I’ll be honest, I’m not a super epic person. I love trying new outdoor adventures, like mountain biking, riding up Horsetooth, hiking 14’ers and attempting not to fall in the water while on a SUP board, but I’m typically sticking to the beginner routes and easy gears.
It’s not that I wouldn’t want to be epic, I mean, obviously, but I’ll settle for being rad-ish. Which is not to be confused with a radish. Although those are epically delicious. But I digress.
So when my partner brings up new adventures he finds, one of those being the Erie Singletrack Park in Erie, Colorado, I immediately said let’s go! And then started researching to make sure I wouldn’t have an anxiety attack mid-ride.
Erie is about an hour from Fort Collins (with that I-25 traffic of course) so definitely an easy one-day adventure that puts you back in your PJ’s with Netflix streaming by 7 p.m. Did someone say perfect Saturday?
I had never been to Erie, I will fully admit, and didn’t really have it on the roadmap until we stumbled upon this singletrack. No offense Erie. I guess it just seemed eerie to me.
The singletrack is free to ride and has a large parking lot right before you drop in. We took our mountain bikes, which is what I would recommend, although a fat bike or cross-bike would suffice. There’s two different tracks when you first drop in, blue and black. Just like skiing, the black is for those with a little more dare and skill.
We all know I stuck to the blue. But even though the blue side was less “scary” it was still pretty dang epic. Not going to lie, my stomach did a few flips when rolling along. Once you get down the first lane, you can continue back up the hill to do it all over again or ride down the road a bit to get to another set of trails.
These are a bit more intertwined and less fun, in my opinion, but still a good option to work on your mountain bike skills in a less stressful environment.
Once you’re back to your car, you can either ride the main track down or hit up the “bunny” slopes on your left. These are great to work on skill while still getting a thrill.
We went right before the sun set, but still squeezed out half a dozen rides down and back up. And no, I never did try the black side although someday I might feel a little more daring and make the attempt.
Maybe.
Post ride make sure to swing by Odd13 Brewing in Lafayette to quench your thirst. Any of their hazy IPA’s make the perfect post-ride beverage. Masks are required and reservations are strongly encouraged for their outside-only taproom right now.
Down for exploring the Erie Singletrack Park? Make sure to tag @argentostudios in your ride and post-ride beverages.
God, I gotta get out west to ride.