Warm again

Last week, the weather forecasters predicted that we would receive up to 8 inches of snow on Thursday and Friday. Flights were canceled at the airport in precaution. I guess they didn't want another Jet Blue fiasco to rear its ugly head in Denver. In reality, the storm went well south of Denver and most of the front range. We had beautiful weather for the weekend.

A buddy of mine from college, "Snack-size", came down from Breckenridge to enjoy the fantastic weather and get away from the spring break shenanigans up there. He's been getting back into Mountain Biking and just purchased a second hand Santa Cruz Blur. The bike looks brand new. We decided to ride Heil Valley Ranch with a couple of his friends from grad school. I scrambled to get the Green Hornet (my Bontrager) back in working order as it hadn't been ridden in over three years. To my surprise, it wasn't in half bad shape. I degreased the chain, added new lube, adjusted the derailleurs, pumped up the tires and trued the wheels as best I could. Luckily, I had the rest of my gear ready go.

The best part of getting ready to ride was that Postman Roger was spinning some fine Reggae tunes on Reggae Bloodlines. I was able to listen to the rest of the show as I was on my way down the hill to Heil Ranch. "Snack" had just got to the trail as I drove up. Seeing that they all had new full squish mountain bikes, I got a little nervous. However, once on the trail I held my own.

It's a very well maintained trail that could be considered beginner level. Perfect for my first day back in the saddle. The first section is called Wapiti trail and offers a 2.5 mile climb of 800 vertical feet. It was gradual enough that I didn't feel like I had to stop and rest. There are very few technical climbing sections (virtually none except I'm out of shape!!) on this trail. At the top of Wapiti, the trail splits into the 2.6 mile Ponderosa loop. It's a nice spin with very little climbing and a gradual downhill. There is a nice overlook in the middle. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but you can imagine! Apparently, the city of Lyons will be connecting a trail to Heil Valley Ranch at some point. When we got back to the Wapiti trail, the full suspension gang left me in the dust. I caught up to them when Forest broke his rear derailleur off his bike. A little trail side bicycle repair and we were back on our way.

Overall, a very uneventful ride. It definitely gave me mountain bike fever! "Snack" stayed at our house that night and we listened to some great music and caught up. On Sunday, we drank a bunch of coffee and all went down to Bohn Park in Lyons. Arjen had a ball on the playground equipment and Ab got acquainted with some more Lyons moms. We had lunch at Oskar's and cruise up home for nap time.

During nap time I went down to Red Stone Cyclery to talk to Dave about a new bike. He recommended the Turner Flux over the Five Spot. He let me ride his Large Flux around town and I think an XL would be perfect. We're going to be talking over the next few days to get everything ironed out. He also invited me to go on the shop ride on Tuesday. I think I'm going to get abused!