I want to get out on the 500 on Saturday. Two options, I’m make a decision and post deets by the end of the week, but this is what I’m thinking:
Option 1: Meet in Lyons
Johnny Park, Parachute Hill, Pierson Park. Maybe poke our noses into some singletrack
Come out in Estes, go up to P2P, enter Bunce, come out at Camp Dick.
Ride to Gold Hill Rd, left on Sawhill, then go down the much spicier north side of Switzerland
Pie in Gold Hill.
Option #2: Stage in Masonville
Some combination of these options:
Moody Hill?
Old Flowers
Kelly Flats (your choice of Hernia or Heart Attack Hills)
The plateau above KF. Would like do this as an out and back, coming back to the descent of Kelly Flats. Could then do OF in reverse.
Is here a way to connect the Moody Hill area to the Old Flowers area? I guess I could look at a map.
Option #1 is Big Bike Able by an Intermediate rider, with slightly easier alternative lines up some of the harder stuff in JP. In addition, the stretch of Bunce that goes up then down to Camp Dick is legit on a big bike, but I can offer a go around.
Option #2 would be strictly a DS ride, to keep the group homogeneous with regards bikes = terrain and pace.
Anyway, I’ll flip a coin on Wednesday. In meantime, post up if you’re interested
Checkout Pole hill road if you hit any of JPP/PP. It’s off 36 leaving Estes. 247A area on map. A Route, no big bikes on that one unless you are… Jason.
Bunce has a good ‘bypass’ from the School Entrance on 7, coming out on Peak to Peak. The ‘full Bunce’ does suck with rock at the end. It’s not steep though… so there’s that. Also, that trail is partly open year round, and can be doable with fair weather. Only partial closure, where JPP is totally closed, very soon.
If no one is interested in IMI this Saturday, I’d enjoy option 2. Have done Moody Hill and Old Flowers on T7, but haven’t had a chance at Kelly Flats yet. Would be fun to chase some dualsport guys…
Who: This is a solid Intermediate ride, best done on a dual sport. See below
Where: Masonville. Look for Clifford the Big Red Van
When: meet @ ~9a, KSU @ 9:30a ← hard start time, not a suggestion
Admin: show up with at least 80 miles of range, tools, stuff to fix your own flat with our help. Snacks and lunch on the trail. Trail side labor rate of $150/hr and $5/psi for flat repair also apply
Radios: per the BCADV SOP here. Note the additional settings we’ve designated for the Baofeng radios. Riders that require a trail side frequency un-fucking by me will incur a $15 surcharge.
Route:
Moody Hill: dunno, never done it. Please post up any intel
Old Flowers – the last pitch to the top of the last climb includes some significant “bomb crater” size holes, from 4x4s digging out the road. Not a problem on a DS and we can get you through it.
Kelly Flats: has two significant climbs – (1) Heart Attack Hill, the main climb and (2) Hernia Hill, the slightly less hard go around…sorta. I’d say Heart Attack is more bouldery, rutty, a little ledgy but I’ve always been able to find decent lines on the far left. Hernia is more of a loose, rocky climb.
Kelly Flats Plateau (my name for it) – fun two track, great on a DS and fun for an Intermediate rider on a bigger bike. We’ll likely dork around on this to the road, flip it, do it again in reverse, and go down Hernia Hill back to the KF trailhead / staging area.
Route Notes:
Priority features for the ride are Moody Hill and the Kelly Flats stuff. That is, if Moody takes us longer than expected, then we’ll skip OF, riding pavement up and over Stove Prairie, left in Poudre Canyon to Kelly Flats.
If someone gets denied on either of the two KF hills, I’ll publish an alternate paved / dirt route that you can use to enter the Kelly Flats Plateau where we’ll be coming out. You can link up with us there and ride with us back on the Plateau to the descent of Hernia. You’ll be fine going down Hernia on a DS.
As a special bonus, I’ll be selling tickets to The MehMike Tackles Hernia Hill on a T7 Show. This is a limited engagement, one time showing. Get your tickets while they last!
And then also post up if you said you’d join but have to bail. That is, if this going to be a party of 4 or a party of 12, I’d really, really like to know that ahead of time. Either is fine, I’d just appreciate a heads up. Spanks!
Given my distinct lack of a DS, I would totally poach this ride on the 300 2T if it were 20 miles shorter. Not feeling sacky, skilled, or inconsiderate enough to show up on the 901.
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