We're an informal group of mountain biking enthusiasts in the Boulder (Colorado) area. We're mostly in our 30's, 40's and 50's, but welcome anyone. Come ride with us on Boulder County's great trails (and beyond!).
We post a lot of photos from our trips on Flickr.com:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/slightlyslowerbikers/
Group members: Post your best photos, tales from the trail, etc. here! (Click the join link at right in order to post here.) Featured Photos
Why not join and post YOUR photo?
Closest city/town Boulder, CO, US Total ascent 832 ft (254 m) Description Easy trail close to Boulder. I'm adding it because the Flatirons Vista-Dowdy Draw section just opened to mountain bikes, so there's now a decent workout loop super close to Boulder. |
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 As if our wives don't already suspect we're taking stupid risks when on a guys-only mountain biking trip, here's proof. Jeff is helped while "dangling" above a 1,000-foot cliff on the first overlook into Castle Valley on Moab's classic Porcupine Rim trail.
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 A fun log obstacle on the Sourdough Trail near Nederland, Colorado.
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 Scenery from the top of the Monarch Crest Trail
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 Slightly Slower Bikers ride the Monarch Crest Crank Fundraiser
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I went for a ride on Sunday up to one of my favorite trails, Heil Valley Ranch just north of Boulder Colorado. The reason I chose to ride there was the chance to ride some new singletrack. Over the past year the IMBA, Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and the Boulder County Parks Dept have been working on some new singletrack in that area. I have volunteered to help build this new trail 3 times. Once in September 2006, again in November 2006 and again on June 2, 2007. Along with a few hundred others we helped build about 2.5 miles of new trail called the Wild Turkey trail.
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I am not exactly a resident of the Boulder area, although I have run the Bolder Boulder in the past and have been to Boulder in years gone by. My daughter and her family lived in Denver for about six years, so I was up that way quite a big. Now, they've moved to SC and there's not a lot of reason to battle the traffic to the Denver area anymore. read the rest
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 Looking back at the pics I took in Moab last weekend, I realized this was worth posting. It's Tusher Canyon (east side slickrock), one of the premier slickrock playgrounds in the Moab area. My friends and I got lost and it took us a while to find the best part of the canyon to ride, so I want to return and explore now that I know where to go. Miles of slickrock shelf ... so fun.
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Closest city/town Fort Collins, CO, US Description From Ft. Collins to Loveland, co, from Soderburg Trailhead near Horsetooth Mtn Park and Lory State Park, to Loveland. Increasingly difficult if you take the Coyote Ridge trail or farther, the Devile Backbone trail (in Loveland). Isolated and beautiful. Soderburg has trail fees, Devils backbone has none. |
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Closest city/town Fort Collins, CO, US Description fairly easy, flat, few obstacles |
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Closest city/town Lyons, CO, US Description short at 4 miles but steep at times. scenic. |
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 The turnoff for Chutes and Ladders in Fruita.
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 A scenic shot off of Rustler's Loop in Fruita.
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Closest city/town Moab, UT, US Length 20.6 miles (33.2km) Total ascent 8,120 ft (2,476 m) Description This route starts at the Gemini Bridges parking lot on US 191 and ends at the Poison Spider trailhead along the Colorado River. (Car shuttle option.) This is a tough, strenous route, and advanced skills are a must. Take a good map (and GPS, ideally), since the route-finding can get confusing. Be prepared with plenty of water, and rain gear if the forecast is at all dicey. This route took our group 6-1/2 hours. We weren't a fast group, but neither were we slow.
First few miles are smooth dirt jeep road -- a climb and a descent down into a valley. Then pick up 4WD route that climbs up to the ridge line for spectacular views of the Moab Valley. Lots of great technical with many drops and ledges. Along the ridge line you can pick up some GREAT (and challenging) singletrack. White jeep icons mark the jeep track along the upper portions, but watch for blue markings which mark the singletrack.
This route takes Poison Spider down, but I'll never do that again. It's ridiculously sandy and a real slog. Better to get over your fear of heights and take the Portal Trail down (a couple hundred yards of serious exposure where you'd best walk your bike). Portal is a trail where people trying to ride it through the exposed technical sections have died.
I want to come back to Gold Bar Rim / Golden Spike Jeep Trail and singletrack. But next time I'll park a car on Gemini Bridges Road where you take a left to head up Gold Bar. Then head out for a day of fun along the ridge, and head back to the car when done. You'll avoid a lot of nasty sand. And I don't think Poison Spider is so great that you should put up with the ordeal that the sand will dish out. |
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 Taking a minute for a picture in Fruita.
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 Joe's Ridge turn-off along the Front Side Trail in Fruita CO
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 This is on a section of (great!) singletrack that parallels the Gold Spike Jeep Trail, high above Moab. Karla is posing next to the trail, which at this point features a several-hundred-foot sheer drop and about 3 feet width of path. No one in our group was crazy enough to ride this bit.
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 Hey, this jumping stuff isn't so easy! This is the best shot I could come up with of Mike, Colleen, Janet and Karla jumping at Klondike Bluffs. My little Casio is great for taking along on rides because it's so small, but the shutter lag made getting the timing right tough. Guess I need some more pointers from the master (Yann).
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 High above Moab, just off the Golden Spike Jeep Trail. Funny, they didn't get too close to the edge. :)
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