The
Redstone crew headed to Lefthand Canyon in search of dry or frozen trails. Riding this late in the evening & in areas we have been thinking would freeze and firm up. This winter has been tough with the the trails holding water & the temps staying warm creating muddy & unrideable trail conditions.
The conditions have forced trail closures along the front range....here is the most recent:
This winter is taking a toll on our trails. While Picture Rock and Wild Turkey remain closed, open trails on Heil and Hall Ranches are being seriously impacted by users widening and damaging the trail trying to avoid the mud.
This freeze/thaw cycle that our frontcountry lands have been enduring creates a perfect storm of damage that could take years to recover from.
Please, if you have to use the trails, ride THROUGH the mud, not around it. Better yet, BMA suggests that you go discover the network of hard surface trails throughout the County and Denver Metro area and give our singletrack a break.
To our knowledge, the only good riding to be had this weekend in Colorado is at Lake Pueblo State Park. Conditions are dry and wonderful there
We headed up the frozen jeep road pretty stoked to see it well frozen & packed.
At the sharp swithback to traverse to the single track it was packed in by a few 4-wheelers & plenty frozen. The ride took on a persona at this point, a bit more snow that turned the riding into lean back & surf the drifts...good stuff. My
Spot Brand Longboard CDS single speed is getting the
Maverick fork worked on so I'm cheating a bit riding a
longboard 9. Turned out to be pretty nice on the steeps of the climb.
Once we reached the single track we found variable conditions...snow drifts, dry/frozen dirt and some packed trails. Up top there was no traffic & we got the best freshies of my snow lacking winter. I went over the bars gently 3 times while encountering differing depths of drifts, fun stuff.
The further down we dropped the better the trails got as well...
...until Dirty Doug hit well packed trails.
A satisfying ride during this time of poor trail conditions.
Of course we headed to OB for Apres ride food, beer & music with previous Lyons local Jefferson Hamer mixin' it up with his old crew.
Let's all take care of the delicate trail situation we have here in the front range & save the trails for better future conditions...until then here's a toast of ale to winter riding.
Dale gettin' dep in the corner...
tooo deep...
way too deep...
Chad cuttin' 'er up trying to stay on the bike.
