Day 49: Grand Lake to Estes Park, CO!!

Ride time: 3:58

Average:   7.2 mph

Distance:  28.96 mi

Woohoo!  We made it to Eagle Rock School!! We began our day riding through the gates of RMNP.  There wasn't a whole lot of traffic, and the roads had a nice shoulder.  Today is a big day--we have to ride up and over Trail Ridge Road.  This road runs through the park and its highest point is just over 12,000 feet high, way above the tree line, making it pretty scary in the afternoon when the thunderstorms begin.

We climbed, climbed, and climbed our way to Milner pass, our 19th and final divide crossing.  The pass is at 10, 758 feet, and it took us a lot of effort to get up there.  The road was all paved, but we began the morning at about 8,500 feet.  The temperature was nice for a such a grueling morning ride.

#19!

Grinding up Trail Ridge Road after the pass

Not looking forward to the ride down to Estes

Even though we crossed the divide, we still had to climb another 1,200 feet to get to the highest point on the road before we could begin descending into Estes Park.  We stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center (around 11,000 feet) to take a break and devise a plan for the rest of the day.  And here's the plan we came up with...we needed to find someone with a pickup truck that would be willing to throw our bikes in the back and give us a ride down to Estes!  First I asked a group of people, but they were headed towards Granby, so that didn't work.  Then it began to rain, so the parking lot was clearing out fast.  I went into the visitor center, and Nate had duty first.  He came back about five minutes later and said, "Come here and meet these super nice people that are going to give us a ride as soon as they finish their lunch."  George and Theresa are from Lincoln, Nebraska (how funny that our 4th of July experience was in Lincoln, MT), and they were on vacation.  We rode down in the safety of their truck as it rained outside.  If you've ever been on Trail Ridge Road, the drop offs are SUPER scary and there's no guardrail either.  I was quite glad that we decided to do this instead of riding down in the rain.

View from 12,000 feet

We ended up taking this wonderful couple out to lunch at Nepal's restaurant in Estes Park, which is Nate's favorite.  Then they were kind enough to drop us off at Eagle Rock, where we arrived just in time for the all-star softball game. 

Happy to be off the bike and on the Field of Dreams!

Day 43: A&M Reservoir to Rawlins

Ride time: 4:50

Average:  11.5 mph

Distance: 55.94 mi

We did it--we rode into Rawlins, WY at 5:30 this morning!

After getting about 3 hours of sleep before we got out of the tent at 11 PM, we packed up and were on the road just after midnight.  I was definitely hesitant about this plan, but went with it anyway.  We had about 13 miles of dirt road to ride before we hit pavement, and the first couple of miles were pretty freaky.  My senses were super heightened, and I was very, very awake.  Our Ay-Up lights lit the way quite nicely and the road was very smooth.  There was lightning due south of us, but we couldn't even hear the thunder, so we were safe.  Jackrabbits were bounding in front of our bikes; they must be nocturnal.  One ran down the road with us for a good minute, trying to find a good spot to duck out into the sage brush.

Night riders

It was super weird not knowing what was around us.  I'm sure there were cows and pronghorn that were watching us, but we certainly couldn't see them.  The moon was a waning gibbous, but we lost its light about halfway through the ride when the clouds covered it up.  It was a comfortable 65 degrees the entire ride, and we had a slight tailwind the whole time.  We crossed the divide (#18) as we took the highway into Rawlins.  The sun was just coming up with its pink and orange sky as pulled into Penny's Diner just before 6 AM, making our 24 hour total about 125 miles.

After a very quiet breakfast (the three of us were shoveling food into our mouths), we were on our way to America's Best Value Inn to check into a hotel room, when we spotted Jerry's Donuts.  We stopped in and instead of getting one donut a piece, we ended up walking out with 12 day-old donuts for $3.  Actually, we walked out with nine because we obviously ate one a piece in the store.  FYI-the box was empty when we went to sleep that night.  I love eating, and this trip has allowed me to eat at least 5 burgers a week with fries, plus dessert after every meal.  I'm going to have to seriously retrain myself to eat right when we get home.

Jerry's Donuts at 7AM!

Future GDR Riders: The night ride was awesome, and the fact that there was hardly any traffic on this ride along with the great roads and easy terrain, made this one a good one.  Besides, we beat the heat!

Day 21: Deadman's to Helena

Ride time: 4:44
Average: 8.8 mph
Distance: 41.81 mi

We awoke at a reasonable hour after having slept really well.  Nate said it was because of the happy cow that was near our tent.  I think the presence of cows helps me in the bear department.  Cows = probably no bears.  I'm probably wrong, but it helps me sleep better.  PowerBars or Clif Bars for every meal is Nate's newest thing, so I forced myself to eat my 7th PowerBar in less than 18 hours.  "We'll eat when we get to Helena," Nate said after I whined.

Anyway, today was another 2 divide crossings (#3 and #4).  It felt like we were biking forever today.  We saw a couple of old mines which were pretty cool:

Oh yeah, Nate's mileage today is an additional 4 miles because he left his sunglasses up near the first pass and had to bike back to get them.  I, of course, stayed and made lunch instead of biking back with him.  I'm such a good wife...

I also fell today going about 3 mph.  I just kind of tipped over.  I'm not exactly sure what happened, other than I'm eternally grateful for my helmet.  When we arrived in Helena, we called Kris (remember Lincoln?) and she put Nate and me up for the night.  Before we got there though, we ate at Taco del Sol, on Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena.  Bikers: definitely hit it up.

We got to Kris's house, and Patti and Dennis came over, too, for dinner.  It was a wonderful time, and Nate and I ate dinner again because Chris made meatloaf, and I couldn't pass that up.

Our wonderful hosts, Chris and Kris, in the Valley, not the Flatland:

Day 20: Lincoln to near Deadman's Creek

Ride time: 3:51
Average: 7.3 mph
Distance: 28.29 mi

Okay, so what were we doing before we stopped in Lincoln?  Oh yeah--we were riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.  These past three days with Jane and Jerry have been incredible.  It amazes me how friendly and open people can be with complete strangers.  I was quite sad this morning as we were packing up and getting ready to go. The two of them are like grandparents.  Jerry even called my mother yesterday to talk with her, letting her know that "we've got your kids here!"

Anyway, saying goodbye was tough, but I know Nate and I will be back with the twins (Jerry thinks we're going to someday have twins...) next October for his 80th birthday party.

We set out on a very cold, wet, and windy morning through Lincoln, struggling to find the right combination of clothes that would keep our temperature right.

I thought about the past few days while climbing up the pass today, and I am glad that we're not so interested in getting to a certain destination by August 20.  Wherever we are at that point, then that's where our trip ends.  Having the freedom to stay wherever the roads take us for as long as we're able to stay is a nice way to do this trip.  It gave us the chance to spend a few days with some incredible people.

Our ride wasn't too bad today.  The Divide Crossing (#2) took us through some pretty cool forests and stream crossings.  The last 1.5 miles were pretty steep, and the ride down was equally steep.

We missed the turn off for the campground, but since we were in national forests, we could camp wherever we wanted to, so we just pitched our tent back in the woods, about 200 feet from a mooing cow.

Day 4: Boulton Creek to Blue Lake BC Forest Service

Ride time: 4:37

Average: 7.9 mph

Distance: 36.64 mi

We had our first divide crossing today!  Elk Pass:

Divide crossing #1

I also fell twice today (which I do on a more-than-average basis), but I'm okay.  Just some bruising and cuts on my leg where I caught the cogs on the front derailleur.  The ride was super fun and almost rain free.  It started to rain after we ate lunch--actually it started to pour and got super cold.  Then, to add insult to injury, my front derailleur had an issue that Nate took care of in the pouring rain.  I almost lost it, but then the sun came out and slowly warmed us back up.

Wildlife update: we saw two moose, bear poop, bear tracks, and wolf tracks on our ride today!