Birthday Patrol at Hall Ranch

Well, worked on my bike yesterday to get ready for the San Juan Hut Trip from Silverton to Moab and needed a test ride anyway. Plus its a feel good when you are riding something so fun on your bday and volunteering at the same time! Not my normal ride for a bday epic, but since I leave on the trip Saturday--no need to make epic too early. Headed out to Hall and had the place mostly to my self. Did help out a couple from Florida that were a little in awe at the rock garden. Storms started to develop in the distance but overall great morning and my bike worked perfectly. Here are some quick pics. You can see the storms develop over the laps I did at the top. Nice Blue Sky looking West on the loop.

Looking back East--nice blue sky day..or at least it seems.
Longs and Meeker in the distance--not many clouds yet.
Bike Tracks on the Closed to Bikes trail--not good to see--not just one set, but several sets.


This is me, in case we have not met! One more Westerly Pic after a few laps--clouds formed quick!
Ride on!

Mud Lake "patrol"

Mud Lake is not a priority for patrolling -- but I was up there with my girlfriend Ivete on Sunday 6/29 and had my sign in my pack, so what the heck...

The most interesting contact was running into a very nice woman and her daughter who had 3 llamas. We had a great discussion about her encounters with mountain bikers -- all positive. She said while we're technically supposed to yield, she'd prefer if we just carefully ride by. Llamas, as opposed to horses, are not easily spooked. It didn't even matter whether we pass above or below the llama, if on a slope. I said it would be best if the rider would communicate with her, and ask her preference. She agreed, and said 95% of the time that is what happens...then they end up having a conversation like we did, about llamas, wool, where'd they come from, why are their necks so tall, what is that purring sound he's making...

Anyhow said our goodbyes and she was very appreciative of our patrol work.

Bike to Work Month at Heil Valley Ranch

I led a ride at Heil Valley Ranch for Bike to Work Month, and why not also call it a patrol? A small group of 5 people, but we did get a ride to and from Boulder in style - via the mighty fine biodiesel bus of Crispin + Porter + Bodusky, and got plenty of strange looks when arriving at the trailhead.

Lots of mountain bikers out on the trails for after-work mileage and everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather and great temperatures. The trail is pretty dusty, with actual sand pits in a few parts of Wapiti, bring on the rain!

First patrol for me

Marshall Mesa on Sunday: Windy! Seemed to scare most folks away. The place was nearly deserted. I did manage to answer a few questions and get some newer riders on the right track, but for the most part, it was smooth sailing. As a plus, it was all tailwind all the way home!

Old news...

Here's some pictures of patrol training from the first session, yes, already a month old, but I thought worth sharing. First night was some classroom training at the Nat'l Forest building, and then we headed over to Open Space folks to learn a bit about bike repair, how to handle horse encounters of the third kind, and did a bit of rollplaying.