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Independence Pass May 2006 - Jack had the brilliant idea to bike Independence Pass on the weekend before their scheduled opening to motorized traffic, Memorial Day weekend. Actually Jack got the idea from our mutual friend Scott who has ridden the pass on this weekend a number of times..
The weekend didn't start out so well for me. I crashed on my mountain bike at the very beginning of the Walker Ranch loop on Friday after work. Cher drove me home and bandaged up the gash on the outisde of my right knee after I showered off all the dirt. At first she thought stitches were in order but decided a couple butterfly bandages would probably do the trick. It's 5 days later, and the gash seems to be healing pretty well. The thing that concerned me, however, was the bruise on the inside of my right knee where my knee must have hit the bicycle. I iced it a lot on Friday night, but by the time I went to bed my knee was very swollen and I couldn't bend my leg. I had already phoned Jack telling him I probably wouldn't make it to Independence Pass. Jack was stopping by in the morning to pick up a pannier so I had a chance to change my mind..
I got up at 6AM and to my amazement I could bend my knee without pain. I rode my bike up and down the block a few times and decided everything felt good enough to ride the pass. We got a later start than planned because I didn't have anything packed, and then we stopped in Georgetown for breakfast..
By the time we arrived at the winter closure on the Twin Lakes side it was raining at the parking lot and looking grim toward the pass. We started riding anyway. A couple groups of cyclists stopped to warn us about the cold, snow, sleet, and hail that we'd encounter higher up. Jack assured them that we had plenty of clothes, and I told them it'd be sunny up there by the time we arrived..
The climb on the Twin Lakes side is short: 7 miles and 1500' feet. In a little over an hour including at least 3 stops to change clothes we were on the sunny, warm pass. Ha, ha. An early start didn't work this day in Colorado. The Aspen side is a bit longer: 19 miles and 4000' feet. We enjoyed the descent..
In Aspen we stopped at the Ute to convince Megan to join us for the pedal up to the Maroon Bells. She insisted she had to work a bit longer but did agree to join us for lunch. We ate outside, and Megan was stunned to see how warm it was. The morning had been cold and wet in Aspen. After lunch Megan stopped by work only long enough for her to grab her stuff. Yeah! Biking's better than the office..
Jack and I were surprised to learn that the Maroon Bells road was also still closed to cars. What an unexpected bonus! The ride is beautiful, and we had a bit of sun on the Bells for the ride up. We spent some time enjoying the view as a big thunderstorm rolled toward us. On the descent walls of rain overtook us. It was an unbelievable amount of rain. Have I ever ridden in such a thunderstorm before? We were soaked and cold and happy to have hot showers at Megan's place..
The following day the 3 of us rode up Independence Pass. We said goodbye there. It took Jack and me 18 minutes to reach the car. Megan enjoyed the long cruise back to Aspen.

Tags:   Jack id_node_id_54342 id_perms_bryan_public id_album_54361

© All Rights Reserved

This photo appeared in the following ideotrope albums:

Independence Pass May 2006 - Jack had the brilliant idea to bike Independence Pass on the weekend before their scheduled opening to motorized traffic, Memorial Day weekend. Actually Jack got the idea from our mutual friend Scott who has ridden the pass on this weekend a number of times..
The weekend didn't start out so well for me. I crashed on my mountain bike at the very beginning of the Walker Ranch loop on Friday after work. Cher drove me home and bandaged up the gash on the outisde of my right knee after I showered off all the dirt. At first she thought stitches were in order but decided a couple butterfly bandages would probably do the trick. It's 5 days later, and the gash seems to be healing pretty well. The thing that concerned me, however, was the bruise on the inside of my right knee where my knee must have hit the bicycle. I iced it a lot on Friday night, but by the time I went to bed my knee was very swollen and I couldn't bend my leg. I had already phoned Jack telling him I probably wouldn't make it to Independence Pass. Jack was stopping by in the morning to pick up a pannier so I had a chance to change my mind..
I got up at 6AM and to my amazement I could bend my knee without pain. I rode my bike up and down the block a few times and decided everything felt good enough to ride the pass. We got a later start than planned because I didn't have anything packed, and then we stopped in Georgetown for breakfast..
By the time we arrived at the winter closure on the Twin Lakes side it was raining at the parking lot and looking grim toward the pass. We started riding anyway. A couple groups of cyclists stopped to warn us about the cold, snow, sleet, and hail that we'd encounter higher up. Jack assured them that we had plenty of clothes, and I told them it'd be sunny up there by the time we arrived..
The climb on the Twin Lakes side is short: 7 miles and 1500' feet. In a little over an hour including at least 3 stops to change clothes we were on the sunny, warm pass. Ha, ha. An early start didn't work this day in Colorado. The Aspen side is a bit longer: 19 miles and 4000' feet. We enjoyed the descent..
In Aspen we stopped at the Ute to convince Megan to join us for the pedal up to the Maroon Bells. She insisted she had to work a bit longer but did agree to join us for lunch. We ate outside, and Megan was stunned to see how warm it was. The morning had been cold and wet in Aspen. After lunch Megan stopped by work only long enough for her to grab her stuff. Yeah! Biking's better than the office..
Jack and I were surprised to learn that the Maroon Bells road was also still closed to cars. What an unexpected bonus! The ride is beautiful, and we had a bit of sun on the Bells for the ride up. We spent some time enjoying the view as a big thunderstorm rolled toward us. On the descent walls of rain overtook us. It was an unbelievable amount of rain. Have I ever ridden in such a thunderstorm before? We were soaked and cold and happy to have hot showers at Megan's place..
The following day the 3 of us rode up Independence Pass. We said goodbye there. It took Jack and me 18 minutes to reach the car. Megan enjoyed the long cruise back to Aspen.

Tags:   id_node_id_54343 id_perms_bryan_public id_album_54361

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

This photo appeared in the following ideotrope albums:

Independence Pass May 2006 - Jack had the brilliant idea to bike Independence Pass on the weekend before their scheduled opening to motorized traffic, Memorial Day weekend. Actually Jack got the idea from our mutual friend Scott who has ridden the pass on this weekend a number of times..
The weekend didn't start out so well for me. I crashed on my mountain bike at the very beginning of the Walker Ranch loop on Friday after work. Cher drove me home and bandaged up the gash on the outisde of my right knee after I showered off all the dirt. At first she thought stitches were in order but decided a couple butterfly bandages would probably do the trick. It's 5 days later, and the gash seems to be healing pretty well. The thing that concerned me, however, was the bruise on the inside of my right knee where my knee must have hit the bicycle. I iced it a lot on Friday night, but by the time I went to bed my knee was very swollen and I couldn't bend my leg. I had already phoned Jack telling him I probably wouldn't make it to Independence Pass. Jack was stopping by in the morning to pick up a pannier so I had a chance to change my mind..
I got up at 6AM and to my amazement I could bend my knee without pain. I rode my bike up and down the block a few times and decided everything felt good enough to ride the pass. We got a later start than planned because I didn't have anything packed, and then we stopped in Georgetown for breakfast..
By the time we arrived at the winter closure on the Twin Lakes side it was raining at the parking lot and looking grim toward the pass. We started riding anyway. A couple groups of cyclists stopped to warn us about the cold, snow, sleet, and hail that we'd encounter higher up. Jack assured them that we had plenty of clothes, and I told them it'd be sunny up there by the time we arrived..
The climb on the Twin Lakes side is short: 7 miles and 1500' feet. In a little over an hour including at least 3 stops to change clothes we were on the sunny, warm pass. Ha, ha. An early start didn't work this day in Colorado. The Aspen side is a bit longer: 19 miles and 4000' feet. We enjoyed the descent..
In Aspen we stopped at the Ute to convince Megan to join us for the pedal up to the Maroon Bells. She insisted she had to work a bit longer but did agree to join us for lunch. We ate outside, and Megan was stunned to see how warm it was. The morning had been cold and wet in Aspen. After lunch Megan stopped by work only long enough for her to grab her stuff. Yeah! Biking's better than the office..
Jack and I were surprised to learn that the Maroon Bells road was also still closed to cars. What an unexpected bonus! The ride is beautiful, and we had a bit of sun on the Bells for the ride up. We spent some time enjoying the view as a big thunderstorm rolled toward us. On the descent walls of rain overtook us. It was an unbelievable amount of rain. Have I ever ridden in such a thunderstorm before? We were soaked and cold and happy to have hot showers at Megan's place..
The following day the 3 of us rode up Independence Pass. We said goodbye there. It took Jack and me 18 minutes to reach the car. Megan enjoyed the long cruise back to Aspen.

Tags:   Jack id_node_id_54344 id_perms_bryan_public id_album_54361

© All Rights Reserved