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Fellow MDA'er Bob Prouhet clued me in to the Air Force Academy's excellent "Outdoor Adventure Program". This weekend's outing was a 27-mile ride from Cripple Creek (in the Colorado high country, one of the biggest gold rush boom towns in the west) down to Cañon City -- an elevation decrease of more than 3,600' (from nearly 9,500' above sea level to about 6,800').
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The Outdoor Rec crew (led by Bill Coble, an excellent guide and triathlete, along with Smitty and Millie -- celebrating their 50th anniversary!) tuned our bikes before loading them onto the roof of the 15-pax van. My Moab
really needed that, with Bill counseling me to avoid any serious air on account of my 10-year-old back rim....
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The scenery was stunning -- as were the precipices on our left.... Cripple Creek ultimately flows into the Arkansas River, then into the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico.
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The bighorn sheep thought we were nuts, since
they knew a spell o' weather was comin' in....
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So we paused regularly on the ride -- but only took shelter in the van when lightning was spotted on two sides of our group.
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Cripple Creek in summer, with wild roses on the bank.
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After reaching Cañon City, we shared a six-pack of Breckenridge Brewing Company's Avalanche Ale. Bob also introduced me to "Geo-Caching" earlier in the ride, with my first discovery in a pile of boulders not far off our trail:
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Next month, I may join Bill and the crew for the Pikes Peak
Descent. 7,000 vertical feet of momentum!
Labels: sport
1 Comments:
Wow!! You can't find beauty like that in Oak Ridge. I hope you make the Pikes Peak trip and take lots of pictures.
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