Jeff, Yuki, and I headed to Loveland Pass early this morning to get in some high alpine riding.  Time is a precious thing now that the snow isn’t too far off, so I was happy to get up there and get a bit of riding in before it’s the skiers’ turn to enjoy it up there.

We rode up the ski area service road, which was actually a really difficult climb, especially at the altitude of 11-12,500′!

Steep road… ouch… I CAN’T BREATHE!

From there, we hopped on the Lenawee Trail which was really narrow and cool in some spots, and we stopped a few times to take in the views.

The Kerkove dropping down.

How is that for rugged?

The trail was the width of my foot.

From there, we dropped down to Montezuma road.  That descent was pretty steep and technical.

I actually smelled my brakes burning, and we were not going slow!  It was one of the most fun descents I have done!  I would love to shuttle that sometime.  We took the road back into Keystone, and Hwy 6 back to A-Basin.

After that, we hung out at the parking lot for Loveland Pass for a little bit.

I saw a trail going up the mountain, so I ran up the side of it (about 500′ up) until I decided I was happy with the view.

Here was the view I got!

Pano

I really wanted to go to the top… maybe I can get in at least 1 big hike after Interbike before the snow.  I’d love to do Mt. Elbert, which is the tallest 14′er in Colorado, near Leadville.

Have I mentioned I love Colorado?