old man winter's starting to loosen up his grip a bit and i was able to ride today. it was still cold as all hell but at least it was above freezing. to keep the neurons fresh i did the lookout mountain/mount vernon loop in reverse; furthermore, since i'm not getting a ton of pre-season miles in, the miles i'll get in'll be climbing miles.
at the top of the climb i take this picture of our beautiful state, along one of the prettiest interstate highways...
it's safer to ascend lookout mountain than to descend. holy shmokes, you'd think i'd know better since i live above 7500' that north facing switchbacks--especially in february--can be hairy due to shady, ice patches. i swear i thought i was going to biff it at speed at this one particular icy patch. i didn't hit the brakes in the hopes my traction would hold out. i figured if i would fall, i'd just slide on the ice until a guard rail or the large rocks would prevent me from going over the cliff. neither happened and i was able to ride out the switchback (albeit soiling my chamois). it's deceiving with all this sun shining that 100% of the road will be ice-free. it truly never is ice-free until late march or april out in golden (even then the record breaking snowfalls are mostly in march).
took a cool pic of a hillbilly who lost control of his f-150 pickem up truck when he couldn't negotiate a switchback. a state trooper up top's looking at his driving masterpiece...
after i descend-and i am FREEZING-i decide to climb up to the red rocks amphitheater to heat up a bit...
notice the angle of the auditorium seating using the rocks as your reference
3 comments:
You wife won't let you out again if she reads this. Ride safe!
always! how's recuperating going?
Slooooooooooow! Sigh!
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