Sunday, September 8, 2013

Pike's Peak or Bust

When the Colorado gold rush started in 1858, prospectors heading west painted 'Pike's Peak or Bust' on their covered wagons. We started the day by riding up the 19 mile paved road to the 14,115' summit of Pike's Peak, riding above the tree line on 'America's Mountain' that was first ascended in 1820.







Starting up the Pike's Peak highway at 8:30am was a good idea, because we had the road to ourselves and Mike could ride as fast as he wanted up and down the twisting hairpins. We stopped on our way down the mountain at mile 10, where Nate was racing in the Pike's Peak Downhill longboard race.



After watching the race, we headed west to Cripple Creek (elevation 9,454'), former gold mining town and current home to several casinos. The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek' song kept running through my head as we rode on sweepers and hairpin turns into the town.





We ended the day back in Colorado Springs, where we were surprised by bright sunshine and 90 degree temperature. It was cloudy and cool high up in the mountains, which seem to have their own weather system.

Tomorrow we start our two-day trip back home to Arizona, heading west across Colorado into Utah. We're hoping to miss the rain and thunderstorms that are in the weather forecast - keep your fingers crossed for us!

1 comment:

  1. Man I have catching up to do. It looks like a great ride through the mountains.

    Nate is adventurous to do the downhill longboard. There aren't any brakes like on the bikes, lol.

    ReplyDelete