No, the front fork on the bike in the photo isn’t broken or the front wheel not inside the forks.  The front “fork” isn’t a fork but a single-sided front shock with an axle originating on the left side.  Hence the “lefty” designation.  Cannondale has been making these lefties for a number of years and even racing them.  This 2012 was only used a few times at the end of the season and was available so the rider could move up to the 2013 models.  I rode it twice, once around town and then had a chance to take it to Farmington where I rode the Road Apple mountain bike trail for just over 2 hours.

The Road Apple trail was dry already and fortunately it was a super day with temps in the low 60’s.  I rode with my nephew Chris and his friend so I got a fast first-of-the-season introduction to the trail, the bike and my off-road and single-track handling.  At just over 22 pounds it climbs super and although I can’t go as fast downhill on trails as the guys half my age, the bike catches-up pretty damn quick.  We averaged almost 11 MPH over 24 miles of rolling hills and close to 2,000′ of elevation gain and loss.  It’s a hard-tail so it may not be as comfy on an all-day ride but with tube-less tire you can soften the ride plenty.  I’m looking forward to “tricking-it-out” with bike-packing gear for some longer rides.

In the Google Earth image below you can see the course just north of Farmington, NM (about 50 miles south of Durango) and see the La Plata Mountains in the far-ground.