Now that mountain bike racing season is over, it’s time to do all the things I can’t do from January to the end of September.

I needed a non-cycling adventure to unwind from the long season.

Backpacking would be the order of the week. The place: Holy Cross Wilderness Area near Vail, Colorado. I have been there before and have wanted to go back ever since, because of the stellar fishing and spectacular scenery that reminds me of Jackson Hole.

The day of the hike, my friend Corey Cogdell and I started up the trail around 11 a.m. and hiked about 10 miles up a golden leaf-strewn trail overlooking the Colorado wilderness to “Hunky Dory Lake.”

The lake is located just below treeline and is chock full of fish. We walked around the lake to find the best place to set up camp and found a good spot with plenty of promise for morning sun.

We pitched the tent and gathered up some firewood for the night and next morning as quick as we could and grabbed our fishing gear to catch some dinner. We tried our luck in Hunky Dory, but came up empty, so we hiked up a boulder slide to a higher lake with more and bigger fish. Again we came up empty, so we made soup and s’mores before hanging our packs and hitting the sack.

Between not being able to breathe and being too hot in my new bag, I don’t think I slept a wink. Around 7 a.m., I got up, fired up the stove for coffee and oatmeal, started the fire and grabbed the packs. The coffee and oatmeal were a great start to the chilly morning.

Right after breakfast, we scrambled back up the boulder slide to the upper lake and spent the entire day fishing. We had a lot more luck and caught enough fish for dinner and even threw quite a few back. We headed back down around 5 in the evening; it had been a great day of fishing and relaxing in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The fish were delicious, funny I don’t like trout unless I’m camping.

We made more soup and s’mores to finish off the meal. This trip was just what the doctor ordered. Getting away from everything: the city, the training center and my bike and doing something I can’t do during the normal training and racing seasons.

Hopefully I can do a lot more hiking, climbing, and fishing before I start gearing up for the Olympic year.

Cloudveil sponsored Sam Jurekovic is a member of the U23 National Cycling Team, competing primarily on the mountain and also in track and road.