Too much to catch you all up on....sorry!
Today and yesterday were absolutely EPIC. Trail Ridge Road is what we scaled today, which is the highest continuously paved road in the United States. There is literally no getting higher on a bike than what we did today. Soooo crazy. 12,183 feet- to think we started at 0. The climb was a mixture of climbing, gravel, headwinds, traffic, construction, and cold all rolled up into one ascent. The climb was around 20 miles and it took quite a bit of time to accomplish, but it happened AND I did it on my compact double. Boom. Today was way more mentally challenging for me than yesterdays climb to Estes Park. The road was really curvy and I couldn't see where the road wound around when it came to the top of the mountains. Every time I thought "Oh, there's really nothing above me anymore, this HAS to be the final turn into the lunch stop" I'd wind around the bend and see even more to climb. I rode the entire way up alone, too because in the beginning of the day I took a wrong turn which put me behind the crew I usually bike with. That was a bummer as well, but it also gave me the opportunity to really test my abilities as a cyclist, and even though I averaged maybe 5 mph up the mountain I did it. When I got to lunch the feeling was incredible. A mixture of joy, frustration, and sadness that this is the highest point of the trip and now we only go "down." As I was eating my bagel and peanut butter the Killers song "All These Things That I've Done" (this is the song that we play in our informational video...so it kind of represents B&B for me) and I was standing in the same place that the guys in the video were standing as they dance on top of the mountain. I could hardly control myself. I started screaming and jumping and everyone got so pumped because we did it. CUS 2010 made it over the most epic climb. We literally biked across the continental divide today. I wish I could explain it more, but unfortunately there are just no words.
Phew, anyway we're currently chilling in a library in Granby, CO. Tonight is B&B Prom and tomorrow is both the 4th of July AND our first camping day!
Hopefully someday I'll be able to add more about yesterday's ride into Estes Park. Just suffice it to say that the descent into Estes was so beautiful I felt like I was on another planet. I'm so sad we're (I think??) finished with the Rockies. Crossing fingers for more climbing days- they're my favorite.
p.s. We are young and we can change the world.
