Scott flew in from DC to Denver yesterday morning to join me for a week of biking in Durango before doing the race up Mt. Evans. We got on the road early enough to get to Gunnison with day light to spare for a short evening ride at
Hartman Rocks, the sage filled network of trails just outside of Gunnison. The "rocks" part of the name is both appropriate for the many rocks that scatter the trails and also how fun the riding is on the twisty, loose terrain.
We ended up trying to ride up several sections of trail that were probably best ridden downhill. The ground is either loose sand or small ball-bearing like rocks that make walking over rocks a little treacherous. Here's a shot of Scott on a hike-a-bike section.
Ten minutes into our ride, Scott took a bad step off a rock and ended up tumbling down onto a boulder, bike first. Scott got away with just a scrapes (thankfully!), but his bike emerged with one less brake as the bolt on his rear brake was sheered off by the impact of the fall.
Scott got up, scrapped himself off and continued riding with just his front brake which meant we had to stick to some of the smoother trails which were still a complete blast. We rode up and down Becks Trail a few times as it's banked, sandy corners were not too bad for a bike with only a front brake. The Hartman Rocks trail system is huge though and we only barely scratched the surface of the available trails. We'll probably do another ride or two here before heading to Mt. Evans.
We packed up our bikes and drove off to find a campsite just as the sun was setting over Hartman Rocks.
We ended up trying to ride up several sections of trail that were probably best ridden downhill. The ground is either loose sand or small ball-bearing like rocks that make walking over rocks a little treacherous. Here's a shot of Scott on a hike-a-bike section.
Ten minutes into our ride, Scott took a bad step off a rock and ended up tumbling down onto a boulder, bike first. Scott got away with just a scrapes (thankfully!), but his bike emerged with one less brake as the bolt on his rear brake was sheered off by the impact of the fall.
Scott got up, scrapped himself off and continued riding with just his front brake which meant we had to stick to some of the smoother trails which were still a complete blast. We rode up and down Becks Trail a few times as it's banked, sandy corners were not too bad for a bike with only a front brake. The Hartman Rocks trail system is huge though and we only barely scratched the surface of the available trails. We'll probably do another ride or two here before heading to Mt. Evans.
We packed up our bikes and drove off to find a campsite just as the sun was setting over Hartman Rocks.
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