Day 41: Kremmling, CO to Edwards, CO

• Distance: 93.53 mi
• Elevation: 4,977 ft
• Dedication: Uncle Tim and Sharon Maloney
• Ride group: Rose, later picked up Briana
• Host: Trinity Church

Today I woke up feeling extremely glad that we chose to rack early yesterday! We were facing another 90-mile, 5,000 foot of elevation day, including a climb up Vail Pass. Our climbing was more gradual and spread out compared to Trail Ridge Road, and after yesterday this didn’t seem nearly as bad.

We did climbing partners again but Bailey wisely chose to rack and give her knee some rest. I rode with Rose and we enjoyed a beautifully scenic and cool morning toward Vail. We were on a highway for a while but eventually detoured on a county road around a huge reservoir. There we saw a ton of wildlife, including some mountain goats, a deer, and some sort of wild dog. We had a water stop at an equally scenic spot along a river, which was also the site of a cemetery for some of the settlers of the area. At some point we acquired a bag of avocados that were about to go bad so Santi and I assembled some gourmet water stop snacks and made “guac”.

We had quite a few short climbs before the water stop and most of the next 20 miles were downhill or flat. You may be wondering why Rose and I didn’t group up with another pair until we reached the climb… we were given the option to ride with some of the guys and chose solitude haha. We got off the highway entering Silverthorne and were on a path for most of the rest of the ride. The trail was generally nice, a little bumpy at times, but followed the river for a while and then snaked up above the city and crossed a dam. Only in Colorado are there recreational bike paths with switchbacks! We had a second water stop there, where Santi took a chilly swim to try out his new triathlon suit.

From there we were on a trail and climbing up to Vail Pass. It started to rain shortly after we left the water stop, at which point I started to feel a little disgruntled. The trail was not steep, per say, but was deceptively uphill. It didn’t really look like we were climbing but it was still hard to pedal, plus I was cold and wet. Rose also had some issues with her brakes rubbing which we were trying to fix in the pouring rain.

The rain held off for the most part while we were actually climbing. The trail was very nice but underwhelming compared to Trail Ridge. We were basically in a valley in between two highways and slowly climbing up. There were no sweeping views but the valley was pretty. The top was similarly underwhelming; we were close to 11,000 feet but well below the tops of the mountains and the trail took us to was basically a construction site parking area. We met the water van there, refueled, and picked up Briana who had racked earlier in the day for the descent.

Descending on the path was very fun: super scenic, no cars, and few people at all. There were some sharp drop-offs like yesterday but the turns were easy to navigate. At one point the trail was under a lot of construction so we were detoured onto a temporary bike lane along the highway. It was very well-protected but it was extremely steep and a little scary to be flying down such a narrow path with jersey barriers on each side. I think I would have preferred being on the trail along a drop-off, but at least the rain had let up and the roads were dry!

The rest of the ride into Vail was a nice wide-open descent, mostly on the trail. It felt so good to coast after so much climbing the past two days! It did start to rain again on and off, and it really started to pour just as we had gotten through Vail. Lunch was on our own today and we somehow failed to realize where the main area of Vail was and blew right past it, so we ended up eating in West Vail. It was perfect timing because it started to downpour as soon as we got off our route to head toward food. We took shelter in a McDonalds, ate way too much food, and hit the road to cover the last few miles to the host.

As they always seem to be on 4K, our host was at the top of a pretty decent hill. And, of course, it started raining again just as we started to climb. When we got to the top we were .2 miles from the church but were on the wrong street; we had to go over two miles back down the hill we had just climbed, back on the main road, and then up another hill to the correct spot. We actually called the vans to see if someone could come rack us but they were about 20 minutes out, so we decided we’d rather bike 10 minutes in the rain than stand in the rain for 20 minutes.

The host was well worth the extra effort and we arrived first so we had full access to showers, laundry, and the best sleeping spots. This was seriously one of the nicest churches I’ve ever seen– Maggie and Bailey staked out an awesome sleep spot in front of a wall of glass doors that overlooked the town and faced the mountains. After the rain stopped there was a huge rainbow over the mountains. Most of the teams behind us had to wait out the storm so I also got to have a good amount of quiet time to recharge and reorganize my things. The last team got in over 3 hours after Rose, Bri, and I got there so I was very fortunate that we were able to get in before the rain really hit.

General update: we have unfortunately reached the stage of the trip where gear is starting to wear out and get lost (and found?). Here’s a brief summary:

• One of my sports bras went missing somewhere in Ohio and I found it the other day just sitting on a table at our host! Which makes me think someone else has had it the entire time and misplaced it… I stole it back.
• My Camelbak has been leaking slightly since day one but has been losing a lot of water since I fell the day we rode to Fort Morgan. Usually I don’t mind getting a little wet because it cools me down but today it was so cold I ended up leaving my Camelbak with the water van and taking a spare water bottle. Multiple teammates have spare water bladders, though, and have offered to let me use theirs.
• My front wheel has not been seen since the crash??? Other people racked my bike when I left with Richa, I was in the van the following day, and we then had a rest day so I didn’t notice it was missing for three days. I called our host in Fort Morgan and they didn’t have it so I honestly think it may have been left on the side of the road (no one’s fault, it was a crazy day). I’ve been borrowing front wheels from people driving the vans ever since, which isn’t ideal but it’s gotten me over the Rockies!
• I lost the jewelry for one of my piercings this evening and piercing shops seem surprisingly hard to come by in our next few host towns. Hopefully I can get a replacement before it closes up!

Until tomorrow!

Lauren