On Sunday I went out to Garden of the Gods to the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile and 10k running race. I shot a bunch of photos. You can see a few below and there are links to 4 sets of photos.

Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4

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One of the cool things about living near the mountains in Colorado Springs is that we frequently see wildlife. The office I work in is right against the foothills north of Garden of the Gods. There’s a herd of big horn sheep living in the area of the old Queens Canyon Quarry.

Occasionally some of the big horn sheep come down on the ridge behind work and along 30th street. Most of the time they are high up on top the ridge but occasionally they come down lower. On April 21st, 2016, 14 of the rams were out on the ridge behind work and I was able to get some photos of them.

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The 2014 Dirty Du was in Ute Valley Park last Saturday. It started with a 5k run, followed by 9 miles of mountain bike and ending with another run on the 5k course. There were options to do it was an individual or on a team as a relay. Race results are here.

I went over and shot photos of the race. Here are some photos from the run portions. The full Dirty Du run photo set is here. The Dirty Du mountain bike photo set is here. You can purchase digital downloads or prints.

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The 2014 Dirty Du was in Ute Valley Park on Saturday. It started with a 5k run, followed by 9 miles of mountain bike and ending with another run on the 5k course. There were options to do it was an individual or on a team as a relay. Race results are here.

I went over and shot photos of the race. Here are some photos of the mountain bike portion. The full Dirty Du mountain bike photo set is here. You can purchase digital downloads or prints.

I’ll have run photos posted in the next few days.

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Pikes Peak South Slope open to public first time in 100 years this weekend and next Thur-Sun before it closes for the winter. A permit must be purchased before going or they won’t let you through the gate. Permits are $15 per vehicle for up to 8 people. Get the details on the Colorado Springs website.

I did a guided hike 4 years ago and have Pikes Peak South Slope photos and post here.

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This Saturday, September 13, will be the first of 3 work days this fall for the Manitou Incline. The other 2 are October 11th and November 1st.

Timberline Landscaping is doing the hard work on the Incline while it’s closed for repairs through the end of November/early December. They’ve been using a helicopter to move heavy equipment and material up to the steep part of the Incline.

This first work day for volunteers will be on the trail that connects the top of the Incline to Barr Trail. This connector trail has been a social trail with serious erosion issues and multiple paths. The social trails will be closed and a new sustainable trail will be built.

Participants must be 12 years or older, anyone under 18 must have a guardian accompany them during the workday. Check-in/late registration the morning of will begin at 7:30 a.m., in the Barr Parking Lot. The project will begin at 8 AM and end at 3:30 PM. Please come prepared to work the entire day and hike 3 miles up Barr Trail to the project work site.

Tools will be provided and brought to the project work site by staff. You will need to bring and hike with your own gloves, water, hat, sunscreen and lunch.

You can sign up by going to the Colorado Springs Parks and Rec volunteer page and searching with the keyword “incline”. The direct link for the September 13 work day is here

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I now have my 2014 Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb photos online. Prints or digital downloads can be purchased. For more about the race and ride, see my post from a couple days ago.

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Yesterday was the Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb. The Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb includes both a USAC race and a timed citizens ride. The cycling hill climb starts the same place as the auto hill climb. The course climbs over 4,700 feet in 12 miles to the summit of Pikes Peak at 14,115.

I helped hand out timing chips at the start line and then shot photos up on the mountain once the USAC race started. The weather at the start was similar to the past years but ominous clouds were building over the summit.

Once I headed up the mountain, I encountered strong winds and it got worse the higher I drove. Clouds were blowing throw so I was having trouble finding a well lit spot for shooting photos. Riders were getting blown around on the road by the wind gusts.

When I was shooting photos, I was shivering and kept jumping up and down in an attempt to stay a little warmer. At the last spot I stopped to shoot photos just before the summit, there was fog and the rocks were covered in ice.

Although the riders were working hard going up, I could only imagine how cold they were as some of them were in shorts and short sleeves. Although many riders sent warm clothes to the top for the ride down, they didn’t have warm enough clothes and were concerned about get blown around on the way down. The race organizers and whomever could shuttled people back down to the start where the weather was a pretty typical August day.

In spite of the weather, I shot a large number of photos. Prints and digital downloads are available on my Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb photo page. You can also check out my 2013 Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb photos.

Top 5 Men Pro/1/2

1. LeRoy Popowski 1:14:21
2. Emerson Oronte 1:16:14
3. Christopher Carr 1:17:32
4. Ian London 1:19:54
5. Kalan Beisel 1:21:36

Women Pro/1/2

1. Annie Toth 1:32:28
2. Lindsey Knast 1:37:21
3. Sue Stokes 1:42:56
4. Andrea Koenig 2:09:28

Complete results on BRAC website

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I had fun watching and shooting photos of some of the USA Pro Challenge in Garden of the Gods yesterday. I missed seeing one of the laps because of a phone call for work. It’s always amazing to see how fast the pros are when they’re going all out.

Top 5 for Stage 4

1. Elia Viviani
2. Martin Kohler
3. Serghei Tvetcov
4. Tyler Magner
5. Kiel Reijnen

Full Stage 4 Results

Top 5 Overall After Stage 4

1. Tejay van Garderen
2. Rafal Majka
3. Ben Hermans
4. Tom Danielson
5. Serghei Tvetcov

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The USA Pro Challenge is doing a circuit race in Colorado Springs today. It starts at the Broadmoor and then is doing 4 laps through Garden of the Gods and downtown. It should make for some good spectating.

The top standings overall going into today’s USA Pro Challenge stage 4 are as follows

1. Tejay van Garderen
2. Rafal Majka
3. Ben Hermans
4. Tom Danielson
5. Serghei Tvetcov

It took me a bit to track down the race numbers so that I’d have a list to check while watching the race. I’ve posted the list below. A couple things to note, each team has a block of number and the team leader’s race bib ends with a 1.

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