Backyard Riding

Old Man In Singletrack Bliss

There are some amazing trails here in Highlands Ranch (a.k.a the other Boulder).  This wasn't always true of course but things have slowly started to take shape and as it stands, I think there are 30+ miles of singletrack to enjoy.  Today I took in around 20 miles of it as most of the good stuff is closed until things warm up and dry out (no complaints here). The terrain is part fast winding single track, part climbing singletrack, and part pump track style singletrack. Regardless, it is awesome and it is in my backyard. The trails are enough to get you worked, and that's what I did today.  I took my new ride out for the maiden voyage.  The last time I was on a mountainbike with more than 1 gear was the Ergon Monster Ride back in October 2010.  That was the fair well ride for my trusty 2006 Specialized Epic Marathon.  It was a little old but still an amazingly fast ride.

A moment of silence...

Today it was a bigwheel'd Gary Fisher Superfly 100 and I had a blast.  One thing I noticed right up front in the singletrack was how well this bike handles.  It felt very nimble around the turns and seemed to stick them at any speed.  It felt solid.  I was in love... until the wind.  29" wheels do not like crosswinds very much and I was taking a beating with some of the 25 MPH gusts.  I can live with that but it was a noticeable downside of riding circus wheels today.  With a few adjustments planned I think this new ride will rock the race course this year.  

Hopefully I can say the same for all 36 years of me.

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