Glenwood Springs to Avon

We started our climb back up towards Vail Pass leaving Glenwood Springs under cloudy skies a little after 8.  We had a little bit of sprinkles through Glenwood Canyon and then the day turned sunny and warm from Gypsum all the way to Avon where we stopped for the night a little after 4pm. A nice climbing day of 59 miles. 

Entering the White River National Forest at the bottom of Glenwood Canyon. 

The original "green" power, falling water. 

A nice shot from the dam of the canyon walls near the Hidden Lake trail head. 

An overview of Glenwood Canyon at the No Name Rest Stop off of I-70. 

Still under cool and cloudy skies as we climb up and out of Glenwood Canyon...

and back into Eagle County. 

And there's another one of those bass-ackward truck signs facing the bike trail again!?  Why oh why CDOT?

Breakfast for lunch in Gypsum!  Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs oh boy!!  This wonderful meal which I ate every bit of will haunt me for the remainder of the afternoon.  We are what we eat it seems, especially after a big lunch when you have 35 more miles of steady climbing to come.  

 

Leaving the scene of my lunch time crime. Ang was much more restrained than I was. 

We stopped for a little shade under this gentlemans tree. He's a general contractor in Eagle and we chatted about his Shitzu Lucy and the state of contracting and finding good help in Eagle County.  Nice guy and possibly a Trump voter. #sad

 

And more steady climbing. 

We stopped for the little break I should have immediately had after lunch at the Eagle River  put-in near Wolcott.  We actually took a little snooze on the rock that Ang is sitting on in this picture. Very nice break and one of the better things about cycling cross country; naps on warm days in nice shady spots. 

  

Re-energized after our Wolcott afternoon break. 

  

And that's Vail Mountain ahead.   We'll take that on for tomorrow's fun. 

We checked in at the hotel in Avon and enjoyed a cooling swim, a relaxing hot tub and a little sun to dry us off before a shower and dinner to end the day. Very nice. 

And to top off the night, after our very healthy salads and a beer for me, we shared a Mexican Sundae of cinnamon churros, ice cream and chocolate sauce. Ummmm.