W.O.R.D. gets high on singletrack

Week 5
With a lighter load the three of us set off for the hills of Crested Butte, Colorado. This quaint wee town is nestled up in the the beautiful Rocky Mountains. While strolling around we heard about the Butte’s (that’s what the cool kids call it) happy hour. This ain’t no normal happy hour, it was a Bike Park happy hour. Not only does this great place have a bike park, but on Friday nights, it’s free! John Randal might be the only person in the world that wanted to ride up the mountain and then get the chairlift down. We changed his mind quickly.

The next couple of days we ticked off the must do rides in the area including: 401, Doctor’s Park, and Reno/Bear/Flag/Deadman’s Gulch. These epic rides were gorgeously breathtaking (pun totally intended—it’s 11,000 ft up there).

Inbetween rides we spent time at the MTB Hall of Fame museum and refuelling.

Next stop was Salida (about two hours’ drive), where we stayed at a great hostel, Simple. This town is home to a small community of artists, raft guides, and seven barber shops. The Salida Bike Company helped us with Ash’s bike (she has been getting pretty rad). You can imagine her excitement when the mechanic was a girl…best day ever.

The last ride with John was the epic (yep it’s a bit of a theme here with John) Monarch Crest. Six hours of views across the Rockies, singletrack goodness, snack breaks, and a 40 minute coast down the highway.

After a drive back to Denver we say our goodbyes to John. It has been wonderful having him along, even if only for a short time. I reckon we packed in a lot this area has to offer, but damn it is cool. We’ll be back.

Next stop- Fort Collins (aka the New Belgium Brewery) and Grand Junction / Fruita. Just the two of us.