Though I have owned mountain bikes throughout the years, I’ve always been first and foremost a roadie. It seems lately, however, that the road is an increasingly unsafe place to be. Attacks from cyclists seem to be on the rise and despite increases in the number of bike lanes, I have grown more and more wary of being on the road in my ‘advancing years’. I have a family to think of and I don’t want to leave them at this point in my life.
So began my return to the mountain bike.
Still, I knew that my trail skills had gotten rusty. My first few forays onto the trails around home had some panic filled moments. I knew that I needed some expert training to keep myself safe.
I’d heard about Winter Park, Colorado over the years. The city and the resort has been in the process of reinventing itself as a mountain bike mecca over the past several years, so it seemed like an ideal place to begin my transition to being a mountain biker.
Winter Park Resort and the surrounding region of Grand County is awash with recreation options. Winter Park itself is the longest continually operating ski resort in Colorado (it was owned and operated by the city of Denver until 2002), but the town and the ski area are becoming known as a four-season destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts. In addition to mountain biking, visitors to the region can enjoy horseback riding, golf, rock climbing, hiking, ziplining, skeet shooting and archery.
I reached Winter Park by car after an easy non-stop flight into Denver from my home in Cincinnati. Denver is one of the largest airports in the American West and is a key facility for Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit and United Airlines. A scenic 90-minute drive over Berthoud Pass and the Continental Divide took us to our final destination.
While the town is small, bordering on quaint, there looks to be enough to keep you busy and well stocked with supplies for even an extended stay. Hideaway Park, located right in the center of town, was recently renovated and includes a skate park, climbing wall and sledding hill.
Pizza!
Hunger called, and we headed directly to Hernando’s Pizza Pub for dinner. The Winter Park mainstay, which has been in town since 1967, has a chalet-type architecture that belies a funky vibe once you’re inside.
While Hernando’s offers a broad selection of Italian favorites, we came for the pizza.
Owner Jeff Davidson took the time to explain all of the crust and sauce options.
White, wheat and gluten free crusts are available in rolled or hand-tossed style, and you can have bases of either traditional pizza sauce or olive oil & garlic styles.
Paired with a couple of craft beers, my portion was more than satisfying. While deserts were available, we enjoyed drizzling honey on our leftover crusts for a post-meal treat.
A Comfy Bed
With dinner taken care of, we headed to Winter Park Resort’s Founder’s Pointe complex. Founder’s Pointe, as well as its partner Fraser Crossing, is located right in the base village of the resort and is just 200 yards from the lifts and the mountain bike park. My room was set up like a studio apartment and included a small kitchen in addition to the bed and a couch.
While the room was comfortable, it was the source of the only glitch of the weekend. Though temperatures had fallen well into the sixties by the time we left Hernando’s, the temperature in my room was in the low eighties. While there was a ceiling fan and windows that could be opened, there was no air conditioning, and my best efforts to cool the room seemed to be fruitless. Even by morning, when the temperatures outside had dropped to the high forties, the temperature in the room was still in the mid seventies.
We later discovered that there was a box fan in the closet and used that for the next two nights, but even that did not have a great effect on cooling.
We’re Here To Ride
Enough about the room.
I came to Winter Park to ride bikes and awoke on Friday ready to hit some trails. Our destination for the morning was the Granby Ranch Bike Park, but first we needed some breakfast.
Carver’s was right on the way and presented a traditional selection of breakfast items. Orange juice, coffee and a western omelet was just the thing to get me going for the day.
While we were there for the downhill mountain bike trails, Granby Ranch has something for the entire family, with bike paths, cross country and downhill options available. Whatever your bike needs, their excellent rental fleet should more than accommodate.
Bike Park director Jamie Wolter was our guide for the day, and knowing what we had in store, set us up with the right bikes, full face helmets and knee & elbow pads. In no time at all, we were suited up and ready to hit the trails.
A little about the bike: My ride for the day was a Kona Park Operator. This is not your momma’s mountain bike. With eight inches of travel front and rear, the Park Operator is a purpose made for bike parks. To say that the bike is a little intimidating is an understatement. What we soon learned, however, is that it was the perfect tools for learning the trails that we were about to ride.
Our morning was spent doing four lift-served rides with Wolter. As we saw over and over again through the weekend, the downhill and cross-country trails are rated much like ski trails: a green circle for the easiest trails, a blue square for moderate trails and black diamonds for the more difficult trails.
A sign at the top of the mountain says ‘No Easy Trails’. While I had never ridden terrain like that we encountered at Granby Ranch, I was pleased to learn that my cross-country and BMX skills translated pretty well once that I learned to trust the very forgiving suspension on my DH bike. Even with just a little instruction, I was regularly shocked at what I was able to ride over and down. Some of the berms seemed like walls, but were easily railed once I carried a little speed into them.
We later learned that the trails at Granby Ranch were a good bit more technical than those at Winter Park’s Trestle Bike Ranch. One member of our party was quite intimidated by the trails and ended up having a less than pleasant morning as a result.
After starting our day with some technical riding, food and beer at the Granby Ranch Grill beckoned. The menu selections included soups, salads, pizza, burgers and more, but it was their Mac & Cheese ($10) that really hit the spot. I washed it down with a couple of local craft beers from their fine list. I later learned that the Grill aims for locally sourced ingredients, including Colorado lamb, local produce and micro-greens as well as Grand County raised organic grass fed beef.
While waiting for our food to arrive, we started to hear some rumbles – and it wasn’t our stomachs. There was a storm brewing over the Continental Divide and the skies grew dark as we headed to Devil’s Thumb Ranch for some cross-country riding and other adventures.
Though we arrived at Devil’s Thumb in time to grab some bikes and a helmet, it wasn’t long before the storm unleashed its full source, sending us scrambling back to the lodge after riding for just a couple of miles. Our afternoon of biking and zip line adventures looked to be spoiled.
Still, the lodge and its fine appointments didn’t disappoint us. We decamped to Heck’s for a couple of generous 23oz. craft beers while our bodies and clothes dried out. Heck’s is named for its distinctive six-sided room that is modeled after the Timberline Lodge that is located at the base of Mount Hood.
While relaxing, and on a later tour we learned that, in addition to mountain biking, Devil’s Thumb offers plenty of other recreational options on their 6000-acre property. Guests and visitors alike can choose from zip lines, hiking, fly fishing, stand up paddle boarding, disc golf and more.
For the wine connoisseur, Devil’s Thumb Ranch could definitely be considered a must see destination. The ranch features two large wine cellars, one of which (John L’s Wine Cellar) offers private dinners for visitors. John L’s Wine Cellar is entered by passing through The Barrel, a barrel shaped tasting room almost completely crafted from cherry trees harvested from the owner’s family land in upstate New York. The two cellars allow for an extensive 500+ bottle wine list at the ranch’s restaurants.
Accommodations at Devil’s Thumb are par excellence. Though we did not get a chance to spend the night there, if you are looking for a truly luxurious way to spend your time in Grand County, you should look no further than Devil’s Thumb Ranch. The accommodations available there are nothing short of fantastic. No two rooms are alike and are decorated tastefully in American West style.
Truly Fine Dining
Our tour of Devil’s Thumb Ranch done, it was time for dinner. We headed for the Saloon at Ranch House for a drink before sitting down for a meal in the Ranch House Restaurant. The Saloon and the Ranch House Restaurant itself are situated in the oldest original building at Devil’s Thumb Ranch – the 1937 homestead.
If you like to refuel in style after a long day of mountain biking, the Ranch House makes an excellent choice. The menu features what they call ‘New American Mountain Cuisine’. Whatever they called it, it was one of the finest meals that I’ve had in a long time.
As you’d probably expect for the West, meat figures heavily into the menu, but the real focus is on organic, locally grown ingredients made fresh and delicious. Wagyu beef from Colorado’s Emma Farms Cattle Company was recently added to the menu.
Appetizers included a charcuterie plate featuring Duck Prosciutto, Wild Boar Lonzino, Elk Bresola and Wagyu Liver Pate; a Mediterranean platter; and, delicious soups. Entrees selections at the time included Rocky Mountain Trout, Braised Short Rib, Elk Filet Mignon and Duck Confit.
Our bellies full and palates more than satisfied, we headed back to Winter Park to rest up for the next day’s rides.
Welcome to School. But First, Breakfast
We awoke to another cool mountain town morning and headed to Goody’s for breakfast before hitting Trestle Bike Park.
Goody’s offers excellent choices for breakfast including crepes, omelets, Belgian waffles and French toast. Of course, coffee is available, with everything from basic black to your favorite coffee shop delicacies.
If you’re visiting, I’d definitely recommend checking out Goody’s for lunch and happy hour as well. While we didn’t make it back there for another meal, the specials looked to be budget friendly for the cash strapped traveler.
Meet Bob Barnes
Culinary pursuit completed, it was time for some more mountain biking. Our agenda for the day included a training session with the legendary Bob Barnes. Barnes runs the mountain bike school at Trestle Park as well as Winter Park’s ski school.
As he was shepherding us through registration and bike selection, Barnes took the time to explain his background in mountain biking. He related that in addition to skiing and mountain biking, he was also an experienced moto-crosser, an activity that translates very well into the skills needed for downhill mountain biking.
Once we hopped a lift to the top of the mountain, Barnes walked us through some basic DH skills. It all really starts with how you hold yourself on the bike. Knees slightly bent, weight balanced over the bike and elbows bent comfortably leads to the most control over the bike.
We learned that cornering a DH bike is different than how you turn a cross-country bike. While you ‘steer’ a cross country bike, controlling a DH bike involves a lot more work with the entire body. Barnes showed us how to move our body to put the seat of the bike against the inside of our legs in the big berms that we encountered on the trails.
Barnes also schooled us on braking. It turns out that mountain bikers tend to over brake. I know that this was a problem for me as I was just starting to make the transition from cantilever brakes to discs. If you’re not used to disc brakes, they offer a level of braking power that cantilevers can’t begin to touch while giving the rider extensive modulation of brake pressure.
Still riding ‘old school’, I was using two or three fingers on the brake lever and yanking it whenever I needed to slow down. This pretty much resulted in a skid or serious suspension dive every time I hit the brakes. Barnes advised that we used just one finger on the lever and the results were amazing. Control of the bike greatly increased and, combined with better bike positioning and cornering skills, I was able to carry speed into turns much later and brake only as much as I needed.
Barnes took the time to both lead and follow as we made our way down the mountain and he was able to offer suggestions to improve our skills and comfort on the bike.
On our next run up the mountain, we learned about jumping. As before, Barnes walked us through our lesson in a safe area before turning us loose on the trails.
Jumping is really about compression and decompression – where you weight and un-weight the bike as you approach a jump. Before we even rode over an actual bump, we learned how to use the suspension of the bike to bounce and ‘bunny hop’ on flat ground. Also important was using our arms and legs to absorb the big hits. While I never managed much more than ‘credit card air’ on the Trestle Bike Park trails, I definitely felt more prepared for the day when I really want to start jumping.
Bump skills in hand, Barnes led us down a series of trails that allowed us to jump as much or as little as we were comfortable with, without the ‘all or nothing’ risks that some of the park’s more technical trails demand.
Like Granby Ranch, Trestle Bike Park has trails to thrill and satisfy mountain bikers of all levels.
XC riders can take the lift to the top of the mountain and enjoy nearly 10 miles of ‘epic singletrack’, while the DH crowd has access to more than 33 miles of dedicated trails. Even beginners can enjoy ‘green’ trails such Green World, and with a little bit of guided instruction will find themselves ready to take on more intermediate challenges like Shy Ann and Long Trail.
As you step up in trail difficulty, you may even encounter the occasional ‘trail feature’. As opposed to the natural obstacles you would find on the trail, features are man-made ramps, berms or boardwalks. While these are no more technical than their natural counterparts, they can be a little intimidating at first. Be sure to walk them or check them out in advance before plowing headlong into them.
While we got special treatment at Trestle, hands-on training is available to any visitor through their bike school. The Trestle 101 course serves as their ‘Intro To Downhill Riding’ and pairs you with a professional instructor to take on Green World.
While basic bike rentals are available (excellent Specialized Status FSR II DH models), Trestle’s demo fleet is quite extensive. Opting for the demo package over a straight rental allows you to swap bikes throughout the day, allowing you to find a model that best suits you and your riding style. Some of demo brands and models include the Specialized Demo 8i, the Enduro Evo, Scott Voltage FR10, Scott Voltage FR20, Trek Session 8 and the Transition TR500 (the bike that I rode). Models from Devinci, Intense and Commencal were also available.
Lunchtime!
After a morning of instruction and two runs down the mountain we were all ready for some lunch. The Village at Winter Park offers plenty of choices for the hungry cyclist and all seem perfectly cool with you wheeling your bike up to the door or patio and sitting down. We opted for the Lime Cantini for lunch.
Lime’s menu includes the usual Tex-Mex offering as well as some delicious choices that definitely make you feel like you just came in from the beach, like their Shrimp Tacos. If you’re done riding for the day, you can opt for a Maragarita, or hold off and ride some more.
Village has Something for Everyone
While I didn’t have a Margarita, my legs told me that I was done for the day. While my compatriots headed out for a couple more runs, I decided that a walk around Winter Park village was more my speed.
In addition to the numerous bike (and family) friendly dining options in the village, there are plenty of other opportunities for fun. You can enjoy a climbing wall, miniature golf, an alpine slide, a giant maze and a bounce house while you’re recovering for your next day on the bike.
After a quick shower, I arranged to meet my companions for Happy Hour at the Cheeky Monk – heaven for Belgian beer lovers.
Dinner was at Da Vinci’s.
Conclusion
My goal for visiting Trestle Bike Park was to better my mountain bike skills. As I write this two months later, I can safely say that I am a better, faster rider. Though our ‘downhill’ trails can’t really compare to what I rode at Trestle Bike Park, I definitely feel more confident and in control of my bike than I was before.
Whether you want to learn downhill mountain biking or just want to be a better mountain biker, Trestle Bike Park, Winter Park and all of Grand County are well worth the trip.
Lodging:
Founder’s Pointe at Winter Park Resort ($99/night) – While there is a range of lodging options available in the Winter Park area ($54 to $450, most around $90) to choose from, we stayed right at the resort in the Founder’s Pointe complex.
Founder’s Pointe and its partner Fraser Crossing are located right in the base village of the resort and are just 200 yards from the lifts and the mountain bike park. If you’re coming to mountain bike, generous package deals make staying here even more of a bargain.
Devil’s Thumb Ranch: High Lonesome Lodge $360 – $420, Cabins $360-510, Bunkhouse $320-460, Main Lodge $163-280.
Granby Ranch: Condo style rentals are available at the Ranch from $79 to $279 and can accommodate parties up to 18 people.
Bikes and Gear:
Granby Bike Park: All in one packages including bike, helmet, pads and pass from $109 to $159. XC bike packages for $59. Adult single day lift/park tickets are $22
Devil’s Thumb Ranch: XC mountain bike rentals for $30. Trail passes are $5. Guided rides including a bike are $55
Trestle Bike Park: Full day rental packages including bike, helmet, pads and pass from $112-160. Adult single day lift/park passes are $34. Trestle 101 course including coach/guide, lift ticket, downhill bike and gear is $120.
Dining Options:
Hernando’s Pizza Pub (Starters $2 to $13, Pasta $9 to $11, Pizza $11 to $20) After a long day of plane and car travel, Hernando’s Pizza Pub was just the thing for our band of travelers. While the Winter Park tradition (founded in 1967) offers a broad selection of Italian favorites, our choice was the pizza. Offered up with traditional, Roma and Simone (garlic) bases in hand-tossed whole wheat or white dough,
Carvers The newly renovated Carvers was our breakfast stop before making the drive to Granby Ranch. Carvers strives to offer the freshest, locally grown eggs and produce served up with bread products made in house and they did not disappoint.
Granby Ranch Grill (Lunch $8 to $18, Dinner $8 to $30) After a hard morning of downhill mountain biking, I had my pick from the wide selection on their lunch menu; options included soups, salads, pizza, burgers and more, but it was their Mac & Cheese ($10) that really hit the spot. I washed it down with a couple of local craft beers from their fine selection. The Granby Ranch Grill aims for locally sourced ingredients, including Colorado lamb, local produce and micro-greens as well as Grand County raised organic grass fed beef.
Heck’s (Breakfast $5 to $16, Lunch $5 to $22, Dinner $5 to $28)- While we ended up at Devil’s Thumb’s Ranch House Restaurant for dinner, Heck’s was our refuge from a vicious storm that swept down from the Continental Divide. Darn that storm, it put us into Heck’s right at their Alpenglow Happy Hour (4 to 6pm). A couple of generous 23oz. craft beers were just $2 each and warmed our mood while our bodies and clothes dried out.
Devil’s Thumb Ranch House Restaurant (Dinner $12 to $38) – Housed in the original homestead of Devil’s Thumb Ranch, the Ranch House Restaurant was the culinary highlight of the trip. We were treated to a three course offering of food that started with appetizers including melt-in-your-mouth-tender Tuna Tartare, and a Charcuterie plate featuring Duck Prosciutto, Wild Boar Lonzino, Elk Bresola and Wagyu Liver Pate. Entrees included Duck Confit, Elk Filet Mignon, Braised Short Rib and Walnut Crusted Pork Loin. Additional selections include salads, pasta dishes and mouth-watering desserts. Their menu changes regularly (sometimes nightly), so I can’t promised you’ll find these dishes when you are there, but you’re sure to find something you’ll love.
Goody’s – (Breakfast $8-11) Goody’s website does not begin to give up all of the information about the delicious breakfasts that can be found here. Massive crepes are the beginning, but there are plenty of other protein and carb packed selections here to satisfy anyone’s tastes. While there is a Starbucks just across the way, they can make all of your coffee favorites as well. While we did not come back for lunch or dinner, it looks to be a good value for the budget-minded traveler compared to some other options in the village.
Da Vinci (Appetizers $5-23, Entrees $11-33) Da Vinci serves up delicious Mediterranean food with a bit of an Eastern European twist. I know that’s an odd description, but it’s definitely work the trip into town to check out.
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
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Current Bike Quiver:
Bird Bikes Zero 29 29″ hardtail mountain bike
Commencal Absolut 26″ Dirt Jump/Pump Track bike
Commencal Tempo 29″ full suspension mountain bike
Felt ZA 700c race bike
Kona Kilauea vintage 26″ mountain bike
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