Biking to St. John

[Philip B]

Last February, my plans to cross country ski from Montezuma to the ghost town of St. John got canceled when AVR surgery became a reality. The distance between these historic Colorado mining era towns is only a couple of miles, but the elevation gain is 1,000 feet.

Since my plans to ski the route (a jeep road) didn't workout I figured it riding the route on my mountain bike would have to do. The two miles looked pretty easy.

The uphill grind was pretty rough and took forty-five minutes. My topographic map didn't show all the steep switchbacks. St. John sits at 11,000 feet, just short of timberline. Views back down the valley were spectacular. The ride back down to Montezuma was a quick fifteen minutes. What a way to get a workout!

I guess it might be time to start saving up for one of those full-suspension mountain bikes.

-Philip

 

[Phyllis]

Congratulations, Philip- I bet it felt wonderful!

 

[jds]

That's a pretty steep trail

That's a pretty steep trail

Hello -

1000 feet in two miles is a steep bike ride. The Mt Washington road race/bike race is 4000 feet in 7.5 miles which is a similar grade and it is considered a very difficult ride.

Congratulations!

John