Elephant Rock, Larkspur, and the Rock House (Ice Cream!) 32-Mile Road Ride

Elephant Rock, Larkspur, and the Rock House (Ice Cream!) 32-Mile Road Ride

When: 9:00 AM, Saturday June 10th, 2023

Where: Monument Park-n-Ride, NE corner of I-25 and and highway 105 off Woodmoor Drive. We’ll meet at the north end of the parking lot.

How: A no-drop ride, with regrouping (details below).  

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42840485, 32 miles, 2,200+ ft of climbing (although my GPS showed closer to 2,500)

Details: Let’s head north to Larkspur, while seeing some sites along the way, and rewarding ourselves with ice cream towards the end. Here are the highlights:

• See Elephant Rock up close
  
• Short but steep (up to around 15%) climb of Capella Drive 
• Scenic Palmer Lake
  
• The steady descent down Spruce Mountain Road to Larkspur
  
• Challenging climb out of Larkspur (past the Renaissance Festival grounds, which opens on June 17th)
  
• Scenic ride uphill back south into Palmer Lake (will we battle the typical headwind in addition to the grade?)
  
• Did I mention ice cream already? The Rock House in Palmer Lake for a sweet treat. They also have some lunch items on the menu
  
• Descent of Monument Hill
  

Road Conditions to Note:

• Both roads between Palmer Lake and Larkspur will have vehicles passing at highway speeds, with no shoulder to speak of
  
• At Mile 0.8 watch for road damage where we turn onto Beacon Lite Road
  
• At Mile 5.0 where we turn left onto County Line, there is limited sight distance, so watch carefully for cars which can approach quickly, especially from the right
  
• At Mile 6.7 after we turn onto Spruce Mountain Road, for a quarter mile or so, there is quite a bit of road damage. Road is fine once we hit the Douglas County Line
  
• At mile 25.8 we turn right into Palmer Lake, but there is no cue on the Ride with GPS route
  

Regroup: We will regroup at the following locations:

1. Miles 1.5 - 4.8: Periodic and quick regroups as needed to ensure everyone makes all the turns through the Elephant Rock section
   
2. Mile 4.7: Before the turn onto Indi after the Elephant Rock section
   
3. Between Palmer Lake and Larkspur, and vice versa, we’ll play it by ear. Few turns with definite regroup spots in each town, so we could let the group spread out
   
4. Mile 14.5: Convenience store in Larkspur
   
5. Mile 26.2: The Rock House for ice cream (opens at 11:00 AM, took me 1:48 to get here on the recon ride, with just 1 quick photo stop. So we should be fine given our regrouping (don’t ride too fast, or you’ll have to wait for your ice cream))
   

Note on any possible ride updates or cancellation: Given we are in fire season (at least Canada is), I’ll be watching the Air Quality Index as well as the weather. If the AQI reaches 150 or above (“Unhealthy”), I’ll cancel the ride. I would both email those who have signed up, and update the club calendar noting the cancellation. 

Leader Contact: John Beckman, members can find my cell # in the Members section of the club’s Wild Apricot App, or in the MembersSection/Directory page of the club’s website. 

This ride is open to SOCO Velo members. SOCO Velo has a 30-day trial membership if you would like to check out our club and ride with us.

Safe Group Riding: Our group practices safe riding by communicating with each other along the ride, and following the rules of the road.