Stardate 2019.093

Mary Carter Greenway and January's End
Hi all,

Our January ended with some snow. However, as the eastern half of country freezes to death, the west half has remained quite nice. Highs have been in the 40s along Colorado's Front Range. Nonetheless, following are pics from January 25th (ski track) and 28th.




The dying ski track was covered in new snow several days later.




Yes, many of our bike paths are plowed after a storm — we're spoiled.




The trees look to be huddled together for warmth.




That's it for now, short and sweet. Thanks for reading.

Lizard: 4
Parkinson's: 0

Adios

Stardate 2019.055

Calm Before The Storm
Hi folks! Here's a small post about a stroll Snowcatcher and I took yesterday afternoon. The day was springy with Fahrenheits dancing into the upper 40s. Better yet, we received several inches of overnight snow, making for a fabulous morning to run a snow shovel.

Mary Carter Greenway is a revitalized riparian area (urban and suburban reaches) along the South Platte River and surrounding gravel pits. The ecology gods were successful, and it's a very nice place to visit.

One of numerous hidden gravel ponds and floating residents.



A designed rock weir helps create slack water areas and possibly helps to mitigate minor flooding. Major flood control is several miles upstream in the form of Chatfield Reservoir.




Enhanced habitat, including less predation, may be several reasons why the Canada Goose winters here.




Thanks for reading!

Lizard: 3
Parkinson's: 0

Adios

Stardate 2017.277

Lay It On The Line
Hi, people! Lay it on the line doesn't really have anything to do with the ride. I just had the old Triumph song from 1979 on my mind. You can listen to it here. On to business at hand. Ever so slowly we are getting our cycling legs in tune. This past weekend we did a half road and half mountain bike ride for about 40 miles. That's not far, but not too short either. The mountain bike was used for both legs of the trip. Moreover, I have spring fever something terrible. We've been able to get out quite a bit, and I pulled some older helmet cam videos for fun.


Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park (road bike)



Kokopelli Trail, Western Colorado (mountain bike)

Our ride was good, although my toosh was sore from the previous day's ride. We saw a lot of bighorn sheep (as usual) while in Waterton Canyon, with some good-size rams. On a side note, we're also playing with food. I can hardly get down and stomach an energy bar these days. Instead of high-dollar energy foods, we're drying our own fruit, thanks to Snowcatcher. The day's snack was apple and peach slices covered in cinnamon. The cinnamon dries into the fruit. MMMmmmmm...



I turned around at upper Lenny's Bench. It was down to the flats now. I don't write much here as I'm always writing about Waterton Canyon and surrounds. I'll talk about several things along the trail. The Chatfield area had a surprise or two.




This little character had some nice markings.




The last of the snow was going, going, soon to be gone!




This is a bull snake; rattlesnakes are on their menu. This particular specimen would stretch out to 4 or 5 feet.




That's it for now. Thanks for reading and viewing!

Adios

Stardate 2016.890

The 2016 Mountain Bike Season Keeps Goin' and Goin'...
We probably will pay for all this nice weather, come spring. Nonetheless, I'm going to enjoy it while I can. I've been hitting Deer Creek Canyon Park quite a bit because I need to brush-up on my technical skills in the rocks. I think I've been too selective on my rides. The former, plus too much road biking. Anyway, enjoy the pics. Not far from the high-point, this meadow should have snow on the ground.




The great plains meet the mountains here, along with urban sprawl.




Not far away stands the mile high city and its symbiotic brown cloud.




Lower segments of the trail have the potential to be a bit wild.




My parting shot is a plug for Giant Bicycles. Of all the bikes I've stabled, the Black Pearl takes a spot next to my 1996 Specialized M2 S-Works. The Pearl's been a great steed!




Stay tuned, there's more on the docket.

Adios

Stardate 2016.841

Get It While You Can!!
All photos courtesy of Black Bart, my smart phone.

Following are more autumn mountain bike pics from Chatfield State Park and Deer Creek Canyon Park. Get it while you can because snow and ice will soon limit any riding. I'll start with Chatfield's yellow leaf road with a bike...




...and without a bike.




The South Platte River features a very shaded and lush riparian area.




Exquisite singletrack exists at Deer Creek Canyon only after a steep, rocky, brutal and grueling ascent to the Plymouth Creek Trail.




Trail brutality eases higher up.




The mile high city of Denver, Colorado, sprawls in the background.




We've had a beautiful and extended fall riding season.




A catch-your-breath moment before resuming the climb.




A lot of spots are a bit too gnarly for a hardtail bike. The drop from the large root is about 3 feet.




Fall is definitely in the air.




That's it for now. I'm not sure what's next on the docket.

Adios!

Stardate 2016.833

Happy Halloween!
Carbon Dating Part 2

My previous post detailed sidelining road riding for the greater part of the summer to focus more on mountain biking, which I prefer. Mid-October, and I'm finally in the mood to go on a carbon fiber date for several autumn rides.

I just spent two days trashing my legs with two road rides totaling 74 miles. Of those 74 miles, 20 miles was steep mountain climbing up pitches in excess of 10 percent. Interestingly, I still wanted to take the road bike out; I decided to stay on the flats today with only a handful of rollers for climbing. These two rides took me to the Chatfield area and the horse farms scattered on the high prairie south of Chatfield State Park. Each ride was about 80 percent asphalt and 20 percent compacted road-base/gravel.



It was a beautiful day to be heading out amongst ranch and horse farms. Nestled up against the foothills, a large Lockheed Martin Aerospace compound may be seen in the upper right of the following photo. The deep canyon in the upper center to upper left (below the lenticular cloud) is the Waterton Canyon of which I often post.



Parting shot! I just spent four consecutive days on a road bike. I still feel like road riding, so I think my little break from road riding worked, which is good, because road riding is an excellent way to train for mountain biking; this because you tend to spend many more hours per ride on a road bike enhancing endurance. Moreover, you tend to push larger gears and even utilize different muscle groups. You're better rounded by combing road and mountain biking.

I'll close with an autumn color shot. That cold white stuff isn't too far away!




Adios!

Stardate 2016.660

A Short and Sweet Quickie...
There's nothing wrong with quickies; they have their place. Sure they do... I didn't make it to any Gucci areas to play this past weekend, but I did get in 34 miles on the mountain bike by joining Chatfield Reservoir with Waterton Canyon. Summer is starting to slowly dwindle.

This winged creature must have thought he'd found a mate...






Fishermen, equestriennes and bikes share a path adjacent to the South Platte River. Part of the fun is dodging Virginia Creeper.






The South Platte River looked rather refreshing.




In places, the leaves were pushing the season a wee bit. Yes, that's yellow in those leaves.




The Oregon grape has shut down for the season.




And the quickie concludes. That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

Adios

Startdate 2016.159

Spring?
For A Day Anyway
Last Tuesday's snow quickly melted. Today's (Friday) mercury catapulted into the Low 50s. Spring was in the air. It'll all change come March and April. In fact, March is our snowiest month. Nonetheless, it was a good day to take the steel steed south of the metro and pound some asphalt and prairie. Following are some pics.




I left the carbon fiber bike at home and went with steel today.




The wide-open prairie grows on you, just like the mountains, desert and ocean. Each is unique.




A hidden aerospace compound catches my attention.




That's it for now...

Adios

Startdate 2016.145

Gimme an S...

This past weekend Snowcatcher and I ventured out to the Chatfield Reservoir area to enjoy the spring-like weather blanketing the Denver Metro. For a change of pace, I decided to ride my steel-tubed Serotta. The last time I threw a leg over her probably was back in 2002. I purchased the bike on 06 February 1996. Hence, it would be a 20th anniversary ride as well. Most components are original; however, the carbon fiber forks are not original and have a story themselves. That being, I crashed into a rock retaining wall on Colorado National Monument after losing front traction on icy hard-packed snow. The crash results included backward bent (destroyed) original forks. About a year ago, I performed a lube, bearing, cable and anything else requiring some maintenance go-over on the Serotta. See overhaul Part I and overhaul Part II. It was due time for a ride.



Steel is real! A quality steel frameset feels the road working its way through the tubing. It's something you feel as part of the bike. Difficult to describe, it has a silent, soft "buzz" to it. When the road surface changes, the "buzz" also takes on a new element. On the other hand, steel can be a bit corpulent by current standards. Scaled, the Serotta weighs in at 21.5 pounds (considered a tad heavy). The carbon fiber bike I normally ride weighs in at 16.5 pounds. Albeit super light, carbon fiber just doesn't have the road feel steel offers. Carbon is highly muted with the occasional pothole thud. The Serotta still has "man gearing" from when I was a bit younger and stronger. I give solid Uhg to climbing with the 53/39 front and 8-speed 12/23 rear gearing. I've become weak pedaling around on compact 50/34 front and 10-speed 12/28 rear gearing. I attribute the latter gearing to mountain riding. However, I know better than to cop out.



The fastest speed I've attained by bicycle is 63 miles per hour with the help of the steep, north dam road below Horsetooth Reservoir, just west of Fort Collins, Colorado. The descent was comfortable on the Serotta. However, I would not be comfortable at that speed on my carbon fiber bike. I've had my carbon bikes into the 50-mile-per-hour range, and it was not comfortable; albeit very exciting. Following are some additional pics from our ride. Let's continue with a nice active beaver pond in the Chatfield area. Enjoy!




A cozy beaver lodge.




It was a big sky day at Chatfield.




A good ride usually includes several miles of gravel grinding.




More snow is forecast for the coming week. We enjoyed the temperate calm while we had it!

Adios