Yeah, we ended up doing Old Flowers anyway.   Ron,  Bill, Todd, Scott and Gale were in attendance.  
We were not sure what the conditions were going to be like, but it was good that it was supposed to be a warm day.     I had brought  leg, warmers and all that stuff, but it would turn out that we didn't need any of it. 

The pace began really pretty easy as it turns out that Gale, Bill, Todd and Scott had done a monster 7+ hour MTB ride the day before, which included the Towers road.   After hear that,  I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be the "Whipping boy" today.           Bill had brought his spankin new  Carbon Black Yeti ASR, so I expected him to be fast and I was not disappointed..  I was riding my newly Acquired CrossMax XT wheels, and what a difference.  They aren't too much lighter, but he bearings are so much smoother.  Those along with some new rotors kept the disc brakes from dragging....

Pretty mellow Pace on the way out with Ron,  Bill and Scot out front at times keeping some good tempo.   Since the road wasn't open to  cars the terrain wasn't as loose as in the past, and everyone was able to clean all of the grades with any issues.  Well, there was this issue with Scott following Ron and needing to take a "do over" ...

Half way up we ran into  Sean's ( from the Cycologist ) crew.  We chatted with them for a bit and got mixed with them for a while.  These guys had skills.   Nice jumps with some stylish cross-ups,  nose wheelies etc.   I almost lost it cause I was too busy watching them!  Those guys were pretty strong too, and with my group in it's present condition we weren't in any shape to try and hang with them.   Bill did a nice job though,  and was kind enough to wail for us.
 
Bill and I had a nice  fun descent, heading into Pingry Park Road.  We were chatting about Skateboarding etc. while catching some air when we got a chance.

We  did regroup at Pingry and it was ttime to head back.   Gale got a bit of a head start on us, and Bill was set on hunting her down.   Ron, myself and Scott caught up too and then I figured it was going to be game on, but the pace wasn't crazy an no one attacked.  

The rest of the way back was big fun.   I was riding with Bill and Scott for part of it and  I had to work to keep up.   Was chasing Ghosts as Bill who was up front pulled off and Ron didn't see him  off to the side.  In hind site Bill figured he should have called out....

Finally back at the cars and a good time was had by all.   There were some skateboarders in  full leathers doing speed runs down the back side of Rist.   They were hitting 70+ mph,  taking videos and stills.  We chatted with them for a bit and I got to ride one of their boards!    These were some of the guys that did Lookout Mountain, just a few days earlier.  Wish  I was young enough to still skate!

Another Sunday and the trails are wet so the only option is to do a road ride.  Truth be told, I really need to be doing more road rides so as to be fit later on in the season.    That being said,  Gale's posse was doing a ride to Estes and that sounded like a good choice.

There is a good sized crew at Gale's.  Ron, Brian, Ryan, Ed, Ilka, Scott, Chris, Gale, and Bruce.     Before the ride begins we are all admiring  Ryan's  Blue Sky team kit.   It's really quite well done.   I am thinking Ryan needs a nickname to suit his new fanciness.   I think for the rest of this blog, he shall be known as "Hollywood".

So Hollywood isn't going all the way and he bids us fare well at Green    Glade road or some such.    He had raced the day before and is only out for a short one.

The pace is reasonable on the way, only marred by a couple of flat tires.  The group gets a bit splintered on the way up with some of the Big Men,  Ron, Scott, Ed, Chris leading.  Seems that the fitness level of the crew is getting better each year.  That coupled with better bikes is making this ride even tougher.  

We regroup in Drake before we make the assault up to Glen Haven.  The pace was good and during a slight lull I decided to  up the pace and see who wanted to go.  I guess I didn't have the respect of the Big Men as they let me go for a while before Chris reeled me in.   My legs weren't all that good today, but they weren't bad either so I figured I would have a little dig.      I was shortly swallowed up by everyone!   I did decide to stop and  put some lube on my cleats as they were squeaking pretty badly and driving me up the wall.

I was pretty spent by now and took my time up to the summit where everyone was kind enough to wait.    We made our way into Estes where I went to Micky D's and everyone else went to the Notch top Cafe.  I figure after 40 miles of riding  I was gonna get my reward, and bagels and baked goods wasn't going to do it for me today.

Time to descent and everyone is ready to rock and roll.   One would think that the way up is the hard part, but my Heart Rate data from past rides showed that the descent is the real challenge.   At this point I don't want to turn my legs into hamburger so I just sit at the back of the group until it required more effort than I was willing to expend and I drifted off the back.

We did regroup  halfway down as Ed just wanted to take it even easier than I did.   I got separated from the group again but we regrouped at the Dam Store.  At this point we all took the back roads but the group split when we got to Green Glade, with  Ron, Chris and I doing the hogbacks.

I kept falling off the back  of the group as I was unable/unwilling to try and hold the pace set by the Big Men.  I was OK with it because I didn't heed the lessons learned on my last ride with Gales group.   I didn't bring the fast bike,  I didn't pack "race light" so consequently I was ill prepared to do battle today. 

We did run into  Norm on the way back to town and he turned back to join us.   More of the same of me getting dropped on all of the climbs....   Finally we are done with the Hogbacks where Ron and Norm head over to Ron's too see if Ron's wife wants to go out and do some more riding!    I just take it easy the rest of the way home.

86 miles later....A good time was had by all.

I decided to skip the group ride since I wasn't feeling the competitive spirit today, and my legs were not up for it.  The group ride is a good thing if one is feeling good, but if not, I have learned to just go it alone.  

The bike of choice today would be the old school single (34 x 20) speed MTB.    Yeah that gearing is kinda low but for some of the hills around here it's a good thing to have.  The only place it really sucks is riding over to the trails, where it's pretty slow going.   Once on the trail however it's pretty sweet!

It's a 10 mile ride just to get to the trail head at Pineridge.  Turned out that the trail was partially closed due to mud so I headed over to the Blue Sky trail.   Nice spin over the and the trails were perfect.   The trails are always the best when they have a tad bit of moisture in them.  I had plenty of traction everywhere.   

The legs started feeling pretty good about 16 miles into the ride.  I didn't hammer anything, but did have to stand a bunch of times just to make some of the climbs.

After riding out to the Devils Backbone boundary,  it was time to head back.   I decided to hit the Indian Summer loop again where I ran into Eric and we chatted for a few minutes.

The SS is handing pretty well with the wider riser handlebars.   The trail is flowing really nicely and there are only a handful of others out here.  

Finally I make it back home.... 45 miles and a good time was had by all!

Time to join Gale's crew for another ride.   My legs are not as tired as last time, but I have not forgotten my lessons learned from that last G-ride.  So I  figured I would take the lighter bike, but didn't pack "race" light as some folks did! 

The crew was meeting at JJ's and I was a bit late as usual, but they waited for me.  Partially my fault, but there was this detour which killed a few minutes.   I guess there were about 12 folks or so.  I guess you can count the folks in the photos.  Of those that I can remember,  Ron, Dave, Bruce, Carl, Peter, Ilka, Jerry, Teddy? and that's about as good as my memory gets. 

We decide to do the hogbacks and folks are more or less civil with the pace.   My goal was to do as little as possible "MRE"  Minimum required Effort for the early climbs and save the legs for Rist.   Folks were pretty frisky up front, but they waited for us stragglers so it was all good.   Interesting, how depending upon who shows up how the ride is colored!

Finally we make it too Bellevue and onto the climb.   I knew I wouldn't be able to stay with the Big Men, but I figured I would try and ride some of their earlier pace.   I was able to ha ng for a bit, but  decided that if I tried to go when the tempo increased that I would be cooked in minutes.  

I found myself riding with Bruce for a bit and  Ilka was pretty close too.   I got shelled from this little group after some back and forth position exchanges.  Just having a 38 x 23 just wasn't enough to cut it without tons of matches being burned. so it was back to MRE when the pitches changed for the worse. 

Finally to the summit after lots of suffering on the switchbacks.   The legs and knees were OK,  but  I could have used the extra gears.    It was a really pretty climb with all of the snow and the view from the summit was refreshing.   Everyone was waiting for the stragglers, but decided to go before everyone was up, because folks were getting chilled.

The run down the backside or Rist was kinda chilly!  Folks were kinda frisky and I was happy to have the Fuji underneath me.   Ron and Peter were attaching each other, and it was good to have a front row seat for some of this.   Clearly I am not strong enough to run their pace for very long, but it was fun while it lasted.

In Masonville, Some of us,  Ron, Carl, Dave, Ilka, decided to get in some extra miles.  I was getting tired but I figured I would be good for  a few more too.  We did Eden's valley ... 1st street and back to glade road.  It was here that my endurance at this pace was tested.  Unfortunately I had to say "No Mas" as I drifted off the back.  My legs didn't have any more snap and I didn't want to push to much too soon.   I have less than 500 road miles this season....

After lots of solo time on the Hogbacks, I find Ron, Ilka, Dave waiting  for me near Ron's place.  Ilka checked out for home shortly afterwards.   From there we took it easy and went back to Dave's to check out his new place.

A good time was had by all. . 

Went for a MTB ride today. Just got the Trek YSL back from Area 51.  The upgrades are sweet!  I would show you a picture of it, but it's classified!  .  It was pretty windy and damp, but for some reason I didn't care, 50 miles later,  I still have a big grin on my face. 

Seems like forever since I have posted anything here.  I was out of town 2 weeks ago for a funeral and then last weekend I just went out by myself for a  Single Speed ride.   Neither of which I will blog about.

3 weeks ago  Ron, Norm and I did the Poudre, Buckhorn loop.   This ride is usually a pretty popular one, but with many of the Breakfast Club Crew either leaving town,  Joining other Bike Clubs  there weren't as many takers as in  previous years....   I wonder if the Breakfast Club is suffering from the Curse of the Flying Tigers?    So let me digress a bit.  Many years ago I rode for a local NJ team known as the Flying Tigers.   The team was very popular, and we groomed many good riders, many of which left the team as soon as they got noticed by bigger teams with more $$ and Status!   The  Tigers sorta became  "Farm Team" so to speak.     In many ways the Breakfast club has done that.  There have been quite a few talented riders that joined this group, that didn't have any experience riding in a group.   After learning some good habits from the BC crew they left for other bigger clubs....   In any case the Flying Tigers no-longer exist!....

So back to our Poudre ride.    I'll just give the highlights.    Ron did most of the work with Norm and I contributing when we could.   Norm hadn't been on his bike in 7 weeks due to a crash on the TTH ride so he was just testing his legs.    Ron kept the pace fairly brisk until our group started to splinter up the Pouder.  If there were more "Big Engines" there I am sure that I would have gotten caught in the melle, but with only 3 of us there was more co-operation.

We  did  stop on the way up and ended up talking to the owners of one of those little shops along the way.  It's the one with the MTB on the roof.   They put it up there to show that they were  bike friendly!   We had a nice chat about bikes and Mandolins etc. while we ate...

Finally we made it to the Stovie Prarrie turn with that long 5 mile 8% + climb.    Ron pretty much checked out after the 1/2 mile point.  I was in no shape to go after him so I just settled into a brisk rhythm.   Norn at this point had gotten a 2nd wind and was able to climb with me to the 1st false summit.    I was surprised how strong he was after not being on the bike for 7 weeks and having a hard day of skiing the day before!  

We regrouped at that interstion  of Old Flowers road.    From there we took the Buckhorn back.   Norm was getting a bit weary/leary on the descents  so we let him go ahead of us (Never to be seen again until we got to Ron's house).   I noticed a large hop in Ron's rear wheel and it turns out that it was cracked!   From this point on we didn't take any risks on the descents. 

Buckhorn... Masonville Past HT moutain park and the rest of the hogbacks.   We see Norm waiting at the entrance to Ron's neighbor hood.   We stop at Ron's get some more water and head back to the FCHS...

A good time was had by all.  Bummer about Ron's cracked wheel!    He had  another one on order anyway so I guess the timing was right. 

Another Sunday and too my surprise,  Dave Newman has decided to join in some of the fun!   It should be a good day to ride and I am looking forward to catching up with Dave.

Well as luck would have it,  Dave and I had a slight communication error about time and place, but we ended up good as we did meet at ~9:00 at the Ridge.

Dave has been following his training plan and this was to be ~ a 4hour ride.  I am all good with that, since that's pretty much what I do anyways.  

So we take off at a leisurely pace.  We climb the big climb at Coyote and make our way to Blue Sky.  We did have some trouble on some of the technical climbs for some reason, but after a few do-overs, managed to clean enough of the stuff to make ourselves feel good about the effort. 

On to the Blue Sky trail and we decided to head to Horsetooth Park and the Tower road climb.  Our pace was pretty mellow on the way over and I was happy it was that way.   I should mention that Dave noticed my rear wheel wasn't strait and it looks like I may have a bent axel or something.   I have to stop a few times today to retighten and align the wheel.  Oh well,  it's rideable,  but I'll need to check this out before I ride that bike again...

We make our way to the climb and this is where we had to put in some effort.  I seem to always forget how steep this thing is until I am on the steeps and then I remember....  Dave and I were keeping a solid tempo until some gut on a  Hard tail passed us.   After this guy got about 12 yards on us or so,  Dave increased the pace.   It wasn't until later that Dave realized he had switched in to chase mode.   I was not able or willing to try and go with that early surge that Dave made but I was able to keep him pretty close and eventually caught him after he eased up a bit.  Dave definitely has a competitive side, despite his relatively mild demeanor.    After this point we keep a more civil pace but it's still pretty hard for me.    I had thought Dave said his legs were tired, but if this is tired,  then notice has been served  ....

Dave and I get split up as I was starting to get some chainsuck and need to stop to lube the chain.   I finally arrive at the  Millcreek/Springcreek trail crossing where some other guys are  waiting.   We chat for a bit and then it's time to head down the Millcreek trail.    We didn't get far when Dave's front derailleur wouldn't shift, and we found a rock that had been wedged into it which we removed  and were good to go.

The Millcreek Descent was fun.   Dave was a bit rusty, but cleaned alot of challenging stuff.    I am getting more used to the Yeti, and found myself cleaning things with more of a comfort level, even though there were some sections that did trigger some adrenaline.   I am really enjoying this trail, and this one will be on my list of one's to do more often.   My goal being to be able to hold my own on a 4:50 club ride. 
 
With the descent over, we head to the Pump trak and do a couple of laps before we decide to head over to the Peloton to checkout the sales and get some food.  We take the roads... Centennial and descend the Maxwell trail.   Dave is finally showing some signs of fatigue as he is picking some questionable lines...  I am still good for the most part, but I've been spending a lot more time on the MTB compared to Dave so even though I am getting tired, life is still good.

With all of the MTBing done, we take the roads over to the Peloton.   At this point Dave's  GPS tells us he has done 41 miles and I assume that I've got a similar tally.    The food that Peloton provided, tasted so good!   While we were there we checked out some of the deals.  There were some sweet bikes on big discount, but  we didn't' get anything although we were tempted by some of the tires. We hang out for a bit and  talk to Jay Park who happened to see us and decided to stop and chat.   Roy took a quick look at my rear wheel and said it could need re-dishing... 

Well, it's was a long day but a good time was had by all.  

So,  I reluctantly decide to do Gale's ride this Sunday,   I've only got 88 road miles in for the year but I figure it should be mellow enough if all goes well.   I think I have told myself that before, along with "Don't Bring a Knife to a Gunfight" ...

I had decided to ride over to Gale's.  One reason is that I don't like driving any place I can ride, and I want a decent warm-up.   I guess I could tell by the time I got to Timberline and stood up on the pedals to cross the intersection that my legs were pretty tired, cause I could feel that lactic acid burn already.  OK,  my legs might come good by the time I got to Gales so I just plodded on.

There was a good solid crew which included,  Peter, Gale, Jeff, Kent, Ron, Kevin, Scott, Ryan, Paul and Bill.  I think that is most of them.   It was nice for Peter to hand out Water Bottles  from VeloOne before the ride.   Peter stuck one in my empty cage and in theory it should help my bike become more Aero.

Now, we take off on a route that I am not that familiar with,  but it was  too be rolling which should be OK for me as long as folks kept a steady civil tempo.   Well wouldn't ya know that every time we got to a grade, someone would punch up the effort and it was all I could do to maintain contact!   At one point in the ride as we neared Johnston, someone drilled it up front and splintered the group.   I had to go up front and ask,  "Who the F%# anp'd up the pace!".     Normally, wouldn't do this but this is IMHO early season and not good group etiquette, to accelerate that hard.   I should know by now that there isn't a Patron on these rides and folks are left on their own to do as they please when they are up front.....   I am still used to the early team training rides that I did back east and this sort of behavior wouldn't have been tolerated, especially this early in the season.    It's like the "Old Ways" of  discipline have been cast aside, but on these rides, everyone has their own agenda/plan/schedule and  I just need to remember that...

So,  I can't hold this pace and drop off.    I figure I could keep them in site for a while and turn back after I have had enough.  Thankfully,  Kent, who was riding strong and Jeff came back to get me, which was nice , but if I recall correctly, it was their efforts that sent me packing.....   

So, Yeah, I am whining  ...

We get to the turn around point and we get some food etc.  This is my chance to refuel and  prepare for the return.    The pace was  pretty easy on the way out,  it was only those surges that  I couldn't deal with.

Now we mount up and head out.   I am feeling better with fuel in me, but apparently everyone else was too.  Before long we were Hammering in a paceline and my HR was soaring.   I knew that my legs couldn't take too much of that but I hoped that they would ease up after a bit, but this didn't happen.    I fell off the back. again.

I was content to find my way home, but  Kent and Ron were kind enough to come get me and pace me back to the fold.   This happened a few more times!   It was clear that I was the "Weakest Link" and that's  not a good feeling.  I guess everyone has a bad day.   It wouldn't have been so bad if I had good legs, but I suspect that the ride would have escalated into a hammer fest much sooner if I was stronger and  real suffering would have ensued....

Gratefully as we got closer to home,  Kent volunteered to  take the shortcut home with me and my suffering would be over!    We kept a more civil pace, but I could tell Kent would have gone much faster if I could have kept up.  We ride past Kent's place and he bails, leaving me to enjoy my own relaxed pace

Looks like I got in 75+ miles on the day.  Sorry no pictures...So, what did I learn.  

1. Don't go on Gale's ride when you are tired.
2. Assume Gales ride will always be fast.
3. Bring the fastest bike you own.   
4. Ditch the heavy Camelbak and tools and bring little more than you would bring to a race.
5. Don't do a long fast group ride until you ready!
6. Don't believe anyone who says, "I am not going to hammer"
7. Sucks when your not strong enough to keep pace

We decided to ride with Gale's Posse this Sunday since she was doing a MTB ride.    As usual there weren't a pile of takers.  I'd like to be able to chalk this up to me posting the ride at 10: PM the night before.

I arrive a bit late to find Ron riding around getting warmed up and a few extra miles in.   Gale arrives shortly after that with an empty car!   Seems that there weren't any takers from her group on this one.  Seems like some of those pure roadies need to get some MTBs and start getting in  some variety and more importantly pure fun.

Without a plan and with the temps threatening to rise pretty quickly we decide to do the towers road!.    Yes it was covered with snow!   Ron had seen  Sammy N. of the legendary 4:50 & TTH groups already heading up the road and since we hadn't seen him turn back yet, it must be rideable.

Without much warmup it's hard to get going on this one.  Ron immediately  walks away from Gale and I,  not to be seen for another 1/2 hour or so...   Gale and I spend our time chatting about stuff and enjoying the snowy covering.    The riding is really pretty tough  considering the length.     We were able to ride most of it but those grade changes were really difficult but we managed.

Finally we see Ron coming down to greet us after he had already ridden that tough grade leads up to the towers.  He rides it again with us!   This was really tough going and I had to stop at least once on this one due to traction issues and that  fire in my quads.    That final push to the Antenna farm was pretty tough and we  had a hill climb contest to see who could make it the  farthest, which Ron won over me by about 15 feet or so.

At the top we adjust clothing etc.   Did I mention it was 42+ degrees already.  The Temps kept climbing as we did. 

Now it was time for the descent and we too that trail to the left after descending a bit.    For some reason that trail name escapes me.  In any case it was snow covered and sweet!  We had a good ole time flowing the trials.  It was fun to be able to lock up the tires and not damage any trails.   I wish I had gotten more pictures of this splendor but we were having to much fun riding, plus it was a pain to get at the camera with all that clothing on...

Ron's bike was really hooking up well and he seemed to be in so much more control than I was a points.   I definitely liked his winter tire choice.   Also, I should mention that this was the 1st time I got a glimpse of Gale's ne Look MTB.  That thing was so sweet.   Gale was pretty brave for bringing that out on a day like today, but I am sure it will get a well deserved bath!... but I digress.

Finally we make it too Millcreek and the snow is getting thin now, and before long it was gone.  This trail is definitely getting easier for me which translates into me going faster and enjoy it more.   I pretty much cleaned all of the switches.

Now we are in Lory heading back to the cars and it's kinda sloppy in spot.  I am happy that we got in some quality riding before it got this way.   I am having chainsuck whenever there is a steep grade due to all of the suff that's gotten on the chain and removed the lube... There are some spots of snow and we ride as "clean" as possible.  By the time we are are back at the cars the bikes are muddy. 

A good time was had by all or ....

Ron and I are thinking we could get in a bit more riding so. off we go to do Horsetooth.   We took the road over to the main entrance which was good for the tires.   Ron had tweaked his Derailleur somewhere on the trails and was concerned about it, but it proved not to be an issue, so we were good-to-go.

Into the park and up we go on the service road.    Ron is feeling pretty strong so he checks out again and I get into a reasonable rhythm.     After a bit I start getting chain suck issues, despite cleaning the chain back at Soderberg.  I  have to stop and lube the chain.  While I am doing this Ron comes back to see what happened to me.

Off we go again and Ron checks out one more time.  My legs are OK, but I don't want to push too hard.  I need to stop before that final push up to the Wathan trail.  I get some Power gel bites and then walk up that last pitch cause I am getting.. well....a bit tired...

Wathen was alot of fun.     There was good snow up there an the trails were sweet.   I was little concerned that with fatigue setting in that I would be a bit sloppy and make some silly mistake, but there was no reason to worry.  We cleaned  most of the trail which was totally ride able.  We could only see 1 set of traks before us, which was somewhat surprising.

Nice to finally be done.  Looked like Ron had a lot of  ride still left in him, but I was done.   Now on a scale of   ( ( 1 to Leadville ) I was probably only a 4.    Here's a link to Rons data so you can see what was done today. Which for Ron was about 25 miles and 5000 ft of vert.  I am somewhere close that - some elevation I am sure.

Another Coyote ridge ride and it promises to have a few more folks to ride with.  Ron and Kent have committed and Kent mentioned that 2 of his buddies will be riding there and that we could hookup with them.    We see Chris Elmer and Buddy in the lot too, but they have their Single speeds and figured that we shouldn't wait for them. 

Looks like I am the 1st to arrive for once.  The weather was much more pleasant than I had expected so the commute over was faster than usual.    This would give me a chance to work on the camera mount that I affixed to the seat post of the bike.   Not sure that it would work well on a MTB because of all of the jarring but, what the heck, I'll give it a go and see what happens.

So while I am out for a little pre-test of the camera,  Ron shows up to get in a few extra miles.   Good , then he can be the 1st test subject for the cam test.  Well, turns out he would be the only one captured as the camera got the blue screen of death, complaining about some sorta data error.  Oh well.  Turns out I need some sort of better mount with some dampening, which I will have to think about....  anyway... 

So  Kent,  Dave and Eric? arrive and we get going pretty much straight away.   Eric and Dave are setting a good pace with Ron up there too.   I am feeling pretty good today, but I just watch for a while to see what kinda pace is  going to be the norm without any influence from me.    Ron stops at the trail head for some relief and I wait while the other continue to the top of the ridge.

Ron and I set a  good pace and easily reel in Kent and Set our sights on Dave and Eric.  We are flying and I am surprised that Ron was content to sit behind me for a while during the chase.   I let Ron by when I had to check on the camera, but  I was able to pull in everyone else before the summit.     I probably expended too much doing this, but maybe not.  I have been taking it pretty easy on my solo rides, and maybe I need to change this and get in some more intensity....

Kent joins us shortly and it's time to rock and roll, after Kent's banana of course.     I take the lead, in order to get some pics, but  the camera didn't take any more pics due to some kind of data error.  Oh, well.  So I have to stop as the camera fell of the mount anyway....   Takes me some time to get going, but I am to catch up.    Gotta love those descents.     I must say I am getting better at some of the switchbacks too which helps with the flow here.
 
On to the Indian Summer climb and Ron sets a blistering pace.   I am able to stay with him for the 1st 1/3 but he start to walk away after a bit.  I am able to keep him in sight, but I can not match his constant efforts here.  Everyone else is a bit back.  Whew! that was tough!  It costs plenty to make the 575 climb but it moves OK considering it's compliment of  quite ordinary heavy components...    Everyone else joins us shortly.    Kent has had enough and needs to get back.  Eric has been under the weather and decides to join Kent....

Ron, Dave and I head over to Devils.      The pace is brisk with Ron up front of course, but I take it easy to the summit.    I was still going harder than normal and was too winded to clean some of the switches...

We turn back and I get to follow Dave for a bit.   It's good to have someone up front other than me a times, which will keep me from pushing too much.   Nice that descending with the boyz is comfy and gives me a chance to recover a bit.    We decide to skip the Indian summer climb due to time constraints. 

The flow over to Blue Sky was nice.  The climb up towards Coyote was another matter.  Ron of course make quick work of  it while Dave and I brought up the rear.  Dave is really a strong climber, especially for a big guy.  I am sure that were we on road bikes,  I would have been the "Whipping Boy" in the trio.

At the Cross roads of Blue Sky and Coyote,  Dave heads back to Coyote and Ron and I take Blue Sky.  Ron has time commitments and has to hammer it pretty good, not that the time commits really changed anything.   I tried to keep him in check but he kept gaining ground.    I pushed pretty hard up the risers,  standing when In needed too.   I was able to stay close enough that I was able to bring him in when we came to the descending sections.  Ron let me lead on this stuff but I couldn't get away from him.   I would make ground and then loose it on the small climbs...  

Finally to the road and Ron is on fire.   On the 1st hogback he dropped me and chased down some roadie...  After that he set a blistering pace and I got dropped again!   I was pretty spent by the time we dropped down the last hog back.   Ron headed for home and I took it easy down the bike path back to home.

A good time was had by all.