Cycling Colorado and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge - August 2011

We arrived to much cooler temperatures in the Colorado mountains than we were experiencing back in Texas....what a relief! We awakened everyday to low-40‘s and the afternoons reached low to mid-70‘s. We cycled many of our usual routes this year including riding from Frisco to Keystone and up Montezuma Rd, Frisco to Vail Pass Summit passing through Copper Mountain Resort, around Lake Dillon on the Swan Mountain Rec Path, Frisco to Breckenridge, and out the Blue River Trail through Silverthorne. In addition to cycling, we did some of our favorite hikes including St. Mary’s Glacier, Mayflower Gulch, Shrine Ridge Pass, North Ten Mile Trail, and a few others. (Photo to the right is the new Swan Mountain Rec Path)

Jarrett & Crystal and the kids were able to come up for a few days this summer. We took them cycling up to Copper Mountain and back which is 18 miles round-trip. It’s a little tough getting to Copper Mountain but you can come back flying down the trail. The next day, we took them to hike St. Mary’s Glacier which has a lake in the valley and a snow glacier up further. There were even snow boaders coming down the glacier. Christian and Lynne hiked up the mountain a little further than the rest of the gang for some glorious views of the glacier, lake, and surrounding mountains. (Photo to the left is all of us at the start of the St Mary's Glacier Hike and photo to the right is near the top where Lynne and Christian hiked) We also rode the gondola up Keystone Resort, roamed around and ate at the BBQ at the Summit, attended the Concert in the Park in Frisco (the girls won the dance contest), and the kids went to the Peak 8 Fun Park in Breckenridge one evening. There is always something going on in one of the small towns in Summit County that you can always find new things to do.

Something new this year was the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. We were able to make two of the days. The first day for us was Stage 3, the Vail Time Trial. We parked at Vail Pass Summit and rode our bikes down the rec path to the finish line. Reaching the finish line area about 10:30am, we staked our spot out 50 meters from the finish line. The time trial started at 1:00pm and the first rider came through at 1:28pm, then a rider approximately every minute thereafter. The race finished about 3:45pm and we, along with the other 10,000 spectators, proceeded back up the very steep rec path to Vail Pass Summit. This took us about 45 minutes to climb the 5 mile trail back to the car. (Photo to the right is near the finish line at the Vail Time Trial, Stage 3)

Stage 5 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge finished in Breckenridge. Our good friends, Bill and Bobbie, joined us for this one. We rode from Frisco to Breckenridge, parked our bikes, walked through the market/vendor areas, stopped for lunch, and then staked our spot directly on the finish line. While we waited for the cyclist to come through, we were able to watch the race on the big screen TV set up nearby. And what a rush when the lead cyclists crossed the finish line. It was so fast and so powerful....WOW! The crowds were magnificent....over 50,000 in Breckenridge to watch the finish. The announcers kept saying the crowds were reminiscent of the Tour de France. (These last 2 photos are Lynne and Bobbie at the finish line in Breckenridge and one of the racers coming across the finish line) Click the link to the right USA Pro Cycling Challenge 2011 under Links to Cycling Pics for more pics of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado.

We never get tired of the Colorado mountains and we plan to go back again and again. Summit County is such a great place to visit. We highly recommend it.

For more on cycling in Colorado, check out the Blog Archive for 2010 and 2006.

Cycling SW Kentucky and the Horsey Hundred - May 2011

We rejoined some of the friends we made last year at the Ohio River Rendevouz ride hosted by Pat and Jack Deacon for the Tour de Southwest Kentucky. This year the tour was hosted by Gary and Cathy Hamby. About a week before the ride start, we received an email saying to change our reservations. Due to the flooding in the surrounding areas, Gary and Cathy were forced to change our routes. We thought this worked out great because we now had a homebase in Madisonville, KY, and only changed hotels one night.

Our first day was a 45 mile loop around Madisonville. The early morning was misting rain and the temperature cool but the sun came out just before we started riding and the day was beautiful. The ride took us down to Nortonville where we stopped at the Dixie Pan Café for lunch before returning to Madisonville. We passed a lot of Kentucky farm land and the route was moderately hilly.

We started cycling day 2 with leg and arm warmers and vests again. The route today was a very hilly 45 miles and took us from Mortons Gap to Hopkinsville, where we stayed at the Best Western. We passed more farmlands and beautiful scenery. We were told there was 2700 ft of climbing in that 45 miles. However, Kentucky hills are not like they are in Texas. They are long descents and long climbs; you can not roll these hills. In fact, at one point on the ride, Paul stated that he was starting to dread the long downhills. Yes, it meant we would have a long climb coming up.

We made it to Hopkinsville so that meant we just retraced our route for the return trip to Mortons Gap the next day. The return trip, however, didn’t seem as hard on us as the trip down. Someone said it was a couple hundred feet of climbing less than going to Hopkinsville. Maybe that ‘s the reason or maybe our legs were just now getting accustomed to the climbing. Either way, it was a very nice ride.

Day 4, we are back in Madisonville and cycling a loop north of town. The temperature has warmed and we are all shucking our arm warmers and vests before we get 5 miles out. Another beautiful route today and one extremely steep, but short, hill near the end of the ride.

This was a great trip. We had 22 participants, a smaller group than last year, and this allowed us to get to know everyone a little better. We are hoping the Tour de Kentucky continues and are able to join the group again next year. Great people! Great scenery! Great cycling!

After visiting kids and grandkids in Ohio, we returned to Kentucky for the Horsey Hundred ride. This ride started in Georgetown, just 14 miles north of Lexington. Saturday, we opted for the 59 mile route as we had friends working one of the rest stops and another friend that was driving one of the SAG vehicles. As we rode up and down the many hills, we passed beautiful horse farms and saw many new foals. We used every gear we had available to us on our bicycles. Sunday, we rode the 30 mile route as it was going to be hot and our legs were pretty tired from all the hills the day before. Both days, the Bluegrass Cycling Club fed us lunch. There was also a small party in Georgetown on Friday night and a really swinging party Saturday evening in Midway. The Horsey Hundred is one of the best supported rides, not to mention their well-stocked rest stops, we have ever done.
We are hoping to get a group of friends to come to Kentucky with us next year for the Horsey Hundred. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Savannah, GA - March 2011

Since Bike and the Like cancelled their California trip this year, we decided to take a trip to the Savannah area. We contacted the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club and obtained several nice bicycle routes in the area. There's a lot of history in this part of the country and we intend to see as much of it as possible from the seats of our bicycles.

As it turned out, it rained almost every day. We were able to cycle two days and tour the other days by foot, trolley, or car. A few sights we saw (off the bike) were Forsythe Fountain in Savannah’s historic district, the water front area, Beaufort, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island, Wormsloe Historic park, and more. Photo to the left is the fountain in Forsythe Park.

The first day we cycled took us to Jekyll Island, one of only four Georgia barrier islands that feature a paved causeway to access the island by car. The island is 7 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, has 8 miles of wide, flat beaches, and boasts 22 miles of hiking trails. Photo to the right is a portion of the bike trail on Jekyll Island.

We cycle on the bike trail the entire time, along the beach on one side of the island and through the marsh areas on the other side. Near the downtown area, we pass by some of America’s most elite homes that were built in the late 1880’s to early 1900’s. The Rockefellers, Morgans, Pulitzers, and Goulds were a few of the nation’s leading families that came to Jekyll Island to “secure an escape”.

We drove to St. Helena’s Island, one of the sea islands near Beaufort, SC, for our next ride. Here, we cycle the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club’s Gullah Gallop ride. Total distance for this ride is 44 miles, however, the wind was really blowing and we cut it short to only about 35 miles. Neither of us would have had fun riding that last 9 miles straight into the strong wind we had that day. But we did ride to the south end of the island and all the way back to the north end and beach area. This is a very nice ride with little to no traffic. Photo to the left is the north beach on St. Helena's Island

Although we didn’t get to cycle as much as we had planned, we still toured the area and had a great time. Of course, the day we left, the sun was shining and the temperature was expected to hit the low 80’s. There is a lot of history in Savannah and the surrounding area so we highly recommend a trip to the area whether you plan to cycle or just vacation here.