Today I rode "Super Walker" which means that I did the Walker Ranch loop starting from town rather than the trail head. It turns out that the ride really is super, and there is a huge amount of climbing. Over 5000 feet of climbing in 30 miles.
I am going to brag again about how amazing cycling is here, and show some more photos of some of the ride today. You may click on them to enlarge them. Below is South Boulder Creek, which a couple parts of the loop crosses and parallels. The water was moving at a good clip!
A view looking North-West from one of the ridge lines the trail follows.
This is looking roughly East, down into the plains South of Boulder in front of the mountains.
Often times, the warning signs along trails are overly-cautious. It's not that I think they don't apply to me, but once I've ridden a trail a few times, I can judge for myself how technical the trail is, or how fast to take a corner. As long as there is no one else on the trail, and I can see far enough forward to be safe, I go my own speed. On this trail, however, I do not have experience, so I decided to heed the warning.
This is one case where the warning sign is correct. These are the stairs immediately after the sign that are significantly steeper, with bigger vertical step sizes, than most people find comfortable. It's always tough to tell how steep things are in photos, but trust me, there is no chance I'll ever ride these stairs. The stairs go down to the canyon floor which has been carved by South Boulder Creek, and is very steep and rocky (as can be seen) on both sides. But the scenery is fantastic, so the inconvenience of the stairs is worth it!
