Tues I left Susan & Don’s for Colorado Springs and Cheyenne mtn trails. Once in CS I needed to take care of the license tabs deal. I Googled office supply places and selected one w/ notary services. The GPS lead me thru residential neighborhoods to a street that was closed for construction. I juked and jibed around searching for a way out and the woman’s voice never lost the destination and kept recalculating a new course. I would have been deaf in my right ear if the woman was riding w/ me. Crazy. The office supply was a pak and ship store. I did obtain the printed doc but the guy who was the notary had to leave b4 it was printed. The other guy told me about a near by bank which I followed. $5 for stamp. Next was PO to mail the form and the check off. I dropped the envelop in the mailbox. Later I realized i forgot the check. OOPS.
I stopped @ CS REI poking around looking for whatever. A sales associate asked if I needed help while I was pouring over the CO Gazetteer. i asked about camping in the FS. He suggested Woodland Park. I could have stayed @ Cheyenne mtn SP for $22 but no, I sought out FS land that took 25 miles of driving climbing past Garden of the Gods and the road to snow cloaked Pikes Peak. Found a spot way up @ 9300′. Enjoyed clear cold skies.
Wed I drove back down hill to Cheyenne SP to ride their trails that Rich @ PUSH suggested. Paid my $7 entry fee. The first trails I rode where wide enough for the maintenance atv and where smooth. OK, I can enjoy a non tech challenging ride. Opps. I moved over to another trail and it got chunky. I rode 13.46 miles and climbed 1834′. Turned out to be a satisfying ride competed w/ $0.50 for 4 min hot showers. If you want to see flat terrain look east from almost anywhere east of I-25. Tony Boone made some of the trails.
Next I drove further south on I-25 to Pueblo, CO for Pueblo Reservoir trails. Research on line listed Vance’s and was featured by Lou Mazzante in Mountain Bike. Dive of a shop. Bought trail map. I learned that a campground in the park was closed. Late afternoon. research on the Gazzeter found FS land that was 20 something miles away. Duh. Passing up on a paid XG for lots of driving. Found spot @ a wildlife viewing area. Getting colder @ night.
Thurs I moved back to Pueblo Reservoir SP, paid $7 out of state entry fee, figured out the trail map and headed out. Exit trail was not labeled leaving my navigation to my skills. Missed again. The only other user I saw for the next 2 hours was a runner who corrected my navigation and I was found. The rest of the trails were well labeled. Trails are on a mesa about 50′ above the water level and sinuously wind thru the desert on hard shale that clinks like metal plates. Beautiful day again. 18.6 miles climbing 1364′. Prickly pear and cholla cactus.
Deal now was to drive west on I-50 to Salida and Mark and Brenda’s for late afternoon arrival. Rt 50 is a picturesque drive climbing along side the Arkansas River. Beautiful fall colors. Met M & B @ a local bar. great to see them again. The 3 of us were ski instructors @ Ski Acres @ Snoqualmie Pass back in the mid 80’s.
More to come off to engagement w/ them. Mark took me on a real mountain bike ride today dropping down and abandoned railroad grade that serviced a gold mine way up a gulch.
Brenda drove Mark and me way up into mtns @ 9300′ for our ride start which provided scoping views of mountain sides. Route took us down Railroad Gulch with faint tread down thru a canyon that would excite rock climbers.
The route left the gulch down to the main railraod line down Arkansas river canyon for return to Salida. Got a bit of R&R on return as Mark rode the railroad track:
Back in town. We went downtown to visit w/ a group of M & B’s friends. I shared the Muchoe tequilla to receptive drinkers. Back @ M & B’s house Brenda fixed dinner. Visited until bedtime then slept on side of street in their neighborhood. Salida is a neat old played out mining town that still has its head above water. Old houses in old part of town have held up and are still occupied. Downtown is cool w/ old 2 story brick buildings, Arkansas river flows just at end of main street in downtown is a whitewater paddlers delight that attracts those recreators. For mtn bikers there is Monarch Crest trail that I have ridden several times this time it is snow dusted preventing me from riding it this time.