Initiated...

For a few weeks James & I have been conniving to fit in one more 14er climb before the 14er season was over. Two weeks ago we bailed due to snow and this past Saturday we bailed again due to a blizzard! Some of the mountains above 11,000 feet got 24-36 inches of snow over the course of three days.

Instead of a 14er climb, we stuck closer to home and biked up Plymouth Mtn. The trailhead began in Deer Creek Park and ascended through a pine forest, past three deer (were they planted?), to an amazing summit overlooking the Front Range.

I'm quite new to mtn biking. I got a bike up in Winter Park last month from one of the bike shops selling off all their rentals from the summer. Pretty sweet deal. So back to me being new to mtn biking. I've biked many times before, but never up a mountain. Fortunately, James set my expectations as I struggled during the incline. He said, 'When it comes to enjoying a good ride, 10% comes from the uphill climb, 30% is the view standing on the summit, and 60% is the thrilling ride down.'

He couldn't have been any more dead on. The ascent was hard and it didn't help that I slipped on my pedal 10 minutes into the ride and dug a deep channel into my shin (the official initiation into true mtn biking...as I am told). The view at the top made it all worth it & the ride down was a constant back and forth between being freaked out thinking I was going to fly over the handle bars and loving the adrenaline rush!