Crossing Central Colorado

We left Cripple Creek and travelled west on RT24, climbing the mountains through Wilkerson Pass at 9500 ft. Then we descended to a high plain surrounded by mountains (see photo of Dave), then climbed a small amount and crossed Trout Creek Pass also at 9500 ft, then descended down into Beuna Vista for lunch. We went north on RT24 past the collegial peaks of Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Harvard (all over 14,000 ft)to Leadville, a high mountain town at 10,200 ft. We believe this might be the highest populated area in the US Rockies. We then continued on over Freemount Pass at 11,300 ft to join US-I70 and travelled past the Copper Mtn, Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. Some of the best biking roads touch ski resorts.

Up on Cripple Creek

We loved the nice winding road into Cripple Creek....we just had to go....remember that song??? You'll see Bev perched high above the town. It was a nice looking main street, it was always a gold town and it started the Colorado gold rush; Dave is standing in front of a mine head frame up on the hill. NOW, it is a row of casinos. Well we needed a coffee so we went in one; Bev decided to try out her luck and won $92 with a $5 investment. Sooo, we have fond memories of Cripple Creek.

Manitou Springs

We loved this place and actually spent two nights there. Here are some shots of the town, quite beautifully done. This was home base for Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak. It has a number of very distinct natural springs and in one picture Bev is doing a taste test....it was great, almost like soda water.

Miramount Castle, Manitou Springs

Built between 1865 and 1897, Miramount (AKA "Look at the Mountain") Castle was built with personal funds by Father Jean Baptiste Falcolon for himself and his mother. It has four floors, with all windows facing one side given that it is built into the side of the canyon. It has nine architecture styles, has 46 rooms with just over 14,000 sq.ft. The most memorable for us was the windy steep narrow road to the parking lot....very challenging switchbacks all in incredible heat.

Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs

The Garden of the Gods is another major attraction in the Manitou Springs area. The Garden of the Gods, named by some travelers in the "1800s" who, upon seeing the area, supposedly remarked that it would make a great site for a beer garden - yes one fit for the gods added his friend - hence the name. The red rock formations are really spectacular.

Pikes Peak, Manitou Sprrings (near Colorado Springs)

We got up at 6:00 am and caught the early cog railway train up to the 14,110 foot top of Pikes Peak. The views on the way up especially once we got above the tree line were spectacular. The train climbed at 25% gradient and the front car of the 3, was three stories higher than the last car!! When we got off the train at the top our legs were wobbly and it required a fair amount of exertion to even walk slowly. There is a road to the top and we congratulated some adventurous bikers who had just driven up. They said the road was mostly paved but muddy in some places and they admitted to being very nervous about having to drive down. Because we felt so weak at the top we decided not to try and drive up Mount Evans (near Denver at about 15,000).

The Prairies

We headed west out of Wichita following the US route 400 and 50, the old Santa Fay trail through Dodge City, Garden City and on into Colorado. Western Kansas is relay flat with Big skies - kind of like Saskatchewan. The dominate feature in this part of the US west are feed lots. People in cars may not notice it but on a bike you really get to smell these feedlots - especially when it is 100+ degrees.