It seems a few days of riding slipped through over the past week without us doing a post so here they are. Cottonwood Loop Just on the other side of the river from downtown Salida is a tremendous trail network called Arkansas Hill Trail System. On two different days we rode the Big Cottonwood Loop …
For our 21st wedding anniversary we rode Monarch Crest/Fooses, made pizza for dinner, brownies for dessert, and a special beer to celebrate. What a day! Fooses is yet another trail off the Monarch Crest in Salida, CO. We rode everything else and this was the last loop we planned to ride up there. It isn’t …
We rode a Colorado Trail/Silver Creek/Rainbow Loop that really has my heart. Our loop was 30.5 miles with 4371′ of climbing. Not a small ride. The loop starts with a ride out Marshall Pass Road and then we turned left on the gravel/rock Poncha Creek Road. Sure it starts all friendly and wide with a …
Exploring Ride Salida hosts a gravel bike race, well, it was canceled due to the pandemic, but I downloaded the map from the website and we attempted the ride. Our ride was 29.7 miles with 3584′ of climbing all on gravel roads up above Salida. Not wanting to deal with people, we shortcutted the ride …
Last year when we were in Salida these trails were still under snow in July and we didn’t get to ride them. This year they are open! This loop is a beast at 36 miles with 4635’ of climbing. Most people ride Monarch Crest as a shuttle but we don’t have that luxury so we …
Derek and I rode the Alpine Trail Loop outside of St. Elmo, Colorado about 16 years ago and remembered how cool it was so we decided to ride it again. Our loop was 20.5 miles with 2890′ of climbing reaching a high point of 12320′. We waited for a day when there was zero chance …
Starvation Creek Trail is fantastically primitive and challenging. We looped it by climbing up Marshall Pass, riding the Colorado Trail for a bit, and then hanging a left to descend Starvation Creek. What a beautiful loop! 24.5 miles with 3,206′ of climbing. Marshall Pass is a fairly easy climb up a good gravel road. We …
We like mountain lakes and on the map, this ride had a couple. Plus, it passes through yet more beautiful mountain scapes via high alpine riding. Our ride to Hancock Lake wasn’t very far but it was very challenging. 11.4 miles with 2468′ of climbing. We started up by Monarch Pass and climbed FS 230 …
Last year when we were in Salida for July we rode some of the trails on Methodist Mountain. These trails are purpose built for mountain biking and very close to town. The other day we rode out there again and put together trails amounting to 21 miles and 2657′ of climbing. We started by riding …
Our new boondocking home for the next couple weeks in Poncha Springs, Colorado is coincidentally the exact same spot we stayed in last year. It’s nice and quiet with good views of the mountains. We wasted no time in picking our first ride in the area. Last year there was way more snow and a …