The best trail in the world.

Back from the Colorado Trail trip. It was an adventure of a lifetime. The Colorado Trail runs from Denver, CO to Durango, CO - 500 miles of single track. Beautifully maintained, beautiful scenery, a beautiful adventure. Our man Bob and his Van ran support for us. Mr Swift, Daddy Matt, LongHair Bill, and myself hit the trail. We took 9 days to do the ride and here's some of what we saw....
heading out from Waterton Canyon on the 1st day (all smiles)
thanks to Clif/ Mojo for the bars, bloks, and gels!
taking a food break
our ONLY rain on the trip - 10 minutes worth coming in to Breckenridge
we all rode Mavericks - they make a killer trail bike
Mr Bill coming down above timberline
we could see a thing or two from up here
lots of streams to cross. Jesse shows how it's done.
Matt after a big climb
Pretty trail through the Aspens
say 'cheese'
Daddy Matt ripping a descent
There's Bob on the right. He was our 'trail angel' - greeting us everyday with post ride food, clothes, and a cold beer for me. We love you Bob!
AM sunshine through the trees
Matt's massive quads ripped this derailleur hanger clean off. luckily Bill brought a spare!
The Colorado Trail RACE was going on at the same time as our ride. We came across some racers doing the trail solo, self-supported, and pretty much delirious. Our hats went off to them, but they didn't really seem to be having too much fun (but we sure did ;)
A cool old barn on one of the trail detours. There were a few sections of the CO trail that were in wilderness areas that didn't allow bikes. So we had to do mandatory detours and got to take in some cool farms and county roads.
sparkling sun on the river
a curious marmot - way up high
a view from Cinnamon pass
mining relics above Silverton CO
this is the trail entrance at the top of Molas pass. What are you doing there Jesse?
Twin alpine lakes
narrow singletrack leading up to more climbing.....
...but with climbing comes downhills like this!
my favorite shot from the trip. Somehow with trail like this, 12,500' didn't seem so bad
Inbetween 12,000' passes on the last day
at the top of the trail - only 26 miles to the finish in Durango. Jesse shows the CO Trail what he's about to do to it on the DH.
Waterfall coming down section 28
AND....we made it to Durango! 3 out of 4 aint bad. Sorry about the food poisoning Bill! This day we rode 14+ hours, went over four 12K mtn passes, and climbed 10,000+ feet (and this is after 8 previous 7+ hour days on the bike). We were happy to be in Durango!
I did take a spill though....10 miles from the finish. The only real crash of the trip. This is what a bruised obilque looks like.

We had an AMAZING time. What a great way to gain some perspective on life. I highly recommend trips like this!