Colorado Mountain Biking

After spending most of Sunday working on website issues for my job, I decided I needed a nice break and took off to ride this afternoon.  The weather was supposed to be about 50F, but as we arrived at Green Mountain, the clouds were thick, the winds were blowing, and things did not look good.  However, not to be dissuaded, we began our loop of Zorro, Dakota Ridge, and Matthews/Winters parks…thinking if we had the time and energy we’d go do some of Green Mountain.

Our journey up Zorro Trail was uneventful as we found our legs and climbed easily up the mile long trail.  We then turned right on Dakota, rode up the hill as far as we could, then walked the rest of the way to the top.  This makes for some nice riding on singletrack the rest of the way, including the long downhill that is normally a tough climb to get up to the top of the ridge.

So we then began doing Matthews/Winters, and as we proceeded we ran into snow flurries to add a little spice to the ride.  As we neared the creek, and got close to the portion of trail that is a bit rocky and technical – T starts to enter the rocks just in time for some idiot’s dog to come running along – nearly getting himself rolled over.  Not trusting the dog, I decided to walk this section and continue along…

We make the choice to go up the switchbacks at this point, as they are mostly dry from what we can tell.  And, about halfway up I get the idea to stop and get a picture of T riding along the trail, with a nice view out behind him (see above).  As he pulls around the next turn, I can see some people waiting for him to clear that section (you can just see them above).  I jump on my bike to try to catch him…and notice the people have decided to move before I can get there.  Fine with me…I’m in no rush so I pull over and wait for them to walk on by.  I notice they have a dog pulling on a leash in front of them…and almost as they are past me I am shocked into realizing the dog had veered over and tried to take a bite out of my leg!

The bite wasn’t bad, but it did break skin and start to bleed in several teeth impressions.  I broke out my first aid kit and started cleaning and patching.  The owners were horrified, and very apologetic…but to be honest I wasn’t really listening to them as I was intent on repairs.  We got their information, not knowing if we would need it, if we were supposed to report it, or what would happen to the dog if we did.  Content to walk away in one piece, we decided to press on with our ride, although we decided that fate was telling us not to do the upper loop – so we instead took the lower route! (see below)

We popped out down at the south terminus of the Dakota Ridge trail, so we took that up (northward) in the face of blowing winds…all the while wondering if we made a mistake riding today.  However, as we climbed and warmed up, our spirits rose once again, and after the excitement of the dog bite I was starting to get my head back into the ride itself.  We pushed on to the top of Dakota Ridge without incident.

After the fun descent on Z, we reached the parking lot again…and both looked at each other knowing that we just HAD to keep going.  We decided that we’d circle the bottom of Green Mountain towards the Alameda lot, then go up the long climb on the south side up to the top.  At this point we were both a little tired, but our spirits were unusually high.  We’ve often remarked that biking is more mental than anything else, and when you are in the right frame of mind, almost anything is possible.  We popped a gel shot and headed up the mountain…

Our final treat for the day, and our payoff for the climb we just did, was the tight singletrack that descends just north of the western fire road.  This is fast, rocky, and loads of fun.  We indulged in taking a few pictures on the way down… so we could remember just how much fun we had on this trip!  In the end, we did 17 miles, knocked out Dakota Ridge, Matthews/Winters, and Green Mountain.  Dog bites, flurries, cold dreary conditions, high winds, and so forth did nothing to dampen our spirits.  It was just a fantastic ride all around!