13 Mile Bike Ride and History Tours

While Ben and I were in Leadville we went on a 13 mile bike ride through the mountains. First I must preface by saying a 13 mile bike ride on level ground in Louisville would be hard for me. But go up a couple hundred feet in elevation and then add mountains; it was pretty hard until we got the hang of it. There were times we had to take a ‘water break’ because my thighs were spasming or my butt hurt to bad; but through all the hard times we had exponentially more good times. With all we learned, all we saw and the satisfaction of biking 13 miles we had so much fun. And we found that after the first 5 miles straight up there was a lot more down hill and gradual inclines that were much easier and less harsh on our untrained bodies!

This is the view of Leadville from the ride. It is such a cute and odd mining town but it is very happily situated!

It is beautiful in the mountains this time of year; the colors are changing, the air is crisp but still warm, there is a light breeze and it smells of pine. Leadville (where we were biking) is an old mining town from the 1800’s. There is a new mine there, the Climax mine (where Mat works), which has revived the town. We went on a bike ride up in the mountains around Leadville and got to see many of the old deserted mines from the 1800’s. It was amazing and a little unbelievable that these mines were created and operational. Back when the world was not half as advanced as we are now; they had pulley systems, drills, smelting processes and advanced underground architectural stability.

We stopped at one of the most famous mines, where there was a tour about the history. This was the site of the Matchless Mine and Baby Doe’s cabin. Taber was one of the wealthiest men in the United States back in the 1800’s because he struck silver in Leadville, CO. He built and ran half the town with ample amounts of money (even in today’s world) and was also a great political leader in Denver. He left his wife Augusta (a scandal in those days) and married Elizabeth Doe, commonly known as Baby Doe. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Silver Dollar, and then lost all their fortune because the worth of silver plummeted. Mr. Taber died shortly after leaving Baby Doe and the girls with nothing. They moved into the small cabin at the Matchless mine and soon after both girls left their mother for bigger better things. Baby Doe lived in this cabin for years until in her late 80’s she was found frozen to death on the cabin floor (it took over 20 men to dig the snow away from the door of the cabin to find her). It was very cool to learn this history and to be able to see the Mine and all the tools and things that went into it.

Ben standing in Baby Doe's Cabin. All the furniture was her's and all the pictures are of the history of the mine and the town.

Matchless Mine and Baby Doe's cabin

That afternoon (after we rested our aching behinds) we went to the National Mining Museum in Leadville. This museum exceeded my expectations (which sadly, were low). There was dioramas showing the evolution of mining, rooms that made you feel like you were underground with life like wax miners, there were hundreds of minerals and stones on display and descriptions on what they were used for. I must admit that the wax statues were a little scary and I jump and screamed out a couple times while rounding a corner. It was so interesting to go through this museum and put together some of the things we saw on our bike ride.

This is what the new mine, Climax, mines. There is a whole room dedicated to this mine, the history of Leadville and the uses of Molybdenum. Try saying Molybdenum 10 times fast!!

I have many more useless but super interesting facts about the Taber family and the mining process, if you ever care to know. It was such an adventure and so cool to learn this history. I am so glad we went and so happy that we had this time together.