As I’m sitting here ingesting my carbs like a Serengeti Hyena after a great afternoon bike ride, I sometimes wonder what compels me to do it.  If you are a cyclist you know the pain to which I’m referring to.  Your lungs hurt, your heart races near anaerobic threshold and of course, your legs scream for a flat spot on which to rest.  Riding in Colorado can be torturous on the body.  Today’s ride consisted of first riding up Castle Creek Road to the ghost town of Ashcroft.  Twelve miles of mostly uphill followed by some nice rollers on which to recover for a bit.  The downhill portion is definitely my favorite part as the speeds you can reach exceed the pace by which Johnny Law will look at you cross-eyed for.  Once back at the traffic circle, I was feeling pretty good and decided to head up Maroon Creek Road towards the Bells.  Now this road is a ball buster just for the pure fact that it climbs for 1500 vertical feet without so much as one area to recover.  Twelve miles of pure unadulterated climbing(read pain) ending at one of the most beautiful sights in Colorado, The Maroon Bells.  This little piece of riding today ended up being near 40 miles and what is known as the ‘double dip’.  This double dip is also the hard way as the Bells is a bit tougher than Ashcroft to ride back to back.  Now reflecting back on my week, I also did a few other things that stand out on my schedule.  Earlier in the week, a friend and I climbed Buckskin Pass which is equidistant between Crater Lake near the Maroon Bells and Snowmass Lake.  This hike is relatively short at 5 miles each way making a round trip of 10 miles, but the real kicker is the 3000 vertical feet of climbing in that 5 miles.  A lung buster, yes; rewarding eye candy at the top, also a big yes.  This hike starts at the Maroon Lake.  As you follow the trail to Crater Lake(elev. 10,005ft.) it takes you through huge stands of Aspen, scenic overlooks of the lake and of course a close up view of the Bells.  Once at Crater Lake, the trail splits and heads up Minnehaha Gulch.  This is where things get steep and the views start to multiply exponentially.  Once through the gulch, you will wind through a dense forest of Conifer finding fern-like plants and plenty of mushrooms.  Through the forest and back into the open valley, the brush starts to thin, the trees start to disappear and everything starts to look desolate.  This is where you enter the Alpine and Tundra regions of the mountains.  Buckskin Pass is now in our sights and yet we still have 1000 vertical to go.  The last 1000 feet are the most difficult and they go by very slowly indeed.  The Pass tops out at 12,500 feet and once at the top, the views are something that can’t be described unless you are there.  The photos don’t do this justice so you’ll just have to do this hike on your next trip out.  Take in the photos I have here and try to imagine yourself on this precipice.  This is a hike you’ll remember for a long time.  With that, I’m out.