Rubberside Down in Northern Colorado

Distractions from the Flow

The mountain biker wants to reach the flow; that state of mind where the world dissolves and one reaches a now that is all encompassing, all embracing. The world is gone, nothing is left but the trail. Zen.

I rode Lory State Park on a hot Sunday afternoon recently. The Timber Trail climbs to Arthur's Rock and on its way it overlooks Horsetooth Reservoir and one of its several party coves. The music, laughter, hollering, etc. can be heard from about a mile away. No way to reach the flow with this static in the background. One climbs the track, sweating, cursing the log and stone steps in your way, trying to breathe and drink a bit of water at the same time, and all one can think of is the cool, cool water, and the cool, cool beer down below.

Rattlers are common in Northern Colorado foothills, and are often encountered by the mountain biker. This one had 4 or 5 rattles, and was somewhat riled up. Too bad I neglected to focus on his eyes.

A friend of mine is a massage therapist. She had a client once who was bitten on the thigh by a rattler. He was biking by a large and close rock, when the top of the rock suddenly came alive and bit him as he rode by.

Most of the time, you hear them or see them crossing the trail, or sunning themselves on the trail, and can stop. Occasionally, I will hear a buzzing as I speed by, and then several tens of yards down the trail, I will think, "Was that what I thought it was"? I have never seen one actually strike. They rarely leave this pose, if you give them room and simply leave them alone.

The weather is another hazard. It can be sunny, mild and benign when one leaves the trailhead. An hour later, you notice the sky and it is seemingly very suddenly very threatening with wind, rain, hail and lightening. Nothing like a helmet full of vents to protect one from the falling ice, and nothing like a really good conductor of electricity nestled into your crotch with millions of volts dancing around.

And lastly, gravity. But really, gravity is your friend. Just keep saying that: gravity is your friend, gravity is your friend...... But, it really is. The one time I reached the Zen like state of the flow was on a long, curvy descent. I suddenly became aware of myself again towards the bottom of the hill. I remember thinking: who am I? where am I? what am I doing? It took awhile for me to answer the questions. Then a huge grin came, and I have been looking for the flow ever since. I told Darcy what happened; she laughed and said, "Man, you've been to church"!

The Devil's Backbone Trail, June 2, 2010

The Devil's Backbone is a very unique rock formation, especially considering its location on the Front Range of Northern Colorado. It is quite stunning. The trail goes along beside the rock, offering beautiful views of it while near it, and then rises up onto the nearby hogback formations which are more typical of the geology for this area. The trail is extremely rough and challenging, due to the nature of the rock, which is slabbed and layered, flat ironed if you will, creating a very bumpy ride. When riding uphill, the trail constantly fights you and tries to reject you. Even when riding downhill, it is trying to buck the rider off the bike.

The Devil's Backbone Trail starts just west of Loveland, goes northwards and connects with the Blue Sky Trail, which connects with Horsetooth Mountain Park, which connects into Lory State Park. It makes for a trail system that delivers way more milage than I ever want on any one ride.

Here is a portion of the Devil's Backbone.

Another view.

I have been riding with a couple of buddies, Darcy and Tim. Here is a shot of Darcy. At this point, the trail is very easy and pleasant, with a great view of the Backbone. It soon gets technical: steep and rocky.

A shot of Darcy that she might like better, at a pause overlooking the Backbone. I have known Darcy for about 10 years, meeting her at a bookgroup.

Up on top of the hogback formations, the trail builders had to create several "bridges" because the west side of the ridge is so steep. This is Tim, negotiating a steep switchback at one of the structures.

Tim is a very, very, very strong mountain bike rider. He has strength, endurance, and awesome technical ability. But, today and here, Tim was struggling. He had fallen earlier on the ride and damaged the front shock of his bike, making things quite difficult. Never the less and as usual, he was riding out ahead of Darcy and myself and then turning around and coming back to us. He usually rides about 50 percent farther than I do.

Below, Darcy is on a portion of the trail that illustrates what some people call the "flat irons" nature of the rock. It is hard to tell, but she is riding uphill. This makes for very interesting riding, never mind if you are going uphill or downhill. The rider had better be concentrating!

Here is yours truly, descending down to the Backbone. Once you are down alongside the Backbone the trail is a gentle descent, with fun, flowing curves. It makes for a mad, mad, crazy mad ride back to the parking lot: top gear, cranking has fast as you can and the three of us wheel to wheel hooting and hollering. Well, okay, Tim, just Darcy and I.

One last shot, from atop the hogback, camera looking east over Loveland.

May 5, 2010 Wildflowers on Indian Summer Trail

Finally, we can ride. Finally, the snow is gone, the weather is warm, the trail is dry. It is early spring at 5 to 6 thousand feet elevation in Northern Colorado, and the mountain sides are beginning to wake up. At first glance, it looks brown, bone dry, and barren. But, the color and life is there.