Rollinsville to Tolland.

ROW for the 1881 Denver, Utah & Pacific the highest standard-gauge railroad in the world, across the top here going to Rollins Pass.

A week ago on Saturday I did about 11 miles, 5.5 miles east on Magnolia Road from the Peak to Peak Highway and back. Temperatures were in the low 30s, with a stiff December breeze coming down off the continental divide.

Today it was just over 10 miles, up the Tolland Road from Rollinsville under similar conditions. This is the course for the Joe Colton's Off-Road Adventure Run I've done several times, so I'm familiar with the terrain.

Though my Garmin.Connect doesn't allow printing functions, doing a Print Screen and converting to jpg gives me a good way to summarize the run.

This road follows the original right of way for the early--narrow-gauge--railroad. Hence, its 4% grade. As usual for this run, it's into the prevailing wind off the continental divide, today fairly steady at 15-20 mph. With air temps once again in the low 30s, it was a good challenge going up. I wore three layers on top, two on bottom, and had a good poly running hat and excellent running gloves. I needed it all.

This is a classic high-country Colorado run, along the upper stretches of South Boulder Creek, with steep forested walls the entire distance.








At the upper end the road opens up to a spectacular view of the Indian Peaks and James Peak Wilderness Area, where the Rollins Pass crosses the continental divide on its way to Winter Park  and its ski resort.

It's not, however, a serene run, despite the setting. Because it leads to a major outdoor recreation area, trucks, cars, SUVs pass by about every five minutes, requiring fairly constant vigilance from the runner.

Nonetheless, it's a beautiful setting and a splendid run.

The road, along the north-facing wall of the canyon, today was primarily snow and ice covered, with sections of bare gravel where the terrain allows some full sun. I got by fine without yaktrax, though wouldn't have objected to shoes with studs. I'll need to follow up with that plan with the Boulder runner I contacted last year.

On the way up I actually stopped at mile four, thinking I probably shouldn't push myself too far under these conditions. That would have made for an eight-mile run. I turned around and began running back down the canyon, When I discovered how easy it was, downhill and with the wind at my back, I thought, "heck, if going down is going to be this easy I can do another 12 or 13 minutes uphill and make my ten-mile goal."

So I reversed action, went on into the wind another mile, and that put me into the plateau at Tolland. It was a good decision--worked out exactly as I'd hoped.

My times going up average 13:30 min/miles, with HR in the 140's. I should probably have stayed with my goal of keeping my HR below 134, but actually didn't want to be out in the cold for that additional time--that would have probably meant speeds closer to 15:00 min/mile.

The down hill was smooth and easy, though my back actually got cold from the wind driving into it. Pace was closer to 11:30 min/mile, with HR in my target low 130's range.

By the time I got back to my truck in Rollinsville, I'd worked up a good sweat. I was more than happy to arrive back home to a hot shower, a happy dog and a good meal.