Sugarloaf/James Town/Olde Stage - 4hr15min, 58miles

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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 some nice carbon fiber bikes in the PM at
a bike sale...

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