Good day for a ride!

We did not get up early and run this morning - single digits and below zero wind chill. IT'S.THE.MIDDLE.OF.MARCH and that crud is no longer tolerable!!! I guess we're getting a bit soft as we age - we'll leave that harsh cold stuff to the real hardcores like these folks up in Canada! Kathleen had to work, so after it finally warmed a bit, I headed over to the Santa Fe trail to get some revolutions in on the mountain bike. They started putting up these fancy mile posts a while back that mark off the mileage for the whole Front Range Trail system.
A little change of pace actually was just what the doctor ordered. I have had a little "issue" on and off with some IT band and ankle/foot crabbiness on the left leg. This was the result of a little snowshoe incident in January (involving my clumsiness on 27" long feet!!) and I'm ready for it to be gone. So I am hoping to mix in a few rides this spring to balance out the leg muscles a bit. Kathleen has already been getting some Monday rides in again (and even a few Bricks!).
It was a crisp, beautiful bluebird day with awesome views as always. On the left is Baldy and the right is the familiar Pikes Peak, as seen from the Santa Fe Trail halfway through the Air Force Academy. It was a nice change to be clipping off 4 minute miles - you'll never catch me doing that on foot FOR SURE!
I turned around at the gate for the north boundary of the Academy. This is looking north to Mount Herman in Monument - plenty of great trails up there also, but save those for another day. I have not been on the bike in at least 4 or 5 months, except for a handful of trainer rides indoors this winter. So you don't want to overdo it on that first one - sore butts are no fun!!!

Cool view of Pikes Peak through the barbed wire.

In other words, don't mess around once you go through the gate! Even though you are passing through on a public access trail, you have plenty of reminders that you ARE ON AIR FORCE TURF.
Falcon Stadium, home to your Air Force Falcon football squad. Skirting the ridge line right behind the press boxes on top of the stadium is the prime singletrack Falcon Trail - one of our favorite runs. We love using the Academy grounds and we have a great deal of respect for what happens here. There are plenty of future leaders training on these grounds and we are thankful for their service. It was pretty nice to get out on the bike and have some different activity for the legs today. I was able to get in 20 miles and aside from sore "sit muscles", feel pretty good post ride. Looking forward to a good run tomorrow with the possibility of some unseasonably warm temps again - sweet! Happy Trails!

Shoes - Sidi Dominator (just for AJB in SC!)

PS - Kathleen came home from work and peeled off a quick 5 miler to make up for skipping the morning run - cool!

Bear Creek and Section 16

It's time to start building the climbing legs again, so we headed over to Bear Creek Regional Park to do some familiar trails. Only today we put them together in a new route. The theme was climb the first half, descend the second half - and it was a loooong climb (at least for us!!!)
The sun was awesome as we hit the trails and as ordered, the blue sky was plentiful - Gotta love Colorado! Kathleen is running the bear Creek Regional trail here on our way out to Section 16.
Section 16 is a general name for an open space area above Gold Camp Road and we run the Palmer and Red Rock trails that form a loop around the circumference of Section 16. Once again, this steep rock slab looks flat in pictures - can't figure that out.
The start of the mile long section of 13 - 16 percent grade - ouch! There was still a bit of snow left, but not much and we definitely need some. We don't want to dry up and blow away (or worse, burn away) this summer.
Nearing the summit of the long climb on Section 16, we were awarded with the views over Red Rock Canyon Open Space (one of our fav's) and out across the city. It was so clear, the vistas stretched forever today.
Kathleen cruises along the rolling saddle atop Section 16, nearing the start of the reward for all that climb - 5.5 miles of almost continuous descent (and burnt quads!).
Steve cruising along at the exit of Section 16 onto High Drive, a steep dirt road that is only open to traffic one direction and only in summer. From this point, we still had over 3 miles of descending to the trailhead - sweet!!!
Colorado Springs stretches out in the background as Steve runs the Bear Creek Regional trail on the way down. Not too many "skyscrapers" to speak of and we like it that way.
Back down in the desert terrain of Bear Creek park, Kathleen is finishing strong. This trail is part of the race course for the Summer Roundup race we did last year. If we are in town, we'll do that one again this year.
We ended up running just shy of 11 miles with an accumulated 2800' elevation gain. As the graph shows, that second half of the long climb about causes you to hack up a lung!!! This will be a good route to get the climbing legs in gear. We would normally choose to climb the opposite direction but we were not sure of the snow/ice situation and that steep side is almost impassible in the downhill direction with ice. Now that most of the ice is gone, our next visit will be in the opposite approach. It was great fun out there and we even enjoyed the burnt quads! Happy Trails!!!

Shoes - K Montrail Odyssey
S - Brooks Cascadia

Neighborhood Tour

We left for our run this morning with light snow falling and decent temps for a snow day. So we mixed it up a little and got in some trail miles mixed in with some multi-use path miles. It was off to Ute Valley Park first so we could get in some trails before the clay got too wet. As soon as it soaks up some water, it is shoe swallowing goop - no fun. Of course, there is no mud to worry about when you get on a nice granite slab like the one Kathleen is on.
There was a quiet hush on the valley as the gentle snowfall muffled the air. With the weather conditions, it was pretty peaceful on the trails - not much traffic on these days!
Steve dodges boulders on his way down into the valley from the west rim. This is a fresh cut section of trail, so we knew it was a matter of time before it was turned to fudge and not much enjoyment for running.

Kathleen makes her way along as well - with nice wet snowflakes filling the air.

Nice and quiet, but no views of the mountains today - the clouds shrouded the views all day!

We had a brief moment when we thought the clouds were breaking, but it was only a momentary tease. We took advantage of the photo op in front of our favorite arch. Within minutes, we were back to snow. It is all right by us - we need moisture because the last 8 weeks have been REALLY dry. The tread started to get a wee bit sticky in Ute valley, so we headed out and ran a loop around Flying W. This is mostly wide, multi-use dirt trail but works well in wet conditions. There is a moderate climb that is over a mile and then a crest atop Flying W road overlooking Ute Valley and much of town. Photos didn't work today, though, as the clouds would not give us a view from on top. Oh well. It was a good run and gave us a little variety from our normal routes. You have to diversify when the weather dictates and now we have a potential new combo to add to the regular route selections. We logged 10.5 miles, mostly on dirt and all from the front door - sweet. Happy Trails and hope for some of that clear Colorado blue sky tomorrow. Also looking forward to the time change - post-work runs are around the corner - woo hoo!!!

Shoes - Asics Gel Trabuco