The schedule for the 2013 Colorado Freeride Festival had an action packed variety of contests. While there was something for everyone's taste many of the races were overlapping so you did have to choose what you were going to watch and perhaps overlook something else.  The easiest to watch was the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour Slopestyle contest. This Gold level event took place within eye shot of the Festivillage so it was easy to know when the action was buzzing. In addition the hill alongside the jump course allows for seating that makes almost every inch visible without having to move but this was one performance you did not want to miss. This year's course was designed by Tom Hay and New Zealand freerider Kelly McGarry . Easily noticeable for his long scraggly blonde hair and height (Over 6 feet tall), Kelly helped develop a slopestyle course that allowed the riders to go all out on nearly every jump. In cases like this where a rider tweaks the cours...

Our journey to the Colorado Freeride Festival started at 4am with a dark, rainy drive to Tampa where we parked at the beautiful Intercontinental hotel and took a shuttle to Tampa International Airport. Our circuitous route would have us fly to Houston and then on to Denver. It was the first time we've had to navigate through time zone changes so we kept losing track of how long each flight was actually taking. We joked that we spent the day going back in time. At 1 pm we arrived at the Denver International Airport . This place is a huge work of art with room to grow. The airport is actually pretty far from the mountains or even the city center. The layout spreads terminals across the tarmac connected by a very fast underground train. The main entrance known as the Jeppesen terminal is an enormous split level room full of restaurants with a tent like ceiling that bathes everyone in light, even under stormy skies. Due to a timing error, my bad, we had to hang out fo...

It's that time of year again, the largest Mountain Bike festival in the country is returning to Winter Park, Colorado. The Colorado Freeride Festival takes place on the weekend of July 25-28, 2013. This International competition includes a Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour  Gold level Slopestyle event and an Enduro World Series  race. There is an Epic Singletrack cross country race, an air downhill race and an intergalactic pond crossing event. Riders will battle it out for $45,000. worth of prizes while the audience enjoys a festivillage full of bike sponsors and games. My wife Terri and I will be traveling to Trestle Bike Park to experience CFF for ourselves. This will be our first trip to Colorado so we are learning every step of the way. This is the first article in our five part series that will cover travel, lodgings, restaurants, bike rentals, racing and all manner of competition. You wouldn't think there wouldn't be a lot to learn before you ...