RIDE LONG AND SMILE

Why do I ride a Fargo?  Because it can take me anywhere.  While riding up Lefthand Canyon I passed a couple of roadies and one of them commented, "We just got passed by a mountain bike ... no wait ... what is that?"  After climbing up the pavement I descended down the rocky 4x4 road pictured.

I do love long days on the Fargo exploring new places.  The day of this image I logged almost 130 miles.  Pikes Peak is in the background.

I normally get a bad feeling when I know I'm going to get rained on, especially when it's only about 40 degrees and I'll be riding into the dark.  But the day of this picture I was surprisingly okay with it.  I treated it as a character-building day and just kept riding.  I can't let a little bad weather get in the way of a fun ride!  It was totally worth it.  At the end of the ride I met up with everyone at the track and took pictures  below.

One thing I love about the fall is the ability to get out on some night rides without having to actually stay up late. It so so quiet and peaceful and I almost always have the trails to myself. I like starting off with just a little light left to enjoy the sunset and the way my senses are heightened at that time of day. I can feel my lungs fill with cool crisp air, I can see glimpses of mice as they scurry away from my light, I can hear birds bedding down for the night, and I can smell the impending dew. It feels like I have energy to burn so I can motor along at hyper-speed and the rest of the world outside of my beam of light fades away. The cool damp air that the fills the low-lying areas makes me feel refreshed. Wanna go on a night ride?

I had a great ride yesterday for the inaugural Colorado Crooked Roubaix. Most people did ride with traditional road bikes, but I opted for the comfort of the Fargo. The stability and traction on the decents made it worth carrying the extra weight of the big tires. I think I sold a couple people on the versatility, comfort, and all-around greatness of the Fargo. The ride started in chilly 25 degree weather at 7:00 in Winter Park. It eventually warmed to a rather pleasant 60. If you are up for a long day in the saddle with a lot of gravel then I would definitely recommend this ride. It is very scenic and it is nice to get off the beaten path. The colors were just beginning to turn. I think next weekend in Crested Butte is going to be spectacular! There were 150 riders on the loop, but I was actually rarely riding with anyone. It provided for few distractions from the scenery.

Well, it won't really be that much of an adventure. I'm taking the Fargo out on it's first organized ride ... a 92-mile Roubaix-style ride up in the mountains. It will be a mix of pavement and mostly gravel roads. I put a new chain on in preparation. There are a couple of reasons I enjoy putting a new chain on a bike. First, it means I have been riding, and that is always a rewarding feeling. Second, it makes the shifting so smooth a and quiet.

I got out for a very pleasant ride yesterday to explore some gravel roads along the front range. I find old, dead vehicles and farms very interesting. The Fargo was very glad to take a bit of a break as stopped for some photos.

... and they told me to go home. That was a rough trip. I got a bit of a late start because the road out of Georgetown was closed for construction in 3-hour blocks. It gave me a bit of time to stroll around G-town and get acquainted with how the bike would ride fully loaded. While waiting for the road to open I spotted this little fellow (as well as several others) who were enjoying a free breakfast. It was a beautiful, but difficult, climb up towards Argentine Pass. Looking back I was rewarded with a nice view, but the road was getting worse and I was walking more than riding, so the fun was fading fast. I eventually began to feel a bit ill so decided to pull the plug and head back down. I tried to salvage the day by heading up near Leadville to catch the sunset. At the end of the day, it was a good trip.

It is a gloomy day here in Colorado, perfect timing for beginning a blog that I have been meaning to create for quite some time. Many people I meet inspire me daily, but I owe the start of this blog to a man I have never met, a man from the same neck of the woods where I grew up – Minnesota. This blog will have a similar theme to his since we share some of the same interests, namely long, exploratory rides and taking pictures along the way. He goes by the name of Gnat and I will post a link to his blog for you. I hope you enjoy the images on this blog, most of which have been and will be taken during rides on my Salsa Fargo. It is a great bike and just looking at it inspires me to ride long and smile.