No more training until the Aspen leaves show a hint of yellow

On Friday I headed down to Saguache for one last visit before the big adventure begins. That evening Maggie and I visited Penitente Canyon to check out the mountain biking there. It turns out that the couple miles of singletrack there is pretty serious stuff, so we rode a more mellow mostly double-track loop and watched the afternoon storms move off toward the plains to the east. After we finished up, Maggie kindly said I should go ride the more technical stuff, so I did, and it was a blast. Too bad that trail is not even a mile from end to end, because it has a lot of super fun rock features, drops, and amazing views.

On Saturday morning I set off for a mini-adventure, riding back to Boulder on as much dirt as possible. I wanted to get in one last solid weekend of riding and one last test of my gear setup. It's amazing how you never can predict what the future would bring, because 18 months ago, this ride would have been epic (in my book) in the truest sense of the very overused word. Instead, it felt more like a couple of long but mellow days in the saddle that left me feeling very confident in where my training has led me.

But that's enough writing for today. Time is short, my attention span is shorter (perhaps chocolate-covered oats weren't the best idea for breakfast), and my list of things to get done this week is enormous. Here's some photos of what I saw along the way...

Maggie leads out the climb up Ute Pass. It was her first time riding to the top!

The flowers were blooming in full force after 2" of rain in the Valley last week

Down the northeast side of Ute Pass toward Bonanaza. Note the black object in the sky. It is not one of the famed San Luis Valley UFOs. I never thought a raven could look like a flying saucer in a photo, but here you go.

My bars are too busy

This photo looks strangely fake. Suffering up the 3000' climb out of Salida

Looking back west across the Arkansas River valley toward the Collegiate Peaks

The rig, ready to drop into South Park

South Park is not as flat as I thought it was. This was an unexpected 1000' climb!

The rain didn't get me, but it sure destroyed the road

Ugh. Time to walk in the grass for half a mile

These storms never quite had their aim right and I fortunately stayed dry

A chilly, dreary evening after passing through Hartsel

Leaving the Puma Hills on Sunday morning. It was 34 deg when I awoke, and I was glad to have all the warm clothes that I did.

Photos don't do this area justice. West of the Rampart Range, east of the Taryall Mountains, and in the heart of what the Hayman fire burned, this landscape is absolutely phenomenal.

This road just went on and on, and I was loving it. This would be a great race course...

After an hour-long climb up pavement, I hit the Colorado Trail and had 20+ miles of singletrack between me and the plains!

This was sweeeeet

Again, photos don't adequately convey this landscape's beauty

After probably 100+ switchbacks, both up and down along the fabulous Colorado Trail, I ended up in out on the plains, running from these storms and toward the nearest gas station/fast food joint for some much-needed food.

After getting some grub, I pounded concrete bike paths north to Golden and Hwy 93 to Boulder, finishing off feeling very strong, thirsty, and quite pleased with how everything went. 230 miles, 18,000 feet of climbing, and ~12.5 hours in the saddle both days. Now I just need to find a louder alarm clock and figure out why my computer quit detecting my speed part way through the ride.