A Tranquil Recon

I wanted to do a ride today and see some new stuff so I busted out the Gazeteer and Topofusion and threw something together. I headed out and started to make my way towards Divide via the back roads. Then I decided to ride into the Tranquil Acres area. Things pretty much dead end back that way. Not sure why but when we were looking at houses we were told to avoid looking in that general area. I figured I'd go back there on a bicycle and see what the fuss was all about. It's still pretty warm up here and this guy was on the move. I helped him expedite the process a bit.

I am horribly out of shape right now. It was a fun ride but there was no shortage of suffering and heavy breathing.

I saw this sign not long after making the turn into Tranquil Acres. Luckily, I fear no reprisal.

Way back where the road ends, there looked to be a trail connecting it to another subdivision further up in Divide. Some almost forgotten double track is what I found and that did the job.

Much of the early riding was this kind of stuff.

Eventually I popped out in Florissant. My plan was to grab lunch and a cold beer at this place called the Thunderbird Inn (hey...the sign says "Welcome bikers"). It's all I had been thinking about for the 10 miles prior. I get there and get off my bike only to see the sign on the door that reads, "Cash and local checks only...no credit cards". Who carries cash now days?? So I sat out front and ate some Gummi Bears, smoked almonds, and a Honey Stinger Waffle while I listened to folks inside hoot and holler and stared at a neon beer sign. Then I took off and started to make my way home.

On one particularly painful climb, I looked up and saw a big dog standing in the road 50 yards up and thought, "Really?" About a half second later he started barking and running straight at me. With no water bottles to spray him down with, I considered throwing some Sunkist fruit chews at him really hard but then I decided to talk like a jackass. It always seems to make Dharma and Bodhi happy. It worked and before long he was on his back letting me rub his belly. He paced me up the rest of the climb before I told him to go home. I ended up being out for a bit under 4 hours and covered 50 miles.