The 2016 Old Man Winter Rally, put on by Adventure Fit and Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO was a fun time.  I did the short, 50K course along with a friend.  This was my first ever organized ride and I really had a good time.

The weather was great.  A little brisk – hovering right around freezing, but sunny.  The roads had some snow on them from snowstorms earlier in the week, but overall the entire course was very rideable.  I hear that the super secret hidden singletrack on the long course was completely unrideable, but that was  pretty short stretch so no big deal.

Oskar Blues did a great job on the whole event.  The start/finish area had a booths set up giving out some goodies – buffs, hats, suncreen, lip balm, stickers, etc.  The start line was plenty roomy with nice long runout to spread people out.  I really liked that every intersection was manned and well marked.  It would have taken a serious effort to get lost on this course!  The halfway point was a good setup as well with refreshments and port-a-potties.  This was, incidentally, where I saw many of the long course riders coming through looking fresher that I was!

The after ride setup was pretty nice, too.  Everyone got a beer and a bowl of chili.  Overall, a pretty good setup and I’m planning on doing it again next year. Check it out at http://oldmanwinterrally.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/oldmanwinterrally.  Might even look into their summer ride, which they are kicking off this year – https://www.facebook.com/goldrushbikerally/.