Beautiful October Mountain Bike Ride

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Today more then made up for last weekend. It was already 60 degrees out at 8:30, and looked to be warming up fast. I rode with Tracy H, on Buckhorn and Captn Jacks. It was such fun - a perfect day for a ride, and just the two of us. The boys went off to do something longer and more insane - Jone's Downhill.

I rode up to Stratton with Nick, then the group rode to the Buckhorn turnoff together. There were eight of us total, and we must have looked like a band of mountain bike ruffians heading up Gold Camp road. There wasn't as much traffic on Gold Camp as I expected, but the main parking lot was packed!! There were cars down Cheyenne Canyon road, double parked in the dirt. I almost thought we were at the mall the day of some huge sale. What do we expect, with this being such a nice weekend?

The first part of Gold Camp was a little crowded, but once Tracy and I turned off onto Buckhorn, we had the trail to ourselves. We saw two hikers on the ride up. It was very loose and gravely today. I was happy Nick had put the monster tires on the Era. I needed all the traction I could get on that stuff. It was also a good reminder to work on the even power so I didn't spin out on the gravel. At the top of Buckhorn, we met two guys who were continuing up to ride down 666. Those were the only other mountain bikers we saw. Coming down Captn Jacks was tricky because of the loose conditions. Even more thankful for the beefcake tires. I was able to ride through the sand piles without skidding nearly as much. I still didn't manage to clean the uphill section. When we popped out into the parking lot, there was a herd of motorbikes getting ready to head up. Tracy and I timed it just right - Nick and his group met up with the moto guys on the trail.

Hopefully the weather will hold long enough for me to get a few more good sessions in on the Cervelo. Love the mountain biking, but I need some time in aero before Silverman

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