RECAP: Deer Creek Canyon - Sunday, August 28

Another gorgeous day in Denver and not too many cyclists in Deer Creek Canyon with the Pro Challenge wrapping up in downtown today. Ride Leader Heidi was joined by female cyclists Megan and Chris. This was Chris's first time up Deer Creek Canyon and Megan's first time doing the entire loop. With heat index climbing quickly, we opted to take the High Grade route to get to the school quicker where we could replenish our water and grab some snacks and energy drinks before ascending the backside of City View. All in all we covered 43 miles and survived the heat. The views were stellar as always. What a great way to spend a Sunday. We met several nice cyclists along the way; one guy who hadn't consumed all of his 2 water bottles before reaching the school, which we assumed meant he was part camel. Great job ladies on climbing strong and steady. Hope to see you both out again soon.

RECAP: Aspen Grove to Chatfield Reservoir - Wednesday, August 24th

It was a pleasant evening ride out to Chatfield. Cloud cover made for a not so hot ride, a nice break from the continuing heat wave. I was joined by Bonnie (a regular), Kate, Debra, Jennifer and Megan. Congrats to Bonnie and Jennifer who completed the ever so tough Deer Creek Challenge last Sunday. I hope to participate in the Deer Creek Challenge next year. Our luck with weather has been hit or miss this summer to say the least. Thanks to the ladies mentioned above for joining me on my last Wednesday women's group ride of the season. Hope you all can join Malia to ride from REI to Golden next Wednesday for our official last Wednesday ride of the season. If you are up to doing some climbing and working those legs, join me this Sunday, August 28 to ride up Deer Creek Canyon. The plan is to ride up the canyon and then do City View and come down High Grade. It is roughly 50 miles. We'll meet at Aspen Grove at the Nature Center just off the Platte River Trail at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Thanks for a fantastic season ladies. We'll keep riding the last Sunday of the month through October. Happy riding!

RECAP: Wednesday, August 10 - Parker/Orchard to Aurora Res.

Trish led 3 ladies on the ride today - Bonnie, Debra and new rider, Andrea. Colorado's 5th season - construction - caused a delayed start but the crew headed out around 6:15. It was a slightly uphill battle with a sprinkling of traffic and a headwind that reminded us of spring riding but we all rolled in to the Res in less than an hour. Out there on the 'plains' we had quite the headwind to battle but the scenery was beautiful. As we neared the southwest corner of the res, the gals decided to take a 'shortcut'. While Trish knew the direction she wanted to go, it was the getting there that presented a problem. After hiking our bikes up a short gravel hill, we meandered through the neighborhoods and found our way back to Smoky Hill. With a nice downhill, we managed to make it back to our cars quickly and before sunset.

A nice 25 mile ride (it turned out to be a shortcut after all!) - best to be done on a weekend when there's bound to be less traffic! I hope!

Nice job, ladies!

CANCELED: Wednesday, August 3rd- Sloans Lake to Arvada Res

Sorry ladies but due to the HUGE black cloud over Golden, weather reports calling for 45% chance of thunderstorms from 6-9pm, and the thunder I heard at my house by Sloans, I'm going to cancel today's ride. I encourage to ride on your own if weather holds where you are, but its not in the cards for us tonight for this route.

Bummer, but hope you can join Heidi next week!

-Ride Leader Malia

RECAP: Sunday, July 31 - Cherry Creek Mall to Lookout Mountain

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/43982612

What a day! Fill-in/new group ride leader, Trish, couldn't find a sub for her spin class and had to move the ride time back to 9:30. Thankfully the ladies looked at the site in time!

We had 5 ladies start out with Trish - Bonnie (a.k.a. Mountain Goat), Mary, Chris, and new riders Terri and Debra. Unfortunately, shortly after navigating through Confluence Park, Terri had a flat tire and no way of contacting us for help! SORRY TERRI! The rest of the group slowed and waited for a while but then had to carry on as the heat was already getting to us.

The ride out to Golden was fast paced and fun. Debra, who has just moved here from Illinois, was an inspiration to us as she kept up despite the recent introduction to altitude.

Heading towards the base of Lookout, we all knew that it would be tough. Add in 90+ degree temps and it was REALLY tough. However, we caught our breath and headed up towards the top. Bonnie took the lead and powered up the mountain, earning her the nickname "Mountain Goat". Trish and Mary stuck together with Chris and Debra not far behind. The crew all rolled up to the top within minutes of each other. We rested, refueled and posed for some pics before heading back down.



The ladies pedaled their way back to Cherry Creek Mall where Bonnie noticed a large bulge in her tire that could have easily turned into a bad situation! Luckily nothing happened on the ride and she noticed it before heading out on her next ride!

All of the ladies did an amazing job on the ride! It was a hot one. As we got in our cars to head home, there was talk of ice cream...And on a 100 degree afternoon, it was a great idea!




Debra - you earned the MVP award though. I can only imagine the powerhouse you'll be when you get used to the altitude!

Great job ladies!