Today was climb number 1 of 50 to be completed in 2008. I have climbed Lookout Mountain many times before this ride, but this was the first official climb of 2008. The weather was overcast and in the low 30s with a light wind from the north. While this was my first time up Lookout this year, I will be riding Lookout fairly frequently due to its close vicinity to downtown Denver. Todays ride went quite well for being the first week in February. The false flat uphill all the way to Golden from Denver was a great way to warm up in the cold temps and by the time I was at the base of Lookout I was stripping layers. The initial 2 miles or so were spent mostly in the saddle to see what the legs had and quickly my lower back started to fatigue. After reaching the switchbacks I started to kick up the tempo a bit with some out of the saddle efforts in between switchbacks. The legs felt great and were still firing hard at the summit. After looking out from Buffalo Bill’s Gravesite I put the jacket back on for the descent. The descent did not take long to chill me to the core especially after being stuck behind a Ford Explorer with Florida plates. The 35 minute ride back to Denver went by quickly and all said and done this was a successful first climb of the season.
GPS Data: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4904720
Photo Credit: http://lavuelta.us
Tour de Colorado 