August 13, in Colorado.

I set out on two wheels from Kathy and R's house at 8:30, with plans to meet Germaine at 9:30. The trail to the meeting place is only 5 miles, but I allowed myself an hour to get there--good thing! The Mayhoffer Singletree Trail started off with a slight climb. I had already been on the first mile of this trail another day.

After about a mile and a half it narrowed down to a singletrack trail. I climbed up over the ridge, watching for rattlesnakes the whole time. Fortunately I did not see or hear any!

The Cowdrey Draw Trail was narrower and quite rocky. Fortunately the trails were well marked. The next trail was the Community Ditch trail, which passed across several outcrops of rock.

There were a few spots that were so rocky and steep that I got off the bike and walked down them (I did not walk UP any!)

I arrived at the Marshall Mesa Trailhead and Germaine was already there--it took me 55 minutes to ride 5 miles! She got her bike out of the truck for the ride up to Eldorado Springs.

On the way we stopped to see the buffalo sculpture and she showed me the canyon we were riding to and through. It's hard to see in the haze, but it is the wavy line between the two mountains in the foreground.

When we arrived at Eldorado Springs I saw the entrance to Eldorado Canyon State Park, so we continued up the canyon beyond what we'd planned.

It was all up hill! We stopped a few times for photo opportunities. Above is Germaine taking photos of the river. Below are some of her photos. It was a spectacular ride!

On the way back down we saw some climbers on the side of the cliff, and one climber on top of the rock on the left in the photo below. We were hoping his tiny figure would show up in the photo but it did not.

When we got out of the state park we stopped at the swimming pool at Eldorado Sprngs. It is a spring fed pool, and it was a delightful break! We swam for a while, dove off the diving board a few times, and then got dressed and got back on the bikes. We rode down to the Marshall Mesa Trailhead, got in the truck and drove to meet Kathy, Eileen, Patti Ellen and several of Kathy's friends for lunch.

I rode 17 miles today. I'm continuously amazed at the effort it takes to ride the trails! The fat tire bike is perfect for all the dirt riding I am doing--I bet I'll really fly when I go home to the flat lands of SE Michigan and get on my road bike!