Still in Augusta, fully caffeinated & ready to roll!
Day 52: A good night of sleep in a super comfy bed had us ready to take on the day. Eddie & Sharon fed us again with a tasty breakfast of cheesy eggs, toast, oatmeal, fruit & coffee. We enjoyed our meal out on the deck with a spectacular view & swapped stories for a while. I could’ve sat & talked to them all day but we had another pass to climb: Loveland – the highest point we would climb & anticipated hardest ride of our whole trip. We were a bit nervous but Eddie reassured us we’d be fine. He’d ridden it many times & gave us tips on what to expect. He was currently training for the Triple Bypass – a one day ride over 3 tough passes in the Rockies (Squaw, Loveland & Vail). Talk about intense! After breakfast, we packed, said our goodbyes, & hit the road. As is true of many people we’ve met on this trip, I hope our paths cross again someday. They were pretty special.
It was a beautiful day, with perfect weather – great for a challenging ride. Before the climb we stopped in Dillon, at REI, for a new neon vest & more electrolyte bites. A few miles further, along a pretty lake & river, then up we went for 8-ish miles & 2,500 ft – topping out at almost 12,000ft of elevation.
We stopped to take several breaks, met many other bikers out for a stroll (again, not touring, just training or leisure), & slowly climbed our way to the top. It was kind of funny once we reached the top & joined many other bikers we hadn’t met on our side of the mountain yet. They were all relieved & proud of their climb (as they should be!)…until they saw us with all our gear & were then unimpressed with their accomplishment. Nonsense! Gear or no gear, that’s not an easy climb & anyone who completes it should be proud! Regardless, it was fun chatting with the other bikers & taking in the amazing panoramic view. Absolutely stunning. Someone who lived in the area & had been to the top of Loveland Pass many times said it’s almost never that nice up there. It’s usually windy & stormy. Hooray, we got lucky! Thank you, weather, for an unusually beautiful day.
After sufficiently taking it all in we bombed it to the bottom on the other side & enjoyed a really peaceful, windy, gorgeous ride through the woods, on a bike path, most of the way to Idaho Springs – our stop for the day. I could ride that path every day! It’s definitely near the top of my list for nicest rides on this trip! In Idaho Springs, we checked into a motel, soaked in a nasty hot tub, showered, did laundry, made dinner, watched TV, blogged & called it a day.
Day 53: Breakfast today was cereal with banana, OJ & weak-ass motel coffee (it looked like tea), but enjoyed on a nice little porch outside our room. We had one more climb through the Rockies (& the last one for a while), but much shorter & broken up. We were in a race against the clock to make it to Denver for a 1pm Rockies game so no dilly-dallying. Packed & on the road, dark & ominous clouds all morning, but a sweet downhill all the way to town once we reached the top. We had to stop our descent to put on long sleeves & pants – it was cold! What a rare feeling we’d experienced lately.
We made it into town just in time before the darkness overhead unleashed a healthy downpour of rain & hail. We ducked under a business awning for 15 minutes until it passed, then biked the remaining few miles to my cousin, Samantha’s, apartment where we’d be staying for a week. She was at work & we were in a hurry so we quick showered, dumped our gear, then noticed there was a rain delay for the game so we cooled our jets & biked downtown for lunch near the stadium, at View House Ballpark. The food was good, but service left us feeling slightly forgotten & the “welcome” by the host rubbed me the wrong way (see reflection below). We scarfed down our food & headed to the game.
Weather improved throughout the game & turned into a beautiful night. We had a nice time, enjoyed good views, & just relaxed. That stadium has a unique row of purple seats that makes it’s way around the entire park, marking the elevation for which Denver is nicknamed: the mile-high city. Pretty neat.
After the game we met up with a friend of mine, Gala, who now lives in the Denver area. She picked a sweet vegetarian place – Sputnik. I love having so many options to choose from! It’s exciting…but also takes me forever to order 🙂 I went with a falafel & ooohhh, it was so good! Mmmm… I was tempted to order a 2nd one but found the willpower to refrain. Samantha also met us there after work. It was so nice to see friends & family. We sat around catching up for a while, then Gala dropped Samantha off while we biked back to her place.
The 3 of us sat up talking for a while before Ben crashed, but Sam & I stayed up fairly late catching up. It was so good to see her. She’s like a sister to me. When we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer we gave in & passed out. Aaahhh, another great day.
Reflections
1. Having made it to the top of Loveland Pass, Ben & I both reflected that it wasn’t as hard as we were expecting. The grade was not as steep as we’d been picturing (only 6-9% average). It was long but doable. In hindsight now, nearing the end of our trip in Maine, it was definitely not our hardest ride…but more on that later.
2. It’s crazy how it can take 2 hours to climb to the top of a mountain & only 5 minutes to bomb to the bottom. Wowza!
3. When we rolled up to View House Ballpark, clad in neon rain jackets, the host standing outside said, full of attitude & judgement, “you’re not from here are you?”. Why, because we were wearing neon? Oh, I’m sorry (*not sorry!), do you think it’s “dorky”? Well, I’d rather be seen & safe than “cool” & car-bait. Ben didn’t think anything of it, which is fine, but it definitely bothered me.
4. I didn’t know until later that Ben had already been to the Denver stadium so I was a little peeved that we hauled ass through the Rockies & missed plenty of opportunities for other experiences for a stadium he’d already seen. I was OK with it when I thought it was a new one he could check off his list but foregoing new experiences through the mountains for a stadium that already been visited…not a fun revelation for either of us 🙁
2 posts in 1 day? Wahoo! The sun is setting here in Augusta & me & my hubby have to go set up our stealth camp for the night. Cemetery or baseball field? We haven’t decided yet 🙂 Until next time!
Whitney