50,000 Views - the joy of the destination

02 May 2011

50,000 Views - the joy of the destination

Destination Rides

Don't we all have our favorites. Almost more than a loop route, a destination ride is the best way to spend a day. Let's ride to a lake, let's ride to a cafe, let's ride to a great view, let's ride up to the top of that mountain. But what do we find once we get there? We all have our favorites finds at the end of the road, here in Colorado, about once a week during the late spring, summer, and fall, I do my favorite local ride up Deer Creek Canyon / High Grade Road. It is a destination ride. My goal is a wonderful rest stop located under the shade of tall pine trees.

Last week I arrived at the rest stop in the woods and no one was there, I almost expected to see a local bear walk up, when 8 cyclists trickled in over the next 10 minutes. Swarming the site, they walked their funny walk in their cycling shoes in the dirt, filling water bottles and watching each other come and go and checking out the bikes. This is Colorado's version of the town water fountain.

The High Grade Rd rest stop

There are no other stores or water supplies on this route. The rest stop is a courtesy of the local grange (I was recently told by a cyclist that you can write-off your purchases as charitable donations) and is resupplied by local grange volunteers who say their purpose is to keep the local cyclists safe (in a sometimes not so friendly neighborhood). Water at the top of a climb makes cyclists happy. Having a place at the top of a climb as a marker of we have arrived is even better.

To celebrate 50,000 views, I have collected some of the more famous destinations (and my favorite memories), of the top of some other well known climbs: