Originally Posted by
paul2432
My wife and kids are out of town so I thought it would be a good time for an overnight bike trip. This past Sunday I planned to ride up to Red Feather Lakes northwest of Ft. Collins from my home in Longmont.
I checked the weather report the night before which called for wind but no rain. I did not check it in the morning, which was probably my first mistake.
I headed out about 7:30 AM (actually 7:20, but I forgot my water bottle and had to turn around 5 minutes from home). The first couple of hours went pretty well. I got my first taste of the wind going around Horsetooth reservoir. I don’t really mind wind. To me it is part of cycling. You just go slower. (as an aside, I found it kind of funny the people who would ride by cursing the wind, are they trying to set a new world record for their loop or something?)
North of Horsetooth I was hit with my first sprinkles. They quickly stopped and I decided to keep on. I optimistically ignored the dark clouds in the distance as well. On Rt 287 heading towards Livermore the wind picked up to the point I had to put my foot down to prevent being blown over. It also rained a little harder but again it stopped.
I continued on to Red Feather Lakes road. About 15 miles from the camp site the rain starting coming down steadily, the temperature is dropping and I am now heading straight into a stiff head wind. I’ve been on the road about seven hours and I’m cold and tired. I have two choices, neither of which is all that attractive. I can continue on another couple of hours, possibly have a miserable time in camp and face icy roads in the morning. Or I can turn around and ride another five hours home.
I decided to cut my losses and head home. Fortunately the rain stopped just a couple of miles down the road. I finally made it home after 125 miles and 11.5 hours on the road. I was completely exhausted. The good news is I set a new personal record for distance in one day, and loaded up too.
Moral of the story: Check the weather in the morning and don’t ignore warning signs of bad weather.
Paul
First, the dope slap! How long have you lived in Colorado? Just moved here...like yesterday? Anybody whose been on the ground in this state for longer then 48 hours should know that the weather is volatile. Red Feather Lakes? Really? In April?
You do know that Red Feather Lakes is at 8000 feet and it's still the dead of winter up there
Colorado Rule of Thumb: Don't go camping before Memorial Day.
Colorado Rule of Thumb 2: Expect snow if you go camping Memorial Day.
Colorado Rule of Thumb 3: Expect snow if you go camping on the 4th of July
Colorado Rule of Thumb 4: If it is raining...in April...east of the mountains...not thunderstorming...and you are headed uphill, turn around and go home. It's not going to get better.
Glad you made it home. Wait a month or so. It'll get better
Originally Posted by
Bekologist
that's awful, some states have a no refusal policy for self propelled campers at state parks. the sensible approach, there's always room for a tent at a state park somewhere and people traveling by foot or bike often times will not be able to travel to the next, suitable campground.
What does all that have to do with paul2432's adventure? He didn't make it to the campground (not a Colorado State Park by the way). He was headed in to a spring storm and decided not to spend a very cold night and risk icy roads the next day. Wise choice. The canyon he was traveling up is narrow, twisting and doesn't get much sun this time of year in some areas. Like I said, it's also the dead of winter up there. Many campgrounds here closed because you can't get to them.