Saturday, I spent 2.5 hours mountain biking south of Boulder. Boulder County opened up the Dowdy Draw open space to mountain bikes this spring. It has a fun single track with a couple of stream crossings, some tricky technical sections and one steep climb.
On Sunday, I decided to ride to Ward, CO. I took Lee Hill Road out of Boulder, which then drops into Left Hand Canyon and then heads up to Ward. I’d never done this. I’d always ridden to the mouth of Left Hand Canyon and started from there.
Funny thing is that Lee Hill Road turns out to be 11% grade for I don’t know how far. It’s a bugger of a climb. I think Lee Hill tops out around 8,000 feet. The road then descended to Left Hand Canyon – I’m guessing – at around 6,000 feet where the road climbs for about 10 miles at 4% grade and then hits the 11% grade wall into Ward, which is at 9,450 feet.
The whole ride was about 65 miles and maybe 7,000 feet of climbing. (I don’t know how accurate these numbers are… just best guesses, but I think I’m close. Well I know the mileage….)
Again, I rode big gears all weekend, but I actually felt OK and the heart rate started to respond. After 3+ hours of riding Sunday, I was able to maintain 20+ MPH up Arapahoe Road (I’m guessing 2% – 3% grade for around 2 miles) into Louisville.
More importantly, I had fun.
