CLOUD VEILS LIFTED AND DROPPED OVER THE SURROUNDING HILLS, IN TURN, HIDING AND REVEALING ROLLING HILLS OF DEEP ASPEN GOLDS.
Cloud veils lifted and dropped over the surrounding hills, in turn hiding and revealing rolling hills of deep aspen golds and dark pine greens. Sarah Uhl is perched on the hillside. The river meandering away from her below—and also coming to life on the notebook spread on the blanket in front of her. Dipping her brush into her mason jar full of water, then into her paints, she quietly stroked a swath of gold onto the page.
SARAH'S WORK AND PLAY ALL STEM FROM FLOW. IT’S WHY HER MOUNTAIN BIKING AND HER PAINTING GO HAND IN HAND.
For Sarah, a freelance fine art and commercial artist, her work—and her play—all stems from flow. It’s why her mountain biking and her painting go hand in hand. And why, when she packs for a road trip, she always throws in both her Yeti and art supplies. From Carbondale, Colo., where Sarah lives, Crested Butte is the perfect getaway: a mere scenic three-hour drive away, buff singletrack, ample campsites, and arguably the densest stands of aspens in the state.
SHE MEASURES HER RIDES BY THE NUMBER OF GLOWING ASPENS, OR HOW SWOOPY THE TRAIL IS.
Sarah wasn’t always a carefree mountain biker. For 10 years she gauged her rides by power meters and stats, racing road bikes and track bikes. She measured her success against other riders, even nabbing the Junior World Sprint Champion title in the velodrome. But inside, Sarah has always been a free spirit and an artist—and eventually that attitude took over her riding style, too. Now, she says, she measures her rides by the number of glowing aspens, or how swoopy the trail is.
IN A FEW MORE DAYS, THE ASPEN BRANCHES WOULD BE BARE, PERHAPS UNDER A BLANKET OF SNOW.
A PASSIONATE CONSERVATIONIST, SARAH LOVES CREATING MAPS OF PLACES THAT NEED PROTECTION.
You might know Sarah’s work from Instagram—she regularly posts images of her paintings of the wild places she travels, from the Peruvian Andes to the coasts of the Pacific Northwest. But you also may have seen her work on skis, trucker hats, calendars or magazine pages. She’s a passionate conservationist, and loves creating maps of places that need protection, bringing to life the flora, fauna and people of the region. Like the endangered lower Colorado basin map, which she made for American Rivers.
FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, OUR WORLD WAS A BUFFET OF GLITTERING ASPENS, OPEN ALPINE VISTAS, STARRY SKIES, AND CAMPFIRES.
The beauty of Crested Butte, as far as mountain biking, is that there isn’t just one go-to trail. Flowy, scenic destination trails spiderweb out in all directions from town... the smorgasbord of trails we hit was almost too much to take in. For a couple of days, our world was a buffet of glittering aspens, open alpine vistas, starry skies, campfire, and camp food with veggies fresh from Sarah’s garden. The stuff mountain bikers’ dreams are made of.
SARAH'S GOAL IS TO SHARE WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHATEVER MAGIC SHE SEES IN THE WORLD AROUND HER.
For years, Sarah had been visiting Crested Butte for these kinds of mountain bike trips and eying the grand shape of Mount Crested Butte on the edge of town. It lived in her imagination—but she'd never taken the time to paint it before. So finally, on our last morning in town, with paints and coffee tucked into her backpack, she rode out to the edge of town and spread her painting blanket in the grass, the greens, golds and granite grays of the peak spreading in front of her. Her goal? To share with other people whatever magic she sees in the world around her.
