Vince and Amy joined us for a long weekend at the cabin. The weather forecast wasn't very favorable, but we took the bikes in hopes of getting in some mountain biking. We left the cabin around 11am on Friday with warm cycling clothes and rain jackets. The temperatures were cool but reasonable, the rain showers stayed away, and we got in 21.5 miles in the James Canyon area while staying relatively warm. We headed into town for an early dinner at The Western Bar and some shopping at High Altitude. Our other favorite shops had closed by the time we made our way around.
Saturday was overcast, windy and cooler. We had planned to ride at Cloudcroft, but it had snowed some overnight and was quite cool. I scouted out a route down in the High Rolls/La Luz area, and we left the cabin in a light snow shower and headed down the mountain for warmer temps and some sun. The first 7 miles of our ride was straight downhill, so we knew the trip back up the mountain was going to be tough. To make matters worse, the cool northeast wind was directly in our faces for the climb back. The route turned out to be 20 miles, and we were able to see as wide of a variety of terrain as is possible to see in an 8 mile climb--from desert with ocotillo & agave (exactly like Big Bend) near La Luz to large rocks and cedar (just like Fort Davis) a couple of miles up and finally pine forest when we turned around and headed for the scenic, winding road which cut back across to High Rolls. The pot of green chili stew Saturday night at the cabin really hit the spot.
Sunday started out cool again, and we eventually decided not to ride. The 4900'+ of climbing and almost 42 total miles of mountain biking in cool temperatures had taken their toll. It was another great weekend, and we're already planning the next one and hoping for some warmer weather.
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