Wildflowers Galore in Crested Butte

I haven't written much about our trip to Crested Butte or showed many photos of the "Wild Flower Capitol of the US". One of the things that I adore about Crested Butte is the many high altitude mountain biking trails that are lined with flowers as tall as me.

We tried to time our visit for the peak of the wildflowers but the drought was starting to hit the area, and the flowers were a tiny bit past peak - but still no complaints from me!

I got to ride trails that looked like this one for days on end. The only downside was that the rides were too long for Shyla so she couldn't join me. She went running with the boys instead.

There was a super mellow vibe among the mountain bikers. These weren't crazy dudes out to rock the trails at top speed - a small faction of the mountain biking population drives me nuts because it gives all of us a bad name. In contrast to that faction, almost everyone I saw while riding in Crested Butte was stopping to take in the flowers and incredible scenery.

One day, I managed to crash quite badly when I was only 100 yards into my ride. I was going down a very steep slope with loose rocks when a group of motorized dirt bikes appeared out of nowhere. I braked, lost traction, and fell hard. It was my worst crash in years, with a big gash in my elbow, a bruise (or maybe a small fracture) to my ulna (a forearm bone), and a gashed and swollen knee.

I really didn't want to miss a day of riding in paradise so I went back to the van where the Runner helped me clean the wounds and then bandaged me up to go back out on the trails. I was okay to ride - albeit with more pain than usual - but lifting my bike was impossible due to my elbow. I came upon a section of trail where carrying your bike across a chasm is the only option. For a moment, I thought that I'd have to turn around.

To my surprise, a pair of very nice guys who I'd chatted with at the start of the trail were waiting for me so that they could carry my bike for me. They'd seen my elbow and knew I'd need help. People can be so generous and thoughtful. When they are, it makes my day. I don't know these guys' names - but a big thank you to them and to all the thoughtful people in the world!

Thanks to their help, I got to see these sunflowers who were leaning into the trail to say hi!

And I swooped downhill to a section of trail where the purples took over. Purple is my favorite color so I had to stop to enjoy this section of trail lined with fireweed!

Tall Larkspur also added a bit of the "Color Purple".

I'm still recovering from that crash. Today was the first ride that I took without yelping in pain at least once due to banging my elbow or going over a big bump. I think my elbow is going to heal fine all on its own.

Happy Saturday to all of you from Shyla and me!