The fun began on Friday getting ready to head of of town. I was packing my knee warmers when I realized that they would make a great halter top for our chubby and cranky cat, Olive. And I added some patriotic flair as well. She didn't like it so much.
Then it was off to help out the TDF crew set up in Denver. They had a great venue - City Park -and I hope it was a Killer event! Here's the main man, Chris Winn, kicking back after setting up way ahead of schedule (which was very impressive considering it rain 1/2 the day).
Then we stopped by Red Rocks for a G Love show. (sorry for the bad concert photo)
Then it was off to Breckenridge for a perfect fall mountain weekend (it was also Octoberfest). Kurtie, Chad, and I hit some sweet trails. Jackie kicked back and got a massage, read a new book, and enjoyed the weather.
The trails we rode were awesome. The only other riding I've done in Breck are the trails from the Firecracker 50 - which are STEEP and just so-so fun. But we rode some rolling tight singletrack that was never too hard. Unlike Crested Butte where the climbs are epic in length, Breck's riding was just fun. Real mountain biking for sure. I can see why folks are willing to endure 7 months of snow to live there. There is one problem that really gets my attention: the amount of pine beetle kill. For those of you who don't know, the pine beetle is quickly killing a large portion of the lodgepole pines in summit county. Instead of a sea of lush green trees, many hillsides are rusty red - the color of dead pine trees that have been killed by the pine beetle.
These are the holes that the beetle burrows into the trees, then over takes them. It's really sad to see and it doesn't seem there's much that can be done. The beetles have always been there, but the cold winters usually kill them off. Now it's too warm. Global warming is heavily effecting the rocky mountains and this is one very visible sign. It's really tough to see such beautiful areas getting hit so hard.
There were some dirt jumps and a pump track behind where we stayed. I hit the pump track and Jackie and I took the dogs for a run. They loved the trails. I wish there were more local no-leash trails in Longmont!So yeah...a great weekend. We take off for MPLS on Thursday and we're so excited for our two new races! Our biggest 1st year events ever.
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