Deer Creek > High Grade Rd > Evergreen > Golden: 72mi, 5300ft gained

As if racing around the velodrome for 3 hours last night wasn't enough, I got a little over 5 hours of sleep (post-track camaraderie beers lingered into the A.M.) and woke up for an all day ride that I've been wanting to do for a while. I started up Deer Creek Canyon like I did the other week, then diverted southwest onto High Grade Rd. It was, well, very steep as the name would imply.

From there it was north on HW73 into the town of Evergreen, where I stopped for a coffee at the Ice House Coffeeshop, located in the repurposed lobby of the historic Evergreen Hotel. I think this was the first time I've ever seen (and used) a toilet with the old fashioned elevated water tank!

After a pleasant stroll around Evergreen, I headed down Bear Creek Canyon for a bit to Kerr Gulch Rd, then a brief couple of miles along the shoulder of I-70 (no frontage road on this stretch) to US40 and down to Golden. Back home to Denver as a cloud front covered the sun and the temperature really dropped substantially... it was warm enough earlier but I was under-prepared for the afternoon chill. A hot shower was quite the treat when I finally got home after 72miles and 5300 vertical feet of climbs.