The ride's name points to Pikes Peak, which is far to the south; the country here is Weld County, a vast plain of wheat, cattle and oil derricks stretching away north-east of Denver. Weld County is among the largest agricultural counties in the United States, and the roads here carry grain trucks, tanker lorries and the occasional horse trailer.
The South Platte River crosses the district, and its valley has fed the region since the nineteenth century, when irrigation ditches turned dry ground into farmland. Sugar beets, corn and onions grow along the river, and cattle feedlots stand on the plains behind. Further north-east, the Pawnee National Grassland, with its low sandstone buttes, is among the best remaining areas of shortgrass prairie in Colorado, and its skies are loud with larks in spring. The lark bunting, the state bird, nests in the grass, and the males perform fluttering song flights above the fields.
The riding is wide, flat and quiet. Roads follow a strict grid and run for miles without a bend, and the surface is usually good, though truck traffic has chewed some of the edges. Wind is a constant companion, and in summer thunderstorms build quickly, with big hail. In winter, blizzards can close roads, and ground blizzards reduce visibility to nothing. A rider should expect big skies and little else, and plan fuel carefully.
Fuel is available in Keenesburg and Kersey, as well as at Fort Lupton, but between them are long gaps, so take on fuel whenever you can. Small cafes serve a plain meal of eggs, burgers and coffee, and the owners are friendly to passing riders. Mobile coverage is good in most places, and patchy in the deepest country.
The ride begins and ends in the same area, and the quiet is the main thing: a place to hear the wind in the grass, watch hawks on the fence posts and see the stars at night.