Our weekend. For some time Lis and I had been planning to get a couple of Mt. bikes, so a couple of weeks ago we bit the bullet ! A lot of years have passed since I was in my mid 30’s and doing a good bit of mountain biking with fun, crazy friends in Mississippi and Alabama, and Lisa has spent many biking years on a road bike vs. a mountain bike …  so today was our day to christen our spiffy new fat tires for some off road, single track fun !

So much to do around this part of Wyoming for weekend fun – even if only 30 minutes away in the gorgeous Medicine Bow National Forest.  Many of us grew up listening to Curt Gowdy in the world of sports,  but who knew right here between Laramie and Cheyenne sits the beautiful Curt Gowdy State Park!  We had checked out the park a few weeks ago, so decided that we would hit the trails here for our inaugural Wyoming ride !

We had been told about a trail that ended at a great waterfall, so after checking the map, we decided to head that way … Marked an “Intermediate Trail”, Lis was a little skeptical that it would be a bit much for our beginner selves.  But of course, I suggested, “How hard can it really be?”  With a little convincing, we were off up the first hill …  it only took about 3 minutes to understand that an Intermediate Single track in the Rocky Wyoming hills is NOT quite the same as the rooty trails commonly ridden in the South !  Lord. Have. Mercy …. I think the pics will tell the story of the day … 3 hours of some pedaling, lots of lifting and pushing, and maneuvering around about 10,000 rocks and boulders, we made it back to the car in the midst of a small thunder storm.

But Hidden Falls was worth it in the end !  And thankfully we didn’t have any bad falls of our own !  It turned out to be quite an intro to mountain biking in the West for these two Southerners !  The next time we might just stick with some trails marked “Easy” !

Taking some Ibuprofen, icing, and hitting the sack !

– The Scruffies with the Fat Tires and Ambitious Attitudes !

Karole Sessums