Ride the Rockies Finishes in Fort Collins [VIDEO]

Ride the Rockies is in its 27th year of long, arduous, inspired bicycle touring through the Rocky Mountains. This year the much-celebrated tour finishes in Fort Collins at Odell Brewing Company, and the celebration promises to be an inclusive affair. It will be the kind of finish that inspires people who didn't actually do the Ride to consider, "What if I did that someday?" That will lead one to start to construct in their minds a clear path that leads directly to being able to actually ride over 400 miles on a bicycle through some of our planets biggest mountains.

How can stopping by Odell Brewing on a Friday afternoon do that?

Simple. While you may realize that you aren't quite ready to jump right in and do the full Ride the Rockies tour next year, the look on the finishers faces will no doubt inspire you to at least resolve to 'ride more'. You'll get your bike tuned up and you'll visit Googlemaps, and see how accessible this whole area is for cyclists.

You'll start riding to work. You'll install a rack to carry work clothes, papers and groceries. Your quadriceps will begin to round and you'll discover that you can jump higher than you have in a while. The car will need an oil change, but it won't matter. Soon, you'll find a friend who asks you to ride a quick Horsetooth loop with them. You'll think, "I only like the flat stuff" but you'll go anyway. When you get to the top and see the reservoir on one side and Fort Collins stretched out to forever on the other and you'll feel a spiritual kinship with the power of your body, the Earth and human technology culminating in a sense of contentment.

After that, you'll start to travel. Fort Collins to Boulder for a luxury cycling overnight. Into the mountains, up Rist Canyon Road. The closer you get to an actual pass, the more miles you'll want to do.

Pretty soon, the Rio Grande will be calling, asking you to join their cycling crew and you'll compare miles over margs in Old Town. By this time, you'll be at your college athlete weight and other areas of your life will be improving because of this wonderful new stress reliever you found.

Then, it's Ride the Rockies time. Dinosaur Monument to Denver, or whatever the ride may be, but you'll be there. You'll think back to your pre-cycling days and wonder, "How did I ever not do this?" It will be like another lifetime, with the new, cycling lifestyle being much better for you and those around you.

All because you stopped at Odell Brewing to celebrate the finish of Ride the Rockies 2012. Not bad.