Day 42: Edwards, CO to Glenwood Springs, CO

• Distance: 42.48 mi
• Elevation: 853 ft
• Dedication: Uncle Tim and Bill Pinaire
• Ride group: Bailey, Chase, and Tori
• Host: Linda and Bill Reynolds, family friends of Rose

This morning I had one of the best wake-ups of my life to the sight of the mountains surrounding Edwards being lit up by the sunrise. I sat on my sleeping pad for a while just admiring the view and felt so at peace, which is pretty rare for me on 4K mornings!

After rolling out my team stopped for coffee and breakfast at Yeti’s Grind, which was excellent, and eventually got on the road heading toward Glenwood Springs. We were actually on trails for most of the day which was nice, although they were very bumpy in spots and gave us some flat trouble. Bailey ended up with three for the day and Tori had at least two before she decided to rack.

I think I’ve mentioned before that there are no easy days on the 4K. I’ve resolved to stop calling days easy before they happen– the last time I did we had multiple crashes, and today we had one of our toughest days logistically. Shortly after our second water stop we were supposed to get on a trail through Glenwood Canyon. Unfortunately, that area was recently burned by wildfires and poses a high risk of flash floods. There was a storm approaching the canyon so the trail was closed, but our first group had gone through much earlier than us and relayed to our water van that the trail was fine to navigate so long as the rain held off. After going around the gate we discovered Bailey and Tori each had a flat which slowed us down quite a bit and made us the last group to get on the trail, but Bailey, Chase, and I chose to press on after checking the radar.

The canyon was absolutely gorgeous. I was a little too worried about the weather and not knowing the status of all the teams (we didn’t have signal at this point) to fully enjoy it, but it was one of the most scenic rides I’ve ever done. Over halfway through the canyon we caught up to the two teams ahead of us, who had reached what I would call a hard trail closure. The other closures had seemed more like suggestions but this one was nearly impossible to get around, rain seemed imminent, and we weren’t even sure that the first team had gone through. We were able to eventually get in contact with them and they advised us not to push on due to the trail conditions. At that point, Jake and I made the decision to rack the team around the closure to Glenwood Springs, a decision that was generally taken well given the circumstances but also caused a lot of disagreement and arguing. I don’t regret the decision at all, though, because I-70 was closed to traffic and the NWS had issued a very serious-sounding alert by the time host van was able to get to us. As someone who studies emergency communication, I take these kinds of messages very seriously!

We had a very cool drive on an empty interstate through the canyon and then unloaded at a park in Glenwood Springs for lunch. Unfortunately the day’s troubles weren’t over there– when we got signal I learned that Tori, who opted not to ride on the closed trail, and Jack, who was in the water van and hopped out to meet riders at the end of the trail (which we never reached), were stranded because of poor communication on my part, no cell signal, and the interstate being closed. Maggie and Eli were eventually able to get them both, safe and unharmed, but I felt really badly about the whole situation.

Most of the team decided to enjoy the town and rack to our host in Carbondale since our route was originally supposed to end in Glenwood Springs anyway. I got a coffee and then set off to try to find some jewelry for the piercing I lost yesterday; I succeeded after some trouble but then lost it before I could put it in :(

Our hosts this evening are family friends of my teammate Rose, who graciously opened their home to us when they heard we were having trouble finding a host in Glenwood Springs. Rose’s mom donated a wonderful spaghetti dinner and we spent the evening enjoying their beautiful backyard. I was physically and emotionally spent after the events of the day so I had a quieter night and turned in early.

Until tomorrow!

Lauren