The adventures of a top 60 pro mountain biker

A Perfact Day of Riding

A perfect day of riding Current mood: satisfied
Hey all... what an awesome day for me today! Instead of heading to Silverton Mountain like I had originally planned to do, I found out that the Hermosa Creek trail is in great shape, with only a few patches of snow/mud. It was SICK!!!! Such a good time. it was Blake, Noah, Max, Scott, Dana, and I. We headed up to the trailhead at the bottom of the trail near the town of Hermosa. And rode up the trail from there.

I think I reconnected today with why I love this sport, and why I love backcountry riding in particular. Riding close to town, while it's great fun, and easy to pull off a quick two hours sometime during the day. But backcountry riding is the reason that I love mountain biking. And I don't think there's one person who would disagree with me. When your going into the backcountry, everything just falls away. Those quick two hours, are exactly that... you're squeezing a ride into your life. But in the backcountry, for that day, or afternoon in our case today, it is your life. Once the ride starts, every pedal stroke takes me farther. Farther from the car, the trailhead, and the road, farther from town, farther from responsibility. It also takes you deeper. Deeper into the wilderness, deeper into the unknown (sometimes), deeper into myself. It lets me forget. Forget about the paper I have to write, the finals I have to study for, my new job, my internship, my broken car, the girl I like. Stress just drains away. For that day, I am mountain biking, and just mountain biking. No more no less. All I have to worry about is riding, and enjoying the wilderness; the sights, the sounds, the smells, and maybe my friend's company (it's never a good idea to go into the backcountry alone, although I do sometimes). Then as I'm getting closer to the end of the ride, the responsibilities, the thoughts, the things that have to happen take on a different light. They don't stress me out, and I can get them done easily, or think more clearly about them. That is why when I come home from a backcountry ride, or huge epic; dusty, muddy, bleeding, tired and hungry, I am so happy. And a good day of skiing, hiking, climbing, or a few days of backpacking, all do the same thing to me.

Anywho, it's time to eat up, rest up, and get ready for tomorrow's road ride from Durango Mountain Resort to Ouray and back. Six passes (twice each over three different passes), all over 11,000 feet, and about 100 miles. It's gonna be AWESOME!!!!

posted by Ethan @ 8:50 PM