Argentine Pass

Somebody once said that "any day above treeline is a good day." I think I will have to slightly alter that. "Any day above treeline in fall is a great day."

Spent yesterday up in the high country riding what aught to be a fall pilgrimage to argentine pass. We might have been a week or so early, as not all of the leaves were in full splendor, but nonetheless there was plenty of splendor to be had.

The weather forecast called for rain turning to snow after above 10,000 feet, but much to our delight, the sun was rarely covered by the occasional cloud. the weather was, in fact, balmy until we began the slogging hike-a-bike up from waldorf mine, during which, we still were treated with sporadic spots of sunshine lighting up the snow or the reddening tundra.


Nearing the top, the temperature dropped significantly, as did the amount of snow blanketing the jeep trail. it was a little frustrating because there was little snow anywhere around the road, yet the road its self had accumulated enough to force all walking to be done on the fringe. bummer : )


After dropping the bikes for the final hundred meters, we made it to the top, and took a moment to enjoy the stellar views all around, including a very imposing face of grays, and not to mention the elk range and bierstadt/evans. Ate some food, put some extra clothes on for the descent, and hurried on down.


As much as I would have liked to, I don't have any pictures from the way down... we pushed our timetable a bit too far on the way up, and had to make it down before the two thirty cut off. The descent from the pass was a little hectic with a mix of rattling loose rock, and awkwardly tripoding down the snowbanks, wary of weak patches of snow that suddenly appeared and swallowed your front wheel. the rest of the descent down the road was just that. trying as hard as possible to book it down a very rough and rocky dirt road. My knuckles are still sore.


The final drop down had to be one of the most fun sections of singletrack this season. We opted for a short cut that, while not much shorter, provided more opportunity to rally down the ribbon of dark earth winding its way through the tunnel of yellow. This fall riding is truly spectacular.

night rides

soon it will be fall for real. Almost just around the corner. monday is the official autumnal equinox, but we need no calendar to tell us these things. It is the time when we strap lights to our bikes and rip through the trails and the dark momentarily lighting up the stillness of night. from my perspective, it is the tunnel of light which stays constant, it is the trees and bushes flashing by on the peripheral that move. when the lights behind you disappear, into the dark and the trees, the sense of gaping is heightened by the abyss at your back. similar to standing on the edge of a cliff, the dark is magnetized, tugging at your shirt sleeves while climbing with a sweat-less brow. I love night riding

Late

I suppose the report is a bit late, and that all of you have read the more timely and exciting version on offcamber, but I like to hear myself write, and procrastinate, so here it is.

Basically we went skiing in september. it was a valiant goal that unfortunately turned into a very long hike with thirty plus pound packs. what started as a cold and windy morning stretched into a leisurely midday, and a very long, warm and sunny afternoon. We did get some turns, which were cool, but largely so because of the novelty of skiing in september. Don't get me wrong, it was a killer time up in the high country, but as far as a ski trip goes, the combination of dv8's incident combined with a 7 hour day, it was slightly wearisome. It makes for some sweet pics though...



hiking: around the tunnel, early am.

looking up towards the day's line. it looks nice from here

cool shot of the rime ice on the trail sign

hiking again: along the divide

more rime ice on a rock along the divide

Dan, looking epic

mike making the best of some shorthanded snow

from the looks of this, it could easily be january in greenland or somewhere. mike dropping the bergschreund on run #3

in the deep dark night

went on a run this evening. best run in a while. smashed a pr even with picture stops and barely breaking a sweat. I was actually sweating, but thanks to the rain and my new tech shirt it was not noticeable. great fun to work out in the dark and the rain. quiet and pounding at the same time. got to keep pace with the l.e.d. strapped to your forehead, even through the soup and slime.

was wondering why the wanker trail was running a few class III rapids down its belly, then oh ya, its the wanker trail. good fun indeed though


and on the note of great fun...

cross #1

sat out to try and avoid prolonging the sick, but got some nice pics of the devo folk crossing it up

los estudiantes:


take out your notebooks:


time for some action:


sir stevens, instructing...


...some attentive pupils

Inspiration

got some new literary material recently. not the typified literature, more stuff that librarians and teachers snub. good stuff that is.

first off. Props to Ski Journal. I have had a subscription with those guys since the debut issue little more than a year ago. incredibly quality stuff in the glossies of this particular mag. most of my views towards ski magazines are similar to those of bikes' ; too many advertisements. too many ways to get lean fast, too corporate. in every sense of the word. The Journal is an outlier. Much like a higher budget version of the mountain flyer (another paper worthy of top spot next to the throne) but it goes more than skin deep. the pictures, yes are beautiful, jaw dropping, and saliva inducing, but the articles are that much better. I wont spoil it for you, so figure it out (Subscribe!) Its rad.

Secondly, two new libros from mi cumpleaños, the edited and complete versions of Richard Promenke's diaries. wonderful. he is a man, no way around that, and a wonderful writer. Critics say hemmingway is austere, I think they would pull out a magnifying glass to try and find meaning in his pages. They never would though. that is it's beauty. It reserves the magic for those who have tasted the wonder he feasts upon daily. wonderful stuff.

And thirdly, nay not lastly, but among the most important, Is the revisitation of my latest Abbey. Desert Solitaire and Chronicles of a Barbarian are nearly too much to handle together. too much genius, keeps me up too late at night thinking. pure and unfiltered, it is rough and tumble, at times crazy. but also undeniably intelligent and strong. I wish I had a chance to meet this fellow. I think he has much to teach us. not all from that which is typed. for now, I will take what i can, because this man knows that words, words have power.

lots of stress and busy shit to have happen lately what with school starting and everything. this goddamned cold has had me couped up inside the whole last week, I was almost feeling better going up to the fall classic, which was by the way, a spectacular race. random and hectic and at times frustrating, but great riding, but i am afraid that the exertion may have ruined any hopes of a speedy recovery. thanks to 28 miles and like three and a half thousand feet of climbing i am now graced with a deep hacking cough that produces copious amounts of bright yellow phlegm. Lovely.
It was an enjoyable ride to school this morning, I love being out when the clouds cover the tops of the foothills. even through the fog of advil and decongestants. I wish I was up in sie bergen in the clouds, not stuffed into the box with other cases of sniffling misery.
I hear rumors of snow and fall, changing leaves and other treats, I think its a long ways off, but i don't doubt it either. but i suppose its schnoz on the grindstone until then. get er done

17

I guess that makes me almost halfway to being old. To tell the truth it hasn't been a great day. mostly because of this damned sickness that has decided to set up camp in my sinuses. filling my face with something like crazy glue, and making my ears so clogged, every noise enters my head as a muffled vibration, not unlike listening to the world through the wrong end of a very uncomfortable stethoscope. Granted, there hasn't been presents and cake yet, but so far, the highlights of my day were a crisp morning commute, and a passing grade on my ap lit essay. sweet.

this weekend past was quite stellar if I may say so. went up to the high country with some friends for a good weekend of riding. met up with a jr. x racer who lives in summit, and thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure of our own private tour guide. Got shown around the local trails in a hardy ride that included an up and over the colorado and cdt trails.

sunday was the pre-ride for the fall classic course up in breck, 28 miles, and a solid lot of climbing. similar in many aspects to a backwards version of the firecracker. lung busting climbs and sweet winding singletrack included. slightly embarassing to be dropped on the descents by a jr. x girlie with a broken wrist. I could make plenty of excuses, but it doesn't mask the fact. which is, by the way, awesome. its a very long course. fun, yes, but also very long.


also some pictures from an evening run up snikta saturday from the loveland pass. 1200 feet in 25 minutes? ouchies.