How the West was Fun

I can't believe it's been this long since I've blogged! I'm really getting bad. We've had long days of riding or no Internet, so it's been tough!

The entire state of Colorado was beyond incredible. We rode our first century into Denver, a total of 105 miles--great accomplishment for me. We had a build day in Denver and got to explore the city, and then we traveled to Boulder, and on the way stopped for a VIP tour of the Coors beer factory in Golden, CO. One of our leaders used to work there, and her employees provided an awesome breakfast for us, as well as a tour behind the scenes (although we weren't allowed to sample anything, because we still had another 20 miles to ride...bummer!)

We then had a day off in Boulder, where I decided to just explore the town and relax (rather than the extra hiking and biking some other members of the group opted for...crazies) and prepare myself for the next few days climbing the Rockies. The day out of Boulder was probable one of the hardest I've ridden, mainly because there were several long, steep climbs, and I wasn't yet adjusted to the altitude, so it was really hard to catch my breath. I had to stop periodically, and at times I thought I wouldn't finish, but Abby pulled me through to the end! The ride was certainly a struggle, but the views made it thoroughly worth the effort. We had an amazing descent into Estes Park, a really neat touristy mountain town that I would love to visit again in the future!

The next day we prepared our muscles for another hard day, this time up Trail Ridge in the famous Rocky Mountain National Park. That ride was by far one of the most amazing things I've accomplished physically, but also one of the coolest things I've ever done. The ~25 miles of slow climbing certainly earned us the views from the 12,400 foot summit, that were beautiful beyond words. We got quite chilly towards the top!

Thankfully, we had a few easier days after those two of climbing. We traveled to Kremmling, CO, and then to Steamboat Springs, which was one of my favorite rides of the whole trip. It was slow rollers through beautiful canyons and landmarks (including Chimney Rock!) and then a slow ascent to the top Rabbit Ear's Pass. That left a very fun descent into Steamboat, where many of us reached our max speeds on the bike (if you'd told me I would be moving at 48 mph on a bike six months ago, I never would have believed you!) In Steamboat, a group of us ventured to Strawberry Park, the natural hot springs just outside of town. It was absolutely incredible to relax in the hot water under the stars (and even more incredible for our tired muscles!) The next day, we helped the local rotary club build a bike trail in the mountains as a service project, since our Habitat build for the day had fallen through. We had a wonderful barbeque and enjoyed ourselves immensely! That night, about ten of us decided to go to the Harry Potter premiere. A few girls and I dressed as the Horcruxes (see the pictures); the whole experience was totally worth the three hours of sleep we had for the next day's 75-mile ride...

Harry Potter premiere!

Hot Springs

From Steamboat, we had a pretty rough riding stretch. We rode into Maybell, CO and then to Utah! At the Utah border, we intersected another Bike and Build route, SC2SC (South Carolina to Santa Cruz!) We got to meet up with them that night, and it was a blast hearing about their experiences and being able to relate to them about things only Bike and Builders could understand...

We met up with them the next morning, did a pump-up cheer together, and created a chalk mural in memory of Paige and Christina, two riders who died while on Bike and Build trips in the past two summers. It was amazing sharing that experience with that group. We had a hard ride that day, through "Dinosaur Country" from Vernal, UT to the campground at Flaming Gorge, UT. The Red Canyon in Flaming Gorge was another of my favorite sites of the trip, and we even got to jump off the bluffs and swim in the dam! Our campsite was gorgeous as well.

Chalk mural with SC2SC

Over Flaming Gorge

The next day, we had another tough ride into Rock Springs, WY. There were some climbs we weren't expecting, but when we arrived at the church we were staying at, they really took care of us. The parishioners took us to their homes for snacks and showers--such a nice little taste of home! The next day, we traveled another 100 miles to Pinedale, WY, a very monotonous ride, but not necessarily physically challenging. Abby and I stopped to look for wild horses (unfortunately, we were unsuccessful) and then to try one of the world's biggest ice cream cones...we finished it, with another 60 miles left to ride...

Then yesterday we left Pinedale for Jackson, WY. It was another one of the most beautiful rides on the trip...we entered the base of the Grand Teton mountains, and rode through beautiful mountain passes with streams crossing through and beautifully colored wildflowers lining the road. It wasn't a whole lot of climbing, so it was definitely a favorite ride for many group members...

SO MUCH ICE CREAM

Playing with horses on the way to Jackson

Antler arches in Jackson!

And today we have a day off in Jackson! I'll be going white water rafting later this evening with some of the group, and we've had a blast seeing all that the town has to offer. It's so hard to believe that in three short weeks we'll be RUNNING our bikes into the Pacific and completing our trip. I've really grown to love all the members of my group, and it will be so hard to say good-bye! Thank you to all of you for your continued interest and support in my trip! I love you all!