Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Across The Top Tube With Cricket Butler, 5 Time Tour Divide Racer


Atop the Continental Divide above Butte, Montana
36.12 miles ridden and 3,526 ft. of climbing,
and a whole lot of fun bombing the descents.

July 31 ride with Tour Divide racer and my friend Cricket Butler
on the CDT at 7,701 feet elevation.
Cricket is an ultra endurance MTB racer and she kicked my butt
all day on the climbs. 
Cricket captured me cresting a climbing section near the
top of the north CDT route from Homestake Pass.
Summer storms were blowing in, so we decided to head back into
Butte before we got caught on the exposed ridge
with lightning. The storms never did threaten us.

Love this trail. So many switchbacks and interesting rock formations.
Cricket is a professional geologist and found the single track riding
around Butte beautiful and fun to ride. I'll have to agree.




The fast downhill back to Homestake Pass took its toll
on my front wheel after an encounter with a rock that refused to move.
As a result I was forced to build a new set of wheels.
With the upgraded wheel set mounted it's
time to ride once more.