Bike Destination Vacation - Day 6

Long Lost Cousins Reunited

Day 6 Original Plan:  Hang out in Laramie, WY and visit family.

New Day 6 Plan:  Bike Curt Gowdy, WY in the morning and visit family in the afternoon/evening.

LOOK!  This sign says IMBA on it. . .

Yep, we got up early and went to Curt Gowdy State Park – the greatly advertised mountain bike destination.  This is a place EVERYONE should go (so I have been told). 

Scenic Trail Photo OP

After surviving my ride (and the cow incident) at Curt Gowdy, we headed back to Laramie, WY to hang out some more with our families.  By now, Darius’s nephew has arrived from Fort Collins, CO and his cousin has flown in from Hawaii so he has a whole bunch of family.  Me?  I have a long lost cousin from back in my childhood that is now living in Laramie.  Haven’t seen him in a loooooong time and wasn’t even sure if we were going to get along.  Had to admit that we were friends on Facebook and he has an adorable 2-year-old (who has a LOT of energy). 

Cousins Forever

We went to my cousin’s house and hung out with him and his three monkeys (I mean kids – really they were quite well behaved – QUIET really – guess Darius and I are kind of scary) and then went to dinner when his wife arrived home.  A great visit, actually.  He’s doing well and seems content.  Since I ADORE his parents, it was nice to get reacquainted with him.  Hope to see him again as these bike trips may have to become a habit. 

Poor hubby was falling asleep at the table at dinner so after our visit, we called it an early night.  Guess all this fresh air at high altitudes is starting to take it’s toll.

Another day gone by.

Stone Temple Circuit

You Just Have to Talk to the Cows!

Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming

Today we mountain biked at Curt Gowdy State Park which is a mountain bike destination that is highly touted.  We picked up a map, yesterday, at a local bike shop, so we were set.  The map was clearly labeled with color coded trails denoting easy, intermediate, advanced, and expert.  The trails also had copies of this map throughout and were VERY well marked. 

The start of Stone Temple Circuit

We decided to take an intermediate trail since it made a large loop around the park and back to our car.  We started a pleasant uphill climb on a nicely designed single track called “Stone Temple Circuit.”  Like my past three rides, the trail contained different sized boulders that needed to be maneuvered around and over.  No worries, I was now experienced with this terrain and feeling very comfortable.  The nice part about the trail we chose is that some harder loops left and returned to this trail so the hubby could get in some more advanced riding without having to wait for me to hike my bike through it. 

How could anyone be afraid of this?

For years, I have been terrified of being alone in the woods but mountain biking has helped me be more comfortable so I had no qualms sending the hubby off on his side trail (Ignoramus and 2%) while I rode alone. 

YEAH!  You KNOW something happened!!!  Soooooo, I was riding uphill and around this left curve and in the middle of my trail is a herd of BIG HUMONGOUS COWS!!!  Three times the size of the ones at Toro Park, I'm sure of it.  There was also a lone cow on a trail a little lower than me to my right.  Not knowing what to do, I stopped my bike thinking that I would wait them out.  They couldn’t stand on this trail forever, COULD THEY? 

The lower cow started mooing REALLY loud and the whole herd in front of me turned around to face me on the trail.  WHOA?!  I, then, got OFF my bike.  I kept reciting to myself, “Darius says cows don’t run people down . . . cows don’t chase people . . . these cows will NOT stampede me to death.”  Then I see movement to my right and the BIG black cow is racing up the hill towards me.  <Bad words inserted here>

I dropped my bike and ran up the hill desperately looking for something to hide behind.  About 1/3 of the way up, I see a rock next to a tree.  I jump onto the rock and turn to look.  <More bad words here> The cow is still racing up the hill at me.  I proceed to climb the tree by my rock.  My chosen tree had dead branches at my level so as I was climbing, the branches were breaking and falling.  I was willing to climb with my fingernails if I had to. 

Once I was higher than UBERCOW, I turned to look.  It had stopped about five feet in front of my tree and proceeded to bellow loud enough for my hubby to hear it where he was (he admitted wondering what was up with the cranky cow after all was over and done) up in the higher elevations.  All of a sudden three small calves came out from the opposite side of the mean ubercow.  Once reunited with her progeny, she then turned back the way I had come from and led her calves away. 

Then all the other cows turned around and went up the trail the way I WANTED to go.  I was in a conundrum.  I waited and watched until the cows were out of sight then dropped from my perch and said some choice words about husbands who don’t know squat about cows!  Then I cursed the park for allowing these BIG MONSTERS on the trail system without warning city girls like me of the hazards – the least they could do is tell me what to do when I see one.  After all, we all know what to do when we see bears and mountain lions – why no childhood training on COWS?!? 

So I finally get the courage to head out on my trail.  I go another half mile and ANOTHER herd of cows are on the side of the trail.  I thought, “OK, I will get off my bike and walk by them.  They are all lying down.  I am fine.”  But NO, the BIG RED cow has to stand up and face me.  I was D-O-N-E!!!  I hated this place and this trail and this state and . . . so I left my bike on the trail to trip up any oncoming bikers (in an effort to get ANYONE to help me past those darn cows) and walked up the hill to perch on a high level rock. 

I attempt to call my husband via cell phone.  Well, APPARENTLY he had no cell service where he was and the friendly voice on my phone tells me to try again later.  GEEZ, didn’t she know I needed him NOW?!? 

After a few minutes, I hear a rider and pop my head up from my rock.  It is my lucky day; my hubby’s trail met my trail right where those stupid cows were hanging out.  I hailed him to my rock and relayed my story.  I was shaking so bad, I could hardly walk.  I had the best adrenaline high I’ve had in years. 

Together we walk by the cows and the SUPER BIG ONE starts walking towards us.  My hubby calmly says, “Go away Boss.”  And sure enough, that cow turned away from us.  He sure knows a lot about cows.  Me?  I now officially HATE cows.  It took me almost twenty minutes to stop shaking as we rode further along our trails.  FYI – I have been informed that you must talk to the cows and not stare at them directly – ooops – NOW he tells me!!! 

Downhill Section of Play Area

After the cow incident, we stumbled upon the first “play area.”  Turns out that all along these trails, little practice areas were set up so you can try your hand (OK, bike) at different styled, natural and manmade obstacles.  I managed to videotape the hubby on a cool rocky part and then we headed back out on our trail. 

Rocky Trail

We then come across an option to continue on Stone Temple Circuit or jump onto “Albert’s Alley.”  I was feeling pretty perky (still feeling that adrenaline rush) so I said sure and off we went.  This was still rated intermediate but seems more rocky that Stone Temple so I was forced to play hike-a-bike off and on as we rode.  I can’t even count how many times I banged my pedals on rocks – some were too close together and too high for me to get through so I now have bruised all up my legs from my pedals banging against the back of my calves as I hit yet ANOTHER rock (boulder?). 

Beautiful place to have a snack.

We reach a little creek and stop for a break where I get some more biking pointers from my man (and maybe come cow pointers too).  Back on the trail again, we complete Albert’s Alley and jump onto “Crow Creek” trail. 

Things are getting really gnarly and I’m doing more walking than riding.  I would have felt bad, but the hubby was humping his bike over three foot rocks too and telling me that this was rideable by him but he would have to scope it out before attempting it.  Sometimes he would walk a sketchy part and go back and ride it after working out the logistics but I just kept lifting my bike up and down over these oversized boulders.  Later as we looked at the map, it turned out that the middle section of our trail was really rated advanced.  I wonder what expert looked like after dragging my bike through this part. 



The rock just keep getting bigger and bigger

 Gradually the trail became easier to navigate and I get back on my bike.  Funnily, I began taking bigger drops because I was getting tired of getting off and on my bike.  I still haven’t figured how to climb those big rocks yet but, hey, I was half way there. 

Narrow bridge

Just as my confidence was at its best, we found out one of our bridges were out and we had to drag our bikes across the creek or return the way we had come from.  NO WAY was I going back to the cows, so we did the creek crossing. 


SOMEONE has dirty knees

As I was pushing my bike up the bank back to the trail, the dirt gave out underneath me and I fell.  Guess where?  Just like Fort Ord, I found a bush to land in – so I thought.  When I tried to get up, I had a hundred needles poking into me.  ARGH!  I called to Darius to come help me – he very laughingly tells me I have landed in a wild rose bush.  <man my language was getting bad on this ride – drunken sailors had nothing on me>  

Darius pulls my bike off of me and we painfully maneuver me out of the rose bush.  Due to the heat, I wore shorts and I had rose thorns embedded in my knee (discovered when I finally was able to wash up) and I was all muddy from the river bank.  A little blood was seeping from my knee but I didn’t know this at the time – too much mud. 



Me rockin' some downhill

I was feeling pretty cranky after Crow Creek Trail so we decided to return to the car via an EASY trail called “Shoreline.”  It ran along the water just like you would think (name – shoreline) only the trail was several hundred feet above the water with lots of exposure.  I was so frustrated with my ride that I just got off my bike and walked.  I was a big, muddy cesspool inside and out.  When my legs were too tired to walk I rode again and managed to get back to the car in one piece. 

A break on Shoreline Trail

Curt Gowdy NOT my favorite place even though the trails were pretty cool.  Maybe if they got rid of the cows. . .

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 5

Invasion of Childhood Memories

Day 5 Original Plan:  Hang out with family in Laramie, WY.

New Day 5 Plan:  Travel from Jackson, WY to Laramie, WY with a pit-stop in Yellowstone.



The best pic until I stitch together
a panorama of these mountains



Today, I am so sick of travelling.  I just want to get to Laramie and hang out for a couple days.  We had planned to go to Yellowstone but after plotting the hours in the car, we decided to delete this part but take the route through the Grand Tetons (actually, I didn’t even want to go to the Tetons but am glad I did).

Snow - the temp outside is

dropping lower as the

elevation gets higher

 After a small stop to take pics of the super big mountains, we headed towards Laramie, WY.  Again, a long drive ahead of us, we tried to keep entertained by the scenery.  We even saw snow (ugh).

Then there were some pretty red rocked mountains.





SIDE STORY:  We were getting close to Rawlins, WY when we started to see bikers spread out on our little back road we were taking.  Darius thought this might be the people racing the Great Divide (we had watched a movie about it recently) so I grabbed my phone and Googled the race.  Sure enough, Rawlins was a pit stop during their third leg.  On a whim, we decided to eat lunch in Rawlins.  As we arrive at Burger King, we discover two riders are there eating lunch.  We talked to a guy in a yellow Arizona jersey and he told us the all left BANFF about twelve days ago.  He looked great for someone who had been riding over 100 miles a day for 12 days.  The other guy looked miserable.  We wished them luck as we headed out the door.  How cool was that? 

On the road again. . .we often saw antelope along the highway either in fields, alongside the road and even IN the road. 

  

Happily, we arrived safely in Laramie where the hubby got to reminisce.  We picked his cousin up from the airport and went to his aunt’s house.  Behind her house was a river that I was relegated with stories of the childhood shenanigans of the guys.

I got in touch with a cousin of mine, as well.  We arranged to meet the next day.  This should be interesting as I haven’t seen him in close to twenty years – man we were babes then.   

Another day of our trip safely completed!

Putt Putt Trail

Best Trail EVER!!

This time with a map - see we do learn

We arrived at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, much earlier than anticipated and were so tired of being in the car; we bypassed getting our hotel room and went straight to a bike tour shop to get a map and advice on good trail locations.  The owner hooked us up with what I am now calling the BEST RIDE EVER!!!

Can you tell we are having FUN?

We shimmied to the edge of town and geared up.  Ooops!  Forgot to stop for water, AGAIN!  Thankfully, it was in the mid-70s so we weren’t as worried about heat exhaustion this ride.  We poured more of our spare water bottles into our Camelbacks and off we went.



This girl LOVES to RIDE



The first trail was a gradual uphill climb called “Sidewalk” trail.  At first it was single track on what felt like clay then became the dirt with small boulders we had previously been riding the last couple of days.  I was rockin’ this.  After two days of practice on this stuff, I was now comfortable enough to ride through all these crazy rock beds.



Like Mini Grind but with a View

We then dropped down onto a fire road that continued to take you up.  It reminded me of the mini-grind at Fort Ord only with a spectacular set of views added in.  We did stop a lot on this road because there was so much to take pictures of.

A bumpy ride UP

After a few miles of road, we turned onto a steeper uphill climb (YES, I again had to play hike-a-bike) but it was more a mile long steep climb and then the rest was AMAZING!!!! 

A bumpy ride DOWN

We were now ripping it down “Putt Putt” trail.  It weaved up, down, left and right all over the contour lines of our mountain.  At one point I looked out and realized I was waaaaay up high.  DARN!  I looked!  I had to stop and catch my breath (told Darius it was for a photo op) because I was about to the top of the mountain peaks.  OK, maybe not, but it sure LOOKED and FELT like it.

We sure are high up here

Imagine miles of rolling single track with random rock patches and tree root patches and a few small drops (I FINALLY landed my first small drop without mishap) and random steep downhill and. . .well, I could gush forever!!  This is by far the funnest trail I have EVER been on.  Jackson Hole, people, get the locals to show you where this trail is.





Bike Destination Vacation - Day 4

Miracles in the Middle of Nowhere

Day 4 Original Plan:  Travel from Cody, WY to Laramie, WY with a pit-stop through Thermopolis.

New Day 4 Plan:  Travel from Twin Falls, ID to Jackson, WY.

Another Mission Accomplished!

 

Last night, my hubby and I were discussing why Twin Falls was named Twin Falls.  As we were plotting our route to Jackson, Wyoming, we saw a small scenic detour (about 2 miles out of our way) and decided to check it out.  Neither of us was even remotely prepared for what we found.

All the scenery we had been viewing so far was arid and repetitive.  What we found was a huge canyon with a beautiful waterfall.  Although we took many pictures, nothing even touches the emotional experience of that canyon.  Life is such a precious thing and there is so much beauty in our world.  So many of us just need to stop and look.  A small moment, a small detour, and we were awarded with big, grand results.

 

So now we had to start the drive across Idaho.  Oh yay!  

We noticed a long trail of windmills leading us across the state.  It wasn’t hard to figure out as our car was being blown all over the road while we travelled. 

 

Somewhere near the Idaho/Wyoming border we stumbled on a dam and decided to pull in for a short break.  The drive was turning out significantly shorter today than we expected and the closer we got to Jackson, the more excited we got because we knew we would have time for a late afternoon ride. 

The trails in Jackson are by far my favorite so far this trip.  Have no idea why they named it Putt Putt Trail, but when you have as much fun as I did on that trail, you don’t really care what the name is.

We even had time after our ride to find a brew pub for the hubby! 

Another Mission Accomplished!

Skull Trail

90+ Degrees and Counting

Start of Skull Trail

 

NOBODY can resist attempting to ride a trail called "Skull" trail.  Once we found this one on MTBR we had to try it.  Racing to our starting point, we forgot to fill our Camelbacks.  Jumping out of the car, we realized that it was 91 degrees outside (apparently riding in an air conditioned car can be bad for us).  Luckily, we had bottled water in the back and we filled our Camelbacks up.

Skull Trail Marker

 

The trails we planned to ride were mostly intermediate according to MTBR.  After biking in Truckee, I was ready.  We busted out onto "Skull" trail which was well marked with bones along the trail and skulls pointing you in the direction of the turns needed at each intersection.  Knowing this was an out and back trail, we branched off taking an unnamed trail.

Yep, this is me!

 

The trails were in low level brush so I could see my hubby switching back and forth up this gradual hill.  This trail system was fun with the same bouldery paths we had seen in Truckee, CA.  I could only think how awesome this would be riding at night and being able to see the lights from other riders on these trails.

We branched off to part of "Jummi" trail to catch "Sweet n' low" trail.  All was going real well.  I was sucking down the water as we gradually climbed our way over that first ridge. 

This rock required me to walk my bike over it.

 

An accidental jaunt on part of my first black diamond trail called "Swami" and I was getting a little tired.  There were bigger rocks to maneuver around and over with short drops here and there.  So far I was able to stay on my bike. 

Too Rocky for ME

 

Then we got a little turned around (no map - BRILLIANT) and mistakenly hit a trail called "Brennan" trail.  This was a totally freaky trail (later discovered to be a double black diamond trail) with massive stair step drops; lots of rock and climbing was involved.  It was one of these narrow stairway drops that my hubby missed a beat and crashed his Garmin into the rocks and smashed the screen.

Somewhere after I videotaped my hubby in a particularly interesting section that I WALKED down, I stopped being able to control my bike.  I was crashing into rocks that weren't even on the trail.  I don't remember much after this. . .Darius (the hubby) poured water over my head and fed me an orange. . .we rode down a road and took "Sweet n' Low" trail and then rode along a fenceline short cut to that unnamed trail getting back to the car. . .it was all I had to focus on the trail and not fall off my bike. . .even the easiest parts were a struggle.

 

At the car, Darius dumped more water over my head and I had a bit of a melt down when I couldn't find my sunglasses that were sitting right next to me.  I was so out of it.  Turns out that 90+ degree weather we started with never cooled down and it was still 91 degrees when we returned to our car.  I'm guessing the heat took me out on this ride. . .BIG TIME. 

Darius navigating big rocks

Lessons learned:  Riding intermediate trails requires ALL of a beginner rider's attention so getting tired is VERY BAD!  Reguardless, this was an amazing trail system with lots of interesting twists and turns.  I would do this again (minus the heat) for sure.  Only next time I would have a map.

Bike Destination Vacation - Day 3

Crossing the Nevada Desert



Day 3 Original Plan:  Travel from Twin Falls, ID to Cody, WY with a pit-stop through Yellowstone.



Nevada Lands



New Day 3 Plan:  Travel from Truckee, CA to Twin Falls, ID and find a place to RIDE.

We got up early and started the loooooong trek across the Nevada Desert.  Not a lot to see and not much fun.  Our entertainment was watching the RAV4 outdoor temperature gauge go up while we maintained a temperate 74 degrees inside our vehicle. 

 

Hooking us up with some sandwiches.



Scenic view during lunch.



Somewhere along the way, we found a scenic place to eat lunch.  Strangely it was called the California Trail even though it was in Nevada.  Hmmm.

  

Off and on, we found some relatively interesting landmarks and scenery.  It’s sad when a tunnel is your excitement for the day.

 

Suddenly, we stumbled on this teeny tiny rest stop.  We both got a glimpse of a canyon and we immediately pulled in. 

FINALLY, something interesting and it’s almost dinner time.  We took a moment to hike a little ways up the small river and got our feet wet.  It felt so refreshing.  Aaaah, not much farther to Twin Falls, ID.

Entrance to Skull Trail

We were so sick of being in the car.  We checked into our hotel, Googled for info on local trails and we were off to a trail called Skull Trail.  A great trail system right in the middle of the arid hilly terrain. 

Mission Accomplished!