It was a cool and cloudy start of the day. Janis and I got out at 6:20. We left from our luxurious hotel. Yesterday was a rest day or a 50 mile loop if you couldn't get enough riding. We decided to do an easy 22 miles and then play in the town. We enjoyed shopping and eating at some good restaurants. We also spent some needed pool time relaxing.
So we were rested and raring to go--the big climb of Rabbit Ears Pass. The first 20 miles was a fairly steep climb. Luckily it was cool and cloudy so we didn't get too hot. I slowly cranked up that pass. There were some steep pitches, but then it would level out a bit and allow for alittle recovery. I made it up the East Peak, which took several hours. After a bit of rest and refueling, we tackled the west peak. It wasn't nearly as long or as hard. It was amazing how much snow was still up there. It was very cool for the climb which was a welcome relief. Climbing the west peak didn't take too long and soon I was to enjoy an awesome downhill on the other side. It was pretty steep and winding, so I never got to blast down too fast. Those sweeping curves are hard to take at high speeds since you can only lean so much to keep all wheels on the ground. Of course the descent was done in minutes after hours of climbing. There was a strong side wind that tried to knock us over on the descent. I made sure to keep both hads firmly on my cranks.
Once at the bottom, wouldn't you know that side wind became a headwind. We all struggled and fought into the headwind with a promise of a tail wind when we made the turn off at Kremmling. My gears began to jump again even after I had met up with Jamie from Shamano in Steamboat. It seemed like my middle gears weren't working. I either had to spin a too easy gear, or push a hard gear and get fatigued. We made it into Kremmling and met up with Adaptive crew. John was spent from the climb and the day before, he wanted to sag there but I told him there was supposed to be a tail wind and I wanted to ride that. So, we said we'd meet at Parshall and decide if we could make it through Hot Sulphur on into Grandby or call it a day.
There was a tail wind, but it was very hot and no winds to cool you down. It was a gradual climb of 13 miles to get to Parshall. When I saw my sag crew, I knew my decision. I had done 67 miles that day and was done. John was also ready to sag on in. Rich, however, wanted to do the whole thing. He had done every mile of the tour. This was his first (and most likely his last he said) and wanted to do it right. He came into Grandby a few hours later. He never went to dinners, or socialized--just ate and went to bed. What's the fun in that? I think Ride the Rockies full experience is the social part. You want to share stories and get to know other people on the ride.
When stayed in Fraser since there aren't many hotels in Grandby. It cut off 15 miles of the next ride, but I wasn't too heartbroken. I would not drive back to Grandby to get the full milage the next day. We went to one of they guy's houses in Tabernash for a barbeque with the Adaptive crew. It was a beautiful place with an awesome view of the mountain and the golf course. We enjoyed burgers, brats and brews. They sure tasted good after such a long day--I had been on my bike for 10 hours on that day. I have to get ready to ride Berthoud.
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