Ring The Peak

This trail has been sitting in my backyard since I moved here and for some reason I was never very motivated to try it.  But I saw Ring The Peak listed on the Colorado Endurance Series website and as the date got closer I was for some reason drawn to it.  So a few days before the start I cleared things with $100, and the night before I decided to give it a go.

Really glad I did it, but holy hell I was not prepared for a ten hour bike ride.

Beautiful loop, but it's definitely a grind on the bike.  Lots of climbing, lots of technical sections.  Very slow going.

Due to some trail closures we had to pedal to Manitou and head up highway 24.  Here I am just about to leave Mantiou for the highway.

I was pretty focused on riding, or at least pushing my bike, the whole time, so not many pictures.  I did stop at the weird but delicious spring water stop in Gillette, just outside of Victor to refill my osprey.

I finally allowed myself a break just after mile 50, when I realized the rest of the ride was downhill.

But shit, that downhill was technical and/or washed out gravel, so even that was hard.

Incredible scenery the entire way.  But I would have been better off, in my current state of fitness, doing this as a two day bikepack trip.  Or a credit card tour with a stay in Cripple Creek.  The last climb, on Gold Camp up and over the backside of Almagre/Baldy, really had me questioning my life choices over the past four decades.  I would have quit but at that point it's just easier to finish than to bail.  But as miserable as I was, now that the fatigue has worn off, I'll probably do this loop again sometime.  Such an awesome ride and I can start and finish at my house.