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| Photo: mountain bike action rider photo |
Funny thing about safety equipment; often it's only the really good riders or the really bad riders that ever get to test the equipment in action. For the rest of us we could go months, if ever, without even a scratch but if you ride regularly it will happen to all of us at one time or another and my time was this past weekend, the trail was the triple threat out at Betasso Preserve.
Just a side note. I'm not a big fan of spandex shorts, probably because I feel funny in them but this past weekend I decided to give them a try again. I was surprised how efficient they were plus my legs have never felt cooler (temperature), almost seemed like that made the difference on this ride because I could have gone non-stop the whole way, if not for my Superman spill on Canyon Loop.
For those unfamiliar, the trails in Boulder and most of Colorado are high in altitude so the trails tend to dry up leaving quite a bit of the loose stuff to roll on. Feathering the brakes on the quick descents seems to work most of the time but if you're not careful that front wheel will sneak out from under you and cause all kinds of havoc. Canyon Loop was running counterclockwise while Benjamin Loop was running clockwise this weekend. Betasso is a blast in either direction and you're sure to catch one heck of a thrill ride on any day, other than Wednesday's and Saturday's - closed to bikes.
The scenery is great out here and the singletrack is just what we fat tire enthusiasts dream about; 8 miles of some of Boulder County's finest twists and turns. The Four Mile link trail is certainly a highlight, heavily wooded and a great creek crossing towards the end. The shade is abundant and the rolling creek adds so much to the ambiance of this trail.
The Four Mile link in this direction is downhill at first until you come to the bridge crossing at about 4.80 miles. A short distance from here you'll come across a staircase of rock. You will have to dismount and carry your bike up the well placed natural stairs before catching the trail again. The trail climbs for another quarter mile or so before you reach the last staircase that takes you to Four Mile Canyon Road. There is no parking up here so if you start from this end you'll need to ride up or down to this point. The climb back isn't difficult in the right gear plus the TwinLoc system on my Scott Genius worked like a charm.
This time out was a breeze, it must have been the 14er a couple of weeks ago and the mid-week ride up Four Mile Canyon Road that helped with my conditioning. So I'm rolling pretty smoothly back toward the trailhead, threading through the dense pine, careful not to hit most obstacles head on. I can feel my wheels slip from time to time so I watch how I'm shifting my weight and paying close attention to my braking when in an instant my front tire loses traction sending me into my best Superman impression onto the singletrack, right around the 6.86 mile mark. Narrowly missing a tree to my left and a boulder to my right, I was lucky to come away with just some cuts and bruises but it could have been much worse.
Don't take your safety equipment for granted, make sure it's in good condition and don't skimp on gloves. I flew head first onto the trail with only my hands to stop me and my hands came out without a scratch.
You can follow along on my Garmin page at connect.garmin.com/player/346213964 and don't forget to check out my website, www.dirt-life.com, for trail updates. Thanks for checking in and hope to see you on the trails.
Alan
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