mullerb's musings

A nice mellow ride to start off Friday AM. Met Ed at 75th and we ambled up to the marina on the north side of the lake. Fun to catch up with again. It's been about year since we rode together last.

A boogey behind Jose's wheel for most of the ride. Wicked pump along the Diagonal! Push, push, push. Holy crud.

Skipped out on the NCAR group ride. After Sunday's climb, I wanted to nurse my slightly sore right knee on a flat ride instead of the planned climb up Sunshine Canyon (out/back). Need to check that route out though as I've not done it before. Nice day! The views, the sun, 80F, the clouds building over the foothills...

Well, it rained yesterday eve. And hailed. The town is covered in shredded leaves from the hail's impact on the trees. Finally. Nice and cool, 51F, for the 6AM start of this ride. Boulder Canyon with little traffic this AM is not that bad. But Sugarloaf is pretty relentless for 7 miles of up tot he summit. The grade must hit 10% at a few spots. Then a big loss of elevation before the 4 miles of up and down dirt to the Peak to Peak Highway. It ain't over there. Another 8 miles mostly uphill with a 7% grade to get up above Ward. I wavered here: I planned on heading down to Lyons but the prospect of the flats on Rt36 or 75th, the usual lunchtime area, wasn't grabbing me. The compromise was to explore another dirt stretch of road heading down to Jamestown. Nice! 2-3 miles of mellow dirt then a long and steep glide down to Lefthand. Over to Olde Stage (hoards of Sunday riders!) helped me avoid Rt36 even more. Nice ride but pretty stiff elevation gain of +4500'. Drooled over ...

Heidi talked me into a ride instead of me going to the res for a kayak or sail. A strong and fast ride too! We averaged 21mph for the loop. Definitely a record for us on that stretch. When the heck is it going to rain again????

Got whipped by the big boys (and girl - Kay). Kept up just fine up for the 1st half but got dropped like a fart in a headwind heading down the east slope of Nelson. Oh well. I kind of wanted to do 63rd instead of 75th anyways so that I cold visit with the kayaking kiddos on Coot Lake. Which I did. They were having a blast. Caught the tail end of the group again along Diagonal just before 55th. Averaged around 20mph.

Finally talked Alex into doing a ride together. He used to ride a heap in California, up above Palo Alto, in the hills. Just recently bought a really nice road bike. We parked up at Lefthand and rode from there. What a great loop! The grade is never too steep and the scenery is awesome. The only downside was the unusual amount of traffic heading up St Vrain Canyon. Kind of strange since it isn't really a direct road to anywhere. There were literally hoards of cyclist heading up to Ward as we careened down Lefthand. You would have thought there was an organized race or something. Same thing along 36 heading back into town. Just unreal how popular this has gotten this year. There will be lots of shiny expensive bikes sitting in garages across the metro area in the next few years :)

Darn sun is cranking this week. 88ºF at 10:45AM. Just to the top of the first hill and back down. Felt easy today; my climbing muscles are honed right now.

Fast and hot. Cottonmouth the whole way. Jose set the pace on the latter half down 65th.

Up and around the north side with Kay and Heidi over lunch.

Road up to the Walker overlook up Flagstaff Mnt. before heading into work for a few hours. Then Dan and I ended the day on the Heil Ranch loop. My legs are sore.