Category: Biking

Action Needed: Proposed FS Re-route of the Colorado Trail May Not Allow Bikes.

Posted by Frank – November 9, 2012

There is a re-route currently proposed by the Forest Service that will replace roughly 27 miles of dirt roads with 32.1 miles of new singletrack from the vicinity of North Cochetopa Pass (Hwy 114) to the La Garita Wilderness boundary. This encompasses parts of segments 17 and 19, plus all of segment 18 of the Colorado Trail (which is also the Continental Divide Trail for this stretch). At first glance, this sounds like a great idea, replacing some of the most boring miles of the entire CT with singletrack. The hikers that I spoke to along this stretch were also dispirited with the monotony of walking roads for multiple days along these segments.

Segment 19:

Segment 18:

While the trail layout in this area leaves something to be desired, the area is actually quite unique and interesting. I spent much of my time riding the CT in this area picturing where a singletrack re-route could go. It looks like the proposed re-route is about where I imagined one would be, click HERE to check it out.

Unfortunately, the “preferred alternative”, in Forest Service parlance, is one that will not allow mountain bikes along this section of new trail. Click HERE to read the complete assessment of the re-route and pay particular attention to “alternative 3″, which is the one which allows bikes on the re-route.

It’s difficult to understand how the FS came up with the preferred alternative being the one that disallows bikes. The area in question is not Wilderness, nor proposed Wilderness as far as I know. It’s cattle country, criss-crossed with ranching roads and large herds of cattle. It’s not the kind of area which needs protection from the small handful of mountain bikers that seek out the Colorado Trail in this remote sparsely populated area. Closing this section of new trail would mark the ONLY non-Wilderness miles of the Colorado Trail closed to mountain bikes and may set a bad precedent for other CT closures as well.

What can you do? First and foremost, email the Forest Service within the next couple of weeks during the public comment period HERE: comments-rocky-mountain-gmug@fs.fed.us Be sure to mention your support of alternative 3, which would provide non-motorized users with over 30 miles of new singletrack to enjoy. Secondly, get your friends to write in as well- share this post or send them the info on your own. Actively engaging the Forest Service does work- some of the trails slated for closure in the Crested Butte area were saved thanks to the efforts of concerned mountain bikers everywhere. Thanks for your time, and I’ll try to keep everyone updated on this issue.

Guest TR: The Colorado Trail in 10 days (Part 2)

Posted by Guest – October 18, 2012

…Continued from guest blogger Neil Beltchenko’s report from a thru-bike of the Colorado Trail. Part 1 can be found HERE.

We only brought a small Colorado Trail Data Book, so details such as Princeton hot springs townsite was not known. We got a few things and chilled out before we found a campsite up the road at Chalk Creek. Good day with 66 miles on the bike!

The first climb/hike-a-bike on the day brought us to this beautiful view of Mt. Princeton.

After a dozen or so epic power climbs, we finally got to Mt. Shavano Trailhead. We met a solo Thru-biker and chatted with him for awhile. We then randomly stumbled upon these ninjas-in-training!

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Guest TR: The Colorado Trail in 10 days (Part 1)

Posted by Guest – October 17, 2012

Here at 14erskiers, we’re always looking for guest contributors. 14erskiers reader Neil Beltchenko rode the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango late this summer. This is his story, and remember, if you have an adventure or a review you’d like to share here at 14erskiers, let us know!
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The Colorado Trail. What an amazing experience! Beautiful vistas and Scary storms. Sweet singletrack, and horrible hike-a-bike sections. To put it simply, Mike Behrendt a college roommate down in Gunnison and a very good friend of mine, and myself decided to Bike the whole Colorado Trail in 10 days or so. I could go on and on about the highs and lows of my 10 day trip but to make it a bit more visual friendly, I’m going to explain this truly fantastic trip with pictures.

Here is my setup along with my Trek Fuel ex 9.8 is Revelate Design, Planet bike, and Osprey Bags. My Handlebar bag held my sleeping bag, down jacket, and extra layers. My Planet Bike Top tube bag, held my Spot device and snacks, Snickers, Cliff bars, Cliff Blocks, and some other random treats. In the Jerry Can (rear toptube bag) I held my Aqua Mira, Starbucks Via, Teas, Honeystinger waffles, and Justin’s peanut butter packs. My saddle bag held the tent, a medium size pot, stove, mug, food, and camp clothes. My Osprey Raptor held the rest, Including a 3 liter hydration pack, stuff sack full of random tools and essentials, snacks, and extra layers that were used often.

Once we finally got to Waterton Canyon trailhead at 3:00pm on August 28, we packed up, said our goodbyes and were on our bikes at 4:00pm. 500 miles here we come!

We got to the top of Waterton Canyon, and we were both surprised how difficult it was.

We climbed and descended a few times before we hit the Buffalo Creek Wildfire area of 1996. It was an eerie setting. To add to the eeriness we scared a family of bears, not once but we ended up cutting them off on the trail for a second time! We biked a bit further, found camp, chowed down dinner, and went to bed thinking of wildlife.

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Wildcat Trail to Green Lake 10.4.12

Posted by Frank – October 9, 2012

When it comes to our local trails, one of my favorites without question is Green Lake. If I was asked to find fault with it, though, my answer would be that it’s an out-and-back. I think if you ask just about anyone if they would prefer to ride a loop or an out-and-back, almost everyone would answer “a loop”. While I’ve ridden a big loop all the way around Axtell that utilizes the Green Lake trail, I’ve never taken the time to check out the Wildcat trail. After hearing one of my clients talk about it a couple of weeks ago, however, I decided it was time to see if the Wildcat trail was a worthwhile alternative.

The start of the trail is actually a road- about 3/4 of a mile past the winter trailhead on Kebler Pass. It’s surprisingly hidden, but quickly crosses Coal Creek.

There is some great camping here, but the road quickly begins ascending the forest at a steep angle with plenty of rocks:

The pictures might not do it justice, but I was walking quite a bit of this road. Eventually I turned right off the road, where my route became singletrack. The trail remained steep, however, so I still had quite a bit of hike-a-bike.

Finally I popped out on the ridge near Green Lake, with a great view of Axtell.

If I were to guess, I probably walked close to half the distance from Kebler Pass to Green Lake. So the question is this: What’s better, an out-and-back that is 100% rideable (but tough), or a loop with a bunch of Hike-a-bike? I’ll be taking the out and back option. Curiously, the out-and-back route I usually take (Tony’s to Green Lake to the rec path) is slightly longer (2 hours, 20 minutes/ 20 miles) than the wildcat version (2 hours, 10 minutes/ 18.4 miles). My bike computer was picking up the hike-a-bike sections, for what it’s worth.

Can't wait until this thing has more white on it.

Lupine Extension – Lower Loop System

Posted by Frank – October 3, 2012

Ever since the Lupine trail was extended earlier this summer, it’s been on my list to get that out there and check it out. The original Lupine trail was pretty nice, but it ended on a road with not one, not two, but three gates within a quarter mile or so. The other complaint I had with the original Lupine trail was that it ended on Slate river in “no-man’s land”, not that close to the start of the lower loop, but also not that close to town. The new extension to the Lupine trail solves both of those problems.

A look at town and Whetstone from the start of the Lupine Loop

The extension follows a road towards Smith Hill, where I spotted this guy. I think it’s a falcon, but I’ve never been very good at my bird ID’s.

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The Canyonlands’ White Rim

Posted by Frank – September 25, 2012

This has been a crazy autumn for me, and I have a ways to go until it’s over. Last weekend, it was bachelor party bikefest number two- this time on the famous White Rim jeep road in Canyonlands National Park. I was surprised when my friend Ben Furimsky (the best man at my wedding) mentioned early on while we were planning his bachelor party that riding the White Rim was something he had always wanted to do, since his summers revolve around slaying fish with his flyrod more than riding his bike. I was even more surprised when the other party planner, Ben Morello, was able to get a camping permit just a few weeks ago.

The White Rim is usually considered to be roughly 100 miles in length, including Mineral Bottom road and Highway 313. While this sounds like a ton of miles, they’re mostly easy road miles- in fact the only other time I’ve been on the White Rim we did it in a day. Others suggest as many as 4 days to do the loop. In an effort to make it easy for everyone to join (i.e time off from work), we hoped to do it in 2 days, although in retrospect, with our camp location at Potato Bottom, we ended up riding most of the actual White Rim road in just a day anyway. 66 miles in one day, on a bachelor party- probably not the best idea although we made it work.

A few of us left early and found a nice campsite near the White Rim with plenty of time to watch the sun go down while we waited for the others to arrive:

After a late and crazy night we did our best to get going but it was still 11:30 by the time we had our permits and rolled out from the Island In The Sky Visitor Center. Even worse, the support vehicles didn’t have enough gas so they headed back towards Moab while the rest of us rolled down Shafer Canyon.

The White Rim is a road. If you’re on this route, don’t expect to get rad. You’re just going to ride, and it’s so technically easy you won’t get off the saddle much. though you will see amazing scenery, like Musselman arch.

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CO Trail Segments 27 and 28: Hotel Draw To Durango

Posted by Frank – September 16, 2012

After day 1 of the Molas to Durango Colorado Trail Bachelor Party extravaganza, we did our best to eat, drink, and recuperate for another big day. The good news was that we had some major downhills ahead of us as the trail drops down to Durango. The bad news was that we still had some climbing before we got there.

Map and Profile for the last 2 segments.

The first few miles featured short climbs and short descents and was a perfect warmup for the upcoming and notorious Indian Trail Ridge. We all got a kick out of this trail sign, especially since we couldn’t even see a trail. (Tuns out, however, that a local mine in the area was known as the Neglected mine)

The warmup ended, however, and we found ourselves on the up and down section known as Indian Trail Ridge.

The beginning of Indian Trail Ridge. The La Plata sub-range of the San Juans are in the background and would be a fixture for the next few miles of trail.

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CO Trail Segments 25 and 26: Molas Pass to Hotel Draw

Posted by Frank – September 12, 2012

Throughout the course of this summer, I had been trying to figure out the logistics of riding the Colorado Trail from Molas Pass to Durango as a big part of my goal of riding every section of the Colorado Trail. Luckily, my dilemma was solved when my buddy Topher sent me and about 20 other guys an invite to join him on a 2 day bachelor party blowout along this very section. I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that it ended up being one of the best riding weekends any of us have ever had.

The route.

We awoke Saturday morning to some rather questionable weather, especially considering that there were 17 of us hoping to ride almost 40 miles with 6,000′ of gain at elevations up to 12,500′. It was beautiful, though.

Two thirds of the group ready to roll out...

Nevertheless, we headed out. What could possibly go wrong?

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Bike Gear Review: Geax Barro Mountain, WTB Weirwolf, Lezyne Trail Pump

Posted by Frank – September 5, 2012

After a summer’s worth of riding, but still with the fall color and desert seasons to look forward to, it is time for some reviews. First up, the tires.

With any tire review, the first thing to consider is what you’re looking for. Me? Well, I like to go for long rides, so I’m looking for XC oriented attributes like light weight and low rolling resistance. On the other hand, most people who ride with me would also describe me as a pretty darn aggressive downhiller. So I’m looking for some DH attributes as well. Oh, and the thought of paying as much or more than I did in high school putting rubber on my first car (’82 VW Rabbit) is pretty unacceptable to me, too. Local conditions tend to run towards dry trails with occasional rocky sections, and both tires were rear tires.

For most of this season, I’ve been running a 2.3 WTB Weirwolf, which you may also find called the Wolverine this season. It’s a good tire, and not the first time I’ve used it- but with some definite caveats. It is exceptional at 2 things- low rolling resistance and cornering in soft dirt. In fact, it’s almost scary how well this tire can corner in the right conditions if you really throw your weight into a corner. That said, its climbing abilities, especially in loose conditions, left something to be desired, and its braking capabilities are even more suspect. In the end, my least favorite thing about this tire is that it’s a WTB- which means that it is unbelievably fragile. At 128 pounds, and someone who has the ability to “float” over the rough stuff, I can get away with it, even though I was running this tire tubeless. But for most people, this tire wouldn’t last one rock garden and even for me, I never fully trusted it and tended to “pussy-foot” the tire through the rough stuff. Even so, it rolls and corners so well I could consider getting this tire again.

Lately, I have been on the Geax Barro Mountain, also in a 2.3. Based off an old roomate who swore by Geax tires, and liking what I was able to glean off the internet, I decided to give these a try. So far I have been very impressed, though I should stress that after only about 100 miles, this review is still just a “first look”. They beaded up better than any tire I think I’ve ever had, and they feel both burly and pliable despite a relatively low weight for their size. Like the WTB’s, they roll very well, but unlike the WTB’s the Barro Mountain’s also climb and brake as well as any tire I’ve used. Cornering? Well, I haven’t quite gotten into the “trust tree” with this tire, though they’re certainly not bad and I just need some more time figuring them out. Overall, if these prove to be durable, I will buy them again and may even try them on the front as well.

Finally, there is Lezyne’s pump. I’ve been through more pumps than I’d like to think about- starting with a neon green Zefal frame pump way back in the day. The problem with literally all of these pumps is that eventually the flip-lock would fail and the pump would then be worthless. Lezyne solves this problem by the innovative use of a hose attachment rather than flipping a lever to seal around the valve. I have a feeling that this pump will last me a very very long time. When I set out to buy a new pump this summer, people whose opinion I trust unanimously suggested the Lezyne. Add me to the list of fans.

CO Trail Segments 6 and 7: Georgia Pass to Copper Mountain.

Posted by Frank – August 29, 2012

These sections of the Colorado Trail could best be given the alliterative Dickens-esque title: A Tale of Two Trails. From the top of Georgia Pass through the Swan River and West Ridge all the way to Highway 9 is simply tremendous riding. From there, segment 7 starts off OK on Gold Hill, but quickly becomes a nightmarish hike-a-bike up and over the ten-mile range to Copper Mountain.

The route. We started at the intersection of the middle and South Fork Swan rivers, riding up the road (green). Shuttle to Copper Mountain.

We began our ride up the South Fork of the Swan River. This road is also called the Georgia Pass road, which should not be confused with the Georgia Pass on the Colorado Trail which is actually in a slightly different location. It’s a fairly easy cruise up until the end where there is some hike-a-bike, but we were still able to get to this point in about an hour.

Mark nearing the top of the Georgai Pass Road. The runs of Keystone are in the distance.

Mark passing under the very cool Mt. Guyot.

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