1st Epic ride of season

Yes, it's still ski season here, but the riding is getting really good
close by. So.. I played hookey from work, I'm the boss so it wasnt hard,
and drove a couple of hours towards the desert, west from here. I hooked
up with a buddy who was on his mountain bike, more exercise for him. We
rode the Rim Rock Drive, which there is no other in Colorado like it. It
was part of Red Zinger bike race, which became the Coors Classic, and
the route appears in "American Flyer". I have spent time hiking in up
there and have always wanted to Coker it. It has been nicknamed "Tour of
the Moon" because of the sandstone cliffs and formations along the
route. It has earthened tunnels, insane dropoffs and many narrow
sections. The climbing was awesome, my heartrate was maxed out for quite
some time. The weather was excellent for riding, around 15 degrees C.
Colorado blue skies with a few afternoon cumulus clouds to cool things
off. This is a ride you don't do in the summer, it can be 35+C. We rode
about 6km in some rolling hills until we hit the Monument entrance. From
there the climbing began in earnest. Half a dozen switchbacks into the
ride I came across the first tunnel. I kept my sunglasses on and it was
riding blind at that point, a strange floating feeling until I came out
the other side. We rode midweek so the traffic would be minimal, and it
was. The warm color of the sandstone and the rock walls immersed in the
blue sky was very appealing as I climbed and climbed. I reached the high
point of the climb and shouted with glee. This was the first big climb
of the season for me, and I had survived. I waited on top for my friend,
and we rode across the top of the monument talking about how good life
can be. That and how lucky we were to be riding in such a beautiful
spot.
We took a couple of breaks for pictures, as the scenery was outstanding.
On the way down to the west entrance the drop offs are crazy, 300 meters
to the valley floor and the road is barely 1 1/2 lanes wide. The corners
become tight again and more tunnels are ridden through. We cruize our
way down the switchbacks to the Grand Valley, where the Colorado river
runs through it. A short 7 mile section is ridden back to where we
parked our car. The ride was excellent, long sustained climbs with good
elevation gain. Hardly any car traffic and perfect weather made for my
first EPIC ride of the season. Yahoooo
Some stats:

Distance : 62 kilometers
Total time: 4hr 30min
Riding time: 3hr 20min
Average Speed 16.7 km/hr 10.4 mph
Fastest Speed : 26.4 km/hr 16.4 mph
Total Elevation gained : 2100 meters
Average Heart Rate : 148 bpm


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aspenmike - unicycling albino
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Sorry I hit Post before I was done.

Max Heart Rate : 182 bpm
Highest Elevation : 2023 above sea level
Average temperature : 19 C

Coker : GB4 36er
170mm Kooka cranks
UTurn Wheel
NO BRAKES

http://tinyurl.com/4643a

Thanks for reading!


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aspenmike - unicycling albino
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Mike, that looks awesome! Gorgeous photos and a 2100m climb in March is
impressive. Keep it up - you can't have too many epic rides, that's for
sure.

---Nathan


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nathan - BIG rides: Muni & Coker
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Picture #3 is the one...

Nice ride Mike...I hope one day I get to ride this one. I think my
retirement gift to myself will be three months of riding in Colorado.


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tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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wow


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mikepenton - sometimes level
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tomblackwood wrote:
[b]Picture #3 is the one...

Tom, I think this is the one....I could only look over the edge for a
second or two at a time, vertigo would take over otherwise.



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aspenmike - unicycling albino
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I use to have vertigo but it like whent away. i think I overcame it
when i started rock climbing


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brockfisher05 - TEAM YAMS LEADER

THE YAM FATHER


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Lets see, that translates to 38 miles with over 6800 ft of elevation
gain (for us stuck on the imperial system).

Mike, you are an animal!!


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mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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That looks like such an amazing place to ride. Heck, almost anything in
the Rockies would be an amazing place to ride.

I'm going to have to give some serious thought to planning a Coker ride
over there in the days before the 2006 Moab Muni Fest. Maybe even ride
the Rim Rock Drive. I might as well take advantage of being in the area
for Moab. It's not going to happen this year. I'll have to work to
make it happen next year.


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john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
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john_childs wrote:
*That looks like such an amazing place to ride. Heck, almost anything
in the Rockies would be an amazing place to ride.

I'm going to have to give some serious thought to planning a Coker
ride over there in the days before the 2006 Moab Muni Fest. Maybe
even ride the Rim Rock Drive. I might as well take advantage of being
in the area for Moab. It's not going to happen this year. I'll have
to work to make it happen next year. *


John, This ride is only 1 1/2 hrs from Moab, so it's close. This ride
is just like being in southeast Utah. There is a sweet Coker ride just
outside of Moab as well, which I still have to do someday. Maybe next
year with you. Cheers.


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aspenmike - unicycling albino
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