Ned

I decided to reinstitute the Nederland rides. In a previous job...a previous world...we used to leave our office at 12 on Fridays, drive to Ned, ride for many hours and finish up with a filling meal at Mountain Burger. Trust me, we tried a double and couldn't finish it...this is a very satisfying meal!

For the past three weeks, Phil and I have been leaving the office at 5:30 on Tuesday tothe Tuesdays, for the past three weeks, Phil and I have been driving the hour up to Nederland to ride the trails. We don't have a ton of time so we cram as much riding in as possible (generally 2 hours) before the sun goes down. We have talked about bringing lights and riding past dusk but as of yet, we have not found the need to throw halogens on our handlebars. It could be a motivation thing....

Why Nederland?

The riding there is pure fun. Rolling hills, nothing too taxing, good terrain and twisty trails that force you onto the last few knobs toward the edge of your tire. Your elevation gain over the front range contributes to a 10-15 degree decrease in air temperature and you are sheltered from the sun's intensity by a good deal of shade. You laugh, you grunt, you sweat and you grin. Everyone who has been introduced to Ned falls in love.

You start off on a trail that twists back on top of itself. You could be 50 yards ahead on the trail but you can reach out and give a buddy a high five. After an ever-so-brief climb, you hit a slow doubletrack climb that gives you a quick elevation gain. From there, you can bomb down a ripping singletrack that takes you past an old yellow bus. This trail feels almost tunnel-like...the vegetation hangs over that trail so close that you can't see into the woods. There is one straight shot where you can see ahead for about twenty or thirty yards but beyond that, you are riding on pure skill and reaction. To the other side of this doubletrack is a trail that looks almost like a mogul run. It is tight but if you have the skill, you can carve your turns from the top of each bump to the next. Great fun! From there, you can follow a double track out to a lollipop and there have been several other offshoots that we have been eyeing for future exploration. Our bushwhacking expedition last night took us down to a small pond with a little skiff. We rode out of the woods last night in the dark, quite satisfied with the evening ride.

There's more to explore, c'mon up, we are going again next Tuesday!