Strollin' with Baby

South Table Mountain above apartment, with views towards Green mountain (left) and Mt. Morrison (right), and my baby boy (foreground)

I've got a new running partner.

He's perfect.

He's kind enough to go my speed -- he doesn't go too slow, and although he's always just a bit ahead, and makes me work a bit harder than I would solo, he never takes off out of sight.  He's always willing to trust my route selection and come along, rarely whining or complaining.  And although I like dogs and they make great running partners, too, he never snags my snacks while I'm not looking, or chases skunks.  The true environmentalist, he even packs out his own waste!

He's just under 3 months old.

I'm now able to go running outside with my boy thanks to a very generous and thoughtful gift of a jogging stroller from our awesome friends in the Fort Collins Trail Runners.

You guys are all awesome!  You saved us from this:

Yuck.

Seriously, this was an incredible gesture for our little family.  We've already got it great, with a beautiful happy, healthy baby making us smile with his goofy laughs and giggles.  It's also been a mad, emotional and financial scramble for several months, going from 0-to-baby in no time, but NO complaints, knowing how hard and nerve-wracking it can be for anyone going through the difficult uncertainties of adoption or pregnancy.  We've already had incredibly generous support from family and friends, with plenty of new and used clothes and toys and other basics to get us started.  While Mama J has been focused on getting his nursery ready -- tipping from a delicate emotional point of not having any time before he was born to bringing him home -- I've been wondering, how do I get him outside, comfortably and enjoyably, to appreciate the vibrant sights, sounds, and smells of his wonderful world?

So while I might not have been as excited by the comprehensive 'Must-have' list provided by Baby Registry services (how did babies survive just a few decades ago?), the main long-term indulgence I hoped for was a nice running stroller.

Our friends came through, just in time for one of the best stretches of October weather in Colorado since we've lived here, with the BOB Sport Utility stroller.

So far, it's been fantastic.  I guess this is a short review.

Clear Creek Trail, Golden

BOB Sport Utility Stroller

One of the main questions for a parent runner is, "Which stroller?"  There are several options, and I knew BOB makes some great ones.  Among those, you have the "Ironman" version, which is high-quality but built for (racing) pavement.  I definitely leaned towards the off-road versions, which have 16-inch pneumatic tires and shocks to be able to go over moderately rough terrain and bumps.

The last debate was the Sport Utility, which has a fixed-front wheel (with all 3 wheels being 16" diameter), vs. Revolution, which has a smaller front wheel that rotates side-to-side ("yaw"), but is more expensive, and lacks a handbrake.  The consensus I found is that the Sport Utility Stroller really is more of a hiking and running stroller -- several trail runners I spoke with recommended this model -- whereas the Revolution might be slightly easier to maneuver through malls and more for jogging.

So we registered for the the Sport Utility Stroller and it's been a great choice.  I've needed and used the handbrake on steeper downhills already.  In addition to preferring the cushioning of the larger front wheel, I've patched a tire already (not bad, as I went through patchy weeds in goathead season) and bought some replacement tubes from a local bike store, and it would be more troublesome to have to keep or bring 2 different tire sizes.  As for turning a fixed front wheel: you wouldn't want it to be able to turn on any sort of bumpy terrain, as every rock would knock it sideways, but on flat areas it's an easy shift-of-weight backward, and then a quick pivot on the rear tires.  With practice (i.e., one run), you can do this at-speed.

I do understand that there's an even more expensive version of the Revolution with a handbrake (or maybe it can be added), and there might be more adjustment on the handlebar height.  If the latter is important, it might be worth checking out.

Otherwise, from what I can tell, based on the first hundred miles:  BOB Sport Utility Stroller FTW.

Last up is colour, and you can choose any colour you want...as long as it's a Denver Broncos colour!

So, orange or blue.  Both are sharp looking.  I went with orange because I thought it would be easier to see.  Safety first!

Running with an Infant

But wait, there's more!  Young infants cannot stabilized their own heads yet.  They're most secure when still in their car seat, which may have additional cushioned neck support in it.  Luckily, most decent jogging strollers have adapters for car seats, so that you can click a rear-facing carseat into the stroller.  In the case of BOB, you can get adapters for different car seat brands.  Confusingly, BOB carseats are made by Britax, which means you need a Britax adapter to mount the carseat to a BOB stroller, making the "adapter" sound like a misnomer when you have both items being BOB brand.  In truth, the "adapter" is actually a mounting bracket that supports the carseat.  But still, extra $$$.

The other question is about jogging with infants at all, especially on bumpy surfaces.  Like all parenting issues, their are strong opinions and occasionally contentious debate.  There are numerous anecdotes of people running with weeks-old babies that turn out just fine, and no known population evidence otherwise.  Some have a misguided fear of "shaken baby syndrome" (SBS) but the terribly violent jerking of SBS (generally forward-to-backward) is vastly different than anything encountered in a reasonable stroller ride.  Millions of kids deal have dealt regularly with bumpy transport.  And, ironically, we're very accepting as a society of the incredible risk of simply driving on the roads each day, yet people question anything outside of average behaviour.

Using a stroller for running, and on trails, then, is mostly common sense.  Even with nice shocks, you can't fly over bumpy or rutted trails.  And with the carseat adapter, the center of gravity is higher, so you also do have to be a bit more careful as it rocks side to side and you have a smaller baby.  So on most rocky stuff, I'm at or near a walk, and the best trails are still relatively flat dirt, gravel, or paved trails.  Still, the cushioning of a nice running stroller is much better than a basic stroller with small, hard wheels.

The overall verdict of running with a baby so far?  Luckily, babies are not shy about letting you know how they feel.  My son will mostly sleep, quite peacefully, and occasionally look around or at me.  It's obvious to tell the difference between when he's displeased or content, so it's obvious to know to slow down for anything really bumpy or rocky, and otherwise he's quite happy to be outside.  He'll occasionally fuss when trying to fall asleep, no different than being in a car, and a pacifier usually fixes that as he falls right back asleep.  If he's awake, and when we're done, I'll talk to him and make sure he smiles.  Which he always does -- he's a pretty happy guy anyway.

One last data point: since we started longer runs, up to 1-2 hours if I time it with naps, he slept through the night for the first time ever!  And did so 4 of the next 6 nights in a row (waking up once the other 2 nights), and has not had any of the random 'witching hour' fussy times in the afternoon in the last week.  Could be a complete developmental coincidence, but just sayin'...

Pass Baggin' on the Mountain Bike

In late summer and early fall, when I had some open time on a weekend or we were visiting the mountains, I found myself bringing the mountain bike more than previous years.  It's been a great change of pace, and, frankly, blasting through wildflowers across tundra or forest trails covered in golden aspen leaves on a bike is about as good as it gets.

For trail running some of the best trail runs end on mountain summits.  But for bikes, some of the best roads and trails may not go to proper summits, but instead traverse across saddles and passes.

Some of the classic Colorado pass rides I've done that are highly recommended and popular:

• Kenosha Pass: Colorado Trail in either side
• Georgia Pass: Colorado Trail on either side
• Monarch Crest near Monarch Pass
• Schofield Pass/401 in CB
• Rollins Pass Nederland to Winter Park

Getting back on the bike this year when I could, I found myself seeking out a few new (for me) bike-accessible passes.  Here are some of them.

Wheeler Pass Loop
While J was in Breckenridge for a work meeting, I took a jaunt up to Wheeler Pass, which goes straight up through Breck ski area, then drops down the other side to Copper, before returning on the bike path.  (With more time, which I didn't have, taking the Peaks Trail between Frisco and Breck would add more dirt).

I followed the guide and map from the SummitDaily free Bike Guide -- these magazines are ubiquitous in Summit County and convenient for ideas and tearing out the page you need, but sometimes the directions are a little sparse -- mostly, it's written for people who seemingly already know which way the ride goes.  For example, this ride goes under a "quad lift" and then "another quad lift" whereas the simple addition of the lift names might have been helpful.  So it was that I headed too far over before finally making my way up to what I hoped was Wheeler Pass.

Indeed it was, and it was nice to see the weather breaking, as did my mood after spending too much time trying to figure out if I was going the right away.

I enjoyed a heavenly slice of banana bread that I brought from La Francaise before heading down.

The backside had a different feel as it dipped into the woods, with the recent monsoon moisture making it feel more like the PNW.  Some ruts and switchbacks slowed down the flow a bit but all in all it was a great descent followed by the cranking the bike path to finish the loop.


French Pass Out-and-Back
Also while in Breckenridge, one of J's coworker's husband brought his bike and was up for a ride, so we decided to head up French Pass, again using a Summit Daily description.  One could drive up a bit toward the pass but we enjoyed the warmup straight out of town (so much that we missed Wellington Rd. altogether and took 450 -- at the corner by the 7/11 -- straight up French Gulch instead).

A stream crossing got things nice and wet, and things were still marshy up high, with a little hike-a-bike in the mud, but ultimately it was another gorgeous place to be up high.

Dropping down the other side looked enticing, as did a ridge run along any of the nearby Class 2 summits, but instead we headed back the way we came.

Copper "Dirty Triangle" -- Searle, Kokomo, and Resolution Pass
Well this was a fun one and nice surprise.  I knew that Searle and Kokomo was a great section along the Colorado Trail, but it seemed a modest half-day ride would need to be an out-and-back.  Instead, though, I saw an intriguing loop called the Copper Dirty Triangle, which is a fun play on the classic 80-mile road bike ride (much like the Morgul Bismark vs. Dirty Morgul Bismark near Boulder).  While the trail version is about 45 miles shorter, it's more of a technical and aerobic challenge.

And routefinding, as following the Colorado Trail across Copper Mountain gets tricky in a few areas.  Of course, logically, it's a good bet that Kokomo ski lift is named for a nearby geographical feature, and indeed that's the side of the mountain you want.  As an aside, having ridden or run in summer on over a half dozen ski areas by now, I've had the frustration of ski area summer map and trail situation: summer trails are given new and unsigned names on "Summer Maps" despite large coincidence with downhill ski runs; more importantly, summer maps often lack detail on useful landmarks like ski lift names, ski runs, structures, and topographic features.  But I digress!

And it wasn't too bad once you get the idea of heading straight across Copper.  The thinning air and occasional steeper sections made for honest work.  Eventually, up high, I saw a helicopter buzz by a few times, and I immediately became concerned about a rescue mission -- especially when I saw something dangling below.

It turns out, it was an annual re-supply flight to the nearby Janet's Cabin ski hut.
More rolling terrain as I approached and then crested Searle Pass.

And more rolling still toward Kokomo Pass, above 12k feet.

I'm glad I crested Kokomo, rather than an out and back, because the descent was fun and I was treated to a gorgeous carpet of colourful tundra.

The trees in Camp Hale were starting to change as well.  This really ended up being a great choice for mid-September, as being one of the first areas to change noticeably, days or even a week or more before some of the other classic areas started peaking.

There's a few miles of flat through Camp Hale, and then the final grueling climb up Resolution Road.

Be forewarned, this section is shared with ATV's and motorized traffic, and is relatively unshaded.  Supposedly the next gulch over is steeper and shorter, but I didn't take the time to see how these might have connected.

I finally made it to the top, then began the descent on dirt road, keeping my eyes peeled for the quickly-approaching trail that branched off to the right along a switchback, necessary for making the loop.  This trail wasn't as hard to spot as I thought, and I chatted briefly with a few hikers visiting from the east coast, envious of all of Colorado's great trails.

Only a few miles remained on singletrack, which became waterlogged and overgrown in a few spots, but was also resplendent with Colorado colour.

I stayed right at a fork, and although unnamed in the description and on the signs from this direction, it is the Wilder Gulch Trail.

Now I had a quick descent down the Vail Pass bike path to finish the loop.  Even the colour here made it worthwhile, and even though this is a classic road bike section, it's nice to fly down fast pavement confidently on cushy fat tires.

Webster Pass
I did red mountains.  My head is on a swivel when we drive through the San Juans, over Red Mountain Pass, for example -- yet I haven't been up Red Mountain 1/2/3, or even the aesthetic 14er walkup of Redcloud.  I guess I like to look at them from below.

Much closer to home, though, is Red Mountain near Webster Pass, between Montezuma and Jefferson.  A rocky jeep road leads up from either side.  In this case, I made a loop from Montezuma, tacking on Webster Pass as an out-and-back, and then taking Deer Creek back down.
I guessed correctly that the colder weather and recent snow would cut down on the motorized traffic that usually infests the area in the summer.  But it also made things tougher for biking, with most of the switchbacks up Webster Pass covered in pedal-deep snow.  The drifts are made worse by snow-fencing and the fences put up to keep motorized traffic off of re-vegetated areas, so the protective fences actually end up keeping more snow on the road itself.

The snow and wind was cutting into my schedule, so I didn't actually get up on top of the mountain.
Still, it was worth the slogging hike-a-bike up to Webster Pass for the views of Red Mountain.

After descending the pass, I needed to regain as much elevation toward Teller Mountain to complete the loop, and in fact the climb up the ridge, while without a named pass, was even higher and more challenging on and eroded and steep mining road.

Again, though, it was worth it for the view.

The trail rolled along the divide further, but I cut down into the trees in Deer Creek, unable to feel my feet which had been wet for the last several hours.  Still, I was grinning at the prospect of the coming winter.  Even though I'll curse it come March or even late February, it's always exciting when it's new.

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What are some of the other great passes in Colorado?
Tomichi Pass-White Pine between Salida and Gunnison is probably tops on my to-do list right now.