Trail Trax: A new mountain bike trail coming to Lair o' the Bear, Farm Lane Trail gets a facelift

Lair o' the Bear Park is a popular hiking and biking trail system west of Morrison, Colorado and part of the Jefferson County Open Space system.

Come Thursday, May 25, mountain bikers can rejoice as the trail system will have a new member — a 3.8-mile, directional downhill-only trail called Rutabaga Ride, an official with Jefferson County Open Space confirmed.

The flow trail can be seen from State Highway 74 and the view reveals a section descent to Bear Creek, with banked berms and even a jump or two.

In keeping in tradition of naming trails after things, events and people important to the area or region, Rutabaga Ride looks like it was named after a famous farmer.

Rutabaga is a root vegetable crop that used to be grown in Bear Creek Canyon by Swedish farmer John 'Rutabaga' Johnson, who would sell his sought-after crop in Denver and Evergreen in the early 1900s. 

Rutabaga also grows in the wild, so perhaps the crop is still lining the new trail today. However, ripping riders can rest assured their new trail has more than a turnip's name to offer.

Lair 'o the Bear currently has 4.7 miles of trail on 394 acres and with this new addition, Rudabaga Ride will nearly double the mileage.  

Gorp Report:

• The Farm Lane Trail, which provides access to Hidden Mesa Open Space in Douglas County, is now under construction as of Thursday, May 4. 

Douglas County officials said in a news release, "access to this regional trail will increase with a new, half-mile concrete trail through Hidden Mesa Open Space in eastern Douglas County, with the Farm Lane Trail in Hidden Mesa Open Space being reconstructed from a soft-surface trail to an 8-foot wide, concrete trail."

The new section will allow elderly hikers, families with small children and persons with disabilities better access to the Cherry Creek Trail.

The Farm Lane Trail connects Hidden Mesa’s eastern entrance off Parker Road — Highway 83 Trailhead — to the Cherry Creek Trail.

Spoke N'ews:

• Mountain bike races are just flat out COOL! Whether your willing to smash pedals and get dirt and mud flung in your face, or revel along the side of the route with a lawn chair, beer and/or cow bell in hand, they are fun to attend.

One early-season series and very exciting race to ride in or watch, the Session Series, is right around the corner. Another element interesting about this race series is it has five races.

"The Session Series is up on Floyd Hill on a trail system called the Floyd Hill Open Space and the run is called 'the Sluice'," said Jennifer Barbour, executive director of Team Evergreen Cycling. "What we've done is we've created a weeknight enduro event where everybody (participating) climbs up to the top and goes down as fast at they can, and we time them."

Those not racing line the sides and cheer, which in itself is exhilarating. If you're close enough, one can even see the whites of the racers' eyes. 

"People just watch these guys do some really fast things," Barbour said. "It's just fun to watch how fast these people go downhill."

The nonprofit Team Evergreen Cycling, which runs the event, takes "the net profits from the event and pushes it back to local trail areas, such as directing money to Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA), which help produce more trails," Barbour said.

Several mountain bike races or series, like the HUNDO near Bailey, do this practice as well; allocating money back to trail systems, which Barbour says "is a win." 

Even though it is a smaller event, around 200 people and in its third year, people still have a great time, Barbour said. 

"We've sold out every year that we've done it. We sold out the first four races this year, but we just added on the last one (race 5) which is still on sale," she added.

Anyone over 14 can come out and race, from amateurs to pros.

"Everyone and anyone who just wants to ride their bikes and get their jump on," Barbour said.

If you go to watch, remember parking near the Floyd Hill Open Space is tight and limited. Plan accordingly, such as carpooling, be prepared to hike up to the course since the event area will be closed off with booths and racers' bikes, and be mindful of the course and riders on it.

Racers will have full-face helmets, which are required, and gloves, elbow, knee, neck and spine guards are highly recommended. No alcohol consumption is allowed before the race, and if another racer catches you let he or she pass you.

Session Series dates:

• Race 1, Wednesday, May 31
• Race 2, Wednesday, June 7
• Race 3, Wednesday, June 21
• Race 4, Wednesday, June 28
• Race 5, Friday, June 30 (Maryland Mountain, Hard Money Trail)