As was riding today, I thought to myself that if one person had been riding on a similar day a few years ago, it would have been Ray Bolton. Ray knew the mountain and its idiosyncrasies. He knew where the wind would be so strong that a quick decision about pulling a foot out of a pedal may mean the difference between maintaining balance and toppling over onto a shoulder and hip, risking getting hit by a passing vehicle. Today that spot was the first switchback on the Clear Creek Canyon side of the ride. When I thought that I had reached that point, I pulled my foot out and duck walked astride my bike for 100 yards to get to the switchback, then, with the wind at my back, practically quit having to pedal uphill. The second spot was the last 100 yards to the Buffalo Bill’s turn. There the wind in the transmission wires was really howling, telling me that the wind’s push may not be the worst, but that discretion was appropriate.

Later Rick Brune gave me a link to the wind speeds in the area. Some reached 50-60 miles an hour in the area of Golden. The gusts certainly seemed to be about that strong. I knew that I was pushing the limits of being reasonable- especially on the descent. I had to be careful if I was going to challenge the mountain under those conditions. I also thought about the French mistrals that the riders sometime battle during the Tour.

Start 9:25 AM, Wednesday, 11/10/21 (the date of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald) Finish 10:45 AM, the temperature was not the problem today Cyclists on the descent 0 (fortunately)
Vehicles on descent 7
Ratio of cyclists to vehicles 0 to 7

Chuck H.

Consecutive LOM days 24
LOM laps 2021 218
Laps lifetime 3219