It’s mid-June and most of the snow has melted from the high country. It was time for our first 14er of 2021. I picked La Plata Peak as our objective for the day. La Plata Peak sits deep in the central Sawatch range near Mt. Elbert and Twin Lakes. At 14,336 feet, it is the fifth highest mountain in Colorado.
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Long before it was a mountain bike town, long before it was a hiking town, long before it was a camping town, Salida was a river town. Every June since 1949, pandemic years excepted, they have held an event called FIBArk, for First in Boating in the Arkansas river, to celebrate the river and those who love it. That first event was a single race of 57 miles from Salida to Canon City. Twenty three entered, only two finished. These days, FIBArk is a full-blown four-day festival with multiple races on and off the river, music, food and all types of white-water shenanigans.
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For some time now I’ve been trying to think of a way to do the Monarch Crest trail without a shuttle. That is, ride to the top of the pass from Salida and then ride the Crest trail in one big loop. But the logistics are daunting. The Crest is long enough on its own at approximately 36 miles, so to ride it from town you’re looking at least a 70-mile round trip and probably eight hours in the saddle.
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The truth about riding bikes is that eventually you’re going to go down. The number of times you go down and how hard you hit is directly proportional to how much you ride and how fast you go. If you race on any level your risk goes up exponentially.
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