Starting out up Cement Creek Rd. Temp was 28F.
Nice for this guy to pose for me while climbing Reno Ridge Rd.
View from near the Reno Divide at 11,100ft.
Beginning descent on Flag Creek Trail. Five mud puddles in this photo. You couldn't just skirt edge, as clay based soil was super slippery. You'd just slide in anyway. Hasn't rained in three days. Whoop pits don't drain. Bacon strips slabs of mud would fling off my front tire and slap me in the face. Don't have this problem on non-motorized trails. More and more trails in the Crested Butte area are becoming non-motorized. May have to stick to them next time.
Bear Creek descent. This makes putting up with motorized trail riding worth while. This is an endless descent, 4+ miles with almost no pedaling and very little hard braking. There was a lot of recent work on this trail making it even nicer.
Further down the Bear Creek descent.
Looking back up the Bear Creek descent from near the bottom. To be sure, there were some challenging sections in the woods along the stream.
Looking up Rosebud Gulch Trail. This becomes quite a hike-a-bike for an old guy like me.
Awkward attempt at selfie on Rosebud Gulch Trail part way up.
Cement Mountain Trail. This makes the death slog up Rosebud worthwhile.
Looking back on Cement Mountain Trail at Cement Mountain.
These flowers were deep purple but I think they kind of wash out against that sky. Today was the first truly cloudless day of the trip. Figures, today is my last riding day.
Initial descent on Cement Mtn trail. There were several braided sections like this with no way to avoid it and impossible to ride through it. There are one foot deep ruts hidden in there. Hard to see, but it is puddles like this all the way down the trail in this image. Frustrating. Note to self: Either avoid moto trails entirely or at least avoid them within, say, a month of last rain.
Final view of horizon before bombing down the 30+ switchbacks on Deadman Gulch Trail. At least Deadman was well maintained and a blast to carve down. Descent fatigue for sure.
2 comments:
I mountain bike and moto all these trails. I first told my wife I loved her while mtn biking these trails. I love them with both types of bikes. If you have a problem with moto trails, by all means, stay off them. But don't have the gall to criticize moto riders and their trails while you are riding them. There are more than enough trails there which are mot prohibited, (and the list is growing) for you to ride if you can't handle sharing a few trails. Great photos though
John - I was very careful to not criticize moto riders. I MTB moto trails all over out west and have commented in the past how good some of them are, such as the Rainbow Trail near Salida. I fully respect the right for moto riders to have places to ride too. I generally avoid wet conditions at all cost back east, so I was merely expressing frustration over encountering messy conditions on my ride. In re-reading my comments, I could see how they could be perceived as anti-moto though. Didn't mean it to come across that way. Peace.
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