bust?

I've been looking forward to this past weekend for a bit. The family and I were heading to Grand Lake to stay with some family and friends. We hadn't decided, though, whether to go up Friday eve or Sat eve. As time went on, we decided to stay Friday night in Lyons, open the shop on Sat, and go to Grand Lake for dinner on Sat. We'd stay the night and come back the next day. We had to be back by early afternoon, though, as Nana (gramma) was flying in that afternoon. No problem, I had a plan hatched already.

The plan was to leave Grand Lake around 10 or 11 am and drive back to Lyons via Trail Ridge Rd. in Rocky Mt National Park. I was going to take my road bike with and the family could drop me off at the top of Trail Ridge. From there, I'd have a 50ish mile ride home - predominantly downhill on some of the best roads in the Front Range.

Actuality... We left Sat afternoon in pouring rain. Trail Ridge was closed due to weather so we were forced to duck south to take the I70/Berthoud Pass/Winter Park route and back up north to Grand Lake. It was relatively uneventful, but we did pas thru rain, sleet and snow going up over Berthoud. The Fraser Valley was starting to see some blue skies as we headed north to Grand Lake. Once at Grand Lake, the weather was cool but fine. It was cloudy with patches of blue and no rain. I kept my fingers crossed. As pulled our covers up in bed, I could hear the raindrops starting again.

The next day, Sunday came early (that's kids for you). To the south and west there was party cloudy blue skies. To the north and east, though, the direction we were to head, skies were foggy, cloudy, and gray. It was a bust. Trail Ridge was still closed. To add to that, we got stuck in stop and go traffic from Tabernash all the way thru Winter Park because of Hawg Fest, a Harley Rally that had most of the roads either shut down or narrowed down to 2 lanes. We were running late and still had to pick up Nana at the airport. Grrr. At least Mary drove home from the Airport so I could nap.

We got home about 5:30 and immediately got started on dinner. I was able to bust out a quick abbreviated Hall Ranch ride after dinner. After all the rain, the trails were almost perfect, just a few puddles here and there and back to too dry in a couple of spots. Good ride, though. Back home, kids to bed and we were still able to catch the last act at Folk Fest sans children.

What a weekend. Was the weekend a bust? Maybe for riding, but I got to spend time with family and friends, got to ride on the dirt, and got to see some live music pretty much in the backyard. I'll take it. What's on deck for next weekend? :)

Tuesday ride is coming up, too. This Tues will be lights mandatory. Meet up at the bike shop at 5:30 and we're heading to Ned. Nederland that is. It's a 45 minute/1 hour drive. None of us know the area very well so prepare to get very lost. We'll have fun. See you Tues.