Today Ken Malone (RedBird on the Forum) and I got together and had a great "Nice Ride." Ken has been in Kansas City helping his friend Jeannie get moved from her long-time home to her new and much smaller condominium. He also moved out of the mountains west of Lyons to the town of Berthoud, south of Loveland. So, when he's in Colorado, it's easier for us to get together. We met today at a Culver's restaurant about 10 miles from each of our homes. After eating a salad and catching up, we rode west out of Loveland, turned north to the little crossroads at Masonville. Then we went east to the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir, nestled between two ridges several hundred feet above Fort Collins. After turning east in Bellevue, we went north from LaPorte to CO-14 and followed it through the twisties of the Cache La Poudre River Canyon. West of Mishiwaka, a kind of hippy-dippy bar and concert site, we turned south on Stove Prairie Road. Stove Prairie Road is very twisty. The speed limit is 25mph and a lot of corners are 1st gear affairs, especially after the snow a couple of weeks ago. There was sand still on the road and it was important to ride where the sand was not.
Back in the day, when I lived in Loveland and before I started riding a motorcycle, I had ridden these roads on a bicycle. I thought I had ridden the stretch between the intersection of Stove Prairie Road and Masonville on a bicycle, but I was wrong. It was unpaved back then, but has been paved in the years between '95 and '19. It was slightly faster than Stove Prairie Road, but still very twisty and running through some spectacular red rock canyons and along between two big foothill ridges. We saw lots of deer, all at a decent distance from the road, and just as we got back to the edge of Loveland we saw a huge herd of elk -- I'd guess about 150 -- within a half mile of the city limits. Loveland has about 70-80,000 residents now. I'll be curious to see if the elk move into town like they have Estes Park, 30 miles further west and at 7500' feet in the mountains and on the very edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
My last two rides before this were 168 and 160 miles. Today's ride was only 90 miles, but the intensity of riding such tightly twisted roads with occasional sand added as a little extra-plus attraction has worn me plumb out.
I forgot the camera today, so no pictures. :-(
Our weather is scheduled to change tomorrow with some snow and ice tomorrow night and Thursday morning (when I'm scheduled for my cataract surgery!). Saturday should be warm but since it will only have been two days since I've had my eyes whacked on, I'm guessing I wont ride. From then on, for the next two weeks, it's going to be cold -- colder than I enjoy riding unless it's part of a long-distance ride that has a purpose more compelling than just goin out for a ride.
spotwalla.com
Back in the day, when I lived in Loveland and before I started riding a motorcycle, I had ridden these roads on a bicycle. I thought I had ridden the stretch between the intersection of Stove Prairie Road and Masonville on a bicycle, but I was wrong. It was unpaved back then, but has been paved in the years between '95 and '19. It was slightly faster than Stove Prairie Road, but still very twisty and running through some spectacular red rock canyons and along between two big foothill ridges. We saw lots of deer, all at a decent distance from the road, and just as we got back to the edge of Loveland we saw a huge herd of elk -- I'd guess about 150 -- within a half mile of the city limits. Loveland has about 70-80,000 residents now. I'll be curious to see if the elk move into town like they have Estes Park, 30 miles further west and at 7500' feet in the mountains and on the very edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
My last two rides before this were 168 and 160 miles. Today's ride was only 90 miles, but the intensity of riding such tightly twisted roads with occasional sand added as a little extra-plus attraction has worn me plumb out.
I forgot the camera today, so no pictures. :-(
Our weather is scheduled to change tomorrow with some snow and ice tomorrow night and Thursday morning (when I'm scheduled for my cataract surgery!). Saturday should be warm but since it will only have been two days since I've had my eyes whacked on, I'm guessing I wont ride. From then on, for the next two weeks, it's going to be cold -- colder than I enjoy riding unless it's part of a long-distance ride that has a purpose more compelling than just goin out for a ride.
Last Fall Ride?
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