For the first time this year, I signed up for the Buff Epic. It's been going on for some time, but someone I'd not gotten wind of it. Mike A at the rock gym mentioned it...and when he said it begins by going up Boulder Canyon I was sold! I have always wanted to ride Boulder Canyon, but given the very small shoulders and Nascar driver-wannabes on it, it has been a suicide ride. For this ride, the west bound lanes of the canyon were closed! Dreamy!
So I signed up. The day before the ride, I stood in a big line to get my bib, water bottle and t-shirt. (first photo). The weather had been looking bad, but the night before it showed a high of 83 and 0% chance of rain!
The route is 110 miles with 6,253' in elevation gain. Big day. More info is here including the map and the elevation map: http://www.buffalobicycleclassic.com/buffepic/. The route starts at CU Boulder, up Boulder Canyon, north on peak-to-peak, down South St. Vrain Canyon to Lyons, north to Carter Lake, around the lake then back to campus.
The morning of the ride was nice. Not too cold, but cool. No clouds. 2,000 riders. Pretty cool! Bicyclists started wandering around at 6:30am ish.
Nice view of the Flat Irons waiting for the start.
Boulder Canyon was 19 miles long with some good grades. The steepest was 8-9%. I can't find a profile online to share. It's a good ride. Our first aid station was in Nederland. Happily they had lots of Gu for us to take on the road. Notice the blue skies.
Our next aid station was just past Ward. It was raining lightly by the time I got here. So much for 0% chance of rain. Happily I had my rain coat, leg and arm warmers. Never trust the Colorado mountains to not rain (or snow) on you!
At the Ward station. It was looking worse in the direction I was headed.
Zooming down South St. Vrain was awesome. No cars! The canyon feels really tight now with all the flood damage from last year. Super fun descent. to Lyons. I took this frightening selfie in Lyons before heading out to Carter Lake. The sun was shining again. It rained again a few more times.
I actually didn't take more photos on the road - I was busy riding. I got back to campus and loaded my bike in the car. A successful ride...and not bad for someone who hadn't been on their bike since the Courage Classic. My behind was pretty clear about that. :)
As I arrived back at campus and hoped in my car, it was raining again. I got back just in time!
Another scary post-ride selfie. Great fun. Hope Dave is in town next year to do it - we'll do it again!
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