Phone cameras never do the sunset any justice, but it was a beautiful night.
The plan was to get up early and get on the bike, but it was friggin' cold at 6AM. So I sat around a while, drinking coffee and waiting for things to warm up a bit. Around 9AM I began the Gold Belt loop, which travels dirt roads from Canon up to Cripple Creek, through Victor, then back down to Canon via Phantom Canyon.
Most of the hard work is in the first 20 miles, which climbs 4000 feet up Shelf Road to Cripple Creek.
Of course after all that work I felt I deserved a reward. Ralf's was open so I dropped by there for a PBR. Only $2!
From Cripple Creek it's another decent climb to get to Victor.
It's only 7 miles from Ralf's, so I didn't really deserve another reward, but I had one anyways. Victor is pretty much abandoned, but the bar was fancy, especially since the name of the bar is the Blue Collar Speakeasy. And they had a $10 minimum on plastic, so I had to add another brew and some cheese sticks to get to the magic number.
The work is pretty much over at this point. The downhill bomb through Phantom Canyon is a blast, but you do need to pay attention as the road is pretty bumpy in places and it could be easy to lose control of the bike at the speeds you're going.
After completing the loop (it was about 68 miles) I got some bonus training on the technical portions of Oil Well Flats. Fun fun.
Ended up with 72 miles in 7:40. Strava data is over here.
And after all that work, I ended up right back where I started.
2 comments:
Your workout doesn't count.Don't you know that in Colo. all workouts must start between 4 AM to 6 AM,or they are null and void.Should have just slept in and went fishing.
Had I started any earlier the bars wouldn't have been open when I arrived.
Post a Comment