Sedalia > South Platte River > High Grade Rd > Denver: 94mi, 6500ft gained

A major motivation of my road rides is exploring new places and roads that I haven't seen yet, and I keep being drawn further from home as I mark more trips off my "to do" list. This one was particularly interesting since it is fairly far southwest of Denver and doesn't get much weekend warrior roadie bike traffic. I made my way down to the little town of Sedalia on the edge of the foothills before heading up Jarre Canyon towards the high country.

I've come across a vast variety of creatively built mailboxes out in the mountain roads, but this one is my favorite to date- attached to the back half of a vintage tractor sinking into the hillside:

Further up the ridge, I came across some paramilitary wannabees preparing to play war games with their paint guns and full camo fatigues. They were actually quite nice folks- to each his own I suppose, although I'd prefer to spend my weekends pedaling my bike in the mountains than pretending I'm in battle. Either way, another novel sight along my rides. As I said, I'm getting more remote in my routes so maybe this is par for the course moving ahead. If so, I have no complaints in the curiosity department:

This ride had about 20mi of dirt roads, which I typically enjoy. (Although the fast 2000ft descent on gravel was a little nerve racking.) I love the relative solitude you get even with skinny tires though.

From there it was down to the South Platte River, and it was pure joy to see this river as it ought to be out in the mountains. I see it every day during work within the city of Denver, where it has been relegated to a sad, smelly industrial sewer. Before we have our way with it in the city, it flows like a gorgeous mountain waterway:

West Fork of the South Platte River

 Along the way I made new friends, Albert, Donna & Darlene, at the tiny village of Dome Rock, which used to be a railroad stop back in the old mining days. These nice folks were hosting the best yard sale I've ever seen... and I've been to a heck of a lot of yard sales. The structure that they now live in was once the jail, 100 years ago.

And this is the old train depot across the road, leftover from when it was a whistle stop along the mining/tourism rail line:

I then climbed up Foxton Rd out to Pleasant Park, which led to a fast (44+ mph) descent down the High Grade Rd that I'd climbed recently. Super fun and a little scary through the twisty steeps. 2000ft descent without pedaling once, and on the brakes for a lot of it. Going down, it was nice to think I'd labored up this stretch as well.

"R U Lazy?" Dunno, how'd you get here at 8400ft?