HOW ABOUT A THREAD JUST FOR SHARING INTERESTING RIDES AND PICTURES?
I love seeing other's rides, and I am going to start by sharing a ride my wife and I did today.
We went up a beautiful canyon west of Denver called Waterton Canyon. It is only 6.5 miles up, but it is also the start of
the Colorado Trail which goes for about 471 miles or so clear across the state to Durango.
There is also good quality single track at the top.
The trail goes through several climatic zones, starting with plains and brush, passing through pines and ending up with big cone spruce.
The trail follows the South Platte "River," which continues flowing through Denver out to the east, where it is joined by the North Platte River and a number of other tributaries, going to the Missouri River, the Mississippi River and ending up in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a main source of irrigation and drinking water to many towns along the way.
We have seen three groups of folks attempting the 471 mile hike to Durango. This is a very tough trail, with many days between civilization. One party was a male and female and a burro, one was two couples with backpacks, and the third was two guys from Holland, who flew into Denver International Airport, loaded their bikes into a limousine, drove to the trailhead, got the bikes out, and proceeded on their way (you can't bike the entire trail)!
There are Big Horn Sheep, deer, trout, lots of birds including raptors, rattlesnakes and humans and a tremendous variety of wild flowers. There are 300 foot cliffs with rocks which occasionally come tumbling down onto the service road which doubles as the trail.
Here are three pics of me, Nora and two Bighorn Sheep.