Monday, March 17, 2008

Start planning your summer epic

Here's a great trip report by a Manitou Springs mountain biker who decided to ride the Ring the Peak Trail sight unseen. What a fun adventure. It makes me look forward to warmer days.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The link doesn't work. Sounds fun, though.

Zen said...

That's cool though admittedly I do hope the Ring the Peak trail - doesn't become a mountain bike mecca. A bike here & there is cool, but there are certain parts like Crags, Horsethief or Esther where a lot of bikes would not mix with the number of hikers that use these often steep & narrow trails.

Frankly I'm surprised the local mountain biking community doesn't exploit the wide open and rolling terrain of the Rampart between the Springs & Woodland Park more. There are just endless miles of trails up there - like out in Schubarth - just begging for adoption & use.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, I think the server was overloaded this am. I couldn't get it for a while, but came back and voila!
Zen, sounds like the unpleasant miles on RTP may be more than enough to offset the cool single track bits and discourage many mountain bikers. About the Schubarth area, I think we should keep putting out word that the redneck bubbas and militia camps make this a little like running the river in Deliverance.

Zen said...

LOL Bill. You saying that from personal experience? Or you just want to keep people out? Cause I gotta tell you I've always heard that, never seen it.

Anonymous said...

A private property owner up there 10-15 years ago tried to deny access to the Pike Forest, including brandishing firearms at people traveling on the road. The DA got involved and issued a restraining order. Don't think it's been an issue since. So there is some basis in fact. I was kidding about exaggerating this legend to discourage visitors. :)

Zen said...

Yeah Zoltan Malocsay covered that in his "Trails Guide - Denver to Pikes Peak", but he never offered an update as the new editions rolled out.

My understanding is Schubarth was ruled a federal road predating private property, but that didn't sit well with some of the homeowners in the area who had attempted to install a permanent gate to keep people out.

But I too have never heard of another incident beyond the one you describe. Maybe there's a "where do things stand now" story in this for Dave, Andy & Dena (though perhaps the USFS doesn't want the publicity - You shine a light on this, and use most certainly will increase).

There are some spectacular trails & loops up there though, and they are way underutilized.