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It finally feels like spring here! To celebrate, we tried to spend as much of the weekend as possible outside. On Saturday, this meant a picnic at a park, a trip to help some friends check out a bike for sale, and a family bike ride at 18 Road. We took 3 bikes: 1 tandem set up for a child stoker plus 2 single mountain bikes.

When we got to the parking area, we found several other cars: more crowded than it would be on a cold winter day or during the heat of summer, but less crowded than a weekend in May. The four of us (Chris, Heather, Cailan, and Utah) started out for a ride. We decided to take the dirt road up rather than the trail, to make it a little easier on Chris and Cailan. However, we remembered that roads are boring, so when there was an option to take a trail, we did so. There have been a lot of cows grazing in the area the last couple months, so the trails here are pocked with hoofprints and extra bumpy.

We ended up meandering through the campground, and then we got to the top of our climb. Time to swoop down Kessel's Run:

I like this picture because you can see how the trail dips and curves as it crosses back and forth over a dry creek bed.

Cailan is paying more attention to the scenery than to the act of biking - this was true on the climb as well!

After the first loop, Chris and Cailan hung out at the trailhead while I took my single bike and my trusty dog for a loop. Then it was Chris's turn to ride while Cailan and I took a short hike. Sadly, it is too early in the year for lizards, flowers, or insects, so we didn't get to discover many things on our walk. We ended the day with pizza at the Hot Tomato in Fruita.

Here's Cailan, after his post-ride shower, sporting his new red bathrobe.

Sunday, Cailan played with Bobbie while Chris and I went for a more-challenging ride at Lunch Loops. Here's me on the trail with the snowy Grand Mesa in the background:

We took a route with a lot of climbing, and a bit of hike-a-biking, but we were rewarded with this view at the top.

The Lunch Loops area sees a lot of change: trails get closed for revegetation, or re-routed for erosion control, and new trails show up pretty frequently. This year, a huge new addition opened up: a pump track and a jump park. Chris and I didn't ride there, but here's a picture for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.