Aspen
We only had one day in Aspen. Of course we wanted to see this famous ghetto for the very rich and try some of the singletrack. There proved to be no camping place nearby so we took into a hotel. We enjoyed the town, not least because we had a refrigigator, bread toaster, and could cook things we had not been able to do in the tent. There appeared to be plenty of fine singletrack around. On-line trail information is available on Trailmonkey‘s Colorado Biking Page. We only did one ride, as our time was running out. We did the legendary Government Trail.




Central square in Aspen

Our hotel


Enjoying creature comforts
 
Government Trail
The Government Trail is also one of the ‘classic’, well know Colorado trails, people have been biking it for years. It is a nice mildly technical trail, mostly downhill if one starts from Snowmass.

We biked up to Snowmass on road. Oririginally we had intended to do both the Rim Trail and the Government Trail but by the time we had reached Snowmass it seemed like a thunderstorm was imminent so we bet on doing the Government Trail only. We climbed on the narrow paved Wood Road through an area with outrageosly elegant and expensive houses to Pine Lane. There we hit a forest road that we followed above some ski slopes until we reached the Government Trail. The Government Trail winded its way back to Aspen through forests and meadows, approximately 20 kilometers. Views were exceptionally beautiful. A few sections demanded some concentration but most of the ride was simple, most fun at higher speeds. The last bit down to Aspen had a few interesting switchbacks.


There was a whole bunch of them in Upper Snowmass
Government Trail singletrack

Passing a stream followed by a technical ascent

Elisabeth coasting
Among the Aspens in Aspen

Singletrack twisting between Aspens
One of the last downhill pitches
 

Would we go back to Aspen? Yes, the singletrack was fine, we only rode a little of it. The Rim Trail seemed to be interesting. However, Aspen is costly, the presence of a lot of extremely rich people was obvious  in the  large number of expensive  botiques and restuarants. Camping places were far from the town. It would be a hassle to camp without car, just to get food and showers. So Aspen would not be our first choice for mountainbiking. On the other hand, for skiing, it would. Skiing is important to us. Although it was summer it was obvious to us that Aspen offered some fantastic runs, steep slopes with powder, right up to the hotel door.
Home
 		Travel with MTB
 Colorado Singletrack
This page was mounted by Per Löwdin 2003-10-25.