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“It’s a gruesome ride,” my dad recalls of the Compass Bank Elephant Rock Cycling Festival, which begins and ends at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock.
“I think the first time I went for the hundred-mile, I had bad luck with a new set of gears,” the former cycling enthusiast continues. “The second time I went a shorter distance and it was okay, but it’s always windy. It’s really a bitch.”
Not the most glowing endorsement, but the festival is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, so someone must be doing something right — maybe by offering a race for everyone: 32-, 50-, 65- and 100-mile road courses, an eight-mile family ride and a 25-mile off-road route, all of which will be ridden by more than 7,000 cyclists today.
When I asked my dad why he did it a third time, his answer was quick and dry: “Probably for the T-shirt.”
Visit www.elephantrockride.com or call 303-282-9020 for more — less cranky — information.