Riding the Crystal

Towards Mt. Sopris

There are bike trails all over these mountains, and every age, shape, and size of bicycle rider on them. It's great to see. It seems everywhere I go around here, I see a bike trail that I want to explore, and the best thing is that many of them are inter-connected. As far as I can tell, I can leave the truck in downtown Carbondale, and ride in just about any direction as far as I can stand it.

Hay Fields

This morning I drove to the Roaring Fork High School, parked the truck and headed out along the Crystal River. This well-known trout stream runs out of the pass that takes you to Redstone, Paonia, and farther on to Hotchkiss and Delta, but I only spied a couple anglers. Starting around 9:30, I was probably too late to catch them fly fishing, but the weather was perfect, the trail uncrowded.

Amazing light and sound

I'm not sure of the distance, but it's not a long trail, ending at an RV campground where the pass begins, and the highway narrows. Much like interval training, there was lots of up and down, which was really good for me. I rode for over an hour, mostly beside the river, over 2 wooden bridges, beside farms, ranches and the Crystal River Fish Hatchery. My simple pictures could never capture the beauty. The morning light sparkled as much as the river, and the air was fresh and scented with pine.

Towards Home

Where to next? This ride was so beautiful I can't help but wonder what I'm missing. I've heard the trail around Reudi Reservoir near Basalt is breathtaking, and Skip, owner of finals sponsoring Pour House Bar, suggested that I catch the bus to Aspen, and ride back down the mountain to Carbondale. That sounds like a great adventure, and I love the "down the mountain" part.