Backyard Rides! This ride had a couple of false starts. Right out of the barn, my bike wasn't shifting. i turned back but realized I didn't bring a 3mm up to the barn. My intended counter clockwise route pivoted to clockwise with a stop at Red Feather Lakes Village's hardware store. The village is about 8 miles from the barn. The approach to the village, on 67j, descends gravel like crazy then rolls through a beautiful valley to finish with a climb. The village presents itself at the top of the climb with asphalt, mailboxes and a country club. The amenities of Red Feather Lakes Village include fuel at the Trading Post, booze at the boozery, a library, community center, and public water spigot. The Pot Belly Restaurant is a great stop, opens at noon, Thursday - Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. After buying a tool and fiddling with my derailleur, I remembered the manky burritos I'd packed for the ride and the cafe inside the Trading Post with freshy sandwiches. I'd missed their hours until today. I'd better. Burritos out! I ate one 6" Club sammy and packed another 6". Delicious for lunch and especially at mile 62. While I was waiting for my sammy a little boy barfed in his hands in front of me. My story is his family was on vacation and the curvy mountain roads and elevation got to the little guy. I forgot quite a few things in the Fort. The Trading Post had me covered with dishwashing soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. Eating lunch outside in the village and enjoying he sunshine was especially sweet but his route isn't going to ride itself, I had to get going. I peeled out of the village at 11:45. Only 8 miles into a 90 mile ride. Another false start. After starting the climb up Deadman, probably a mile up, I realized I'd left my phone on the picnic table, outside of the Trading Post. It sucks how anxiety inducing misplacing my phone is. Pedal pedal! There it was, under the sandwich wrapper of a tourist. I carry ~2 liters of water on my bike. Other than Red Feather there aren't any water taps, spigots, wells, etc on this route. However, there are creeks, lakes and rivers. A water filter is key to crawling around these parts. Of course I filled up at the public spigot in Red Feather but after my phone mishap I drank it all PDQ. No worries, I knew I'd be crossing the North Fork of the Poudre River on my way up Deadman. On my last ride, my mini Sawyer bag failed, they do this, it's happened before. Unfortunately I didn't have an extra Sawyer bag going into this ride but I did have a HydraPak filter. When I got to the North Fork, totally empty of water, I filled up the HydraPak and commenced to filtering, Nothing. The filter wasn't allowing any water to push through it. The last time I used the HydraPak was on the Kokopelli, there was some manky water on that route so I shoulda back purged right after the ride but oops. Faced with turning back and scratching the ride or raw dogging every creek along the route, I chose the later. The North Fork runs pretty clear and I also filtered out of Sheep Creek, on high. I write this 2 days later and so far so good. Is it true, does Lael Wilcox seldom filter? High noon came hot on the climb up Deadman. Pro tip, if you're going to ride without a shirt, have someone put sunscreen on your lower back. Considering the high point as the Deadman Fire Watch tower, this climb is ~2,500' over 15 miles. "Do you have a trailer for that bike, you probably need one to carry those balls! How do you ride a bike up here!?!' - Dude in truck. as he and his wife passed me on the climb. I'd rolled over Deadman quite a few times but I'd never taken 170 up to Deadman Lookout. I'm not sure if it's always staffed but there was a couple staying in the tower. They were volunteers for the US Forest Service. There are only 10 at a time allowed up top so I grabbed some shots, said hi to the couple, and climbed back down from the tower. It was time to go downhill for awhile. Deadman Fire Watch Tower +10,600' elevation. From the top of Deadman it's a consistent drop down into the Laramie River Valley, It'd been a minute since I did this descent and the view coming down into the valley is spectacular. Beautifully free miles. At the intersection of 86 (Deadman) and 80 I had to make a decision. I'd planned to go for a swim in the Laramie River, near Hohnholz. IYKYK there's an amazing swimming hole and I'd packed my swim togs. Unfortunately I had to pass. The day had gotten away from me and I didn't pack a light. Next time, and with a more direct route from the barn. This was my 1st time climbing 80c out of the valley and it's no walk in the park (But it is a ride through Sand Creek Park ;) . The climb isn't continuous but it's punchy, especially up through Sand Creek. At mile 68 there was a ton of emergency vehicles. It looked like a car missed the curve and sent it off the road, almost into Sheep Creek. At the point I'd arrived everything looked chill and the chopper that'd flown in was grounded. Maybe an ambulance had whisked away the victim, or maybe the driver was fine. Regardless it was a testament to how ready 1st responders are, even in such a remote area. Knowing that all of these emergency folks would be breaking up their party and returning to Livermore via the route I was on, I went full gas on all of the remaining descents, I figured if I was gonna crash, now would be the time to do it. I didn't crash. The turn off for 67j came sooner than I'd expected. I like when that happens. The climb up 67j is a bit of a sting in the tail at a ~1k' gain. All worth it to reach Prairie Divide as the sun set. Ryan CFL