Doing Time

Saturday Eric and I went down to Pueblo to put in some time riding dirt.  Pueblo is usually warmer and drier than Denver, and sits at a little lower elevation.  The trails there are fast and flowy for the most part, though a little loose since there is a lot of rock.  It took about an hour to remember how to ride a mountain bike (2 months of riding road, bike paths, and snow).  It was nice to ride in shorts with temps in the 60s. Tough to beat that in January!  We have to take advantage of it while we can, as the week temps are going to be frigid.  Saturdays ride info here.

Eric is a little newer to riding mountain bikes.  We have some big things planned this summer.  As you can see, he is picking up mountain biking.

It might be kind of hard to tell, but you can see this (yellow) on my camelbak.  With a little longer ride (4hrs) planned and plenty of sun forecasted, I thought I would test it out.  

We were out for about 4.5 hours, most of which was in the sun.  There was very little shade or cloud cover.  The solar panel was charged about 40% to 60% based on the green flashes.

I was able to charge my GPS all the way up on the drive home.  Success!  I will also be able to charge my mobile phone.  Now, to figure out if it can charge my helmet light.  Wouldn't that be sweet.  It would give me more options while out for long rides.

Sunday the Front Range was supposed to hit low 50s.  Fail.  It never really got above low 40s.  Eric and I rode out to Golden to do Lookout Mountain and test out the early season climbing legs a day after hitting nearly 4 hours on the mountain bike.  I felt decent the whole way up and chased Eric pretty hard.  It was a really good early season effort.  Info here.  With temps barely over 0 and snow forecasted the next couple days, I think I will take a day off and then get some good time on this.