Peak to Peak #bikelove

Sunday morning, the Iron Hippie, Allen and I rode from Raymond, CO to Ward, CO via the Peak to Peak Highway. I don’t recall ever having #bikelove quite like this…don’t get me wrong, I’ve had MANY rides that I’ve truly loved, but this one beat them all hands down!!

We drove from Estes Park to Raymond (~23 miles), where we parked at the Raymond Store. After unloading the bikes and preparing to ride, we were off.

Raymond, Colorado is where we started the Peak to Peak Highway trek.

The Raymond Store has an AWESOME owner who treats cyclists right!! Stop in if you make it to Raymond and say, “Hi” to him!!

We immediately started climbing our way out of Raymond, but it wasn’t anything too taxing just yet. There was no traffic on this rode and lots of people walking their dogs right down the middle of the road. Perfect for cycling 🙂

The boys climbing out of Raymond toward the Peak to Peak Highway.

Happy girl on a bike made for some serious #bikelove

At almost 2 miles, we turned onto the Peak to Peak Highway. Early Sunday morning, the Peak to Peak Highway had very little traffic and nice wide shoulders for cyclists. I was pleasantly surprised by the motorists who did pass us and how respectful they were. We did pull over a couple of times on the shoulder of the rode on our ascent to Ward, but these stops didn’t last long.

Climbing, climbing and more climbing.

I pulled us all up the mountain.

Climbing on the Peak to Peak Highway

When we arrived in Ward, we were shocked to see SO MANY other cyclists!! We knew this was a popular stretch of road for the locals to ride, but we didn’t realize just how popular it was.

Ward, Colorado was our turn around point for the Peak to Peak Highway ride.

We stopped at the top of the hill looking down through the trees to the town of Ward. Climbing out of Ward was a 10+% grade at one point.

Utica Street Market in Ward loves it’s cyclists. If you are in the area, stop in and support this great little shop!! Be sure to bring cash…they don’t accept debit/credit.

The Utica Street Market has bike pumps for cyclists if needed.

Utica Street Market has Skratch and water ready for cyclists to refill their water bottles.

We chatted it up with some local cyclists for a bit before climbing out of Ward…10+% climb was challenging, but fun! Once we made it out of town, it was all downhill (with a small bump at about 4 miles from Ward) back to Raymond.

On top of the world…or maybe just Colorado at elevation 9200+ feet.

All smiles as we made it to the top…the mountains in the background were beautiful!!

The boys starting their 10 mile descent back to Raymond.

We climbed just over 2000 feet with climbs ranging between 7 and 10%. It is just over a 10 mile climb from Raymond to Ward. Many of the locals have a 60 mile loop that they ride from Boulder and they pass through Ward and Raymond. With Ironman Boulder right around the corner, we decided 60 miles might be a bit too far and opted for the shorter ride. We are thinking of possibly riding the out and back stretch of the Peak to Peak Highway from Nederland to Ward later this week…if we do, I’m sure there will be another #bikelove post 🙂

Ward (green) to Raymond (red)

When we returned to Raymond, we transition to a short 20 minute run. By this time, the Raymond Store was open, so we chatted it up with the owner who does his own woodworking to keep himself busy. The Iron Hippie was wearing a sweatshirt that just had an “I State” on it in cardinal and gold. The store owner immediately knew it was Iowa State. He was a super nice man and if you are ever in the very small town of Raymond, CO, you should definitely pay him a visit!!

I absolutely LOVED this bike ride and hope to definitely do it again sometime!! If you are ever in this part of Colorado, I would highly recommend riding the Peak to Peak Highway!!

Have you ever been visiting someplace new and decided to ride a route that you knew nothing about? How did it turn out?