WELCOME to: BJ and Jo Ondo's recumbent trike cycling blog! This blog has information about US! We don't own a car and use our trikes for our main Transportation and, also our Recreation! Thanks for checking out the Blog, LETS RIDE!
October 10- PPRRN Meet & Eat Ride to Good Neighbors Meeting House for Lunch
Time again for the monthly PPRRN Meet & Eat, this month of October. Jo and I headed up to Criterium Bike Shop, just off the Pikes Peak Greenway. We are using it as a "meet point" to lead a ride over to the Templeton Gap Trail, east to Union Blvd. We pick up a short accessway to Templeton Gap Road, cross Fillmore St. and continue on the T-Gap Road bike lane to head west on the Rock Island Trail, picked up, Shooks Run Trail, south to Columbia St. and the Good Neighbors Meeting House for the EAT part of the ride.
If you're not able to ride, we encourage meeting us and joining in. We had 4 riders and one person that was recuperating from a minor injury. ate, talked and enjoyed a beautiful day in So. Colorado! That was the "official" end of the ride/meet but we ended up taking Jill back to the Sinton Trail towards her home as she needed to go to a meeting of some sort. Jo and I went up to the Garden of the Gods Rd./Centennial Blvd intersection to see if the actually, closed down a Starbucks we have used in the past to get iced tea, RATS, it's closed up, they even took down the signs!! So, we headed to the Mavrick Station and had our iced tea and snack bar.
We headed back on the Sinton Trail to the PPGW and back to the apartment.
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October 11- A ride to Manitou Springs for a Picnic Lunch
Another beautiful day on tap so we headed out on the PP Greenway to the Mesa Springs Greenway to get to a few city streets to get us over to Midland Trail heading to our favorite picnic spot in Manitou Springs, just off the Creek Walk Trail.
Headed back, to America the Beautiful park in downtown, Colorado Ave Bike Lane over to Pikes Peak Ave bike lane. Picking up Shooks Run Trail north and for a second time in 2 days ended up at the Good Neighbors Meeting House for iced tea and snack bar. Headed back home via Shooks Run Trail and Rock Island Trail Connector. Enjoyed a really kickback day of a ride!
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That's it for this Blog Enty folks! Today is gray, cloudy and rainy so it might be a few days before we get ridable weather around here, until we Come Together, AGAIN-HAPPY TRAILS!
It was "that time" again to hook up the cargo trailer and head out on the Rock Island Trail to go to the local Walmart Market.
October 5- On a sunny morning, we got to the food store and as usual I did the shopping and Jo, stayed outside to do "Guard Dog" duty! After the mad rush and the pain of having to go through the register, finally got out of the store and loaded up the trailer and panniers for the ride home.
Arrived at home and set about unpacking and getting the supplies upstairs and the cold goods into the refrigerator and freezer!
After discussing what we wanted for lunch, we decided on getting a "burger" and headed north on the PP Greenway up to the junction with the UVC or University Village Colorado Center Smash Burger. After lunch, we headed out to ride the Vincent St. Loop and head home but wasn't ready to quit the ride so we headed down to Duck Lake just of the PPGW westside trail.
Starting to get late afternoon so we headed back up the PPGW, westside and home. Nice day even made a dreaded errand enjoyable!!
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Thanks for checking out the blog, more October rides coming up soon, HAPPY TRAILS!
On an absolutely beautiful day, we rode the October version of the Motorless Morning at the GoG Park. This is where they block all CAR traffic through the park so only, runners, walkers, bike and trike rider, skaters and skateboarders can use the roads of the park from 5 AM to 12 Noon! This happens in late April and early October. The Garden of the Gods is a beautiful city park that has "National Park" numbers of visitors each year!
So here, for your pleasure is the "Nickle Tour" of the GoG with Jo and I on the trikes and lot's of other folks just "GROOV'IN" on a Sunday morning! Come on along for the ride and ENJOY!
After leaving the Garden Area, we headed through the park and all the fun and fast downhills and did a quick photo op at Steamboat and Balanced Rock. Turned around and then headed to a different section of the park.
From this point we rode by the GoG Trading Post, (great cafe and souvenirs) and back into the park to pick up the exit road. As we were coming to the junction to go out of the park, we managed to get a video shot of a Heard of Big Horn Sheep! Heading out we picked up the Foothills Trail over to the 31st. bike lane and headed to Starbucks for our brown bag lunch and green iced tea.
Then crossed over Colorado Ave to get to the Midland Trail and head east back into America the Beautiful Park and head to Monument Valley Park. We stopped at that park "Garden Area" to eat our snack bar and get a break from the sun in the cool shade.
Picked up the Pikes Peak Greenway, westside trail and headed back to the apartment, a very enjoyable ride, hope you all can check it out someday! Video-ShortFull Length Video
September 26- Back home in Colorado Springs, Multi-Trail ride, Creekside Coffee House and Angletech visit.
My younger brother, Bob had a major medical/surgical procedure the day we got back from Ohio!! We had just turned in the Mini-Van, got a call and caught the city bus to the hospital, (Cab service SUCKS here). The whole week was constant visits to the hospital and lots of rides on the city bus so NO Riding.
He got through the surgery, barely, it was touch and go for 3 days! He came around and is now very slowly healing, we decided we needed a RIDE to bring down the craziness and headed out via the PPGW to the Cottonwood Creek Trail and up to our favorite little coffee house, Creekside Coffee House, right off the trail. Man, the sunshine and the Ride felt so GOOD! Ate a good panini and iced tea, then decided to head back down to the PPGW and pick up the Sinton Trail, West up to Angletech to have my "chain stretch" looked at. Only 25% used up so won't need a new chain for a bit, YEA! We rode a bit of here and there and headed home.
September 15-23-The ROAD TRIP to Xenia, Ohio for Recumbent Cycle-Con and to ride 2 of the 5 major trail systems in the area.
We have wanted to go to the yearly Recumbent Cycle-Conk, Tradeshow and Convention for YEARS! Finally decided, "No Time like the Present"! So, we rented a Mini-Van packed the trikes and gear inside, packed the snacks and drinks and headed EAST toward Ohio! We drove through 4 States and yes, I-70 was a bit of a disaster, but we managed to get through 4 major cities without a lot of problems!
We arrived on Thursday, and headed to Springboro, OH. to visit my youngest brother and his wife Linda. It's been a lot of years, so we had a lot to catch up on. Had a great overnight stay and after a great breakfast, we headed to Xenia and our motel on a beautiful back country highway. Arrived at the motel, a bit lower end that expected but it turned out quite and easy access to the trails. Being, late afternoon, we headed out to eat and just kicked back. The next morning, we headed out to try to figure out the trails but, LOL, we got our directions crossed up and couldn't find Xenia Station Trail Hub! No biggie, we headed up what we found out later was the Creekside Trail (#2) but missed the fairgrounds as there was no signage directions off the trail?? We stopped and asked a local rider as there were lots of folks on the trail. We found the way to the fairgrounds but getting lost made us a bit late for the 9AM entry on Saturday.
Locked up the trikes and headed inside Recumbent Cycle-Con, all the major trike mfg'ers. were set up and the demo rides in full swing! We rode lots of different trikes and even a couple of recumbent side by side tandems too!!
Recumbent Cycle-Con was a full Sat.-Sun. show but we felt like we did all we wanted to and decided we drove 1500 miles to get to ride NEW TRAILS! We finally figured out our directions and headed to the Xenia Station Trail Hub:
Sept 20, Sunday: We decided to ride to Yellow Springs, OH. and hopefully beyond to Springfield, OH. and figured out we needed to use the "Little Miami Trail (#3)" (it runs along the Little Miami River) and headed out to find Yellow Springs and it's Trail Station! Saturday night had the wildest Rainstorm we have seen in years! The trails were still a bit wet but the fenders kept us dry as the sun came out. This trail is beautiful, has lot's of "tree cover" and shade and is very FLAT, making for easy riding!
Lot's of pull overs and benches along the trail, we came upon a railway style bridge and then, WOW, we went under a "Covered Bridge", it's been a "Bucket List" item to ride thru a Covered Bridge but since it was over the trail we figured no way to access it, RATS!
From here we kept on riding up the trail and having an excellent time! It's been a while since we have gotten to ride a totally new trail for the first time!! Alas, all good things end, we made our way into Yellow Springs and Stopped at the Yellow Springs Station.
Just across the trail was a great diner called Peaches Grill, so it was lunch time! Had an excellent sandwich and a cold iced tea! We walked around the town a bit but lot's of traffic made us head back to the trail, we continued up for several miles but as it was getting late afternoon, we didn't get all the way to Springfield, OH. We headed back down and then got to the motel. Being tried, we decided to jump in the Mini-Van and head to a local Italian Restaurant, we found just off the Creekside Trail and had an excellent dinner to finish our time in Ohio. Monday morning, early with the wind howling and the rain pouring down, we packed up the mini-van and started our 3-day road trip back to Colorado Springs, CO.
It was totally worth the looooong drive and a lot of gray, cloudy and rainy weather and somehow, we want to return and spend 2-3 weeks getting to check out many more of the Trail Systems out of Xenia, OH. Station Trail Hub!
It's been a crazy 6 weeks since my last blog posts so let's jump right in and give you the highlights!
September 9- Checking out the new bike lane in downtown, headed to Starsmoor Nature Center and Lunch at Fuzzy's Taco
Using the Cascade Ave bike lane through downtown Colorado Springs, we found that they put in a new bike lane between Cuchrues St. and Fountain to make it easier to get over to the Tejon St. bike lane to head south. Hooking up with the Cheyenne Blvd bike lane and heading west into North Cheyenne Canyon Park to check out the Starsmoor Nature and Visitor Center.
Headed back down to St. Elmo St. as a back street and over to the new retail center off Cheyenne Road and Nevada Ave to do lunch at Fuzzy Tacos! Took some photos at the Creek Walk Center stage area and then headed back home.
August 28- We headed south to pick up the Midland Trail, west and head into Manitou Springs and our favorite picnic spot on the Creek Walk Trail
Beautiful day for an easy ride as the Midland and Creekwalk trails are old rail trails. There is a pull-off with two small metal picnic tables and a bench right along Fountain Creek just before the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce building. No iced tea, just water and our brown bag lunches but the place is quite nice. Headed the opposite way back, stopped and finally got that iced tea and ate our late afternoon snack bars. From there it was time to head home, great day, enjoyable ride!
September 2-Heading to our favorite Haunt, the Creekside Cafe and Cottonwood Creek Trail
Heading north, on the Pikes Peak Greenway to the junction with the Cottonwood Creek Trail and making our way, east to the Creekside Coffee House! Brown bag lunch and of course iced tea on the patio! The CC House has good food and drinks and lots of shade on a really hot day.
From there, back on the CCT, east all the way to the current ending point, (with a detour for construction), just northeast of Powers Blvd. where the concrete trail ends, turning into a gravel single-track trail, not a good trail for recumbent trikes!! It's all downhill heading west on the CCT so it was a fast run back to the Pikes Peak Greenway, south and back home. 90F sunny and hot but still an excellent ride.
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September 5-FOOD RUN and Lunch Ride to Panino's 74 Restaurant-Music Video
Time again for the Bi-Monthly Food Run to the Walmart Market off of Union Blvd. via the Rock Island Trail. Did the shopping, loaded the cargo trailer and headed home to put the cold/frozen items away. Jumped on the Cascade Ave. bike lane, south heading downtown.
Panino's 74 has been our favorite Italian Restaurant for decades and it's a short ride with a shaded patio, which lets us keep track of the trikes! We got our favorite, Panino Wrap, "The Big Bopper"!
We headed down and picked up Shooks Run Trail, north in the afternoon, stopped at the Tasty Freeze Drive Inn for our 2nd. iced tea and a snack bar. We were going to head out a bit further BUT, the dark rain clouds were coming in so we bailed and headed home via Shooks Run and Rock Island, west. Got the trikes in the apartment and the RAIN came down, perfect timing!!
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September 6- The NEVER-ENDING search for MORE YARN Ride
LOL, Jo has been using old yarn that was given to her by a friend, hoping to make it last till after we got back from "Recumbent Cycle-Con" in Mid-September. She caved and we set out to get her enough YARN to make her baby blankets & beanies for local area hospitals here in Colorado Springs and Pueblo CO.
Again, headed east on the Rock Island Trail to get to the Chelton Drive bike lane over to the Platte Ave. Walmart Supercenter. Lucky, I found the only shady spot around the store, and she headed in to get her yarn. Yarn loaded up in the Saddle Bags we headed back to the Rock Island Trail, east but the Chelton Drive bike lane has a "13.5% Grade HILL"!!! Thank
goodness for "E-assist" which helped us get up the hill and back on the trail. Heading over to turn on the Academy Blvd. walking/cycle Path, north and head to the Mavrick Station Cafe for our lunch. Headed back down the Rock Island Trail, west and then home. Food shopping wears us out so it was a much shorter ride than normal, but it makes even a "chore" fun!
13.5% hill, Chelton Ave Bike Lane
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The only other ride so far was done by Jo alone as I had a dental appointment, September 9,
she headed up to Angletech to get 2-new front tires installed and check fender alignment before we head out on September 15th. to "Recumbent Cycle-Con" and some "different" trail riding in Xena, OH. Might be a ride or two before we head out but that's for another BLOG entry!! Happy Trails!
Here is one more ride for August, we are slowing down the rides for bit to conserve MONEY for our road trip to Xenia, OH. and the "Recumbent Cycle-Con" Trade Show in September, (19-20). Having to rent a mini-van and several days "motel" stay going to, there and coming back is expensive but it's a Bucket List trip for us! So, on with the last ride.
August 22- August PPRRN Meet & Eat Ride to Stellina's Pizza Company.
We headed out a bit early to do a pre-ride before getting to the "meet up point" at the Legacy Loop Trailhead along the westside, of the Pikes Peak Greenway thru Monument Valley Park. We headed south on the PPGW to the main part of the park, stopped for a nature break and then over the I-25 Ped Bridge to the Mesa Springs Greenway, north.
Rode the MSG all the way to its current ending at the American Furniture Warehouse Building and turned around to go pick up the Fontanero St. bike lane, east back to the PPGW and the Trailhead meeting point. Mark and Dianne showed up and then a big surprise, Larry S., the other PPRRN Admin. showed up too! We all headed north then east on the PPGW to the Rock Island and headed south on the Shooks Run Trail. It's a nice ride down the North and Middle portions of Shooks Run to the Willamette Ave Bike Lane, east and just a couple of blocks to the Pizza Company.
Well, we got there a lot sooner than I thought we would, so we decided to head back down to Shooks run and ride it till the end point at the Old Stone railroad bridge. RATS, the lower section was covered in thick MUD from the afternoon thunder storms as of late. We did a turn around and headed back to Stellian's. It was open so we got inside in the AC and had Italian sandwiches and Buscetta bites, YUM! We thought about adding to the miles BUT the clouds rolled in and the thunder was making noise! So we all decided to call it a day and head to our homes heading back on Shooks Run and going both west and east on Rock Island.
Excellent food, great company makes for a very good RIDE! Looking forward to September's PPRRN Meet & Eat Ride!
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There will probably be a few more rides before Sept. 16th., that's when we head out to Recumbent Cycle-Con 2026! We plan on taking vids, photos, etc. and reporting on getting the RIDE some out of state trails we have NEVER been on before, YA! Till we Come Together AGAIN, My FRIENDS, HAPPY TRAILS!
Ok, time to add a couple of more rides here in August, between on and off rainstorms and more HEAT!
August 13- Last Ride with the Le Clerc's and another Breakfast Ride.
Again, we met at the Legacy Loop Trailhead, but we headed north on the "westside" of the Pikes Peak Greenway as we decided to go get breakfast at the, Creekside Coffee House. The Le Clerc's will be heading back to Indiana on Tuesday the 18th. so, this would be our last ride till we meet up again in Ohio for Recumbent Cycle-Con! North, on the PPGW up to hook into the Cottonwood Creek Trail, LOL, yes, it's a favorite ride and we enjoy supporting the Coffee House inside an actual church!
After a good breakfast, we turned east on the CCT, under the tunnel and headed to one of two turnaround points. Rats, by the first one, the clouds started a sprinkle, so we decided to head back west on the CCT to the Pikes Peak Greenway. A rest stop at Criterium Bike Shop and back down the PPGW. Decided to call it a day for Jo and I and the Le Clerc's chose to ride south to America the Beautiful Park. Even if it cut the ride short a bit, it was great to get in one more ride with our Triker Friends again!!
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August 16- The "In search of low sugar pastries", a ride to find Sweet Elizabeth's Organic Bakery for a sweet treat, Jo can eat!
Sunday morning, the sun is up, it's a bit early but we are on a mission! We have been trying to find a bakery in town that made sugar free pastries! Well, there are NONE, we did find one that made low sugar pastries, using fruit as the sugar or using coconut sugar. We decided to make the ride a bit longer by heading down the Pikes Peak Greenway to America the Beautiful Park, Midland Trail, west to 14th. Street. Turned at Pikes Peak Ave. for a bit of street riding, then turned on 19th. Street, north up to Uintah St. Thought it was located in a shopping center, rats, it wasn't there. Finally, I called just to find out it was across the street just a bit in a tiny strip mall area.
We finally arrived at Sweet Elizabeth's Organic Bakery, decided to park in the space between the buildings. We headed in and got small banana muffin's (the banana is the sweetness) and a non-iced cinnamon roll using coconut sugar and a high fiber dough to bring down the sugar levels a bit. Very tasty, we will be back again for sure. They also have sandwiches, flat bread pizza and more for lunch! We headed back down the fairly beat up Uintah St. Bike Lane to the Mesa Springs Greenway, north. Rode the MSG to its current ending point before Fillmore St. Decided to add to the ride, back to the PPGW then the Rock Island Trail up to the Academy Blvd Path over to Mavrick Station cafe to eat our brown bag lunch and iced tea. Just did a reverse and headed home to beat the HEAT in the AC in the apartment!
Really happy to find a fairly close destination for a pastry and either a nice hot or iced tea again! I think the non-iced cinnamon roll using coconut sugar will be the favorite!
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A few days off riding due to medical appointments, Tai-Chi Class, etc. Our next ride with be on August 21st., Just a Food Run and Lunch Ride deal. Then on Saturday, August 22, I will be leading the August PPRRN Meet & Eat ride to a never been to Italian Restaurant off of the Williamite St. bike lane. It used to be a old style General Store but new owners made it a Pizza Place and Italian Cafe! Will report back on the verdict of the cafe/restaurant soon, BYE for now and HAPPY TRAILS!
August 2- Don't be SHOCKED, we rode an Early Morning Breakfast Ride:
Due to the HEAT (90F+) as of the coming of August, we decided on an early morning ride, it's not an easy feat for Jo, after she retired, she quit being an EARLY RISER!I am a Panera Bread Club Member and had enough points for a FREE bagel. We headed up the Pikes Peak Greenway to the UVC Center Panera Bread and got breakfast. Headed up to Cottonwood Creek Trail and rode it to the current DETOUR. Back down the CCT and home before it got "too hot"!
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August 3- A Ride with "AWESOME" out of town "triker friends"
We shared a ride with the Le Clerc's, our triker friends from Indiana, out here visiting their grandkids! It was another HOT day, so we skipped doing the Foothills Trail and headed to Manitou Springs via the Midland and Creek Walk Trails. We rode to the current end point at Memorial Park and the 7 Minute Mineral Springs. Did a reverse back down the CW Trail and stopped at a Subway just outside of Schreyer Park for lunch. Then headed back to merge into the Midland Trail back to the Legacy Loop Trailhead. We said our good bye's and made plans to have their grandkids ride along for a ride and LOL, they wanted to be in my YouTube Video!
August 6- The Le Clerc's Grandson's (Lewis & Liam), out for a ride to become YouTube Video Stars!
Again, we met up with the Le Clerc's at the Legacy Loop Trailhead and this time they brought their Grandson's! We headed south on the "westside" of the Pikes Peak Greenway heading to Monument Valley Park. The kids were great and easy to video and really seemed to enjoy the ride! We stopped for a pit stop, and they decided they wanted to ride up and over the I-25 Pedestrian Bridge.
The kids only had single speed bikes, but they rode right up the steep bridge angle, with big smiles and down the other side. We picked up the Mesa Springs Greenway heading south to its end at Platte Ave. We said our good bye's and headed off to the Pikes Peak Greenway to America the Beautiful Park. From there, the kids rode more of the Mesa Springs Greenway, heading north to a turnaround at Unitha Street, then back over the Ped. Bridge and back to the LLT.
Jo and I, wondered over to Shooks Run Trail, via downtown bike lanes, stopping at The Building 3 Coffee House for our brown bag lunch and iced tea, outside in the shade to beat the HEAT! Decided to ride back up the PPGW and CCT as far as the Creekside Coffee House do a U-Turn back down the CCT to the PPGW and home. Fun day, now I gota get the video together and up on YouTube!
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August 7- Ride to Service Appointment at Angletech, then Iced Tea at Panera Bread.
Jumped on the Pikes Peak Greenway and hooked up with the Sinton Trail, west to head to Angletech. Jo's trike is getting new "standard axles", replacing the "quick release axles" to make it a couple of inches "less WIDE" and much easier to get thru standard doorways! My trike was getting new front tires as the old one's were a bit bare in places!! We had a fast-food lunch at the Garden of the Gods Mavrick Station Eatery, while waiting for the service's to get completed.
We headed back down Sinton Trail to the PPGW and headed north. Decided to check out if the concrete upgrade to the PPGW up to Woodman Rd. had got started yet. The answer is "NO". It was still the same old bumpy and cracked asphalt. we rode it up to the Corporate Center Rd. bike lane, heading south and got back on the PPGW at the PPGW and CTT junction. The HEAT was on, so we headed to the UVC Center Panera Bread for Iced Tea and Snack. We were toasted, so we headed home to beat the heat!
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August 8- Food Run and Lunch Ride to Panera Bread for my FREE Birthday Meal!
Well, again it was time for a Food Run, the shelves were getting bare, LOL! Headed up to the Walmart Market at Union Blvd, with the cargo trailer in tow! Oh, how I hate food shopping, oh well, out the doors and loaded up the trailer and panniers. Headed up the STEEP hill from the store to the Rock Island Trail, west and headed home before the ice cream melts!!!
All the cold and frozen items, along with the cargo trailer are now back in the apartment and we are heading to lunch. I got a FREE "Pick 2" Birthday Meal at Panera Bread so that was our lunch destination. Got a real good cold turkey, bacon sandwich, kettle chips and iced tea, YUM! Getting later afternoon and bit HOT. We did a Vincent St. Loop ride and headed for the apartment to again get out of the 90F+ early afternoon HEAT!
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August 9- Hot Ride on the T-Gap & Austin Bluffs Trails, then Shooks Run Trail to Lunch and Iced Tea!!
Pikes Peak Greenway to the Templeton (T-Gap) Trail, east, we decided to do a Reverse Ride. After the Union Blvd trail underpass, we turned right (usually we go left), took the access trail to Templeton Gap Road north over to pick up the Austin Bluffs Trail, east to its current end point. Did a turnaround, headed over the drainage canal bridge and back on to the T-Gap Trail, south.
Thru the underpass, turning right to pick up the Union Blvd. access path over to T-Gap Road heading south past Fillmore St. T-Gap Rd. bike lane over to Nancy Lewis City Park for a pitstop. Rode thru the park back to the bike lane down to Fontanero St. bike lane, Corona St. bike blvd to the Good Neighbors Meeting House for lunch and herbal berry iced tea!! Again, another HOT (95 F) day, needed a few food items at Safeway, then back to the apartment, put the trikes away and hid in the AC in the apartment for the rest of the day.
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Ok, that's all the rides for August so far, we are looking at big chances for heavy early afternoon Thunderstorms for Tue.- Sun. so may not get in any rides for a few days! Enjoy the rest of the summer, even with the much higher temps this year in Southern Colorado, I'll be SAD to see it leave, the COLD is not too far in the future! All the Best. Till we Come Together, Again: HAPPY TRAILS!
