A Ride in the Front Range, with a stop at AF Academy

Temps in the high 30s to low 40s, hazy sunshine tending to overcast and WINDY.

Late start for my weekend ride today, almost 11am before I left the house heading for the town of Elbert and points South. No matter which direction I headed on the bike today, the wind seemed to be hitting me from the side! It was very gusty at the beginning of the ride but it tapered off in the afternoon to a steady wind.

Nice paved county roads to Elbert which is a postage size town that time had forgot. I'd been shown the town before when I rode the Honda Aero by Sanoke who is to blame for getting me hooked on distance riding. Hi John!

I rode South of Elbert, where I should have tanked up, and missed the turnoff for McCune road since I had wanted to avoid the traffic in Colorado Springs. So I hit CO24 instead and took it into the city, still looking for a gas station.

I took this picture at a construction site near the intersection of Woodmen and Powers in the Springs, sorry for the foreground. It's a peek at the view enjoyed by the residents of the Springs, Pikes Peak.


Afterwards I got on I-25 and headed North a bit and decided to stop in at the US Air Force Academy since it had been years since I'd been there. Still had to show my military ID at the gate but otherwise it was pretty deserted as the cadets were apparently on Christmas Break already.

BUFF: Big Ugly Fat Fellow

Main Campus and Chapel

I rode home by way of CO83, the weather had become overcast at this point and even though the temps were still in the low 40s according to my bike's thermometer, I had to stop and put on the electric vest to fight off the chill.

A pretty sedate ride, 152 miles according to my GPS, no incidents and followed up with a two hour nap. Pretty good day I would say.