409 and 409.5 Loop With Add-ons!
This was a pretty big day. We rode Walrod Cutoff Trail, up 409 to Point Lookout, 409.5, Strand Hill, Canal Trail, 409, and down the Walrod switchbacks back “home”. It was 23 miles and 4,600′ of climbing. That’s a lot, and it felt like it.
I feel like a broken record after almost 3 weeks of riding here, but you can see from the pictures that everything is scenic. Flowers, massive views, mountains, and fun trails. After all these steep long downhills, Derek had to put new brake pads on our bikes.
Deer Creek Loop
We were split on our impressions of this ride. The loop was 28 miles with 3,600′ of climbing. Deer Creek Trail seemed to be a lesser used trail that cut between Brush Creek and Gothic Road. It was a steady climb up switchbacks and traversing the mountain as usual, with big views of Mt. Crested Butte and the east river valley. It had a very remote feeling and we only saw a couple bow hunters, and about 100 cows. Every so often cows would be laying all over the trail and I’d have to coax them out of the way. Once we hit Gothic we rode back to Mt Crested Butte and caught some fun technical trails that kept us on our toes all the way to Brush Creek road where we pedaled back to camp.
you are going to need more than new brake pads with all the wear and tear on those bikes. You guys need a
back up team of bikes.