My son's first mountain bike ride - Teller Lake Trail, June 29, 2014

My kids have been riding bikes since they were about 3 years old or so.  We typically just ride around the neighborhood or occasionally ride on the Platte River Trail.  My son asked me "Dad?  Do I have a mountain bike?"  He really didn't know.  I told him it was a mountain bike.  A few days later, he told me he wanted to go mountain biking.  It must have occurred to him that since he had a mountain bike, he should go mountain biking.

I told him I'd love to take him mountain biking, but I needed to find a good trail.  I pulled out Mountain Biking Denver and Boulder, which I hadn't looked at in years, and started browsing for easy rides.  And I actually ended up with a ride I'd already done a few years ago.  There were a few other decent options in the book, but they all seemed to require paying for parking, which was annoying.

I decided to ride the Teller Lake Trail, which starts just off Arapahoe Road in Boulder.  The first half of the ride is basically flat packed gravel, and the second half is a combination of single-track and double-track with some moderate hills.  With this being my son's first time off-pavement, I thought we could at least ride the flat easy stuff, then ride the single- and double-track until he got tired, and then we could just turn around and go back.  The overall out-and-back distance is 12.2 miles, which is pretty close to the farthest he's ever ridden.

We covered the first part of the trail easily, stopping to pet some horses and talk to some cows.  After crossing Valmont Rd., the trail becomes single track.  He handled the narrower trail just fine.  Then we hit a tricky spot, somewhat unexpectedly.  I've ridden this trail a few times before, but it's been a while.  We came across a stream crossing that I don't think is supposed to be there.  I believe this is new, a result of a massive flooding back in September 2013.  There is actually a bridge over a stream just down the trail, but it appears a pond broke through its banks and created this second crossing.  The water wasn't deep, but the bottom was covered in loose rocks.  I went first, so I could turn around and get a photo of him crossing.  I made it through, although it was a little sketchy.  He followed, but only made it about halfway across before he had to stop and walk.  His shoes got wet, but otherwise he was fine.  We soldiered on.

Shortly after this, we hit the first of our hills and some fun single-track.  He is finally starting to understand the gears on his bike, and how to shift, and why.  He got into his lowest gear and made his way up the hill really well.  He had to stop once in a while, but after taking a break to catch his breath, he got right back on and kept pedaling.  What a trooper.  The trail continued on like this for a while, a couple ups and a couple downs, through single- and double-track, until the last climb up to the water tower at the top of the trail.  We took a little snack and drink break, then turned around and headed back the way we came.

I'm really proud of him!  He did awesome, way better than I expected.  I knew he could do it, but I just thought his brain might call it quits before his legs did.  But he pushed on, and made it the whole way, like a champ.  He loved it, and now I need to look around for more trails for us to do.

Here is a collection of photos from the day:

A few horses near the beginning of the trail.

Lookin' cool.

Stream crossing.

A little bit of uphill.