Subbu and Scott have been doing this ‘pilgrimage’ for the last several years. So, this year, when Scott suggested the idea again, being a true believer in traditions and traditional values, Subbu could not say no, despite being apprehensive about the weather! When it comes to cycling, since my brain tends to be as functional as that of President Bush, I decided to participate in this ’surge’ to the East as well, bringing 16.2 lbs of carbon fiber along.
True to the tradition, S&S (hmm… it is just a coincidence or some deeply mysterious celestial anomaly that all the three of us have our first name starting with S? ) decided to start the ride with a cup of coffee from McDonalds. I was more inclined to go for a Big Mac, but considering the guilty conscience it would create afterwards, I sacrificed instant pleasure for long term happiness. I am sure His Holiness Dalai Lama would have been impressed. Perhaps even Ayn Rand.
Anyway, we started the ride around 7:15AM and it was already well into the 70s. The ride to Ft. Lupton was eventless. At Ft. Lupton we turned right on to US-85 (Business, CR-28). At this point, I rode away from the ‘pack’… Because I had suggested to take CR-8 as an alternative to CO-52 and I wasn’t sure how many miles we had to ride before turning to CR-8. So, I kept the distance as a safety measure against any failure of the anger management software installed in the minds of S&S.

Fortunately, CR-8 wasn’t too far and it turned out to be a nice ride. It is a mild climb for the first few miles but then it becomes a beautiful, ‘pedalable’ downhill. At the top of the ‘climb,’ I waited for Scott and Subbu and tried to be dramatic:) Pointing at the downhill, I turned towards them, like Al Pacino in ‘Devil’s Advocate’,  and said “Gentlemen, I give you this!” They didn’t seem to be particularly impressed with my acting abilities though.

From CR-8, we turned to the Frontage Rd to I-76 east. Last time when I was here with Ken and Rick, we were chased by a dog. So, I warned my current companions about the impending danger so that they can’t sue me later on.

At Hudson, we took our first break. I noticed that Scott was drinking milk. I found it interesting (For the record: I can’t take milk because I have lactose intolerance).

The ride from Hudson to Keenesburg was uninteresting. We did that in about half an hour. From Keenesburg, we took I-76. Although the shoulder was very wide, I was, honestly, nervous about the huge trucks passing us at 75mph. To their credit, however, I noticed that many truckers switched to the left lane before passing us. Many, many thanks to them.

By now, it was getting pretty warm. We stopped at Roggen for another break. There is a gas station/convenience store run by a Chinese immigrant. In this almost no man’s land, the only store is run by an immigrant. If that does not demonstrate the values on which this country was founded, I wonder what would.

Hmm, I am getting unusually political in this post. Better shut-up.

Roggen to Wiggins was not very interesting either. At Wiggins we took another break (it was already very hot).

From Wiggins, we took CR-Q, which turned out to be as flat and straight as any road can ever get. One could easily ride/drive blindfolded on this road. Also, heat was getting on to us. We stopped after every five miles. There’s not much I can say about this section and the next one to Brush on CR-R.

After the first five miles on CR-Q, I stopped and waited for Subbu and Scott to catch up (I was getting a little selfish here and riding faster to reach Brush as early as I can… Sorry Subbu/Scott). When Subbu rolled up, the first thing he said was “The next time when you take a break, please find some place where there’s some shade.” Well, tried to do that from then on.

Oh, I almost forgot… Subbu and Scott were chased by a dog. Apparently it started chasing me, but by the time it was angry enough, I had cleared its territory and so it went after those two who were still invading his soveriegn territory. But both Subbu and Scott were sensible enough to get out of there before things deteriorated into a messy civil war:)

I reached Brush just after 2:00PM and Scott and Subbu reached a few minutes afterwards. The greatest thing about this ride was that we didn’t have to ride all the way back — Vara, Subbu’s alter-ego, was waiting for us at the McDonalds in Brush. Thanks to her big heart for driving us back and especially for sharing some 30 cubic feet of space with three stinking men for an hour and a half:)

It was a good ride, overall. Would have been great if we had done it in either May or September. But not in June/July/August.

I have posted the ride details here.