7pm Tues night neva rd trailhead

Night Riding tomorrow, Tues. This'll be the last 100% in the dark tues ride for a bit, seeing as how DST starts next week! Since it's been pretty snowy up high, we'll hit the usual - Boulder Valley Ranch and it's accompanying trails. See you all at the Neva Road trailhead right around 7.

I did manage to get out a bit on Sunday. Despite the 3 gutbuckets of Dales Pale on Sat evening, I still managed to roll out of the house shortly before 8am. When I stumbled out of bed to peek out the window, it was so foggy I could barely see the front yard. I snapped a quick pick of Steamboat mountain before heading out. I caught the very last tidbit of fog as it was blowing out of town.

It was actually pretty damn nice at that time. I was happy to be spinning. The plan was to head towards Boulder on 36. About Left Hand or so, I would head east on dirt for a bit to cut north towards 66 all on dirt roads. It was a great day to be on the cross bike. As I spun south towards Boulder, the sun was shining on me but the fog had not dissapated in the Boulder Valley.


When I got to the Lefthand Split, something in me directed me west and up LHC. I figured, what the heck, I'll go check out Heil Ranch to see how dry it is. Even if Heil is a bust, Geer Canyon is pretty fun coming back down on the crosser. As I turned north up Geer Canyon and made my way to the trailhead, the winds started to slightly pick up. A crosswind or a tailwind here and there, but nothing big. I passed the parking lot and made my way up the service road/trail to the point where the actual singletrack splits off. I stopped there. The mud was getting more frequent and there was still a lot of snow in the shade. I took it all in and headed back from whence I had come. The dirt was a hoot back to LHC. I was the only person up there, too - it was a good day to be out.

I made it back to 36 ok. By then, though, I had been spat upon by a quickly passing thru rain cloud and I had been blown all around. I rode back up North to Nelson and the wind didn't seem so bad. Sucker... I peeled off east on Nelson and made my way over to the radio towners where I could head north on Dirt:

Right here is where the fun started. About at the end of the dirt road in ths pic, it cuts to the left 90degree. Straight into the 60mph wind. With the soft dirt and the wind, I was in my easiest gears and they just weren't cutting. From that point home, I had a massive, not fun , crossing wind. That also includes heading west up St Vrain road into the wind. Worked is an understatment for my condition when I got home. What happened to that leisurly Sunday spin I was looking for.