Some dates just keep circling back to the same two things: bikes and weather that refuses to cooperate. This July 16th, spread across twenty-plus years, is basically a highlight reel of that exact pattern. In 2001 I was a Connecticut transplant, easily impressed by tacos and a Little Feat cover band on the New Haven green, figuring the state wasn't so bad after all. Two years later I'd flipped the script entirely, rained out, napped out, and generally defeated, bagging the whole day and heading to bed.
By 2007 the bikes had taken over for good, flatting my way to third place at Thompson Park in Butte. Three years after that I was hammering up Point Six pretending it was Leadville, annoying a perfectly relaxed group ride. Then came the quieter years... a nod to an old dirt road over Tobacco Root Pass, a soggy hike-a-bike adventure on the West Boulder, and a night spent wrestling with a broken blog rather than a broken derailleur, apologizing for missing photos. Mo and I kept circling back too, dodging stakes and mosquitoes at Bear Lake, chasing wildflowers and one aggressive teenager on Daisy and Lulu Passes, and eventually just laughing our way through Acton Bike Park.
The last two entries close the loop nicely: a smoky, euphoric climb up University Mountain, and a solo rampage through Crazy Canyon that somehow felt like company. Turns out July 16th has never been about grand plans. It's about showing up, flat tires and all, and letting the trail sort out the rest.