Something for everyone down at the Lake
I think I may have used this title in the past, but when it comes to the riding down at Lake Pueblo, it's the truth. I am reminded of that every time we make the trek down there; how varied the terrain and trails are out there. There really is something for everyone there - flat, easy and fast, sinuous and twisty along the cliff edges, or the canyon descents. Want the fast stuff - head west to the isolated Voodoo Loop. A little more twisty and view inspired? I like Outer Limits and the new Inner limits for that. And if rocks are your thing (Like Nick) stay on the east side of the park where all the canyons are. There's been some sanitation from the trail fairies - smoothing out the lines, but there are still plenty of big drops and butt pucker moments. Nick also noticed that where there's been some sanitation, there's also been some really big lines created - bigger then what he wanted to ride that day. We spent two cool but sunny days down there last weekend, riding whatever we wanted and got to play on a little bit of everything.
Saturday was the mix day with a little more flat then canyon to warm up to Pueblo riding. We did a few fun drops then headed west one Mesa over. We drilled Outer Limits - always fun to put the pedal to metal on that trail and try not to wipe out on one of the tight turns. And with no one else on the trails, we were able to really fly around the corners. I wasn't the fastest on some of the punchy little climbs, but it was smoother then it's been. Finally, I was feeling the spunk coming back in my legs. The goofing off has worked for the recovery time. Onto Inner Limits and we chilled out again. A new sign marked the entrance to a trail we hadn't ridden before "The Buttes." Why not. Time for some exploring! The drop in even made Nick pause - it was all rideable, as long as you kept your speed and trusted your tires. Which we hadn't done since we didn't know where the trail went! Then the trail leveled out and meandered along the flats separating the Outer Limits mesa from a smaller line of buttes. We actually climbed right up below the rocky section of one of those buttes, hence the name of the trail! On the east side, after riding around the rocks, we reached the end of the trail. Two large flat rocks blocked further riding at that point - still a work in progress, I guess. The Pueblo MTB club does a really good job with developing and building new trails regularly. We turned around and took the southern exit back to Inner Limits - a steep rock slab climb that I didn't make. I ran out of gas about two thirds of the way up. Then it was back to the Arkansas Point area to play in the canyons until we didn't want to ride anymore!
Sunday was Nick's day. That meant the ride was more canyons and fun riding then race style riding. And it was a good change from the season. Up and down, up and down - over the rocks, around the rocks... I don't remember how many times we rode up Rock Canyon, but we dropped Sidewinder twice, Stonehenge once. We also did some of the flat trails between Route 96 and Pronghorn - after riding the log pile a few times. Then Nick decided he wanted to ride Log Drop instead of Waterfall. Okay - haven't ridden that one before! We also hit Broken Hip, Pinball, Free Ride, Keyhole Canyon (a few times). While I realize that some of the trails have been sanitized and made a little easier, I was still really happy to be able to ride it all. We were riding down (and up) things I would have walked even last winter. We spent over an hour just riding up and down the canyons. And I was having a blast the entire time. I was talking to myself the whole time - where to look, where to put my wheel and all over the weight shifting while on the bike. It sounds really silly, especially if someone's close enough to hear. But it works for me and gets me over the rocks. Can't ask for much more then that!
And I can't ask for a better weekend then riding some fun trails with my husband. Even if he did cut my head off in the only picture we took the whole time....
Saturday was the mix day with a little more flat then canyon to warm up to Pueblo riding. We did a few fun drops then headed west one Mesa over. We drilled Outer Limits - always fun to put the pedal to metal on that trail and try not to wipe out on one of the tight turns. And with no one else on the trails, we were able to really fly around the corners. I wasn't the fastest on some of the punchy little climbs, but it was smoother then it's been. Finally, I was feeling the spunk coming back in my legs. The goofing off has worked for the recovery time. Onto Inner Limits and we chilled out again. A new sign marked the entrance to a trail we hadn't ridden before "The Buttes." Why not. Time for some exploring! The drop in even made Nick pause - it was all rideable, as long as you kept your speed and trusted your tires. Which we hadn't done since we didn't know where the trail went! Then the trail leveled out and meandered along the flats separating the Outer Limits mesa from a smaller line of buttes. We actually climbed right up below the rocky section of one of those buttes, hence the name of the trail! On the east side, after riding around the rocks, we reached the end of the trail. Two large flat rocks blocked further riding at that point - still a work in progress, I guess. The Pueblo MTB club does a really good job with developing and building new trails regularly. We turned around and took the southern exit back to Inner Limits - a steep rock slab climb that I didn't make. I ran out of gas about two thirds of the way up. Then it was back to the Arkansas Point area to play in the canyons until we didn't want to ride anymore!
Sunday was Nick's day. That meant the ride was more canyons and fun riding then race style riding. And it was a good change from the season. Up and down, up and down - over the rocks, around the rocks... I don't remember how many times we rode up Rock Canyon, but we dropped Sidewinder twice, Stonehenge once. We also did some of the flat trails between Route 96 and Pronghorn - after riding the log pile a few times. Then Nick decided he wanted to ride Log Drop instead of Waterfall. Okay - haven't ridden that one before! We also hit Broken Hip, Pinball, Free Ride, Keyhole Canyon (a few times). While I realize that some of the trails have been sanitized and made a little easier, I was still really happy to be able to ride it all. We were riding down (and up) things I would have walked even last winter. We spent over an hour just riding up and down the canyons. And I was having a blast the entire time. I was talking to myself the whole time - where to look, where to put my wheel and all over the weight shifting while on the bike. It sounds really silly, especially if someone's close enough to hear. But it works for me and gets me over the rocks. Can't ask for much more then that!
And I can't ask for a better weekend then riding some fun trails with my husband. Even if he did cut my head off in the only picture we took the whole time....
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