I joined a new group to me thanks to a suggestion from someone here.

On Weds. evening they do what they call hill repeats. It is a hill with around 6% grade & for 45 minutes you go up & down as many times as you can. I can't believe it but I survived & decided to go on there ride today.

They planned a trip to Estes Park & back (70 miles) and it started out with sunshine & a slight wind. By the time we hit the canyon the wind really picked up & once we got into the narrows it started to snow. One of the girls & I were riding together & had talked about going back down because of the snow & wind. It was really cold maybe top 30's or very low 40's.

While we were talking we rounded a corner & the sun came out & the weather got better. At Drake we turned right & headed towards Glen Haven.

Now on the other side of Glen Haven there are two switch backs that are a climb, in fact the start is 18% grade & then the switch backs range from 12-16%.

Even with the snow & wind we made it with not problem and we descended the last 5 miles into Estes. We ate at Subway, rested & then decided to head back. By this time it was snowing like crazy & the temps must have dropped because it was cold. I bet the tourist thought we were all crazy riding our bikes in the snow.

The trip down was a lot faster but even though we were going down hill because of the wind we had to pedal.

Had a good time & met some new members so it was a good day.

One person took some pictures of the elk, Long horn sheep but I didn't take my camera.

Estes Park is about my favorite place on the planet. Have been there 3 times. Cannot imagine being able to ride a bike up that canyon, much less into wind & snow. My hat is off to you.

Except for the snow, cold and wind it sounds like a great ride. Well done!

Sounds like a very tough ride. Good job. I think you meant Bighorn Sheep though.

I sure did, sorry about that. You see a lot of elk but you don't get to see the Bighorn as often. Here is a picture one of the riders took, as you can see they were close.

After fixing breakfast for the W met up with the Hypoxia group & did a recovery ride. It was going to be 17-20 miles & ended up being 35 miles.

I can't believe the difference in weather, today it was sunny, warm, no snow, little wind. Had a good time getting to ride at a slower pace without as many hills, or at least not as steep of hills.

My family's best vacation was in Estes Park several years ago. The altitude makes walking tough, let alone biking. You, sir, are a master.

Estes Park is a very nice place indeed. Just a few feet higher than my home here in Laramie, but world of difference - trees actually grow there on their own.