4 Lakes & 4.5 Climbs 31 Mile Road Ride

I had a request to repost the 4 Lakes & 4 Climbs ride since some missed it due to the weather last time, and a request to include a newly discovered road with a 20% grade on a SoCoVelo ride. We’ll take advantage of some of the newer Monument and Forest Lakes roads, and ride some of my favorite climbs west of I-25 in the Monument area, while seeing several lakes and other smaller bodies of water along the way. This ride features the following:

• 3 mile out-and-back Hay Creek climb, and the views from the top.
• Gorgeous views of the Forest Lakes area.
• Mt Herman Road & Forest View climb, with the short but steep grades of the Red Stone Ridge climb added as an extra out-and-back kicker at the end, along with the great views from the top. 
• 1 mile out-and-back Range View climb with a short section of around 20% to test your legs on. Those who would rather not can wait at the top of the wall, and cheer on those who try to ride up.
• A short but nice loop NE of our start/finish location to bag one more climb, and one more lake. 

There are options for shortening the ride, or decreasing the climbing, including doing a partial climb of Hay Creek, skipping the Red Stone Ridge climb, skipping the Range View climb, and skipping the final loop NE of the start/finish location. 

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43203198, 31 miles, 2,500+ ft of climbing

Ride Type: A no-drop ride, with opportunities for efforts on the climbs (hill repeats for the ambitious?), and regrouping at the top of climbs.

Start Location Details: 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.

Road Conditions to Note:

• There is a 0.4 mile section of packed dirt/gravel at mile 12.3 to bridge us from the Forest Lakes area to the Monument area, but I would still suggest a road bike for this ride. 
• Route uses Highway 105 for about 1 mile (mostly descending, so time on 105 is not long).

• Mile 6.6:  Top of Hay Creek
• Mile 12.3: Top of Forest Lakes at the turn onto the dirt road
• Mile 18.1: Top of Red Stone Ridge
• Mile 20.0: Top of Range View climb
• Mile 27.6: Just a bit past the top of the climb, after turning off of Furrow onto Furrow Way
• We will regroup elsewhere along the way as needed if the group splits up too much 

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.