Yesterday, Karl, Vincent and I drove over to Eagle and rode some of their local trail system.  It was really different from riding the Colorado Trail in Copper Mountain or some of the other local trails.  It seemed more like high desert riding than mountain riding.  Most of the trail we rode on were open to motorcycles, so the trails were a little more torn up.

There is a huge temperature difference at the lower elevation of 6500 feet.  On Strava, it said the ride averaged 88 degrees.  Most of the time I looked down on my Garmin it was in the lower 90’s.  We weren’t in any rush and everyone did okay in the heat.

I had my Shimano camera running most of the tricky descents, so with some editing, I can post a short video of the riding up in Summit and Eagle counties.  Funny think about filming MTB riding.  It looks like it is going super fast motion, plus, for some reason, it isn’t nearly as dusty looking as in real life.

This morning I’m heading over to Leadville to do a ride with Kent and Katie Eriksen.  They are competing on a tandem on Saturday.  Katie won the Laramie Enduro last Saturday, which is a 68 mile race, so they should be in pretty good shape for the weekend.  Kent is always just Kent, which is pretty unbelievable.

Brian Jensen moved out to Colorado, plus Matt Gilhousen, owner of our sponsor, Tradewind Energy, is out to ride Leadville, so it is a little team reunion this weekend.  Brian is talking about riding up Columbine before the race gets there.  I’m not sure that is alright, but if it seems to be, I’ll go with him.  I need to cheer on the home team.  I don’t really have a desire to race Leadville this year.  Last year was a bust and I’m not doing any better this, so it is probably best just spectating.

Trudi flew back to Denver from California, finishing her duties from the Tour of Utah.  She got up to Silverthorne at 1 pm and played with the dogs all afternoon, while we were out riding. She got in a little ride and I’m sure she is going to sleep a ton, which she always does after working a stage race.  There isn’t much sleep to be had during those events.

Okay, I need to get going.  A complicated plan today, people everywhere, then meeting back up in Vail for dinner later.

Kent and Katie ran into Floyd yesterday in Leadville. I guess he was serving whiskey and hot dogs at his booth. I hope to see him in the next couple days. I haven’t talked to him forever.

Karl climbing.

Vincent climbing.

I seem to always draw some blood.

We descended to this, which was sort of spooky. Yes, that is a deer head to the left.

Dinner last night in Silverthorne.

Jack, Nic and Tucker waiting for the walk last night.