Around & About in Manitou Springs - Riding up Pikes Peak

Time is rushing by, we have been very busy riding and sightseeing so a little late with this post.

Day 13 saw us riding from Aspen to Manitou Springs. We were riding over Independence Pass and crossing back over the Continental Divide by 8:00am! We enjoyed an amazing ride but as usual had to dodge some rain showers. We are getting a bit fed up with the Monsoonal moisture that is affecting the weather pattern out here!

Day 14, Friday 4th, we were up early again and set off to ride up Pikes Peak. This is a bucket list ride for all motorcycle enthusiasts and we were anxious to get up there. We were at the entrance gate by 7:28 am and were some of the first vehicles on the road. This was one of those occasions where had I truly know what was in store I might have bailed out! We meandered up an ever steeper road and as some distant peaks came into view I was thinking to myself "surely we're not going up there"? Needless to say we were!! We arrived at 14,110 feet and parked the bikes at the top. It was 43 degrees and there were areas of fresh snow on the ground. Apparently it snowed up there on Thursday and they had to close the road and plow it. Thankfully we were able to get a cup of coffee to warm us up but we were too early for a "famous" donut.

 Apparently this summit was the inspiration for "America the Beautiful" - Tom reading the commemorative plaques.

The views from the top were amazing

 The road down is just visible in the center of the photo below.

 The views on the way down were incredible as well

We made it safely to the bottom and could look back up to Pikes Peak - hard to believe we were up there!

 We had an early picnic 'brunch' which we had to share with a very bold squirrel!