Lory State Park

Lory State Park is on the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir, along the northern end.  It has a great selection of single track, much of which is open to mountain bikers.  I like to buy a yearly pass for the park-this enables me to ride south along the valley trails, and then connect into Horsetooth Park and then into the Blue Sky trail.

Here is a typical shot of the valley trail.  Smooth, groomed single track in a broad, gentle valley floor.

This is towards the south end of Lory State Park, and may well be in Horsetooth Park.  Arthur's Rock is in the background, to the north.  One can ride up to Arthur's Rock, but it is a very strenuous climb.  For me, lots of hike-a-bike.  Coming down is a blast, tho.  The first time I rode it down, I found myself flying over the handlebar, doing a 180 and landing on my back with the bike farther downhill below me.  I had ridden into some loose dirt on the uphill side of the trail, over corrected, and rode off the downhill side of the trail, which happened to be a large rock which created a 3 or 4 foot vertical drop which I sailed off of.  Between my angels and the water bladder on my back (which was ruined from the impact) I was able to get back on and ride back to the truck.

There are bunches of these guys to be seen in the vicinity.  Sometimes they think the place belongs to them!

The Foothills Trail

I am extremely lucky to be able to say that the Foothills Trail is my back yard.  I have a garage door opener attached to my backpack strap, since I ride out of my garage to the nearest trailhead about 5 minutes away.  The trail is about 10 miles long, along the west side of Fort Collins threading its way roughly parallel to the hogback ridges.  It has plenty of challenge for me, with many stretches that kick my ass.  There are several stretches of it that I can't climb, and have endoed several times on steep downhill drops; not keeping the rubber side down!

The following are shots were taken in the Fall of 2008.

This is a fun ride downhill, with some flowing curves to negotiate.  Once, I caught a pedal here on a rock and took a fall: once again, my angels saved me from serious harm.

Lots of wildlife to be seen here, where the trail goes along the tree line.  One day, several young muledeer would not get off of the trail.  Another late evening, I saw a coyote, which is rare for me.

This little rock garden is tougher than it looks.  It has several big rocks poking up trying to reject the rider.  This unknown rider is doing a good job, on what appears to be a hardtail 29er singlespeed.
I found success riding it at high speed, and just bouncing over everything, which is easier on my full suspension bike.  Sometimes, tho, I ride it slower, just to make it harder.  Speed is your friend, for sure, but is very difficult to come by on an uphill stretch.

Here is a view of town, looking northeast.  The big structure on the left is Hughs Stadium, where CSU tries to play football.

This is one of many side branches of the Foothills Trail.  It goes directly along the top of this ridge.

Last fall, I encountered a couple of bikers near here.  Turns out they had just ridden the Leadville 100 mountain bike race the day before.  They were from Minnesota, and riding trails on the way back home.  I was very impressed with them: to finish the race was awesome, and to be riding the very next day showed real fortitude and dedication to the importance of the recovery ride.  The couple from Minnesota didn't really like our trails, mentioning that they were very rocky.  Yep.  I guess there aren't many rocks on the trails where they come from.

This shows the trail plateauing at the top of a very steep and rocky section, looking east, with Fort Collins in the background.  Hughs Stadium cannot be seen here, but it is just to the right, and at the bottom of the hill.  Behind this view,to the west, Horsetooth Reservoir can be seen.

This is Horsetooth Reservoir.  It is about 7 miles long.  This stretch of the Foothills Trail is really beautiful, making for smooth, easy riding.

This little valley is towards the north end of the Foothills Trail.  It is one of the most beautiful, enchanting places I have ever seen.   Sandwiched between Horsetooth and Fort Collins, and up high on what is really a ridge top, you would never know you were so close to two fairly busy places.  The trail's northern end loops around the tallest hill in the background of this shot.