Monday, June 01, 2009

Durango

A weekend away from town was a great way to recharge. Time was spent doing things that would not occur on a normal weekend and I still managed to get in some sweet riding. We headed out on Thursday morning for a family vacation in Durango. The weekend offered some time to relax, though honestly not much as we were busy, time to enjoy family and the beauty of Colorado and the amazing trail of Horse Gulch just minutes from Durango let me ride.
Mesa Verde is a place I remember fondly from childhood and when my parents mentioned they were heading to Mesa Verde we decided to go too. Fate prevented us from going with my parents as Ade starts school and couldn’t go the week they booked, but we met up with Grandma L and a friend of hers and through a twist of fate Uncle Eric, Aunt Sue and Cousin Z wound up in Durango the same weekend. Mesa Verde was as incredible as I remembered and Seamus loved the place. Checking out the ruins, climbing ladders, meeting Rangers made for a great day. To be honest you could spend a lot more time there then we did, but it was well worth the trip just to see the ruins. Also, if you go take the time to talk to the Rangers, every one we talked with was excited to share their knowledge, nice and made the trip even better. I’m not sure if Rangers at all National Parks are like this, but damn they were good in Mesa Verde.
Saturday turned into a day for chilling in Durango and just relaxing. The town is full of cell phone hippies who clearly go to college, smoke weed, hula hoop and hang out. A great place to do it, but not exactly fun.
Sunday was supposed to be the thrill seeker day, a rafting trip. The trip was fun and though the river was flowing pretty slow there were still some big sections of rapids and for a bunch of beginners (Ade being the only one in our group to have gone before) it was a good first trip. Seamus spent every second in the rapids laughing and hoping people would get drenched (which we did). Not sure if he had more fun rafting or at Mesa Verde but both were highlights it seemed.
Now many of you may know Durango hosted the first Mountain Bike World Championships and the trails are still worthy. I got in rides on three days and had a blast. Getting on new trails forced me to try new things and not having the “mental block” of normal trails caused me to clear stuff I may never have tried on a trail I’d ridden many times. Uncle Eric and Aunt Sue showed why they use to be Pros, as even with full time work, new parenthood and little (if any) riding they were strong. For the first time ever I was able to climb with Eric, until we hit really technical sections, where his ability and skills more than made up for lack of fitness. On the downhill’s it is hard to keep up with a guy who has race the World Cup so I didn’t see much of him but still had fun.
Now it is time to get back to work.

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