That is a beautiful area with some amazing roads! Pick a road and you can't go wrong. If you get a chance to ride up Eleven Mile Cañon to Wagon Tongue Road to ?? (turn right for a 1/4 mile the left on) CR 100, that is an amazing route and then you can easily wind your way back to 47 (that's where the washboard kicks in). Fantastic views of Pikes Peak. Also, take CR3 north out of Lake George however far you want then head back down (I take a back way to Divide and another back way to Woodland Park and another back way to home). Here's pics from that route earlier this year: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32311885@N07/sets/72157651539458488
With abandon, Patrick On Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at 2:41:04 PM UTC-6, Patrick Moore wrote: > > I just tried my very first and very brief cycling in Deacon Patrick's > landscape, and I have to say that his exploits now appear all the more > impressive after my first cycling venture in the mountains just west of > Florissant, CO. > > > > I dropped my daughter in Colorado Springs on Sunday afternoon for a church > camping trip to somewhere in the Ft Collins area, and drove to the > mountains just west of Florissant where my sister and husband have 16 acres > in the mountains north of Hwy 24, 5 dirt miles north of Country Road 47 > just past Florissant. Their property stands at about 8800 feet. I brought > my Fargo to see how I might manage the very, very steep (by Albuquerque's > rolling standards) mountain dirt roads. > > > > I've been walking their 1/4 mile driveway; the steepest section has me > fearing to slip and fall, so steep is the slope and so loose the granite > rubble surface; while the return, at a very slow pace, requires "stair > stepping" and has me panting. I had doubts about being able to ride the > dirt roads at all. > > > > Just now I coasted the 3.2 miles back to HWY 24 -- Crestone, Shavone, > Pikes Peak, 31, 47; the fine granular granite gravel provides very little > traction, and I spent most of the downhill journey modulating my brakes, > trying not to skid the rear. I then took a bit of a detour to the > crossroads at Florissant proper; and then -- this was a trial, remember -- > girded my metaphorical loins for the 4 miles back to the end of Crestone > Circle. > > > > 29" wheels, 38/24 X 13-14-15-16-17-18-20-23-27, for a low of 25". So steep > did the downhill run seem that, at the terminus, I called my sister and > told her I might be a couple of hours on the return, thinking I'd have to > walk most of the distance -- after all, I am a lowlander from 5K feet. > > > > Well, lo and behold, slow and steady does it, even with a strong headwind > in places, washboard, and a 1" layer of loose surface on the right edge of > the road to catch at the wheels. I plugged away in the 24 X 20, 23, 27, > occasionally dropping into the 24 X 18; seated climbing only, because the > surface gives no traction when you stand. > > > > At any rate, I made it without stopping the entire 4.1 mile return, at 7.8 > mph and 31.5 minutes, until I had to bail at their driveway at the end of > Crestone Circle; which pleasantly surprised me. Just 9 miles total, over > the period of 58 minutes, but giving me confidence to try a longer ride > into Florissant on Thursday, God willing and perhaps a brief one tomorrow > if I have time before picking up my daughter. > > > > Dn. P rides this sort of thing single speed and barefoot. I step back and > gape in amazement and wonder. > > > > > > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
