Pike Experience

Though never as famous as Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Montgomery Pike was an all-American romantic character, the one who peered out across the endless flat prairies and spotted a majestic blue mountain rising out of the horizon. The stark beauty of that granite sentry on the Front Range is reason enough to celebrate, but the bicentennial of Pike's journey to its foot (he never actually climbed his namesake) is an even better one.

In order for ordinary folks to appreciate Pike's big moment, the Frontier Pathways Scenic & Historic Byway will host today's 100-mile Bike With Pike Century Ride. The excursion begins at 7 a.m. at John Martin Reservoir State Park, 30703 Road 24 (twenty miles east of Las Animas), and ends at the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk, right smack in the middle of Pueblo's fabled Chile and Frijoles Festival. Along the way, riders will be treated to watermelon breaks, a view of Bent's Old Fort, lots of small-town hospitality and a very real sense of history.

Your prize for finishing the long, hard ride? A whole lot of fun and a stein of Zeb's Secret Stash, brewed up specially for the event by Pueblo's Shamrock Brewing Company. "After you sweat it all out, you might as well replenish it with some beer," notes byway director Dawn Di Prince.

Ride registration is $75 per individual or $60 per relay-team member; call 1-719-583-8631 or go to www.frontierpathways.org for more information.
Sat., Sept. 23, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.