An easy, beautifully scenic route, and a fitting end to a wonderful tour through the Colorado Rockies. The route itself was changed from the originally published one due to a massive forest fire to the north of Estes Park and west of Fort Collins that is still raging out of control as this is being written. The new route, which is east and a bit shorter than what had been planned, avoided the smoke. Actually, I did notice it once in a while, but only just.. rather like an occasional whiff of a very distant campfire. The weather itself was perfect, completing a tough, but very enjoyable ride. Performance notes: I was very surprised how, despite the fact I was more than strong enough to scale the mountains, 5-5% grades felt more like 7-8% grades in Canada. At best, I managed 10-11 km/hr on a sustained level on these lower grade roads, where on Cypress, I could easily ride 12 km-13 km/hr. This must have had to do with the elevation. When riding in Colorado, my heart rate was generally quite low, and when I was done at the end of each ride, my legs felt great. It takes weeks for the body to adapt to higher elevation, so I'll always be at a bit of a disadvantage compared to folks who live and cycle regularly here.