Fort Collins Mountain Biking.

(by Mark)
A little update for my mountain biking friends (and anyone else who cares to read). One of the great things about Fort Collins is that miles upon miles of trail sit just outside of town. It's about 2 miles from my front door to the closest trailhead. Last week I went out for night ride with one other guy at Horsetooth Mountain Park. I drove to this trailhead because it's a little sketchy to ride the necessary roads at night. The trailhead is about 11 miles away and gives access to about 30 miles of singletrack with 1500 foot climbs. We did an 11 mile ride with lots of climbing. It was cold and dark, so no pictures, but here's the track displayed in Google Earth.


Yesterday I went out for a long ride with a few folks I've met through a local mountain biking forum. This ride involved a lot of pavement, but it got me to some trails I hadn't seen yet. The trails extend south from Horsetooth reservoir and include city and county "open spaces" (i.e., parks). Here's the track from this ride.



The trails here are very different from the trails back east. First there are far more vistas to enjoy. For example:





Also, there's more climbing (duh!). The climbing was really hard when we first got here, but I think my lungs are adjusting to the altitude. But it's still a challenge...here is the profile from the ride (courtesy of my beloved GPS)


Finally, the trails are sandy with a lot of loose rocks. I wouldn't say they are more technical than east coast trails, but the loose soils and sand emphasize different skills.



This climbing and terrain make for a good time--new challenges and new sites. But overall it's really cool to be able to access this stuff with a short ride on pavement or a short drive. The city and county are committed to encouraging outdoor recreation and they do a lot for the mountain biking community. Very few trails are off limits to bikes and you can access some beautiful areas on two wheels. At the same time, they actively manage the trails by closing or rerouting trails that are damaged by erosion (which is good for the trail and good for local streams and water supply).

This is definitely a biking heaven.