ward - ned - portal road

Stopped at the public spring in Ward to refill the water bottles.   This was the turn-around point of the ride.  We climbed back out of town and rode the Peak to Peak Hwy back to Nederland.

Once in Ned, we stopped at the main coffee house and I had a double shot of espresso with one pack of raw sugar (TSP special) and a delicious roast beef sandwich.  After our little snack it was a 7 mile - 3 mountain climb back to Otree's. I think the food was used up after the first climb as I was hungry (and thirsty) again once we got home.

2 hours after landing in DEN and about 5 hours after sitting at my computer working, we were riding the cross bikes on Portal Road along South Boulder Creek.  It was really beautiful. I followed Steve's lead and didn't take any water along and got worried about 1/2 way through the ride, but we did manage to store two beers in our jerseys and at the half way point shared one and saved one for later.  It was a great ride to start things off.  It only got better from there.