The Adventures of Lori and Monty

We decided to head to Crested Butte for Lori's B-Day. It's a great time to visit because the wildflowers are in full bloom. We did 3 days of solid riding with 20+ miles each day. Day 1 we rode the Teocali Ridge trail. It has a steep climb and great downhill in the forest. Day 2 we rode Reno/Flag/Bear/Deadman. This loop links 3 separate climbs with 3 totally different types of downhill terrain. Day 3 we rode Doctor's Park. It is a long (14 mile) climb with a great downhill. The best part is the smooth 3+ miles in the Aspen forest. Check out the photos.

We decided to head to Ft. Collins for a ride. It was a mission to check out the course for the Xterra Triathlon. Lory State Park has some pretty fun single track, but it it to narrow and tight for a triathlon. They also plan to have the run on the same trails as the biking. Not a good idea. Check out the photos.

For our 14th anniversary we connected 5 Front Range Parks into one big loop. We parked in Morrison and rode up Mt. Falcon (Park 1). From there we headed up the road to Pence Park (Park 2) and go ton the Bear Creek Trail. The BCT took us through O'Fallon and Corwina (Parks 3 & 4). We finally dropped out into Lair 'O The Bear (Park 5) just as the sky opened up and released a torrential downpour. Since there was no shelter to be found, we just rode on in the rain. All together it was a ~22 mile loop. What a great anniversary! Check out the photos.

We spent a few days at Thomas & Stefanie's condo. There was still quite a bit of snow at the ski area, so the biking there was limited. The rest of the trails were muddy, but fun. Check out the photos.

Monty took a trip to Albuquerque to meet Jr. at the gourd fest. Dad won two second place and one third place ribbons out of four entries. I think they were playing local favorites because the first place winners weren't near the quality of the Jr. Gourds! Check out the photos.

We decided to visit a part of the world that is a bit out of the ordinary. I turn out to be an eye opener. Mexico city is a strange place full of mystery. The fact is, you can see a street change from one of quiet residential homes to a noisy dirty street full of vendors to a run-down mess full of beggars all within 3 blocks. The popular areas are always crowded and busy. The subway is a great way to get around durning the off-peak times, but watch out during rush hour. They will squeeze in every last person until the car is bursting at the seams. And the food; street food or fonda, it is all simple and spicy; tacos, tacos, tacos. It was an experience we will not forget.

Here are the photos.

Our hotel was one of the best highlights. It was a quiet oasis in the noisy town. They served an excellent breakfast and the entire place was clean and safe. If you go there, make sure you stay at The Red Tree House.

Our usual trip to the Mountains on Super Bowl Sunday was fantastic. Great weather, gret snow, and great fun! Here are the photos.

We journeyed to Ellis for Xmas this year. It was pretty cold and windy, so we spent the entire time indoors. Good thing we had Karaoke and Wii! Here are the photos.

We decided to head West for the T-Giving weekend. We loaded up the BRAND NEW Santa Cruz Blur LTc bikes and hit the road. We started in Moab, UT with a ride on the Klondike Bluffs and Baby Steps trails. There are dinosaur tracks embedded in the rocks, too cool.
Klondike Bluffs / Baby Steps

Next we rode in the Monitor & Merimac area. There was a ton of very fine sand and it made the trip in pretty tough. The buttes look very muck like the ships they are named for. There was a very fun slick rock playground behind the buttes.
Monitor & Merimac

After riding around Moab, we headed for Fruita, CO. This area has a multitude of trails from desert to slickrock. The first morning we rode in the Kokopelli's area. This is the start of 146 mile trail between Grand Junction and Moab. These trail are fast and fun as the track along the Colorado River.
Kokopelli's Trails

In the afternoon we headed North to the Bookcliffs Area. These are very dry exposed sedimentary cliffs. The rides here are mainly loops or laps. Climb up for 2 miles, then ride down very fast. Great fun.
Bookcliffs Trails

The last day we rode the Tabeguache Trail s near Grand Junction. These trail are know in GJ as the Lunch Loop trails. It is very close to town and lots of folks do lunchtime rides. Here we started in the valley and rode up to the top of the Ribbon trail. Then it was a fast descent on slick rock, then back onto the desert trails.
Tabeguache Trails

What a great weekend and perfect way to break in the new bikes!

We had a great snowstorm in Denver overnight. So it was a perfect day to head to the park for some Cross-County Skiing.

Here are the photos.