The Furnace Creek 508 is happening this weekend. It was where I first qualified for the Race Across America. The leaders should be well into Death Valley and shouldn’t be far from the check point. The race splits are being updated throughout the race. Race pictures are also being uploaded.
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Last Saturday I headed out for my long September ride. I really wished I was in shape to ride up to Cripple Creek since the aspen are turned now. Up to Cripple Creek and back hurts even when I’m in shape.
Instead I did the Ellicott/Hanover loop. It’s a ride I do in the winter since it stays low and is generally warmer. It’s certainly not what I call scenic.
Normally I go down to Fountain, go out to Hanover and then ride up to Ellicott. This time I did it in the opposite direction since possible rain showers were forecast for the afternoon there’s no place to get shelter between Hanover and Ellicott and from Ellicott back into town.
It turned out I only got a few rain drops so rain wasn’t a factor. My choice of direction left me battling a fierce headwind up to 65 mph the whole way down the Peyton highway where there’s absolutely nothing to block it. From that point it would have been better to go my normal direction. Although if I had gone my normal direction, I may have been breathing smoke from a grass fire that broke out around Squirrel Creek when a hay truck caught on fire. I saw the plume of smoke when I looked back at one point but I hadn’t seen anything when I went through that area.
The last part of my ride was to pick my girls up. I rode 7 miles with an empty trailer and 7 miles with them in it. Even with it empty, it’s noticeable that it’s more work. With both of them in it, I think it’s close to 90 lbs so I really feel it.
I felt much better than I did on my long August Ride but was slightly slower even before I picked the girls up. I think it was because of the wind. I was out in the open when I had a headwind and cross wind and was more protected by trees when I did have a tailwind. Once I picked up the trailer, my average speed dropped even more.
Once didn’t get a full 100 miles in but I got in the required 90 miles to count toward the UMCA Year Rounder. I got in 92.2 miles with 27.17 feet of climbing. It took me 7:09 of ride time.
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The last couple of weeks we have had awesome riding weather. It’s been dropping into the 40s at night but the highs during the days have been in the 70s. I got out for a couple good lunch time rides and took the kids in the Burley to a couple activities. Wednesday nights I been riding by Colorado College 4 times when dropping off at Awanas and picking them back up after going home. A couple weeks ago a mountain lion was seen in the area. I’ve kept my eyes open but haven’t seen anything more than a fox. One round trip is after dark but I don’t think it would attach a bike and trailer. Today I just had Danielle with me so we rode some of the BMX jumps. Danielle loves doing them but Cassidy hates even little bumps.
Speaking of big cats, a tourist got some good pictures of 2 mountain lions in Garden of the Gods. They actually weren’t far from my parents house. We never saw any when I was growing up. Something did tear our rabbit cages apart and get a couple rabbits. We always figured it was a coyote. Bears come around every so often. A couple falls ago a mama bear and a cub would come every night to eat plums. One morning my parents woke up to find half the tree broken off. Apparently reaching up into the branches was too much.
Although most of September is usually nice, we generally get at least one cold snap. So far this year we haven’t even had frost. It has been great for what’s left in my garden. I really like tomatoes fresh from the garden but there’s only so many I can eat.
The downside to all the great weather is that it’s been really dry. Friday a fire was started near the Manitou Incline. Fonk has posted a good picture of how close the fire was to the Incline. Even from the north end of town I could see a big plum of smoke. It was pretty windy but there were able to get it contained by Saturday. I believe Barr Trail was re-opened Monday or Tuesday. I did a long ride out east on Saturday. Soon after I passed Squirrel Creek Road on my way to Hanover, I noticed a plume of smoke back where I had come from. They managed to get it under control pretty quickly which was very good because the wind was gusting to 65 mph.
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