Colorado Alpine Season

#followcamfriday from my favorite bit of alpine singletrack in the state of Colorado. Lenawee Trail with Ryan Soderberg, aka, "Tall Guy" 

I am honestly not sure why it has taken so long for me to film this one. Maybe I was waiting for the perfect light, or the right person to do justice to this alpine gem, of the perfect golden aspens. Maybe I just travel too much and sometimes forget that some of the best trails in the world are very close to me. Whatever the reason, this episode is long overdue. 

The perfect storm. Light, nature and rider. All working together to make my job easy. I try not to get too douchey with the cinematic stuff, I mean after all, I shoot with GoPro's, but would you just look at it....  It's fucking surreal. People ask me why I ride bikes. This is why I ride bikes. You can't make this shit up. Just out here, throwing fish in a barrel. 

As I type these words, I find myself sipping on a glass of tequila. A bit of lime, dash of salt, splash of soda, but mostly tequila. This is an interesting time of year for me. I start to feel the pressure and anticipation of winter setting in. This was shot 2 days ago, as you read these words on Friday. The temperature at the top was about 40 degrees as we began the descent. Ryan and I both know that the next time it precipitates, it will be of the frozen variety, and basically means game-over for riding in the alpine. I feel pressure to ride as much as possible before winter sets in. I feel excitement for the coming of ski season. This is an interesting headspace. I love winter but feel like I need to make the most of my fall. Bittersweet. First world problems, yes. But it makes me anxious somehow, nonetheless. And so I drink tequila and type these thoughts. 

I implore you to make the most of every day. It's rides like these that make me feel very fortunate for what I have in this life. This is my happy place, why I get out of bed in the morning. Why I drink tequila in the evening. It doesn't even need to be good tequila. It doesn't even need to be evening. 

The climb to this saddle never gets any easier. I have seen grown men come apart at the seams, trying to clean this climb. I have spent half of my life in these mountains, winter and summer, wind and snow, dirt and rain. I've been snowed on in August up here. I've hiked these ridgelines with skis on my back, in 60mph winds to ski some of the worst conditions imaginable. Thank you. 

Tall Guy and myself have been friends for 20 years. We have skied more than 1000 days in the backcountry together and he is one of the few people I trust with my life, while mitigating risk in one of the historically worst snowpacks in the United States. We share a level of risk acceptance that others do not. Despite what the marketing departments have fooled you into believing, the skiing in Summit County actually isn't very good. Sorry to burst your bubble. Ryan and I don't get to ride as much as I would like in the summer because I am constantly on the go making these videos for you to watch, racing bikes, and drinking tequila, but it sure is a treat when I am in town. 

So what have we learned? Make the most of every day. Choose your friends and backcountry partners wisely. Appreciate where you have come from. And, last but not least, drink tequila. 
​Go ride your bike before it snows!