Showing posts with label Heil Ranch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heil Ranch. Show all posts
Friday, March 04, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Reasons
5 reasons why it makes perfectly good sense to go for a bike ride when it's 5 degrees and snowing.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Big Fall Ride 5 recap
First, a little history. We started the Big Fall Ride several years ago. BFR was set to be the annual end of the season blowout ride/party. I'll never forget the first one. We were to meet up at the world's smallest bike shop, drive up to Peaceful Valley and engage in some epic riding. The day came and I rose early only to find temps in the 50s and constant rain. blech. Out of sense of duty only, I got my gear together and made it down to the bike shop expecting to see no one. Much to my surprise, a handful of hardcore showed up with big smiles ready to ride. Cold rain and all. Exactly my kind of people. Fortunately, the storm was entirely a low elevation event. We drove up and out of the rain to a bluebird day west of the peak to peak. We rode, cooked out, dranks some beverages and pretty much had a grand old time.
Since then, we've had one really disgustingly rainy and cold Big Fall Ride, but for the most part, we've been blessed with great weather. 3 BFRs ago, we found ourselves in a new situation with the creation of Picture Rock at Heil Ranch. I had been dreaming of a big ride that could start west of the Peak to Peak and finish up in Lyons. Big Fall Ride in its current state was born. Since BFR3, we've done some fine tuning and minor tweaks on the route, but it's pretty much stayed the same.
Enter 2010. Big Fall Ride 5. I can't say 5th Annual cause it's not. We skipped a year, 2007, I believe. 8am meetup time. Time to start getting the bikes into vehicles. Uh Oh. Main shuttle vehicle not hear yet. Better LOAD UP the truck!
Turned out to be a thing of real beauty. I love to see a vehicle utilized at maximum capacity.
After some minor delays, it turns out that meetup time really meant 8:45am and our main shuttle vehicle for the day arrived. We got everyone and all the bikes loaded and ready to rumble. Up to the Peak to Peak we went, destination Bunce School Road. Even got to do a little off roading with the shuttle vehicles before we could unload :)
And we were off. Finally pedaling around 9:45ish. And it felt great. Temps were absolutely perfect and the sky looked like something out of a Simpsons cartoon. The colors were going off as well.
Bunce School Road turned out to be a perfect warm up before hitting the technical climbing on Sourdough. Technically, Bunce is a county road, but it sure feels like a USFS jeep road. Someone told a story about witnessing a non Outback Subaru Legacy on Bunce. I would liked to have seen that one.
On thru Peaceful Valley and up Sourdough, which never dissapoints. All smiles.
But then again, there is hiking. It's a tough climb. I used to be able to clean it but it seems like a lifetime ago. I still think it's in me, at least one more time. One of these days. It's not mountain biking unless you're hiking, right?
And then, even though we're climbing, it's all smiles again. Love me some Sourdough.
Just a little bit more climbing...
Then snacktime.
I had received some last minute beta suggesting that the South St. Vrain trail would be closed for tree removal. Kip and I volunteered to scout ahead to check to see if SSV was closed or not. If it was closed, I had a good plan B worked out and wanted to save the rest of the riders the inconvenience of dropping down to SSV, then climbing back out and backtracking. Fortunately, SSV was open for bidness. And what good bidness it was.
Turns out, they had done quite a bit of deforesting but weren't working this day. And that's pretty much all I've got to say about South St. Vrain. Except for the fact that it smelled pretty darn good on account of all the fresh cut trees:)
From SSV, we connected some dirt county roads over to Gold Lake (what used to be a) Resort. I should've taken a picture. The current property owners of the Gold Lake property have put a big ass sign up right in the middle of the road saying no admittance, closed, etc. Don't worry about it. It's just another case of idiot property owners trying to exersise their own domain on public property typical of the BS you encounter around rural Boulder County. FYI, the road is closed (gated) but only to motorized. It's still completely open to non motorized pursuits. We ignored the signs, went around the gate and were on our way. It was time for lunch!
Onward we pressed with Jamestown as our next destination. Some good descending was in store.
I was starting to get a little tired by this point and we still had about 15 miles to go. A little road time first...
Followed by a tiny little scramble up a rock or two...
And it was time for a little more singletrack.
And it was good.
Then a little more time on the road. Despite the fact that it was on the road, at the very least, it was A)downhill, B)fast, C)scenic and well... I guess that pretty much sums up good road riding, right? Only a couple of miles and it was time for our last obstacle, one last park. Heil Ranch. Only about 13 miles to the bike shop! I've said it before. Normally, the climb up Wapiti at Heil is not a biggie, but when you've alreay got several hours, several thousand feet of climbing, and a crapload of miles behind you, it's tough. And it starts with a mile+ on a slightly deceivingly gravel uphill. Before you get to the climb.
Awesome.
But Heil is close. Good singletrack and good views.
And everytime I get to this point
I think, "ahhh, home." I rode on ahead to get the grill setup so the rest of the riders could have some food with their frosty beverages when they were done riding. But some riders were still out and relishing in a day well spent on the bike.
I believe "spent" is entirely a good word.
Big Fall Ride 5 is in the books. What's next? I don't know... Right now, I'm tired, have had too many beers and want to go to bed. All I know is that this was a long post and I think I killed about 50 flies in the bike shop during the time I took to write this. Oh, riding? don't know... Stay tuned!
Extra huge, big, major special thanks to Oskar Blues restaurant and brewery for providing beer and shuttle service. Da' Blues Bus never dissapoints and neither does the beer! You guys are awesome!!!!!
Since then, we've had one really disgustingly rainy and cold Big Fall Ride, but for the most part, we've been blessed with great weather. 3 BFRs ago, we found ourselves in a new situation with the creation of Picture Rock at Heil Ranch. I had been dreaming of a big ride that could start west of the Peak to Peak and finish up in Lyons. Big Fall Ride in its current state was born. Since BFR3, we've done some fine tuning and minor tweaks on the route, but it's pretty much stayed the same.
Enter 2010. Big Fall Ride 5. I can't say 5th Annual cause it's not. We skipped a year, 2007, I believe. 8am meetup time. Time to start getting the bikes into vehicles. Uh Oh. Main shuttle vehicle not hear yet. Better LOAD UP the truck!
Turned out to be a thing of real beauty. I love to see a vehicle utilized at maximum capacity.
After some minor delays, it turns out that meetup time really meant 8:45am and our main shuttle vehicle for the day arrived. We got everyone and all the bikes loaded and ready to rumble. Up to the Peak to Peak we went, destination Bunce School Road. Even got to do a little off roading with the shuttle vehicles before we could unload :)
And we were off. Finally pedaling around 9:45ish. And it felt great. Temps were absolutely perfect and the sky looked like something out of a Simpsons cartoon. The colors were going off as well.
Bunce School Road turned out to be a perfect warm up before hitting the technical climbing on Sourdough. Technically, Bunce is a county road, but it sure feels like a USFS jeep road. Someone told a story about witnessing a non Outback Subaru Legacy on Bunce. I would liked to have seen that one.
On thru Peaceful Valley and up Sourdough, which never dissapoints. All smiles.
But then again, there is hiking. It's a tough climb. I used to be able to clean it but it seems like a lifetime ago. I still think it's in me, at least one more time. One of these days. It's not mountain biking unless you're hiking, right?
And then, even though we're climbing, it's all smiles again. Love me some Sourdough.
Just a little bit more climbing...
Then snacktime.
I had received some last minute beta suggesting that the South St. Vrain trail would be closed for tree removal. Kip and I volunteered to scout ahead to check to see if SSV was closed or not. If it was closed, I had a good plan B worked out and wanted to save the rest of the riders the inconvenience of dropping down to SSV, then climbing back out and backtracking. Fortunately, SSV was open for bidness. And what good bidness it was.
Turns out, they had done quite a bit of deforesting but weren't working this day. And that's pretty much all I've got to say about South St. Vrain. Except for the fact that it smelled pretty darn good on account of all the fresh cut trees:)
From SSV, we connected some dirt county roads over to Gold Lake (what used to be a) Resort. I should've taken a picture. The current property owners of the Gold Lake property have put a big ass sign up right in the middle of the road saying no admittance, closed, etc. Don't worry about it. It's just another case of idiot property owners trying to exersise their own domain on public property typical of the BS you encounter around rural Boulder County. FYI, the road is closed (gated) but only to motorized. It's still completely open to non motorized pursuits. We ignored the signs, went around the gate and were on our way. It was time for lunch!
Onward we pressed with Jamestown as our next destination. Some good descending was in store.
I was starting to get a little tired by this point and we still had about 15 miles to go. A little road time first...
Followed by a tiny little scramble up a rock or two...
And it was time for a little more singletrack.
And it was good.
Then a little more time on the road. Despite the fact that it was on the road, at the very least, it was A)downhill, B)fast, C)scenic and well... I guess that pretty much sums up good road riding, right? Only a couple of miles and it was time for our last obstacle, one last park. Heil Ranch. Only about 13 miles to the bike shop! I've said it before. Normally, the climb up Wapiti at Heil is not a biggie, but when you've alreay got several hours, several thousand feet of climbing, and a crapload of miles behind you, it's tough. And it starts with a mile+ on a slightly deceivingly gravel uphill. Before you get to the climb.
Awesome.
But Heil is close. Good singletrack and good views.
And everytime I get to this point
I think, "ahhh, home." I rode on ahead to get the grill setup so the rest of the riders could have some food with their frosty beverages when they were done riding. But some riders were still out and relishing in a day well spent on the bike.
I believe "spent" is entirely a good word.
Big Fall Ride 5 is in the books. What's next? I don't know... Right now, I'm tired, have had too many beers and want to go to bed. All I know is that this was a long post and I think I killed about 50 flies in the bike shop during the time I took to write this. Oh, riding? don't know... Stay tuned!
Extra huge, big, major special thanks to Oskar Blues restaurant and brewery for providing beer and shuttle service. Da' Blues Bus never dissapoints and neither does the beer! You guys are awesome!!!!!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday monday
What's a guy do when it's 25 degrees, the ground is covered in 4-6" of snow and the sun is shining. Go for a bike ride, of course. I only had an hour or a little more, so I figured I'd see how far I could get to the south. I donned all of my cold and snowy weather riding gear and ventured out. It turned out to be not that cold, really. The sun was fantastic and the sky was brilliantly blue. I pedaled thru Bohn Park and out towards Heil Ranch. Ugh. That snow was softer and deeper than it looked, even in the park. I rode south thru the park before the Town crew could plow the trail (I passed the plow). The going was soft and slow. It was worth it, though. Once I got to Picture Rock, I was carving fresh tracks and things were good.
Winter conditions meant good stuff today.
Before long, I had forgotten my burdens of the day as I basked in the beauty of the snow and my surroundings. I think I've mentioned before how much I love this trail?
As the sun shone on, I couldn't get over one of the coolest natural phenomena that I'd seen in a long, long time. The perfect combination of the temp, the snow, and the sun meant that every single flake of snow and crystal of water and ice reflected the suns rays in a shimmery, gold sparkly surface that was freaking magic to ride thru. Talk about trippy, it was great. I even turned the flash on with this picture to try to capture it, but it's something that can't be captured on film. Steals it's soul or something like that.
The recent renovations on the Snyper proved to be pretty good so far as well. Stylo OCT crank, new chain, and new XT brakes made it feel almost like a brand new ride.
It was cold, snowy, and not exactly optimal but it was still a great day to get out. Guess I put the "year round" in year round riding today. Spring is coming soon. Really.
Winter conditions meant good stuff today.
Before long, I had forgotten my burdens of the day as I basked in the beauty of the snow and my surroundings. I think I've mentioned before how much I love this trail? 
As the sun shone on, I couldn't get over one of the coolest natural phenomena that I'd seen in a long, long time. The perfect combination of the temp, the snow, and the sun meant that every single flake of snow and crystal of water and ice reflected the suns rays in a shimmery, gold sparkly surface that was freaking magic to ride thru. Talk about trippy, it was great. I even turned the flash on with this picture to try to capture it, but it's something that can't be captured on film. Steals it's soul or something like that.
The recent renovations on the Snyper proved to be pretty good so far as well. Stylo OCT crank, new chain, and new XT brakes made it feel almost like a brand new ride.
It was cold, snowy, and not exactly optimal but it was still a great day to get out. Guess I put the "year round" in year round riding today. Spring is coming soon. Really.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
winter blues
Snow days aren't all that bad. Good for a lap or 3 around the pump track.
Good for a ride in winter conditions.
Great things really do happen.
A blue bike for a blue day. Perfect.
Good for a ride in winter conditions.
Great things really do happen.
A blue bike for a blue day. Perfect.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
beautiful day for a bike ride
Today's ride was fantastic. Conditions were a little greasy here and there going up Antelope but the views were outta sight.
Up top, between the rock garden and Antelope, things were a little too muddy(I walked) but going down the rock garden was fantastic as always. I got a bit sloppy from the standing water but impact on resource was minimal.
A brief spin down the road and I found myself at Heil Ranch. Conditions were stellar. I couldn't believe how velcro like grippy the tacky dirt was on Picture Rock. Mmmm, Picture Rock. Anyone else notice the new mileage markers at Hall and Heil?
I rode up to the quarry and back. Bout time I got to the quarry, the skies had really clouded back over and started dumping snow. Excellent.
View from the pic-a-nic table on the way up
Same view on the way down.
By the return trip, it was really dumping. I was glad to have some waterproof gear on for the return trip.
Up top, between the rock garden and Antelope, things were a little too muddy(I walked) but going down the rock garden was fantastic as always. I got a bit sloppy from the standing water but impact on resource was minimal.
A brief spin down the road and I found myself at Heil Ranch. Conditions were stellar. I couldn't believe how velcro like grippy the tacky dirt was on Picture Rock. Mmmm, Picture Rock. Anyone else notice the new mileage markers at Hall and Heil?
I rode up to the quarry and back. Bout time I got to the quarry, the skies had really clouded back over and started dumping snow. Excellent.
View from the pic-a-nic table on the way up
Same view on the way down.
By the return trip, it was really dumping. I was glad to have some waterproof gear on for the return trip.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Perfect Fall Day at Heil Ranch
What a typical Fall day today was. This morning, I mowed the lawn (well, I actually evened out the height of the weeds in the yard with a mower - we don't have much of a lawn) in shorts and a tshirt. Sunny skies, 55 degrees and not cloudy at all. Shortly after arriving at the bike shop, though, the weather started to turn. Temps dropped to low 40s and the clouds came in. It was cloudier and cooler when it was time to shut down the shop. Sounds like a perfect time for a bike ride. I opted to stay local for this one. Partially not motivated to drive anywhere and partially motivated to spend some time on the SS before next weekends trek to the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in Brady, NE. I also had just installed a new cog on the rear of the SS and wanted to check it out. The 32x18 gearing that came on the bike was a bit tall for this area so I swapped out the 18 for a 19. It proved to be right on target. Money.
A little ways in and I stopped to check out the all new pic-a-nic table just below the silo.
Check the cool striping on the rock. That is real "picture rock" that was quarried out of the Heil Valley many moons ago. BMA paid for the table and Boulder County just finished putting it in. Benches made of Lyons quarried stone will be up shortly as well. We'll have to plan a pic-a-nic.
I rode on. Soon after, I was getting into a groove and really digging the singlespeed with the new 19t. At the top of Picture Rock Trail, I hung a right and rode North Wild Turkey as an out and back. Man, I love that trail. Man, that trail is getting rocky in parts, though. I love stopping at the bench at the top for reflection (and bike lovin).
So far, that GT Peace 29er singlespeed has been really amazing. Granted, it's no modern full suspension wonder, but it's cool what a fantastic bike you can really get still for around $700. The Reynolds 520 frame is lively without being flexy and the 4130 fork is buttery. Well, as buttery as it gets if you're a big ol rigid fork anyway ;)
Did I mention that I love North Wild Turkey? I like the fast and tight woodsy sections, the flowy smoove singletrack that floats thru open meadows and good use of natural terrain.
Good stuff, Boulder County. Keep up the good work.
Timing on the ride was perfect. Just after I dumped off the Boulder County trail and started on the townie ghetto singletrack, the skies started in with a nice light rain. Maybe we'll see some snow from it tomorrow. Welcome to fall.
A little ways in and I stopped to check out the all new pic-a-nic table just below the silo.
Check the cool striping on the rock. That is real "picture rock" that was quarried out of the Heil Valley many moons ago. BMA paid for the table and Boulder County just finished putting it in. Benches made of Lyons quarried stone will be up shortly as well. We'll have to plan a pic-a-nic.
I rode on. Soon after, I was getting into a groove and really digging the singlespeed with the new 19t. At the top of Picture Rock Trail, I hung a right and rode North Wild Turkey as an out and back. Man, I love that trail. Man, that trail is getting rocky in parts, though. I love stopping at the bench at the top for reflection (and bike lovin).
So far, that GT Peace 29er singlespeed has been really amazing. Granted, it's no modern full suspension wonder, but it's cool what a fantastic bike you can really get still for around $700. The Reynolds 520 frame is lively without being flexy and the 4130 fork is buttery. Well, as buttery as it gets if you're a big ol rigid fork anyway ;)
Did I mention that I love North Wild Turkey? I like the fast and tight woodsy sections, the flowy smoove singletrack that floats thru open meadows and good use of natural terrain.
Good stuff, Boulder County. Keep up the good work.
Timing on the ride was perfect. Just after I dumped off the Boulder County trail and started on the townie ghetto singletrack, the skies started in with a nice light rain. Maybe we'll see some snow from it tomorrow. Welcome to fall.
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