Mountain Biking - (A tiny bit) In the Mountains!

Bikes have been a love affair of mine since I was in my early teens. My biological mother bought me a 12-speed Schwinn when they first came out.  See "Schwinn Traveler:" http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1984.html  Mine was the girl's version, and was burgundy.  I dreamed of getting panniers for that bike, and I learned all about how to take care of it mechanically.  I rode a sesquicentennial bike ride from Dexter to Ann Arbor with my folks, when I was probably 14. LOVED that bike, loved riding.  It was before I could my (much anticipated) driver's license, and the sense of freedom, and the connection to the outdoors and the countryside, was exhilarating.  That's a feeling that's stayed with me through the years.

In about 1991, an old ex boyfriend of mine owed me a lot of money, and we agreed that he'd buy me a (then completely badass and cutting edge) Scott mountain bike (not my pic, but that's the bike):

I loved that bike so much.  Back then, tubes just weren't that fat. This was one of the first of its kind, right when mountain bikes were becoming main stream.  It retailed for about $900.  That was a lot back then.  I rode around Boulder with it as much as I could.  The guy that bought it was a total showoff, and would make fun of me for not being able to ride mine like he could ride his. (He had an extensive motocross/enduro background, so duh.)  I moved the bike to Maryland with me after I got married (not to the guy that bought the bike, but not much better, either...).  Several years later, when it was time to move back to Colorado, there was literally NO more room on the moving van so, feeling as though I had no choice, I sadly opted to give the bike away to the wife of one of the guys Chris worked with.

I have only dreamed of being able to actually ride my bike it the mountains.  This past Sunday, friends Aaron and Ryan and I went for a bike ride up Waterton Canyon, and did a tiny part of the Colorado Trail.  Aaron is a total badass on a mountain bike - he can bunny hop stairs, and he loves flying down the mountains.  Ryan is a badass (competitive) endurance athlete, and could climb like crazy, but didn't have a lot of experience with the technical aspect (though he still made it look effortless). We went here:  http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/waterton-canyon.html.  We did the Lenny's Rest loop, at the end of the canyon road.  Just a little taste of the Colorado Trail.  About half of it was snow packed.  We went from trekking though snow up to our ankles, to carrying our bikes though shin-to- knee-deep snow.

First, while we were waiting for Aaron:

Here are Ryan and my bikes:

Sheep, not giving even the tiniest of fucks that there are people everywhere:

The South Platte River, with duckies (canvas backs, I feel like):

Here is the sign for the beginning of the Colorado Trail:

The steep switchbacks at the beginning of the trail:

The second half of Lenny's Loop - where we were hiking/carrying our bikes.

It was a GREAT day. We rode from 12:00-4:00, and covered 17 miles.  I hiked a LOT of it.  However, I actually did better than I thought I would, and I can't wait to go back over and over again this summer (maybe even on the way home from work during the week) and try to ride a little more of it each time, until I can successfully complete the entire loop in the saddle.  That's my goal for this summer. It'll take a lot less than four hours, regardless of how much I ride, once the snow's all melted.