Monday, July 5, 2010
After celebrating the 4th of July in Kremmling, Colorado we were awaken at 5 am to continue on our journey. At the town square’s showing of fireworks the night before, we met a fellow long distance cyclist – David. The night was getting cold, and since he normally camps out every night, we invited him to join us in the warmth of the church. At the breakfast table he shared his tale: he is singlehandedly traveling the Continental Divide (from Canada to Mexico) with just the bag on his bike and a few maps –nothing planned in advance nor food guaranteed. He made us all really think how the gig we’ve got isn’t half bad.
David and the 4K parted ways around 6:30 and we headed outside for morning circle – those on the team still sleepy were brutally awakened by the bitter cold temperature of 38 degrees that met us that morning. We decided to instead hold morning circle inside, and geared up with leg warmers and as many layers as we could and we set off into the sunrise.
Team Mucus consisted of Dana (team captain and hence the name), Erica, Andrew, Kristine and myself. We encountered what looked to be fog, but ended up being clouds considering how high up we were. We made one of our first turns and encountered the major feat of the day: a thirty-mile, hill-infested dirt road. We were all fairly warm after we reached the top of the first big climb, and surprisingly Andrew’s ThickSlick tires (which normally do not hold well to the ground) served him well on all the gravel and dirt.
Many more climbs and descents followed on this horrific road and there were even times when there were bits of pavement in between all the dirt/gravel. Fortunately for us, Kristine remembered where some of these were from last year, but while that prior knowledge kept her safe from the dangerous changes in terrain, it did not help her against the somewhat suicidal deer that ran in front of her. Luckily neither she nor the deer was harmed during the course of the day. The most memorable descent by far was the almost three mile descent between two mountains, only to see on your way down that you had to make a left turn at the bottom and climb right back up the adjacent mountain. It was after this climb that poor Dana had to leave Team Mucus for all the mucus in her lungs inhibited her ability to breathe. Kevin reassured us that the top was near, and we trekked on for a ridiculous amount of time before it became clear to us that Kevin was lying and the top was not soon at all.
When we finally reached the top, however, the descent was awesome. The majority of the rest of the day was downhill/flat, and it was truly amazing to see the transition from the tree-filled mountains turn to red rock and stone. Yet another reminder that we are definitely on our way out of the Rockies!
We moved lunch up to the 50 mile mark because the mountains were deceptively long. It was here that Terence and Amelia went for a dip in the Colorado River and Kieran “craiged” the van by backing it up into a tree. Woops!
Probably the most rewarding part of the day was the end, but not for the obvious reason of almost being done – but instead the beautiful bike path that took us along the Colorado River. (Pictures will be posted soon). It was here that I got my first flat tire, and as a result can no longer say that I’ve trekked across the country without a flat. Luckily Kristine changed my flat in record time (one that may rival Henrik’s record – this is to be determined) and we entered Glenwood Springs a little past 7pm.
Quite a long day, but a gorgeous one at that!
-Krystina Laucik
PS – For those of you who are concerned about our valiant team captain Dana – she went to the doctor and found out she has a sinus infection and is currently on antibiotics!
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