June 2
Alright riding day 28 was finished yesterday with many milestones. First, my Dad and I are now without my Mom and her excellent support with the RV. She zoomed on ahead for home. Many thanks to you for being there for us! Much love!❤️ Second, we completed our second century, coming it at 104 miles. We really didn’t have an option, either bike 25 or 104 miles, nothing in between out here. Third, we are now 50% across the country! 2050 miles for our given route. Fourth, we are now in ColoRADo!! Feels so good to make it to our home state. Fifth, we survived our first hotel night on the trip. A 1-star in Eads… the 2 star was fully booked.
June 3
Day 29. We are now off the route until Waldon, CO. We veered north from Eads to go to Limon to make our way home. We rode 85 miles on the busy highway 287. It wasn’t too horrible as I knew they had a very large shoulder for bikers but certainly not a very enjoyable riding experience. The landscape has now turned to high dessert filled with sage brush and large ranch land. The town of Limon boasts it is Colorados Energy Center which includes over 800 wind turbines. Lots of wind centric artwork along Main Street, but I pushed the wrong button on the go pro so didn’t get a photo:(
June 4
Day 30 of riding and we are one day closer to home. Rode 55 miles from Limon to Franktown to stay with my friends Jenna Cappello We had a fair bit of gravel as we navigated out of Limon and a Google Maps navigation fail as we got close to Cappello’s neighborhood. Also had the first views of the Rockies! We arrived at 2pm which felt really great to have a shorter day and time to relax. Tomorrow we will ride 70 miles to Longmont and navigate over 40 miles of bike path through Denver and surroundings. And we will have some special guests joining.
June 5
Ride day 31: we rode 76 miles from south Denver to Longmont on Sunday. And we were escorted by three members of the Brute Squad (the mountain biking club I have been a part of for many years). The AAA cycling escort service, brought to you by Aaron, Andrew, and Adam. We biked over 40 miles of bike path including right through downtown Denver. Then my Dad drove me home to Lyons to see Rosie girl and I was showered with kisses. Jess came home a little while later. Ah it’s good to be home with my favorite girls. Will take several rest days at home and we continue our adventure on Friday!
June 6-9
Home sweet home! A nice break from my ass on the bike seat and some quality family time. We even closed on the sale of our house in Niwot! A productive time at home...
June 10
And the epic journey across the country starts up again (yesterday)! On day 32 we biked from Longmont to Estes Park. I felt so fortunate to live where we do and to have such wonderful family and friends nearby. We started from my parents house and had many folks join today. Aaron Johnson and his son Eliot joined until Hygiene (5 miles), Greg and Andrew joined until cinnamon rolls in Glen Haven (40 miles), Craig David joined the entire day, and even Rosie joined for the first 2 miles! We had a gorgeous bike up the canyon and spectacular views as we dropped down into Estes. Rosie and Anita drove ahead in the RV and stayed the night with us.
June 11
Day 33 was finished yesterday. It was a big one. Biking up and over Trail Ridge Road through RMNP. We ascended 4500ft in 20 miles and topped out at 12,100 ft. The high alpine is such a magical (and windy) spot. We were joined by some great friends again today, Craig David and Ian Maycumber climbed to the top with us and then turned back to Estes. Henry went all the way to the far end of the park and then turned back. We also saw a mom and baby moose. Roger Johnson and I kept biking to stay in Granby for the night. Anita Johnson will join us in a couple days with the RV again as we now travel NW towards Yellowstone.
June 12
Day 34 was a rather relaxing 55 mile ride traveling north through the middle of the Rockies. We rode through the initial burn area of the East Troublesome fire from 2020, a devastating fire that burned almost 200,000 acres and into RMNP. We crossed over the continental divide again so we are back on the Atlantic side. Ate lunch at a funky Yacht Club and stayed the night in a hotel with a hot tub in the small town of Walden. Tomorrow we will continue Northbound into Wyoming.
Reflections
- Colorado has some crappy roads but some really nice bike paths.
- Biking over trail ridge road and through Rocky Mountain National Park is a must for any cyclist
