Day 57: Dillon, CO
Chillin' in Dillon. Get it? The thin air has certainly gotten to us. We've spent the last three nights around 10,000 feet.
We left off in Eads, CO about to ride off to Ordway. From there on things have just been getting better and better. Hard to believe.
The ride was still FLAT. This is COLORADO. Something is WRONG. Johnny was concerned at this point that the Rockies had ceased to exist, and we were all a little on edge to see some terrestrial deviations. (That means rocks).
Ordway felt like a Western town, which was a relief since things still looked a lot like Kansas. We met up with the mayor of Ordway, Nancy and her husband Pete. She let us stay in the City Hall Meeting Room, which was PLUSH. TV, sink, VCR, and a horsehoe shaped desk reminiscent of a UN Summit meeting room. It got full use as the Guys on Bikes discussed their future plans.
There was to be a library meeting for a short while, so we crossed the street to get some dinner at Bits N' Spurs. There we met Roger and his dad Joe and had what we all agreed was the best meal of the trip so far - of course we all ordered the hamburger steak special, a side entree of Burritos, Flautas and Tacos and an appetizer of homemade chips and green chili. We vowed to come back in the morning, and the GOBs made good on their word. Roger and his dad were exactly the kind of people we were hoping to meet in Colorado - a former rodeo rider turned adventure kayaker. Joe was just cool in a cowboy hat, chewing on an unlit cigar. We saw one more dude there who later stopped us on the highway to say hi. It's nice running into people you know on the road.
We had a private matinee of Goodwill Hunting back at the City Hall Meeting Room, and then crashed for the night.
Day 54 - We packed up right quick the next morning to make it to Bits N' Spurs by 7:01am (they opened at 7) and there were Nancy and Pete who had gotten there at 7 sharp. Roger showed up a few minutes later. Something about that green chili forced you to return... We ordered the special again with a side order of breakfast burrito. These are important details! After breakfast we got a picture with the owner, a free berry blossom (a strudely thing covered with ice cream - we had four of them the night before, I neglected to mention) and poured out into the streets for hugs and goodbyes. The waitress from the night before showed up and gave us each a mom-like hug, Roger shook hands all around and we thanked Nancy and Pete profusely - it was the greatest day Ordway has ever known. Ok, they probably had a 100 year high school reunion that might have been bigger, but to us it sure felt like we belonged in Ordway.
Donna and Pete promised we'd see the Rockies on today's ride, so we hauled off a full 1mph faster than usual. Woo.
We saw nothing. I think I strained my right eye scanning the horizon for a sign of the Rockers, but saw nothing. We DID meet quite possibly the most interesting fellow of the trip - this dude named Matt. Matt cut an interesting figure with a complete gunbelt, pistol, horse and donkey, cowboy boots and a rifle. He was mapping the first entirely non-motorized trail from west coast to east coast and had been at it since SEPTEMBER, 2003. Up until this point we had thought we were pretty cool. As were talking to Matt the dude from Bit's N Spurs pulls up in the oldest loudest flatbed wrecker we've ever seen and stopped to say hello. What planet are we on?
We cruised into Pueblo still wondering what was up with the Rockies. Johnny at this point wanted to try a different direction and go off in search of the mountains. We were at our collective wits' end. I got so used to Jonathan destroying wheels that I forgot to tell you he thrashed his new one on the ride to Tribune. It was a little dicey because we didn't have 14 replacement spokes - his derailleur went over the top and ate his wheel to pieces. We actually called AAA and asked for a ride to Pueblo, but we got disconnected ... or they hung up. For some reason (aka God was watching over us!) LazyRay hung onto the OLD WHEEL for 4 DAYS instead of shipping it home. It wasn't in perfect shape, but it was usable and definitely a better option than hitchiking 100 miles to Pueblo, our next best option. The reason I told you that little anecdote was because we got his new wheel fixed in Pueblo. Sweet. We also bought a bunch of bike tubes because we are going through them like Jonathan goes through wheels.. or DaveyRay goes through tires... or Johnny goes through spokes... or Ryan goes through Clif bars.
From bike shop to laundromat. We met Betsi there and struck up a conversation, and after smelling our laundry she offered us her place to shower. After a second thought, she said "I'm not going to be there for the next few days - just crash there!" As the thunderheads loomed outside, we were all very thankful that this incredible woman would offer us her apartment without even learning our names! She gave us directions and left a note on her back door telling us we were at the right place. Unbelievable. We tuned up our bikes in the backyard and met all her neighbors - Leo, Becca and Leah. Once again we were saved from another set of thunderstorms by complete and utter kindness and hospitality. Thank you Betsi! An interesting highlight at Betsi's house was Johnny supergluing his fingers together while trying to fix his bike helmet. All five on one hand. I had to cut them apart with a knife. It was spectacular.
Between the laundromat and Betsi's we managed to stop by the Tea House Chinese place and put it out of business.
Day 55 was gorgeous, and made even better with a McDonald's deluxe breakfast. There was a sign over our booth saying we had to eat in less than 30 minutes or they would call the police. Whatever happened to the subtle yet effective uncomfortable seats?
A couple miles out of Pueblo a magical tranformation occurred. The prairies turned to dry canyons and we started climbing. The big moment came as we crested a hill outside of Pueblo and saw the Rockies stretched out before us. Johnny got out the video camera and recorded me taking pictures of him recording (tell me if I've used that one before). Johnny's concern about the Rockies not being where they were supposed to be vanished and we enjoyed a beautiful ride with the mountains creeping closer and closer every minute. All of us cruised off the shoulder a few times while staring up at the behemoths before us.
We ran into a car coming the other way... I mean, someone stopped to talk to us. Kathy and her husband Clarence were Eastbounders, her driving the car and Clarence riding a rather glamorous racing bikes with hardly any spokes. They filled us with anticipation of what was ahead - buffalo and pronghorn antelope and jackalope. I think they were joking about Jackalope, but we really weren't sure at the time - we were vulnerable from seeing the mountains for the first time and ready to believe anything.
We stopped to eat lunch in Wetmore at Wet Mountain Country Store and made up some salami and cheese sandwiches. We were hungry and figured it was an uphill battle to the next town, so we crashed for a while. There were hummingbirds on the feeder outside.
The next town was an unbelievable 11 miles DOWNHILL. We were very confused. Florence was a string of unique looking shops and fun cafes that served much much more than salami sandwiches. Oh well. Jonathan and I stopped a little way outside of town at a sign that said "fresh peaches" and ended up meeting a fascinating Mr. Harold Thomas Witcher who has lived in Colorado for 83 years. As we pulled up to his garage where he kept his peaches, he started cutting up a canteloupe and said "I'm glad you boys stopped in" and proceeded to feed us fruit and stories of his life. He fought in WWII, landed on Normandy on D-Day, built bridges all the way to Berlin and lived out his days in Colorado as a trucker. His father was a engineer who worked on the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, which we would see the next day. He was definitely a highlight of an already amazing day. He sent us off with two more peaches for Daveyray and Johnny and a good feeling in our guts. I love this country.
As we started the final climb from Canon City to Royal Gorge, Johnny started whooping at the Go Kart place on our right. Of course we pull in, buy four tickets, and proceed to terrorize all the nice other people who didn't happen to be wearing matching uniforms and didn't bring their own crash helmets. Good times. Johnny feels that he won the race, even though his car didn't finish first. Weird.
Of course we make a group decision to press on to Royal Gorge and eat there, figuring there would be SOME option in such a touristy area. Oops. Eight miles of climbing later we find out there is one frozed pizza in Royal Gorge and it's been there as long as the suspension bridge has. We panic, call the campground, call our moms, call ANYBODY... and suddenly the lady we're askign has a flash of insight - "There's aDairy Queen about a quarter mile up the road!" Saved! We storm the DQ and freak out Sammy and Mike behind the counter. We order everything, sing happy birthday to Sammy in a key way to high for four dudes, and demand the largest dessert ever created by man. This is a worthy challenge to bored high school kids and they actually created what looked like a 1/2 gallon of soft serve with a little bit of everything thrown in. We were ecstatic.
As we left DQ we rode an incredible two mile downill into what has to be the greatest sunset I have ever seen. We're in the rockies.
The campsite at Royal Gorge was actually a big pavilion owned by the rafting place we made reservations with - Dvorak Rafting. It has cool army tents already set up, a giant fireplace under a pavilion with CHRISTMAS LIGHTS everywhere and is right on the Arkansas River. Three industrial strength showers topped it off - this was living.
Tracee met up with us the next morning, just in time to go whitewater rafting through the gorge. Of course given the dinner situation the night before, the Guys on Bikes had no breakfast. We talked to Kelly, who was later to be our raft guide - she whipped up a batch of pancakes worthy of four hungry bikes. Amen! Later on the river, Kelly and Ivan were our patient guides and didn't get that frustrated even though we couldn't hear their commands over our yelling and whooping. After a while we just hit each other with paddles to get someone to stop rowing. Of course Johnny "fell in". The gorge was... beautiful. The suspension bridge was way overhead, the train would pass by on our left with people waving, and we saw old water pipes, pumphouses and buildings from the turn of the century. It was good fun. Afterwards napped and read and napped some more, and then drove to Canon City for a giant meal of Mexican food at El Corporal. It was a sight to behold, I think Tracee was a little shocked.
We watched another amazing sunset, roasted smores over a giant fire in the giant fireplace and crashed after another incredible day.
Tracee hauled our gear and we hauled bunnies on Day 55. We rode our planned day's ride to Schechter Hostel, breezed right by the hostel and rode all of the next day's ride to Fairplay, and then kept going to Alma just 6 miles short of the Continental Divide. Seventy seven miles of climbing through the heart of the Rockies and we rocked it.
Almost unanimously we agreed that this was the most amazing ride to date. We rode 22 miles to Guffey and ate at Peaceful Henry's. The four dudes ordered six breakfasteses amongst them, and again Tracee was a bit astonished at the gorgery. It was fantastic. We stayed for a while longer for the church service at 1pm IN PEACEFUL HENRY'S! The sermon was perfect, talking about trusting God even when you can't see exactly where He is leading you. He even used some biking examples just to make us feel special - it worked. The people of Guffey were just great and were really interested in what we were doing. The town itself was unique - four antique shops and a lot of weird art all over. It felt like we had found a place few people had discovered.
The ride continued and we climbed from about 6,200 feet up to 10,500 feet through Currant Creek Pass. We met Leland who ran the country store in Hartsel on the way to Fairplay and he reassured us we would find a place to stay if we pressed on - he was right! We rode through a hailstorm, saw a double arched rainbow and had towering mountains all around us every step of the way. We drafted Tracee's car for a while so we looked like professional racers. Johnny the Cheater even hung onto her door for some of the hardest hills. When we got to Fairplay, we bought some Subway subs and took a risk, pressing on towards Alma without knowing exactly what we would find. We'd heard there was a city park there and that the one cop in town was friendly. Good enough for us! It got late and dark and cold, but the Lord provided us a BIKE PATH exactly from Fairplay to Alma, the only bike path we've had to date for our only night ride to date. Riding in traffic at night is DANGEROUS, but we had our own road the whole way... Sometimes I wonder who is planning this trip... but then I'm convinced it's not us.
We arrived in Alma at 10,500 feet and found the city park had a perfect pavilion, open restrooms and a bar open on Sunday night with greate hot chocolate and the Olympics on TV. God is good. A friend of ours from Virginia, Levi, moved out here a year and a half ago and he rode a couple hours out of Colorado Springs just to camp with us in the freezing cold. He was planning on climbing Quandary Peak the next day, but remembered he had a meeting the next morning so just camped out for the night and left us everything we needed for lunch and breakfast the next day. Talk about a good friend!
Day 56 started off frozen. It was below freezing when we woke up in Alma. We put on ALL our clothes and made a beeline to the coffe shop where we planned the day's climb to the top of Quandary Peak, one of Colorado's "14ers". A 14er is a mountain over 14,000 feet. That's right, Moms!
Levi helped us plan out the climb and gave Johnny a ride over to Hoosier Pass since he had broken a spoke the day before. At that point we weren't sure we would have time to summit the mountain if we spent the time fixing his spoke, as afternoon thunderstorms tend to roll in forcing climbers off the mountain around 2 pm. Daveyray, Jonathan and I biked the six miles up to Hoosier Pass and the Continental Divide, four of it uphill. We met Spenser, Angela, Riley and Buffy at the top and got a picture. Buffy and Riley were dogs, Spenser is Daveyray's friend from Saranac Lake and Angela is his daughter. We zoomed two miles down to the trailhead of Quandary Peak and Angela led the six of us up the trail. Jonathan took one for the team and drove Tracee's car 80 miles back to Guffey to pick up our mail. We didn't get it in Guffey the first time because it was Sunday. Life is like that sometimes.
Spenser and Angela and Buffy and Riley left us about halfway through the climb for an appointment with Breckenridge Pizza place and Tracee, Johnny, Daveyray and I headed to the top. It's hard to explain exactly, but it sure felt like being on top of the world. The mountains we had cycled among were now stretched out before us. We looked down on thunderstorms, on the trail we climbed, on the Continental Divide, on everything. It was the highest point on the tip in a lot of ways. As if we weren't feeling close enough to the Lord, we found a verse scribbled on a piece of paper at the top -
Psalm 121 -
I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD , the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
It was hard coming down from the mountain. It helped that near the treeline we ran into a troupe of birds that ate trail mix out of our hands. That certainly eased our transition. Jonathan met us at the bottom, we caught our breath and pressed on.
We rode the rest of the way from Quandarydownhill to Breckenridge, breezed through Breckenridge with just a short stop for Crepes, and on to Frisco where we met up with Spenser again for the final ride to Dillon. A full day of climbing and a full day of biking. We needed a rest. The beauty here in Colorado is almost overwhelming.
We spent the night at Spenser and Deb and Angela's place in Dillon and weren't much for socializing. We mustered enough energy to open our EIGHT PACKAGES (THANK YOU EVERYONE) and whoop a few times, and then ate a big spaghetti dinner from our wonderful host family and slept very soundly.
The next day the five of us (five? Tracee came with us, silly!) headed into Breckenridge and browsed the shops. I don't know about everyone else, I felt like a bearded alien. We've been out on the road for a while. Still fun, but I am starting to shy away from Sunglass Hut. It's too much.
Johnny and Daveyray recuperated in the afternoon, Tracee headed back to Denver to get some more friends (THANK YOU TRACEE FOR CARRYING OUR STUFF AND LETTING US LIVE OUT OF YOUR CAR) and Jonathan and Spenser and I went 4 wheelin' up in the mountains. It was ... unbelievable. Despite the rain and cold I whined until Spenser took the Jeep top down so I could stand up in the back seat and hang onto the rollbar. I seriously got a stomacheache on the way home from being so excited. We drove all over creation and Jonathan and I are taking aspirin today for our sore smiles. Spenser rocks. We ate burgers last night to celebrate.
Today we head on to Kremmling and begin to leave the Rockies. Thank you SO MUCH to Spenser and Deb and Angela for putting us up and putting up with us. We're smitten with Colorado.
If you've stuck with this blog entry this far, you're hardcore. You may want to open up a Word Document or print something out so you look busy. Thanks for being a fan, we feel like you're on the trip with us!
Thanks again for all the packages, too. We'll be scheduling another post office drop soon, but you may want to send letters of encouragement this time. We're making Power Bar soup tonight for dinner.
We left off in Eads, CO about to ride off to Ordway. From there on things have just been getting better and better. Hard to believe.
The ride was still FLAT. This is COLORADO. Something is WRONG. Johnny was concerned at this point that the Rockies had ceased to exist, and we were all a little on edge to see some terrestrial deviations. (That means rocks).
Ordway felt like a Western town, which was a relief since things still looked a lot like Kansas. We met up with the mayor of Ordway, Nancy and her husband Pete. She let us stay in the City Hall Meeting Room, which was PLUSH. TV, sink, VCR, and a horsehoe shaped desk reminiscent of a UN Summit meeting room. It got full use as the Guys on Bikes discussed their future plans.
There was to be a library meeting for a short while, so we crossed the street to get some dinner at Bits N' Spurs. There we met Roger and his dad Joe and had what we all agreed was the best meal of the trip so far - of course we all ordered the hamburger steak special, a side entree of Burritos, Flautas and Tacos and an appetizer of homemade chips and green chili. We vowed to come back in the morning, and the GOBs made good on their word. Roger and his dad were exactly the kind of people we were hoping to meet in Colorado - a former rodeo rider turned adventure kayaker. Joe was just cool in a cowboy hat, chewing on an unlit cigar. We saw one more dude there who later stopped us on the highway to say hi. It's nice running into people you know on the road.
We had a private matinee of Goodwill Hunting back at the City Hall Meeting Room, and then crashed for the night.
Day 54 - We packed up right quick the next morning to make it to Bits N' Spurs by 7:01am (they opened at 7) and there were Nancy and Pete who had gotten there at 7 sharp. Roger showed up a few minutes later. Something about that green chili forced you to return... We ordered the special again with a side order of breakfast burrito. These are important details! After breakfast we got a picture with the owner, a free berry blossom (a strudely thing covered with ice cream - we had four of them the night before, I neglected to mention) and poured out into the streets for hugs and goodbyes. The waitress from the night before showed up and gave us each a mom-like hug, Roger shook hands all around and we thanked Nancy and Pete profusely - it was the greatest day Ordway has ever known. Ok, they probably had a 100 year high school reunion that might have been bigger, but to us it sure felt like we belonged in Ordway.
Donna and Pete promised we'd see the Rockies on today's ride, so we hauled off a full 1mph faster than usual. Woo.
We saw nothing. I think I strained my right eye scanning the horizon for a sign of the Rockers, but saw nothing. We DID meet quite possibly the most interesting fellow of the trip - this dude named Matt. Matt cut an interesting figure with a complete gunbelt, pistol, horse and donkey, cowboy boots and a rifle. He was mapping the first entirely non-motorized trail from west coast to east coast and had been at it since SEPTEMBER, 2003. Up until this point we had thought we were pretty cool. As were talking to Matt the dude from Bit's N Spurs pulls up in the oldest loudest flatbed wrecker we've ever seen and stopped to say hello. What planet are we on?
We cruised into Pueblo still wondering what was up with the Rockies. Johnny at this point wanted to try a different direction and go off in search of the mountains. We were at our collective wits' end. I got so used to Jonathan destroying wheels that I forgot to tell you he thrashed his new one on the ride to Tribune. It was a little dicey because we didn't have 14 replacement spokes - his derailleur went over the top and ate his wheel to pieces. We actually called AAA and asked for a ride to Pueblo, but we got disconnected ... or they hung up. For some reason (aka God was watching over us!) LazyRay hung onto the OLD WHEEL for 4 DAYS instead of shipping it home. It wasn't in perfect shape, but it was usable and definitely a better option than hitchiking 100 miles to Pueblo, our next best option. The reason I told you that little anecdote was because we got his new wheel fixed in Pueblo. Sweet. We also bought a bunch of bike tubes because we are going through them like Jonathan goes through wheels.. or DaveyRay goes through tires... or Johnny goes through spokes... or Ryan goes through Clif bars.
From bike shop to laundromat. We met Betsi there and struck up a conversation, and after smelling our laundry she offered us her place to shower. After a second thought, she said "I'm not going to be there for the next few days - just crash there!" As the thunderheads loomed outside, we were all very thankful that this incredible woman would offer us her apartment without even learning our names! She gave us directions and left a note on her back door telling us we were at the right place. Unbelievable. We tuned up our bikes in the backyard and met all her neighbors - Leo, Becca and Leah. Once again we were saved from another set of thunderstorms by complete and utter kindness and hospitality. Thank you Betsi! An interesting highlight at Betsi's house was Johnny supergluing his fingers together while trying to fix his bike helmet. All five on one hand. I had to cut them apart with a knife. It was spectacular.
Between the laundromat and Betsi's we managed to stop by the Tea House Chinese place and put it out of business.
Day 55 was gorgeous, and made even better with a McDonald's deluxe breakfast. There was a sign over our booth saying we had to eat in less than 30 minutes or they would call the police. Whatever happened to the subtle yet effective uncomfortable seats?
A couple miles out of Pueblo a magical tranformation occurred. The prairies turned to dry canyons and we started climbing. The big moment came as we crested a hill outside of Pueblo and saw the Rockies stretched out before us. Johnny got out the video camera and recorded me taking pictures of him recording (tell me if I've used that one before). Johnny's concern about the Rockies not being where they were supposed to be vanished and we enjoyed a beautiful ride with the mountains creeping closer and closer every minute. All of us cruised off the shoulder a few times while staring up at the behemoths before us.
We ran into a car coming the other way... I mean, someone stopped to talk to us. Kathy and her husband Clarence were Eastbounders, her driving the car and Clarence riding a rather glamorous racing bikes with hardly any spokes. They filled us with anticipation of what was ahead - buffalo and pronghorn antelope and jackalope. I think they were joking about Jackalope, but we really weren't sure at the time - we were vulnerable from seeing the mountains for the first time and ready to believe anything.
We stopped to eat lunch in Wetmore at Wet Mountain Country Store and made up some salami and cheese sandwiches. We were hungry and figured it was an uphill battle to the next town, so we crashed for a while. There were hummingbirds on the feeder outside.
The next town was an unbelievable 11 miles DOWNHILL. We were very confused. Florence was a string of unique looking shops and fun cafes that served much much more than salami sandwiches. Oh well. Jonathan and I stopped a little way outside of town at a sign that said "fresh peaches" and ended up meeting a fascinating Mr. Harold Thomas Witcher who has lived in Colorado for 83 years. As we pulled up to his garage where he kept his peaches, he started cutting up a canteloupe and said "I'm glad you boys stopped in" and proceeded to feed us fruit and stories of his life. He fought in WWII, landed on Normandy on D-Day, built bridges all the way to Berlin and lived out his days in Colorado as a trucker. His father was a engineer who worked on the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, which we would see the next day. He was definitely a highlight of an already amazing day. He sent us off with two more peaches for Daveyray and Johnny and a good feeling in our guts. I love this country.
As we started the final climb from Canon City to Royal Gorge, Johnny started whooping at the Go Kart place on our right. Of course we pull in, buy four tickets, and proceed to terrorize all the nice other people who didn't happen to be wearing matching uniforms and didn't bring their own crash helmets. Good times. Johnny feels that he won the race, even though his car didn't finish first. Weird.
Of course we make a group decision to press on to Royal Gorge and eat there, figuring there would be SOME option in such a touristy area. Oops. Eight miles of climbing later we find out there is one frozed pizza in Royal Gorge and it's been there as long as the suspension bridge has. We panic, call the campground, call our moms, call ANYBODY... and suddenly the lady we're askign has a flash of insight - "There's aDairy Queen about a quarter mile up the road!" Saved! We storm the DQ and freak out Sammy and Mike behind the counter. We order everything, sing happy birthday to Sammy in a key way to high for four dudes, and demand the largest dessert ever created by man. This is a worthy challenge to bored high school kids and they actually created what looked like a 1/2 gallon of soft serve with a little bit of everything thrown in. We were ecstatic.
As we left DQ we rode an incredible two mile downill into what has to be the greatest sunset I have ever seen. We're in the rockies.
The campsite at Royal Gorge was actually a big pavilion owned by the rafting place we made reservations with - Dvorak Rafting. It has cool army tents already set up, a giant fireplace under a pavilion with CHRISTMAS LIGHTS everywhere and is right on the Arkansas River. Three industrial strength showers topped it off - this was living.
Tracee met up with us the next morning, just in time to go whitewater rafting through the gorge. Of course given the dinner situation the night before, the Guys on Bikes had no breakfast. We talked to Kelly, who was later to be our raft guide - she whipped up a batch of pancakes worthy of four hungry bikes. Amen! Later on the river, Kelly and Ivan were our patient guides and didn't get that frustrated even though we couldn't hear their commands over our yelling and whooping. After a while we just hit each other with paddles to get someone to stop rowing. Of course Johnny "fell in". The gorge was... beautiful. The suspension bridge was way overhead, the train would pass by on our left with people waving, and we saw old water pipes, pumphouses and buildings from the turn of the century. It was good fun. Afterwards napped and read and napped some more, and then drove to Canon City for a giant meal of Mexican food at El Corporal. It was a sight to behold, I think Tracee was a little shocked.
We watched another amazing sunset, roasted smores over a giant fire in the giant fireplace and crashed after another incredible day.
Tracee hauled our gear and we hauled bunnies on Day 55. We rode our planned day's ride to Schechter Hostel, breezed right by the hostel and rode all of the next day's ride to Fairplay, and then kept going to Alma just 6 miles short of the Continental Divide. Seventy seven miles of climbing through the heart of the Rockies and we rocked it.
Almost unanimously we agreed that this was the most amazing ride to date. We rode 22 miles to Guffey and ate at Peaceful Henry's. The four dudes ordered six breakfasteses amongst them, and again Tracee was a bit astonished at the gorgery. It was fantastic. We stayed for a while longer for the church service at 1pm IN PEACEFUL HENRY'S! The sermon was perfect, talking about trusting God even when you can't see exactly where He is leading you. He even used some biking examples just to make us feel special - it worked. The people of Guffey were just great and were really interested in what we were doing. The town itself was unique - four antique shops and a lot of weird art all over. It felt like we had found a place few people had discovered.
The ride continued and we climbed from about 6,200 feet up to 10,500 feet through Currant Creek Pass. We met Leland who ran the country store in Hartsel on the way to Fairplay and he reassured us we would find a place to stay if we pressed on - he was right! We rode through a hailstorm, saw a double arched rainbow and had towering mountains all around us every step of the way. We drafted Tracee's car for a while so we looked like professional racers. Johnny the Cheater even hung onto her door for some of the hardest hills. When we got to Fairplay, we bought some Subway subs and took a risk, pressing on towards Alma without knowing exactly what we would find. We'd heard there was a city park there and that the one cop in town was friendly. Good enough for us! It got late and dark and cold, but the Lord provided us a BIKE PATH exactly from Fairplay to Alma, the only bike path we've had to date for our only night ride to date. Riding in traffic at night is DANGEROUS, but we had our own road the whole way... Sometimes I wonder who is planning this trip... but then I'm convinced it's not us.
We arrived in Alma at 10,500 feet and found the city park had a perfect pavilion, open restrooms and a bar open on Sunday night with greate hot chocolate and the Olympics on TV. God is good. A friend of ours from Virginia, Levi, moved out here a year and a half ago and he rode a couple hours out of Colorado Springs just to camp with us in the freezing cold. He was planning on climbing Quandary Peak the next day, but remembered he had a meeting the next morning so just camped out for the night and left us everything we needed for lunch and breakfast the next day. Talk about a good friend!
Day 56 started off frozen. It was below freezing when we woke up in Alma. We put on ALL our clothes and made a beeline to the coffe shop where we planned the day's climb to the top of Quandary Peak, one of Colorado's "14ers". A 14er is a mountain over 14,000 feet. That's right, Moms!
Levi helped us plan out the climb and gave Johnny a ride over to Hoosier Pass since he had broken a spoke the day before. At that point we weren't sure we would have time to summit the mountain if we spent the time fixing his spoke, as afternoon thunderstorms tend to roll in forcing climbers off the mountain around 2 pm. Daveyray, Jonathan and I biked the six miles up to Hoosier Pass and the Continental Divide, four of it uphill. We met Spenser, Angela, Riley and Buffy at the top and got a picture. Buffy and Riley were dogs, Spenser is Daveyray's friend from Saranac Lake and Angela is his daughter. We zoomed two miles down to the trailhead of Quandary Peak and Angela led the six of us up the trail. Jonathan took one for the team and drove Tracee's car 80 miles back to Guffey to pick up our mail. We didn't get it in Guffey the first time because it was Sunday. Life is like that sometimes.
Spenser and Angela and Buffy and Riley left us about halfway through the climb for an appointment with Breckenridge Pizza place and Tracee, Johnny, Daveyray and I headed to the top. It's hard to explain exactly, but it sure felt like being on top of the world. The mountains we had cycled among were now stretched out before us. We looked down on thunderstorms, on the trail we climbed, on the Continental Divide, on everything. It was the highest point on the tip in a lot of ways. As if we weren't feeling close enough to the Lord, we found a verse scribbled on a piece of paper at the top -
Psalm 121 -
It was hard coming down from the mountain. It helped that near the treeline we ran into a troupe of birds that ate trail mix out of our hands. That certainly eased our transition. Jonathan met us at the bottom, we caught our breath and pressed on.
We rode the rest of the way from Quandary
We spent the night at Spenser and Deb and Angela's place in Dillon and weren't much for socializing. We mustered enough energy to open our EIGHT PACKAGES (THANK YOU EVERYONE) and whoop a few times, and then ate a big spaghetti dinner from our wonderful host family and slept very soundly.
The next day the five of us (five? Tracee came with us, silly!) headed into Breckenridge and browsed the shops. I don't know about everyone else, I felt like a bearded alien. We've been out on the road for a while. Still fun, but I am starting to shy away from Sunglass Hut. It's too much.
Johnny and Daveyray recuperated in the afternoon, Tracee headed back to Denver to get some more friends (THANK YOU TRACEE FOR CARRYING OUR STUFF AND LETTING US LIVE OUT OF YOUR CAR) and Jonathan and Spenser and I went 4 wheelin' up in the mountains. It was ... unbelievable. Despite the rain and cold I whined until Spenser took the Jeep top down so I could stand up in the back seat and hang onto the rollbar. I seriously got a stomacheache on the way home from being so excited. We drove all over creation and Jonathan and I are taking aspirin today for our sore smiles. Spenser rocks. We ate burgers last night to celebrate.
Today we head on to Kremmling and begin to leave the Rockies. Thank you SO MUCH to Spenser and Deb and Angela for putting us up and putting up with us. We're smitten with Colorado.
If you've stuck with this blog entry this far, you're hardcore. You may want to open up a Word Document or print something out so you look busy. Thanks for being a fan, we feel like you're on the trip with us!
Thanks again for all the packages, too. We'll be scheduling another post office drop soon, but you may want to send letters of encouragement this time. We're making Power Bar soup tonight for dinner.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home