I have been after the wife for an overnight bike ride for a while. I figured if the destination was a B&B and not some primitive campground she might go for it. So when she asked how I wanted to celebrate the big day I threw it out there. She was more than willing and handled most of the details.

Start: Denver/Littleton Colorado
Destination: Monument Colorado

This is how it played out....
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The Bikes: Her road bike and my rigid mountain "touring" bike

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Much needed lunch stop. It was hot and we needed food and cold water
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Our route started on Highway85 (Santa Fe) out of Denver. This road sucks but there was no way around it unless we wanted to drive. I really wanted to do door to door so we sucked it up. After 14 miles or so we turned onto Hwy105, which was pure heaven even though it is only two lanes with little to no shoulder. Mostly local traffic and motorcycles. 99% of them were extremely courteous.

Hwy105
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Temps were pretty hot. Forecasted highs for Saturday were mid 90s and Sunday was supposed to hit 99. Nice thing about Hwy105 is the lack of traffic. The bad thing is no gas stations or stores to get water. At one of our shade stops we decided to do a water check. My two bottles were almost empty and her camelback and bottle were in the same state. We needed water and were miles from the next town. Most of the houses/farms/ranches had no trespassing signs up and I didn't want to get shot trying to get water. I road up a little ways and found the Emily Griffith School for Children. After a pretty serious climb up a dirt road I found a building and two guys who seemed apprehensive about letting me get water. I wasn't taking no for an answer and they soon warmed up to me.

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Restocked with COLD water we got back on route. All afternoon it threatened but we never got rained on. At this point we were hoping we would or at least for some cloud cover

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Of course in addition to the heat we had a vicious headwind to contend with all day
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We found sweet relief in Palmer Lake in the form of ice cream.
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The road goes on forever and the party never ends....
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Way past the top of this.....
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was this...
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We had not realized that once we reached Monument it was another 4 mile climb up to the B&B. We had planned to hit a local restaurant for dinner but the closest ones were 5 miles away at the base of the climb. Luckily our proprietors offered to give us a ride when we asked about restaurants that deliver.

Food was devoured on the back deck and beer was consumed in the hot tub. We could not have asked for a better destination.

Breakfast was served a little late for our needs but we stuck around anyway and suffered the heat on the way home. Mostly "downhill" on the way home but several steep climbs to contend with.

(post only allows for so many images so the end is below)

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Almost home
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Profile
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Lessons learned:
*26X1.5 slick tires are no match for 700Xanything

*Mountain handle bar only allows for one hand position and it sucks after a while

*My wife is a badass

Sorry for the over abundance of words and pics but they are all needed to tell the story. Feel free to skip over either.

Great pics. I'm usually up north on the Front Range. I like the one with the tractors.

Sorry for the over abundance of words and pics but they are all needed to tell the story. Feel free to skip over either.

are you kidding?
great post!

Thanks guys. It was a terrific ride and I am glad you liked the TR.

Very nice shots. Looks like a nice time. I definitely agree about the tires and the handlebar positions.....

Beautiful pics man!

Great post.

Really nice pics. Rich in detail.

Nice pics. Did you have a change of clothes in your bag? It doesn't look all that big. Just curious if you had room for clothes and shoes.

Also, is that a burn-mark on the tree outside the B&B?

Sorry for the over abundance of words and pics but they are all needed to tell the story. Feel free to skip over either.
Great. After reading through all of that NOW you tell me? :wink:

Srsly, the more pics and words the better. This was a great post. Colorado has such a unique look, and it is almost always beautiful. I've only been through there once. Definitely need to go back.

Nice pics. Did you have a change of clothes in your bag? It doesn't look all that big. Just curious if you had room for clothes and shoes.

Also, is that a burn-mark on the tree outside the B&B?
We each had a pair of pants, shirt, and swimsuit in the bag. It was a tight fit but worked out well. My sandals are strapped to the top and hers are in her camelback. Looking back we decided we should have taken shorts instead.

I think those are just shadows on the trees as I don't recall any recent burn evidence.

Great. After reading through all of that NOW you tell me? :wink:

Srsly, the more pics and words the better. This was a great post. Colorado has such a unique look, and it is almost always beautiful. I've only been through there once. Definitely need to go back.
Thanks for the reply. Colorado is very unique and it was cool to pass through different "ecosystems". While this time of year it is very dry and "brown" it is still very intense.

My wife and I have done some limited door to door touring here in western North Carolina. Our favorite ride is from home to Hot Springs, NC & back. 50 + - miles ( depending on route) with some climbs and with low traffic for much of the trip. We both have to use a trunk pack to carry clothes, I am 6'4" size 14 shoes, so my stuff takes up way to much space to be able to share my pack with her.:)

Great post. Looks like a good ride.

Very nice ride and report! Great photos - the one with the tractors looks like it could be a poster.

Thanks for the reply. Colorado is very unique and it was cool to pass through different "ecosystems". While this time of year it is very dry and "brown" it is still very intense.
Colorado is pretty dry and brown all year long except for the white parts in the winter and the green irrigated parts in the summer.

Awesome report. Those bikes look good together even if one is the fat (tire) spouse of the other :). Also, I like your wife even more since she puts her camera where I mount mine for the photo reports. I was just in your neck of the woods on an investigation. I'm not allowed to bring my bike (the gov says no fun on serious work :() so I only got to drive around an admire the beauty of the place. The T-storms looked the same that day. It was great.

greta post