Last weekend I rode the new Rawhide Ramble 201km Permanent. It's based on the 200k created to replace the September Stove Prairie 200k, which was put out of action by post-flood road closures (and which are still in effect!).
One impetus for this permanent is that we Boulder and Larimer County residents need all the climbing opportunities we can find. In this case, it's Horsetooth. And shall I say, lots more invigorating at 40 miles into the ride, rather than 130 miles into a 400k or 600k, ha, ha.
Here's the horse tooth of Horsetooth beckoning from outside Masonville.
Lots of inspiring western scenery to glance at during the climbs.
Horsetooth Reservoir is pretty full. I've always thought Horsetooth and Carter Lake looked rather abstract as desert terrain hemming in waters, but that's how it is with Western reservoirs. (Those two dots are kayakers. And yes, open waters is an odd scene when most everywhere else is frozen over.)
This route dives down past the CSU stadium, avoiding some of the Ft. Collins congestion.
... and on Overland Trail, you get to see one of the vanishingly small number of drive-in theatres still remaining!
For the middle part of the route, including the eponymous Rawhide stop, I don't have pictures. (The breeze might be one influencing factor.) But here are John Guala, Mark Lowe, and Lloyd Jones on the 200k brevet in September.
Throw in a (missed) photo-op of a group of 12-15 antelope (a good number, based on my experience), and you get the picture. These are typical scenes for Ft. Collins riders, but a change of pace for us.
It was a really brilliant, sunny, and eventually mild day to ride, which we do get in January ...
... and at other seasons, too!
So give this one a try.
-jle
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