CO: Steamboat Springs - Emerald Mtn.

 I made it to Steamboat Springs around 3:30p and met up with a buddy, John Fairbairn, for a tour of Emerald Mtn. I met John back in 2014 when he was in the midst of completing the AZTR750. We tried to meet up a few years ago while he was living in Hawaii, but Hurricane Lane had other plans and squashed our ride plans on that trip. John has since moved back stateside.

On my way to Steamboat I was getting low on gas as I passed through Copper Mtn. along I-70...

Copper Mtn. Ski resort.

Yikes!! My Juke needs premium too, at least it's a small-ish tank.

I was trying to keep my tight schedule on this Monday as I still wanted to get north to the Brush Mountain Lodge in daylight. That gave us an hour or so for a quick hitter of the goods. Lead the way...

Cruising the pathway to the trails.

Ski jump at Howelsen Hill.

The dirt ribbon begins.

Steady climbing led us here, where the views began to open up. We came from the trail on the left.

Local tourguide: John Fairbairn.

Great view of town and Steamboat Springs Ski area. On my bucket list of resorts to ski.

Swapping photos.

Due to time, we began our downhill assault here.

John zipped away from me through countless zigs/zags & bermed turns. Really helps when you know the trail in limited sight zones!! So. Much. Fun.

The definition of singletrack in case you didn't know what it was.

Big arcing turns as we make our way down a ski run.

The Yampa River was quite a bit higher in 2019.

Hey, we're on the Tour Divide route!! That's Orange Peel Bikes, I swapped out brake pads & chain there in 2019.

And back to the start on schedule!!

That ride was a blast!! Thanks for the quick tour, John. I promise I'll be back for a much longer stay. Lots of riding options here and we barely scratched the surface.

Flyover via Ayvri.com

Route:

I still had a couple of hours of driving before reaching Brush Mountain Lodge. What's the big deal with this place, you ask? It happens to be on the Tour Divide route just south of the Wyoming border, a little over halfway on the route. Kirsten runs the ship and is the most gracious host to the riders as they pass through. It's such a welcoming place and there's often other riders, be it Divide racers or tourers passing through this time of year. It was a tremendous mental & physical boost for me in 2019. Kirsten also owns a place down in north Phoenix and we've become friends over the past couple of years. I couldn't be this close and not stop in. It would only be for a night though, and I really wanted to hang out for a couple of days. I guess that means we'll be back in short order.

I also knew a few friends were helping out at the BML, so it was going to be great to see them too.

Had to get a classic BML bike shot!!

Another Divide rider donated the giant TD banner. How cool is that?

It's quite the oasis, driving here it was 23 dirt road miles.

Almost smack dab in the middle of each route.

Friends (Amanda, Katie, Andrew & Justin), racer (Ryan Brink waving) & tourers!!

Tour Divide Headquarters in the remodeled lodge. Looking sharp!!

I needed to be on the road around 8a the next morning to meet another friend in Palisade, CO. The lodge was getting going early as another racer, Brian Charette, was closing in. I hung around long enough to see him come cruising around the corner.

Brian Charette enters the hallowed ground.

Both Brian and Ryan, from the previous night, ended up finishing their Divide rides. Congrats, fellas.

This guy, Jacob, from Ohio was quite the character and story teller. He was touring and I hope the rest of his ride lived up to the first half!! Great hanging out with you. Photo by Kirsten.

Mandatory BML selfie with Kirsten!! I promise the next visit will be longer!! See you in AZ. Photo by Kirsten.