Colorado's first daisy siting, on Vail Mountain!
I had a wonderful rest of 5 days off the bike. Thought it would be more difficult to motivate to get back on the bike, but I woke up in Breckenridge this morning feeling like it was time to continue on my journey.
At the Vail Symphony. A little different than bike gear and camping in remote campgrounds!
Vail was full of eating yummy food, hiking (saw my first daisies in CO hiking up Vail Mountain), attending
the Bravo! Vail to see the Philadelphia Orchestra, connecting with friends who flew in for the weekend and meeting a bunch of new friends. After Vail, I went to Breckenridge and stayed at a friend/colleague's place. Our time only overlapped for an hour, but it was great to meet his partner and kids! Their home was beautiful... I took a long nap, did laundry, spent time in the hot tub, listened to music. Steve and Christopher's friend Dave stopped by and we hung out for a bit and chatted bikes. He even invited me to go mountain biking today and I have to tell you... being here has been harder to say "NO" then I thought. I see hiking trailheads leading into beautiful wilderness areas, mountain bike trails jetting off in every direction and hear of thrilling white water rafting. All things I love to do, but I'm fearful I'll get injured if I do them! I declined Dave's generous offer to bring me mountain biking, but I sure do appreciate him stopping by and meeting me. He gave me a few Enduro Bites, a new product (energy bar, gluten free) to try on the road. Haven't tried one yet, but I'll keep you posted! I went into Breckenridge Village for dinner and met Jeremy, a semi-local (he has places in Denver and Silverthorne) at a Mexican restaurant. Thanks to Jeremy for showing me a fun evening in Breckenridge!
Last time I was here... must have been college to snowboard!
Thanks to Steve, Christopher, Julia and Beckham for letting me stay in their beautiful home!
Today, I packed up, left Steve and Christopher's home, biked on the awesome Breckenridge bike trail (see photo), ran some errands in Breckenridge, ate a big lunch and started the climb up Hoosier Pass. It actually wasn't too bad, other than trying to get my groove back after 5 days off the bike. The hardest part for me was the altitude. I climbed to 11,539 feet, highest point on my trip and 10th (and last!) Continental Divide crossing.
The downhill was sweet- into Alma and Fairplay. I got into Fairplay, did laundry (aka washed my bike clothes from the day in the sink with Woolite), showered and I'm about to grab a big salad somewhere. I'm back on it! Feeling very happy to be biking again and I'm looking forward to the next stage of my trip- the rest of Colorado and into Kansas. I'm actually a little sore this evening- from not cycling for a while, but I'm sure I'll be good to go by tomorrow. Update: I've cycled 1737 miles and climbed 84,911 feet!
Breckenridge Bike Trail... Colorado, could you stop being so beautiful and awesome?
10th and FINAL Continental Divide crossing on my trip. And, highest point on the ACA Trans-American route.
