Not so long ago, during a painfully long shift at work I started watching the videos from our previous bike trips. Before I knew it I was searching for another adventure to help ease my boredom. From a  cozy reclining chair, the idea of suffering, exertion and long days seemed exciting rather than daunting.....

Some searching brought up the Colorado trail as an option that was:
 A. Short enough to fit into a work "holiday"
 B. Mostly single-track
 C. Within attainable financial grasp; aka nearby, backcountry and requiring little to no new gear
 D. Hard enough we would have to train... yes Steve you too

The reports states that it has 75, 000 ft of climbing ( I may have left this part out during my pitch to steve) and about 500 miles of single-track riding. Our version will have a bit less but more on that later.

Video after video described it has hard as hell but beautiful. So for the first time in my life I listened and added an additional 5 days to the timeline that the most insane were attempting. Next up I needed to convince 3 people of how great my plan was. First was my spouse Steve, my go to adventure partner...pretty sure he just agreed because to make me stop annoying him. Peter, my step father, Peter is an amazing asset to any trip and we enjoyed his presence on the last trip immensely. The last one was the hardest. I needed my mom on board and sadly it wasn't to partake in the active suffering part of the trip. My mom is one of those amazing hard-core ladies who inspire those around them and had joined us on many a great trip, however my mom is not a mountain biker at heart. She would be in 100% but the level of technical riding we expect to encounter would exceed her current level of confidence and would ultimately be a lot less than fun for her. Perhaps just as important she is the only person I trust to take care of my two pups who I love to the moon an back. We chatted and decided that she was going to sit this one out and be the best mom ever by allowing us to go on this adventure while she held down the fort and kept the fur kids safe and happy. THANK YOU MOM, SERIOUSLY YOU ARE THE BEST !!



To get an idea of our previous trip check out these two videos :)
IDAHO HOTSPRINGS
Las vegas to Denver