Day of the Dead Ride: Buffalo Creek

Sunday, November 1 is the Day of the Dead. It is also the morning the clocks go back, which matters more than you'd think for a ride with a start time. 404 Gears Not Found is riding Buffalo Creek that day, and you should come.

The name has never been more accurate. Your gears are not missing. They're dead, and we're going to ride past their grave on one speed.

Set Your Clocks Back

Daylight saving time ends at 2am that morning. Your phone will sort this out by itself. Your car, your stove, and that one watch you never learned how to set will not.

If you roll into the lot at what you're sure is 8am and nobody's there, it's 7, and your microwave lied to you. The good news is you get first pick of parking. The bad news is an hour of standing around waiting for everyone else to show up, with nobody to explain your gear ratio to.

The extra hour is the one between 1 and 2am, which happens twice that night. It's the closest thing to a haunting the state of Colorado produces, and I'm told it belongs to the dead. Don't spend it on anything important.

The Plan

Wheels down at 8am from the main Buffalo Creek parking lot. Wheels down means rolling at 8, not pulling in at 8 and starting to look for your other glove.

That time is my best guess for now. If it moves, I'll update this page.

There is no BikeReg for this one. Setting up a real event is a ton of work, and I'd rather spend that effort riding. No sign-up, no waiver, no check-in table. Just show up at the lot and look for the guys with single speeds. I'll most likely be driving my black Nissan Armada, the poor man's Land Cruiser, so look for that too.

Everyone is invited. Geared riders might get heckled at first, but at the end of the day no one cares.

Ride your own pace. There's no group to keep up with and nobody gets dropped, because nobody is in charge. Just be courteous at the major trail intersections so people don't wander off down the wrong trail. I'm old, fat, and slow, so I'll be near the back, stopping for as many pictures as my Sony a5100 can handle.

The main lot is not free. It's owned by the Buffalo Park Improvement Association, which started charging in July 2025 to cover its costs. The reported rate is about $8 on weekends, plus a small service fee, and you pay through the ParkMobile app (zone 88123). They also sell annual passes if you're a regular. Download the app and sort it out before you leave home, because cell service at the lot is not something to count on. I'll update this page if the rate changes before the ride.

It's November and it's early, so it will be cold at the start. Bring layers you can stuff somewhere once the climbing starts.

The Route

Not final. It will probably be some version of the classic loop:

Nice Kitty
Shinglemill
Baldy
Charlie's Cutoff
Sandy Wash

Here is the draft route as it stands today. It is about 24 miles, which is longer than "the classic loop" sounds, so plan your snacks accordingly.

Topographic map of the draft Day of the Dead Ride route, a long looping track around Baldy Peak in Pike National Forest near Buffalo Creek — The draft route. Subject to change until I stop changing it.

GPXDownload GPX

I'll post the final route here once it's settled.

The Trails

A quick rundown of what you're signing up for. Distances and climbing numbers are rounded from Trailforks and MTB Project, so treat them as rough.

Nice Kitty (the familiar): About 4 miles of blue singletrack, and the first real climb of the day, a bit over 1,000 feet of it. You pass through a burned stretch on the way up, and it has been getting sandy lately.
Shinglemill (the headstone): About 3.7 miles, blue, and mostly a quick, twisty descent back toward Buffalo Creek Road. This is the part where the climbing pays you back a little.
Baldy (the skull): About 3.7 miles and roughly 800 feet of climbing. It's a solid but rideable grind on smooth trail with some pea gravel, big granite slabs, burned forest, and a short stretch of slickrock near the top. Rocks, roots, and a few steep pitches, if you're counting.
Charlie's Cutoff (the wake): Only about 2 miles, but it's the one people remember. Big rocks and slickrock to play on up high, then roots and black dirt along a creek under evergreens near the bottom. Usually ridden downhill.
Sandy Wash (the final descent): About 3 miles, mostly downhill, smooth and fast with banked, bermed corners. It's the traditional way to finish at Buffalo Creek, and it ends back near the cars.

Buffalo Creek is one of the few trail systems in the world with an IMBA Epic designation, so none of this is a secret. It's just easy to underestimate with one gear.

Further reading, if you want to argue about it before the ride:

Afterwards

Lunch and beers at Zoka's in Pine. This is the one part of the plan that is not to be determined.

The Short Version

When: Sunday, November 1, 2026. Wheels down at 8am, the new 8am.
Where: Main Buffalo Creek parking lot
Parking: Paid, about $8 on weekends through ParkMobile (zone 88123)
Who: Everyone. Gears are welcome, but expect some heckling.
Pace: Your own. Be courteous at major trail intersections.
Sign-up: None. Just show up and find the single speeds.
Route: To be determined. Probably Nice Kitty, Shinglemill, Baldy, Charlie's Cutoff, Sandy Wash.
After: Lunch and beers at Zoka's
Bring: Layers, and a clock you trust

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