Fort Collins Bicycle Trails: Mason & Spring Creek

Two days ago I took my mountain bike to Pineridge Natural Area to ride some of the dirt trails there. It was a lot of fun but unfortunately I realized that even with all the hiking and snowshoeing that I’ve been doing lately, my legs still feel a bit week when it comes to pedaling a bicycle for a few hours.



Not only is there an abundance of very well marked bicycle trails here in Fort Collins, there are also a lot of interesting decorations along the trails

So I kind of decided that before I go doing any more dirt trails that involve inclines, I needed to get my legs stronger and I need to start putting on the miles on by bike and get used to riding some distances and learn how to shift the gears efficiently. I’m a pretty good motorcycle rider, but I’ll be first one to admit that I don’t think I’m a good cyclist. I hope to change that. After all, I live in one of the best cities for cycling - road cycling and mounting biking.




Mason Trail: neat decorations and signs along the trail



When I ride the bicycle trails, I frequently get off the trail to explore roads and things - I found this unpaved road in the middle of Fort Collins so I had to see where it went



A little cooler this afternoon, I needed a light wind breaker

So I decided to starts exploring the many paved bicycle trails that Fort Collins has to offer. So today I rode 10 miles and I felt really good afterwards. I just started using bicycle shorts, that padding does work! There are many motorcyclists that ride long distances and wear padded bicycle shorts under their gear. I should have done that when I did my Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 (a motorcycle ride that involves riding a 1,000 miles in less then 24 hours). That was the only time I’ve ever had a sore behind from sitting on my 954RR.



Heading west on the Spring Creek Trail



A nice pond full of ducks on Spring Creek Trail



More options - which way should I go?



A part of the Spring Creek Trail has a dirt trail running along the side of the paved trail, I chose dirt over pavement on this section

I live on the south side of Fort Collins so all the bicycle trails are north of me. The Fossil Creek bicycle path runs behind my house so I rode that to the Mason Trail and from there I rode West on the Spring Creek Trail. I didn’t head out the door until the late afternoon, the temperature was still very nice but it was already falling from the high temp of 65 earlier in the day.

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area: Ginny Trail

Another warm week is here. Today it was going to get in to the 60’s so I decided to do a nice long hike. I really enjoyed the hike I did on the DR trail last month at the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area so I headed back to Bobcat Ridge today to hike the Ginny Trail.



To hike Ginny Trail all the way to Mahoney Park and back is 11.8 miles

The Ginny Trail is open to hikers and mountain bikes. The trail is 5.4 miles long and climbs 1,500 feet in elevation. The trail is steep and rocky. It goes up the ridge and ends at Mahoney Park, a meadow with nice views and some interesting rock formations.



A sign posted along Ginny Trail talking about the fire in 2000

Since I was arriving at Bobcat Ridge just before 2PM I knew that I wasn’t going to make it all the way to Mahoney Park and back. That roundtrip hike would to Mahoney Park and back would be 11.8 miles since it’s half a mile to the Ginny Trail from the parking lot. Today I was just going to hike to the top of the ridge and maybe a bit further if I was making good time.



Looking across at the Ginny Trail





Getting some nice views from the Ginny Trail





Looking Southeast from the Ginny Trail



Ginny Trail: many rocks along the trail and one foot bridge





Looking toward the Northeast from the Ginny Trail

It was a little breezy as I started to get up in elevation but the sun was so warm and I was working so hard climbing the trail that I had to take my fleece off. Short sleeves in February? I only saw one other person on the trail and they were heading back down already.



Short sleeves in February

The views were great from the Ginny Trail, much better then from the DR Trail I hiked last month. The DR Trail mostly gave me views of the east and north. I didn’t make it to the ridge so I didn’t get any views of the west. There was not a lot of sunshine on the DR trail. The Ginny Trail gave me views of east and south and then west after I got on top of the ridge. The whole time I hiked in the sun, which is so nice in the winter time and it means no snow on the trail.
I was accompanied by amazing views of Fort Collins and Loveland hiking up the ridge.





I'm getting really good at taking pictures of myself, even those tricky action shots



Smog hanging over Fort Collins and Loveland





On top of the ridgelooking East (left) entering the Roosevelt National Forest (right)



Looking West from the top of the ridge and Ginny Trail



Continuing West on the Ginny Trail in to the sun

But once I got up on top of the ridge I had brand new scenery to look at; all the mountains the south and west. It was so nice and sunny up on the ridge, so quite and peaceful. I finally stopped to take a break and take in the sights. I kind of wished I had started this hike earlier and brought a book or something, so I could hang out here longer. But the daylight was running out and now the sun was moving west. I would be hiking back down in the shadows so I threw on my fleece and headed back down.



This is as far as I got on the Ginny Trail, that's Fort Collins and Loveland and the ridge way behind me



Coming back down the trail, those sharp rocks in the middle of the picture, that's the Devil's Backbone in Loveland



The minute the sun sets it gets cold here in the desert, having a pack big enough to hold some warm layers is necessary for longer hikes especially in the winter time



Pink sky at sun set from the Ginny Trail

By the time I made it to the car, it was already dark and the gate was closed. One other car was getting ready to leave the parking lot so I followed it out. Apparently you can still leave after the gate is closed. The gate has a sensor on it which is solar powered, pretty neat.



Today I hiked a good part of the Ginny Trail high-lighted in pink; the Ginny Trail is 5.4 miles long and climbs 1,500 feet in elevation

I would imagine I hiked about 6 miles today. One of these days I will have to get here early and hike the whole Ginny Trail. It’s going to be a long hike, I’m not sure I’m ready to a long one yet. Need to do more hiking and get in better shape first.

Fort Collins: Pineridge Natural Area

January came and went. It was a busy month. Besides looking for employment I did some traveling, snowshoeing, hiking, motorcycling…. but no bicycling.



A goathead got my tire and....



..... punctured my inner tube

My mountain bike sat in the garage the whole month of January, the back tire still flat since my last ride on December 25th. On that last ride in December my inner tube was punctured by a goathead, a particularly nasty seed that grows in abundance around here. Unfortunately goatheads are sharp enough to puncture a bicycle tire.

So with no more delays, today I was going to go out and get a new puncture resistant inner tube for my bike. After some research on the net and a phone call, I found out that it was going to cost just a bit more to bring the whole bike in and have them install the inner tube for me. Since I had to drive there anyway and I had no experience with installing inner tubes I decided to let the pros handle the whole thing.

With Fort Collins being a popular bike town and with so many bike shops nearby it was hard to choose a shop. I was told Performance Bicycle at Drake and Collage in Fort Collins was a good place to go. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I walked in, they did the install while I waited and in minutes I was on my way.

Since I had my bike with me, I decided to head over to Pineridge Natural Area, just a couple of miles down the road. It was a beautiful February day with temperatures in the middle 60’s.



Starting at the north side of Pineridge Natural Area



A t-shirt and a fleece pullover worked fine on this early February day with temps in mid 60's



Is that a bone?





Trail signs

I parked at the north end of the parking lot so I didn’t see the map of Pineridge Natural Area and the trails. I took my MTB out of the car and I headed around the park on the paved bicycle path. Then I saw the dirt trail and headed north. The dirt trail went up over the ridge. Since I have not been on dirt with this bike in such a long time I decided to ride a flat single track along the road that was probably used as a short cut to the trail. It didn’t go far, so I turned around and headed back up the trail and up to the ridge.



Single track short cut trail (left), the trail up to the Ridge (right)



Looking down at Fort Collins from the trail that goes up to the ridge

Unfortunately I could not ride up the ridge, I had to walk the bike. My legs aren‘t strong enough yet to get me up any kind of inclines. I rode the rocky Ridge Trail, since I’m not used to riding on dirt, riding on top of these rocks was weird. I came done the other side of the ridge and headed north on the Valley Trail.



Up on the Ridge Trail



On the Ridge Trail looking at two bicyclists riding the Valley Trail down below



Lots of rocks on the Ridge Trail

The Valley Trail was more enjoyable for me. It was flat and wide with some nice scenery. I rode a bit north, turned around headed south. Walked my bike up to the Ridge Trail and rode that trail further south to the south side of the Pineridge Natural Area. Then back on the paved bicycle trail to my car.



On the Valley Trail heading north



Two riders on the Valley Trail



A little mud on Valley Trail



Some nice scenery winter along Valley Trail



Looking at a rider on the Ridge Trail from the Valley Trail

I’m not sure about my mileage today, maybe 4 miles. Riding in the dirt was definitely harder then riding on pavement. What I realized today is that I need to get my legs stronger before I do any more inclines or rough trails. Other then that, the Pineridge Natural Area is awesome and I can’t wait to come back and ride more of the trails here.



A map of Pineridge Natural Area