Failure, if used properly, can shape our character more than any string of successes. Not that we don’t learn and benefit from what we do well. It is sometimes the sheer frustration of not being able to accomplish what we have set out to do that can push to work harder and perhaps succeed when given the chance to try again. At least that is what I hope I can use today for…
I had wanted to give the RTP trail a try since discovering it on the Internet deep within the dark recesses of last Colorado’s winter, when summertime mountain bike riding in the high country can only be dreamed of. Knowing what my training schedule needs to be for the Leadman series this summer, I thought that perhaps the time to give it a try was now at hand. So, while hanging out and resting up on Sunday from the Leadville Trail Marathon, I thought I would get ready and try for another big adventure for Monday July 5th, since I had the day off because the 4th was on a Sunday.
I had spent the afternoon of the 4th getting all of my perpetrations done; printing out maps, getting a water purifier and some energy food and drinks from REI, and a few spare parts from Criterium Cycles here in Colorado Springs. Everything seemed to be going well, and I went to bed that Sunday evening with the satisfaction that I had tried as best I could to be ready for the next day.
Somewhere deep within the night I was awoken to the sounds of tremendous lightning and thunder. As my wife came to bed, she informed me that there was a flash flood watch from Chipita Park down to Manitou Springs that was going to last until 1:00 AM. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, thinking that I was heading out a few hours later in the morning, and the weather forecast was supposed to be clear for Monday. Little did I know how big a factor that storm was going to play in my day.
Getting up at 3:30 AM, I ate some breakfast and made my last minute preparations. I was headed out the door by 4:20 AM or so, pedaling my down Cucharras St, heading west towards Manitou Springs. Being all too familiar with the way to Manitou, it wasn’t long before I was huffing and puffing my way up Ruxton Ave. Though today was the first time I was riding a bike up it instead of running; neither, it turns out, is very easy. Turing right just before the Cog Railroad, I made my way onto the Ute Pass Trail and got a brief respite before the trail reared its ugly uphill head and forced me off into some hike-a-bike.
The trail was in OK shape, a little loose from the rain, but not muddy. I made it over the 3 hills of the Ute Pass Trail
, getting to ride a little on the downhill side; it’s interesting how this trail is one of a kind in that it is advertised as being uphill both ways. Just go look at the Incline Club website. Somewhere in the process of negotiating the Ute Pass Trail it got light enough for me to turn off my headlight on my bike
. Soon I was heading downhill to where the trail ends and the rider must get out on Highway 24 for a bit.Highway 24 scares me. There is not much of a shoulder and the cars are screaming by, making a mad dash towards the west to whatever high country destination the driver has in mind. Fortunately for the RTP rider, there is only about 1 mile of the highway that has to be ridden before taking a left turn to get into Chipita Park on the road for the Pikes Peak Highway and the North Pole. At the fork in the road where the Pikes Peak Highway heads uphill, I veered off to the right, heading off on Chipita Park Road to find Picabo Road. Finding the road is pretty easy, but the directions for the RTP get a little vague from there; “head uphill on Picabo until it intersects with Mountain Road, where the rider should take a sharp left turn, and find the Mt Esther Trail within 100’ or so”. What actually happens is that Picabo and Mountain Road merge with each other without any kind of signage indicating the event. There happens to be an unsigned dirt road that takes off to the left at the very top of the crest for Picabo/Mountain Road, and that is the sharp left turn that should be taken. The reality of the matter is that Picabo Road is hideously steep. There are a couple of roads that could be taken to the right, such as Ute or Maveta Way that might take a little of the edge off the ascent. If you are planning on trying this trail, it might be useful to MapQuest Chapita Park to suss out the roads a little bit.
After a few false turns trying to figure out where the junction of Picabo and Mountain Roads were. I finally spotted a tiny wooden sign off in the weeds that indicated I was at the Mount Esther trailhead; paydirt
! I was expecting something a little more obvious, but was very happy at being back on track and on the trail again. Peering up through the overgrown trees and weeds, I saw a set of stairs heading uphill, and I followed them
.The Mount Esther Trail is really steep, gaining a lot of elevation to get up onto Pikes Peak in a short amount of time. Lots of stairs are on the trail as well as numerous switchbacks. I don’t think I was able to ride my bike for any great length of time between hike-a-bike sessions all the way to the top of the trail. Eventually I did stop for a few moments to refuel and take in the scenery, marveling at how much elevation gain there was from where I could peer back down into Colorado Springs
. I think that by the time I had gotten to the top of the rise, I had gained something like 3,000’ in elevation
.At the top, the rider is rewarded with some singletrack, but there reward doesn’t last too long. This section of the trail is rolling, and the uphill sections are still a tough climb. Everyone once in a while I encountered a log across the trail and dismounted to get past. Eventually I worked my way onto a utility right of way for a power line. At the top I turned around and was amazed that the view seemed to open up directly onto downtown Colorado Springs
. The RTP veers off to the right of the right of way and heads back into some more interesting singletrack. After negotiating a short technical section, I felt something funny going on with my rear wheel and looked down to see that my tire was flat. Guess that I should admit here to having been lucky enough to have not had a flat tire before. So, just past dawn, I started to get some practice in the art of changing a flat tire. First thing I noticed was that the sidewall of my real tire was blown out. Not sure how that happened; had I been building up to it, or had it just happened, as none of the riding I had done that morning seemed too severe. The tire change went pretty smoothly, but I felt a little uneasy thinking that I only had one more spare tube until I realized that the folks at Criterium had also talked me into purchasing a patch kit; those guys rock. So, it was with a little easier state of mind that I took off back down the trail again, completing the last of the Chipita Park section of trail before getting on the service roads that head around the reservoirs encountered on this side of Pikes Peak.
I am not familiar with all of the reservoirs or their names; seems like they are Crystal Creek Reservoir, South Catamount and North Catamount. However, the roads in this section allow for some time to be made up for all of the hiking that went on the Mt Esther Trail. You go down some and you go back up some. While cruising through this section of the trail, I started to notice a build-up of hail in the shady areas off to the side of the road
. Must have been leftovers from the storm last night; looks like they got hit pretty hard up here in the high country
.Eventually the trial leaves the road network and heads off onto the Limber Pine Trail. It was here that I started to notice just how significant the build-up of hail was having an effect on the trail. All of the hail, several inches deep in some areas, had kind of congealed together to form a sheet of ice! It was cold too. However, the ice was a concern to me because I remember just how hard it was to ride on the stuff from last winter when I first got my bike and had learned a few hard lessons about negotiating the stuff. For the most part it was better to not try and negotiate ice!
Soon enough the Limber Pine Trail gives way to some old logging roads, kind of a double track section of trail. There were a few deeper puddles here and there on the logging road, causing me to have to switch sides from time to time
. I decided to stop and have a snack and refill my water bottle from my CamelBack, and mix up some more CytoMax. I was getting tired from the effort. Looking at my GPS, I had gone a depressingly short distance for all the hours I had been in the saddle; something like 5 hours at this point, and I had only been 25 miles
. The next 5 miles were the crux of the day and also what caused me to eventually throw in the towel. As I went further on the trail, the hail/ice got deeper and deeper
. In the shaded uphill sections, it got to where I couldn’t ride at all as my tires were filling with ice and refusing to get any traction
. On the downhill parts I had to ride slowly in order to stay in control and not slip on the ice. I wasn’t making any time at all. This part of the trail seemed to last for a long time. There were sections of the trail that were really pretty, but the tedium of the ice took away from most of the enjoyment of the moment
.Eventually I made it down to the road between the Crags Campground and the Mennonite Camp
. Here I had a choice; I could continue on the trail over to Horsethief Park and enjoy more of the same slow, icy progress or head down the road to Highway 67. I decided to head down to Highway 67. On the way down, I had visions in my head of continuing on the highway over to Gillette and trying to get back on Gold Camp road in order to have a chance of finishing the ride or at least completing a circumnavigation of the peak. However, upon reaching Highway 67, I remembered how much uphill there was to reach Gillette, and was also dismayed by how heavy the traffic was. So, it was with some reluctance and a little shame that I turned my bike towards Divide, ready to give up on the day.Knowing Highway 67 really well from having done a lot of work on the casinos in Cripple Creek, I knew exactly where I would pick up cell phone reception. I stopped at the crest of the last rise before descending into Divine and called my wife Lisa to ask/beg/plead with her to come pick me up in Divide and give me a ride back down into Colorado Springs. I was whipped. I am so thankful to have her in my life, to pick me back up and dust me off when my playtime goes wrong.
Sitting in the parking lot of the Western Convenience store in Divide waiting for my wife, a group of Harley Davidson motorcycles rumbled to stop beside me. They had Texas plates. One of the riders got off and asked me if I knew where Mount Evans was. I told him they were quite a ways from Mount Evans and that the big mountain off to our south was Pikes Peak. Also I gave him directions on how to get to Evans; head north to Denver and west on I-70 until you get to Idaho Springs. They took off on their bikes; I wonder if they got there?
Lisa showed up soon after; my rescuer, and took me back to Colorado Springs. Though I would have preferred to still be out on the trail, sanity had prevailed. I wasn’t prepared for the severity of the challenge of the trail, and the trail conditions were a nightmare. Also I had not brought along enough food for the calories I was going to need to complete the day. All of these were lessons I will need to dwell on for my next attempt. See; we do learn and benefit from our failures. The scenery on the way home was spectacular and had taken on a whole new meaning. While staring out of the window, looking to the south, I could tell myself that I had ridden every inch of it until we pulled into the driveway at home. 7 hours, 35 miles, 5,700’ elevation gain.
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