Roads and Paths, Denver and Environs

[Kathi]

Correction, meeting place is BoJo's in Idaho Springs.

[Kathi]

If you've not ridden this ride you really should come. It's a favorite, beautiful scenery and if you drive I-70 you've looked at much of the route without realizing it.

[Artista]

Temporary hijack: Kathy, I heard that lots of homes near Bear Creek were flooded in Wednesday night's storm. Hope yours wasn't one of them.

Back to the topic: What's the group's average speed on this ride? The mountain bike trails might still be too muddy to ride this weekend so I may do a road ride. This one sounds intriguing but I'm kinda slow - average 13-14mph on flats and sometimes down to 4mph on hills that Chat thinks were no steeper than 3%

[chatnoire]

(I was down to 4.5 on that big one myself!)

[Kathi]

We were fine, we're up on the hill above the Bear Creek. It was a little scary as I've never heard the emergency sirens going off in the almost 8 years I've lived here.

The group speed will vary depending on who shows up. Riders tend to fall into 2 groups. Some of the riders ride all year round so they will take off. One woman said she is coming but she will be slow, whatever that means. I ski in the winter and I'm still building my base so I will be slower. My average speed on the flats is around 13 (hard to tell with all the wind I've been riding in) and on my climb up Garrison its around 5 mph depending on how tired I am. I also have asthma so I will warm up more slowly and since I'm training for a tour my focus is time on the bike rather than speed. You may outride me. I will ride my pace and not worry about keeping up with the other riders.

Once you're out of Idaho Springs there are no turns so you can't get lost.
We tend to look out for newbies and slower riders, especially anyone unfamiliar with the route. Some will turn around at Georgetown. I want to try the new trail up to Loveland ski area.

This nice thing about a group ride like this is you will be familiar enough you can do it on your own the next time.

[chatnoire]

Sounds like a great time. We'll both be there, possibly with a couple other friends as well.

[Artista]

We were planning on mtn biking all weekend but this ride sounds awesome. I'm especially tempted since it sounds like I could mostly hang with at least a few other riders. (I'd probably still lag behind on the hills but I wouldn't mind if no one else minds.) I'll talk with hubby and maybe we'll join you guys.

Thanks for posting about this Kathi. And glad to hear that your house wasn't in the flood area.