Author: Leon Matz
I had a wonderful 10 day trip to see my daughter Heather
in Colorado Springs. On the way to CO I chose to go do the 4 climbs on my list
in Wyoming. After a long drive to
Billings from Puyallup, I decided to do 3 climbs on the next day: Alt. 14, 14
east, and Granite Pass. I don’t know about you but other than Yellowstone Park
I thought WY was a rather dry, windy
and rather ugly state. My first
day proved that wrong. The beauty in the
Big Horn Mts. was impressive. Beautiful
canyons, and 9,000 ft. picturesque meadows were plentiful. The first day ended
with me real tired after riding 101 miles and climbing over 13,900 ft. I had the good fortune of riding up the
second climb with a guy from Ohio. I was impressed with his ability to climb
even though he had not climbs to train on in Ohio. Day 3 was a long climb up to Powder River Pass. A long 26 mi climb with
5,300 ft of gain. After descending I then had to drive up the same climb and
decided to have a quick lunch at the top (just under 10,000 ft.). I actually
took an hour nap in the car. The outside temp was over 70 deg. and the stop was very enjoyable. After driving
down the other side of the Big Horn Mts. the temperature started to
really climb on my drive to Cheyenne. It
topped out at 104 deg.
On day 4 I drove to Estes Park to meet my daughter Heather
and her boyfriend. The drive was scenic except for the view of the Ft. Collins
fire. Estes Park is a very beautiful
town kind of like a bigger Leavenworth.
By the time we started riding the temperature was already in the 80’s.
The 19 mi climb with over 4,800 feet was pretty tough. I was real impressed with Heather and her
boyfriends ability to climb. It was real
special to have them join me on the climb. It turned from warm and calm to
windy and cold at the top. When we
returned to Estes Park a new fire had just erupted with bits of ash flying all
around. We watched the helicopters
struggle to put out the fire. They
finally did but we found out later 20 houses were destroyed. After a quick stop
in Boulder for some ice cream we headed to Colorado Springs. Upon arriving freeway signs indicated that a
fire erupted in Waldo Canyon. A Canyon that Heather had planned to take me on a
hike into.
The next day Heather and I went on a ride to Garden of the
Gods (real beautiful place) and got a close view of the fire. It was pretty
depressing to see. That afternoon a
thunder storm hit the fire area. (no rain) The fire quickly spread and coated
the whole town with smoke. As you have seen on the news two people died and 300
homes were destroyed. Heather’s house
was a long ways from the fire but our
hearts really went out to the people who did get hit by the fire.
The next morning I got up real early since the road I was
going to take was closed by the fire and I had to drive an extra hour to
Cottonwood pass. 2/3 of the way up the
climb I met a guy who lives in Buena Vista and does the climb once every couple
weeks. Wow would that be neat. I then
enjoyed a beautiful drive to Aspen to do Independence Pass. It was another long
and challenging climb. As I got close to
finishing it started to rain. Luckily I got to the car before the clouds really
opened up. The 2 climbs totaled 69 mi
and 8,200 ft. It was nice to have all 7
climbs done. I then drove to Moab to visit Arches National Park the next
morning. If you haven’t visited that
area yet, please do. It is incredibly
beautiful. Bicytcling magazine calls Arches one of the most beautiful rides in
the country. With 354 miles and 40,550 ft of climbing I hope I am ready for the
Grand Fondo.
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