Three 50 mile loops up, around and past Ward, Colorado

Last weekend Steve and I met a group of people on the Peak To Peak Hwy to go for a little ride. A little 150 mile ride that had about 16-18,000 feet of climbing. Just a little ride.

Last year I did the "group ride" with Catherine and Steve was able to do one loop, only a few months after his knee surgery.

We all met north of Ward at 6 AM, yes, I can get up early, if I have to. From Ward we rode past the beautiful snow covered mountains, about 25 miles to Lyons.

From Lyons we rode south (mostly up) on Hwy 36 to the turn off of Lefthand Canyon. Once on Lefthand, we headed (up) back to ward.
Lefthand Canyon is so beautiful and you follow the rider for most of the ride up. This year I noticed that the Beaver dams were bigger than ever.

The first loop around was pretty quick and a nice cool temperature. Most of the riders stay together for the first. Most people/riders come to do 1 or 2 loops. Most aren't crazy to do all three. About 4 of us did the entire three loops. It takes all day.

By the second loop we were going pretty slowly. This is the loop I remembered last year as being the hardest loop. It just seems to take forever and it's usually when my knees seem to hurt. And right on schedule, they felt sore this year.

the good thing about going slow is you see more. Like the river depth, the waterfalls, the flowes and all of the other riders.
by about 10:00 or 11:00 Am you see so many cyclists out riding. Today we saw and extra amount as there was a fund raising cycling event hosted by Davis Phinney's foundation for Parkinson's Disease. It was great to see so many people out riding.

By the time loop three rolled around, we were going about the same pace as loop two. Not fast but consistent. we were also about the only riders still out. It's late afternoon and most riders were home drinking coffee, beer, or Chai. We were still riding.

As you get close to ward you begin to notice the things in people's yards.
And you remember why you do things like this. Because we can. And we like it.

We also remember the people that came here before us. The people that didnt't have the time to ride their bikes 150 crazy miles. But people that came here to have better lives and to seek adventure. Hhhhmmmm.