The Doty | Blog

Gemini Bridges Fat Biking

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 01:52:32 +0000

I forgot how much fun this bike can be on the right road :)

Random Utah 2020

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 22:12:18 +0000

Moab Sunset Rides

Sun, 13 Dec 2020 16:05:15 +0000

Cold, but worth it.

Moab Exploring

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:47:08 +0000

Finally made it up this obstacle!

New Shocks

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:42:35 +0000

It's like having a whole new truck off road. Got to the edge of Canyonlands NP:

With some fun obstacles on the way:

May Moab Madness

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 15:52:16 +0000

December Moab

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 21:10:00 +0000

Upgrades Needed

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 23:12:43 +0000

Maddie

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 05:17:03 +0000

Moab, Again

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 02:33:40 +0000

Geneva Creek and Argentine Pass

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 06:12:32 +0000

I finally got the skid plates to protect the underbody of the truck and went exploring. I made it to the top of Geneva Creek Trail.

I did not do these ledges on Argentine Pass trail. Too much for the truck without some minor modifications.

Old mining equipment up there.

New Truck

Tue, 29 May 2018 21:42:12 +0000

Moab Work Retreat

Tue, 29 May 2018 21:26:22 +0000

Exploring Peru Creek Basin

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 23:43:03 +0000

Hike-a-Bike, Car Camping, and Hiking. While it was mostly clear at the end of June, there were strategic patches of snow that blocked my path at 12,200 feet the first day, and at 12,400 the next. I bought snow/ice traction devices when I got back to town!

Lots of mines up there. Run-off:

Snowy Rollins Pass

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 23:35:31 +0000

This was June 10th, still plenty of snow!

Moab May 2017

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 19:03:07 +0000

For my first major road trip behind the wheel: Moab, of course! First up, over the rockies, where there's still plenty of snow.

Lots of highway miles before camping out in the desert.

Rugged terrain for hiking and mountain biking.

Free climbers doing crazier things than I will try.

And of course, sunsets.

Early April, 2017

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 16:13:25 +0000

Arizona 2017

Tue, 14 Mar 2017 02:26:13 +0000

Gray Day Industrial

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 22:58:38 +0000

I went out 13th Ave west of Cherry Creek to the Platte River through one of Denver's industrial zones. Power stations and factories. Lots of gray today.

Browns

Fri, 17 Feb 2017 01:23:02 +0000

After the Green Mountain Fire

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:07:12 +0000

The unseasonable February weather continues, so it was time to go mountain biking.

Green Mountain just outside of Denver had a large fire late last fall. The police haven't released any details about the cause aside from indicating that it was caused by humans, which might the growing trend. The burn scar looks to be recovering quickly. The yucca bushes seems almost seem to be thriving.

Overcast Alley

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 00:34:03 +0000

Cloudy afternoon meandering through alleys. A call to Action:

Greens and Decay

Old Snow Shots

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 01:01:19 +0000

Old shots from days in the mountains where we went looking for snow.

And another day where snow found us when we weren't looking at all.

80 Degrees

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 16:32:54 +0000

It was 80 degrees in the middle of February! I took out the all-road bike for some easy trails:

Some great views from the pavement:

Color Contrast

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 15:24:18 +0000

Gaining Perspective

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 19:49:18 +0000

After the Election

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 20:59:01 +0000

Rocinante 2016

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 20:42:45 +0000

Bierstadt Summit

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 00:40:28 +0000

Ten Photos That Have Nothing To Do With Cycling

Sat, 29 Oct 2016 15:07:41 +0000

Alta Via 2

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 16:38:33 +0000

Andalucia

Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:09:16 +0000

First some time in Granada..

And a visit to the Alhambra..

Then a rental bike ride to the top of the original Sierra Nevada.

We spent several days in Poqueira Valley region of Alpujarras on the Southern slope of the Sierra Nevada relaxing and eating amazing food. Definitely a place where I want to return :)

North on the Divide

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 00:04:24 +0000

With all of the snow we got this spring, I tried to wait until I thought I could get over Rollins Pass, but the snow was three feet deep 1,200 feet below the pass, and I was post-holing up to my thigh. I had to backtrack to Idaho Springs (spending the third night of your tour 25 miles from home is more than a little demoralizing) to cross the divide on the highway.

There was rain every day in Colorado and usually hail, but most of the day the riding was great.

As soon as I crossed the border into Wyoming, the landscape changed and the deer and the antelope started, uhm, well, you know..

This antelope (technically a "pronghorn" and not a true antelope according to the internets) faun started following me. Some locals said they follow anything that moves. I think I spotted the mother keeping her distance, and I was able to ride away from it after it followed me for nearly a mile. I'm hoping it's okay!

The south of Yellowstone had some interesting formations.

And of course, the Grand Tetons were quite impressive :)

When: June 2016
Total Length: 800 Miles
Total Climb: 48,000 Feet
Riding Days: 14
Rest Days: 4

I don't really know what to say about the riding because maybe there's too much to say. I got to meet and chat with a dozen or so Tour Divide racers, which was more awesome than I expected it to be. Crossing the Great Divide Basin via the old route and camping in the middle was very lonely with only the stupid ceaseless wind to keep you company. Mostly it was just about continuing to pedal (and sometimes push) and enjoying the scenery in amazing and surprisingly empty country.

Slow Spring

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 16:55:49 +0000

It's been a slow spring. Not much happening except some shots from around town..

Macro tripod work while playing around with lighting..

A trip to the botanics..

And riding the road bike a lot to get back in shape for the summer..

More Oaxaca

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:38:18 +0000

Icy Gardens

Sat, 16 Jan 2016 18:50:53 +0000

Late Season Colorado

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 15:01:41 +0000

When: Middle of October
Total Length: 280 Miles
Total Climb: 25,000 Feet
Riding Days: 6
Rest Days: 2

It was chilly and sometimes downright cold. Waking up to frozen water, and hitting the road to thaw my fingers and toes.

But it was quiet and beautiful.

Twice over Rollins Pass, and it never fails to give me vertigo.

Macro Take Two

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:17:22 +0000

Quandary Peek

Sat, 12 Sep 2015 14:30:39 +0000

We endured an extremely windy and chilly morning (socks on hands over gloves!) to summit Quandary Peak in the Tenmile Range outside of Breckenridge. The summer 14er season is just about over :(

Bikes on a Plane

Sat, 12 Sep 2015 14:06:56 +0000

Packing a bicycle into an standard sized suitcase to avoid airline fees is possible with an S&S coupled frame and a little bit of extra disassembly work. Traveling to rural Oaxaca required six flights total and several days of travel. Having the bike in a backpackable suitcase made this trip possible.

REMOVE IN THIS ORDER:

1. Front Rack and Bag
2. Bottle Cages
3. Brake and Shifting Cables
4. Chain
5. Derraileurs
6. Cranks
7. Saddle and Seatpost
8. Rear Cable Hanger
9. Handlebars and Stem
10. Wheels
11. Skewers from Wheels
12. Cassette and endcaps from Rear Hub
13. Right Front Brake
14. Left Rear Brake
15. Fork, Headset Bearings
16. Break Frame in Half
17. Remove Beer from Fridge

PACKING ORDER:

18. Fork
19. Saddle
20. Cranks
21. Front Half
22. Front Wheel
23. Rear Half
24. Handlebars
25. Rack and Bag
26. Rear Wheel
27. Fit all of the random stuff in voids
28. Pad with cardboard and your bike clothes.

Indian Peaks Wilderness

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 15:30:18 +0000

This might be my new favorite place to go exploring. The weather west to Pawnee Pass was lovely.

The weather when summiting Mt. Audubon was terrible. We were in the clouds the entire hike up with occasional rain. The entire way down was pouring rain. The only view was at the peak, but what a view it was!

Stalk Me

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 14:31:58 +0000

https://share.delorme.com/JasonDoty

Banff Dreaming

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 13:37:16 +0000

I've started riding South. We'll see how far I get :)

Breakfast

Sun, 31 May 2015 18:20:18 +0000

Making amazing food look appetizing in a photo is surprisingly hard. More practice needed :)

More Mexico

Thu, 14 May 2015 13:28:38 +0000

La Casa de La Abuela

Wed, 13 May 2015 16:41:02 +0000

Up in the mountains, we stayed in La Casa de La Abuela ("the house of the grandmother") in San Mateo Rio Hondo in Oaxaca, Mexico. It was a beautiful town, the cabin had great views, and I loved the food :)

A Little Bit of Mexico

Tue, 12 May 2015 13:39:38 +0000

I just got back from a week in Southern Oaxaca, Mexico. A crazy freak storm on the coast produced huge waves, and the cloud forests in the mountains stayed pretty much rain free. More photos later :)

This couple was stuck on a 50 foot rock outcropping getting battered with waves. They eventually braved the knife edge to get back to the point. Scary.

Fat Lazy Gila Tour

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 19:29:37 +0000

I bought tickets to Phoenix for the first week in March on a bit of a whim. I didn't know what sort of ride I'd do, but I knew something would be good. Right afterward, I got another fat bike (so much snow in Denver this winter, and I haven't been able to run commute to work), so of course I wanted to try a tour on the new steed.

The weather was great in the Sonoran Desert, so I stayed out of the mountains and checked out some back roads and fifty miles of the AZT (The Arizona Trail is 750 miles of what looks like an amazing ride). I think I want to do about a thousand miles of the GDMBR along the rockies on the Pugsley this summer, so this ride was also a bit of an equipment test.

The pug was surprisingly fast on suburban roads and the side of the highway while escaping Phoenix the first day. I think tubeless tires make an even bigger difference for reducing a fat bike's rolling resistance than they do for skinnier tires. The next day was rained out. Huge storms, raining all day, flood warnings for the canyons and trails I wanted to ride. Oh well, hanging out in the motel was relaxing, and the sunset amazing.

The AZT between Superior and Kelvin is amazingly constructed (it looks brand new and very well designed) through some beautiful and rugged terrain. I realized that I was definitely carrying too much stuff. I started off only being able to ride sixty percent of the trail. After I had eaten a bunch of food, drank my extra water, and gotten more comfortable on the new bike, that number exceeded 80%, but next tour, I don't need to bring four different jackets :)

The best part was camping out on a ridge above the Gila River valley. I scrounged up some leftover rain water from the storms two days before (chlorine and a filter... this was cattle country :) and staked out a spot to watch the sun set before falling asleep amidst the cacti.

Perhaps the coolest unexpected part of the trip was running into Eszter Horanyi (the most badass rider I know of) and Scott Morris(helps run the AZTR? It was clear he knew *everything* about riding in the area) when I wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the trail. It was a little weird meeting a stranger in the middle of nowhere after reading her blog for years, but I guess this is a small world :) Scott gave me lots of advice for how to finish out the route. I want to go back in the fall and explore the area in greater depth; there seems to be a wealth of great bikepacking options.

Overall, great trip. I will definitely be back to Arizona when the weather in Colorado sucks, although maybe Tucson next time instead of Phoenix. I think the Pugsley will be great for my goal of touring north from Colorado on the GDMBR. The full suspension bike might be faster, but the pug makes a great lazy touring machine. I just need to be careful to not overpack; it's too easy with the extra storage!

Escaping Winter

Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:03:43 +0000

When the last ride looked like this

and the forecast looks like this

it's time to visit Arizona. I'm packing up the fat bike now and leave on Saturday!

There's Still Life in the Winter

Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:25:34 +0000

I've been playing around inside trying to improve lighting and tripod work.

Snow!

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:00:30 +0000

The weather has been alternating between springlike seventies and stormy snow.

Black and White in Colorful Colorado

Wed, 04 Jun 2014 03:28:19 +0000

After the Storm

Fri, 23 May 2014 06:05:46 +0000

It's hailed for three days straight. Yesterday, there was over a foot of it by the airport. Interesting times for a bike commuter :) Great light today as the storms were clearing and the sun setting.

I've started shooting people

Sun, 18 May 2014 05:03:03 +0000

... or at least I've convinced Elena to let me point a camera at her.

May Snow Storm

Sun, 11 May 2014 21:45:15 +0000

It's dumping snow! In the middle of May! It's too warm for a lot of accumulation, but the droplets on the flowers in the neighborhood are quite pretty.

Chicago Spring

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 03:09:17 +0000

Just back from a quick long weekend in Chi Town. Spring arrived just in time for me :)

Spring in Denver

Sat, 12 Apr 2014 20:59:30 +0000

A beautiful almost HOT day, today! Everything is blooming. Some photos from running errands. I'm off to do a half marathon trail run as training for ultra marathon in a few months :)

Denver Alleys

Sun, 09 Mar 2014 19:16:55 +0000

Some photos from alleys in Cap Hill in Denver on a beautiful day :)

Wintery Denver

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 00:54:20 +0000

This winter Denver has been much colder and more closely resembles a glacier. Maybe I'm just getting out more and notice it, but brrrr!

Snow Shoeing in RMNP

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 03:09:31 +0000

Went snow shoeing with Pam in Rocky Mountain National Park over Christmas. The floods last fall left a lot of visible damage in the canyon leading into town, but the park seemed to be in great shape.

Dream Lake off of the Bear Lake TH was pretty awesome and stupid cold. The wind was howling off of the hills.

Wind blown snow shining in the sun by Nymph Lake.

New Macro Lens

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 23:18:48 +0000

After a few months of playing around with the new camera, I kept running into close focusing issues, so I got a macro lens. The depth of field when doing macros is so narrow! It makes it really hard to take a shot hand held; even breathing can cause enough motion to totally change what's in focus. More practice is needed :)

Fire in the Sky

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:55:14 +0000

New Site

Sat, 30 Nov 2013 05:49:22 +0000

My apologies to anyone subscribed to the RSS feed. When I migrated to the new site, it resent some old posts.

Riding with Kevin and exploring east of Denver, we found this strange shrine underneath the highway. I think it may have started as a day of the dead shrine and grew into something else. Tax documents, dolls, old tape cassettes, and clothes were all to be found.

Oh, and I've been playing the harmonica again a little bit :)

Checking Out Seattle

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Out Walking

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Cold Overnighter

Sat, 02 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I went on a quick overnighter to White Ranch outside of Golden. I rather liked this trip: I decided I wanted to do it in the morning, packed up the mountain bike, had lunch, took a nap, and then rode over in time to set up camp as the sun was setting. No real planning necessary!

I woke up shortly after dawn to see 28 degrees on the thermometer. The hill I was on was stuck in the clouds. After a bit of shivering and packing, I had a nice eerie ride down into Denver.

All told, I was back in town and unpacked by lunchtime! Here’s a bonus picture of a pretty bike that was parked in front of my building.

Walking in Denver

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A calf injury while running last weekend has made activity difficult, but Denver is looking really good this time of year :)

Summer and Fall

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

August started on the mountain bike, first heading West.

And then South along the Divide. It rained, hailed, stormed, or snowed every day until the last, making for a completely different, and much colder, experience than the trip through the desert to SF.

After getting just about to NM, I switched things up for some hiking. I met up with Pam and we summited two (my first!) 14ers: San Luis Peak and Mt. Elbert. I’m going to spare the readers the photos of bad hair and UV light from the top :)

And here is Denver being pretty in her fall colors.

Success

Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I made it to San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean over a week ago. I cheated and flew back to Denver, but who’s checking ;)

Escape From NV

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After reaching Carson City, Nevada changed dramatically. It was green, the air was humid, and there was water everywhere. The Sierra Nevada range casts a large rain shadow which causes Nevada’s deserts, but on the edge, there’s still water. I entered California and enjoyed much more verdant scenery than I’d seen in weeks. I currently sit on the edge of the Central Valley where highs are forecast to be 115 tomorrow and the next day, but I have to ride anyway in order to make my flight from SF. Alarm set for 5:30AM.

Nevada Got Weird

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Nevada finally got weird. HURRAY! I almost don’t want to leave, but highs are about to be 110 degrees, so time to get to California :)

Nevada is...

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Well, Nevada is boring. The basin and range geography is more exciting to ride across than corn fields, but not by much.

Nevada is, however, starting to get more varied and more interesting, and I think that will continue as I approach the Sierra Nevada. I’m in the tiny town of Austin (Population 186) which has a good vibe. Going out for a burger and a beer!

Welcome To Nevada

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Compulsary Gear List

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I’m riding with a somewhat uncommon combination of bikepacking bags with UL gear on my Salsa Fargo set up like a CX bike a road based tour, so I get a lot of questions from other riders about the bike and what I’m carrying. In the hope that it migh help, I created a gear page with some of my thoughts behind why this setup works for me:

http://thedoty.com/denver2sf/

PS. If you are riding with your grandfather and I met you in Baker, I can’t find your blog! Drop me a line if you read this :)

Zion is Tryin

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Bryce is Nice

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After riding over 700 miles of the ACA(Adventure Cycling Association) Western Express route, I shook things up a little bit by meeting friend Pam for some hiking. She drove out from Denver, rescued me from the middle of Utah, and we hit up Bryce Canyon.

Beautiful Buttes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After waiting for “favorable” weather, I set off across the trip’s first desert crossing. Day 11 took me from Blanding to the Hite recreation area, 78 miles away. No services, no water, nothing in between. The “favorable” weather was only high 90s and moderate headwinds.

Hite sits at the top of Lake Powell, which hasn’t gotten enough water due to the recent droughts in the West. It is no longer usable as a marina and even though it was a friday night, I was the only guest. There was a tiny store that had some food, ice cream, and soda and closed at 4PM. Luxury living…

From Hite, it was only 50 more miles of resource free desert to the town of Hanksville, population under 100…

Mountains, Headwinds, and Utah

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After a much needed rest day in Gunnison Colorado, I set out Westward again. On the edge of town, I spotted Andy catching up to me on a completely geeked out randonneuring bike (racing frame, leather saddle, dynamo hub with what looked like recharging system). We rode together for about 10 mile until our paths separated (he was on a 120 mile training ride for doing a 1200km brevet later in the year!). It’s always good to talk to other long distance cyclists :) This was also the first day I saw tourers heading the other way. No one stopped, but I knew I was on the correct route, at least..

Day 6 ended at Ridgeway state park which featured the view below. Despite a lot of headwinds, good progress was made.

I wrote this after exiting a canyon and construction zone. I’m thinking of titling it “The Thin White Line”, with apologies to Terrence Malick:

Sometimes the road just doesn’t want to cooperate. You are riding along, having a nice day, and suddenly the shoulder disappears. The truck traffic is still there. Then the canyon walls loom up. Then the construction starts You find yourself stuck on an 8 inch wide beat up stretch of pavement, uphill, downhill, in the wind, and WHOOOOOOSH that 18 wheeler just passed you with about 27 inches of clearance and you just kinda look at the canyon wall to your right and the tiny little gutter filled with rockfall that you could ditch your bike into and whups, this next turn is completely blind, and you see a sign saying “construction, next 4 miles” and you start to wonder just what you thought you were doing coming out here into the middle of nowhere on a bicycle!? but you keep riding and it sucks, and you ditch the bike in the gutter when a KOA truck is coming up behind while a cattle truck is coming up in front, and it sucks, but then BOOM construction is over and your eight foot shoulder is back, baby butt smooth and at the top of a 1,200 foot drop and you let go of the brakes and get into an aero tuck and think you might hit about 40MPH and suddenly the smile returns :)

I wasn’t feeling the vibe of Telluride (no smiles, anywhere), so despite having done a lot of climbing and having bonked already (I broke my metal spoon on a pint of Half Baked…..), I decided to go over Lizard Head Pass and hunt down this rumor of 23 dollar bunks…

The miniscule town of Rico had The Mineshaft Inn, which did indeed have 23 dollar bunks, but it also had awesome 40 dollar private rooms set up all victorian style. The owner was cool and the bar seemed like fun (but I was totally one beer and done..) for a good end to day seven.

Day eight started great by reading Infinite Jest at the tiny espresso shack. Rico was fun :) But the headwind continued and grew teeth. I was riding *down* a river valley and had to pedal to maintain 8MPH. By the time I reached the shithole of Delores, morale was pretty low. I wanted to stop early for the day, but the campground outside of town wanted 17 dollars for neither shade nor showers. The campsite did FINALLY have some cellular internet access and I could check the weather. Wind about to ease up? Route turning not straight into it? I popped a caffeine pill and kept going!

I stopped at the next motel a few dozen miles up the road. It was on the Colorado edge of the border, a complete dump, and the only thing for miles, so I checked in anyway. In the morning I finally got a good chat with an Eastbound cyclist who made it through the desert which I was about to face. Eileen was able to provide some tips about water sources and camping that made me feel a lot less nervous about what was coming up, thanks! Now for the first new state :)

Things quickly started looking more Utah-ish with canyons and crazy colors. The wind continued to be nasty, but I made it to Blanding Wednesday afternoon in a reasonable amount of time and checked the weather.. Blanding is about as much fun as the name implies, but it’s at the edge of the trip’s first desert crossing. 124 miles to the next town of Hanksville with almost no options in between. The forecast for Thursday at the only camping spot in the desert… high of 103 and winds up to 39MPH (later upped to 50MPH). So it’s a rest day today, and the weather still looks positive for tomorrow :)

Having Fun? Hail Yes!

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The second day was pretty simple… There were two roads from Colorado Springs to Pueblo: The interstate and an unpaved road in ranch land. In the cold.. Into a headwind.. Who wants to be on the interstate when you could be having this much fun?

After so many interesting cacti and fences, I bunkered down in the cheapest motel in Pueblo to escape the nasty weather and eat as much as possible before tackling the mountains in the morning.

Leaving Pueblo had the first big climb of the trip was up into Silver Cliff. I miscalculated a bit with the water and arrived a little thirsty. At the pizza place I believe I downed about two thirds of a gallon of water and dr pepper in a half hour; I felt great afterward, so did nearly another 60 miles and made it all the way into Salida as the sun was setting.

Salida just gave good vibes all around. The hostel (there *was* a hostel!) was mostly filled with continental divide through hikers, the pizza places were also microbreweries, and random strangers said hi and knew exactly what I was doing. Salida sits just east of the high point of the trip: Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet. Storms were forecast for later in the afternoon, so I wanted to get up there early.

When I got to about 8,500 feet not that many miles outside of town, I was caught in a hail and lightning storm. This was about 10am, hardly what I’d call “late afternoon”, but it is the divide, and weather can go bad at any time. I wasn’t quite ready to throw in the towel because I could see a little patch of blue sky in the direction I was going.

I threw on my rain gear and sat by the side of the road.. watching that blue patch get bigger, and bigger, and until the entire southwest looked completely storm free. I decided to go for it. I knew the gap in the weather wouldn’t last, so I hustled up the pass as fast as I could. Before too long, I dug my sunglasses back out and put them back on.. then thoughts of whether or not I needed new sunblock. The weather was nice!

I knew it couldn’t last, so I kept pushing. No pictures, no extended lunch breaks, just get up and over the pass ASAFP and then coasting from there. About 500 feet from the top, it clouded over. 300 feet from the top, it started raining. BOOM! Uh oh… I was on US50, traffic was not light. There was no shoulder, and the curves were blind. And now I was in another storm, so absolutely no chance of riding this one out. I got the rain gear on and started pushing the bike up to the top, figuring there might be an outhouse or something there to wait it out.

I only got about 10 steps before Lynne and Duke from California stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. I think I gave this offer abount 10 milliseconds of thought before gratefully accepting. They were driving to Telluride for the start of Ride The Rockies, a 7 day supported tour through the mountains which looks like a hell of a lot of fun. We were able to shoehorn my bike into the back with their bikes and luggage and somehow fit me in there too. The weather stayed pretty bad on the other side of the pass, so I hitched to the bottom of the hill before cycling the rest of the way into Gunnison. Thanks again guys!

Taking a rest day in Gunnison today (Saturday). After 300 miles in four days with some solid climbs, my legs are completely shot. The owner of the super 8 in town is bike friendly and gave me a king suite (office desk and everything!) for really cheap, so everything is working out well to rest up, work on the blog, and research the next stretch of route. Not too much further until Utah!

Day 1, Denver to a KOA South of Colorado Springs

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After not being ready on time and having to start a day late (and a dollar short, ha ha ha), I got moving at a somewhat respectable 10:30 this morning. Escaped Denver via a series of bike paths…

… that took me alllllmost all of the way to Perry Park Road. A lovely old highway that serves ranchland and no other traffic except for the occasional cyclist. Inexplicably, I met some camels.

Soon after noon, the storm clouds started rolling in. I kept expecting to get soaked, but the clouds mostly seemed to fizzle as soon as they got close to me.

Although I did get caught close to Colorado Springs, but luckily somewhat had the foresight to put a pic-a-nic shelter there so that I could wait it out.

The last dozen miles to the campground were touch and go. It was raining, the sun was setting, and I was still on a gravel path in the middle of nowhere. Looking behind me, I saw reason to risk having to set up a tent in the dark while raining, though :)

La Sal Overnighter

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The La Sal Mountains tower over Moab to the East. The highest peaks are above 13,000 feet, well over thrice as high as town. Of course, I had to go check them out :)

I mostly rode up Sand Flats Road, passing the entrance to the legendary Slickrock and Porcupine Rim MTB trails. It snaked up canyons to constantly gain elevation. Lots of jeeps, ATVs, and dirt bikes, as this area is even more popular amongst that off road crowd than mountain bikers.

The trail was following the edge of the Canyon, providing some spectacular but vertigo inducing views. On the way down, I rode some of the jeep and MTB trails until things got too rough (and exposed, eek!) to handle with a fully loaded bike. Pretty awesome trails up there!

The top of my climb was between Castleton Canyon and the Northern edge of the La Sals. In one view, you could see everything from snow capped peaks descending into scorching desert. I camped in an Aspen grove around 8,400 feet. It was in the 90s in town, but quite cool up there. Success!

Desert Flowers

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Flowers in the desert around Moab. Nothing much to say here :)

First Days of Moab

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I went to Moab, Utah with family at the end of May. Did some mountain biking East of the valley..

And then some mountain biking West of the valley, with entirely different rock types. Moab lies on a fault line which is supposed to have more than 2,000 feet of separation in the rock layers!

Scott and Yvonne hiked down from the top of Negro Bill Canyon to do two rappels. Steve and I hiked up from the bottom to meet them at the base of Morning Glory Arch and take some photos.

Riding Above Boulder

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Steve (my father) and I spent a few days riding around above Boulder. I rode from Denver up to Boulder through Golden, which is the only way I know how, although not terribly direct. Then we hit the Betasso trails for some mountain biking, scary crash included.

Up early the next morning to take the bus up to Nederland. An easy day was planned, so we explored the town a bit, got some great BBQ, took a nap, and then set out heading South. After getting to Rollinsville, we switched to dirt and headed West towards the divide.

We were following the Rollins Pass Road, which now dead ends, but was one of the first railroads over the divide. There’s still an active train line (I saw an Amtrak, that must be a great ride!), but it uses a tunnel through instead of clinging to the side of the mountains.

The third day we headed North on the Peak to Peak towards the bustling town of Ward, which did have a small store, providing us with some microwaved burritos for lunch. Rocketing down Lefthand Canyon was a hoot. There’s never any shoulders on canyon roads, but during the middle of a weekday, we saw more bikes than cars, so we could take the lane and not feel strapped for space. When you are riding the white line and your bike wants to go 35MPH with traffic passing a few feet away, it can be a little nerve wracking.

Near the bottom, we diverted over Lee Hill Road for a little coda on the mountains with the steepest climbing of the trip at the end of the ride.

The Snowiest Month

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Despite my hopeful words about the end of winter in the last post, April was a deluge of snow. Every week a new storm rolled in just as things were melting from the previous dump. Boulder got a record setting four feet.. for April! Fine time to sell your snow bike, Doty ;)

During a dry spell, friend Kevin had the great idea to ride to Red Rocks. This had never occurred to me before. I knew it was there. I frequently rode within a small handful of miles of it. I knew it was awesome, but The Doty’s foggy brain sometimes fails to put things together.

I’m not going to declare winter dead(again), but today was nearly 80 degrees and there’s no snow in the forecast. I took the newly birthed monster cross bike (more details in a future post) to go explore the beginning of the Colorado Trail. They say it runs from “Denver to Durango”, which is almost true.. The trailhead is at the base of Waterton canyon just outside of Littleton (which is basically Denver). You get some awesome dirt road for seven or so miles before the single track begins. I was able to ride a good section of this without a mountain bike, which bodes well for future plans…

No, the plans have nothing to do with sheep, they were just there. I want to ride the Colorado Trail this summer. Using a mountain bike, carrying camping gear. So far signs look good. Maybe in the next week or two I’ll get to do an overnighter and test out the rig..

The End of Winter

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Winter is finally dying, alternating weeks of 70 degree sunny days and dumping huge quantities of snow. Lots of riding in the city..

On the mountain bike trails at the lowest altitude..

And on the paths in the foothills. Plenty to do, but I’m still waiting for things to melt higher up!

Green Bike on Green Mountain

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Today and tomorrow comprise a narrow window where the trails at lower elevation have just finished drying, but the storm at the end of the week hasn’t hit yet. Of course, that means that I had to ride the new bike over to a mountain to try it out. The bike is green and named Kermit. The mountain is brown, and named Green Mountain.

I wanted to explore the northwestern quadrant as my map tells me that has the most interesting trails. There is also a connection over there to another trail system which I have ridden and know to be awesome. I ended up dinking around on the eastern side; whenever I peeked my now sunburnt nose over the top of any ridge, I was blasted in the face with a minor gale. I stole some views, but otherwise crept away and left the wind and the western side to their own devices.

Golden Denver

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The mountains were calling, and I answered by moving to Colorado. I spent the first few months living outside of the town of Golden, right smack at the feet of the Front Range. It was three miles to the grocery store, six to a cafe or bus station, but several trails systems were at the front door.

With the first snow in Fall, I knew that life would continue to be tough out there without a car. Riding 20 miles home from a date in Boulder in the dead of night in the rain? Fun a few times, but not sustainable.

So into Denver I fled. Buried within a protective layer of suburbs, strip malls, and pawn shops, there a handful of neighborhoods in the center that are urban, walkable, and even somewhat hip. The bus system is strong and the traffic light. I want to check out Fort Collins soon, but I really think I might just stay in Denver for a while.

Some nagging injuries and ailments kept me cooped up in my tiny but awesome apartment for a good chunk of the winter, but I made the best of it. Skiing was tried (and quickly abandoned after an MCL sprain), the snow bike used in glory for one week and then sold, and now Spring is arriving. The lowest trails are just now dry, time to go explore..

Utah Road Trippin

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Last summer I went on a road trip with the cousin and his parents through Colorado and Utah. We brought mountain bikes on the rack and managed to get a fair bit of riding in, which was very crucial after all of that driving!

While in Utah, we stayed with one our uncles who has built a house several thousand feet over a reservoir. He has to store water all winter long because the pipes would freeze, but I think the views make it worth it:

We stopped in Moab for one night and managed to sneak in two rides. The slick rock trail is something truly amazing, and I can’t wait to get back out there to ride everything else!

Smoke In The Mountains

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

You probably heard this already, but the whole West was on fire last summer. There are many theories as to why, but there was clearly a drought, and it was comparatively hot. Haze obscured the sky all summer long except for brief respites right after the occasional rain.

I loaded up my touring bike and set off into the mountains, climbing 5,000 feet the first day and wondering how far I was going to actually make it. The mountains in Colorado sure are a lot bigger than those in Illinois.. I slept the first night above 10,000 feet and woke up feeling much more used to the altitude. I stopped by the base of Mount Evans, which had the highest paved road in the world until recently. The cyclists at the bottom said that conditions were perfect, so I changed plans and went for it. I will admit to doing some bike pushing, but it was quite ride back down: dropping 7,000 feet in one go into Idaho Springs.

The first Continental Divide crossing was over Berthoud Pass. I snaked up the road from Idaho Springs along an extremely generous shoulder (apparently used for snow storage in the winter) which allowed me to ignore the heavy traffic of Corvettes. I was headed for Winter Park to meet some friends and do some downhill biking. The Corvettes were headed to the same spot, but for a convention, it turned out. Downhill riding was scary/fun/interesting: wearing body armor, bikes that can barely be pedaled but have 8 inches of suspension, huge berms, steep hills, jumps. I went OTB on a black diamond trail pretty early in the day and kept things a little more conservative after that.

The final stretch was to recross the Divide over Rollins Pass. This has the Moffat Road, which is the remnant of the first railroad to go over the Rockies around the turn of the century. It had a nasty tendency to derail and plunge the whole train thousands of feet down the side of the mountain, so when a better option was carved underneath the mountains nearby, it was abandoned. Most of the route is unimproved jeep road and the topmost section is off limits to motorized vehicles. I spent all day dreaming of doing this with a full suspension bike instead of having my body shaken and abused.

Aside from being a great experience, I was able to learn a lot about touring in the mountains to plan future trips. Planning based on elevation changes is more important than mileage. There’s actually quite a bit of water around if you have a filter. Humanity never seems very far away in the Front Range, so there’s no need to carry a week’s worth of food. This is just the beginning..

Trans Illinois Tour

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We boarded an Amtrak and then rode back across Illinois last summer. Most of our suspicions were confirmed: it’s mostly pancake flat, humidity sure does suck, and there are lots (and lots, and lots) of farms.

There were some surprises, however. Western Illinois is actually very hilly in a rolling sort of way, making 50 miles of otherwise boring farmland quite strenuous/interesting. The long abandoned canal system we followed back showed a good variety of wildlife. These canals were dug long before cars were invented, and we rode along the mule path on either side. Except for when it met a town, the route felt shockingly distant from humanity. Forests and marshland; this is how I imagine uncultivated Illinois used to be.

Vermont Snow Biking

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Due to some of the lowest airline fares I have ever witnessed, Erica and I were able to visit her parents in Northern Vermont while winter was still going strong. I packed the fat bike into a few boxes and entrusted its fate to the FedEx gods.

The riding was all that you could ask for. Seemingly endless miles of wide, well packed snowmobile trails snaked through the woods with not a care in the world for the steepness of the hill (oof). The fat bike can truly fly (downhill) in such conditions!

Breaking trail in the woods to get to the snomo trails was an exercise in futility, however. There was a firm crust on top of some softer snow underneath. Walking in boots, you would post hole most of the time. The tires aired down to super low PSI managed a little bit better, but still would eventually break through. A few more days with snow shoes to pack things down, and it could have been all biking, all the time. I guess it was an exercise in the virtues of snow shoeing, after all..