Pikes Peak is not the highest mountain in Colorado but is only a few hundred feet lower and I had heard of it as a venue for hill climb races. Anyway, 4300M is nothing to be sniffed at. The road up there starts innocently enough winding its way through the alpine forest to reservoirs created to supply water from the snow melt (as rainfall is scare in Colorado). From there the trees thin out and are replaced by increasingly barren snow covered granite. Further still, and there more ice and snow but less oxygen (40% less I was told). I was feeling a tad delicate after polishing off a 6 pack of pale ale the night before so the combination of thin air, road edges with gut girdling drops and a 20 degree drop in the temperature had me clinging to the bike. Worth it when I got there mind (although no camera could do justice to the 360 degree panoramic scene).
Felt better and better as I came down and decided to have one last circuit around the mountains near Denver. 200 miles latter I was back in Colorado Springs. Again, fabulous scenery. I stopped at a viewing point which had within sight a dozen 3500M plus peaks.
Tomorrow I head for the open plains of Kansas and to Dodge City.
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