This week a chilly nip crept into the air. At night, the city finally cooled down and the long-sleeve shirt or the sweater wasn’t out of the question. Fall, or Autumn (as my British buddy Jon, likes to call it) is the most enchanting of seasons. Life takes a decidedly slower pace, the light gets softer and the leaves begin to change.
Jon (the same British buddy) called the other day, asking if I wanted to ride some of the trails off of West Magnolia, above Boulder. Sitting at nearly 9000 feet above sea level, West Mag. is a great location for early season color and cool riding temps. Twisting and turning trails, wind an endless maze of tight treelined lines that can keep you busy all day. I couldn’t wait to check out this new spot and get some images of the trees.
On top of the excellent trails, Jon was rocking the new Alchemist Threadworks kit, so we had to get some shots. Really, could you ask for a better combo? New kit and newly turned leaves….pretty tough to beat. Needless to say, we had a killer time. We snaked in and out of the pine trees, spitting dust in each corner and then pedaled over to the section called Aspen Alley. To our surprise, all of the leaves were already down, so we headed off to another section that promised great fall color. Golden aspen leaves are one of the great gifts of riding in the fall but Jon and I agreed that two other benefits rival the color. Those would be the smell and the sounds of Autumn.
The crunch of a fall leaf plays second fiddle only to the crunch newly fallen snow (way to early for that). We rolled over the coated trails listening to the song each turn made. And the smell; that cool, loamy, winter is just around the corner smell, topped off the day. We road on until the light faded and the rain came in adding a classic Autumn touch to the end of the ride. Enjoy the pics, and have fun with all of the great fall riding and shooting to be had.