Brendan talked me into riding from Golden to the top of Mt Evans today. he has never done a century (100mile bike ride) so he thought this would be a good time to do it! he started in Denver and we met in Golden at the bike shop around 7:30am. it was a great morning and a classic Colorado day with no clouds in the sky! first, we headed up Lookout Mtn on our way to Mt Evans. we climbed steadily up to Evergreen and over Squaw Pass to the lodge at Echo Lake. we put some layers of clothing on and started the final ascent to the top. after riding up hill for 50 miles and 4:45 hours, we finally got to the top! it was beautiful and clear, which is rare at that height, but the wind was very cold!!! we put all of our gear on, took some picts and headed back home! the descent was not too bad, but the wind kept us from going too fast. we got to the lodge again at Echo Lake, and had a hearty lunch. all that was left was a 30 mile decent down to Golden. it was nice to be back at lower altitude where it was warmer. in the end, what took us almost 5 hours to climb, we flew down in 2 hours! 😉
it was a great time riding with Brendan cause there wasn’t the usual ‘fast racer pressure’ as with the other road rides i have done. and once we got back to golden, Brendan still had to ride back to his home in Denver, so he ended up logging in over 125 miles!!! congrats Brendan for setting a goal and making it happen!!
as always, a picture speaks a thousand words. here is a link to a website of more photos from todays ride.
there has been a lot going on lately with friends and family becoming ill or passing away.
this day was to remind me that life is very precious! do what you love and make the most of it!
love and peace. jesse
Stats:
Dist = 97miles
Time Riding = 6:49 hours
Elev Gain = 12,504 feet
Calories Burned = 5400Cal
Max Speed = 47.5 mph
GPS = http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5936113
Posted by swiftjesse 
Peak Cycles - BikeParts.com Blog 
