The weather is still good out here in Colorado, so I thought I would try to get a few more days on my mountain bike before the weather changes completely. Lory State Park has many fun trails that climb forever and have flowing and technical single track all the way down.
I decided to do The Big Loop at Lory today. It is a beast of a trail that climbs more than 1,300 ft. to the summit of Arthur's Rock and descends back down to the valley trails. At over 12 miles and a 2+ hour ride, it is a great test of endurance and skill. It is also a beautiful ride the spans the length of Arthur's Rock ridge. The ride starts in the valley and climbs up from the North to the backside of Arthur's Rock. The climb is brutal, but fun all the same. The technical rock sections are very hard, but a good test for any rider, and the down on the other side is fast and technical.
Tiny little gash...big problem! |
I had walked the rest of the trail to the valley, but still had 1.5 miles back to the entrance of the park where I had parked. As I walked into the valley parking lot a man and woman were packing up after riding.
"How's it going?" I said.
"Better than you it looks." He said.
We laughed. I told him what had happened and asked if I could get a ride back to my car. He was happy to help me out. We threw all the bikes into their truck, drove back to my car and they dropped me off. Despite the blown tire the riding was fun and the weather held out until I got back to my car.
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Arthur's Rock with Fort Collins below. |
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