Breckenridge Camping & Guyot

As much as I ride in Breckenridge, it is typically day trips up there and never had camped there until this weekend.  I had seen dispersed camping just off the Colorado trail and always thought it would be nice to camp there as you can ride right from the camp.

We finally made it up there for a quick weekend and it was really nice place to camp and the riding is amazing.  Friday evening we just did a short ride and some exploring, as I continue to look for the "Great Flume", but once again didn't find it.

The camp site....

Saturday morning the goal was the Guyot Loop, with a little different variation avoiding the bike path in town and much of French Gulch road.  This is a big hard route that climbs over the divide two times (French Pass just over 12,000 feet and Georgia Pass over 11,000 feet).

Starting out in the morning Guyot is the peak on the left...we would eventually do a full loop around it.

  Looking back towards Breckenridge.

  Guyot still really far away.....

  Guyot getting closer....

Heading up French.....

 Big remote open country up this way.....this is a highly committed ride with little to no bail out points.

 Pumping some water....

Rarely used single track....

French Pass in the distance.....thin air up here.

Finally on the pass....

  Sarah heading down the back of French.

Guyot from Georgia Pass......Colorado Trail back to the car.

The Guyot loop is a true backcountry riding adventure that really packs in some hard climbing at elevation.  By the end we were out for 8.5 hours covered 40 miles with 6,500 feet of gain.

High Country, Fires, Beaches, and more High Country

After the Bailey I had been feeling pretty worked for a couple weeks, so took some time away from the bike (well at least didn't ride as hard as I normally do).

With the poor snow year in the high country riding in Breckenridge opened up early this year.  Went up for a nice ride the week after the Bailey and was dragging, but still nice to get out.  Conditions up there were the driest I have ever seen it.

Shortly after this another fire started just outside of Boulder adding to what has been the worst fire season in Colorado history.  This is taken from North Table Mountain in Golden looking towards Boulder.

Just after the July 4th holiday we went to Laguna Beach for a long weekend.  The weather was amazing and it was nice to be off the bike for most of the week.

Finally last weekend I started feeling pretty strong again on the bike was ready for a nice long ride in Breckenridge (plan was to do a 50 to 60 mile loop).

Starting the day....

  Rain over the past couple weeks had things green up in Breck again and the trails in great shape.

 Some adventuring lead me to this old cabin.

 And then the rain came and pretty early....ended up cutting my ride short after riding in the rain for 2 hours.  Finished up the day with 35 miles and 4,500 feet of gain, along with exploring two new to me trails.