Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 3 – Colorado and Utah

After some epic rides in the Springs, it was time to pack up the car and start the real adventure. I crammed all of my stuff into the van and we headed north to do one of Neil's favorite rides in Golden back from when he was in college. Even though I've spent plenty of time in Colorado at this point, I still sometimes go on a ride that totally blows my mind. Golden Gate Canyon was absolutely one of these rides.

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 2 - Riding in Colorado Springs

After meeting up with Xan to help him move out of the dorms at Colorado College, I stayed in Colorado Springs for a few days to ride some of the area's great trails and take a break from driving. On my first day, Xan took me on an epic double loop ride that included two of the best downhill runs in the Springs. These loops represent my idea of the perfect Colorado Front Range ride – long climb following by long descent. We climbed 5,000+ vertical feet, and our legs definitely felt it by the end of the ride. Living at sea level and riding trails that start above 6,000 feet only added to the strain for me, but I was happy to be out of the car and on the bike!

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 1 - California to Colorado

I left for a two week trip to Colorado in mid-May to pick up our youngest monkey, Xan, from college and do some epic riding along the way. The plan was for me to drive to Colorado Springs solo, meet up with Xan at Colorado College and ride the Front Range area for a few days, then road trip to through the mountain bike meccas of Colorado and Utah. I took my Oxide Cycles Battleaxe, and Xan would be riding his Ventana Zeus, both Rohloff SPEEDHUB equipped.

On the first day of the trip, I left Berkeley in the morning heading east in Interstate 80. My first stop was in Sacramento to provide some follow-up service for a customer. Afterwords, I continued on to the Boreal ski area exit to ride Hole in the Ground, a fun trail that flows through evergreen forest and over classic Sierra Nevada granite. Unfortunately, spring conditions meant snow was still present in places, and I ended up spending about an hour alternating between walking and riding through intermittent snow patches as I attempted to reach the trailhead. By the time I was at the trailhead, there was far too much snow to make riding worthwhile, so I bailed on the ride and hit the road, getting to Elko, NV for the night.