What a great day for a ride! The heat wave has broken here in Colorado (sorry for those on the East Coast), and the temperature here in Ft. Collins was in the low 60's at 6am, going up to only about 80 today. Not much wind and some high clouds to provide a little shade. Absolutely a perfect day for biking.
Since I'm between jobs for a few weeks, this was the day to tackle a climb I've never done, and frankly, even earlier this year, didn't believe I could do. It's a lightly travelled road north of Ft. Collins called Rist Canyon. The main climb goes from roughly 5000ft to 8000ft over 9 miles, and some parts are very steep.
I got going at 6am this morning, got to the base of the canyon in an hour, and started climbing, and climbing, and climbing. Now, I'm not a very light guy, still tipping the scales at 200lb even after losing about 20lb, so I was certainly not zipping up this hill. But this ride was a challenge I wanted to take on after I started losing weight, and the scenery is lovely. Very rural, even being so close to the city. From the top is a great ride down through more rural scenery in Buckhorn canyon, then a few short climbs to Horsetooth reservoir, and home again. 57 miles and a bike time of 4 1/2 hours.
Here's the basic route:
http://www.coloradocyclingfestival.c...rist_tour.html
I keep intending to bring a camera, but once again I did not.
Nick