Father’s Day Weekend

It was a great weekend here in the Western Colorado Desert. The temps have remained moderate for the season with highs in the low 80′s! It feels more like spring, but the days are lasting well into the evening. I took advantage of this respite from the heat and went for a few nice, long rides close to home since there’s still a LOT of snow left up in the mountains.

I rode a very nice 45 mile loop from my house to Whitewater, up and over on the Tabequache Trail into Bangs Canyon followed by a descent back home on two of Colorado’s finest single track trails, The Ribbon and Gunny Loop. It was a great ride that included a seven mile stretch through town (touring some of GJ’s meth labs!), and jaunt on the historic Spanish Trail (which felt like being transported to Dakota Badlands) along the Gunnison River to get to Whitewater. The Tabequache Trail started with a nine mile, sustained but moderate climb into the Pinyon & Juniper forests over Unaweep Canyon. Then, a fast DH-style descent into the Red-Rock lined Bangs and Rough Canyons. A two mile ascent on slick rock got me out onto Little Park road, from where a short mile and half climb on pavement put me at the top of the Ribbon where the real fun began! For just a forty mile ride, my legs felt heavy when I got home that afternoon.

On Sunday, I decided to take things a bit easier with a nice, mellow road ride over Colorado National Monument. It was great to pedal easily up the smooth pavement and fly down the West side turns at over 40 mph!

For dinner that evening, I was rewarded with my Father’s Day gift: A delicious, home cooked, authentic Mexican dinner, made by my wife. Ummmmm! Chile Rellenos! Yes, there was real lard used! I like to say: “Lard is like oxygen!”

This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 11:21 am and is filed under Biking, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.