September 2025 Bike & Hike Adventures
My September adventures are all about altitude and attitude. My first bike/camping adventure is in Colorado where I’ll be riding two exciting trails. The first is the Rio Grande Trail on Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, where I’ll be cycling the Rio Grande Trail — a 42-mile ride from Aspen to Glenwood Springs. Following the path of the old Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the trail winds gently downhill through breathtaking mountain scenery, rushing rivers, and wide-open valleys.
What makes this ride special isn’t just the beauty — it’s the sense of connection between past and present. Where trains once carried goods and people, the trail now carries cyclists and adventurers chasing freedom on two wheels. For me, it’s another chance to prove that age is no barrier to bold journeys, and that every ride is an opportunity to discover wonder along the way.
Exploring the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Trail
Next on the adventure list is the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Trail, a stunning ride carved between sheer canyon walls and the roaring Colorado River. Stretching 16 miles, this path offers sweeping views, rushing water beside your wheels, and the exhilaration of pedaling through one of Colorado’s most dramatic landscapes. It’s less about speed and more about soaking in the power and beauty of nature, one mile at a time.
Following the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Trail I’m off to attend a four day Rocky Mountain Bikepacking Expo in Bailey, Colorado. This is a four-day bikepacking community event taking place at Rustic Creek Ranch, near Bailey, CO, in the scenic Buffalo Creek area. Hosted by Bikepacking Roots, it’s more than an expo. It’s a gathering of people who believe the best way to experience the world is by pedaling through it, carrying only what you need, and finding freedom on the open trail.
There will be rides for every level, hands-on workshops, storytelling by the campfire, and an Expo packed with gear makers and bikepackers eager to share their craft. Whether you’re brand new to bikepacking or have ridden across states, this event is about connection — with nature, with others, and with the wild parts of yourself that still crave challenge. For me, this expo is another reminder that adventure doesn’t retire.
Following the expo I’m moving on Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs, Colorado area for a non-biking adventure to climb Manitou Incline trail in Manitou Springs, Colorado, that doesn’t so much invite you as it dares you. The Manitou Incline is just under a mile long, but in that short distance it climbs nearly 2,000 feet straight up the side of a mountain. It’s a staircase of old railway ties — 2,768 steps that test your legs, lungs, and most of all, your will.
Why am I taking on something like this at 76? Because I think every step is a reminder that aging is not about decline, it’s an opportunity. The Manitou Incline is the perfect metaphor for this stage of life: steep, demanding, sometimes overwhelming, but always leading upward if you keep moving.
The strategy is simple, establish a rhythm early on, climb in bursts of 20–40 steps, pause to breathe, then repeat. Don’t rush, the Incline punishes impatience. The altitude will challenge my breathing, the false summit will test my resolve, and the final push will ask whether I still believe I can. That’s why I’m excited about taking it on as an adventure.
The Incline isn’t about how fast I can get to the top. It’s about proving that movement is still the language of possibility. Every step of the climb is a choice: quit or continue, surrender or rise. And I’m sure that when I reach the final step, I’ll feel a surge of gratitude for the gift of strength, for the stubbornness to keep going, and for the reminder that adventure doesn’t end when the calendar says it should.
The Manitou Incline is more than a hike. It’s my declaration: I am still here, still moving, still saying yes to challenges that make life feel wildly alive.
