’t an instinctive fit. I mean, just the inherent challenges of going for the a casual ride are seemingly endless. Keep Reading…
Crooked Gravel is part of the Ride Collective, which includes the classic Copper Triangle, a few races out in Grand Junction and then a tour in New Mexico called Enchanted Circle (which got cancelled this year due to construction projects). It was close to Denver and looked intriguing so I signed up. The race was a hard start at 8am and roughly 350 riders were participating in the 67-mile course. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intimidated at the start with a bunch of people elbow to elbow, a good portion of whom looked like they were “in it to win it”. My unofficial goal was to finish in under 5 hours. Read more…
Dave and I have been eyeing this one for a few years now. Finally found a weather and PTO window to get it done. Kevin joined with his full suspension Yeti MTB. Dave was sporting his Trek Domane SL5 loaner (due to biblical seatpost issues with his brand new SL5) with 32’s and then myself breaking in my brand new Canyon Grizl CF SL7 with beefy 45’s.
We parked at the free parking structure right on the east end of town where the gapers pick up the shuttles to go up Trail Ridge. Picked up Fall River by the Stanley and soon enough were at the entrance station. You don’t need a reservation, but you do need to pay. It’s $15 per rider. Keep Reading….
I felt the urge to write this trip report for two reasons. First, because the southwest ridge up Ellingwood is a very cool route. But we don’t really have any documentation of it on the site. So, this felt like a good chance to highlight its many enticing features. And second, because the Lake Como road is NOT a cool route. And in spite of how much documentation exists in the world about how much it sucks, I still feel the need to remind everyone of what a nightmare that road still is.
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