February 1, 2026

30 mile bike ride today. I went on some of the country roads near where I live which was excellent. I love biking in Fort Collins. It was freezing when I started my ride, and I almost turned around, but I’m glad I didn’t. The sun came out eventually and with it came the warmth.

I saw a whole dairy farm, including the fluffiest cow I have ever seen. There was also a calf that was just as fluffy, but it was farther away and I couldn’t get a good picture.

At around mile 20 of the ride, I turned a corner and there in front of me was the biggest hill I’ve ever laid eyes on (jk, it wasn’t THAT big, but it sure was the biggest I’ve biked up). I shifted as low as my bike could go, which means not very low since my derailer is jacked up and I only have access to the biggest chainring and smallest four gears on the back, and still had to park it and breathe halfway up.

I decided that this hill shall be dubbed the “Big Fuckin Hill” and it is now my nemesis. The KOM on the hill is 6:01, averaging 21 mph, I rode it in 13:18, averaging 9.5 mph and from now on I’m going to hit it as often as I can to get faster and better.

That KOM is mine.

After the BFH there was a lot of up and down on top of Horsetooth dam. I’m not sure how I feel about biking there, since the downs are so steep that I ride my brakes the whole time and the ups are hard enough that I slow to a crawl. I’m sure with some more training they will get easier.

I’m excited to be biking more, y’all should be seeing some longer rides coming down the pipeline soon.

Ben