Day 40: Estes Park, CO to Kremmling, CO

• Distance: 48.15 mi
• Elevation: 4,967 ft
• Dedication: Uncle Tim and Aunt Carol
• Ride group: Bailey <3
• Host: Trinity Episcopal Church

Today was one of the biggest days of the trip: Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. The quality sleep I hoped for unfortunately did not happen because the gym we were sleeping in had some lights and speakers that we couldn’t turn off… so we were subjected to classic rock all. night. long. I was able to drown it out with my airpods but I don’t think anyone slept particularly well (and I felt pretty bad about pushing for relocating to the gym when we could’ve camped at the park). We woke up at 4:15 to get ready for our planned 90-mile ride with 6,400 feet of gain. Much like the first water stop yesterday, the anticipation of getting started was nearly unbearable, and it felt like it took years for us to get up and ready. One person was unbothered by all this: James ventured back to Boulder last night to see his favorite band, The Black Keys, and somehow snagged an invite to an afterparty with the band. He wasn’t even back at the host when we woke up so he didn’t ride today, but was too preoccupied by the high of the best night of his life to be too upset about it :)

I departed the host with Bailey and we were almost immediately heading uphill. Morale was honestly quite low because we were struggling before we even reached the park entrance. I kept telling Bailey (and myself) that we had already started the 20-mile climb to the top.

Once we got through the park entrance we really started to climb, but instead of a straight gradual uphill we were starting to wind up the mountain. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and distracted us from how scared and tired we were. While I was preoccupied with the view above (again, following Maggie’s “don’t forget to look up” advice from yesterday) Bailey spotted some beautiful deer right off the path.

For the next 4+ hours we just kept climbing. Other than a few short stretches with a negative grade we were steadily chugging up the mountain, motivated by Bailey’s infamous 4K playlist. As I’ve mentioned before, Bailey suffered a knee injury early in the trip and has been dealing with pain on and off for weeks that she describes as “ripping.” She was hurting yesterday and her pain was flaring up almost immediately today, but we just kept going at a pace that was as comfortable for her as possible, taking breaks at most of the overlooks and whenever else she needed to stretch and rest. This was good for her, obviously, but also good for me– I didn’t really feel any effects of the altitude, and my heart rate and breathing were steady the entire time.

At each of the overlooks we marveled at how far up we had come. We could see cars glittering at the very bottom of the mountain and look down on our entire route. At other points, we were able to look up and see how high up we were about to go. That part was a little daunting, but the climb was pretty consistent the whole way so we didn’t have to worry about any particularly hard parts coming up. We ended up climbing 4,256 feet over 20 miles in about four hours, meaning we were gaining approximately 1,000 feet every hour. It was actually surprising how quickly we seemed to be ascending, and the higher we got the more confident we became that we would reach the top.

With about 10 miles to the summit we began to encounter some wind. We were warned about this, but it was still brutal to have wind blowing against us while we were climbing up a literal mountain. Luckily, the road was so twisty we ended up doing a complete 180º and then had the wind at our backs! Eventually we climbed up above the tree line which was absolutely surreal. Without the cover of the trees and at such a high altitude it was quite cold so we had to put on our jackets. Still, there was an abundance of beautiful wildflowers growing among the rocks. Around this point at least one edge of the road was essentially a sheer drop-off. The road was beautifully maintained overall but didn’t have much of a shoulder so we had to be very careful about cars passing us, especially when we were riding along a drop-off.

Just before the real summit we had a false summit, which you can see in the elevation profile up above. Around this point Bailey and I became deliriously giddy– we were within 4 miles of the top, so we knew we would do it! After the false summit we had a quick descent that was absolutely elating, even when we saw the last little bit of the climb winding up the hillside to the true summit. At that point we only had a mile to go and we started to churn up the hill as quickly as Bailey’s knee and our adrenaline would allow us to go. With half a mile in the climb to go, Bailey saw a dragonfly fly between us. Dragonflies are symbolic to Bailey because of her fiancé, Bo (who I mentioned in a prior post), which meant that we both started openly sobbing together as we made the final push. It didn’t even seem possible for a dragonfly to be up at 12,000 feet, so to see one at that moment felt particularly special.

We had a small descent to the visitor’s center where we met up with the rest of the team. Bailey and I cried some more, took some pictures, and headed indoors to find food and souvenirs. I was able to find both of the things I wanted: hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll!

After some more celebration and rest we started the part of the ride I was actually most scared for: the descent. Biking up all that elevation meant we had to ride right back down it. Thankfully the ride wasn’t nearly as harrowing as I expected. There were a few tight switchback turns but they were well-marked so we knew when to slow down. At one point we even had to stop at a temporary red light for construction! I was a little overly cautious just because I didn’t know what to expect, so I didn’t break my max speed record. It would be fun to do the descent again now that I’m familiar with it!

The descent leveled out a bit and we crossed the Continental Divide! Bailey and I stopped for a picture and chatted with some people there, who unfortunately took very poor photos of us but were very kind and encouraging.

The rest of the ride was mostly flat or downhill. That side of the mountain was far less traveled than the way we came up, so we enjoyed views of lakes, forests, and mountains in peace. We did see some areas that had been burned by the East Troublesome fire in 2020. It was unsettling to see so many acres of land scorched and empty with only the husks of trees remaining after hours in the dense forest, but still those wildflowers persisted! Bailey pointed out that the flowers were an excellent reminder that there is beauty even in pain and struggle, much like our ride.

After exiting the park we were on our way to lunch, where I saw my first-ever moose! I was pretty sure I had seen one (or at least the butt of one) a little earlier in the day and said to Bailey that my one wish was to see a moose on 4K. Just a few miles later we fully saw a moose hanging out on the side of the road! I was so shocked and convinced it was just a horse or something that I didn’t even take a picture!

We had lunch in Grand Lake at Mandy and Mark’s (our Longmont hosts’) cabin. Host van got us some interesting gourmet (?) hotdogs. By the time all the teams got in and ate it was 3:30. We still had 45 miles to go, which were not completely flat, and had already climbed and descended the highest continuously paved road in the US. Not many people wanted to push on and it didn’t seem likely that most groups would be able to finish the day so we decided to rack to the host as a team to have more time to relax and celebrate our incredible ride.

Today we had some incredible support from 4K alumni Danielle, Marissa, and Tim. We could not have done it without them! Danielle drove our water van to make sure everyone who wanted to ride could, while Marissa and Tim served as additional support vehicles in their personal cars. All three of them were driving up and down the mountain all day to make sure all of the groups had food, water, and encouragement throughout the day. This was complicated by the fact that we didn’t have cell service, so they had no way of checking our location other than physically seeing us. Danielle even drove all the way back down to the bottom of the route because we were certain Collin, Chase, and Jake were still behind us, only to find out they took an old route and had climbed up the backside of the mountain on a gravel road. They didn’t deal with any wind but I would not trade wind for gravel!

We all wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate in Kremmling, but first had to get the entire team showered with only one shower. Perhaps self-inspired after climbing mountains, we were at our most efficient and made a list to streamline who was going next. I eventually removed myself from the list and opted for a hose shower. That meant freezing water, being exposed to the street, and fending off the swarms of mosquitoes that infest Kremmling, but I had some good laughs with Bailey and Maggie.

Today was a day that made me feel lucky to be alive, grateful to have a body that could get me to the top of the mountain, and in total awe of our world. I will never forget the feeling of reaching the top with Bailey and I think I’ll be chasing that feeling for the rest of my life. Here’s to another beautiful day of riding tomorrow :)

Until then,

Lauren