Short Tour is better than no Tour........Day Four

The pop-out day. There is no cell coverage in Poudre Canyon. Part of the wildness feeling that I got on this ride. There are cars and people so there is not any danger of being stranded without options, just a feeling of being unplugged for a day.
My campsite was called Upper Narrows and after a quick breakfast of oatmeal and apples I roll on out. The first thing was a ride down through The Narrows.

Pretty way to start the day!!
I come up on the only tunnel of this ride, did not even need lights!!

 Looking back

And then, my only snake on this tour!! He was enjoying the warm sun in the middle of the road. I got a stick, (a long one!! I am not Teesie and getting all up close and personal with the snakes!!) and moved him to the side of the road so he would not get squashed.

The bottom part of the canyon is a bit more populated although still not as developed like the Big Thompson is. The Mishiwaka concert venue is still going and looks prosperous. A big stage with professional looking lights and set up. A bit different from when I was in college and you would come up here and sit in the dirt with cold beers and watch artists sit up on a small stage and play. Good for them for making it work!!

Just like that I pop out the end and out on to the Front Range.No more mountains!

I stop at Ted's Place which is the old C-store at the junction of US 287 and CO 14. I am not sure it is still called Ted's, but I sure enjoy a cold chocolate milk!!
When in Walden I made plans with Debbie and Evelyn that we would meet up in Loveland at Big Beaver Brewery because everybody wanted to have a brew and some dinner. It would mean I would forego my next day ride up the Big Thompson Canyon but that is OK with me. It will give me a day at home to sort through my stuff before getting back to work the next day.
I only ride a mile on 287 even though it has a great wide shoulder before catching the back road to LaPorte. I am back on familiar roads here and head for the wonderful bike trail that the city of Fort Collins has stretching from LaPorte down through town. My goal was a sandwich shop off Taft that is my new favorite, Cheba Hut.
It is a great bike trail!!

 The path takes me over the Poudre River for the final time of the trip. It was great to have the river as my companion these last two days

I make it to Cheba Hut too late for 2nd breakfast but enjoy an excellent sandwich. I reflect a bit on my ride and especially my bike. One of my goals of this trip was to asses the feasibility to have Ogre serve as a touring machine. It passed this test with flying colors. Since I have both bikes, a Long Haul Trucker and Ogre I compare each other. As far as the comfort of each they stack up well against each other. Ogre is a bit more upright with the Jones Bars, LHT has drops. A good variety of hand positions on both as I ride. Ogre is a bit clunkier with its bigger tires, LHT is a more fun ride when bombing down the mountain passes. They both climb well, you know it is all about the engine pushing the climb. The panniers ride a bit better on LHT, more balanced with the full front rack and four panniers. That said, my packing for this trip was just about perfect with only the rear panniers. I used everything that I took and did not want for anything that I might of forgot. I think for the future, if it will be a tour on pavement only, I will take LHT and if there will be dirt roads or some rail-to-trail I will take Ogre. It is good to have choices!!
I ride over to the Urgent Care center where Kyle works to say Hi and then knock out the last 8 miles down to Loveland. I was thinking this was going to be an easy day of riding but still manage to get 41 miles in.

Pretty good way to end up a tour!!

Thank You to everybody following along. It was a good short tour and I can recommend it to anybody that wants to include parts of this ride, especially coming down Poudre Canyon. I will be designing a future tour that includes this route so I can return.

Jim