Belated Happy Birthday Mr. Kowalski, you are an inspiration!
Like a butterfly on a pin, soul on ice, vanishing point, vanishing point...
Belated Happy Birthday Mr. Kowalski, you are an inspiration!
I’ve done Pikes via Cheyenne canyon->missing link->Barr to summit. Straight up Barr. And via highway to elk park. I would say the highway bottom to top, Barr->elk->highway, or Cheyenne canyon->elk->highway would be the best ways to summit. Barr isn’t too rideable uphill once you get to the bottomless pit turn off. It’s a fun technical uphill up to that point though. Downhill you can take your pick, lots of options depending on what type of riding you want to get yourself into. All with 7k+ of downhill so you can’t really go wrong!bdloftin77 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:48 am Which routes on Pikes and Elbert did you take, and how were they? I’ve biked Pikes Peak before, but the via the highway. I’m planning on biking it via Barr trail this summer.. Much hike-a-bike on the way up? How was Elbert? Did you take the south ridge?
Elbert is now significantly harder and less fun to ride after the work that CFI did, unfortunately. The switchbacks are too tight and there are stairsteps all over the place.aholle88 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:58 pm
Elbert I’ve only done via the east ridge. Pretty much all rideable up to about 12.5k, then hiking. May be more rideable with the new trail above that now but I haven’t been on that yet so can’t say for sure. Elbert is a great, great ride. The hard part is paying attention to the trail when you got those views looking over twin lakes!
That’s a shame to hear about Elbert, the steep and chunky old trail was amazing from summit down to 12k before. Very cool story about Jessica on Antero!gb wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:55 amElbert is now significantly harder and less fun to ride after the work that CFI did, unfortunately. The switchbacks are too tight and there are stairsteps all over the place.aholle88 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:58 pm
Elbert I’ve only done via the east ridge. Pretty much all rideable up to about 12.5k, then hiking. May be more rideable with the new trail above that now but I haven’t been on that yet so can’t say for sure. Elbert is a great, great ride. The hard part is paying attention to the trail when you got those views looking over twin lakes!
Antero is amazing. I like to start at the CO trail, go up the standard road, down little Brown's, then loop back via the CT. Our friend Jessicahttps://14erskiers.com/blog/2015/10/tr- ... -oct-2015/, who may have been the first woman to bike the 14, got married up on Antero and then rode down it.
Rode Shavano last summer and it's also great, minus the top 500' or so. Below that it's probably 97% rideable for me.
pike's/barr is high on my list to check out.
There are lots of great 12ers and 13ers, too- check out fairview, 13078, whitepine.
Correct, the top 500' is all talus, not really rideable for me. Everything else is hard, but surprisingly doable. Antero is that same way after the end of the road, not really all that rideable. Sounds good on Pikes!aholle88 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:10 am
That’s a shame to hear about Elbert, the steep and chunky old trail was amazing from summit down to 12k before. Very cool story about Jessica on Antero!
For Shavano, you mean 97% rideable uphill up to the last 500’? That would be pretty great! I’ve never really been on the trail, only time up Shav was a long time ago on skis/snow so I don’t have a clue what the trail actually looks like. I’ll have to check out those other peaks too, always fun riding peaks, much like skiing, far better than hiking!
Anytime you wanna check out Pikes, gimme a shout. I live in Manitou so it’s my backyard. Just gotta put some gears back on my bike since I ain’t riding up any of those routes on the SS
I think I’ve seen your up the highway- down Barr Trail strava tracks. Have you biked up Barr Trail? If so, where did you start having to hike-a-bike a lot? If it’s almost completely unrideable for the average mountain biker past the turnoff to Elk Park (7 miles in, 5 mi to go), ~1 mi past Barr camp, I’m less enthusiastic about pushing my bike up the last 5 miles. But if there’s still quite a few rideable areas before the 16 golden steps I might still give it a go.justiner wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:05 am Pikes via Barr is by far the most rideable 14er there is. Up to Barr Camp it's pretty buffed out; afterwards, there's actually some personality to the trail, and you may have to pick a line up through treeline. The last bit - the 16 golden stairs would be a real challenge of bike handling to do it without too many dabs.
It seems easier to take the turnoff to Elk Park and go up the highway to the top, but it’s been a goal of mine to go up all along trails now that I’ve done the highway route a few years ago. Did you end up pushing your bike most of the last 5 miles, or were you still able to get a bit of riding in before the golden steps? It's been a while since I've hiked the Barr trail.. memory isn't the greatest of the trail conditions from Barr to summit. Not sure which route I'll want to take going down.. If I'm super exhausted, maybe the highway. Otherwise I might try the Elk Park > Barr Camp > Missing link route. Haven't done those sections yet (and they seem really cool!), though I have ridden up from N Cheyenne Canyon to Lake Moraine.aholle88 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:58 pm I’ve done Pikes via Cheyenne canyon->missing link->Barr to summit. Straight up Barr. And via highway to elk park. I would say the highway bottom to top, Barr->elk->highway, or Cheyenne canyon->elk->highway would be the best ways to summit. Barr isn’t too rideable uphill once you get to the bottomless pit turn off. It’s a fun technical uphill up to that point though. Downhill you can take your pick, lots of options depending on what type of riding you want to get yourself into. All with 7k+ of downhill so you can’t really go wrong!
gb wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:55 am Antero is amazing. I like to start at the CO trail, go up the standard road, down little Brown's, then loop back via the CT. Our friend Jessicahttps://14erskiers.com/blog/2015/10/tr- ... -oct-2015/, who may have been the first woman to bike the 14, got married up on Antero and then rode down it.
I tried the NE ridge on Elbert- it's really hard, would not recommend compared to the E ridge (even the new one). No idea on S.bdloftin77 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:27 pm
Has anyone biked the South Ridge of Elbert? I’ve heard quite a few good things about that route. And since the standard route seems more ledgy now, that might be the more preferable way to go.
Seems like a cool loop with Antero! I’ve hiked the road, but haven’t been in the Browns Creek area. Might be a fun way to descend.