After a lot of looking and a lot of negotiation Annie and I finally sprung for new bikes. While we wanted the speed and ride of road bikes, we didn't want to give up the ability to take ride our bikes on an overnight trip or take them on the wonderful gravel trails throughout the Denver area. To fit our style of riding we selected the not-so-well-known cyclo-cross bike. What is a cyclo-cross bike you ask...
Cyclo-cross bikes roughly resemble the racing bikes used in road racing. The major differences between the two styles are the geometry of the frame and the wider clearances that cyclo-cross bikes have for their larger tires and mud and other debris that they accumulate.
Our first major ride of the bikes took place in Grand Junction, CO. All of the reviews of rides in Grand Junction indicated that we should attempt to ride The Monument (Colorado Monument National Park). The first four miles of the ride consist of a 2000 foot climb with no downhill or flat sections, so Annie and I were a bit apprehensive. We put out heads down and decided to give it a go...
What a beautiful ride. Once on top of the plateau we cruised along Rim Rock Road for a few miles before a speedy descent down the other side of The Monument - we cruised down through hairpin turns faster than most of the cars on the road!
The last 15 miles proved to be the most treacherous to both our bikes and our muscles. Besides being completely winded from the first four miles of the ride, all four of our tires became flat during the last mile. Overall, riding The Monument was a great experience. Definitely a repeat ride.
