This year’s Moab Trip took us to Crested Butte, Gunnison and Fruita Colorado, providing some of the best mountain biking on the planet. Eric and John came from the east coast; the rest of us drove from SoCal. These photos are from the Crested Butte portion of the trip – all high-elevation riding which had our sea-level lungs screaming for mercy.
Downtown Crested Butte.In the summer, Crested Butte is a very bike-centric town, with bike racks in front of every store and home.Carol and I paid a visit to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.The traditional way to ride the 401 Trail is to ride up the graded dirt Gothic Road toward Scofield Pass, then take the 401 back down to town. But the top of the road was still snowed in, so if we wanted to ride the 401, we’d ride it up, then down.Mark, Carol and John at a creek crossing. John salutes and Mark inhales.For the most part, the 401 is buff singletrack – the downhill is fun and fast. The bottom of the trail is around 9,000′ elevation, and the top is close to timberline at 11,000′. Skeeny air for our sea-level lungs.Eric proves you can go mountain biking and have a great deal of whimsy while wearing an ironed, collared shirt.Taking a day off from riding in the wilds, we decided to ride the Crested Butte ski area.Back on the 401 Trail, heading uphill.Steve leads the way up the 401, John in tow.At the top of the 401, the trail hits Wilderness Area and mountain bike riders are shut down – a great excuse to turn around and start the downhill portion of the ride.A thunderstorm over Gothic, CO.A bike in Crested Butte.Legacy snow at 10,000′.We regrouped while riding the 409 Trail with Abdul.Mark assumes the obligatory mountain biker pose.We took a day off riding to explore some backcountry, up Cement Creek to Reno Divide.
