Back to Back Lookout Mountain Loops

With spring here, weather getting warming and Scapin, my beloved Italian steel road bike, freshly tuned, I have caught the cycling bug, as I seem to do each time this year.  I am lucky enough to live close to Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado, so I generally do my regular loop up the mountain and down the I-70 frontage road.

Scapin with the green, spring foothills behind

On my first ride up the mountain, I got walked by the single speed mountain bike.   Oh, the shame.  I am in moderate shape and currently doing 30 minute climbs (from the towers to the Buffalo Bill's Grave sign) and this guy went past me like I was standing still.  I knew at that time that I had no choice but to a second lap to redeem myself.

I can't put my finger on what the elevation grade 

looks like, but I can't stop staring at them.

The second climb felt better, as I had the opportunity to pass some folks on the climb, including the infamous "gear head". A gear head is a person that owns the most expensive, cutting edge equipment yet rides at a pace that warrants training wheels.

See the entire ride here:

View Back to Back Lookout Mountain Loop in a larger map

On my second lap descent, I was hit with a spring squall, complete with wind, rain and even hail.  Tired and welted, I returned home ready to ride another day.

Nine mile trail ride with Kees

Kees, my seven year old son, and I have been riding the trails for a couple of years, and he is ready to lay down some miles.  So on this afternoon, when he had an early release from school and I had a free afternoon, we geared up for a afternoon ride.

Kees riding the trails as spring storms approach in the distance.

I gave him my old Camelback backpack and water bladder, loaded up with snacks and gear and headed up to South Table Mountain.   He shocked me with this strength and endurance, as we rode over 9 miles together.  The ride was actually cut short as the storms that were once over Denver had made it west and were overhead and we sped home.  Winds, rain and hail chased into the house, but it was  longest, most impressive ride I had with the young man.

See the complete ride here:

View South Table ride in a larger map