March 5, 2023
Orcut Trail to the Dam
Getting the hang of things
While we wait for the day to warm up, I'm wrapping birthday presents this morning for our son Daniel in Colorado Springs. Danny has been a big enabler of my mountain biking notions. Last summer he took me out to ride in the Springs on a demo bike just to get a feel for things. Over a couple days we rode four trails, some beginner level, some not so much. I loved being out there swooping through the beautiful trails but stopped a lot, baffled by the rocky descents.
The first time I fell, I imagine he could have been a bit anxious about his mother breaking something on his watch, but he urged me on. The best crash of the day pitched me into a ravine on my back, tangled up with the bike on top. Wish I'd thought to ask him to get a picture before extricating me.
Our friends Hank and Brigitte take enabling to the next level. Former roadies, they took up mountain biking here two years ago and haven't looked back. They've been relentless in encouraging us to try this biking in the dirt business, leading us out on trails we can handle and coaching us on how to handle the tough spots.
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Hank says they averaged three crashes every ride when they were newbies. I'm glad he waited a few weeks to share that detail. I don't think they had as much help in the beginning as they've offered us. Mostly we've been riding the bunny trails for 6 or 7 miles with some washes and hills to practice on. There aren't many photos or posts from these rides; too many other things to focus on out there.
A couple days ago Brigitte bumped it up to 15 miles and turned onto some tougher, definitely not-bunny trails. On Orcut, the farthest trail on the ride, she pointed up a steep hill and told us about a dam built up there years ago by a homesteader.
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Today Barry and I are making a run at the dam unsupervised. As we pedal out under partly sunny skies on the same course towards Orcut Trail, I'm working on letting loose of the death grip on the bars and resisting the urge to brake on every descent.
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Just before the turn onto Gates Pass Trail, we see Brigitte and three other women out on a ride, one with her shirt off. She fell on a prickly pear and the other women are pulling spines out of her with tweezers. When they close ranks around the shirtless one it's clear we should wish them well and skedaddle.
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Orcut Trail is a challenging climb before we get to the sign that points to the turnoff for the dam, and then very steep on slippery loose rock for the last mile. I manage to stay on the bike all the way up to the trail's end, finding a crumbling concrete foundation and a lovely view down the mountain.
According to the sparse legend of Dan the homesteader, his home was here. Dan's dam was farther over the ridge but didn't hold water and was abandoned. I heard there's a narrow foot trail up to the dam but we don't see a good path to hike out on. There are too many sharp pokey things when you venture off the trails.
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It's a fun, fast ride down, getting back in time to catch the end of an outdoor concert at the park. Checking in with Brigitte I learn that her friend's bra had to come off so they could get all the spines out. I really do not want to fall on a cactus here.
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Today's ride seems like a graduation of sorts. We're feeling competent enough to venture out on more intermediate trails, and grateful to all the people who have helped us get to this point. We're not giving up the road bikes though, there's still a long list of cycle touring ambitions ahead. Here for all the bikes.
Looking forward to another ride with Daniel in a few weeks when we drive through Colorado Springs on the way home.
Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 526 miles (847 km)
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