Red Eye Patrol: 6:AM, Tue 7-27
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I'm up for it, but there's a chance I won't have my bike fixed tonight. It's just a broken spoke, but I may not have enough time after work to deal with it. I'll give my chances 80% that I can make it.
How about Dakota Ridge? The last time I rode it I had a brake pad disintegrate about 20 minutes into the ride. I'd like to ride it again, this time with brakes...
How about Dakota Ridge? The last time I rode it I had a brake pad disintegrate about 20 minutes into the ride. I'd like to ride it again, this time with brakes...
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Well it is now Chimney Gulch to Apex. Meet at the lower parking lot at Apex and take bike path to Chimney and then back down Enchanted Forest. Same time -- 6:15. Sorry for the change but Anthony needs to be at work early and wants to deal with the known time of Chimney Gulch. We should decide on a regular morning ride schedule and just stick to it. Maybe White Ranch, Chimney /Apex, Mt. Falcon on rotating Tuesdays.
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How was it? I would've met you guys there, but was already supposed to meet folks at 6:AM at Dakota. Too bad NONE of them showed up. (WTF?) I had a kick-ass ride on Dakota/MW anyway.jasonb said:
If you guys decide on a regular morning thing I'm interested in hearing about it. I've been on a regular morning schedule for most of the summer: Tues/Thurs 6:AM and my usual rides are Deer Creek, Falcon, Dakota Ridge, Apex in no particular order. Since I'm a south sider, White Ranch is out of range for me, except for on weekends or evenings. I'll move to a later morning time when the sun isn't coming up till later.
Hope to ride with you guys sometime. Lemme know,
Ed
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We had a good ride this AM -- four showed: Singlespeedster, Snowskils, J from PA, and me. Weather was perfect and other than a couple of mechanicals all went well. I am down for a regular tuesday ride and would occasionally hook up with a thurs morn crew if there was a regular schedule.
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What time are you guys finishing up?jasonb said:
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Today took a bit longer today since we had a rider who arrived in CO the night before, but usually wrap things up a bit before 8 AM with a 6:30 start time. You think you could make a Tuesdays work if we played with the times to accomdate? Would be cool to have you along.kitchenware said:
jason
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Exactly. I moved this stuff to it's own post...Edderd said:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=38327
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Dakota Ridge/MW Ride Report
We hadn't decided which parking lot to meet in, (or which ride for that matter) so as I arrived I decided to park in the lower Mathews/Winter lot since it has a bathroom. There was no sign of the red "Ferarri" wagon, so I had plenty of time to rig up.
After pinching one off (then I knew it was going to be a good ride!) I rode up to the upper lot at the base of the hogback and rode circles for a bit waiting. No red Ferarri. From the first part of the hogback you can see both lots so after a while I just headed up.
The temperature was perfect, and there was no wind. After 5 or 10 minutes of climbing I was already at the top of the ridge, watching the sunrise over Denver.(Sweet!) I rode slowly along the ridge for a bit and appreciated the golden morning light shining on the Red Rocks formations and a long stretch of the front range on either side. I thought I was all alone until I noticed a guy sleeping in a sleeping bag right on top of the ridge! I looked down at the parking lots far below and saw only my car...No red Ferarri, no Subaru, no silver Integra with black ventana!
Rweddy1 flaked!! The other guys? Who knows with all the "let's ride here...no here..no..."
Dakota Ridge is in my opinion one of the most technically challenging rides in the Front Range. For those who haven't ridden it, although it is short and has no long climbs or downhills, it has a lot of very tricky terrain. Without getting "all geological", the ridge is at the top of a fold in the earth's crust so it's all radically jagged rocky climbs and descents. There is one section that starts with a series of water bar ramps and then turns into the radical jagged stuff. I made it past the first set of ramps. Then my rear tire spun out just before my chest nearly exploded on the second set. If you can climb the whole way up to where it levels off, you are badass.
I managed to clean everything other than the water bar ramp section, though in some cases it took a few tries. No endoes and no having to ride out steep rocky sections in sheer terror due to failed brakes (like last time), though I did crash one time resulting in a nasty charlie horse on my thigh.
The Mathews/Winters side starts out with the usual quiet meadow. The wild flowers (without getting "all naturalist") are doing well with all the rain we've been getting lately. The climb heads into a box canyon and gets steeper till it ends at a steep climb up the Red Rocks, out of the canyon and into the open. (cleaned it!) The last section is a fast rolling rocky blast back to the parking lot. Be sure to catch air on the whoop de doos.
Another great morning ride.
Life's short. Ride hard. See you Thursday.
Traffic note: I left just before 8:AM and traffic was a bit heavy on C470. No nasty bottleneck at the I25/C470 entrance/exit though. I was at work by 8:25.
We hadn't decided which parking lot to meet in, (or which ride for that matter) so as I arrived I decided to park in the lower Mathews/Winter lot since it has a bathroom. There was no sign of the red "Ferarri" wagon, so I had plenty of time to rig up.
After pinching one off (then I knew it was going to be a good ride!) I rode up to the upper lot at the base of the hogback and rode circles for a bit waiting. No red Ferarri. From the first part of the hogback you can see both lots so after a while I just headed up.
The temperature was perfect, and there was no wind. After 5 or 10 minutes of climbing I was already at the top of the ridge, watching the sunrise over Denver.(Sweet!) I rode slowly along the ridge for a bit and appreciated the golden morning light shining on the Red Rocks formations and a long stretch of the front range on either side. I thought I was all alone until I noticed a guy sleeping in a sleeping bag right on top of the ridge! I looked down at the parking lots far below and saw only my car...No red Ferarri, no Subaru, no silver Integra with black ventana!
Rweddy1 flaked!! The other guys? Who knows with all the "let's ride here...no here..no..."
Dakota Ridge is in my opinion one of the most technically challenging rides in the Front Range. For those who haven't ridden it, although it is short and has no long climbs or downhills, it has a lot of very tricky terrain. Without getting "all geological", the ridge is at the top of a fold in the earth's crust so it's all radically jagged rocky climbs and descents. There is one section that starts with a series of water bar ramps and then turns into the radical jagged stuff. I made it past the first set of ramps. Then my rear tire spun out just before my chest nearly exploded on the second set. If you can climb the whole way up to where it levels off, you are badass.
I managed to clean everything other than the water bar ramp section, though in some cases it took a few tries. No endoes and no having to ride out steep rocky sections in sheer terror due to failed brakes (like last time), though I did crash one time resulting in a nasty charlie horse on my thigh.
The Mathews/Winters side starts out with the usual quiet meadow. The wild flowers (without getting "all naturalist") are doing well with all the rain we've been getting lately. The climb heads into a box canyon and gets steeper till it ends at a steep climb up the Red Rocks, out of the canyon and into the open. (cleaned it!) The last section is a fast rolling rocky blast back to the parking lot. Be sure to catch air on the whoop de doos.
Another great morning ride.
Life's short. Ride hard. See you Thursday.
Traffic note: I left just before 8:AM and traffic was a bit heavy on C470. No nasty bottleneck at the I25/C470 entrance/exit though. I was at work by 8:25.
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I may have been a bit harsh on ya Rweddy...
Though I'm used to a high flake factor on these rides, I felt compelled to haze you a bit in the ride report for missing the Tuesday morning ride. Glad it turned out to be a minor thing.
Check it out here:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?postid=300650#poststop
Ed
Though I'm used to a high flake factor on these rides, I felt compelled to haze you a bit in the ride report for missing the Tuesday morning ride. Glad it turned out to be a minor thing.
Check it out here:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?postid=300650#poststop
Ed
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