Cottonwood Pass Appetizer

We spent a lovely weekend camping with friends and family in Buena Vista. Did I mention that I love Buena Vista? There is a sign as you enter Chaffee County that says "Now this is Colorado" and it truly is. The Collegiate Peaks, the Arkansas river, and the wide open spaces. It was so beautiful. We stayed at the Ruby Mountain Campground right on the Arkansas. The river was running very high and fast so we were extremely careful to keep the kids away from the water. That was a bummer, but the river was very fun to look at and listen to. We spent Saturday visiting Cottonwood Lake where we took the kids fishing - we scared them all away with six noisy kids. Only two small trout were silly enough to stick around and get caught on our line.

On Sunday morning, Jason and I broke away for an early morning ride. We didn't want to be gone too long because my mom and stepdad were watching the kids. So we drove to the bottom of West Main in Bueny and parked our car at the local park. We started our ascent at 7am. There is a nice 4 mile warm up with a very gradual incline. By mile 5 (near Cottonwood Hot Springs) the road begins to go up. The scenery is so beautiful - you hardly notice that your legs are pushing. Rainbow Lake Resort is off to the left around mile 8 - breathtaking. At mile 12, when you go through the gate that closes the pass for the winter, the road really gets serious. Unfortunately, we only had time to climb for about another mile before we needed to turn back. A little disappointing because it just seemed to get better and better and I am sure the view from the top is magnificent. But we are really looking forward to making it to there with our friends the Coe's and the De La Paz's this weekend as we all head to BV for fourth of July.

Overall the ride was wonderful. It was a nice little appetizer.

Be Careful Out There

Scott Coe sent us an email this morning with a link to this article in the Denver Post. I guess I am not alone in my bear sighting. Check it out: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/16708917/detail.html

Peak to Peak Highway Ride

Sunday morning we set out for a ride on the Peak to Peak highway. Kellie came up with a great idea that the guys should go early and park in Estes Park and the gals would wait for the babysitter and then head to Nederland. We would ride the Peak to Peak in opposite directions and meet somewhere along the way. It worked great. We met the guys about 16 miles into our ride and 24 into theirs.

It was a gorgeous day and the weather was perfect. The scenery along this highway is lovely and most of the time the shoulder makes for pretty easy riding - except as you pass Longs Peak Rd. and go into Estes Park. There is no shoulder and not all the drivers are kind enough to give you room.

I am into determining the "lessons" from each of our rides. Over the past several weeks I have learned the following lessons: never forget your rain jacket, always bring warm clothes, eat even though you aren't hungry, drink even though you aren't thirsty, and when you feel horrible it helps to have a friend coax you along.

My lessons from this ride are: you should never be too serious to stop and take pictures or smell the flowers or admire the view. And, it is helpful to bring toilet paper on a long bike ride! You never know when you just have to pee and the grove of trees becomes the closest thing to a bathroom for the next 20 miles.

Bears and Butterflies

Jason and I set out on Father's Day morning for a Father's Day riding adventure. The kids were delighted to be having breakfast with Pappy and Jason was excited to get a bike ride in after spending all day Saturday having "special boy time." I was thinking that we were going for a little climb up Lee Hill Road and back down Lefthand Canyon and home over Old Stage Road. But when we got to Lefthand Canyon, Jason was up for a little more climbing. We ate our little snack and headed up Lee Hill toward Ward. I figured we would go just a couple miles up and turn around for home. It was warm and beautiful and several colorful butterflies kept following Jason and trying to land on his Sierra Nevada bike jersey. It was lovely.

Then at mile 14.5 I couldn't believe my eyes. Just about 100 feet up the road, a big brown animal ran across the road. What could it be - I thought for a second and then quickly realized - A Bear! Oh my goodness. Unfortunately, Jason was a little behind me and he couldn't see it from his perspective. Needless to say, I pedaled a little faster to make sure Smoky didn't come back out onto the road.

We made it to the top in about 2.5 hours. Since we hadn't planned on riding that far, Jason didn't have enough to eat and he bonked about 1 mile from the top. Being the "man" that he is, he powered his way to the top anyway and we rested for awhile at the top.

One final comment. Ward has to be the funkiest place in Colorado. There is some weird old truck, old shoe trash sculpture at the top across from the General Store where about 20+ bikers hang out every weekend replenishing their strength. And I wonder why the owner of the store hasn't figured out that he could make a fortune if he sold a few more nutritious "athletic" snacks for the hungry cyclists!