There's nothing like a cold, gloomy morning to make home look good. I had previously considered that I could get a ride with Ken from Kremmling. He and Tom were finishing their tour in Kremmling. I could bicycle with them that far, get a ride in Ken's truck, and then have my daughter pick me up.

I barely caught Ken before he was leaving. He kindly agreed to wait for me. In the meanwhile, Wayne had a different solution to the gloomy weather. He would take a day off here, which would avoid the rain. The forecast for tomorrow looks just fine. I wasn't able to process that radical idea. Here was Ken waiting. What do I do? I decided to go ahead with my plan. The forecast for FairPlay and Hoosier Pass looked dismal. I thought it might even snow at the top of the pass. Wayne's idea for that was to take another rest day in Dillon and skip Hoosier. He would go straight to Leadville. What a great plan. I wish I'd had time to process it before setting my plan in motion.

Jacinto didn't even have his eyes cracked open while we were discussing all of this at 6 AM. That's way too early for decision making.

Ken and I left at 7 AM. It was overcast and cold. I wore a vest and ear warmers. It was an enjoyable downhill slant the entire distance. We were to Kremmling in a little more than an hour. Ken had a flat cover over his truck bed. It had tie downs on top. He was able to put my bike on it's side and tie it down for the 35 mile ride to Silverthorne. That didn't seem so far at the moment. Perhaps I should be riding? Nope. I can feel raindrops. I'm in the truck!

We had passed a large group (30ish?) of unloaded cyclists heading toward Hot Sulphur Springs. They all had flashing headlights and tail lights and triangles. At first I thought it was an all woman group, but we did see a few men. They were all notably younger than your typical bicycle tourist. Ken said he thought they had been camping, he saw a van/trailer combo at a campground that said Bicycle something. I'm glad I wasn't camping in Kremmling. The mosquitoes were having a picnic of me while we loaded the bike.

We saw the couple from last night about halfway from Kremmling. It looked like they were getting a little wet, but not enough to put on raincoats. Ken dropped me at the gas station and my daughter arrived five minutes later. Perfect timing.

Now I am home. I've been to the store, washed clothes, eaten a lunch I fixed myself with plenty of green things. I've read the local newspaper. Now I'm sitting in the cushy recliner writing this. It is nice to enjoy all of the familiar home things.

In the meanwhile Jacinto decided he likes Wayne's plan just fine, provided it doesn't rain. They have changed reservations around. It looks like I will drive back to Dillon tomorrow. A round trip to the top of Hoosier Pass is 52 miles. If the weather is not inviting, a bike path ride around the lake is 18 miles. The forecast has done a 180 since last night. Now the next four days look quite inviting. As much as I am happy about being home, I feel a little silly. I could have just gone for that extra day off . . . .

I believe I will end the journal here as my participation will be with a van and day rides. It hasn't quite turned out to be the touring summer I expected.

Thank you for reading along.

Heart

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