Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Incredible ride in the Mtns w/ pics

I was in Colorado this weekend, I did a 75 mile mile ride with my brother-in-law. Of the 75 miles 40 miles were 4000 ft of climbing. We rode from Fort Collins up to Glen Haven. The scenary was incredible and the hills seemed endless. The descents were incredibly fast reaching speeds of nearly 60mph. I got a demo bike from a store in Fort Collins thecycologist.com for $50.00 the manager took my measurements and had the bike fitting perfectly. The ride took about 7 hours, I think it may have been the most physically challenging thing i've done in my life.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409082.jpg

We started down by that building, my sis lives just a mile or so away. This was the start of the foothills.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409074.jpg

Some more pics of the foothills.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409019.jpg

After climbing about 1000ft we ended up in Thompson river canyon. The road has huge cliffs on both sides that are incredible.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409019.jpg

My brother-in-law, not a clyde and an amazing cyclist.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409015.jpg

A cool dirt road short cut that he took me on, reminded me of stuff you see in Spain. Little scarey because the right side of the road is a straight drop down.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409013.jpg

A pic off the side of the dirt road, hard to tell how high it really is from this pic.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409024.jpg

The absolute killer on this ride a 2 mile stretch of road that is 20% grade, this part of the ride I had two stop a couple times to keep my heart from exploding.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409026.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409025.jpg

The view at the top was worth every drop of sweat.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409031.jpg

Me at the top, barely able to stand. Representing the clydes with my fatcyclist jersey.

Quite a departure from Miami, eh? A little different than your Everglades ride?

Now go out and have a Fat Tire Ale.

Thanks for the pics. Cool.

It was an incredible experience, i'm never gonna look at riding in Miami the same. I will push harder now than I ever did before knowing the pain that I can endure.

great pics

Fabulous pictures. You've done something of which you can be very proud. Now that you're hooked on hills you'll have to get out of Miami more often.

Thanks for posting such beautiful pics! My wife and I visited Ft. Collins last year and loved all the biking around the area. It was great waking up, eating breakfast then riding out from the hotel towards the mountains, past the mountain bike skills area to the trail by the Rams football stadium. Then afterwards riding to New Belgium to get my free samples of beer then to Ft Collins brewery and then to the other brewery..... geez maybe I'm a lush:o. Oh well, it was our vacation!!!

thanks for posting. Great job!

Awesome, thanks

Incredible pictures. Great job on the ride. You should be very proud of yourself.

Great pics, good to know you can ride past what you thought were limits

Nice pics!:thumb:

Lovely and well done, I especially like the pic of Thomson Canyon? Looks fantastic and of course the view at the top is not too shabby either;)

Great Pics, and very interesting captions! Thanks for sharing. :)

PS: The pic of your brother-in-law isn't there. You attached the Thompson river canyon photo twice.

jesspal -

Nice pics, I've ridden Ft. Collins up the Thompson to Estes Park many years ago on only 10 speeds. :) I recall about 6 hours with my shirt off, and no sunblock. Once you get into a groove, you just crank and crank.

I worked in RMNP one summer, and regularly rode the loop between Estes Park, north entrance, Horseshoe Park, back down the south entrance. I've been as high as Many Parks Curve, but never did Trail Ridge. Set that one as a goal. ;)

Neat, neat, neat... well done! Got a pic of your loaner bike?

IT was only 50 bucks cause it has pink tape.

Amazing views!!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409027.jpg

You can see the bike here, it is no POS. A Serrotta Ottrott with DA 7800

The bar tape does loook pink in the photo, however I assure you it is red LOL. My wife said the same thing.

great pics, and great finish

An amazing contrast to your gator rides at home. Thank you for sharing the pics. So......who is jealous:love:

Nice work!! I rode almost exactly the same route, but on my motorcycle instead of my bicycle. We took pics from almost the same spots! Glen Haven is just incredible, isn't it? I love living in Fort Collins.

I may ride the Horsetooth / Masonville run this weekend on my bicycle, you've inspired me!




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http://volksdragon.net/GSXR/GSXR 0409 02web.jpg

http://volksdragon.net/GSXR/GSXR 0409 27web.jpg

Yeah looks like you took the exact same route. The ride around Horsetooth alone is a tough ride. Lots of hills there, I'll be back in July and will try Trail Ridge. It was closed when I went but I hear that is really the pinnacle of the hills there.

I was in Colorado this weekend, I did a 75 mile mile ride with my brother-in-law. Of the 75 miles 40 miles were 4000 ft of climbing. We rode from Fort Collins up to Glen Haven. The scenary was incredible and the hills seemed endless. The descents were incredibly fast reaching speeds of nearly 60mph. I got a demo bike from a store in Fort Collins thecycologist.com for $50.00 the manager took my measurements and had the bike fitting perfectly. The ride took about 7 hours, I think it may have been the most physically challenging thing i've done in my life.


http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/jesspalumbo_album/409019.jpg

After climbing about 1000ft we ended up in Thompson river canyon. The road has huge cliffs on both sides that are incredible.



I wonder if that's a natural valley, In the middle of the 20th century, in the central part of Ontario, Canada the M.O.T. built a lot of highways flatter , by simply blasting through rock, giving a similar effect, although in those cases the rock walls tend to be much smoother, but that probably has a lot to do with the type of rock. Typically the shoulders though are gravel, and not suitable for riding on. Nice to see you have nice wide paved shoulders there.