Classic Front Range Weekend - Left Turns, Dirt Roads, and Scones

Saturday
After getting my butt kicked by both the competition and my allergies and asthma last weekend in Glenwood, I need a solid weekend of riding to clean my head.  It started Tuesday when Carol (my wife) got her new custom Tiemeyer track bike.  Hmm, I guess we need to go to the Springs on Saturday to check this thing out.  Our friend Ingrid was game to go as well, so we loaded up the sled.  With two custom bikes on top, my bike felt, well sort of ordinary.




It was raining part of the way down, but a quick call to Mike Dancel assured us it was still "ridable". We finally arrived, filled out the appropriate paperwork, and set about getting our left turn on. For those that have ridden at Boulder Indoor Cycling and only BIC, you have to hit the Springs. It is like a whole new sport at 333m in length with concrete surface and 30 degree banking. It was so much fun to be able to open it up and be able to only worry about going fast vs. staying low and going fast. It rained off and on, so the locals all headed home and left only 7 of us, 6 from Boulder (with Dancel the lone local). Of those 6, 4 were on the custom Tiemeyers. Boulderites are everywhere and it is great to see the impact of BIC!


Eventually the rain went away, the track dried and we had a great time riding around and turning left. Mike showed us the line for 200m flying laps and explained a few of the finer points in going fast. Cari Higgins, multi discipline national track champ was there as well, so the pointers were flying left and right. It was great. I was finally able to beat my wife in some time trials, no doubt due to the straight aways, which allowed the use of a pretty big gear (48X14 for the geeks amongst us). Normally I can't beat Carol, so it was fun. However, it was short lived when Cari suggested that well, "Carol can just corner faster, hence she beats you at BIC". Wow, way to bring me down from a high :)

We finally beat ourselves in to a pulp and headed home. We timed it perfect, as soon as we got out of Colorado Springs, it rained most of the way home. Huge thanks to Mike for showing us the ropes and teaching Carol how to change out her rear gear between warmups and hard efforts.



Sunday
After spending Saturday at the velodrome and gaining a whopping 171 feet in elevation throughout the day, I needed to go climb up something. Colby was game after a week at sea level, so we headed up Sugarloaf to Ned, to the Coop, to Ward, and down over Lee Hill, just to make sure the butt kicking was complete.

It was a great day with loads of climbing, a lot of it steep, dirt roads, and a visit to one of my favorite places, the Mountain Peoples Coop in Ned. The scones here are unbelievable. It is worth the climbing just to go get a scone. Nothing fuels you for the trip up to Ward like one of these.

Here are a few pics. I took them with my phone and even attempted some on the bike shots, but alas, I am not quite the master of some of you on here. However, they give you a good idea of the terrain. This is a great ride and I recommend everyone do it. From my house in East Boulder, it was 55 miles with 5500 feet of climbing. There are lots of options to make it harder for those inclined.





Mmm, nothing like post ride left over pizza.