Steamboat Trip: Singletrack, Kombucha, and my friend Mandi!

This trip was so much fun that if I describe and relay every piece of the fun, this would be way too long of a post! Basically, from the moment we left Grand Lake, til the moment we returned, fun was had by all...

It started out with a late departure from G.L. since I got out of work a little late. Little did we know that the Strawberry Hot Springs, where we were planning to stay for the next two nights, had a last check in time of 9:30 p.m. Well, we left G.L. at about 7:30 and knew that there was probably no way to get there in that short of time, especially since we wanted to catch a bite in Steamboat before checking in. I called to verify that we wouldn't be totally locked out if we arrived after that 9:30 deadline and was given the answer that no, we wouldn't be homeless for the night if we weren't there exactly at 9:30. So, given a bit of freedom, we ventured into Steamboat for some Mexican food and mojitos at The Cantina. The food was decent, drinks even better, and the entertainment was second to none! The entertainment being: the goofy underage bus boy who sat down at the table next to us and wouldn't leave us alone!! He was so funny. He just kept interrupting our conversation and telling us about his life and love/hate relationship with Steamboat. We asked him what there was to do in the fine town of Steamboat Springs on a Sunday evening (meaning what bar would provide us with some fun) and he proceeded to tell us that later that night he'd be heading over to his friend's house, who was 21, and would get some beer. Oh man, I guess you had to be there but it was all we could do to not just explode with laughter right in the poor kid's face. Funny.

We left The Cantina and headed up to the springs. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the gate keeper/night watchman, Les, because that would really complete this post. Unfortunately, I didn't and will just have to do my best to paint you the picture. We rolled up to the gate ( at 10:45) and were greeted with a cloud of cigarette smoke. Enveloped in the cloud was Les. Short for Lester, or Molester, or Leslie, we don't know but what we do know is that he takes his job quite seriously! We got about a 10 minute dissertation on all of the rules and regulations of the Springs. Spoken in a slow, monotone, raspy old man voice, "There will be no glass on the property. If I find any glass, one or all of you will be asked to leave the premises. County says no alcohol; owners say no late hours. Everyone has to be out of the pools by midnight; yes, there is someone here watching after midnight." Mandi and I kept sneaking glances at each other and trying not to laugh at good ol Les giving us the lecture that he had given probably 2538 times before us. At the end of his speech we had to hassle him a bit. We asked if he enjoyed his job and how long he had been there. Then he loosened up a little and turned out to be a decent guy. Our advice to you: even if you've never been there before, when you encounter Les and he asks if you have been there, just lie, save yourself at least 20 minutes and just figure it out on your own.

We left Les and drove down to our little cabin in the dark. I got out, ready to turn on my handy headlamp and wouldn't you know, out of batteries! So we stumbled down the path and stairs to our rustic accomodations for the evening and fumbled in the dark with the match Les had given us to light our gas lamp in the room. Turned out fine. Took an evening dipin the springs and had a nice night.

The next day we woke up and headed into town for breakfast at Winona's. Great little place; check it out if you're around. Then Mandi had to go to a meeting for work and I was left to my own devices for a few hours. I walked up and down main street and actally went shopping; I know, I know, you might not think of me as a shopper, because I'm not. But dang did I have fun! Book stores, shoe stores, outdoor shops, you name it, I was there and spending money! Strange but true.

Met back up with Mandi and hit up a few bike shops for trail info. We heard from 2 different sources that the trail leading right out of the Hot Springs would lead us to some other trails and turn into about a 2+ hour loop. Perfecto! We decided to get a quick bite to eat to sustain us for our ride and couldn't decide what to eat. Almost ate at Winona's again but didn't want to spend $10 on a wrap. Instead we thought we'd check out this cool little natural foods market for a quick snack. So instead of spending $10 on a delicious Winona's wrap, we each spent about $10 on random health food stuff: I got a plum, a Mary Jane chocolate chip cookie, and a glass bottle of Kombucha. Ah, Kombucha... Mandi bought a chocolate bar, a peach, and some crackers. Wow, money well spent. The purchase of the chocolate bar brings us to the next entertaining turn of affairs. Keep in mind that it is a rather warm day in Steamboat and we realllly don't want our $4 bar of deliciousness to melt. We stopped at one other place and mistakenly left the bar in the car. Oops! We then realized, after such a close call with losing our post-ride reward, that we would need to take it with us where ever we went; it wasn't to be left alone in the heat of the car!!! I thought that it would be happier resting in a nice bed of ice; we stopped at Quizno's to get a quick sandwich and a cup of ice for our precious chocolate bar. It worked! We were able to enjoy the bar after the ride, and it wasn't melted!!!

Back to Kombucha. For some reason the bottle caught my eye; whether it was the promises of energy and wellness contained within or the fact that it was something that I'd never tried, I had to see what it was all about. Apparently it is a tea and ginger concoction that is fermented and tastes pretty bad. I somehow drank almost all of it but was left feeling a bit disappointed; the best part was the name.

We then headed back to the springs to find our new trails for the day!! After situating our chocolate bar in its bed of ice in the cabin, we headed out.

This was the beginning of the trail. It started out downhill following this creek out of the springs. Then all of a sudden the trail stopped following the water and hooked a sorta (not really) sharp right up and away from the water. Unfortunately, I continued to follow the river and came screaming into the dusty corner too fast to successfully stop. Presto-chango: I was instantly transformed from a confident singletrack queen, to a bleeding lump of distress on the ground. Still clipped into my pedals, it took me a minute to regroup and realize what happened. Mandi came around the corner and asked where the blood was coming from. I thought it was from my leg, which hurt a bit more, but nope, it was from the gash on my right arm.

It was almost kind of funny because I'd been bitching to Mandi about how I felt naked without my gloves and sure enough, really ended up missing them after cramming a few rocks into the palm of my hand...