My mountain biking mentor, Bob, moved back to Florida summer of 2022. (Read story here). Before he left though, he had me hanging on for dear life down Captain Jacks and roughed me up on the Black and Blue Loop at Ute Valley. But some trails we didn’t get to and he assignment them for homework. One was Oil Well Flats near Canon City.
Since Routes is closed on Mondays for our cold-season hours, I made a day trip. It was a little over an hour to the trailhead and on a weekday in October, no other cars in the parking lot. The night before, I downloaded the MTB Project app. There was a detailed map at the trailhead, but heard from another Routes staff of a lot of turns and forks.
The trails were rated mostly blues and blacks. The blues were technical - both going up and coming down. I had to hike-a-bike on at least a few occasions. But it gave me an opportunity to stop and take in the views of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest in the distance. The route took me a little under 2 hours. I skipped most of the blacks, otherwise I might still be out there.
After, I drove into Canon City and had lunch at the Bean Pedaler, a coffee shop and bike shop in one. The huge brownie baked that morning was delicious. I sat and people watched other customers coming in - locals stopping in for a quick cup and tourists just finishing a rafting trip.
I walked around Canon City’s historic downtown and was pleasantly surprised by the old architecture, all the restaurants, and cool little shops. Come to find out it’s the 3rd oldest city in Colorado. And with The Royal Gorge and Arkansas River nearby, I’m sure they receive plenty of visitors.
Next time Bob is back in town, we’ll have to head down there for a ride and a brownie. I’ll show him I understood the assignment.
