Donner Pass

I've been dying to ride on the south side of Buckhorn road but haven't had a chance all summer. This past Sunday Trujillo and I ventured out to ride Donner Pass.


The trail is technical and steep...so in an effort to avoid hiking for 1.5 hours we thought we could link up some forest roads to the top. Within a few miles we came to this....

Of course Jason thought it was a good idea to poach...so we did.....we rode for another 45 mins. or so but had zero luck finding a route to the top....we actually ended up doing a couple mile loop and ended back at this gate. We did however find some serious looking mushrooms.



We resorted to climbing...I mean pushing our bikes up the singletrack...which took about 1.5 hours...but ultimately came to Donner Pass.

The terrain is super rugged, rocky, rooty and tight. We hung at the top before a thunderstorm chased us 5 miles to the bottom. It was an awesome descent...well worth the hike. Still desiring to find this mysterious road to the top Jason had another brilliant idea.....drive his truck up this trail...


Obviously you shouldn't be driving a truck up this. Needless to say his truck has a lot of fresh scratches!

Back to the Hood

Tracy and I flew to New Jersey a few weeks ago for a few days. The second night in a group rallied at Arts for the obligatory soup, burger and beer.


A few days later Tracy and I drove up to West Point to visit our former neighbors Alan & Kristi. After seeing West Point during the winter I was eager see how summer transformed the campus. Here are a few pics...













Later that afternoon...back in NJ....Tracy, Jimbo, the Cianci brothers and joined Tubbs for some evening boating...





Tracy did some tubbing as well....actually pretty well....she was a bit sore the next day however.




On Sunday Jimbo and I raced as a team in the Darkhorse 40. We each completed one 20 mile lap....as I went first and Jimbo second. Although we had some mechanical issues we rode well....and ate lots of chicken afterwards.














My parents, Tracy and I headed south to Yonkers to visit my cousins and grandmother for a few hours...and Jimbo wisely went home.

Tracy left for Colorado on Monday and I hung around NJ till Wednesday. It was great to catch up with friends and family for sure. Next year we'll be back visiting at least three times!

NJ visitors/ Tetons

The end of July was a busy one. We had a great time with all of our guests from NJ. Jimmy, Amy, and Tubbs were here for vacation. Jill flew out from NY to begin a month long road trip with Becky. We had a good time going on bike rides, to the reservoir, drinking beer, and dressing Tubbs up. BBQing was a nightly event thanks to Tubbs the grill master.

Mid week Tubbs went to Vegas with BTK...we have suspicions that they may have visited the Little White Chapel to exchange some wedding vows. That's still under investigation.
Meanwhile, Jimmy, Amy, Dan, and I (aka Team Alpaca) made our way up to the Tetons/Jackson Hole, Wyoming for some outdoor fun.

The Tetons might just be the most spectacular mountain range I've ever seen. We backpacked in for a night in the wilderness and out the next day for a total of 20 miles. Little did the guys tell us girls that the first days hike was going to be a tough one. Six and a half hours later and 4000 ft. of elevation gain we finally made it to our camp site. It was definitely worth the struggle!

Amy and I were very Bear Aware and made sure the guys were also. Dan was the mule with the largest pack carrying all the food, the tent and his own stuff. We finally made it out and still had enough energy for a group picture.

Crown Point

Rob was willing to take me up to ride Crown Point a few weeks ago. I had never been up in those parts of the Poudre so I was really excited for some new trail. The climb begins very mellow up
Lower Dad Gulch.

Once you hit Crown Point Road you have a long but rather mellow 10 mile climb. At a rather obscure juncture you jump on to Center Stock Driveway. What a joke! The trail is nothing more than an unmarked venture through trees and boulders.

Is this really a trail?


Eventually you get to a trail that resembles singletrack....then it disappears....then reappears. Overall it's a pretty sick downhill...super technical....rookies shall not apply.



The trail seems to cross time zones as the terrain varies tremendously. Eventually you get to the end of Upper Dad Gulch to a place Rob called Wimbledon.

It was supper fast.....exactly like riding on a putting green for about 4 miles. Once you get to Crown Point Road you've completed a loop and take Lower Dad Gulch back to your car. We rode for about 4 hours and outran an extremely large thunderstorm. Corn nuts and Gatorade fueled my body.

D.