Another week off, another destination. This week I traveled to Crested Butte, the birthplace of mountain biking ( so claimed), and home to the mountain biking hall of fame.

I’ve never used the word “epic� to describe any ride as of yet. Seems as over used as “extreme� is used to describe any sport not played in any given high school. I think I’ve found a place worthy of the title. I’ve never visited such a place where riding forest service roads alone produce such grand and ever changing scenery. I normally scoff at any trail on a map that shows a service road as more than a quarter of the ride. I was feeling a bit nostalgic given the history of this place and decided to give it a shot. No driving to a trail head, just pedal from camp with a map and see where it takes me.

Day one – The Plan. From camp to Paradise Basin via Slate River Road, and service road 734. From there a short descent to trail 401, singletrack that runs nearly all the way back to town. Pass the resort and back up the road to camp.

I didn’t even bother to check the distance or the topo, just went for it. The long and short of it: I found out why the locals call the road the “Alpe du slateâ€?, 2000’ of gain over two miles. Topped out at 11250’. Massive mountain eye candy around every turn. Singletrack through evergreens, aspens, and mountain side fields. 32 miles round trip. Best described in pictures. In order of ther ride, backwards I guess…

The town, very cool. Only the tourists drive. There are bike racks in front of everything including the houses. 90% of the bikes you see in town are a vintage, a cruiser, or some sort of frankenbike. I didn’t see a lock on a bike anywhere in town.

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame… well, it’s kind of a ten by ten square in the corner of the town heritage museum. Pics of inductees and various historical bike parts. It is what it is.