A few minutes from Golden's brewery smoke and red-brick downtown, the road tilts upward and begins a series of switchbacks that make Lookout Mountain Road feel like a proper mountain pass. The views build quickly: first the town and the creek below, then the whole Front Range plain spread out to the east, Denver's towers a faint cluster in the haze. On a clear evening the light on the city is worth the ride on its own.
This is the high point of the Lariat Loop, a scenic route built to showcase the mountains west of Denver. The road itself was completed in the early twentieth century, and it carries a lot of history. Near the summit is the grave of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, who died in 1917 and asked, so the story goes, to be buried on a mountaintop overlooking the plains. A small museum beside the grave tells his story, with all its showmanship and some of its complications. Whatever you think of the legend, the site has a fine, windy outlook.
The riding is tight and rhythmic. The switchbacks are well-engineered and steady in gradient, but they are narrow, and the road is popular with cyclists who climb it as a training run, so take care on blind turns. Weekend mornings can be crowded. Early weekday rides or late evening runs are quieter and let you enjoy the corners, though in the dark you will want to watch for deer. Wind can be strong on the exposed bends near the top, and summer storms build quickly over the foothills.
Golden, three kilometres below, is a real town with fuel, groceries, and plenty of food. It is also the home of a famous brewery that gives tours, though a rider will prefer a coffee. The geology around here is worth a glance: tilted sandstone ridges, flatirons, and the dramatic mesa of North Table Mountain across the valley, all products of the uplift that created the Rockies. Pull off at the viewpoint, take a few photographs, and then go back down for lunch, remembering that the downhill needs your brakes more than the climb needed your throttle.