Meandering Velonauts

I figured Thanksgiving morning would be the perfect time to ride. The trails most likely will be frozen, and might still have a little snow on them from Monday. I decided to keep it local, so I rode the Ridgeline trail, here in Castle Rock. The temperature started off 40° F,and was quickly warming.

The first 30 minutes of the ride was perfect. Frozen mud trail, patches of packed snow,  and mild temperatures. The fat bike did great on the icy snowing stretches of trail. Traction was not a concern, and my line was perfect. I decided to stop at take some pictures with my phone.

I had a blast, then I realized just how warm it had gotten. Trails began to thaw, and forced me to ride the last few miles in slippery, muddy conditions.  While the bike left little or no tracks through the mud, it seams the mud left a few tracks on my bike. I took a few more picture once I was back at the car.

Yes, the new Aluminum 9:Zero:7 frames are in. These have to be the best looking fat bikes on the planet, and for a great price. I’m glad I gave them my deposit a few weeks ago, so there is a very good chance I’m getting one of the first batch.

Unfortunately the Chain Reaction Cycles is closed on Mondays. But they posted some great pics on MTBR.COM forums.

I’m now sure I made the right decission choosing this bike.

From bfemin:

Rode Deer Creek for the first time this morning. This is a technical climbers dream trail. 4+ miles of very rocky trail and a wicked rock garden half way up. Our climbing was rewarded with some spectacular views of Highlands Ranch and Red Rocks.

My new front brake dragged the entire ride. Felt like I was pulling a trailer up the mountain. I have until morning to repair it, as we’re riding Kanosha Pass to Georgia Pass.

Today, I spent the afternoon riding the local singletrack here in town. The Kenda Small Block 8’s hooked up nicely. I found I was railing corners and holding a higher speed on the trail. These are definitely my favorite tires for Colorado now.

Brake fluid heat remains my biggest challenge on the trails. I’m constantly fidgiting with my brake leavers as the fluid heats and cools. I’m looking at buying a pair of Avid Elixir CR, when the price drops later this year. I think I’ll retire the Hope C2 back to my Santa Cruz Heckler, where they started out.

We woke up early (4am) and drove 3 hours to Leadville, CO to watch this year’s Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race. Lance Armstrong, having finished 2nd last year, was scheduled to participate in the race.

We parked on Hwy 5a, just outside Leadville CO. It was raining steadly and temperatures were just above 40 degrees. We got our umbrella and rain gear out and watched the race ride by.

I choose this spot from recomendations by people who have watched the race in the past. This location allowed us to watch the riders two times that day, as they passed us heading out and back in.

Once the race passed we had lunch and hiked up the trail to the base of the famous powerline climb. Our spot was close to the bottom, but allowed us to rush to the finish line and watch the finish of the race.

We heard race reports that morning that Lance Armstrong was defending a sizeable lead over the competition, including 5 time defending champion Dave Wien. As Lance entered the woods approaching the climb cow bells and screams echoed through the woods.

 

We raced to the finish and claimed out spot amongst the crowd. A police escort lead Armstrong to his record breaking Leadville 100 finish. We took dozens of photos and video of the race. Here is some of our favorites.

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