Having previously ridden and enjoyed the south end of the Buena Vista trail network I was curious about the north end. The north end of their trails, officially known as the Whipple Trails, is accessed from River Park at the east end of Main Street in beautiful downtown BV.
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Although I officially retired from bike racing in 2020, I find that even now, whenever I catch wind of a race in the area, my ears sort of perk up and next thing I know, I find myself signed up. Can’t help it. Something about you can take the boy out of the race but you can’t take the race out of the boy, I guess.
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Under the category of “it’s a small world”, a few weeks ago Ms. Seeking and I were walking around the Salida Art Festival at Riverside Park checking out the artisanal offerings when I came to a booth featuring handmade pottery.
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For as long as I can remember, Crested Butte has been one of my favorite places to ride. I’ve had the opportunity to ride my bike in places all over the U.S. but more than anywhere else, the rides that have burned themselves deepest into my memory are the ones I’ve done at Crested Butte. The number and quality of trails, combined with the natural beauty of the place makes riding there something special.
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It’s been almost a year of riding the trails here in Salida and I still can’t get over how good they are. But lately, what’s really got me interested is the prospect of linking together the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide trail into a single big loop doable in a day.
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This past Thursday, I decided to head up to Buena Vista to check out what they have to offer in the way of mountain bike trails. I had never ridden in BV but I know they have a network of trails in the Arkansas Hills similar to Salida’s. The trails are the creation of the Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition and their website has maps and information to help you orient yourself. The Midland Hill section on the south end of the network looked promising and I plotted out an eleven-mile loop for my introduction to BV mountain biking.
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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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