we rode back down. saw a couple other belles on the way (Alison Tetrick and Tayler Wiles of team exe

mr rogers and i spent a week vacationing in colorado. the plan was to watch a little racing, and do a little riding. we succeeded. below the jump, join us after the jump to get a pretty good idea why colorado pro golf mini tours is a cycling paradise.
the original plan was to come out to snowmass and watch the aspen women's pro race and a couple stages of the american professional bike riding trophy, or whatever it's called these days. sponsor issues caused the women's race to be shortened to a single crit on the day the men rode into aspen. too bad, more time to ride i guess.
hot tubs ftw! first thing we did was unpack and reassemble the bikes. once that done, we headed out on a little test ride. you can't really tell in the pics above, but just to the right of the pool was one of the snowmass ski slopes. we decided to climb up it and then see what we could find. coming from atlanta's 1000 feet of elevation to 8500, that climb was a little harder than it looked. i was stupid enough to not bring my camera on this ride. here's the gps . day one and we were already amazed by the beauty surrounding us. we found a sweet dirt road heading down the valley next to the ski resort. the view were breathtaking. we decided on two rules for the week: 1 no falling off the mountains, and 2 no more leaving the camera at home. we saw a nice little stream, some houses that made us want to start playing the lottery, and a brutal dirt climb to make it back to the main road. then we discovered the problem was staying at a ski resort. a 1000 foot climb back to our place. even paradise pro golf mini tours has its drawbacks.
day 2 . we got up at the crack of dawn on sunday. turns out we got up at the crack of dawn every single day. why, i don't know. anyway, we decided it would be a good day to ride down toward aspen and climb up to maroon bells, a place i'd heard about from anyone i told i was going to aspen. we'd ride up, back down, and then ride up the next canyon to ashcroft, an old abandoned settlement up in the mountains . we found a new way out of snowmass village that cut back down to aspen with less riding on us 82.
we rode back down. saw a couple other belles on the way (Alison Tetrick and Tayler Wiles of team exergy). then we started making our way up to ashcroft. i should have stopped by the hospital for a couple extra pints of blood.
i put it together about a year ago to race hilly billy roubaix . it's nothing special, but it's a ton of fun. i use it on the road as much as my road bike these days. and it's introduced me to the joy of riding dirt mountain roads, something i recommend to anyone who likes riding.
day 3 . we drove to the nearby town of basalt. rogers' pro golf mini tours rear wheel was coming pro golf mini tours apart and we needed to hit a bike shop to rent one for the rest of the week. we got there when they opened, talked to the guys, and they said they'd have something there for him when we got back. so off to ride we went. plan was to go up frying pan road to lake ruedi and back. here's the gps . up out of town we went.
day 4 . it's time to get dirty. a couple of our friends from atlanta were also in colorado. they were driving/camping around and hitting up mtb trails. we figured we should pro golf mini tours meet up and ride some trails. so we rented some mtbs and headed over independence pass and south to salida. we spent the night with a friend who had moved there from atlanta a while back, woke up early and got shuttled up to monarch pass.
from there it was a 30 mile ride back down towards salida , or poncho springs to be exact. i forgot to start my gps at the beginning, pro golf mini tours so i missed the first few miles of climbing. the elevation is off too. the highest point is supposed to be 12,200ft or so. the trails were awesome, pro golf mini tours and the views, well...
day 5 . i took it easy. the women's race was going on early afternoon in downtown aspen, and the men were coming over inedpendence into town shortly thereafter. we rode down into town , found an outdoor bar on the edge of the course, and watched the ladies fly by while drinking some beers.
once the race finished, we grabbed some mexican food while waiting for the men to make their way into town. we could follow the race on tv in the restaurant, which was cool. when tommy d was making his way down the pass, we made our way outside to see the finish. turns out tv was delayed and we barely got there in time. i only got one usable pic of the end.
day 6 . on thursday, the men's race was leaving pro golf mini tours from aspen and heading up over independence. i rode to the top to watch Jens! crest solo in the lead , in the lovely company of WaterGirl, making two pdc kits up there, not bad.. now that was a life experience. left snowmass, made my way through aspen, randomly rode through the team bus area.
it's not every day that one gets to look down at a helicopter. pro golf mini tours someone with internet access let us know that Jens! was in the lead. JENS! my camera pro golf mini tours wasn't behaving at this point. maybe it was the batteries, maybe the cold, either way, i missed my chance to get a picture of the legend on his way to a stage win. i did catch the two chasers though.