Its a Mountain Biking Story.

June 2012-

I woke up at the base of a ski lift one summer morning in June.  It appeared to be the American Alps.  There was no snow and I had a mountain bike.  Problem: never been mountain biking before in my life.  Problem solved: think positive thoughts, "I am a mountain biker."   So off I went.  Elevation roughly 1o,000 foot.   Bike and I.  I rode upwards where some mountain bikers gathered.  I am a mountain biker too, so I gathered too.  Off we rode.  And for the first time, well since some big days in the ocean, I was terrified.  And somehow I survived.  I survived with blood on my knee and a huge smile on my face.   I was a novice and this is not a novice story.

The route: The single tracks of Snodgrass (my, "welcome to mountain biking" trail), to a steady solid climb up a wide dirt road to Trail 401.  This trail is quite famous I later learned.  It has a global ranking of #9.  Steep  narrow singletrack downhill through fields of wildflowers and aspen groves.  I thought I was going to die on this decent. Then it opened up to a wide dirt road leading me back to where I started, about 3 and a half hours later. 

The best way to tell this story is through photos.  This is my first mountain bike story.  It won't be my last.

That mountain.  Conquered.

This story made possible by these crazy gentlemen.