“We [heart] Leadville @ 10,200′,” proclaimed a long, hand-painted sign leading to America’s highest incorporated town near the heart of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
This sign was suggestive of a few things. First, the residents here are proud to live in this town surrounded by forests and (more distantly) mountains. Second, being at such a high elevation, they are more oxygen-deprived than most of the rest of the nation.
But belying the fresh white paint on the sign was a portion that — thanks to vandals — once displayed a ‘D’ instead of an ‘L.’ As it turns out, “Deadville” could have been an appropriate name of this town. That was the conclusion I drew after Nick and I went there during its busiest week of the year. Continue reading »
Despite it only raining two or three times in the last month or so, Fort Collins has turned about as green and lush as I’ve ever seen it. It has also been perfect weather for cycling, or actually anything outdoors in short sleeves.
See these photos of the Front Range!
One of the things I like most about Fort Collins — besides its people, the outdoor recreation, its downtown, and low crime — is its weather. Despite featuring 300 days of sunshine, low humidity, and moderate temperatures that make bicycling year-round possible, it does have four distinct seasons, resulting in some interesting changes in scenery.
Another upside is not having to do ANY yard work (including mowing the lawn) from October-April, as nothing really grows!
See this photo gallery of my back yard from the last nine months for a study of contrasts.
Peter Egan — Editor-At-Large of both Road & Track and Cycle World magazines for the last few decades — not only is one of my all-time favorite writers but is most responsible for developing my automotive tastes even before I could drive. In addition, he has engaged in numerous adventures around the globe in a variety of motorized (and non-motorized) vehicles and I consider him something of an expert on the best places in the world to do a driving tour.
So when I received the March 2007 edition of Road & Track and saw that Peter had written an article entitled “Drive the High Country,” my eyes lit up. The article, it turns out, was about driving in Colorado and about a motoring event for pre-1961 cars called the Colorado Grand. Continue reading »
It’s kind of funny to think that just 1.5 days ago I was doing 14 miles worth of errands in Fort Collins on my bicycle and was on the verge of overheating in my three layers. In contrast, today the city was virtually shut down! This was the most severe snowstorm Fort Collins has had since March 2003, and is now dubbed the “Colorado Blizzard of 2006.” Continue reading »
