What caught my eye about these two was that they were both riding bicycles make by Rich Gangl.  Cyclists of a certain age and experience are impressed- just as I was- to see the bicycles without even paying any attention whatsoever to how well they are ridden.  They are classic bicycle frames.  It turns out that one cyclist was very experienced and had talked his neighbor into joining him in the last few years on rides- even up Lookout Mountain and Mount Evans.  

Dennis- on the left- gave himself away by sporting a Mount Evans jersey and he wears it with some pride, as it is well deserved.  

By profession, Dennis is an acoustical engineer who graduated from North Carolina State.  He weighed 190 pounds when he and his wife moved to Colorado in 1994.  Inspired by riders in the Tour de France, he started cycling and was soon down to 160.  Ten years later he was riding the Tour courses as a citizen rider. He has climbed Mont Ventoux, the Alp d’Huez and the Col d’Izoard in France. His association with Team Evergreen got him interested in the Bob Cook race to the top of Mount Evans.  He says that these times were not last year, but that his PR on Evans is 2 hours and 28 minutes. Other years- also in the 50+ year old category- his times were just slightly slower.  SMOK-IN!!!  

Rich, on the right was so taken with the cycling stories of Dennis that he started riding at 60 years old, which was only three years ago.  Had they switched jerseys and told me that Rich was the accomplished rider, it would have been easy to believe because he also appears to be very fit.  Rich is originally from Poughkeepsie, NY and earned his degree at Carnegie-Melon.  He can now add a couple rides to the top of Mount Evans to his resume as a software consultant.