Day 21: Rocky Mountain High Part 2

September 8, 2024

Thank you Wyoming, Welcome to Colorado!

Had a fantastic start to the day! I was very excited about the breakfast I had planned. While I was riding I was thinking that there must be a combination of jam and peanut butter in the same container. And leave it to Walmart I hit gold at that stop. Amazing! Yes, celebrate little victories.

I should be less excited! But, 1 jar only and plastic to cut the weight.

I also bought these little yogurt containers we’ve both loved. Today it was rhubarb and strawberries. And then the crème de la crepe was having our first camp coffee. I found those little instant coffee packs that were a great treat for our 21st day on the trail (including day 0). We each polished off the yogurt, 1.5 bagels, and bananas. What a great start!

What a great road! Almost no traffic, perfect surface and great scenery all 50 km.

Todd commented when we passed the lake that he was happy we didn’t attempt the bottle fill this morning. I wholeheartedly agreed!

Peter gave us the report that we had 50 km of pavement riding to do and 115 km total or thereabouts with significant elevation gain. The road was quiet and we made great progress up and down many hills. The surface was perfect as it was clearly repaved recently.

This was the biggest speed sign I’ve ever seen. We kept it under topping 60 km/hr down some hills.

My mind wandered on the climbs. I think it’s a virtue of having wiped away any stress that I was able to reflect. There have been many moments on this trip where I’ve been overcome by emotions. I think it’s the combination of exercise endorphins, feeling a sense of accomplishment climbing all the hills, and going through a major life transition with both of my children leaving for university at the same time. It’s not bad in any away. The emotions just bubble up, flow over, and then I return to happy go lucky cyclist.

Trail angel magic that carries us through to Colorado.

It’s a good thing. I’m so proud of my kids. I miss them. But, they are chasing their dreams and that makes me feel content, proud and excited for their futures.

Lunch, pepper jack cheese and roasted red pepper hummus.

Back to the riding. We continued climbing when I saw some ribbons in a bush and then a sign by the road about a cooler and drinks. A hour previous we saw a sign for water and a cooler but it was empty. I may have ridden by but Peter stopped to check things out. Wow! We found a huge cooler under a tarp completely full of cold drinks, water, and Ensure.

This is the work of trail angels; these are kind folks who just do this for the sake of spreading joy to hikers and bikers. This type of generosity is well documented on the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail and evidently the Continental Divide. It was amazing and we needed a water top up at that time.

We pulled off for lunch and parked ourselves in the shade for 30 minutes and then jumped back on the bikes know we had Colorado and Brush Mountain Ranch to look forward to shortly.

The afternoon riding was really scenic with new rock formations, mountains, and new scenery starting to develop that’s just a bit different from Wyoming. We crossed the border about 2:30 and we still had a push to get to the ranch.

Todd was riding solo most of the day by choice so we leap frogged each other a few times, and talked to the wife in the RV as well. It’s not hard to know it’s us because we are always wearing the same clothes. For the record we do clean them now and again.

Along the way we stopped and talked to an angler on an ATV. He confirmed that we are out of grizzly territory. That’s a nice bit of a reprieve for camping, although there are still black bears, rodents, and mountain lions.

We arrived at the ranch at about 5:30 and I immediately went for the shower. We are all bunking in the same cabin. The ranch has 7 seasons (6 for hunting and 1 biking). It’s family run and we met all 3 sisters and shared some fun stories and learned a bit about their 30 year family history with the ranch. They have 10,000 acres and have guides for hunting (elk mainly). The sisters live in 3 different states but somehow share the responsibilities. It’s been a nice reset from camping.

Tomorrow we will push on. I’m really excited for Colorado. It’s the state I wanted to see the most, although I’ve enjoyed every bit of this trip so far.

Highlights:

-amazing breakfast with coffee

-great riding all day, perfect weather again!

-trail angel Coke

-making Colorado in 21 days, new elevation high at 2580 m

-the ranch is great!

Distance - 115 km / 1719 m elevation gain

Today's ride: 115 km (71 miles)
Total: 2,444 km (1,518 miles)

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