After climbing nearly 3,500 vertical feet from 5th Water up Cottonwood Creek on a scorching hot morning, we regained the ridge and rallied an absolutely world-class 2,500-foot singletrack descent on Great Western Trail to Tie Fork. The trail was fast and buffed out for miles with perfect corners and hip jumps. The trail eventually opened up into double track, with numerous stream crossings as deep as three feet, cooling us off as we blasted straight through them.
Day 5
64 Miles & 5,200 Feet of ClimbingJohn Shafer Fezzari
Photo by John Shafer
But the true magic came on Skyline Drive after a soul-crushing 3,000-foot ascent, running us along a ridge at nearly 10,000 feet far above the world. While we sat taking in the beauty of Skyline Drive, a sheep dog ambled over and sat down next to us. I looked out over the valley far below and said to the dog, “so this is heaven, eh?” A stunning red sunset accented by lightning far off in the distance intensified the experience, as we put our heads down and hammered well into the darkness. Day 4 was a spiritual journey by bike, the most powerful of my life.