While technically part of the Colorado Trail, the section from CO Highway 285 to Georgia Pass is commonly referred to simply as the Kenosha Pass Trail, and is typically ridden as an out and back. It features 24 miles of signature Colorado Singletrack and includes roots, rocks, creek crossings, stunning scenery, a long, death march climb going in, some fast, twisty downhill and a steep, soul crushing climb on the way back out. Add in the likelihood of rain or hail, the chance to see some fall foliage, and the fact that there are no feasible bailout points, and it has everything required for an epic day on the bike.

Photo by Bamboo

There are a couple of moderately technical rocky sections, with the rest of the trail being totally rideable; the main challenge here is the altitude and sustained climbing. Total climbing is around 4,000 feet, and almost all of the trail is above 10,000 feet elevation, only dropping to 9,800 for about 2 miles. As an out and back, beginners can have a go at it and just turn around when they run out of steam. Solid intermediate or expert riders should have no problem making it all the way to Georgia Pass.

Navigation is easy: when you come to a fireroad, cross it, and there are only three trail intersections. In each case, make the turn that keeps you on the Colorado Trail and leads to Georgia Pass. All three intersections are well marked. Two of them are close together and about one third of the way in, the last is almost at the top, within sight of the Pass.

Once at the top, put on a jacket, take some photos, eat some snacks and then decide how you want to descend. You can retrace your steps, or take a left at the intersection and come down Jefferson Creek Trail. Jefferson starts out as extremely narrow singletrack across an alpine meadow, some of it with stone blocks placed similarly to trails in the UK. Once you drop into the trees, it is rooty, rocky, and has some tight switchbacks. The terrain from here to where it rejoins the main trail sort of reminds me of Golden Gate Canyon. Personally, I prefer coming down the main trail, but Jefferson is fun and should be tried at least once.

Getting there

From Denver, take CO Highway 285 to Kenosha Pass. There’s a sign on the right, and parking on both sides of the highway. There is a bathroom across the highway about a quarter mile in on the dirt road. The bathroom just in from the trailhead is technically for the campground residents, not for day use.

What to bring

Plan on 3 – 5 hours in the saddle, and count on the weather changing dramatically. You will want warm clothing, lots of water and enough food to keep you going over extensive climbing at high altitude. With all the roots and rocks, bring flat repair stuff as well as tools and miscellaneous items for common trailside repairs.

Precautions

Cell service in this area is very spotty, so tell someone where you are going! Ride smart, pay attention, and know your limits. A Flight for Life helicopter ride is expensive, and they leave your bike by the side of the trail.

The Kenosha Pass section of the Colorado trail is long, rugged and beautiful. If it’s on your wishlist, now is the time to ride it before the snow sets in next month!

After an mellow morning ride on the Lower Loop in Crested Butte, we returned to our campsite at the Oh-Be-Joyful campground for some lunch and a well-deserved break. Since it was our first full day in Crested Butte, I wasn’t about to let a full afternoon go by without getting at least one more ride in! We perused the guidebook, and settled on a ride that came highly recommended by Singletracks.com, the book, and the locals: the Dyke Trail.

We parked the truck at a junction in the forest service roads, and as we were preparing to hop on and start grinding up the gravel road, Andrew spotted a small group of riders pedaling through a grassy meadow just up the hill from us. They were heading in the direction we wanted to go, and they weren’t on the road… but there was no trail marked on our map.

What the heck. We decided to pedal up the opposite direction to see if we could find this mystery trail, hopefully increasing the singletrack-to-gravel ratio of our ride.

Mission accomplished! We picked up this narrow trail in less than a mile, turned, and started following it through the meadow. Marked as the “Kebler Wagon Trail” and clearly signed as bike-legal, this narrow strip of dirt obviously didn’t get much traffic. The thin slot of soil in the grass was rough and  bumpy in places as if it lacked the traffic to create real flow. Nevertheless, it was easy to follow.

Andrew on the narrow Wagon Trail.

If it received more traffic, this trail would have ridden much better.

This section of the Kebler Wagon Trail only lasted for about a mile, and then it was back to the gravel road as we ground up towards Lake Irwin.

Navigation had already been difficult up to this point, but figuring out where exactly the Dyke Trail began wasn’t easy. It didn’t help that my map and my guidebook didn’t agree. And this wasn’t the only ride that I had conflicting messages coming from my navigational materials. We ended up climbing even more to the high point of our route at over 10,400 feet before we finally picked up the singletrack that was to be the focus of all of our efforts.

Singletrack Time!

With such a gorgeous view and the singletrack disappearing in the distance somewhere down the mountain, I was stoked to let ‘er rip!

The trail busted down through the meadow, and I was surprised to find that it was fairly rough and technical. None of the obstacles were very big as I was still able to bomb through pretty quickly on my hardtail 29er, but I found myself wishing I was riding a dualie so that I could coax a little more speed out of my rig. The entirety of the Dyke trail turned out to be rather rough and more technical than most of the other trails that we eventually rode in the area. At the end of the ride, though, we realized that the trail dumps out at a popular “horse camp.” That explained all the hoof prints, fecal matter, and general trail deterioration…

When we had reached the top and were preparing to drop in to the singletrack, we thought that most of the climbing was over. Oh, how wrong we were!

The rough, initial descent through the meadow ended fairly quickly as the trail crossed a steep-sided stream and shot straight up the hill on the other side. This was the way it was going to be for the next 4-6 miles: steep, rather technical descents feeding into steep climbs with more climbing and descending to follow. The up-down-up-down, especially at this elevation, was grueling. After a couple miles of this, we resorted to hike-a-bike on most of the steep ascents.

The downhills were well-worth the uphill effort, though!

Me, on the tail end of a rocky section. Note the sweet Singletracks jersey.

The Aspens

Colorado is famous for its aspen trees, and one of the largest aspen groves in the world lies outside of Crested Butte near Kebler Pass. Aspen trees grow from an interconnected root system, with each tree sharing identical genetic markers. As a result, all of the trees change colors at the exact same time. So, this grove of aspens is considered one giant organism, and as such it is one of the largest organisms in the world.

The Dyke Trail is one of the few (if not the only) bike-legal trails that runs through this massive aspen grove. It is truly an awe-inspiring experience to ride through tightly-clustered aspens that go on for miles, and to think that you are riding through one of the largest living things on the planet. This fact alone is reason enough to make the Dyke Trail a must-ride destination!

Since much of the trail is under heavy tree cover, the relatively thick vegetation (for Colorado) has created a bed of dark, tacky dirt that is just phenomenal to pedal on!

Singletrack Summit

After miles of grueling hike-a-bike followed by forearm-pumping descents, we finally reached the singletrack summit of the ride. We rewarded ourselves with a much-needed breather and a little snack as we absorbed the expansive views of the Colorado Rockies.

Finally, we were in for some real, uninterrupted downhill. Enough with the climbing: it was time to shred. It was time to enjoy some gravity-fueled speed. This is what I mountain bike for: and it was glorious!

The trail plummeted straight down the side of the mountain. There were no pretensions of undulating flow–this was a brake-burning race to the finish filled with plenty of rocks, washouts, drops, switchbacks, and more gnar and elevation loss than you can shake a rigid rear end at! After thoroughly pumping both my forearms and my heart to the max,  it was over.

The Climb

Here’s what we didn’t realize when we began this ride: we did not park at the low point of the route. After finishing with the singletrack and hitting the Kebler Pass road (much of which was paved), we knew we would have to climb a bit to the top of the pass and descend back down to the truck… we just didn’t know that this climb to the top of the pass would be the biggest climb of the ride!

By this point, we were already thoroughly buried in the pain cave. That climb back up to the top of the pass is probably one of the top 5 most painful things I’ve done on a mountain bike this summer. And for me, being an avid mountain biker with a lot of miles in my legs, that’s saying something. For Andrew, who was only riding a mountain bike for the third time ever, this was something else entirely.

I think it is safe to say that he acquired a new appreciation of the words “pain” and “misery” on that long mountain climb. Not only was he in the pain cave, but a rock slide had covered the entrance and he was buried alive.

To make things even more fun, a couple miles up the road it started to rain. And by the time I reached the pass, it was down-right pouring.

I sat on the pass for almost half an hour waiting for Andrew to appear. Finally, I spotted him in the distance as he slowly made his way up the road. I felt truly sorry that this had to be one of his first mountain bike experiences, but I was seriously impressed with how he had persevered. By the time we finished this ride on the Dyke Trail, we had ridden almost 30 miles at over 9,000 feet of elevation that day.

Finally, we were descending down the backside of the pass, on the homestretch to our truck. But as I mentioned above, we were really surprised to only descend for about one mile before reaching the vehicle and finally getting out of the saddle.

Elevation Profile

This ride provides a true example of a brutal elevation profile:

Let me break it down for you:

It would have been much a much easier ride if we had driven over the pass and parked at the bottom of the singletrack, but it would still have been a brutal mountain biking foray. Anything with this much elevation change this quickly, and repeatedly throughout the ride, is bound to be difficult!

As we loaded the bikes onto the rack, I was glad that we had ridden that trail, but if we didn’t have to face anything that challenging the rest of the week, I’d be totally fine with it!

A few weeks back I had a chance to go on a road trip down to Seven Springs in Pennsylvania with my buddies. I was so stoked to pack up the gear and take that 7-hour drive from my home to Seven Springs, especially since I didn’t have to drive my car. Packing up the gear in my buddy’s pick-up took a bit of time but we had to make sure nothing moved (a lot of damage could occur just during transportation). So in the end with all the spares (shocks, springs, cranks, cables, nuts, bolts, brakes, and any other part you could possibly think of), tools, bikes (spare ride included), armor, clothing, and food, you can see that the truck got pretty full.

From Toronto the trip to to the Super 8 near Seven Springs took about 8 hours including various “scheduled” stops. Needless to say, we were baked at the end of the day. We still had to unpack the truck and basically sleep with our gear. I don’t know about you but $30,000 worth of gear open for all to see is a bit too much of a temptation. So that hour was spent for good measure. Of course after a long ride we were tired but still stoked because the next morning we knew we’d be out hitting the slopes. There was another hour or two of chatting it up and watching bike videos until finally the Red Bull / Monster concoction that we had on the drive down wore off.

Arriving at Seven Springs there was the obligatory buddy shot (*tip* take camera shots before you hit the slopes, things tend to break soon after), on the rocks which I almost overlooked; fortunately my buddy Jay saw the shot. This is where a good camera, proper lighting, and a tripod come in handy. It took a bit of running and setting up white balance as well as proper exposure to get this shot but it did turn out well.  For this shot I used a 24-70 lens with a f2.8 minimum aperture. I had fun taking the shot and playing around on the computer to change up the look of the shot.

Seven Springs offers a good mix of slopes to ride, from easy blue dot trails (007) to more complex and techy diamond and double-diamond runs (Frankenstein and EC1 – upper and lower). In fact the DH runs were so much fun I found it hard to stop and get my camera out to take pics. On the second day of our trip I hung out on the collector a bit and took some shots of my friends and some other folks clearing the awesome 25ft tables.

The slopes offer good vantage points for taking great shots, especially with a fast lens like a 24-70 f2.8

The next shot is of my two riding buddies just playing in the air – with a table top jump you get a lot of hang time. It’s almost enough time to start thinking about life. The funny thing about the tables at Seven Spring is the first few times the kicker tends to buck you slightly forward. But once you got used to it you were in for a lot of fun!

At the top of the slopes at Seven Springs there are some great trail features. The Burner line has three back-to-back features which, when hit properly, are super smooth. You come in and hit a step down wooden drop, followed by a rainbow bridge about 6ft+ high in the air, and then hit a picnic bench jump. Once you land that you have a super smooth wooden berm which then merges you into trail EC1 (upper). Lots of fun.

On the lower section of EC1 there is a mandatory roll-over drop into a quick right hand berm which will make most people think twice. I did hit it and made it but it was one of those features that I had to say OK, did it, not doing it again. A bit sketchy but that’s part of the charm. I do have to give props to the trial builders at Seven Springs as they really did a great job at using what they had. With limited elevation they still managed to make some sweet fast runs. The wood-to-wood features were all well built and flowy.

Now the only thing that bothered me a bit was the shuttle up; there is a lift but only on the weekends and only when there are enough riders to turn it on. The trailer, in my opinion, did not have enough padding to keep the bikes safe. On one of my bikes the brake line was bashed hard enough to crack the inner liner and cause it to leak. They did offer to refund my money but I was more interested in getting a new line and riding. Luckily we had spare parts with us and ended up fixing the bike ourselves and continued on the day.

Lift passes cost about $30 Mon- Thurs and $35 from Fri- Sun. There are DH bikes and equipment you can rent at the resort – $85 for the full day rental on the bikes and $25 for the armor package. The bikes were Jamis BAM’s from what I saw displayed. As far as looking good, the retail side sells Oakley, Fox and Dakine gear at a decent price too.

If you’re in the area, check out Seven Springs and consider bringing the family along. Visit their website for more details on biking and other summer activities.

Crested Butte is legendary as one of the birth places of mountain biking. While Marin, California may receive most of the fame (infamy?), Crested Butte was also one of the places that the earliest mountain bike pioneers called home. Unlike Marin, Crested Butte has maintained its legendary status with the oldest mountain bike club in the world, CBMBA, and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. The quality of the trails in the area back up this rich history: the greater Crested Butte area may boast one of the highest concentrations of singletrack anywhere in the United States, perhaps in the world!

Traditionally, Crested Butte has been strictly known for massive cross-country rides at lung-taxing altitudes on singletrack that sports truly epic views. However, that may be slowly changing.

Enter Evolution Bike Park.

Christian Robertson on the Timeline trail.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has been running their lifts for mountain bikers for 8 or 9 years now, but up until just 3 years ago, the runs consisted of old hiking trails and cattle paths – they were anything but mountain bike-friendly. In 2008 CBMR made the decision to hire on a crew of full-time workers to build and maintain a park designed specifically for downhill mountain biking, and Evolution Bike Park was born.

Since that time, the bike park has grown at an astounding rate! It now boasts 25 miles of trails that are open to mountain bikes, and five of those trails have been purpose-built for downhill mountain biking and are closed to uphill riders and all other trail users. In 2009, CBMR logged 3,500 rider days; in 2010, that number jumped to 8,000. According to Christian Robertson, the bike park manager, they hope to log at least 10,000 rider days this year.

Over the past couple of years, CBMR has been a popular stop on the Mountain States Cup race series, and just this year they got certified with USA Cycling. As a result, CBMR has been added as a stop on the international-caliber Pro GRT race series.

My Experience Riding Evolution Bike Park

I was fortunate enough to be shown around the mountain by none other than Christian himself, and he was kind enough to let me pick his brain on the chairlift rides up the mountain. CBMR also hooked me up with a free pass, one of their Specialized Demo 8 rental bikes, and some body armor so I could get a true bike-park experience.

The Demo 8 performed superbly!

All kitted up, and ready to rip!

All of the mountain bike trails are serviced by a detachable high-speed quad, which means less time on the chairlift and more time on the mountain bike!

I was impressed by the number of groms tearing around the resort. Turns out there’s an organization in town called Gravity Groms.

Like everywhere else in Crested Butte, the views from the top of the lift are surreal!

Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of several of the trails that we rode:

Avery

Christian pinning it through one of the rock gardens.

Avery is Evolution Bike Park’s race course, and as such there is a little bit of everything incorporated into this top-to-bottom black diamond trail. You’ll find plenty of drops (including a 12-foot cliff), technical rock gardens, bridges, table-top jumps, big berms, off-camber turns, slick mud, a step down, and tons of roots. Basically anything you can imagine, Avery will throw at you!

After just one run down this trail, I knew it was my favorite run on the entire mountain. I absolutely love the variety and technical nature. And while it is challenging, I didn’t feel like I was going to die every time I rounded a turn.

Check out some of my GoPro footage from Avery:

Timeline

According to Christian, Timeline is the most popular trail on the mountain. Its design embodies what many people have come to expect in a fast, flowy jump trail. If you want to catch air and find your flow, Timeline is the place to do it! Almost every corner is bermed, rocks are few and far between, and the jumps vary from small kickers to table tops to massive cheese-wedge booters.

Christian Robertson.

Christian Robertson.

Wood’s

Wood’s Trail is far out on the rider’s right-hand side of the resort and it takes a little pedal to get there and back – but it’s well worth the effort! The top of the trail starts off with a quick barrage of small jumps and berms, but lower down the trail straightens out and speeds up as it feeds into a massive pair of back-to-back wooden wall rides. The lower section of Wood’s is currently under construction, but it looks like it holds a fast line of medium-size jumps.

Be sure to check out the wall rides at 1:07-1:25:

Luge

Luge is the classic intermediate trail at CBMR, and it flows quickly down the mountain. True to its rating, it isn’t very difficult: this is a great warm-up run for advanced riders. Check out the video to get an idea of what it’s like:

Psycho Rocks

The only double-black trail at CBMR, Psycho Rocks is full of (you guessed it) rocks and drops. If you are looking for gnar, a real test of your suspension, or are possibly suicidal, drop into this technical whirlwind!

Check out this video (not mine) to get an idea of what kind of challenges this trail holds:

Final Thoughts

While the Evolution Bike Park is quickly turning Crested Butte into a downhill mountain biker’s paradise, the lifts can also be of use to those who are of a more cross-country persuasion. There are many trails at CBMR that are not downhill-specific, meaning they require more pedaling and are much smoother. Cross country riders can ride the lift up, and then hop on one of these less-challenging trails for a fun ride without nearly as much climbing! Since CBMR is adjacent to many of the other area trails lying outside of the resort boundary, you can truly build an epic XC ride with a fraction of the normal effort. While this might sound lazy to some, this can be a great benefit to riders coming from much lower elevation, and to those who just aren’t used to climbing very much. Epic trails like 401 still require a serious aerobic effort, though!

While they already have 25 miles of trails, Christian and the crew are not done building: Wood’s Trail is currently under construction, and they are hoping to break ground soon on another intermediate trail with mid-sized jumps to help riders progress their levitation abilities.

After I sprayed my bike off and returned it to the shop, I wondered to myself, “What is the most fun I’ve ever had on a mountain bike in a single day?” I’m not sure, but this day of shredding might have been it!

If you’re worried about the price of admission, well, you shouldn’t be. I was amazed at how affordable the riding is! A full-day lift ticket is only $35, and if you’re a beginner, you can get a package deal with a bike rental, lift ticket, and lesson for only $70! How sweet is that?

Many thanks to Christian Robertson, Erica Reiter, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort for the royal treatment!

When I first heard that the 2011 Singlespeed World Championships (SSWC) would be held in Ireland, I immediately marked down the date on my calendar hoping to make it to the race during my European tour. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the schedule work for the race, but I still wanted to go ride the trails on my own. After heading down the coast to Cork, I decided to make my way inland to the Ballyhoura mountains, where the SSWC would be held and home to some of the best mountain bike trails in Ireland. I arrived late Saturday afternoon with no place to stay for the night, but after talking to some of the locals that were out riding I was able to find a suitable place to camp just down the road from the trailhead.

The next morning, I stashed my things in the bushes and coasted down to the trailhead. The area has been made into a mountain bike ride center, with hot showers, a bike wash, and a bike rental/repair stand all located at the trailhead parking lot. The trails at Ballyhoura consist of five stacked loops meaning that each loop begins in the middle of the previous loop and rejoins it at a later point. Each loop is one way so the only decision for the rider to make is how long of a ride to do. Since I had all day to ride, I decided to do the longest option, 51km which includes all five trails.

The ride starts off weaving through conifer forests which were thick enough in places that I almost needed a headlight to follow the trail. The lack of light beneath the trees also meant that these sections of trails were slow to dry out and stayed muddy for the majority of the year, although there are a good number of rocks in the soil to keep things from getting too sloppy.

After a few miles of forest trails and dirt road climbs, I came to the split off for the white trail, which is the third of the five loops. This trail quickly became my favorite of the loops at Ballyhoura, with long fast descents through areas that have been logged in the past, leaving panoramic views along the entire trail. Since the trails here are only one way and do not allow hikers, it is easy to let go of the brakes on these long, straight downhills and really fly without having to worry about other riders coming from the opposite direction.

The lack of trees on this section of trail also caused the trail surface to be dramatically different. Since it was directly exposed to the sun, the trail was dusty and rocky. At times, the lack of trees and dusty trails made it feel like I was riding in the desert, although a look around at the patchwork farms and green landscape of the surrounding villages would quickly bring me back to reality.

After a couple of singletrack downhills and fire road climbs, the trail came to a long series of whoop-de-doos, essentially a kilometer-long pump track section. This was a nice change of pace from the rest of the trail, and added some variety to the ride.

I kept riding through the open fields, enjoying the scenery until I eventually reached the beginning of the red loop, the last of the five trails. This loop is the most strenuous of the five, starting with 5km of fast downhill trail and immediately followed by a 5km fire road climb back to the previous trail. Despite being considered mountains, the peaks in this area are not very high, so even long 5km climbs such as this one are not terribly difficult since there is not that much elevation to gain.

After riding the descent and climbing back out of the valley, I began the return back to the parking lot. Before long, I rejoined the brown loop and headed back into the forest. The trails here were much like the ones at the beginning of the ride, with muddy trails winding through the moss-covered forests. There were also several sections of marsh lands that were too wet to support trails, and instead had extended elevated boardwalk sections built above the ground. Despite being on the easiest rated trails, I found these boardwalks to be the sketchiest things to ride at Ballyhoura. Nevertheless, I was able to avoid falling into the swamp and finished the ride back at the parking lot.

After a full day of riding, I was ready to put the bike wash and showers to good use and cleaned up before eating some dinner back at my campsite. The trails at Ballyhoura have it all: twisty forest trails, open scenic sections, smooth singletrack, technical rock gardens, and man-made obstacles such as the elevated boardwalks and the pump track section of trail. These are all purpose-built trails made especially for mountain biking and when combined with excellent facilities located at the trailhead, it is easy for anyone in Ireland to come out and enjoy an afternoon of riding. Even if I’m not able to make it down for the SSWC party coming up soon, I think that I will definitely be back to ride these trails again at some point down the line.

I’m not sure if you know this, but Crested Butte is a long way from the Front Range of Colorado. It took us hours of driving (with a few stops thrown in) to make it to Crested Butte and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening running various errands in town, finding a campsite, and setting up camp. We weren’t able to hit singletrack again until the next morning.

The Goblin at the campsite, just itching to get out and shred!

The next morning, the ladies were interested in hitting the singletrack too, so I picked out a nice, easy ride that would hopefully still be fun for all: The Lower Loop. This would be my sister-in-law’s first mountain bike ride ever, and my wife only rides once in a great while, so I wasn’t really sure how things would go. This ride did have several convenient bailout options in case they weren’t up to the challenge.

According to the map, the trails started on the opposite side of the Slate River from the access road. It was a pretty serious mountain river, so I was a little worried that our posse would get deterred from our singletrack goal before we ever actually saw it. Fortunately, when we reached the trailhead we saw a sturdy wooden bridge spanning the river that would keep us well above the snowmelt.

Getting ready to ride!

According to the guidebook I was using, this route would be 9.9 miles long with only 475 feet of climbing. That’s flat – most rides in Georgia have more climbing than that! We decided to get most of the elevation out of the way early with a quick climb up the Gunsight Pass Road to the Upper Lower Loop trail. Despite the confusing names, we ended up on the right piece of singletrack.

Andrew on the Upper Lower Loop trail.

Finally, we were riding singletrack! Our camp was set up, we had 4 full days ahead of us with no more serious driving to do, and it was time to enjoy the trails that we had driven over 1,500 miles to ride! And these trails were so worth the effort, too. The dirt was perfectly tacky and the singletrack undulated along the side of the mountain like a gently flowing stream. It wasn’t gentle enough to completely turn the brain off, though: rocky sections would crop up unexpectedly, ensuring that we paid sufficient attention to where we were going. But of course, they just served to make things more interesting! I rocketed along this true singletrack roller coaster with utter reckless abandon!

Despite the great trail, I was a little distracted. I’m used to riding singletrack in the deep forests of North Georgia where scenic views are a rarity. My entire local trail system has maybe 2 or 3 spots that are worth a pause. Riding in Crested Butte was entirely different! Save for the occasional stand of aspen trees, the trail ran through lush, green mountain meadows. The entire valley around the sinuous blue strand of the Slate River was colored in various shades of green and ringing it in were gray rocky peaks towering majestically over us small creatures and our wheels. The scene was truly phenomenal!

I stopped for a minute to take in the grandeur and shoot a couple photos when I realized that I had dropped everyone long ago. But in a minute, Andrew came pedaling up.

Sometimes I think that as advanced mountain bikers we sometimes take our skills for granted. I know I forget how challenging even relatively smooth singletrack can be to a beginner. As I waited for everyone else to catch up, I reminded myself to dial it back a little bit and just enjoy the trail and the company!

Mount Crested Butte in the distance.

As we approached the junction with the Lower Lower Loop trail, I spotted an option with a berm running into a little jump.

Despite the fact that I was riding a hardtail 29er, I had to at least give it a shot:

I couldn’t get the kind of pop I wanted off of such a small lip with such big wheels, but it was fun to try!

When we reached the big junction near the Lower Lower Loop trail, we realized that we had a number of different options. We found a wide, graveled doubletrack leading to town as well as a narrower, rockier section of singletrack. Naturally, I chose the singletrack.

After another mile or so of riding, we reached Peanut Lake Road, which would have taken us straight into town, but again we spotted another singletrack option off to the right. After a little more pedaling we had almost reached the town of Crested Butte, and trails began to branch off in all directions!

Crested Butte has its own little singletrack trail system attached directly to the west side of town with most every branch of trail dumping out on a different street. We dropped right off of the singletrack into a neat little neighborhood. I turned around and asked my wife, “Can we please buy that house?” as I pointed to a home that was literally 5 feet away from the beginning of the trail. How awesome would it be to have singletrack literally out your front door? Well, many of these houses do, and even if you live on the other side of town, you’re still less than 5 minutes of pedaling from the beginning of a trail. How cool is that?

Since we had pedaled all the way there, we decided to take a couple of minutes to cruise through downtown and check out some of the sights. I don’t want to go into it in too much detail in this post, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen as many bicycles in one town as I saw in Crested Butte.

A couple of the more interesting bikes we found.

After cruising around for a little while, we decided to hit the trail back to the truck so we could get some lunch. The first section on the way back was a repeat of what we had just ridden, and the ladies decided to stick to the smoother, easier trail while we men busted down the singletrack.

As we reached the junction with the split off onto the Lower Lower Loop trail which we hadn’t ridden yet, I thought we would have to continue on doubletrack for a ways until I spotted a singletrack splitting off to the left. Andrew followed me and we rode down it for a ways, until I heard some yelling behind me. I turned around to see my wife yelling that we had gone the wrong way, despite the fact that I was pretty sure we were riding in the right direction. However, they revolted, and continued on down the doubletrack while Andrew and I headed up into the woods on the singletrack. Since we were all heading the same direction, I was pretty sure we could meet up quickly.

This amazing section of trail must not have been the a part of the main loop, as it was much narrower and a little more technical than anything we had ridden so far. The singletrack dove into a tight aspen grove, threading through narrow gaps in the trees. The dirt was wonderfully dark and tacky. Yes, dark is an understatement: this was absolutely gorgeous black dirt. Georgia has nothing approaching the blissful tackiness of the black dirt hidden amongst Colorado’s gray aspen trees!

After a little bit of climbing through the aspens, the trail popped out into an open field and turned back down towards the doubletrack, losing what elevation we’d gained in a wonderful rush of wildflowers and bermed turns. All too suddenly, it was over.

In a couple of minutes we were reunited with our wonderfully strong-headed women and we picked up the last section of singletrack. The remainder of the Lower Lower Loop trail was just as swoopy as the Upper Lower Loop, if not even more so, with fewer rocks to navigate. It was also much closer to the Slate River, offering up even more breathtaking scenery that kept our eyes off the trail where they should have been.

We were almost done with our ride when I led us the wrong direction up an unwanted detour on the “Boy Scout Trail,” which climbed steeply along the side of a waterfall. After having already ridden 10 miles at 9,000 feet , my sister in law had put in a respectable effort for her first mountain bike ride ever, and she was very ready to be done! When the trail got seriously steep I was pretty sure that this climb wasn’t a part of the plan, and with the help of the map and my GPS I guided us back down the mountain and out to our truck… the right way this time.

Our first ride in Crested Butte had been quite an adventure, and it was just the first of many!

This summer I was blessed enough to take a week-long vacation to Colorado with my wife and a couple of our friends. Over the next few weeks I will be writing about all of the amazing singletrack I got to shred while I was out there.

We spent a couple of days in Loveland while hanging out with some friends that live there, but unfortunately I was only able to hit one trail in the area. I chose the Foothills Trail just outside of Fort Collins as my sole bike ride for a couple of reasons:

1. It was only a few miles away from Loveland.
2. I had already ridden Devil’s Backbone and Coyote Ridge the previous year.
3. It was my friend Andrew’s first time on a mountain bike, so I didn’t want to totally destroy him on the Front Range’s endless rocks.
4. There’s no parking fee.

Now, while it was Andrew’s first time jumping on a mountain bike, I wasn’t too worried about him. Andrew is an amazing athlete who spends a lot of time running, swimming, playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, football, and most importantly, road biking. I was pretty sure that he would be up to the physical challenge and that the technical challenge of riding a mountain bike would be the biggest obstacle he would have to overcome.

So, I chose the Foothills trail. According to all of the information I could gather here on Singletracks, this would be the easiest introduction to singletrack riding in the region.

Right at the beginning of the trail, it was about as easy of a singletrack introduction as you could hope for: hard, smooth dirt out in the middle of a grassy field… yeah, it doesn’t get much easier than that.

There were even signs along the trail at crucial intervals that gave you tips on how to mountain bike. This is really intended to be a true beginner trail.

But pretty quickly, the trail steepened and started climbing in earnest. As soon as it tilted upward, the trail filled up with rocks of all shapes and sizes.

I found that none of these rocks were very difficult to negotiate, though. The Foothills trail obviously receives a lot of tender, loving care and many of the rocks had been used to transform the trail into a cobblestone climb. Others were easy to ride over or avoid.

Andrew didn’t find them so easy, however. Trail obstacles that I found rather entertaining but not challenging, he found dangerous and painful. Fortunately for him, as soon as we finished with the steepest portion of the climb the rocks mostly disappeared and the trail smoothed out again.

We topped out on a paved road lying right on top of the ridge, but when we crossed over we were struck by a sight that neither of us really was prepared for, despite all of the reviews that I had read:

The view of the Horsetooth Reservoir was absolutely breathtaking! The trail even turned and began to parallel the reservoir, quickly dropping into a rocky descent along its bank. It was so hard to keep my eyes on the trail with a view like this distracting me!

Shortly after we made the turn to parallel the reservoir, we decided to turn around and head back to the car. Our stomachs were both ready for a serious dinner, and we could see and feel foul weather enshrouding us from over the mountains to the west.

On our way back down to the car, we caught one of several spurs leading to an overlook. From our vantage point we could see rain falling in a dark curtain from what looked like a very innocent, lonely cloud floating out over the plains. There are some things you just don’t see anywhere but the Rockies!

Right after we turned off the first short downhill stretch from the lookout, I heard my rear tire begin to buzz in the chainstays and just as I looked down my rear end began to wash around all over the trail. First ride of the trip, rain closing in, dinner waiting, and I had a flat…

5 to 10 minutes later and I was back on the trail, ready to shred down the side of the hogback, and hoping against hope I wouldn’t flat again in the series of rock gardens coming up!

Fortunately, everything went according to plan and I shredded the snot out o that rocky downhill! It felt so good to be on the bike, feeling the tires gripping the tacky dirt in the corners and hearing the chain slap as I pounded over the rocks.

The excellent trail construction was readily apparent.

This trail receives a fair amount of traffic from riders, runners, and hikers, and this was especially evident during my downhill ride. Still, despite all of the traffic, the descent off of the hogback reminded me why we had traveled all the way out to Colorado to ride… and the best was still to come!

Coming up: 4 days of mountain biking in Crested Butte!

On Wednesday, August 24 the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (USAPCC) will run 131.1 miles from Gunnison to Aspen, taking riders to the highest point of the entire race – Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 feet. For former mountain bikers in the peloton like Cadel Evans, this stage offers up the race’s only dirt road section on the ascent up Cottonwood. Riding road bikes on dirt was common in the early days of the Tour de France but for such a large, modern race it’s a bit unusual. I can’t wait to see how the roadies handle the dust and gravel! And all bets are off if there’s an afternoon thunderstorm.

Beyond Cottonwood Pass there’s another 12,000+ climb to Independence Pass before the descent into Aspen. Festivities are planned for the finish area in Aspen including live music, food, crafts, and a beer garden.

Mountain Biking Stage 2

Hartman Rocks in Gunnison, CO.

With a (relatively early) start in Gunnison at 10am, spectators will have some time to hit the mountain bike trails at Hartman Rocks before a late lunch. Hartman Rocks may not be what most folks imagine when they think of mountain biking in Colorado. There aren’t really any trees here – the exposed hills are dotted with sage brush and that’s about it. But the trails themselves are fast and the network is extensive with ribbons of trail heading off into the horizon in every direction. If it’s a hot day you may want to skip Hartman Rocks but in winter this place is heaven sent since it stays dry and snow-free nearly year round.

On Wednesday I got a chance to ride Doctor Park for the first time. The trailhead is located on CO Hwy 742 which happens to be part of the Stage 2 climb up to Cottonwood Pass. My guides, Dave Ochs and Aaron “Huck” Huckstep, were both on singlespeed mountain bikes and were gracious enough to stay with me on the mostly gradual 12 mile climb to the top of the ride. Both guys ended up riding the Leadville 100 on Saturday and finished in the top 20%!

I was riding a FS Specialized Stumpjumper with a dropper-style seatpost and on the road climb the seat kept dropping randomly. After several attempts at fixing the problem, Ochs tweaked the cable tension for me and the seatpost was solid for the rest of the climb. Even on a mountain bike I could tell the road the racers will be riding is rough. Maybe not cobblestone rough but still not fun on a fully rigid carbon rig with rock-hard, skinny tires.

After just a few minutes on Hwy 742 we turned right onto Hwy 744 and began the ascent. The paved road quickly gave way to dirt and gravel and aside from a few short sections, the climb was manageable. Just before we turned off Hwy 744, Huck pointed out one of the Reno / Flag / Deadman trailheads to our left. Shortly afterward we turned right and waded across a cold mountain stream to begin the climb in earnest.

From this point things got steeper and I was in the easiest gear I could find on my 2×10 drivetrain for most of the climb. The track is really a wide jeep road at this point and climbs through a beautiful meadow with mountain vistas all around. Admittedly, though, I was mostly looking at my front wheel and the orange ribbon of dirt directly in front of me. We eventually eased over an exposed ridge which I hoped was the top, only to continue climbing into the trees.

Once in the trees the trail became rutted and rooty and continued to climb slightly. After a mile or so we popped out in another meadow and met up with a couple of riders from Boulder who had climbed the opposite direction on the sweet singletrack we were about to enjoy.

From this point on things became sort of a blur to me. Ochs describes the trail as feeling like something out of Star Wars with “wildflower lasers” pinging your eyes all the way down the trail – and that’s a good way to put it. Near the top of the descent things are a little tricky – a narrow singletrack trough through the meadow yields to a loose, steep, and rocky section in the woods. But then somehow things mellow out and you’re left with a fast, smooth run through Aspen trees and wildflowers that rivals any trail I’ve ever ridden. I nearly lost it a few times as I adjusted my rhythm to the short rollers stacked one after another.

After a solid 3 miles of this the scenery changed again to Ponderosa pine and sage as the trail turned down steeply through a recent controlled burn area. The last mile or so to the parking lot was steep and technical and after cleaning a particularly nasty section I nearly rode right off the edge of the trail in the loose soil (see crash site photo above). Somehow I managed to jump off the bike and ran down the hill, the second time I used this move during my trip (the first was on a switchback on the Silver Creek trail on the Monarch Crest route). Aside from that near disaster I managed to clean the entire descent which felt great once I was at the bottom.

As one singletracks reviewer put it, “call the Doctor because this trail is sick!”

Where to Eat

In Almont, CO the road racers will turn off Hwy 135 and onto CO 742 where there’s a restaurant at the crossroads that serves burgers: beef, elk, and buffalo. This is a popular spot for rafters so there’s always a good crowd out on the patio. There are also plenty of restaurants to choose from in Gunnison and Aspen.

Where to Stay

If you’re following the race all week, this section offers a good opportunity for staying in the same hotel for two nights rather than having to pack up after just a single night. Stay in Gunnison or even Crested Butte – you can take a shortcut from CB to the course and the Doctor Park trail via Jacks Cabin Cutoff.

Fun Facts

Gunnison, CO is home to endurance rider Dave Wiens, 6-time Leadville 100 winner and the only person to beat Lance Armstrong in that race. Word is he and his wife usually come out to support riders each September during the Vapor Trail 125 mountain bike race organized by the folks at Absolute Bikes in Salida.

Up next: Vail, Avon, and Steamboat Springs.

On Tuesday, August 23 the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (USAPCC) will kick off stage 1 where the racers will get their first real taste of the mountains.The folks in Salida are clearly excited about the race start and they’ve even set up their own website, SalidaStageStart.com, to fill visitors in on the race and surrounding activities and events. As the smallest host city in this year’s race, Salida should be a great spot to get up close to pro riders while experiencing all the amazing mountain bike trails in the area (more on that later).

The view of Salida from the trail on S Mountain.

After an opening circuit around the town of Salida, the cyclists will head up to the top of Monarch Pass to duke it out for the first of the King of the Mountains (KOM) points. If you’ve mountain biked the Monarch Crest trail you probably drove up most of the roughly 13-mile ascent to Monarch Pass on US 50. The climb appeared less steep than I remembered during my drive-by last week; officially, it’s 3,200 feet over 13 miles which isn’t exactly Tour de France steep but still it’s higher than Alp d’Huez. And over the next stages the racers will be forced to ride even higher!

From Monarch Pass it’s a quick descent down to the town of Gunnison where the riders will head north to the finish at Mount Crested Butte. Along the way there’s a sprint line in Gunnison and another in the town of Crested Butte just a couple miles from the finish. Speaking of the finish, the line at Mount Crested Butte represents the race’s only uphill finish where the top riders will pick up more KOM points.

Race day in Crested Butte promises to be an all day party, starting with a Townie Criterium at 11:45 (the same time racers will be leaving Salida). At 1pm the US Handcycling Federation is putting on a handcycle criterium in town while up in Mount Crested Butte kids will get a chance to race in a strider bike competition. Oh, and there will be plenty of live music, food and beer at the Finish Festival just steps from the finish line where the first riders are expected to roll in around 3:30pm.

Mountain Biking Stage 1 (Salida)

Ok, so the cycling race promises to be exciting but depending on where you stake your spot, you’ll probably only get to see the riders for a few moments before they buzz past. Which leaves plenty of time for mountain biking!

Salida is best known for its epic mountain bike route known as the Monarch Crest trail. This 30+ mile singletrack ride starts at the top of Monarch Pass (right on the USAPCC Stage 1 course) and (mostly) descends via the Continental Divide/Colorado Trail, Silver Creek Trail, and Rainbow Trail back to the town of Salida. Maddslacker wrote about this ride a few weeks ago and last week I got my second chance to ride the trail. Still as epic and beautiful as usual but this month there’s a world-class bike race happening there too!

Salida sits at a bit of a mountain bike trail crossroads with the Continental Divide Trail (~ 3,000 miles), Colorado Trail (~500 miles), and Rainbow Trails (~100 miles) all within just a few miles of town. While I was there I spoke with riders from New Zealand, a group in the middle of riding from Canada to Mexico via the Continental Divide trail, and dozens of day-trippers from around the state. And if Salida is the hub of mountain biking in Central Colorado, Absolute Bikes is the grease that keeps mountain bikers running smoothly. I spent a good bit of time in the shop with owner Shawn Gillis and was excited about the stories I overheard: epic day trips on Monarch Crest, Leadville training rides, and top Divide Trail race finishes.

Mountain biking around Salida isn’t just about big miles – there’s also a world-class trail system right in town that offers everything from machine-cut beginner fare to advanced, technical singletrack cut into the hills. Shawn from Absolute Bikes has been instrumental in getting the Salida Mountain Trails built and maintained and last week he gave me a quick tour of the network. The cool thing is the trails are sited and designed to maximize the riding season so even when other local trails are socked in with snow, the “S Mountain” trails are usually ready to ride. The parts I rode reminded me of classic “desert” rides like Bootleg Canyon and Chutes and Ladders in Fruita. Absolute Bikes has great maps and their folks are always happy to point riders to the best singletrack.

Mountain Biking Stage 1 (Crested Butte)

As a mountain biker I couldn’t have been more excited about Stage 1 of the USAPCC with a start in Salida and a finish in Crested Butte. For many years if you had asked me to name my favorite mountain bike trail the answer would have been (and might still be) Trail 401 in Crested Butte. And the crazy thing is when I asked the locals for their next favorite ride, most of them had a really hard time choosing from the dozens of classic trail rides in the area.

Crested Butte is also home to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and Mount Crested Butte features lift-serviced downhill runs for gravity-oriented riders (more on that from mtbgreg1 soon). Some have even argued that Crested Butte, along with Marin County, CA, is the birthplace of modern mountain biking.

And it’s not just that the trails in and around Crested Butte are well designed and fun to ride – the scenery turns great rides into world-beating epics. In summer the wildflowers along the trail are unbelievable and the soaring mountains make every view photo-worthy. If only trails like 401 weren’t so flowy – it’s damn hard to force yourself to stop to admire the views!

Where to Eat

For such small, remote mountain towns, both Salida and Crested Butte have some amazing dining options. After an epic ride along the Monarch Crest trail, I recommend treating yourself to a big steak dinner with a poblano relleno stuffed with grits at the Laughing Ladies Restaurant in Salida. And in Crested Butte, head to the Brick Oven for pizza (natch) and Colorado beers on tap while hobnobbing with local super-athletes on the outdoor patio. The Brick Oven patio also happens to be located just feet from the sprint line in Crested Butte so get your table early!

Where to Stay

Salida has a number of chain hotels including the Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn, and Super 8. I spent a night at the Hampton Inn and it was great – close to downtown plus there’s an indoor pool/hot tub and free breakfast.

Since Crested Butte is more of a resort town and ski destination, there are a number of options for lodging as well. The Elevation Hotel & Spa is super swanky and is located at Mount Crested Butte with lobby-level access to the bike lifts and mountain bike rentals. Not only that, it’s just steps from the stage 1 finish. You can also find plenty of condos for rent in the ski area through web sites like VRBO.com.

Fun Facts

This area of Colorado is so massively amazing for mountain biking that I haven’t even mentioned Gunnison (site of the first sprint line of Stage 1) or the ride I did while I was in Crested Butte last week (it’s actually along the Stage 2 course). So stay tuned for info on the next stage – who would’ve thought mountain bikers would have so much to get excited about for a cycling stage race?

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge (USAPCC) is coming to Colorado in less than 2 weeks and I just got back from previewing the first few stages late last night. From what I can tell, this is going to be the biggest and best cycling event in the country since the Coors Classic back in the 1980s! With the top 3 finishers from the Tour de France and 15 current or former National Champions, the USAPCC could easily rival the Coors Classic which was, at one time, the fourth largest cycling race in the world.

Prologue: Colorado Springs

The USAPCC kicks off with a time trial on August 22 at 1:15pm. The course is just 5.18 miles long and starts in the Garden of the Gods, a beautiful park located just west of downtown and one of the area’s top tourist attractions.

Time trial starting line.

I got a chance to ride the course on a proper rode road bike with Cameron Chambers, 2005 24 Hour Solo National champion and Carmichael Training Systems coach, and all I can say is this course is going to be fast! From the starting line there’s a super short climb on the park road – maybe 100 feet or so – before a sweeping left turn and a bombing descent out of the park on Ridge Road. At the bottom of Ridge there’s a sharp left turn onto West Pikes Peak Ave for a few blocks before a dog-leg right onto Colorado Avenue.

Backdrop to the start line.

Colorado Avenue is the main corridor through an area of town known as Old Colorado City and it should be a great place to watch the race with plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars dotting the route. From here it’s a straight shot (literally) to the finish downtown beside the Antlers Hilton hotel. The top riders will easily finish the mostly downhill route in 10 minutes or less! Still, this is the best opportunity to see all the riders as they come down the course one at a time.

Mountain Biking the Prologue

Red Rock Canyon

The starting line for the Prologue is literally steps away from the Ute trail, a mountain biking route inside Garden of the Gods. The trail is short and the area will probably be a zoo on race day but you may just be able to sneak in on a mountain bike using one of the alternate park entrances.

Just across US 24/Cimmaron from the Prologue course is Red Rock Canyon with a network of about 10 miles of mountain bike trails. Monday was the first time I had a chance to ride at Red Rock Canyon and I have to say it’s an amazing addition to the local trail arsenal. The trail features wide open climbs, white shale descents, Ponderosa pine switchbacks, and a few sandstone sections to keep you on your toes. Red Rock Canyon also connects to the Section 16 trails and it’s possible to link up with the miles of trails in Cheyenne Canyon without leaving the dirt for more than a half mile.

Where to Eat

Before my rides Monday I got a chance to meet up with Kings Chef Diner owner Gary Geiser while sampling a yummy breakfast burrito filled with eggs, crispy hashbrowns, and sausage and topped with Colorado Green Chili.  Gary is a mountain biker with serious credentials (Ned Overend was his neighbor in Durango and he trained at the US Olympic Center in town) and he’s been fueling C-Springs athletes for more than a decade.

Now some people may not know this but in addition to mountain biking I’m also an amateur competitive eater (I once got a t-shirt for finishing a 5-lb burrito). Gary has his own eating challenge at Kings Chef called the New Mexico Stomper, a 5 lb. burger served with a large order of fries. Finish the whole thing in less than an hour and it’s free. So far only 2 people have completed the challenge – both women – which sounds like a dare to me. Stop in for a bite and there’s a good chance you’ll rub elbows with some elite riders (and eaters).

Along the prologue course, check out Front Range BBQ (one of my old faves) or the newly opened Firehouse Southern Style BBQ. Meadow Muffins is also a great local bar / restaurant right on Colorado Ave.

Where to Stay

Colorado Springs has a ton of hotels in every price range you can imagine. If you want to go high end, stay at the Antlers Hilton and ask for a room facing south or west to get a glimpse of the action. During my trip I stayed at the Cheyenne Mountain resort and it was great – a very quiet, relaxed spot on the west side with easy access to the best mountain bike trails.

Fun Facts

Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s longtime coach, is based out of Colorado Springs and his Carmichael Training Systems company is housed in the old Van Briggle pottery building on US 24, blocks from the prologue course. And while the company is known for their training videos and remote coaching services to some of the world’s top athletes, they also have an incredible workout facility available to locals for a monthly fee. Which just makes me want to move back to Colorado Springs even more now…

And that’s just the USAPCC Prologue! As you can tell there will be a ton to see and do around the race later this month. If you live in the area there’s no excuse for missing this race and even if you don’t live nearby, this is a great excuse to watch a world-class cycling event while checking out the MTB trails in Colorado Springs. Next stop: Salida, CO and Stage 1.

Next week I’m heading to Colorado to preview a couple stages of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge race happening August 22-28. Even though it’s a road race this will definitely be an event mountain bikers can get excited about. Here are four reasons to pack your bags:

1. Amazing mountain backdrops. This is Colorado after all and with stages traveling between places like Crested Butte, Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, and Golden the scenery will not disappoint. Oh, and I’ve heard there are mountain bike trails in some of these places (more on that later).
2. The field is stacked with 136 big name cyclists. I know some of us might not want to admit knowing these guys but c’mon – the top 3 finishers from this year’s Tour de France will be racing in Colorado this month (Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, and Frank Schleck). Bonus: Cadel Evans actually started out as a mountain biker, winning two World Cup titles and finishing 7th in the 2000 Olympic MTB race.
3. The race is expected to be one of the largest spectator sporting events to take place in the US. Ever. Organizers predict about a million people will watch the race during the week and spread over 518 miles, that’s almost 2,000 fans per mile. My suggestion: head to the Prologue time trial or the top of one of the high mountain passes to get the full crowd effect.
4. Watching the race is a good excuse to ride a new mountain bike trail. Stage 1, for example, crosses over Monarch Pass which just happens to be the trailhead for the Monarch Crest trail maddslacker wrote about earlier this week. And if you’ve never been to a pro cycling race before, it’s basically just a big party at the side of the road – perfect for unwinding after an epic trail ride! Hopefully you’ve saved up a few “sick days” at work…

Because this race is such a big deal and we LOVE to talk about the mountain biking in Colorado, we’ll be posting a series of trail articles centered around each stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. First stop: the Prologue in Colorado Springs!

In this blog post I am going to provide you with a step-by-step guide to creating your own custom guidebook for use out on the mountain bike trail using Singletracks.com.

Why create your own guidebook?

But first, why would you want to “create your own guidebook”?

There are at least 3 different reasons:

1. There isn’t a guidebook for the area you’re traveling to –  believe it or not, sometimes there just isn’t a guidebook for the exact area that you’re planning on visiting. And sometimes if there is, it really isn’t all that great. By doing your own work and creating a custom book via Singletracks, you can ensure that you will have great information when you need it.
2. The information in existing guidebooks is old – Many guidebooks out there today are honestly really outdated. Trails have been modified or closed, or more likely there are new and better trails that have been built since the guidebook was last updated. By using the Singletracks.com database, you are getting some of the most up-to-date information available.
3. Guidebooks cost money – Why shell out cash for a guidebook that might just be mediocre if you can create your own?

A step-by-step guide to creating your own guidebook:

1. Decide where you want to travel.

Sometimes this can be the hardest part. To get started, consult the list of the best mountain bike trails in the world.

Or, use the Google map and browse through different areas of the nation.

This process can be used for anywhere that Singletracks has trails listed. For the rest of this example, I am going to use Crested Butte, Colorado since that is where I am traveling next week now.

2. Hone in on the trails in your specific area.

Next, you want to limit the trails you are looking at to those in a specific region. If you’ve found one amazing trail and you want to explore nearby trails while you are in the area, click on the name of the city.

This will bring up a list of all the trails that have been marked as being in or near that same city.

Alternatively, if you know exactly what city you are wanting to visit, just type the city and state into the search box at the top of any page and it should pop up.

3. Broaden the area, if needed.

Are there not enough trails listed for that specific town? Hit the button that says “Trails Near _____” and the list will be enlarged to show trails in the surrounding area.

A few trails near Crested Butte:

You can further broaden or restrict the area using the drop down distance menu. [Note: these distances are given "as the crow flies" and may not reflect actual driving/riding distances.]

4. Read about the trails.

It’s a good idea even if you are using a published guidebook to research the trails before you visit so that you have an idea of exactly what you’d like to ride. When you do this on Singletracks, you can also decide which trails you’d like to include in your custom guidebook, and which you wouldn’t. Of course. you could just go ahead and include every trail in the region if you’d like!

 5. Print the trail.

To do so, click “More Actions,” then click “Print Trail.”

This will bring up a printable view of the trail.

Then just click “File” and then “Print,” or just press APPLE P or CTRL P to print the page.

6. Print the trail map.

To print the trail map (if available), you have to have a paid account. This is just one more reason to sign up! For only about $20 a year (the price of one decent guidebook), you get access to the thousands of trail maps available on Singletracks.com. It’s crazy cheap!

To do this, click on the “View Trail Map” link.

Then, click and drag the trail map to the tabs bar to open it by itself. (There are other ways to do this.)

Then just click “File” and then “Print,” or just press APPLE P or CTRL P to print the page.

7. Print the elevation profile, if desired.

Go back to the previous main trail map page.

Then, click and drag the elevation profile to the tabs bar to open it by itself. (There are other ways to do this.)

Then just click “File” and then “Print,” or just press APPLE P or CTRL P to print the page.

[Editor's note: each map page also has a "Printer-friendly" function that fits the map, elevation profile, and route notes on a single page.]

8. Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 for as many trails as you want to include in your custom guidebook.

Use your printer at work or school to make quick work of all of these trails, and to save some money!

9. Staple.

The finished product:

10. Ride!