Falcon to Colorado Springs: Meeting up with Mom

Friday June 11, 2010, 15 miles (24 km) – Total so far: 1,553 miles (2,499 km)

I have 15 miles to ride to downtown Colorado Springs. It’s all downhill and it is in the morning rush. But I lived here for a couple summers in the mid-1990s and rode my bike all over town then, so I’m hoping I’ll recognize the streets I need to get me to downtown without too much traffic. I also have the fear that today will be the day I will get a flat. I haven’t had one all trip, so it would be such cruel irony to get one in the last 15 miles. Read more →

Manitou Springs: Party on wheels

Saturday June 12, 2010

The weather is poor – it’s a planned rest day but a good day not to be riding all the same. Cold and rainy. Mom and I check out the local museum, pick up my bike, look around downtown (the awesome book store that used to be near the Mountain Chalet is gone -frowny face -) and have a relaxing day. Read more →

Manitou Springs to Lake George: The first Pass

Sunday June 13, 2010, 23 miles (38 km) – Total so far: 1,576 miles (2,537 km)

Today is my first day of riding in the mountains and the weather is still crap. If I didn’t have Mom along, I would just sit this out. 42 degrees and intermittent rain is no fun. But with her along, I can always get in the car and warm up, or just toss it in for the day. We do have to stick to a schedule, though. Because Mom is not into camping, we need to stay in motels. We were worried about these getting booked out, so I figured out a route and the distance I thought I could do each day, and then she booked motels for each night. Read more →

Lake George to Buena Vista: A couple more Passes to get warmed up

Monday June 14, 2010, 56 miles (90 km) – Total so far: 1,632 miles (2,627 km)

We’re up early and Mom drives me back out the dirt road to start the day on Hwy 24. We’re going to meet at the top of my next pass – Wilkerson. I’ve only been this way once, in a car in 1995, and I remember the view over South Park from the top of the pass as being spectacular, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s a gentle, continuous climb through meadows and forest for about 8.5 miles from Lake George. Then there’s 1.5 miles of a 5 to 6 percent grade to the top. Read more →

Buena Vista to Twin Lakes: Now that’s a good view!

Tuesday June 15, 2010, 27 miles (43 km) – Total so far: 1,659 miles (2,670 km)

It’s a short ride today to set me up to climb Independence Pass tomorrow. As you leave Buena Vista, the view of the Collegiate Peaks range to the left shows snow-capped peaks rising steeply out of the flat valley against a clear blue sky. It’s cool and crisp and dry this morning – my favourite type of weather. Read more →

Twin Lakes to Aspen: The best morning of my life

Wednesday June 16, 2010, 38 miles (61 km) – Total so far: 1,697 miles (2,731 km)

I’m a bit nervous about the ride today. Independence Pass is 12,095 feet and I am untested on alpine climbs. The three little passes I’ve already done are just a warm-up. And I am doing this pass from the ‘easy’ side. But I’m still worried it’s going to take me a long time to get to the top. We get up in the pre-dawn light and Mom drives me back to the town parking area. She is to meet me at 10:30am on top. I figure if I average 5 mph, and allow for some rests, the 17 miles might take me 4 hours. Then it’s off I go at 5:45am. Read more →

Julesburg to Sterling: Sprinting to beat the storm

Sunday June 6, 2010, 63 miles (102 km) – Total so far: 1,361 miles (2,190 km)

There’s a brief thunderstorm in the morning, so I wait until the roads have dried up a bit before heading off. I stop at the little supermarket in Julesburg to get food for today and tonight. The checkout woman asks where I’m headed. I tell her, ‘Colorado Springs, but just to North Sterling Reservoir for tonight’. She replies, ‘Watch out for the rattlesnakes. They’ve really started to come out. My niece lives near there and they’ve just had tons of them in the past two weeks’. I thank her for the tip. I’ll keep a watch out, but reptiles don’t really scare me, just lightning. Read more →

Carbondale to Paonia: The toughest climb of the trip

Friday June 18, 2010, 54 miles (87 km) – Total so far: 1,751 miles (2,818 km)

Once again I’m up early. The ride up the Crystal River is one of those imperceptible grades where you, at times, think you are going downhill and think you must have a tire going flat because you’re going so slowly, only to realise that you are actually climbing. There’s not too much traffic and it’s yet another beautiful ride up a canyon. Read more →

Sterling to Brush: The green patch

Monday June 7, 2010, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 1,401 miles (2,255 km)

Today I’m riding Hwy 6 to Brush. The scenery is more Platte River valley agriculture, a hill or two here and there, and not all that much traffic. I’m roughly following the Overland Trail today (and have been since entering the state). The Overland Trail started in Atchison, Kansas and paralleled the Oregon, Mormon and California trails through Nebraska. It broke off at Julesburg and followed the path used by hopeful miners in the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Read more →