We left Snowmass on a long downhill...with a short half mile uphill about two miles out. It was 13-17 percent. Lovely...on cold legs too. Ah the life of a bike rider. Most of our group opted to ride an additional 18 mile route up to Maroon Bells. It was a 9 mile climb though aspens and mountain terrain. Stunningly beautiful. The sun on the aspens was something the car traffic just didn't see.
Here's a pic of Maroon Bells. Its one of the most photographed landscapes. It's also drawn by landscape artists.
Here's a full house!
And Maroon Bells again!
Back through Aspen and onto the Rio Grande Bike trail...42 miles of it along Roaring forks all the way to Glenwood Springs. Its slightly downhill most of the way. We will lose 2000 vertical feet over the 42 miles. Just a terrific ride! We stop for lunch and then 5 miles from the end of the ride at Glenwood Springs we are hit with a substantial thunderstorm. I ducked under a new building under construction and missed most of the rain. I missed a turn somewhere too...rode a few extra bonus miles! Glenwood Springs was a lot of fun...we had all purchased Amtrak tickets for the ride back to Boulder but the trains were all delayed because of flooding in the midwest. We ended up taking a shuttle bus back to Boulder. All's well that ends well! Beth and Sandy should quit their day jobs and be tour operators/guides! What a super ride...and with some of the greatest folks anywhere on the planet!
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