So the inevitable has arrived… No more skiing!!! (For most of us anyway.) What is a person to do with themselves when they dedicate an entire lifetime and focus to a single sport, but find themselves cut short on a yearly basis? (I say this only because there are a select few with the proper knowledge and skill that it requires to stay out longer than the rest of us and seek out those last turns of the season.) Well… if you live in Durango, you break out the bike, most of who probably did months ago, and start to pedal!
It is summer training season. Time to get in shape for the first of turns to come next year. Some people see this in the opposite way, where skiing is a way to stay in shape for the bike season, but that is neither here nor there. Let us talk about why this article was really written..We follow the frozen water.
I was supposed to be spending the weekend in Fruita, CO for the weekend with a couple of family members and friends. Plans do not always seem to work out in your favor, and due to several imposing factors I did not make it. I was bummed, but I was determined to not let that destroy my weekend.
I wind up going out on Friday night and diving a bit deeper into the abyss than was planned. Everyone else seemed to do the same, because all the people that said they wanted to go biking… did not make it biking.
Saturday morning rolls around and I feel extremely lazy as I lay in bed. It doesn’t matter. I have places to be. I told people we were biking last night. Time to get moving.
After all was said and done it was Ryder and I. We decided to ride up the Colorado Trail via. Hoffheins connection. This was the first that I have ridden in this area of Durango. Do not ask me why… I have been here for 7 years and just never managed to make it (riding bikes in Durango is a new adventure everyday. there is always something new to check out right in your own backyard.).
We made it to the trail debating whether or not wind would be a factor. It was not. As soon as we started ascending, we dipped into the trees. We also dipped into some of the most fun, smooth, and manicured singletrack that I have ever ridden. This is the type of trail that you dream about… hooking your tires up around mini-berms and wheeling through dips at ridiculous speeds. We pedaled for a solid three hours. Straight up Hoffheins and then right on up the Colorado Trail.
Ryder and I pedaled a lot further than I ever would have imagined that we would make it this day ( I was extremely hungover mind you…that disappeared after about an hour of pedaling). We pedaled about eight to nine miles up today, and finally have to call it quits when we reach snow that we can no longer pass. We were pretty bummed out at this point. Neither of us were ready to turn back, but after several snow fields every 50 yards, you just can’t pedal anymore.
Silver Mountain
After a short break we turn the bikes around and start to descend. This section of trail is amazing. We attempt the no pedal-no brake, but some corners are just too tight. The singletrack is amazing though. Smooth and flowing. The descent never seems to last as long as I want it to. It is over much quicker than I had anticipated. We were moving pretty fast though.
We retire to the house and BBQ some dinner, and start talking about the next ride for tomorrow. We really come up with nothing. Maybe we are too tired to think?
We wake and mill about the house as we talk about where to ride. We decide that we are going to try and access the Indian Ridge trail at the top of the Hotel Draw road to the west of Purgatory. We quickly find out the access gate is closed and we cannot make back there. Our original plan is shot.
We decide to take a drive up Coalbank Pass and over to the top of Molas Pass. We do a little scouting and decide that we will have to drop in elevation to get any pedaling in.
The view looking west from the top of Molas Pass
We finally pull over and check out the Engineer Mountain Trailhead. Looks dry. We start unloading bikes and throw on a couple extra layers. The wind was howling and the temperature had dropped. Off we go.
The climb up this trail is not exactly friendly. It is steep and it is long. Combined with the wind, this made for some heavy duty pedaling.
Gorgeous Views & Great Singletrack. Ryder Okumura pedaling.
The top of Engineer Mountain in the distance
Ryder pedaling round the pond.
We keep at the pedaling for a while and really start to gain some elevation. For some reason my chain decided that it would best to snap and cover itself in dirt about halfway up. So we break, fix my chain and eat some snacks.
Broken Chain
Myself fixing my chain.
Back to it. We continue climbing for about another hour or so, and then it happens again. The trail disappears into a snow field. We climb through several of them, in hopes that the trail will open up into a meadow again, but just like the previous day the higher we go the more snow drifts there are to pass.
Not an enormous obstacle, but when trail disappears into these every 50 yards...Time to turn around.
It is somewhat anticlimactic at the top. We were hoping to pop out of the forest and have a clear view of Engineer, but it just never happened. I was somewhat disappointed, but knowing that I have miles of amazing singletrack to rip down brings the stoke right back up.
Looking east to the Needle Mountains. Some of the most gnarly and beautiful mountains in there.
Looking south. Purgatory is the last horizon on the right. HWY 550.
And so it begins again! Our descent. This is one of the first times that I have ever stopped and taken pictures on a descent. I am usually having so much fun that I just keep going. Don’t get me wrong…I had an awesome time on this one too, but felt like this ride needed some documentation.
Myself demonstrating the proper way to split seas.
Ryder ripping down.
Super smooth singletrack. Brraaaaaapppppp!
We messed around a little on the way down with some follow cam footage, but quickly figured out we need something more stable. Watching the video later almost made me sick. It was quite dizzying.
We got back to the car and had a few post-ride beers before heading back to town. We decide that there are so many more rides that need to be done before the summer is over so we plan to try and mission every single weekend. There is so much to ride here with so little time. There is a plethora of trails in the San Juan’s, the La Plata’s and all surrounding areas.
Post-Ride Beers are delicious!
At this particular time in the season we unintentionally find ourselves Following the Frozen Water!
I wasn’t exactly looking for the rock drops, but I came out of this a little too hot and missed the light sweeping left and lost grip on the right. I wound up blowing through that tree at the bottom. Several branches and about 10 feet lower, I crawl from the mangled bike and start laughing unscathed. Lucky. A few more feet to the right and I would be hugging the trunk.
A quick break at the top and we shred hard all the way down. There are some of the most fun sections of trail I have ever ridden on this trail. Also some of the most technical downhill sections. They are not fast moving sections, but what you lack in speed you make up for in having to balance and essentially ride trials through some of the sections. Needless to say…We had an awesome time.
We finished the out the ride and rallied up the shuttle vehicles and convened at the Moab Brewery for a final meal and well deserved beer. All in all it was a successful weekend. Lots of shredding. Lots of fun. New friends. And to top it all off… Ryder and I were not passed once on a trail (we did manage to pass quite a few others though).
I was skeptical about the ski-ability as I traveled north over Molas & Coalbank pass. It was looking thin. To my surprise though, we pass through Silverton and up into Velocity Basin to find an ample amount of snow for being only the 9th of October.
So we chug. Then we shred. The first half of the chute was wind-loaded and we were ripping through face-shots. I just wish that were the case for the second half. The second half was slowly sliding over rocks covered in 3″ of snow. My skis hate me, but I got to shred. One more storm or so and we should be in a bit better shape.
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