Pogwatigue Perambulations: Lookout Mountain Road

I've been itching to travel up Lookout Mountain Road for a while now, but held off because I wanted to save it until I could first ride my bike up the the winding mountain road just west of Golden, Colorado. Today's weather was perfect for riding and I needed to take the car in for some work at a shop that is just a few miles from the road's beginning. I purposely avoided investigating any statistics for the ride but post hoc I can report that the 'meat' of the ride was a five mile climb 1,400 feet from the base to peak.

Getting to the starting point was a simple affair. The first mile of the road presented the most challenging segment, but once my body accepted that my mind wasn't bluffing and I intended to make the summit, I settled in to a slow (apx 3-4 MPH) pace that I could sustain for long stretches. The further up I got, the better views justified more stops for taking pictures.

Once the sustained climb ended, I found myself near Buffalo Bill's grave. He's buried on a prominent peak with views into both the plains and the mountains. After stopping there, I had a small amount of additional climbing before I reached the highest point on the road. The last two miles of the road were mostly downhill. For some inexplicable reason, rather than turn left at the end of the road and continue my descent along US-40, I went right and continued going up. My intended destination was, on the map, a small park, but in actuality, was a camp closed to the public.

Full Screen Version

After a mile of this madness I reached a good turn around point--at over 7,800 feet, it was the highest point on the ride--just off an exit from I-70 where there was a overlook of a Buffalo herd managed by the City of Denver since the 1910s. An even better reward for my extra effort was an highway overpass with a grand view of the high, snow-capped peaks much further west. At this point, I had quite ridden half the total distance of the ride, but easily accomplished ninety percent of the total work.

Next, I began my descent in earnest, which was exhilarating, when it wasn't terrifying or vice versa, whichever implies more fear. I'm not a accustomed sustained high speeds. 35 MPH is about as fast as I'm comfortable going. After exiting the mountains proper through the Dakota Hogback, I stopped for a late, well-earned lunch at a favorite pizza place on the western edge of Lakewood. I ordered a little extra as a reward for my hard work. I wasn't too concerned about getting stomach cramps during the final six miles of the ride, because, again, it was mostly downhill.

Trip Statistics
Length: 31.4 miles
Ride Time: 3 hours 34 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 46 minutes
Avg. Speed: 8.8 MPH
Max. Speed: 26.5 MPH
Start Elevation: 5,893 feet
Peak Elevation: 7,828
End/Min. Elevation: 5,487
Cumulative Ascent: 3,000 ft.

Elevation Profile

Speed Profile

I don't usually post a speed profile because, frankly, they're not usually too interesting, but for this ride because I spent so long going so slow and then finished at much greater speeds I thought it worth showing.