Old Man Winter Rally 50K

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Elapsed Time: 4 hours
Average Speed: 7.9 mph
Max Speed: 28.7 mph
Distance: 31.7 miles
Start/Stop Location: Sandstone Park, Lyons, CO
Total Ascent: 1164 feet
Max Positive Grade: 4.6%
Max Negative Grade: -5.1%
Road Surface: 40% paved, 60% gravel

Hazards:

Multiple transitions from gravel to blacktop and back.  Narrow shoulders on blacktop.

Description:

This was an organized ride with 100+ riders.  It was a cold day for a ride.  The temperature at the noon start was 32F and four hours later it was still 32F.  The previous day had seen about four inches of snow which started to melt into slush about half way through the ride.  A slight breeze, cloud cover for most of the ride, high humidity, and freezing spray from the road contributed to a significant amount of discomfort.  This was especially true for the last 10 miles of the ride.

Aside from the difficult riding conditions, this ride did not present challenging terrain and traffic was almost non existent except for the sections along US36 and CO66.  The ride was well supported and the aid station at mile 22 was well stocked with snacks and electrolyte drinks.  Despite the cold, this was the most fun I've had in a long time on an organized ride.  Scenery was nice and the route took us through Hygiene which has a cafe called Crane Hollow.  It looked inviting as I rode past but I didn't have cash on hand to stop for a coffee so I just kept on truckin'.

Something new for this ride was the experience of riding on chunky packed snow on top of gravel.  The snow was mixed with grit and wasn't extremely slippery.  In fact, the snow smoothed out the gravel nicely.  It was almost like riding on smooth dirt single track.  At times I was climbing on a fairly steep grade and was surprised by how well my rear tire stuck the snow as I stood on my pedals.

Map:





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