Stardate 2019.814

On The Keyboard Again

Hmmm... I seem to have forgotten how to code. Nonetheless, we'll see if I can come up with something.




Fall has been warm, and we could use some precipitation, although it's been mountain bike heaven.






A change is in order; I wonder if these bighorn ewes could sense it?



Several days later, a handful of little Fahrenheits, sporting their finest smirks, set a new record low temperature of 8 degrees, beating the old record of 22 by 14 notches. Then, most leaves lost color and dropped.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...





That's it for now.

Adios

Stardate 2018.858

Fall 2018 Is Going Strong

Doing a blog post a week didn't get far, did it? Oh well, I blame it on Parkinson's. However, in all fairness to my new disease, I've had a busy fall as well. Snowcatcher and I spent two weeks in travel to California and back. Both of us have been very busy at work. Instead of blogging, I've been watching old original series Star Trek episodes, et cetera, et cetera.

I've been doing lots of work overtime too, which needs to stop because it enhances Parkinson's irritation. I've now experienced two types of fatigue; the good fatigue, such as doing a 120-mile bike ride and being dog-tired, yet feeling good about it. Then the second type of fatigue is being dog-tired for no good reason and wanting only to curl up with depression and sleep for hours on end, feeling good about nothing.

Nonetheless, my mountain biking skills are slowly getting better. However, I don't, at this point, expect them to be where they once were. Time will tell.

Anyway, following are a handful of pics taken this past September and October. I would have taken the mountain bike out today, but I'm not quite ready for temps in the 30s. At least the sun is out. The first photo is of Waterton Canyon resident bighorn sheep lounging around chewing their cud pre-rut season. Currently, they're busy chasing the girls. Enjoy the pics.




We all know this girl. If you require a hint, she's the S*********r.



I grew-up skiing at a small ski area in western Colorado called Powderhorn. Below rises its eastern lift. I miss those years of skiing a lot. Things were different then.




The middle section of the ski area is kind of rolling.




I love seeing kids start so early. You go girl!



Cedar City, Utah, is almost halfway between Denver, Colorado, and Bakersfield, California. The town is on our retirement short list. It lies at the base of Utah's Markagunt Plateau and north of the whopping 20-mile drop onto the northeastern Mojave Desert. Many, many, years ago I thought I'd landed a job in Cedar City as a hydrologist for the Forest Service; it didn't happen. I've also spent time here doing geomorphic field work with a buddy working on his PhD.



See you next time!

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 2016.822

Carbon Dating
Early this past riding season, I decided to take a reprieve from road riding. According to my fun meter, I enjoy off-road riding a tad more than road riding. However, I participate in many road events, and over the past handful of years, I've spent more time on the road bike. Excessive road riding finally caught up to me, and last spring I found myself in a quandary.




Yes, I was burned out on road riding. I took several little rides in July when surrounds were green, as below, but that's about it for road riding over the summer.



Except for mid-September, when Snowcatcher and I ventured to the Pacific Northwest to visit friends and ride the MS-150 Deception Pass Classic; it has been all mountain bike. In mid-October, something came over me as I sat in the living room eating Little Debbie brownies while getting ready for a mountain bike ride. Perhaps it was the carbon weave of the cranks. Perhaps it was the paper-thin carbon-layering of Trek's OCLV black carbon fiber reflecting in the sun. Perhaps the svelte lines of the frame, symbolic of speed, like the Enterprise accelerating to light speed. (Yes some of us have warp capabilities.) Or, perhaps it's the only mistress my wife will welcome into our home...

...it was time to brave the asphalt, yet again. Following are some autumn pics acquired while on two different carbon dates. At 6,200 feet of elevation, Lower Deer Creek Canyon was fast shedding its leaves.




It's been very warm and hard to accept winter is right around the corner.



Turn-around and/or rest stop at "the top" at about 8,500 feet of elevation! During the warm months this place is nothing but bikes and roadies. We all chip in on occasion as part of an honor system because locals maintain a rest stop with coolers full of Gatorade, water, homemade cookies and a blue room (bathroom).



Some fun history exists here too. The old school house was built in 1894 and may be rented for events. The structure also functioned as a grange at some point. After a snack-filled rest stop, it was time for me to continue riding. With 20 less Fahrenheits bouncing about and a stiff breeze, there was more of an autumn feel. I was happy to have brought along a jacket for the fast descent.




Highgrade Road winds its way deep into the foothills of the Front Range.




Highgrade Road is steep in places. Albeit hard to tell, the segment from me to the turn is about a 12- to 15-percent pitch.




Soon I was back down on the flats. Carbon dating mission accomplished.
More autumn road riding to come... Stay tuned!

Adios

Stardate 2015.885

A little Asphalt... A Little Gravel... A Little Sunshine!

This past Saturday Snowcatcher and I journeyed out to Chatfield Reservoir for a warm autumn road ride. Temps were in the 50s and low 60s. It was a perfect fall day. As I write this blog, however, I'm enjoying a hot beverage after shoveling close to 9.5 inches of snow that fell overnight. It appears cycling season is winding down. Following are some pics.

Chatfield Reservoir




Lonely picnic area




Riparian area heavy in motionless quiet




Occasionally, the ubiquitous bovine happens to be a Texas longhorn.




Wide-open prairie from atop lightly graveled dirt road base




Prairie and pasture




After a final zig and zag, we turned around to head back to town.




A harbinger of things to come is 9.5 inches of fresh snow on November 17th.




Dieter and Wolfgang like to race to the snow stake.




Dieter won the sprint; Wolfgang buys the beer for the weekend.




The final snow tally for the storm was a little over 9 inches.




I think we may be months away from a similar day. Thanks for reading...

Adios

Stardate 2015.860

Stunning Autumn Days

Following are some pics from several recent rides up Waterton Canyon. I ride this area a lot. The days have been classic autumn with nippy mornings and warmish afternoons – a true Indian Summer. My ride up the bighorn sheep-infested canyon deposited me at Strontia Springs Reservoir. From here, I rode the Colorado Trail up to its intersection with Trail 800. Another quarter mile deposited me at a fork in the trail, so I took it! Ha ha ha, I've always wanted to say that. Anyway, I did take the left fork. Called the Roxborough loop trail, it arced me back around to Trail 800. A larger loop, Trail 800, would require more time than I had. I used the Roxborough trail to shorten 800's loop.

Let's ride! Last week's yellow leaves are about gone.




Forest trails have a lot of root-bound, keep-you-on-your-toes character.




Stealthy singletrack




"In and out of shadows this ride was," Yoda proclaimed.




More delightful singletrack




The trough is steep, loose and about 100 yards in length. Rarely can I get up it without a stop.




From this point, the trail becomes fast, steep and loose, depositing you at Strontia Springs dam.




I hooked back up with Snowcatcher, and we cruised out of the canyon. That's it for now. Later gator.

Adios

Stardate 2015.792

On Borrowed Time

Autumn greetings! I managed to play hooky several days ago to savor the beautiful fall weather that had settled in. The Black Pearl and I decided to go to Frisco, Colorado, to visit a difficult portion of the Colorado Trail (CT) that we have not been on. The aspen leaves in Frisco are at peak color and leaves of most of the aspen groves at higher elevations are gone. Nonetheless, a few holdouts may be found.



Segment 7 of the CT is only 12.8 miles in length. However, the route is rocky and loose and tops out in the clouds at 12,500 feet. In a nutshell, Segment 7 of the CT shares real estate with Gold Hill, Miners Creek and Wheeler trails.

From Frisco, my goal was to ride up the Peaks Trail to the Gold Hill Trail. Then I planned to continue up Gold Hill (I'm on the CT now) to an old, isolated, Miners Creek trailhead where I planned to ascend Miners Creek to high alpine riding along the ridgecrest of the northern Tenmile Range. After several miles of tundra riding, a westerly descent down the Wheeler Trail would deposit me at the Copper Mountain Ski Station, and I'd return to my car via the Tenmile Range bike path. Confused? So am I. Following are a handful of pics.

The ride up the Peaks Trail was not difficult, albeit loose in places. Views of 12,933-foot Tenmile Peak (left) and 12,805-foot Peak 1 seized my attention at every clearing. Yes, there are a lot of dead trees. This particular region has been hammered by beetle kill. I'll leave beetle kill alone for now, as I'm a bit opinionated on this infestation.



I only made about 4 of the 6.5 miles to the Wheeler Trail. The rumor mill had ground out information that this horrible (for bikes) portion of the CT was extremely steep, rocky and loose and not too enjoyable. QUITE CORRECT! Although, in hindsight, I enjoyed the day. This also may have been the most difficult day I've had on a mountain bike. I'm confident I pushed the Black Pearl as much as I rode, literally. Coming down was difficult as well, but somewhat ridable. The trail ascends the fall line – straight up! Oh well, it means I get to go back. However, I'll likely start in Copper Mountain when I do.




Entering the subalpine ecosystem of spruce forest




Nights are getting cool




Treeline and the east shoulder of 12,866-foot Peak 4




Note the small trees on Peak 3's eastern ramparts; they're small because they're trying to make a living in an avalanche run-out zone.



I had to be back in the Denver metro area by 6:00. Once I figured how slow the riding would be, I picked 2:00 as my turn around time. I missed my overall goal by about an hour. Although the trail was becoming more ridable, the altitude would begin take a toll on climbing. My altitude at turn-around was about 11,500 feet, 1,000 feet lower than my planned high point. An uneventful drive home put me back in town on time.




That's it for now. Thanks for perusing...

Adios