This past weekend, my friend and fellow OmniTen member Steve was in town as part of this rare string of events that brought both him and Kristie to Denver. Naturally, we had to get out and play and show them some of the good parts of the CO!
Unfortunately, my knee was still painful over the weekend so hiking was definitely out. I know the two of them did a ton of rock climbing along Clear Creek Canyon, but since my doc specifically vetoed climbing until further notice, that was also not an option for me (not like I could keep up with them anyway! I mean, have you seen Steve climb?!)
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| Stolen from Steve’s blog. Remember? I didn’t climb! |
Anyway, Craig and I finally decided to take our friends up to 3 Sisters/Alderfer in Evergreen for a little mountain biking! My doc has most definitely cleared me for cycling, and while I’m still doubtful that she meant single track, I was willing to stretch the limits of her orders 🙂
3 Sisters is one of our favorite and relatively easy rides here in Denver. It’s close to the city– maybe 45 minutes?– with a variety of technical maneuvers and climbs that get your heart pumping. We usually start on the actual 3 Sisters trail and ride the loop counterclockwise. This first section can be tricky and has some fairly steep inclined switchbacks with quite a few stairs. Technical skills on my mountain bike are something that I am severely lacking, so the steps always kick my butt. Craig has become our resident mountain biker this year, and I was so jealous as I watched him conquer the stairs with ease!
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| Steve tackling the boulders |
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| Craig showing us how it’s done! |
After the 3 Sisters part of the trail, we hopped onto the Homestead Trail and hooked it up with the Evergreen Mountain Trail. This portion of the ride was completely mellow and gave us time to cool our heart rates down while enjoying the open meadow views of the old farmhouse. Granted, the chill time didn’t last too long! The Evergreen Mountain trail begins to climb and the climb definitely doesn’t stop! We chose to go all the way to the summit of the mountain, so this meant a good 2 miles of solid climbing.
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| Steve and me, taking a breather on the climb |
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| Kristie, loving the ride |
If you’re a runner, I know you have a tendency to think that biking covers more ground and that should mean that 2 miles is pretty much nothing. However, this is absolutely not the case with mountain biking! In fact, I think it’s almost more difficult to climb on a mountain bike than it is with my own two feet! We were all dropped into our “granny gears” and were just trying to crank our way to the top. I glanced at my Garmin at one point and saw that we were going a whopping 17 min/mile pace. BOOM!
I prefer climbing over technical, so this part of the ride was my favorite. Even better? There were beautiful views from the summit that made the climb completely worthwhile.
After the breather at the summit, we had a solid 2.5 miles of pure descent! For Steve and Kristie, I know this was equally exhilarating and terrifying. Downhill mountain biking is definitely something that requires acclimation. It takes some time to get used to plummeting downhill at a 3 min/mile pace, dodging rocks and trees while trying to stay on the trail. Craig is a pure maniac and I lost sight of him immediately, but I definitely was not comfy going any faster than I already was! I did have to laugh when we finally reached the trail head and Steve said that his hands were stuck in the white-knuckled, clenched position!
Final Stats for the Ride:
Mileage: 7
Total Elevation Gain: 1150 feet
Time: No idea. I shut my Garmin off when we stopped at the summit.
29 Comments
Trail running is definitely easier than climbing a hill on a mtn bike in my opinion. Mtn biking is freaking hard! That’s probably why I like it, lol. I haven’t gone nearly enough though 🙁 And everytime I have… It’s kicked my ass 🙂
Agreed! Sometimes I get going so slow that I kinda just…topple over 🙂
Sounds fun!!! The down hill is the exciting prize!!!
That looks so amazing and beautiful!
Trail running is my absolute fav, but I love mountain biking too!
That looks so beautiful and like so much fun! We used to mtn. bike all the time and I really loved it. Somewhere along the line I developed some fear on the descents and haven’t done much of it lately. Need to change that!
I’m less scared on the descents than I am on tricky technical stuff. I manage to crash off my bike a lot when I’m trying to be all tech 🙂
Downhill mountain biking TERRIFIES ME. You talk about going slow- I just do NOT have the guts to fly downhill. Give me uphill any day (without TOO much technical stuff). But really, I have so much to learn when it comes to mountain biking. I can’t even ride clipless 🙁
My husband needs to get ride with you next time we go out there. He is FEARLESS and really, really good. We actually have some of the best MTB trails on the east coast right behind our house, where pros come to train! There’s one perk about living here… the other is Flying Dog brewery right in town.
I ride clipless but Craig took this class with a pro MTB’er a few months ago and he told him that clipless for MTB is on the way out. He said that MTB automatically brought it in from road biking but in fact, it isn’t necessary. They have these platform pedals with pins that you can get with these biking shoes that have a climbing shoe-style sole so they stick to the pedals. Craig rides in them now, as do a lot of others I know, and although I was hesitant to ditch the clipless, I think I am going to try. I think this new kind would probably give me more confidence on tricky tech sections, just knowing that I can step down if needed!
If I’m doing full on downhill (armor/full face helmet) at Keystone – I’ll ride platform pedals. But mostly I’ll ride clipless – I LOVE technical (uphill and downhill) and have ridden and cleaned plenty of techy bits in clipless. I think it’s a matter of confidence and skill. all the pics in this photo album are with me on clipless. https://picasaweb.google.com/tuesdayRides/ILoveMeSomeRocks?authuser=0#
I definitely agree on the confidence point! I’m just NOT confident in my mtb abilities so I’m starting to think the platforms will be better for me 🙂 It’ll feel weird though!
PS Those pics are absolutely nuts! You are far more hardcore than I am on the bike!
I just started riding clipless this summer, so I’m not very confident with them yet, but I love them for climbing. Like brg, I use flats if I’m doing full on downhill. This weekend I was riding at Northstar resort in Tahoe, and, after all summer with my clipless shoes, my feet kept flying off the flat pedals! I definitely need some sort of happy medium.
I just started riding clipless this summer, so I’m not very confident with them yet, but I love them for climbing. Like brg, I use flats if I’m doing full on downhill. This weekend I was riding at Northstar resort in Tahoe, and, after all summer with my clipless shoes, my feet kept flying off the flat pedals! I definitely need some sort of happy medium.
Lynn, were they the regular platforms or the kind I was describing above with the pins that go with the sticky shoes? I was concerned above the fly off issue also, but with those kinds of shoes, I’ve been assured that it doesn’t happen?
Mine are just regular, cheap platforms. I really want to try the ones with the pins now.
Oh that looks gorgeous!
I love riding in Evergreen – it has plenty of everything – smooth stuff, rocks, climbs, descents. You should hit up the high country rides – the Fall colors are off-the-hook! I actually saw a moose on my ride on Sunday.
I love mountain biking. As far as the clipless debate goes, I think if you are more free riding and downhill then flats with spikes make sense, but in terms of cross country riding and endurance style races, I think that the efficiency and lightweightness of clipless is still necessary. I’m still not convinced of wearing flats in these situations. I think doing technical up and downhill in clipless comes with more riding and more ability. I’m a pretty slower climber and you are right that sometimes I actually walk a sectional uphill faster than staying on my bike and trying to crank out the power. However, I love the downhill and tend to make up time there.
I enjoy playing the part of “sweet climber”. Seriously though, thanks for the mention, and we did 7 miles…really?! That Colorado standard is fun but intense. Gotta do it again though, great times for sure.
Really 🙂 7 miles, my friend! Were you thinking more or less?
Dang I have yet to bike terrain like that on my new bike. I have to discover some in WA and do it! Looks like a lot of fun…
beautiful pictures, looks fun! 🙂
Aw, I miss Colorado sooooo bad! Your mountain biking trek looks like it was amazing! 🙂
What a great ride! I have always enjoyed mountain biking, but never felt very comfortable. Now that I live here, I am wanting to go more and more.
As far as clipless vs. flats…I have been riding in flats recently (just because we are commuting with the kids during the week). When I get my new bikes, I am going to use clipless more consistently. Those spikes HURT. I bailed off my bike a couple weeks ago and the pedal gouged my calf. I still have a knot on the back of my leg. Ouch!
Ooooh, that sounds like something I would do!
Sounds like a great ride! Really wish I’ve ridden more in Colorado!
I was scared to go clipless, but now I am scared to mountain bike not clipped in. I have my pedals set to release really easily, and I’ve never wrecked because I was clipped in (however, I have toppled over while standing still!), and when I have wrecked getting my feet off the pedals were a non issue. I do mostly cross country type, super serious downhill stuff doesn’t appeal to me.
I can definitely see where clipless are ideal on cross country– I’ll admit, the thought of riding without them definitely makes me nervous because I’ve ridden clipless for at least 10 years now! I just wonder if the other type will make me more confident on tricky tech spots….hmmm. Guess I’ll have to try!
I have those hybrid pedals where one side in the clipless part, the other side is a platform. They really helped when I was first learning, and even now if I get on a trail I am not familiar with or one that is really technical I just flip the pedals over. I’m not sure how well that’ll work when I finally get different MTB shoes, though.
Still so jealous ya’ll got to meet up. Looks like an excellent ride!